Feng shui designing my home office

With feng shui as my guide, I am attempting to design a quadrant of my apartment into a home office. For the past seven months, I propped my laptop computer on my, err, lap; and while I may still do that, it would be less frequent as I now have a proper desk that I bought yesterday at IKEA.

After assembling the desk today (very easy) and moving existing furniture around to maximize space and comfort (not very easy as I kept changing my mind), I think I'm set for now. I still have some organizing to do (taking clutter off the floor, consolidating multiple bins' and baskets' worth of stuff, buying a floor plant, buying another floor lamp, etc.), but apartment life is much nicer-looking now than yesterday.

Comparing the living room with the office room, here are some pictures (which can be clicked on for a larger view).

BEFORE:





AFTER:

Ikea looms this weekend

As I head south to the family abode this weekend for Mother's Day, I'll stop off en route at Ikea and buy this desk. With a birch enamel color over the particleboard, it will fit in nicely in an area of my to-be home office.

One of the first stories I'll be writing will be an essay comparing the past eight months living in Newburyport versus about two years in Somerville.

I started brewing a story idea earlier today while eating lunch beside the Rowley River in said town, and how the outdoor sounds were eerily quiet until an MBTA train rumbled by. I thought of many afternoons walking around South Boston's Castle Island and hearing and seeing the planes land at Logan across the harbor. Then, my mind shifted to downtown Newburyport and surrendering my senses to the tranquility of mildly moving powerboats on the Merrimack River.

Once complete, I plan to pitch this story to the Boston Globe.

Desk hunting

Last week, I wrote about wanting to buy a writing desk.

Easier written than done.

Over the past few days, I walked into downtown antique and used furniture stores, drove to similar stores in the region, and even checked department stores like Staples and Homegoods.

Everything is either too expensive, too heavy, too many accessories (shelves, drawers, and the like) or not the right color.

On the tip of a former colleague, I'll visit two more places tomorrow that may stock used furniture for what I want. If I can't find anything in my style and price range, I'll wind up buying one of three desks online:

A desk from Staples:


A desk from Target:


Or a desk from Ikea:


Ikea would probably be my choice.

Taking a tip from H.G. Wells

In his classic, "The Time Machine," H.G. Wells writes about a scientist who builds a time machine and travels hundreds of thousands of years into Earth's future.

Wells' hero meets the Eloi and the Morlocks, two human species evolved from different genetics. The Eloi, a pretty species, are the bourgeoisie who spend their days singing and dancing amid the gardens. The Morlocks, an ugly group, are the proletariat who build things and live underground with no distractions.

As I seek a means to maximize an approximate 64 square foot section of my apartment into a home office, I think I'll work like a Morlock. That is, the nearest windows are a good 12 to 14 feet away, adjacent to my now living room and TV. I currently sit on a couch during work; another distraction.

Feng shui dogma dictates that office space should be near windows to extend positive energy. Since I like the outdoors, wouldn't working next to a window be a distraction?

I can always re-arrange things later... but for the time being, I'll find a simple desk and chair that I can sit down at, put my laptop computer on and other paperwork, and do work without the distraction of a TV or window next to me or a couch under my butt.

O Brother, Here Art Thou!

After two years of Canonical printing, I switched faiths and now have a Brother.

When I bought my laptop in June 2006, it came with a free Canon PIXMA MP150 inkjet printer. It continues to work fine, but lately I've grown frustrated by the sheet-feeding mechanism as the final product comes out skewed.

Print job after print job, my resumes and other documents appear angled from header to footer.

I had enough, and drove to Salem today and bought a Brother MFC-465CN with the same printing, copying, and scanning features and the addition of a fax capability. The Brother has flatbed technology, not sheet-fed, so I'm assured the paper output will be aligned.

After some tinkering with settings and an online chat with a Comcast rep, the landline is now configured to ring twice for the fax to receive and five times for the Comcast Digital Voice to pick up.

I won't use the fax often, but as I'm not tied into a work setting these days, it might come in handy.

Hole

Last weekend, Jen moved into the vacant apartment above me, and earlier this week, I noticed a small leak from my kitchen ceiling. Her shower was above it. Coincidence?

I called the landlord and left a message.

A plumber was dispatched, and it was determined her shower drain needed replacement.

So, I have a hole in my kitchen ceiling this weekend:



Allegedly, a carpenter will patch it up on Monday. In the meantime, I hear the plumber tapping away upstairs and I noticed the water is shut off today to a trickle. Grreat, where to take a shower?

Holy therms!

Natural gas is responsible for heating three rooms in my apartment and lighting the stove. I'm billed in the middle of each month, so each statement covers half of one month and half of another.

On November 3, I posted that I turned up the thermostat to 60 degrees for the first time, which led to the increase from 29 days in September-October of 10 therms to 30 days in October-November of 39 therms.

But the timing of Thanksgiving and the past week or two of snowstorms led to higher thermostat readings and more cooking and baking with the stove, so much so that my latest bill, covering 32 days from November-December is for a whopping 157 therms!

Now, I'd budgeted $100 a month for gas heat before moving into this apartment, knowing winter months would be more expensive than summer months, but without even divulging the formulas for calculating gas distribution, delivery, and supply charges, anyone will tell you that 157 therms costs over $100.

