Updates.

[camwyn]

Well, I had a look at apartments in the Jersey City and Weehawken areas last night. I'm looking into stuff in the $700-$900 / month range, and would prefer places that allow cats. I'm more of a dog person, but my sister asked me a while ago if I'd take her cats when I got my own apartment, so as to save trouble with the cats and her baby-to-be getting in each others' hair. As much as I'd love to move out immediately after getting a paycheck or two, I don't think that's possible. I haven't got the money for it yet, and I haven't got the money to furnish a place (as my mother pointed out when I floated the possibility of not moving until I'd tucked a little money away past her), but at least I'm getting an idea of what's out there. This should also give me some time to pay off a chunk of credit card debt, too, which is always good. And to find out which of the areas I'm looking at is most likely to be good for cable internet, since with a job like mine I'm probably going to need it.

If any of y'all live in those areas and have suggestions, lemme know. I had briefly considered my mother's suggestion of moving back to Astoria or some other part of NYC, but I'm not sure how practical that is. I'd like to be as close as possible to a train or bus route into NY. My ideal would be somewhere convenient enough to mass transit that I could get rid of my car and buy a Vespa or other such scooter.

I've also started on the next Hellblazer: Hogwarts installment in earnest. I may do some of that instead of going to the entirety of tomorrow's block party, though I'll be there for some of it since I intend to make a nice lemon chiffon cake as my contribution. Any excuse to bake is a good excuse when you live with someone on a low-carb diet.

kali921, I'll be buying a copy of Morgoth's Ring with my first paycheck from Annaly. I'd buy it now to celebrate getting the job, but a copy just arrived at my local library- I placed an inter-library loan request this past weekend.

I also had a neat course in wild edibles of NJ this weekend. Un-leached acorns taste as tannic as the last quarter-inch of cold green tea after one has used boiling water on the teabag and left it to steep for six minutes (rather than sub-boiling water and steeping for no more than four). Spicebush leaves and twigs make a nice tea, though, and acorns that've been boiled and roasted are quite nice. Autumn olive makes a good cracker sauce, and might well substitute for or complement cranberry at Thanksgiving. We sampled a few other things too, including wood sorrel (which I had previously known as 'the shamrock plant with the yellow flowers), but mostly we were working on learning to recognise the edible green plants of NJ and their specific edible parts. Neat stuff.

That's about it for the moment. More later.

Comments

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

The native plants thing sounds like fun. It's amazing what's out there that's edible, even tasty.

So, are you going to get a new winter jacket/coat?

[camwyn]

I've got a black leather jacket that'll do for now. I need to see if I've still got my green wool coat; I haven't worn that in a few years. It wouldn't be appropriate to wear the Disaster Services jacket any more, though, so I should probably see about getting a casual but still warm jacket to take its place. Leather's nice but we are talking NYC subway here. Burlington Coat Factory here I come.

Well, not until I've invested in a couple of decent suits, anyway.

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

BCF is so useful. I've even found decent suits there, if I time it right.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Must insist you move to Jersey City. ;)

[camwyn]

Hey, that's fine with me. It's been where I've been doing most of my looking. Know anywhere that you'd recommend- or more importantly, that I ought to avoid?

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

There aren't to my knowledge any "you must avoid this" areas. Our part of Jersey City is gentrifying, both to the east and west of the Grove Street PATH station. I'll keep my eyes peeled for apartment postings. We found ours through Craig's List.

[camwyn]

That's where I was looking. They seemed to have some nice ones.

[zomg-its-stace.livejournal.com]

What I did, starting about a year before I was getting ready to move out on my own, was start buying things and tucking them away in a storage unit.

[camwyn]

Hm. Well, I've got a bed, a desk, a nightstand, and a dresser. Also one small bookcase. However, most of my posessions are books, when it comes right down to it. I'll be needing to snag bookshelves, a table and chairs, a-

Crap. I'm mentally laying this out as if it were a game of Sims 2. 'Okay, now I'm going to need a flat surface, and a seating surface, and something to bring up the Environment rating.' Well, the creator did originally envision it as an architectural efficiency simulator, so.

