Staring At White Walls With The Gambler

“On a warm summer’s evenin’
On a train bound for nowhere
I met up with the gambler
We were both too tired to sleep
So we took turns a-starin’
Out the window at the darkness
When boredom overtook us
He began to speak

He said, “Son, I’ve made my life
Out of readin’ people’s faces
Knowin’ what the cards were
By the way they held their eyes
So if you don’t mind my sayin’
I can see you’re out of aces
For a taste of your whiskey
I’ll give you some advice”
The Gambler– Kenny Rogers

I walked into an empty apartment and placed a black laundry basket full of stuff on the counter and looked around.

For a moment white appliances, white walls and white carpet were all I could see and then I closed my eyes and tried to figure out how I would paint this blank and somewhat sterile canvas.

Don’t know why, but I thought about one of the men I saw standing in front of Saltgrass. He looked a lot like Kenny Rogers, so much so that I had to restrain myself from telling him “you have to know when to hold ’em…”

There really wasn’t a reason to do it so I kept the thought to myself and made my way to the bar.

Anyway, I don’t know what made me think of him at the apartment other than I was just letting my mind wander.

Possibilities and Opportunities

The funny thing about this change in living arrangements is that I own almost everything I need to stock a home but have almost none of it with me. It didn’t make sense to move everything at once so it didn’t happen.

I stand by the decision because it was the smart and logical thing to do, even if it meant having to spend money buying things I already have.

The net result is that I am going to pay a visit to Ikea and spend a couple of bucks on furniture so that my place doesn’t appear so stark. It ought to be fun driving for an hour to visit the land of Swedish furniture where you can pay $500 to buy a very nice Skuzen and a couple of Farvenugen lamps.

Don’t know if I’ll buy the meatballs this time, I heard they might have a horse meat issue and that concerns me. Would hate to have the Ghost of Seabiscuit haunt me not to mention I don’t want to grow a mane.

Either way the trip is filled with possibilities that lead to opportunities, yeah I like that phrase.

And now for a musical interlude:

Ok, raise your hand if you sing along with this song. C’mon, you know you do.

When my kids were little they used to climb on my back and make me ride around with them to this song. Hmm…maybe those meatballs at the Burbank location had more of an impact upon me than I realized.

Back to Serious Blogging

I looked at about 15 different apartments in about nine different apartment complexes. It didn’t take me long to narrow the field down to a couple of choices, but part of that had more to do with the people that were showing me around than the complex.

Some of them were just sullen, grumpy misanthropes who hadn’t figured out that they would earn more haunting a house than trying to convince people to rent one. When I encountered them I made a point to push through things quickly because I don’t have time to bathe in the negativity they shower the world in.

One place had wonderful management and if the shower head had been situated at a height that was good for me instead of Billy Barty I probably would have grabbed a place there.

But a shower is important and I found a couple of other issues there that made me wonder what other surprises were lurking in the old building.

There was another place that I was ready to submit an application for until they lost their minds with me.

What Does That Mean?

The price I was quote jumped by $125 per month. It was exacerbated by their being under staffed during my second visit. They had one person trying to take care of 18 and that made me wonder.

If this is supposed to be the honeymoon what happens after I sign on the dotted line.

Who knows, maybe it is what they call basheret, meant to be and now this white walled, white applianced home of mine is where I am supposed to be.

Well, I suppose I am going to find out.

But first I have to grab some furniture and do something to add a splash of color to the place.