Yes, I know Google is my friend, but I'd rather ask you.

[zeroguy]

Edit: adding context for the new page...

So, does anyone have any advice for apartment hunting? I'm just in the earliest research stage right now. Tried google, craigslist and the good old fashioned yellow pages, but I'm still stuck with the two apartment complexes I already knew about. Not that either of them are bad, I'd just like to know all of my options so I can more easily compare prices and features. So, either I suck at it or there really isn't that much available in the area I'd like to live.

I thought http://www.padmapper.com/ was pretty neat; it overlays the apartment listings on a google map, which I'm surprised isn't more common (or I'm just not aware of it). And just some simple criteria to fiddle with, but I think it works pretty well.

[Syphon the Sun]

You might try Apartment Finder, which often has a paper-version you can get at, say, your local grocery store.

[Wil]

You know what the deciding factor was for me? Gas stove/oven. Almost everywhere I looked, except this place, had electric. WHY? Cooking with gas is so much better.

[LilBee91]

You know what the deciding factor was for me? Gas stove/oven. Almost everywhere I looked, except this place, had electric. WHY? Cooking with gas is so much better.

I love that my apartment as a gas stove. It wasn't a deciding factor, but definitely icing on the cake.

[powerfulcheese04]

I use rent.com to look for apartments.

[Syphon the Sun]

You know what the deciding factor was for me? Gas stove/oven. Almost everywhere I looked, except this place, had electric. WHY? Cooking with gas is so much better.

I agree that cooking with gas is so much better. Unfortunately, I'm still stuck with an electric stove.

My biggest two dealbreakers were: washer/dryer (or, at a minimum, the hookups for it; I will never again live in an apartment where I have to go to the laundromat) and dishwasher.

[Platypi007]

Might want check to see if there are local property management companies that deal in houses/smaller apartment buildings. I'm not sure if it is the norm to have three or four of these in an area or if it is just the combination of state capitol/town with several colleges and a major state university that gave rise to them, but it is how I found the place I've lived for the past four years. (I don't have any hard numbers, but I'd bet that over half of the houses in the city proper of Columbia are rentals.)

The places we have each have websites with listings, you can select apartments, condos, or houses, and they usually have pictures. They don't often have floorplans like the major apartment community sites do, though.

[Luet]

I've had a dishwasher in my current house and my last apartment and I've never used it. Well, I've tried it a couple times but never found it worth it. I'd rather wash dishes by hand (there are only two of us). I use it to store pots and pans.

[Wil]

Yeah, I have a dishwasher and I've only used it once, and it wasn't even full. With just me, I go through dishes slowly and end up using something like all my forks before the dishwasher is even completely full. On top of that, I usually put my dishes in the dishwasher in an almost-clean state anyway, so it's easier to just finish washing them.

The washer and dryer were a must though. I refuse to go to a laundromat to do laundry.

[Young Val]

I lust after a dishwasher.

Yes, there are only two of us, but we cook a LOT. And we both use mis en place which means dozens of little bowls that need washing after every meal in addition to the pots and pans and plates and cups and spoons and on and on and on.

I would love a private washer and dryer as well, since I'm the one who does all the laundry in our house (David empties that cat box and takes out the trash--most other chores we split). But still, having laundry in the basement is still luxurious to me after having to walk to a laundromat in New York. I just HATE having to wait for other people to come get their clothes out of the machines! I set a timer to go off two minutes before the cycle is up so that I can be downstairs ready and waiting to pick up my laundry. IT'S NOT THAT HARD, PEOPLE.

[Jayelle]

I just HATE having to wait for other people to come get their clothes out of the machines! I set a timer to go off two minutes before the cycle is up so that I can be downstairs ready and waiting to pick up my laundry. IT'S NOT THAT HARD, PEOPLE.

AMEN. I have been known to get irrationally extremely angry over laundry room etiquette.




...to the point of emptying the lint tray over wet clothes[/shame]



ETA: oh, and I tend to use Kijiji for apartment hunting. But it depends on the city - some cities tend toward craigslist, some towards kijiji, in my (admittedly Canadian) experience.

[Mich]

Worst laundry room story I've had: It was a Thursday, which is apparently the day to do laundry in my building. I normally get it done on Saturday, but I was going to be out of town and so needed to get this stuff taken care of early. Every machine was taken, including washers and driers. I had managed to nab one by waiting around, and was now waiting to use a drier. There was even an empty machine.

I couldn't get to it, of course, because the lady who had the machine above it was folding her laundry. And not just the laundry out of that machine: she had taken three different machines to do her laundry with, and was taking an article of clothing at a time out of each of them, carefully folding it, and sorting it into one of her three laundry baskets.

I had tried to get in there, squeeze under, but she completely failed to move anything, or even acknowledge my at first silence but then spoken attempts to get to the machine. I just wanted to shove my clothes in and crank it on!

In the end she ended up blocking two other people from getting to washing machines that were also in that area. What a jerk. I want my own machines.

[Luet]

At home laundry > in the building > laundromat. And it took me years to progress to each one.

I had a comforter stolen from a laundromat. And this wasn't some inner-city type place, it was in the middle of the country! I had left it for like 10 minutes to go to the bank (because I trust everyone!) and came back to find it gone. I was so annoyed because I had just gotten a matching set with sheets and now the sheets seemed useless. I felt like bringing the sheets there for them to take as well. I was so mad!

[starlooker]

Oh, God, I want my own washer/dryer. SO badly. Especially with Little Bit on the way. Oh my gosh. I am SICK of shelling out so many stupid quarters every time.

And people leaving their lint trays uncleaned is an especial pet peeve of mine.

[steph]

The only time I have ever used a laundromat was in Florence, Italy.

