[General] Moving Out

I'm moving.  Almost certainly.

I am going to become housemates with my best friend in Guelph.  We've considered this before, and her most recent housemate suddenly evaporated, so now's the time.

I've really enjoyed my apartment and living alone. 

• complete control; things are always exactly as I left them; no mess, no unexpected surprises; everything is to my preference
• privacy; I can do whatever I want and it doesn't matter to anyone
• guests; I can have whoever I like over!
• cleanliness; this also fits under complete control, but cleanliness is to my own standard, or if it isn't, I'm the one responsible
• kitchen; I know what's in my fridge, I know what needs cleaning; I know what doesn't; my counter is as free as I want it; it's all vegan
• quiet; I can focus and have no disturbances, besides the neighbours through the walls, which is minor
• washroom; it's ready for me whenever I need it, and isn't cluttered by weird stuff
• decor; also fits under complete control; I have my posters, and stars, and birds, and maps up

This particular apartment has had some special advantages

• high ceilings, making it possible to practise jodo and kendo and iaido at home
• close to downtown and right next to the Farmers' Market
• spacious living quarters
• buses right next door!

So, why am I moving?

• it can be lonely; having S around the past couple of months has been nice, and before then my best friend came by a lot, but that's not really feasible or reliable.  Loneliness isn't actually a big deal for me any more, but it will be nice having other humans around
• cats!; I'm not prepared to own one myself yet, but she has two!  And the bird and fish that I've pet sat for the past while
• money!; while living alone has been great, it's been expensive.  I could have saved several thousands of dollars over the past 16 months if I had moved in with housemates; let the saving begin now.
• Internet!; I cleverly use my WIND data plan for my home Internet, but with that I only have 10GB/month at full speed.  That's actually enough if I'm being conservative, but I don't always want to be conservative; I want to watch Netflix ad nauseam
• better prospect; my current window looks out at a grey building; the new apartment looks out at a nice lawn an residential houses
• closer to campus!  There are bus stops right outside for each direction, like my current place, but it's 10 minutes closer to campus than my current abode
• her!  She's an awesome friend

I'm aware of a lot of the pitfalls that come with living with friends; I've lived in enough shared housing that I feel comfortable accepting those.  If there are issues with cleaning, I'm willing to just do more of it to meet my standards, etc.  One key aspect I think will be to remember that she's a complete individual who will have different priorities than me, and I cannot expect her to comply with my priorities as I won't subscribe to all of hers.  So, don't blame her for differences, basically.  Just deal with them.

The bed, canopy, stars, and birds

The window, my plants, and dresser

The television and game cupboard, desk, dresser

My friend's piano, comic strips, etc.

The broken futon

My (text)book collection, and jars of strange things (coins)

The hallway! with bike, and sword corner, and maps

Kichen and stuff

It's a bit weird to think that this is the longest I've lived in one place since high school.  Here is a diagram demonstrating this: