phosphene's Profile

Yeah, scrambled eggs and rice is delicious and perfect for using the leftover rice you didnt finish the night before. My family just loads it up with cayenne pepper and/or Tony Chachere's seasoning (they use this by the case). Oh, and figs! It seems like everyone I knew growing up had fig trees and made all kinds of preserves. Since strawberries are harder to grow in that climate a lot of people make fake strawberry jam by flavoring figs. But I don't know if figs are native?

I've sat on a couple UO sofas in the store and they generally seemed sturdy and well made for the price. They are also reasonably comfortable. However, I agree with the previous comment about the fabric. I didn't see this cream color, but the grey (almost all of their furniture fabrics in fact) looked really synthetic... It just had that weird sort of sheen that a cheap itchy sweater would have. Hard to describe but you probably know what I mean. It looks like they really cheap out on the fabric choices although the designs are nice enough.

After having read Barbara Ehrenreich's Nickel and Dimed, I will never, ever use a cleaning agency. There is no guarantee that the owner is paying the people who do the actual work a living wage or providing them with decent working conditions. Seriously, do what it takes to find an independent person to do your cleaning. You know that they are their own boss and that the money you pay is going in their pocket. And in NYC, an excellent house cleaner should be making about $20/hour... 1/3 less than that ridiculous rate of $31.50.

Sigh... I have this same problem. The one room I would like most to have is a beautiful, relaxing bathroom. And this is the one thing it seems hardest to find in a rental in my price range. My bathroom right now is horrible. I too have ugly vinyl over messed up old black and white tile floors. And the vinyl flooring is blue while the wall tiles are still yellow. It's just gross. Sorry I have no advice, but I certainly feel your pain. For my part, I am waiting until I buy. I know I would have to put several thousand dollars into my rental bathroom to see a real improvement, so I am instead going to put that money toward my downpayment for my own place. I hate living with it as it is, but I know I would be kicking myself later if I poured money into a rental, wishing I had the money to put into my own home.

My boyfriend recently got a new puppy. He is crating her at night, taking her out a couple times a night for a bathroom break. Like your puppy, at first she wouldn't stay in there for even a minute without screaming and wailing... We started giving her a Kong stuffed with yogurt or dog biscuits and that would keep her occupied and quiet for 20 minutes... just long enough for us to fall asleep before she started wailing again. So finally (still giving her the Kong too) we put her crate on top of two stacked trunks right beside the bed (you could probably use a table) so she could see us and smell us right nearby. As soon as she would start to scream, bf would reach over and poke his fingers through the wires of the crate just to let her know he was still there and she would quiet down and sleep peacefully through most of the night. We are now gradually moving the crate further from the bed and closer to the floor each night and she seems to be taking this pretty well. Hopefully the crate will soon be back on the ground in the corner where it will stay permanently.

Luckily, the boyfriend is very willing to compromise to let the apartment reflect both of our tastes. I actually don't have a problem with the Star Wars collection in principle but more with how he currently displays it -- All cluttered and crowded onto a few shelves which are never ever dusted. I think he and I have agreed to limit it to one medium sized cabinet/case and then a few smaller pieces spread throughout the apartment. The Ikea option is definitely something we will look into. And the one high shelf idea might work around a part of the room that has higher ceilings. Thanks for all the great suggestions.

- Amanda