[lwood.livejournal.com]

Wood sorrel is nummy. Just be careful not to eat too much of it, because the oxalic acid that gives it that nice lemony tang can disrupt your ability to absorb calcium in large doses.

It'd be very nice as an accessorizing sort of salad green, though...

-- Lorrie

[pandoras-closet.livejournal.com]

I know from experience that Office Max sells some really nice bookcases for under fifty.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

Yay! for edible plants. =)

I'm working on learning the ones in my area atm.

[kyrielle]

I have heard that some cable internet companies don't allow VPN (IPSEC) unless you've paid for a "business" account. Never encountered it myself but a coworker did, I gather. Something to keep in mind. (DSL works nicely for high-speed as well, and has better upload speeds as I understand it. Since I've only used DSL, I'm just quoting what I've heard, tho.)

Space-hunting in the Garden State

[polydad.livejournal.com]

Jersey City's good. Harrison and Bayonne also work, and with the new light rail line a bunch of other places have just become doable that I'm not familiar with.

Me, I'm half a dozen stops down the Northeast Corridor rail line, but I tend to drive into the city anyway. I seem to have the Find Parking feat down pat... 8^)

best,

Joel

[alemya.livejournal.com]

As far as bookcases? I can get you a "pattern" for build it yourself cases. They're relatively cheap, VERY easily customizable, and take very little in the way of sharp pointy things that can cut your hand off. We just get the nice folk at Home Despot to do our cutting, haul the stuff home, then put it together. The pattern is for 7' tall cases, that are 4' wide and 6" to 8" deep (for paperbacks or hardbacks). The paperback cases hold 500 (according to dad). And we learned that they're relatively flood proof, too.

About the cats and the baby to be

[kelathefinn.livejournal.com]

If the cats are introduced to the baby as soon as possible, and it is made quite clear to them that they are NOT to be in the same bed with the baby (loud clap of hands and shouted NO! each time they do, takes about three times and they never do it again), they will NOT get in each other's hair. Also, new clinical and field studies in Finland, which is HYPER allergy conscious, indicate that children brought up with cats and dogs and other domestic animals have far FEWER allergies (and infections of various kinds, such as ear aches) than children who are brought up in a 'sterile' pet-free environment. No lie. Google it. My babies actually used the cats as pillows if they were on the floor together in the same spot of sun - and the babies chewed on the cat's tail when they were teething. The cat allowed it while the kid only had gums, but got up and walked away after the kid got teeth. At no time did the cat even threaten to scratch or bite the baby, let alone 'smother' it by sleeping on its face (which seems to be the prevalent myth here).

Re: About the cats and the baby to be

[camwyn]

I think I saw that study on BBC News Online, about the allergies. As it happens, though, it turns out I've messed up two different sets of relatives with cats and babies in the same house. My sister told me last night I was thinking of Aunt Margaret, who's got grandchildren living with her, and who has offered me her two Maine Coons instead. Lovely beasts, rather like Norwegian Forest Cats really...

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

So, only problem is, your plot bunnys are farming dust bunnies in my head! =)

Things Constantine isn't allowed to do anymore at Hogwarts: (not that he ever was)
-- Give surprise tests to students in the hallway
-- Give surprise tests to Snape in the hallway

House Ravenclaw, meet Del.

Find some sneaky way to make Malfoy the Scrawnier see Moody with a ferret on his shoulder out of the corner of his eye at random times.

Realize that his bogart forms are scarier than anything anyone in this universe could come up with anyway, and therefore will instantly become the most scary thing to anyone faced with them, use this in an educational manner.

Ridiculus a bogart silently by tricking it into thinking it was being looked at by a house elf, it promptly falls down being smelly socks.

Starts teaching Percy how to get away with playing nasty tricks on Slitherins.