Moving On Up

It seems like only yesterday that the moving truck pulled up into my driveway back in Michigan to start my journey of moving to Chicago. Now I have lived here for a year and three months and I am very happy with the decision that I made to move here. Chicago is a great city and I think I have adapted to the way of life here pretty well.

But the last week has been quite hectic. I have been homeless since a week ago Sunday. My roommate and I moved everything out of our place last Sunday. We both share the same philosophy that we want to pack and move in a very short amount of time. Neither of us enjoy living out a boxes for weeks before a move. So we started packing that Saturday morning. All of our worldly belongings went into boxes. By Sunday morning we were almost ready to go. We just had the kitchen to pack and we could start moving. A couple hours later we were all packed and ready to start moving stuff. The only problem is that we couldn't move into our new place until yesterday. So we had to find places to stash our stuff. All of our furniture and boxes of stuff went to a buddy's house about 5 minutes away from the place. So three quick trips with the ten foot U-Haul and that piece was done. But the problem is that is was now already 5pm. It seemed to have taken us a little longer then we had originally planned.

So next to go were truckloads of smaller and more expensive stuff, like the TV, computers, sports memorabilia, golf clubs, and electronics. So we started packing all this stuff into the truck and moving it to the friends apartment that we were staying at for the week. The only issue that we had with this was that by the time that we got everything together and packed into the truck, it was 2:00 a.m. We have a lot of stuff and since this was the stuff that was more valuable, we had to take better care in transporting it. So we headed off in the truck to her place to unload. We pulled down the alley and parked to see the 3 flights of back and forth stairs that we were going to have to carry everything up. So we went to work and buckled down to get this over with. It took about an hour and a half and we were unloaded. Time to go to bed right? We were far from it. Please remember that this is a Sunday night and we both have to work on Monday morning. Our friend had been helping us all day and was pretty much out of gas at that point. So she stayed as we took off back to our place.

We quickly dropped off the truck and got back to the place which was looking like shit. There was random stuff everywhere. We sat and had a smoke to calm down and then got to it again. Everything that was going had to be put in one of two cars. My roommate just got a new car and hasn't donated his old one yet. So all the odds and ends started flying out of the apartment. Curtains, door mat, fixtures, etc. Everything had to go. So we loaded everything up and the whole place was clear. Now it was time to clean, and now it was 5:30 a.m. Our old management company was most likely the worst management company in the city. I will once again remind everyone to not rent an apartment from Kass Management. They are horrible. So we vacuumed, scrubbed and wiped down everything. The cars were packed to the brim and the place was finally empty. But the sun was up. By the time that we were ready to walk out of the place it was 7:30 a.m.

A quick drive back to our friends apartment, relax for 5 minutes, start showering and getting ready for work. I am supposed to be at work at 8:30 in the morning. I finally pulled up at about 9:45 in front of the building. I was exhausted. We had worked for 24 hours straight moving out. I could hardly keep my eyes open. Even though we had been drinking large quantities of coffee and energy drinks all night to keep us going. But it was all gone. Now I had to work a full day. I didn't think I was going to be able to make it. But I think I caught my 36th wind when I nodded off in the car for 30 seconds on the way over. I made it through the day. I worked a full day and was looking to passing out. But my body still wanted to push me. So I was too tired to sleep. I laid down but I would just lay there. Nothing. Finally I fell asleep and got about 4 hours to get me ready for my next day of work.

The move into the new place was a lot more uneventful and took a lot less time. So there isn't a lot that I can mention. But in my next post, from my new apartment, I will recall all of the glorious events that happened at my old apartment which include, police raids, prostitutes, exploding hot water heaters, lying landlords, lots of Jack Daniels and Canadian Club, parties, pre-drinking and beer pong sessions, and 9 days through the longest and coldest stretch of weather in Chicago in the last 100 years, last winter, without gas which included heat, hot water and the stove.

Mens Room Etiquette

So this is something that I should have written about a long time ago. I hate the fact that I have been a ridiculous slacker and have not been updating this thing like I should be. I started thinking about writing this post about two years ago before this blog was even born. The bathroom situations at the radio stations were bad, but not as bad as they have turned out here in Chicago. So please read and enjoy, these are the Do's and Do Not's of Men's Room Etiquette.

Do: Walk into the men's room in a casual fashion and walk to the receptacle of your choice.
Do Not: Burst into the men's room and have your zipper down when you are still more then ten feet from anywhere from that previously mentioned receptacle.

Do: Stand at the urinal and make sure that your aim is accurate.
Do Not: Stand three feet back from the urinal and see the how far you can arch it.

Do: Maintain a stance that promotes privacy for both you and other bathroom dwellers.
Do Not: Stand at the urinal with your pants undone and hovering around mid-thigh. you are no longer in grade school.

Do: Wash Your Hands!
Do Not: Use the bathroom and then just walk out. You are the reason I have to use a paper towel to open the door.

Do: Please Wash Your Hands!
Do Not: Pretend to wash your hands. It takes just as long to pretend to wash your hands as it does to actually wash them.

Do: Feel free to greet someone on the way in or out of the men's room.
Do Not: Stand and the urinal next to me and insist on looking at me and trying to have a conversation with me.

Do: Throw your paper towel in the trash.
Do Not: Throw the paper towel on the floor or in the urinal. We have had major leakage from paper towel jams and if they are on the floor they have been tracked all the way down the hallway.

Do: Retire to the bathroom to let out some exhaust or make a quick phone call.
Do Not: Lean against the wall near me while I am handling my business and talking about the what you and your douche bag friends did last night.

Do: Feel comfortable in the bathroom.
Do Not: Make noises while talking care of your business that make me feel very uncomfortable in the bathroom.

Do: Use the urinal of your choice.
Do Not: Use the buffer urinal if there are three and the end ones are being used. Go into the stall or just wait it out. The buffer is a necessity.

These are all of the rules that I have seen broken already this morning in the office. Will these things ever change?

If you have any good etiquette tips, feel free to leave them in the comments section.