My very own apartment

I got up very early this morning in order to start my search for the perfect apartment. I sort of knew that I wanted an apartment with character, not one that was put up in 2006 and was going to be some plastic crackerjack building that will drain the character out of the area. Many of the places I looked at were victorian mansions that had been converted into apartments. I scoped the neighborhood at night when I flew in to be sure that it was safe. I ran every possible address into crimereports, and compared it to the homicide map. Anyhow, I didn't have any criteria really, but I sort of figured I would know it when I saw it. I saw a slew of studios with weird layouts--because when you convert mansion rooms into studios, you get weird combinations, like abnormally skinny kitchens with connecting doors to bathrooms.

Most of what I saw didn't fit me, I had almost given up hope until I met with the last person for the day. The apartment had a living room and a bedroom, and tons of storage and closet space. I haven't had a closet in three years! Its quite spacious, looks to have been built in the 60's so it has personality and plenty of room for guests. The best part is the rent. $1050. Can you believe it? The rental person said she couldn't rent the place for more because everyone was turned off by the fact that there was no washer or dryer on premises. Suckas! Life without a washer/dryer means dropping off laundry so some undocumented worker can fold it. Which is fine with me. Before my time in NYC, it probably would have bothered me too, but I'm so used to not living with a washer/dryer, that I really don't care. Besides, if I wanted to do my own washing, its literally across the street in another building the owner has. So basically my salary has increased by 15k, and my rent only increased by $350. It gets better, my drive to work is exactly 9 minutes and I'm in a safe neighborhood. Downtown San Jose area is also rent stabilized, so my rent won't be going up anytime soon, and when it does, it can only go up a max of 8% a year. My own apartment. No more roommates. At last. Now it won't be long until I have my own house. I can feel it.