Luckily, Keyspan offers a "Balanced Billing plan" which charges a variable rate every month, but usually much lower (or higher) than the monthly actual rate... but for the winter costs, it works out. And as long as I keep to equal to or less than 157 therms in future statements, my budget will remain under $100 a month.

Reducing energy debt

I turned on the heat for the first time today.

I'd managed without heat fairly well, wearing long-sleeves and socks, and bundling in a spare blanket when decked out in front of the TV. (I'd tested it a few weeks ago, to make sure it worked, but that was a 24-hour experiment.) But with the remnants of Hurricane Noel that drenched Cuba and the Bahamas now causing wind and rain chaos up and down Massachusetts' seacoast today, and realizing my nose was feeling cold, I figured I'd turn up the heat.

So, I set the thermostat to 60. I'll keep it there until I find a need to turn it up higher.

Keyspan Energy provides me gas heat for the wall ducts and the kitchen stove; and National Grid provides my electricity, for both the general outlets and also an electric water heater for the bathroom.

In October, (the first full month I've been living here), my gas bill was $18.75 for 10 therms, and my electric bill was $34.99 for 197 kilowatt hours.

I moved here with a budget plan of $100 a month for electricity and gas, so I'm already saving money. Days after sleeping here, I went to Wal-Mart and bought energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs--a 13-watt bulb here, a 25-watt bulb there. Of the three ceiling lamps that came with the apartment, those have dimmers which don't work well withthe spiral compact fluorescent light bulbs so I kept the incandescent 60-watts. But every other wall or floor lamp has a CFL.

And the fact I waited until today to turn up the therms, I'm clearly doing my best to conserve energy and increase revenue.

Counting Cows

Last week while driving around Newburyport with a freelance videographer, I found myself on the side of a road next to a farm with cows. Dave, the video guy, was shooting the cows for several minutes as part of an online video that is being developed at no cost to the city, and my mind wandered from the leaves changing color to the blades of grass blowing in the wind to the four (or was it five?) cows grazing on the hilly pasture.

I bring up the cow tracking as the voice of Adam Duritz filters in the background, while listening to the Counting Crows on iTunes. Crows..cows...


Several weeks ago, I relocated from a 4-bedroom shared apartment in Somerville to my own 1-bedroom apartment here in Newburyport. I'm settling into my new place (hung some framed pictures tonight), and also getting acclimated to city politics and municipal affairs in my fairly recent job in city hall. Due to the workload and change of pace, I've been lax posting on here.

Travel has also taken a tumble. Due to the city hall building open late Thursdays, it closes at noon on Fridays. It's too soon to tell whether I'll join the bandwagon and leave like clockwork every week, but it's fair to presume that on some Fridays, I will get away for a mini vacation somewhere and beat the crowds. Where, who knows. Maybe Maine, or New Brunswick, or the Cape. And with more travel will come more writing gigs.

For now, I'll stay here in the Clipper City and count cows. How many cities can claim to have cows?

Burning down the house

I enjoyed playing neighborhood poker games with Casey and Matt, but living with them was a nightmare. It wasn't so bad that both guys were clinically depressed, but Casey and Matt inadvertently wrecked havoc on the apartment when they failed to take their meds... which was often.

From the first day I moved into my new Woodland Street apartment, I half-expected the guys to clean and make the place somewhat presentable. Instead, I arrived to a pigsty. The kitchen was the worst room, but also the best example of garbage, kitty litter, and cigarette butts thrown on the floor and the table. Moldy pots collected in the sink. It was gross. Thankfully, Casey's girlfriend, a sex kitten named Amy, arrived a few minutes after me and helped me clean up the hellish excuse for a kitchen.

Apartment life slowly got better, which was a godsend during my senior year of college. Casey realized he needed to take his meds to achieve greater success in his classes. Matt eventually joined the bandwagon when he needed a job. Matt also showered, which helped the apartment a lot, as even Casey recognized Matt stunk.

Fast forward 11 years, and I am once again living with three quirky housemates. To my knowledge, none are depressed though a few have mood swings. One girl, a 31-year-old green thumb named Rachel, habitually boils water (or rice or eggs) on the stove and retreats to her room, forgetting she left the stove on. It's amazing how many times I arrive home to a smoke-filled kitchen due to her burning something. Just two hours ago, I walked into the kitchen and saw her pot boiling...but the water had condensed down to a tinkle, so the pot was boiling itself and beginning to smell up the kitchen!

I'm tempted to begin paying for renter's insurance in case she burns the house down.

Burned Quinoa

One of my housemates burned quinoa, which has the most unpleasant smell.

This was no accidental burn. R admits she is forgetful. That doesn't excuse the situation when I arrived home last night to not just the smell of something burning, but I could SEE the smoke!

I yelled her name to come out of her closed room.

She came out, but was clueless why I yelled her name, until she simultaneously saw the smoke too and heard my explanation.

Suffice to say, the 30-year-old never thanked me nor did she try to defeat the odor.

Rather, I awoke this morning to the same pungent smell and simmered vinegar and water, to an even worse odor. Only when I sprayed Febreze odor disinfectant, did the normal room scents return.