Current location:	Matilda
Current mood:	cold
Current music:	Jamiroquai - Deeper Underground
Entry tags:	comics, finances, house hunting, matilda, thoughts, work, xkcd

00591: Locked Doors
We've been living here at Matilda for more than five years now. In that time period, she's been quite the home for us and from our humble beginnings with pretty much every room bare to how well-furnished things are now, she's come a long way. Of course now given the break-in and the loss of both our laptop Dizzy and our Sony DSC-H50 camera Shane, things are definitely going to change.

We got new locks installed yesterday - the workers of the small apartment building that we live in came in special just to do the work today. They installed a new door knob provided by the landlady and two new deadbolts that I had purchased after we had discovered the burglary. It took quite an amount of time to get all three new locks installed, aligned and tested to be working properly but it was worth the effort and staying up all day. As much as I hated missing work at such a critical point, it was necessary.

This was the first time we had ever kept the door locked the entire time we were home. Even when Ryan visited, we would quickly re-secure the door once everyone was in and threw all the locks and the chain to boot. There's just no telling what might happen, I guess, and I doubt even our presence at home is going to make any would-be thief less motivated to get into Matilda a second time. When Brian |kitchengod| needed to go to the office to pick up some papers, we made sure to lock everything up again as I was left home. Since I was getting pretty sleepy, I had to eventually retire to the bedroom, but this time I made sure to lock the bedroom door behind me. I cannot remember the last time I had ever needed to do that.

Today we tried to visit a unit being offered for rent at the Windsor Tower right on Legaspi St. in Makati. It's walking distance from both of our offices at this time and even for Ayala and so it might be worth the investment despite it doubling how much we're paying for rent now. I really hope I get a raise soon to help offset the increased costs. Unfortunately, we couldn't get the unit open and have to wait for the broker to ready things tomorrow, but still we're seriously going to start looking around for a place to stay.

I think it's fair to work around a 15k budget in terms of a unit. Anything beyond that seriously starts eating into our savings and prevents us from even saving up to actually buy property. I've love to find a two-bedroom spread but given that kind of a budget, I know we're going to get stuck with a one-bedroom unit, especially if in Makati. Moving to Makati makes sense since we can then eliminate most commuting costs and start walking to and from work along with walking to the mall as opposed to our taxi runs now. When my office eventually moves out of RCBC, it'll just mean added jeepney fare for me and that's still quite manageable.

I just feel bad about the cats. In all scenarios that I can come up with, I know we're going to have to give them up. Anyone interested in getting two Persian cats? We promise to visit often!

So many things to think about. I've even started calling our different services to inquire if they provide service in Makati and what the associated costs are to move. Hopefully all the added requirements and considerations will help keep me distracted from the very real sense of discomfort I now feel in the Pasay City area in general, even more so than before.

Name all the internet references!