I've never lived without a dishwasher, either.

Maybe I'm just spoiled?

[Syphon the Sun]

After a 12+ hour workday, I don't really feel like coming home to cook and wash dishes. I only have to run it every few days, but after not having one for years and years and hating washing dishes so much, I love having it.


Have you guys ever seen someone use every single washer or dryer in the laundromat? Every one of them? Who needs 20-25 machines for each (which means they had to have used all the washers before I even got there, or they wouldn't have that many loads to dry, already)?! In the middle of the week? At midnight?

[LilBee91]

My apartment doesn't have a dishwasher, but I'm okay with it. Given how old the place is, any dishwasher it had wouldn't clean anything anyway. I do wish I had a washer/dryer, but my complex has some upstairs so it isn't so bad. Except when people don't unload things in a timely manner. Mergh.

[VelvetElvis]

We have a washer and dryer, but our dishwasher is CRAP.

[zeroguy]

I used to have an electric stove and have gas now... I don't really see what the big difference is. Just that it heats up faster?

Never lived without a dishwasher, and yet the sink still sometimes manages to start to pile up with dishes. I don't even want to think what would happen if I didn't have one.

[Noodle]

I want a gas stove. I dream of a gas stove. I grew up with gas, now I have electric and it works OK, but gas is so much better.

Zero: A gas stove has a TON more precision. It heats up quicker but it also cools off quicker too. You change the temp of a gas burner and it immediately takes effect.

There are downsides to gas though, the stoves themselves are usually more expensive and they require a gas line to the kitchen which isn't always available.

We have a dishwasher and manage to be too lazy to unload it regularly, so our kitchen is often stacked high with dirty dishes.

[Gravity Defier]

I usually put my dishes in the dishwasher in an almost-clean state anyway, so it's easier to just finish washing them.

I noticed this with almost everyone I know who uses one, so I've never bothered with a dishwasher.

Plus, call me crazy but if I have my MP3 player, I'm not really opposed to and even kind of like doing dishes.

[steph]

Gas is definitely superior in responsiveness. I told Brian when we bought the house that I needed a gas stove. He and my dad ran a gas line so that I could have one.

[LilBee91]

What is the correct plural for uterus?

[Jayelle]

Uteri and Uteruses are both correct.

[locke]

I have an excel spreadsheet. in excel, word etc when doing the headers footers, you can have the page number return by typing &[PAGE] I want the page number to return in the text of my cell but that doesn't work. Is there a way to make Excel return the current page number within the text? And a solo cell returning the page number doesn't work, I want one cell to read something like this:

Rust - [pagenumber] - 1

The latter number is a 1-9 series, and that's easy to do. I've got 9 entries per page and I have to do 80 pages and don't feel like changing the typing on the first line of all eighty pages before making the series when I feel like I should just be able to copy and paste and Excel can automate the page number in for me. Any way to do that?

[Luet]

I need some waterproof shoes/boots. Mostly for birdwatching but they might get occasional use at other times. I'd like to keep the price under $50. I can buy online if it's a place with free shipping/returns like zappos in case they don't fit. I'd like them to be comfortable to walk in, since at times there is significant walking involved in addition to sloshing through puddles. That's why the general rubber galoshes don't really seem like the best idea. I've already bought and returned a couple pairs online. I'm not particular on the height and I don't want them TOO warm since I'd like to be able to wear them year round. I guess I should just suck it up and go to the outlets and try on a bunch of pairs, huh? I've gotten too used to online shopping. Also, this isn't the best time of year for rain boots.

[Jayelle]

I'm a fan of the Bogs style boots. They're rubber boots, but they've got the stretchy fabric in the upper part so they fit way more snuggly then regular galoshes. They're more expensive then what you want, but you might be able to find a sale or knock-offs somewhere.

[VelvetElvis]

I think crocs makes some, and they are having sales ALL THE TIME.

[Syphon the Sun]

You can usually get rain boots for ~$15 at a crocs outlet store. My wife seems pretty happy with hers (she uses them in the rain and snow).

[Luet]

Well, for now I got some cute-ish polka dot galoshes at Walmart for $20 that are also fairly comfortable. They will do for the time being and I'll keep my eye out next time I go to the outlets (I've never actually seen a Croc outlet store).

[Caspian]

Okay techie folks.

I am building my first computer from scratch parts. All I need is a fairly basic computer for internetting, but I'd also like it to be my tv. So I want to be able to watch HD video, and I don't need to be able to play high-performance games or anything.

This is what I'm thinking:

CPU: AMD Sempron Sempron 130 2.6GHz Single-Core Processor
Motherboard: ASRock A770DE+ ATX AM3/AM2+/AM2 Motherboard
Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2-667 Memory
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint M8 160GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 5450 512MB Video Card
Case: Apex PC-389-C ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic 300W TFX12V Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-B123L Blu-Ray Reader, DVD/CD Writer
Total price: $303.87

Anybody see something I'm missing? Or something I'm getting that I don't need? Or something I'm getting that is way better or way worse than I actually need? I've never built a computer before and I crave advice and validation.

[Syphon the Sun]

Do you plan to watch cable/over-the-air transmissions on it?

[Caspian]

No.

[Bean_wannabe]

The only problem I can see is the PSU is a little on the low side - have you checked it's powerful enough to run everything?

[zeroguy]

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint M8 160GB 2.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive

Isn't this a laptop drive? Normal desktop drives are 3.5". 5.4k rpm is also the slowest you can buy these days I think, but I assume that's enough to play video off the disk.

A 300W psu is also on the low end, but it's probably fine. However, for a psu, if you guess too low the result can be "stuff breaks" rather than just the computer being slower or "not as good" or whatever. If a 350W supply is only a few dollars more, I mean, why not.