Every day, almost: One

(Pictures are at the end... all out of order.)
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It is almost 7PM. And I have finally settled in to my new home. Sort of. It is HOT. Pff. No air conditioner? What?! It isn’t that bad, really, but it was a bit of a surprise. I spent most of the day walking. Except for the 2 and half hour plane ride. After landing I searched for the shuttle station… lo. It is a few blocks away, down an elevator, up an elevator, and out the doors. It was also very cleverly (unless you are trying to make money) discreet and hidden at the end of the long line of hotel shuttles. But we get on the road and have to go to Midway airport first. I should have gone straight to midway. Anyway. I never get to see much of anything because we take a toll road that has very considerate sound barriers… I didn’t miss much except for suburbia, I think. We finally get into Hyde Park, I’m calling the office to make sure someone is here to let me in… yes. I had two large suitcases, each less than five pounds shy of the fifty-pound limit and one more large duffel bag, probably about 40lbs, too. And my trusty falling apart backpack filled to the brim with last minute books, shoes, sweaters, and godknows what else. Wally, of course.

I get here. Finally someone walks over and lets me in (from the office) and I get to see my little cave. It really is a cave; it is about 1/3 below ground level…. Yay. There is a creepy stairwell that goes down even further to a basement! The house is rather nice, though… a little run down inside, but clean and functional. 4 gas burners plus the oven, a large sink, half dozen cabinets, a little baby fridge. All of this is in the living/dining/bedroom. A nice sized desk with lots of drawers and a hutch with shelves and a light with one outlet plus a corkboard… I’ll take a picture of it:

So. There were a few problems. Like, the doorknob fell off. But while I was out adventuring/getting acquainted, it was replaced. Now. I just discovered that there might be a leak from the flush handle whenever I flush. It’s the industrial type of valve/handle thing, you know, the kind you see in public places. Lastly, the pilot light was off when I came in, but that was also promptly fixed. What’s left. The house in general is cozy, see?

So I went off adventuring. I was Soooo hungry. I didn’t eat all day until about 1230, 1? After the airport, I had to drive back over here and make sure everything was in order, sign paperwork and such, and then finally I ventured on to campus. It really does look like that. It is a very pretty campus; pretty intimidating people were walking around. You know, the super nerdy genius type people that are slightly awkward but obviously know how to deal with academia. It might have just been the hunger talking, but people seem quite nicer in the afternoon. I ate pizza after walking around for quite a while then came back to my little hole. It was super hot in here, probably because I’d been huffing around campus.

I decided, no no, this is too much, showered then went in search of a grocery store. BUT, see, I am currently internetless. So I went out to just look. I found a starbucks… ighgh. Why are they so conveniently placed? And asked the girl where can I find a grocery store? Hyde Park Produce, of course. Yuppyville. There was a CVS next door so I got some basics there like plastic utensils, a mug for 2.99. zatarains! Black beans and rice, bread, ziplock Tupperware things. Then I went to the produce place got sandwich fillings: cheese and protein(chicken), apples, cereal, milk, tea. THEN when I was walking back (about 6 or 8 blocks) I thought, d’oh. I don’t have a microwave, I had been preparing for microwaving my water for tea, microwaving rice, etc. oh. Wrong plan. So now I have stuff to cook and no pots, pans, or microwaves. Oh well, I’ll try that tomorrow afternoon.

So I came back. Sat down for a bit then went out again to look for a campus bookstore that would have a fan. I couldn’t find the bookstore anywhere, maybe there isn’t a bookstore. I did end a bookstore coop. It was AMAZING> they had everything I had looked for in the past and had never been able to find. Whoa. Whoa. It was cool, except I have no fun-book-budget right now. *sigh.

That’s okay! While I went on that adventure I walked through a nice neighborhood and found new little restaurants, another bookstore, grocery places, and general amazingness. Walking! And it is so so pretty. But I am sosososo tired, too. I came home, finally. Exhausted. And hungry. There is a restaurant across the street (did I mention the park neutral ground? It’s a neutral ground, but instead of you know, streetcars, it’s a little walking path and random flower/plant gardens and trees. Gee wiz, I even felt like going for a run it was so inviting. But no. I walked across it and went to the restaurant where I had mozzarella, basil, tomato and chicken sandwich with the most amazing french-fries ever. Thank you lady, she also called me babycheeks or something weird like that.

Did I mention that there was already TP and soap in here when I walked in? nice surprise…. Now I have back up, ‘cause I was prepared!