The apartment that I live in is located on the "college" side of town, meaning that it is in western Tallahassee in proximity to Florida State University (FSU), historically black¹ Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) and Tallahassee Community College (TCC). Originally when I was moving to town, I had selected an apartment complex on the east side of town as being further away from campus life was a strong selling point. But when the "Palms of Apalachee" turned out to be the perfect exemplification of the type of place I would never want to live, I decided to part with my application fee and deposit and move on.

That decision, as it turns out, was one of the best ones I have ever made. My small apartment complex while near to the heart of university life in Tallahassee, remains a quiet, wooded and perfectly situated community.

After spending the Sunday before Labour Day at Brothers with my friend Pam, I asked her about the place — how much is rent, are the neighbouring tenants rowdy college kids and most importantly, are there any openings? Just under one hour after that conversation, I had verbally contracted a one-year lease on a two bedroom, one bathroom unit in a building adjacent to Pam.

Most people think my balcony is the best single stand-out attribute of my place. It is quite large and private, a result of the large oak tree that sits between my building and Pam's. That tree was a selling point, itself. My electricity bills have been far lower than I expected.

I have already had work done on the place to improve some of the features, such as a new bathroom sink with a counter and top to follow in the near future. The dishwasher does not work so well, but I do not even use it. One person in an apartment does make for a practical dishwasher user. I cannot use dishes fast enough to justify not having access to dishes in the washer for weeks at a time. And given things will start to grow and fester in there if the stuff is not cleaned ahead of time, I have elected to just hand wash everything.

I have had my windows open for several weeks now, with the exception of a few nights where Tallahassee experienced record lows (~34° F). The gentle breeze that makes it way through the unit is refreshing. Popular Ocala Road does add to the noise factor I was trying to avoid, but at least it is not bass-pounding music and obnoxious frat boy parties. Besides, my bedroom is on the inside of the apartment and away from the street side and I can hardly hear the road when the doors and windows are closed. I do enjoy listening to the Godby High School band practice and can often hear their sports teams practice and games.

I am getting ready to head to the store to pick-up some Coke and pretzels to bring along with me to my neighbour's place where a group of people are going to watch the last home game for the FSU football team. Tomorrow, I am expecting my mother and Ross to drop in to town. With them they are bringing my cat Russ to live with me while they RV travel the country for two months. It will be nice to see her again and have her hang out with me for a while.


¹ I say "historically black" as a jab to the media who always try to stick that line in any story covering FAMU. Even when that particular fact is of little or no relevance to the story.