gonewest

I have been seriously considering a [hopefully 3-6 years temporary] move up to the Seattle area this summer. As much as I love San Diego and southern California in general, there is a high premium for living here and because of that I am not able to pursue another love: playing the salty sailor and putzing around in a comfortable sailboat.

Now, thanks to an annoying notice from my apartment complex, I will be rushing to move in early March.

My original intention was to wait several months before moving so that I could enjoy at least part of another summer in San Diego. I received a lease expiration notice the other day, however, informing me that if I do not renew for another year (with the usual small increase in rent) and switch to month-to-month instead, they will jack my rent up by $400. Oh, and there is also the added insult that, while they “strive to maintain the highest level of customer service,” they don’t consider themselves to be liable for anything they do that damages my property but will, if I damage theirs, sue my ass off so I have to now provide proof of at least $100,000 in liability insurance before I can renew my lease (OK, so they didn’t use those exact words, but I am plenty smart enough to know what that notice meant).

The rent I pay now isn’t too bad considering the area that I am in, but the month-to-month rent would be higher than what I paid for my last apartment which was a very nice place in a very new building in what was likely the very best spot in downtown. To pay that kind of rent here in Pacific Beach for a 30 year old building that still has asbestos in it (I have a copy of the signed notification letter to prove it), even for a month or two, is simply outrageous and an obvious attempt to force me to make a long commitment to them or get out — so I’m getting out ( :-r to you, Avalon).

Technically, there should not be any problem in arranging for the move up to Seattle by my lease expiration date; but there are many details to handle and with work and other things going on, I don’t have much time to waste. Thank goodness for apartment hunting sites like HousingMaps, ApartmentGuide, and Apartments.com to make pre-screening apartments easier and travel sites like my newest discovery (thanks Amy), site59 to make planing a last minute hop up to Seattle to close a deal [hopefully] less expensive.

I ran across some remarkable pictures of rural China here. It’s hard to believe that some of these are even real.

I bought myself a new kitchen gadget for Christmas. It is an electric tea maker that completely automates brewing loose leaf teas. I have always been a big hot tea fan (not the bagged stuff though) but don’t really enjoy the whole “ritual” aspect of it so I drink very little hot tea — except at chinese restaurants where I usually go through two or three pots of it. This new tea maker has made it so easy to brew a good loose leaf tea that I am going through two or three pots of it on most days now. If you enjoy good hot teas then you simply must pick up a TriniTEA electric tea maker.

The only thing that keeps this tea maker from being perfect is the lack of a temperature control; so to make those more delicate green and white teas that can’t stand up to a full boil, you will have to pour 15-20% of the cold water for the batch into the steeping chamber to cool down the heated water a little.

It may be a little expensive for a kitchen appliance but believe me, if you like good hot teas but don’t find the whole hot tea ritual to be very appealing, this tea maker will be well worth the money.