The apartment search continues
So, went to check out that apartment, and sadly it wasn’t right. The layout wasn’t right for us. It was pretty nice though, clean and bright and airy, with a really nice kitchen. I don’t see any more ads for it, so I’m sure it’s been rented. It was such a good deal, I was sure it would be snatched up right away.
And on an interesting note, I just saw that the LL of apt#3 posted on craigslist about how much response they got and gave tips on how people should respond to ads. Like I said, interesting.
Apartment hunting in Vancouver
So I have been casually looking for an apartment for A Long Time. Like over a year, but like I said, casually. I’ve been waiting for the Olympics to go by, thinking things would get more reasonable after that. I’ve gone to look at a few places, but I have some pretty specific criteria and a conservative budget so nothing has been quite right, yet. And my current place, while not perfect, is a generous size, in an amazing location, at a reasonable price so it’s gonna take just the right place to get me to move. However, this search is starting to get to me.
Place #1 was a lovely south facing condo (check) looking out onto a park (greenspace, check) with a nice patio (check) in the Arbutus Walk area (location, check). Unfortunately, the den was more of a dead end hallway, so DH and I decided it was just too small.
Place #2, in my current hood, meets most of the requirements. Price is borderline, but could make do. Call up amateur landlady who rattles off details about the place and drops the parking bomb. Parking is $150 extra. Place just went from borderline to too expensive. Coulda mentioned that in the ad maybe? Didn’t bother to go see it.
Place #3 sounded perfect in the craigslist ad. 2bdrm, Fairview, next to greenspace, huge terrace, good price. Unfortunately it was one of those ads that didn’t have a phone number (hate that) so I sent an e-mail into the unknown. 2 days later, I’d given up all hope, only to get an e-mail apologizing for the delay but that the response had been overwhelming and they were struggling to catch up. Great, just what I want to hear, there’s a ton of competition. Regardless I am keen to take any slot they will give me to see the place, even if it’s in 1 hour (!!), send another e-mail accepting the slot (seriously, why no phone number still?!). Few minutes later, get a reply saying sorry, place has been rented. Heartbreak ensues.
Place #4, just down the street from me in a newer building. Skeptical about the square footage being big enough, but with a sunroom And a den, surely it can serve our purposes? Call the number in the ad and the guy offers to show it to me in 30mins. Appreciate that this guy is serious about renting his places, the loss of #3 still fresh in my mind, as well as another promising one where No One Ever Got Back To Me. Unfortunately both the ‘den’ and the ’sunroom’ were the size of closets. Seriously? Why even bother? Beautiful suite, but way too small.
Place #5, in a building I had previously considered, but was unsure of the area. After walking by it recently, I decided it might not be so bad should anything come up. And today, something did. The suite is massive, and a total bargain for the size. Immediately call and tell the guy I will see it tomorrow, anytime (seriously do not want a repeat of #3). We agree to meet tomorrow morning and I am excited and looking online to find a floor plan and any information I can about the suite. Discover that it was previously a furnished rental, and was recently sold after being listed for $600K. Worry a little, since at the price they are renting the place must be bleeding money? Unless it was paid for in cash? Is that a stable situation? Do I want to go there? An hour later, I get a call back and they tell me they made a mistake in the ad and the place is actually $100 than they originally stated. Do I still want to see it? At that price the place is still a deal, but goes from good deal, to average for me. I’ll still go look at it tomorrow, but I think raising the price $100 is rather unprofessional. Although I guess mistakes do happen. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.
Lessons from a tailor
I came across this fascinating video at the Songkla blog.
Lessons from a Tailor. Directed by Galen Summer from Ed David on Vimeo.
“… there are no tailors today. For to be a good tailor it takes a young person 6 years of apprenticeship…”
It’s a real shame that skills like these are getting lost in this global economy of factory mass production.
Scarf in progress
The scarf has been finished since this photo was taken. In fact it is all packed up and ready to be mailed. I would have taken photos of the finished product, but daylight hours are still in short supply and I wanted to get it sent out.
I just got around to listening to the January 3rd episode of CBC Radio’s show The Spark while on my way home from work today, and I have to say it was a gooder, full of thought provoking conversation that touched on issues that are very relevant to me. The topic was on finding meaning in our work life, which is a big thing for me as I continue to struggle to try and figure out a career path for myself.
The first guest was none other than Seth Godin, whose free e-book I had mentioned back in December. He has very interesting ideas on taking initiative in your career and the growing importance of community and giving back.
