Blog /Update: Joined Houses, Internetz, Unmanagered, and Landlords

September 21, 2013 00:13 +0000  |  Christina Ripe NCC 6

It's about time that I had an update on what was going on in my life, and now that everything has more-or-less settled down, and I'm trapped on a train full of drunken Brits, I might as well do my best to drown them out with some Daft Punk and spend the time blogging.

The big news of course is that Christina and I finally managed to move in together. We spent a great deal of time and deliberation finding just the right place, but in the end we settled on a beautiful apartment on right on the Ij, the river that flows past Amsterdam Centraal.

The commute for each of us is 15 minutes by bike and a little more than that by tram. The area is beautiful and the building comes with access to an indoor pool, gym, and sauna. Honestly, it's pretty awesome.

Adapting to living with Christina hasn't been as difficult as I'd expected. Only once before have I attempted living with someone like this, and that didn't work out all that well, but Christina and I seem to fit into each other's habits rather nicely. The biggest bit of friction is that she's incessantly clean, and I'm heavy on the wires & technology everywhere. We've managed to work around this though by developing systems and assigning chores for upkeep. She's teaching me to be more um... orderly, and I'm introducing her to the awesomeness that is having a fully wired home.

Speaking of "fully wired", we're set to have optic fiber installed on Tuesday by a company called XS4All. I can expect speeds nearing 100Mb/s, which in non-nerd terms means that while in Canada you could download a 2GB movie in an hour or two, I'll be able to fetch the same file in a few minutes. So. Very. awesome.

Honestly, I'm pretty happy with all this. Being with Christina is easy. While every relationship needs work and dedication, we seem to manage all of that pretty well. Communication is the big win: we talk about everything.

In that same thread, therapy is going really well too. There of course was my not-so-minor revelation a few weeks ago, but now we're working on the cloudiness that I've been dealing with for years. I'm seeing her less often though, as it doesn't feel like I need it as much anymore.

At work, things are a little stagnant, but the work is still reasonably interesting. The problem with my current situation is that there's really no way to advance into management without someone in management packing up and leaving -- something that's not very common with an employer like this one. I could look elsewhere, but as I'm otherwise happy with my work, and given that I don't want to be in the Netherlands much after Christina's PhD is complete, moving just isn't very convenient. On the upside though, I'm volunteering with the company OR, so I'm learning about that process.

I'm also coming home for Christmas(ish). Christina and I will be in Vancouver and Kelowna sometime soon (drop me an email for the details if you're curious about the details).

The only negative so far has been my former landlord. He's been a total ass when it comes to the checkout process and is withholding my damage deposit claiming damage that clearly wasn't there. It's partially my fault for trusting him not to be a dick, but honestly, are there any landlords out there that aren't assholes?. I'll never trust one again, even if they seem to be decent human beings because clearly they will all betray you given the opportunity.

So that's about it. Once the internet connection is installed, we'll be able to have Skype on again, so if you want to say hello, just look for me there. Also, if anyone reading this has a viable alternative to Skype in mind, I'm happy to entertain it :-)

Comments

Noreen
22 Sep 2013, 3:13 a.m.  | 

On the flip side of the coin, my parents were landlords and were screwed over by their tenants more than once (skipping out without paying rent and badly trashing the place). It's too bad that the good tenants and landlords don't get acknowledged. :(

I need to email you about when you're heading back! We might miss each other though.

Christina
25 Sep 2013, 12:18 p.m.  | 

Adapting to living with Christina hasn't been as difficult as I'd expected.

High praise.

Daniel
25 Sep 2013, 12:29 p.m.  | 

:-P

Roy
25 Sep 2013, 4:32 p.m.  | 

Remember that your Dad and Mom were Landlords :-) and the Tenants from hell in Mission who turned the place into a grow Op (yikes). I am pleased things are going well and that you have taken your relationship with Christina to a new level. "Adapting to living with Christina hasn't been as difficult as I'd expected" She must be a Saint!

Cousin Roy

Daniel
25 Sep 2013, 4:47 p.m.  | 

@Roy, oh I know all about the Tenant From Hell in Mission -- I just wish landlords would learn to stop penalising their good tenants for the bad behaviour of their previous ones. At this rate, he's only encouraged me to not worry about keeping the place clean at all. If I'm going to lose the money anyway, I might as well enjoy it.

Roy
15 Oct 2013, 1:36 p.m.  | 

@Daniel, Point taken ; the shared responsibility module is taken to a new level.

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