Luxurious Well Appointed Studio Apartment Within Easy Walking Distance to the Beach

That title is what you would see if this were a posting in VRBO or Air BnB.

After looking around the school for a bit it was time to find housing. I had a master key for all housing units, a key to my unit and a general idea of where it was located. Beyond that it was anybody’s guess. We drove to the far end of town and came to a block of five blue buildings and two white trailers that haven’t had a coat of fresh paint since the last supper. The buildings were supposed to be numbered and I was looking for KW 20. The first building we unlocked and entered was unnumbered and someone was in the process of moving out. It’s a duplex with a studio apartment sandwiched between the two units. We entered the studio and it was a wreck. My first thought was whoever ends up in this one is screwed. It was awful and looked like it was being used as a dumping room. We moved on to other buildings looking for KW 20 and a room assigned to the newest teacher. Finally I decided to just try every lock on every unnumbered unit until my individual key worked. Low and behold I get back to the disaster that I felt like someone being punished by god might get and just like that my key worked. At this point those of you who really know me personally know some of things that were said. If you happened to look to the northwest at approximately 3PM CST you would’ve noticed an unusually large mushroom shaped cloud in the atmosphere. I walked in and moved enough “stuff” out of the way that I could actually get inside. Then I went back out to the suburban and started bringing my gear inside. After dumping my bags I headed back to school and worked until five just trying to put off the inevitable.

I started walking “home” at five. After a quick detour to the Native Store to buy a pack of hotdogs, a bag of chips, mustard, a bag of wings and dip I headed towards paradise.

Upon arrival my first order of business was to determine if the refrigerator worked. It was unplugged and sitting in the middle of the kitchen area. Once in position and plugged in I realized it was brand new. It still had the packing tape and transportation packaging inside. A positive sign at last.

My phone had been at one percent while I was walking home. I had plugged it in not long after walking in the door. After what had to be a minimum of thirty minutes I checked it and it was still at one percent but it was showing that it was charging. I gave it another thirty minutes and checked again finally it had moved to eighteen percent. It was after nine pm back home so wanted to talk to my wife before she went to sleep.  I began to search for a signal. I found that if I went outside and held my arm out I could get one bar. I tried a text without luck. I decided to try making a call and it worked. We talked for several minutes before the first dropped call. I called back didn’t get through, tried again and made it. It’s a delicate balance that allows you to hold a signal here. We were able to talk until my phone was again down to one percent. After saying goodbye, I went back to work inside. On reflection I’m not sure well this signal problem is going to workout when it’s minus thirty and I’m standing outside in the wind trying to talk.

A rundown of the luxurious studio apartment. There is a covered porch then a common mud room shared with a neighboring unit. Inside there is, in no particular order, a double bed, a screen, couch, recliner, refrigerator, stove, deep freezer, table with four chairs (table has a broken leg), end table, dresser, writing table and chest that serves as kitchen storage, kitchen sink and cabinets. There is a separate bathroom and laundry area. The toilet is new, the washer and dryer are relatively new. The shower and sink are definitely not new. I’m trying to decide if I want to use the shower or just go bath in the river. I checked the tap water to see if it is potable. Short answer…. It’s not. Although, it could pass for tea on a visual. There is a heater and it works well.

Another bright spot is that the flooring in most of the room has been replaced. However, whoever did the work decided that when they finished laying the floor they were done with everything. Tools, chop-saw, knee pads, hammers, cutters, nails, caulk and extra supplies, scraps, whatever. It’s all still here. That’s part of the reason it looked like a dump room. That and everything was piled up in the middle of the room. I’ve swept enough dirt from here already that we should rise another foot above sea level and I’m not done.

I didn’t bother to unpack last night. At eight o’clock I rolled my sleeping bag out on the bed, crawled in, read for thirty minutes and went to sleep. At five this morning my eyes popped open. I read for thirty minutes and decided it was time to unpack. There are shelves with a small hanger space around my bed. I have completely unpacked at this point arraigned my clothes and taken the time to write this and the previous post. It’s 8:20 AM on a Saturday and I’m going to the school to prep for Monday’s faculty meeting. I have decided I will haul my drinking water from the school. The water fountains there are filtered and I’ve sampled their water. Maybe I’ll even find a way to post this, but I doubt it.

Update: By some miracle I found an old wifi router in a drawer and not only does it work but the service is still on… for now. So currently I have a wifi connection in paradise. I also linked my school IPAD to my Apple ID and can FaceTime with home after 5pm AST.