The place is in Nashua which, so far, as turned out to be a pretty agreeable city. Sure, I’ve been to Nashua a bunch of times, and I’ve worked there for over a year, but it’s not until you actually live there that you feel like you’re getting to know the layout of the town and where all the important stuff is (I now know where to get crack. You know, if I need it).

Spreading out has been something of a mental hurdle. I have always been a centrally located kind of guy. Even my last apartment could have been considered a single, large room with a wall in the middle of it. Furthermore, when I moved back home I managed to shoehorn all the essentials back into my old room, having to leave only for food and toilet… and bathing. I didn’t forget bathing.

Now I’ve got three floors to share with only one other person and two cats. Yet still, my first instinct was to shove everything into my room. Oh sure, I put the kitchen utensils and stuff in the kitchen, but everything that was once in my room in the past was in my room now.

I had to sit down and think hard about what I could put elsewhere. I take comfort in having most everything I need at hand, and putting any of these items anywhere as remote and distant as downstairs made me nervous.

In the end, I managed to detach myself from my bookcase and my movie collection enough to put them in the shared living area. It was a beneficial arrangement, as now my roommate could borrow movies at her leisure. And, as time has passed, I’ve become comfortable with it.

Wow, how much of a basket case am I?

The basement area is slowly becoming a rec room. It is a task that neither of us has dedicated much time to yet. At the moment, it is more of a storage area, and the uncontested domain of the cats (a place they can run to when they hear the vacuum). I see so much potential for the room, but having the time and resources to realize my wild home design dreams is another issue.

As for working and living with the same person, I’d say it’s no trouble at all. We work in different departments, and when we’re home we go about our own business by ourselves. In fact, we’ve had dinner together more times before we moved in than since. She’s an agreeable girl, neat and considerate; all you could want in a roommate or a coworker. I consider myself very fortunate to have gotten to know her before we became roommates; I am much better off than if I had been forced to take out an ad for a roommate in the paper.