Settling in Madison
Posted 08-14-2008 at 12:55 PM by Katzztar
After 1 and a half weeks I finally got internet and can post how my bus trip went ....hungry!
I didn't have enough snacks with me.
I thought that most bus stations would have vending machines ...but not for $2 for a bottle of soda!
The 15 hr trip had so many delays and missed transfers that added 5 more hours.
One missed transfer at 3 am meant staying at the old station for 3 hours waiting for the next bus. An attendant told me they were supposed have been out of that building 2 weeks prior. Therefore, they had no vending machines or a restraunt inside. We were told that there was Mcdonald's 3 blocks down.
Why would any sane woman, by herself and in a strange city, walk 3 blocks in a unknown neighborhood at 3 am, in the dark? Was it run-down and crime-infested? I don't know since I've never been to St.Louis, don't know anything about it or its neighborhoods. And walking there before dawn, by myself, is not a smart way to find out. They did sell sodas behind the ticket counter so I did pay $2 for something to drink. Thankfully, I had some cookies in my purse.
But I'm more thankful that the next bus stopped 30 mins later at a McDonalds for a rest stop. After 17 hrs on the bus with last meal was at another Micky D's at 7pm I enjoyed that egg/cheese/sausge McGridle meal to the fullest.
After I finally arrived in Madison, I waited at the station for a contact to bring me apartment keys and then for a taxi. I walked into my new apartment at 9pm Sat 8/2. But I still couldn't rest. I made a trip to Wal-Mart to find something to sleep on and beginings of the basic items; dishes, silverware and comforter. I got coldcuts and bread for sandwiches. I've been sleeping on an air mattress thesecond night. And no, they are not as comfortable as real matresses but better than a pallet on the floor.
I've been to a local thrift store, St. Vincent de Paul's and got a comfy sealy couch, a chair and a dresser plus getting them delivered for under $200. Pretty good deal there. Unfortunately, they didn't have beds. I've not gotten a chance to visit Goodwill to find out if they have beds or at least bed-frames. If they don't then I will have to go online and buy one.
On a different note, I've been at work for a week now and I am settling in there nicely.
However, I am having one complaint against my apartments. I wasn't wearing rose-colored glasses when I came to them. I knew that with the price I was paying they wouldn't be the up-scale type of joint, but more of lower part of middle class. So I didn't have a hernia when I saw that the dark-painted doors have white pain smudges or that a cabinet drawer was slightly off. Those are things I can live with as long as I documented them so I'm not held accountable when I move out. There are plenty of trees outside. I do not hear people in the parking lot working on the boom speakers that fill up the car trunks until the windows rattle with the bass. I'm not talking about the car windows but my apartment windows, upstairs. I am thankfull that it doesn't happen here like it did at the nicer apts back in Texas.
No, my one complaint is the people that live above me. I've been here for one and a half weeks, and I have woken up twice by these people. Once they were playing the music loud, yes you guessed it, amplyfying the bass at 2-3 am. I went up there personally to ask them to turn it down, introducing myself as the new person living below them. Last night at 2:45 they woke me up by jumping, stomping or dropping thing repeatedly. I never got back to sleep until 6am. Then they woke me up by playing the loud boom-da-boom-da-boom bass er I mean music. By then the officed was opened and I called to complain.
You would think after my first visit to ask them to turn down their music, they would figure out, "opps there's someone on first floor under us now, we need to be careful at night" ..nope.
If this continues I'll continue to complain but after the next time, (which will be 3rd disturbance) I'll also call the police for disturbing the peace. After all, in the lease it states no exessive noises, Waking a person up REPEATEDLY will fall under that.
But I hope the upstairs neighbors are merely not used to having someone under them and don't realize how much noise they make in the night and try to be more careful.
Yeah, I lived in apartments lomng enough to know that's a 50/50 chance.
I didn't have enough snacks with me.
I thought that most bus stations would have vending machines ...but not for $2 for a bottle of soda!
The 15 hr trip had so many delays and missed transfers that added 5 more hours.
One missed transfer at 3 am meant staying at the old station for 3 hours waiting for the next bus. An attendant told me they were supposed have been out of that building 2 weeks prior. Therefore, they had no vending machines or a restraunt inside. We were told that there was Mcdonald's 3 blocks down.
Why would any sane woman, by herself and in a strange city, walk 3 blocks in a unknown neighborhood at 3 am, in the dark? Was it run-down and crime-infested? I don't know since I've never been to St.Louis, don't know anything about it or its neighborhoods. And walking there before dawn, by myself, is not a smart way to find out. They did sell sodas behind the ticket counter so I did pay $2 for something to drink. Thankfully, I had some cookies in my purse.
But I'm more thankful that the next bus stopped 30 mins later at a McDonalds for a rest stop. After 17 hrs on the bus with last meal was at another Micky D's at 7pm I enjoyed that egg/cheese/sausge McGridle meal to the fullest.
After I finally arrived in Madison, I waited at the station for a contact to bring me apartment keys and then for a taxi. I walked into my new apartment at 9pm Sat 8/2. But I still couldn't rest. I made a trip to Wal-Mart to find something to sleep on and beginings of the basic items; dishes, silverware and comforter. I got coldcuts and bread for sandwiches. I've been sleeping on an air mattress thesecond night. And no, they are not as comfortable as real matresses but better than a pallet on the floor.
I've been to a local thrift store, St. Vincent de Paul's and got a comfy sealy couch, a chair and a dresser plus getting them delivered for under $200. Pretty good deal there. Unfortunately, they didn't have beds. I've not gotten a chance to visit Goodwill to find out if they have beds or at least bed-frames. If they don't then I will have to go online and buy one.
On a different note, I've been at work for a week now and I am settling in there nicely.
However, I am having one complaint against my apartments. I wasn't wearing rose-colored glasses when I came to them. I knew that with the price I was paying they wouldn't be the up-scale type of joint, but more of lower part of middle class. So I didn't have a hernia when I saw that the dark-painted doors have white pain smudges or that a cabinet drawer was slightly off. Those are things I can live with as long as I documented them so I'm not held accountable when I move out. There are plenty of trees outside. I do not hear people in the parking lot working on the boom speakers that fill up the car trunks until the windows rattle with the bass. I'm not talking about the car windows but my apartment windows, upstairs. I am thankfull that it doesn't happen here like it did at the nicer apts back in Texas.
No, my one complaint is the people that live above me. I've been here for one and a half weeks, and I have woken up twice by these people. Once they were playing the music loud, yes you guessed it, amplyfying the bass at 2-3 am. I went up there personally to ask them to turn it down, introducing myself as the new person living below them. Last night at 2:45 they woke me up by jumping, stomping or dropping thing repeatedly. I never got back to sleep until 6am. Then they woke me up by playing the loud boom-da-boom-da-boom bass er I mean music. By then the officed was opened and I called to complain.
You would think after my first visit to ask them to turn down their music, they would figure out, "opps there's someone on first floor under us now, we need to be careful at night" ..nope.
If this continues I'll continue to complain but after the next time, (which will be 3rd disturbance) I'll also call the police for disturbing the peace. After all, in the lease it states no exessive noises, Waking a person up REPEATEDLY will fall under that.
But I hope the upstairs neighbors are merely not used to having someone under them and don't realize how much noise they make in the night and try to be more careful.
Yeah, I lived in apartments lomng enough to know that's a 50/50 chance.
Total Comments 1
Comments
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hey i posted to ur other post thinking you had not made it to carolina yet. i live here, so if u need directions or anything email me at shoehill@yahoo.com are you working at the walmart now?Posted 08-20-2009 at 09:35 PM by anniehallbransonluver
