Since my last post I've been very busy. I started my new job here, and it's been enjoyable so far. I'm still learning and haven't been asked to do much other than attend meetings, but I think I will enjoy working with the people I will be working with most closely. I expect to get the chance to travel to the Netherlands soon as part of the job, so that should be nice also.
When I'm done with work every day, I try to do something to assemble my apartment. When I first visited the Ikea here, I drove around back and peeked into the dumpster. That was the beginning of a lot of fun for me. I have been back several times since to collect furniture items that had been returned by other Ikea customers. Some stuff is broken sure, but most is only slightly dented or even in perfect condition.
So far I have gathered two matching bookcases, a glass display case, two coffee table-type things, a leather chair, another plastic chair, a mattress, and a futon frame. I've used these to decorate my apartment. The apartment isn't complete, but I think it looks nice so far, so I posted some photos here.
My twin towers:
Bathroom shot -- I like to wake up to the colors of the sunrise:
Living room with chairs and coffee table, and display case:
Another living room shot including tourist maps from several national parks that I visited on my road trip:
I've also started a garden. So far I have five yellow cherry tomato plants that I've planted in five Ikea garbage baskets. I drilled holes in the bottom and filled these with potting soil and blood meal (an organic fertilizer). The plants will get sun for about 7 hours a day for now, so hopefully that will be enough to get them jump started. I realize that it's late for planting tomatoes, but the growing season here is longer than in Boston, where I have harvested cherry tomatoes in October. I expect to be able to harvest into at least November here.
Otherwise I am adjusting to the heat fairly well now. The high temperature is normally 95-100F, so coming from Alaska there was a big difference. I am now able to walk to work in the mornings (sticking mostly to the shady areas) with only a minimal sweat. In the evenings, I take off my shirts and walk home half-naked and do so with a minimal sweat. Without getting naked, I would sweat a lot more, as the temperature is much higher in the evenings than in the mornings.
I mostly leave my air conditioner off during the day while I am gone. The indoor temperature is normally around 90F by the time I arrive home, but is still cooler than the outdoor temperature. The place is small, so it's quick to cool down also.
I have acquired all the necessary ingredients for making chocolate chip cookies, and I plan to make my first batch tonight after I get a suitable tupperware for storing the dough.
I have met several interesting people also. When I was moving into this apartment, the previous tenant was moving out and had hired a moving guy to do the work. The previous tenant was a very nice young guy, a medical doctor who worked in a nearby hospital. The moving guy was also very interesting. While the previous tenant left for a while, the moving guy shared his life story with me. He wasn't always a moving guy. Previously, he was a tow truck driver who risked his life quite frequently. He wasn't even a repo guy, but he had been shot at five times.
To hear him tell the stories, it was of course due to the irrationality of the local drivers here around Houston. I believe him in part, having experienced the completely irrational way the most people drive here. Anyway he advised me on neighborhoods to move to if I ever wanted to live in a not-so-good, but not-so-very-bad part of town. I appreciated that, since I am looking for foreclosed houses with a garage now.
While checking out at a local thrift shop, I met another interesting man. He was telling a cashier that: "People still haven't figured out that TV is a drug. TV is a drug people!" I said, "Amen to that!" We had a short conversation and he gave me some good health tips (most of what I already do -- drinking lots of water, avoiding red meat, cleansing, etc.)
Also the guy who sold me the tomato plants was also pretty interesting. He was a college student who had planted several plants in his parents' back yard including bananas, agave, tomatoes, watermelons, and many types of cactus that he had spliced together in different ways.
