When the carpet was new
May. 3rd, 2005 08:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
susandennisI've been trying very hard not to count on the new carpet arriving tomorrow until I actually see carpet installation people in my house. I'm getting very weary of counting on stuff to happen only to find out at the last minute that it didn't. I still haven't seen my hot water heater that was supposed to go in last Friday. My old ugly dirty ceiling fan which was supposed to have been replaced a week ago is still up there. Etc. Etc. Shit happens. I know it. But when I count on something and it doesn't happen, I don't handle it all that well.
So, if the carpet doesn't get installed tomorrow - for whatever reason - I am trying to prevent myself from being crushed. I think I'm under control but I guess we'll see this time tomorrow.
The carpet exchange is kind of a big deal. I mean there's the physical - the light taupe is now a mottled mess of kitty contributions, city dust, 10 years of smoking, and just generally 13 years of living. It's gross.
But, it was there when I bought the place. And I'm a little nostalgic. I bought the place one weekend in January of 1992. The developers had just finished up the building - taking a 100 year old railroad warehouse and turning it into really wonderful condos - each one a little different. I knew when I walked into the building that it was where I wanted to live. The developers rented my unit to me until I could close. I was so sure. And I was right.
I was working at IBM at the time. I had a new job in the IBM building downtown. The building is still there and it still has IBM on a sign outside of it but when I worked there IBM occupied most of the 20 some odd floors. Today, I think they are on about 2 of them. I dressed up every day for work. Hair, makeup, panty hose, formal clothes and heels. Really. Every single day. Generally, I hopped a free bus to work in the mornings but I usually walked home in the afternoons - about a mile - in those heels.
I was in a ridiculous relationship with a guy who lived in Tacoma. He was a newspaper reporter about my age who was a nice guy but deadly dull and he drank way too much and he was a hypochondriac and actually not that healthy anyway. But, when he shut up and was a little sober and not sick or thought he was sick, he gave great sex. Really. Some of the best I ever had. But, I finally had to admit that great sex isn't always worth the cost.
But, I digress. That old carpet reminds me of my early days in Seattle. Roaming around, finding new stuff. Checking out the neighborhood. Checking out the surrounding neighborhoods. Discovering new places, new smells, new tastes. I fell in love with Seattle the minute I got here and I love it still. It's not new any more and it's time for the carpet to go. I'm ready.
So, if the carpet doesn't get installed tomorrow - for whatever reason - I am trying to prevent myself from being crushed. I think I'm under control but I guess we'll see this time tomorrow.
The carpet exchange is kind of a big deal. I mean there's the physical - the light taupe is now a mottled mess of kitty contributions, city dust, 10 years of smoking, and just generally 13 years of living. It's gross.
But, it was there when I bought the place. And I'm a little nostalgic. I bought the place one weekend in January of 1992. The developers had just finished up the building - taking a 100 year old railroad warehouse and turning it into really wonderful condos - each one a little different. I knew when I walked into the building that it was where I wanted to live. The developers rented my unit to me until I could close. I was so sure. And I was right.
I was working at IBM at the time. I had a new job in the IBM building downtown. The building is still there and it still has IBM on a sign outside of it but when I worked there IBM occupied most of the 20 some odd floors. Today, I think they are on about 2 of them. I dressed up every day for work. Hair, makeup, panty hose, formal clothes and heels. Really. Every single day. Generally, I hopped a free bus to work in the mornings but I usually walked home in the afternoons - about a mile - in those heels.
I was in a ridiculous relationship with a guy who lived in Tacoma. He was a newspaper reporter about my age who was a nice guy but deadly dull and he drank way too much and he was a hypochondriac and actually not that healthy anyway. But, when he shut up and was a little sober and not sick or thought he was sick, he gave great sex. Really. Some of the best I ever had. But, I finally had to admit that great sex isn't always worth the cost.
But, I digress. That old carpet reminds me of my early days in Seattle. Roaming around, finding new stuff. Checking out the neighborhood. Checking out the surrounding neighborhoods. Discovering new places, new smells, new tastes. I fell in love with Seattle the minute I got here and I love it still. It's not new any more and it's time for the carpet to go. I'm ready.