The second guest, Matthew B. Crawford, is a PhD who runs his own mechanic shop. The dichotomy of the two definitely makes for an interesting perspective on the working world in this day and age, and if you don’t feel inclined to listen to the interview or read the transcript, he also wrote an article in the New York Times that is a good read.
Here’s a quote from the interview:
It does seem like it’s become more difficult to be self-reliant. I also think that we feel bereft of those occasions to be self-reliant. And I wonder if the growth of the do-it-yourself movement, which seems to be pretty big in these days, is partly an attempt to reclaim that. You know, also that effort to reclaim it is, in part, a response to changes in the world of work. You know, working in an office is often that the case that the chain of cause and effect can become a bit confusing, and responsibility can often get spread around. And so, people come home from work and they knit a sweater, say, or build an addition on their house in an effort to reclaim that.
I think it resonates with me so much because I am that person who comes home from work and knits a sweater (that I totally meant to take a picture of this week-end when there was some daylight so I could blog about it, but didn’t get around to).
Godin makes the point that knowledge jobs these days may not necessarily involve hard labour, but what they do involve is emotional labour which is also hard work. Contrast that with that trades jobs, the ones Crawford argues should not be overlooked, that do involve labour maybe the question a career searching person has to ask themselves is what kind of labour appeals to them?
Knitting dishcloths
I found some cotton yarn in my yarn stash and have been using it up knitting these dishcloths. They are a quick and easy project and great for keeping busy while watching episodes of Being Erica on CBC. A little set of them would make a nice housewarming gift for someone, don’t you think?
Getting your financial house in order
I just spent some time at Gail Vaz-Oxlade’s site (host of that great show Til Debt Do Us Part) after following a link from an interesting article about her in the Globe and Mail.
I was hoping to find something that will help me with a direction on how to manage our finances, and I think I found some good nuggets. We have the saving down pretty good, but I just haven’t been too sure about what to do next. After perusing the site, I have a bit of a better idea of some things to do to take the next step. This advice to a young couple just starting out seems like it could apply to our situation as well. Basically it’s about figuring out what your goals are and going from there. I think doing that could help a lot to figure out exactly what all this saving is for.
There’s also a neat Interactive Budget Worksheet for excel that seems like it could be pretty useful. I really like that she included some suggested percentages for what to spend on different categories such as housing, transportation, savings, etc. which helps me keep things in perspective because I tend to come up with something and then want to throw all my resources at it at once. Ultimately it’s probably better to keep things in balance even if it takes longer, for example saving up for a down payment.
Couch potato investing
Well I realized that 2009 flew by with 90% of our money sitting in cash rotting away earning measly interest. The other 10% is invested in BNS which has done well since I got in around $35 (currently at about $46), so that makes me feel a bit better. However, I still I feel that I should be doing more but I’m not exactly feeling confident about investing more in equities at this point. So a couch potato portfolio seems like a good place to start. The concept of a Couch Potato Portfolio is nothing new. It’s fairly straightforward, invest in some diversified low cost index funds or ETFs and re-balance once a year. Here are some articles and posts I found helpful:
- MoneySense’s Couch Potato Portfolio: How to set it up
- Million Dollar Journey’s A Simple Low Cost Diversified ETF Portfolio and RESP Strategy
- Canadian Capitalist’s Sleepy Mini Portfolio
I’m thinking of doing a 4 way equal split between Canadian equity, U.S. equity, International equity, and Canadian bond using TD’s e-series funds and regular monthly contributions. The only thing I have yet to decide is how much to dedicate to this, and whether to do it within a registered account or not. TFSA? RRSP?
TV Setup
We don’t have a TV and have gotten on quite well without it. No cable bill is a great money saver. But lately DH has been casually lobbying for us to get one. While I agree that it would be nice to have one to watch movies once in a while, I wasn’t sure if I would still end up watching a lot of stuff from my computer like videos from the web or iTunes and not really using the TV that much. So I was pretty interested in this article about streaming videos from your computer to your tv, and the “free” blu-ray and PS3 is just a bonus.
While I am a big sucker for multi-use items, I admit I don’t really have any interest in getting a PS3. If only the Wii also had a blu-ray player, then my interest might be piqued.
For now it’s good to know that it’s so easy to set up a home theater and media network wirelessly.
Craft Inspired Illustrator Tutorial
I get giddy for gingham, and who knew it was so easy to make a gingham pattern in Illustrator? Thanks to this craft inspired tutorial I learned some fun new tricks that will come in handy.
Can’t wait to try them out!
