The high of my week was watching my older nephew at his baseball game. He has gotten very passionate about baseball in the last year. He put himself on a strict diet and workout routine, only looked at high schools that had good baseball programs, and asked for all sorts of baseball equipment for Christmas. It was fun to see him at his game! He even got to pitch for an inning, which was thrilling. They lost 15-0 (eeks) so he was in sad straits afterward, but I hope I can see more of his games this season.
The low of my week was the saga of the valet trash. And what a saga it has been! Like most apartment complexes these days, we have valet trash. So, all I have to do is set my garbage bag inside the specific container and set the container outside my door. It gets picked up every night, Sunday-Thursday. Well, for the past two weeks, it has not been picked up. Last week, my garbage sat outside for four days before it was finally picked up. When it happened again this week, I called the office and was told that the company they use for valet trash is having staffing issues which requires them to utilize staffing agencies like roumain travail en france and wouldn’t be able to come for… who knows how long. (They couldn’t give me a timeline.) So then, I left a support request with the valet trash company and they said that they weren’t aware of any staffing issues! So now I’m just very confused and unsure about what’s happening. In any event, now I have to take my garbage to the trash compactor at the back of the complex, which entails putting it in my car to take it and driving to the compactor. Ick. (Also, yes, this is very much a first-world problem, but it’s very nice when those are the most difficult part of a week!)
One nagging task I marked off my to-do list was taking pictures of my bedframe and posting them on Facebook Marketplace! My bedframe is up and hopefully it gets sold quickly.
I’m currently reading The Lies I Tell by Julie Clark (thriller) and Lucky Star by Susannah Nix (romance). I’m very much enjoying both!
A podcast episode I enjoyed was COVID-19 Time Capsule from The Girl Next Door Podcast. This was really interesting to listen to, now that we’re almost three years past the original COVID-19 lockdown. They talked about what they were up to in March 2020, the good and bad of the early pandemic days, getting vaccinated, and more. There was something very cathartic about listening to their episode, and reminded me how far we’ve come since 2020.
An Internet find I loved was this Tik Tok of a cat fitting into all kinds of boxes. What a perfect little kitty!
The best money I spent this week was $35 on a mirror to hang above my new key hook shelf. My entryway wall transformation is complete! (Once I hang up the mirror, that is.)
My plans this weekend include nothing much tonight (other than watching episodes of The Traitors Australia because yes, I cannot get enough of this TV show and now I’m watching other versions of it, ha), recording podcast episodes with Bri and having a writing date with Mikaela on Saturday, and attending the knife skills class at Sur La Table with Amber on Sunday. A fun, full weekend where I get to see so many friends. What a delight!
What are your weekend plans?
Your weekend plans sound so great! And I hope you will show us your hallway with the mirror once you put it up.
I am so intrigued by this valet trash issue! First, VALET TRASH SERVICE!!! That sounds amazing. When I lived in an apartment, we had to take our own trash to the dumpster. Is this a service you pay for? Why does the landlord have a different impression of what’s going on than the valet trash service itself? It also totally makes me think about how vital a service trash pickup is. Whew.
Valet trash is the best service, honestly. It seems to be back to normal now, so only a few weeks of inconvenience at least. Apparently, it is NOT something we pay for (a neighbor called the office to ask if we could get a credit on our rent until valet trash was back to normal and she was told we don’t pay for it. I find it very hard to believe our complex offers this service FOR FREE but maybe?!).
That COVID episode of GND was being talked about on a reddit thread (Blogsnark’s Podsnark) and all I could think about is how much I NEVER want to hear it. Ha! I do not have enough distance and honestly wonder if I ever will. I almost think any fiction (tv show, book, podcast) that references the pandemic will be an immediate NO from me.
I have a lot of valet trash questions, too. Is this something you PAY for as part of your rent? Could you ask for a discount since you’re not getting it? I take my cat litter outside every day and I cannot imagine how annoying it would be to have to GET IN MY CAR every time to deal with it.
I tried finding the thread about GND’s COVID episode on Podsnark but couldn’t. Wah! I would have liked to see the discussion. The episode was really interesting to me, but I totally understand not being ready for it.
