Making My Home

I have been at my new apartment for almost a month now. I paid the last of my dues and moved in on Friday, the 9th. I live on the third floor and about half an hour from work, which is close to my storage, so I’ve been gradually retrieving stored items each day I return from work.

I went thrift shopping for furniture, but unfortunately, most of what I found were massive antique pieces. There was a good rolling, office chair I was able to buy for $8, but for my desk I ended up resorting to a flat-pack kit which was about $90. Overall, it’s less than I expected to pay for my little office setup. I also bought an air mattress which was meant to be temporary, but it’s surprisingly comfortable.

I haven’t interacted with my neighbors much at all, but I did meet two of them briefly when Amazon lied about a package it delivered. Amazon since replaced the package – lead testing swabs – and I have discovered that basically every surface in this apartment has lead, so that’s great.

Avocadocide

My last avocado sapling was very happy in the south-facing bay windows and had set 6 new, healthy leaves before I naively planted a ginger sprout from the store. Now the sapling’s growth has abruptly stopped and the leaves are slowly yellowing between the veins. At this point I believe the ginger introduced a pathogen, but all I can do now is watch as it progresses. If it dies, I’ll have managed to kill my 3 avocado plants with cold, heat, and disease – I’ve always been a generalist.

Regardless of what happens with the avocados, I’m excited to sprout some moso bamboo seeds I bought. It’s a bit uncertain how well they’ll grow without access to full sunlight, but I plan to supplement with my grow light – yes, I know how large moso bamboo can grow.