Home Is Where My Laptop Is

It's been over a month since my move to "The Valley", and my period of adjustment has come and gone. As far as living up to my expectations, I'd give this lifestyle change a C-.

I began by cleaning the bathroom and kitchen enough that I was comfortable using them,which is to say it involved a lot of Ajax and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. It doesn't take long before the mess cropped up again, but I've been trying to keep up with it whenever I have spare time.. My TV has been set up in the living room, and I've got my own designated corner of the bedroom for my desk, which holds most of my books/nicknacks and is where Terezi usually lives. I've got to give Chris(and Zane) some props for all of his help during the move, and for putting together my new dresser.

My new job has been pretty much everything I expected. My co-workers are nice enough. It fluctuates regularly between slow as shit and really fucking busy. It's a restaurant/bar so it's much more difficult to keep track of various patrons. My first night I walked full-force into a wall-length window, earning myself a fat lip and a bruised nose. Work hasn't kicked my ass this hard in a long time.
My job takes up most of my time so far(surprise surprise!) and I work nights so that doesn't leave much time to go out.

I do make more money than I did in Prescott, but I hardly notice because

• I have less free time to use said money
• money doesn't go nearly as far down here

Part of it is gas; it takes much longer to get anywhere in the valley as it did in Prescott. The 5-10 minute drive it would take to get to a friends house or work now takes 30-40 minutes, and usually involves a freeway or two. That's not even counting rush-hour traffic.

Most things are also more expensive. It all adds up to less time and money, which compounded with nonstop work and a horrific sore throat made the first few weeks kind of hellish.

So yeah Phoenix is hot and smoggy, traffic sucks, and I get lost nearly every time I go out without a mapquest route. But stangely enough it still feels like home. Phoenix is a big place when I have the time to explore it.  I love the desert, and I've got some awesome people to hang out with. Most of my days consist of work, running, sleep, and interenet. My dear Terezi keeps me sane most nights, the internet beimg my livelihood lately. Once school starts I expect things will get less monotonous.  We'll have to see.