So, I do not think we pay for valet trash. I thought we did and was going to ask for a credit until the issue got resolved but a neighbor had already asked and was told we don’t pay for it. I just… find it very hard to believe they offer this service for free when it requires an outside company. It’s weird. But it seems to be back to normal now, so that’s a relief!
I was just writing a post about the past three years, so maybe I’ll give that podcast a listen! We have come a long way, that is for sure.
When I was in an apartment, we just had a big chute that you would put garbage in (it was a high rise). And…I don’t know what happened after that! I never thought of it! We only get garbage pickup every second week here, as we have weekly recycling and green bin (kitchen and yard waste) pickup. If we missed a garbage pickup, it would be disastrous!
It is really amazing to think about how far we’ve come from 2020. I was thinking about doing a reflection post, but I think I’m going to pass this year. I feel like I’ve said all I need to say about the pandemic.
Your laundry chute situation reminds me of Friends! Hehehe.
I would be super annoyed with the trash too. Sure, FWP, but a service you pay for and someone is not telling the truth. Ugh, I hope it gets sorted this week.
I love hearing about young people getting passionate about something like your nephew is with baseball! Our friends’ son is like that with basketball, and it’s just… fun to witness! A sign they are growing up, for sure.
My weekend plans were exploring LA then flying home!
My nephew is growing up so much! Every little sign that he’s becoming a tiny adult is really crazy. He’s the first kid I’ve really seen grow from a baby to now a teen and it’s just so fun to watch him grow up!
OK, but when you say “Like most apartment complexes these days,” do you mean… where you are, specifically? Because I have lived in a lot of apartments in my time, and have never, ever heard of valet trash, but WOW THIS SOUNDS AMAZING (if/when it works). Like… damn, that’s a high-class trash service. I’ve always just had to drag my trash to a chute or a trash room or, even worse, all the way to the compacter myself. What a pain! Hope yours is back on track soon.
Maybe this is a Florida thing? Like, it is SO COMMON where I live that I would never even think about living in an apartment complex that doesn’t offer it. It’s been offered by every apartment complex I’ve lived in since my early twenties! I also usually rent from a complex, not a private owner, so that could also be the difference.
I really appreciated the episode on Covid. It’s kind of an awful time to reflect on but overall, I feel like our kids were at ok ages to go through a global pandemic. I am glad they were not in school yet! Their daycare never actually closed although we did keep Paul home for 7 weeks at the start on the recommendation of my rheumatologist. It was tough having my entire pregnancy during the pandemic, though. I might do a post w/ reflections sometime soon!
Our weekend was pretty quiet since the weather wasn’t great. We had a full Saturday morning and then I barely left the house after that – which is not good when you are home with a crazy toddler.
I hope you do a post about your pandemic reflections! I feel like I have written a lot about the pandemic and how it affected me on my blog. Going through pregnancy during a pandemic is definitely a unique experience! It’s hard for me to talk about the pandemic sometimes because it didn’t really affect me much and added a lot of GOOD to my life, like being able to become a full-time remote worker.
OK, I’m with everyone else who was wondering about the valet trash service. That’s amazing – but I have never, ever seen that, in all my years of renting. Huh. The things you learn! I have to take my trash and recycling – both bagged – to the dumpsters in the parking garage under my building. The only challenge is when they miss a day for pick up and then the dumpsters are often overflowing. Also, people are clueless – they put the most non-recyclable things in the recycling. (Cue eye roll…)
There have been so many interesting articles on how we have already blurred our memories of the early pandemic… this is why I am glad I have my daily (or sometimes daily+) emails to my parents. But it’s interesting to try to reconstruct what happened when. Three years ago this week, we were making a rapid shift to all-online learning for “a month”. Ha. Yeah.
This may just be a Florida thing then! Around here, it’s honestly weird for an apartment complex to NOT offer it. Like… I wouldn’t even consider renting from a complex that doesn’t offer it. However, I often rent from property groups/apartment complexes and not private owners, and that may be the difference, too.