This past week, I moved into a house with 3 other guys I
knew from Briercrest. Before that, I was living in a bachelor suite over near
Broadway St, which I had been in for about a year while attending the U of S,
and then living and working here in Saskatoon during the summer. This was not
the worst place I could have found. There was an ice cream shop a block from my
building, you could walk downtown (if you wanted) or to Broadway, where there
was a tea shop, a cheese store, a cupcake place and a music store. It was
generally quiet, though you would hear sirens and concerts from across the city.
But when the opportunity came to move out, I leaped on it. Because overall, the
bachelor life was…well, let’s put it this way…
Here are the top 25 reasons why my new house is better than
my bachelor apartment:
1. It’s a house.
2. There are actual rooms. I can leave my bedroom,
go up the stairs into the kitchen, make breakfast, then take it to the dining
room, eat it, then relax in the living room with a book. In the apartment, this
was one room.
3. I don’t have to clean the entire house when
company comes. If my room’s a mess, I can just close the door and hang out in
another room.
4. I can actually have people over for stuff, like
board games or whatever. My guest list no longer has a max capacity of 3,
limited mainly by the amount of chairs I had. Which also means…
5. I now have more than 3 seating options for
myself.
6. My guitars have their own room (for now).
7. If I want to play guitar, I can crank it up. No
more headphones every time I want to plug in the electric. And I can actually
break out the acoustic without people complaining. Hopefully. I haven’t
actually played when other people are here. But, in theory, they shouldn’t.
8. I have two basements. This may sound a bit
funny, but to get to my room, you must go down a small flight of stairs and into
the first basement. There’s also a bathroom and a small living room where my
guitars are (yes, I’ve taken over the first basement). It’s not a true
basement, but most of it is underground, so it counts. Then there’s the
unfinished, or second basement. That’s where the laundry and storage is. There
may be plans to convert it into a gaming center, but that needs some planning
and such. But still, two basements.
9. I have a backyard.
10.
There can be BBQs in a backyard.
11.
There can also be fires in the backyard. Like in
a fire pit. Not just there. I think that might be arson.
12.
I could even just sit out there in the morning
with a book and a coffee and enjoy the sunrise…if the weather would ever
smarten up.
13.
There’s a kitchen with enough counter space to
prepare meals. That is, if we didn’t have so many appliances.
14.
I have a dishwasher. You have no idea how happy
I was when I saw that I had a dishwasher.
15.
There’s laundry facilities that don’t force me
to spend 11 dollars just to do my laundry for the week. Even if the utility
bill comes out to that, it still feels better than plunking coins.
16.
Speaking of laundry, I no longer have to save
every loonie, toonie and quarter I get. Now I can spend them on Big Macs.
17.
I can stand straight up in the shower when I
wash my hair. The shower head no longer is aimed at my throat.
18.
I generally don’t want to avoid the people who
share my building.
19.
I don’t have to brace myself for people every
time the elevator door opens, because the times I don’t, there’s a person there
I wasn’t expecting, and then I jump, then realize he’s an East Indian, and then
hope he doesn’t think I’m racist. Too much stress.
20.
I can stay home all day and still be socialable.
Roommates are awesome.
21.
Another roommate benefit: internet suddenly
becomes that much cheaper per month. Also, rent. And utilities. Basically,
everything is cheaper.
22.
I don’t have to plan as much if I want to do
something. For example, this evening Ben had a friend visiting and they wanted
to go see Guardians of the Galaxy, and asked if I wanted to go. I said yes.
That was the extent of the planning. Living alone requires actual effort in
setting things up, then someone has to drive somewhere to meet up.
23.
Ben and Carter have Costco memberships. Which
means I have access to a Costco membership. As long as they drag me along.
24.
The temperature is adjustable. In the house, you
can leave the furnace off for very cool, or turn it on and select the
temperature you desire. In the apartment, you can open all the windows, keep
the lights off until ten at night, wear as little clothes as possible, and then
continue to melt because you have zero control over the five floors of rising
heat. I had my heater on for about 3 weeks last year. That’s it.
25.
Did I mention it’s a house?
