One month to go

By Greg—07/04/2006
Categorized in consumer reporting

We have a dilemma. Before we were kicked out of house for two weeks, before our landlady eventually after much apparent handwringing and debate over whether to keep this house or sell it hired John The Midnight Roofer to repair intermittently as it’s convenient for him the house by himself, before our move to Pittsburgh was called off by a job offer in Iowa City, we gave up our claim on this apartment. It has been rented to someone else. Not that we’d want to stay here anyway. Chez Tornado ain’t as charming as it used to be. We have less than a month to live here. Our dilemma is that we can’t find an apartment to replace it.

Leases in Iowa City run August to August to coincide with the school year. The best time to rent, though, is late April or May. It’s when most landlords pester their tenants to get them to stay or to move out, as ours did. It’s also when most of the apartments near downtown are listed. First, we need an apartment near downtown. There’s only one bus line that goes to my work, and it only goes there twice per day. We only have one car. Until K knows what and where she will work, she should drive it primarily. We could live somewhere off that line and I could ride a bicycle, but winter is cold here, and bikes do not go well in snow. We can’t move close enough to work that I can walk because the condos and apartments there are expensive. Finally, we need someplace that takes pets. And we can’t buy yet. So we have a lot of restrictions about where we can live, and not a lot of choices.

We’ll find a place eventually, I know, but eventually can’t take too long to come.

Comments

sounds like you could expand the choices quite a bit if you’re willing to bike. we bike-commuted daily in MA, which also has cold winters…you acclimate. plus then you don’t have to bother with a real exercise program!

by mary—Jul 4, 03:47 PM

when at the u, to bike was an easier choice because the u of i is downtown, and i never lived far from downtown. even now, to bike is not impossible—but my current workplace isn’t downtown anymore. it’s instead just outside town near the interstate, up and down several hills. it’s a pretty corporate place, too, and i don’t (yet) feel comfortable enough to show up sweaty. that will come i’m sure…

by greg—Jul 4, 04:08 PM

k just said she’s ashamed to be married to such a wuss as i.

by greg—Jul 4, 04:09 PM

steal a car.

by chris—Jul 4, 07:44 PM

so how’d you guys manage to ride bicycles in the snow? I tried a few times: about the time my tires stopped gripping the road, my brakes gave out. What was your low temperature limit? I can imagine riding at 20F, but 10F is pushing it. Any colder than that…

by greg—Jul 4, 08:06 PM

i guess we were spoiled on the snow front, as the plows always came before we had to be at school. i do not remember opting out of riding because of low temps, but that may be because our lowest were always in january, when school was out anyway, and of course you would not have that option as a real world kind of worker. sorry if i sounded overly enthusiastic about biking—i am all hyped on it now that it is physically impossible for me to ride. (well, not impossible, but definitely not a good idea.)

by mary—Jul 4, 08:25 PM

Where I live it is not uncommon to see lawyers and bankers biking to work, in their 3-piece suits. I’ve been biking through the English winters for 3 years now, though I don’t think they’re as cold as they are in Iowa. Nevertheless, for God’s sake, don’t bike in the snow. I tried it once and it shot out from under me, leaving me flat on my back, with a backpack on, in the middle of a street during morning rush hour.

by JH—Jul 5, 05:46 AM

you’d think iowa would plow the roads in winter, but the crews have a habit of waiting until the snow’s almost over before they get the plows out. so we often have a slurry on the streets that doesn’t get moved before worktime….

we saw a couple on a tandem recumbent bicycle yesterday. mary, you & C should get one of those, then you can ride in style.

JH, you’re good with the anecodotes lately!

by greg—Jul 5, 06:36 AM

They’re a product of a certain ruminative spirit that rises up in me whenever I’m wrapping up my time in one institution and preparing to start at another. The days spent in mindless manual labor don’t hurt either.

by JH—Jul 5, 07:25 AM

The liminal state rears its head, in other words. I know the feeling.

by greg—Jul 5, 07:37 AM

snow tires?

by Jeremy—Jul 5, 07:53 AM

They make those, then! I wondered about that, but didn’t want to search for fear Google would laugh at my naivete.

However, the tires would necessitate I buy another bicycle. Then again, though, my current bicycle necessitates I buy another bicycle, so it’s a wash either way you look at it.

by greg—Jul 5, 08:05 AM

i have never used such tires, but i know people in madison who have and they even cut across the lake in winter to make it to class on time.

by Jeremy—Jul 5, 12:41 PM

brrr! That sounds cold.

by greg—Jul 5, 12:44 PM

Hey, Iowa City is not far from WI! If your move works out you should plan on coming to the Mid-West Preacher’s Retreat in Black River Falls, WI (much closer to you than Milwaukee).

No. It is NOT only or principally for preachers. It is simply a retreat in one of the most beautiful places on God’s Earth. It is in the third week of September.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine
Milwaukee, WI
http://stoned-campbelldisciple.blogspot.com/

by Bobby Valentine—Jul 5, 10:07 PM

I’ll consider it, BV!—if I can bring a friend from IL who is, incidentally, a preacher…

by greg—Jul 6, 07:36 AM

Email me and I will send you some details so you can make up your mind and plans.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine

by Bobby Valentine—Jul 6, 01:00 PM

Thanks BV. Look for the e-mail soon.

by greg—Jul 7, 08:35 AM

maybe we should read some Lipscomb… i’ve got the first year, or so, of The Christian Baptist… i must admit, i haven’t read any of it beyond a paragraph here or there.

by Jeremy—Jul 7, 08:44 AM

I’d be game—after we finish A&A, of course. Meanwhile, where does one find the first year or so of The Christian Baptist? I don’t imagine something like that just shows up at your local Barnes and Noble, unless your B&N sells something mine doesn’t….

by greg—Jul 7, 08:48 AM

(This was actually in reply to this, right?)

by greg—Jul 7, 08:50 AM

ah, yes it was.

i inherited a lone volume of the gospel advocate’s 1955 publication of the christian baptist.

by Jeremy—Jul 7, 01:19 PM

let’s move it over

by greg—Jul 7, 01:28 PM

The Christian Baptist is Campbell not Lipscomb. If we want to read DL we need to read Civil Government.

Campbell was a pacifist but he would not agree with DL’s little work on government.

I will be looking for that email.

Shalom,
Bobby Valentine