THINGS HAVE HAPPENED!

-- we have internet access! thanks at&t. this almost kind of makes up for my crappy cell phone service a few years ago.

-- our gas service is fully functional, which means we have hot water with which to bathe and wash dishes (as of yesterday afternoon).

-- we got a bed today! and a table and lamp, and other assorted civilizing things from ikea. it was kind of a mess to put together, since it required screwing things without pre-drilled holes and guessing about where certain bars belonged, but it's all set now. it didn't even break when we sat on it. score!

-- all seven kitchen boxes arrived, along with some pots and pans that have already been put to good use. it feels nice to have a citrus juicer and some lemon placemats, along with every essential thing known to humans. thanks mom!

-- we're planning to go on a massive furniture run on saturday morning, where we can hopefully score a few of these things: a sofa, dining table and chairs, a coffee table, some bookshelves, a cheap used tv, maybe even a desk or writing table. if we have to rent a uhaul, fine.

-- a pest control company is coming on tuesday to take care of our various insect problems, and is apparently going to be making monthly "check-up" appearances.

-- we also got a home phone line, but we don't currently have a phone hooked up and i don't remember our number anyway.

an update on the job hunt: it sucks. i've applied to a bunch of places, mostly with technology openings like help desk support or other customer service positions. as far as more immediate things go, i decided to apply for jobs at stores for which i'd like a discount, like the body shop. i'm getting paranoid about not being employed, because i have no idea when i'll get a paycheck for the first time. stressful. a good thing is, since our apartment is slowly becoming more livable, i can devote less time to problems around here and more to finding employment.

our landlord is a bit hilarious. he goes by yossie, which is his hebrew name -- sounds like yoshi, the nintendo kid. he's about fifty years old, i'd guess, and a complete hippy. he teaches at a jewish kindergarten, is a counselor at a holistic drug rehabilitation center, and goes surfing almost every morning in santa monica. yesterday, he called me to talk about the pest control guy, and said, "you're tech savvy, aren't you?" i said yes, because i am arrogant, and he told me he had the pest control number in his phone but didn't know how to get it. basically, he needed me to tell him how to access his recent calls list, while talking to me and driving down the freeway at the same time. after we got the number, he said, "wow. it's so nice to learn something new each day. if i don't learn something every day, i feel kind of like a part of me has died." what can you say to that, other than smothered laughter and "yes, i know what you mean"? nothing, is the answer.

in a little while, joe and i are going to do some more job research. hopefully someone wants to hire me soon -- they should. i know things! come on, bosses. for now, i'm going to search for cheap furniture on craigslist and price sheet sets at target (new sheets!).