Escape from Retardo Land: Cassini moves out

[Cassini90125]

As I mentioned elsewhere, my camera is malfunctioning and needs to be replaced. I had several hundred pictures stored on it; most of them came out fine but the last 70 or so didn't. By a highly irritating coincidence, the date between the last good pic and the unusable pics that followed was two days before moving day. Revolting developement. Most of the unusable pics were of buildings and such, however, and they aren't too likely to have moved much in the past several weeks so as soon as I get a new camera I'll just go out and reshoot them. In the meantime, some of the pics were in good condition, so I thought I'd pass a few of them along.

Ichiban Restaurant:



I haven't dined here yet but their menu looks pretty dang good. The place has a good reputation as well. Not cheap but then again Japanese cuisine seldom is. Next door is one of the two Burger Kings in the area, which is cheap and is slowly killing me.

Across the street from Ichiban:



From the left: A Mi Go Market, Clothiers Warehouse, Monte Alban Mexican Restaurant, Abyssinian Ethiopian Restaurant, Venice Pizza. Like Ichiban, I haven't tried any of these places yet, although Monte Alban is high on my "to do" list. Their menu and Abyssinian's are available online; both are a little pricey but look worth it.

Whitney Pizza:



Best grinders in the area. I particularly like their tuna grinder; the flavor is excellent and they tend to overstuff it, so I'm guaranteed to be full for awhile. They're not expensive and they're open late, too, which considering the odd hours I keep is a definite plus.

The local Sunoco station:



Just down the street from me, open 24/7. Mostly I stop here for snacks and such.

No place like home:



My building. My apartment is on the ground floor, more or less in the middle of the building. The complex consists of three buildings, this one and two more off to the left that are identical. Nice landscaping here; two rabbits, usually seen only at night, inhabit the bushes.

And finally, my apartment:



Five rooms plus a porch, decent maintenance service, and no stupid useless neighbors who drink, argue constantly, play loud music, or set fire to things. The room with the air conditioner is my bedroom, where I'm currently sitting in front of my laptop typing this post and trying to decide what to do about lunch.

Enjoy, and as always feel free to comment.

[Imaginary Light]

Ooh, that's a real pretty place you got there.

[xxxClaire]

Nice place! It looks pretty sweet, dude.

[Lynnie]

That's a nice looking brick building! It's hard to tell without actually being there and inspecting further, but it might actually go back to the 1920s or so judging by the architecture and moldings. I think that's awesome. Looking forward to more when you get your new toy.

[Fomalhaut]

It looks fine! I'd love to live in such a place one day. Oh, and don't forget to tell us about the restaurants when you visit them. (And will you try and photograph the bunnies? )

[koosie]

A nice residence indeed. It has the look of the very best kind of academic accommadation. It is nicely planted too with at least 2 kinds of Hosta and a Rhododendron amongst other things I think.

[Howard]

Beautiful residence Cass! It looks so peaceful; and some of the twon buildings look simple, clean, and not so city-like. To me, leaving "Retardo Land" would be leaving Arizona!

[Cassini90125]

Originally Posted by Imaginary Light

Ooh, that's a real pretty place you got there.

Originally Posted by xxxClaire

Nice place! It looks pretty sweet, dude.

Originally Posted by Howard

Beautiful residence Cass! It looks so peaceful; and some of the twon buildings look simple, clean, and not so city-like. To me, leaving "Retardo Land" would be leaving Arizona!

It's even nicer in person. I was very lucky to find this place.

Originally Posted by koosie

A nice residence indeed. It has the look of the very best kind of academic accommadation. It is nicely planted too with at least 2 kinds of Hosta and a Rhododendron amongst other things I think.

As I've said before, I envy your botanical knowledge. I can identify food crops and some flowers but that's about it.

Originally Posted by Lynnie

That's a nice looking brick building! It's hard to tell without actually being there and inspecting further, but it might actually go back to the 1920s or so judging by the architecture and moldings. I think that's awesome. Looking forward to more when you get your new toy.

I've wanted to ask the landlord about the building's age but I haven't seen him around recently. I looked for a date marker in the foundation but there doesn't seem to be one.

Originally Posted by Fomalhaut

It looks fine! I'd love to live in such a place one day. Oh, and don't forget to tell us about the restaurants when you visit them. (And will you try and photograph the bunnies?)

At some point I might start a thread about dining out so we can all share our restaurant experiences. I'm surprised I haven't done so already, given the fun I had writing restaurant reviews at last year's Con. As for bunny pics, I'm planning on picking up a new camera on Friday so you should see a pic or two of them before long. Oh, their names are Roscoe and Lurlene, by the way.

The area does have a couple of problems; not big ones, but noteworthy nonetheless. The first is vagrants. There are more here than there were in my old area, and it's always the same story; they're trying to get home, do I have any spare change for the bus? Seems that a lot of people here don't plan ahead. One guy who saw me coming out of China House wanted to know if I had any meat in that bag that I could spare. No, I don't, and to all of them, don't ask again; whatever it is, the answer will always be no. Buy your drugs with someone else's money and quit bothering me.

The second problem is that most of the stores I like are farther away than the ones in my old area. It's not really a problem right now; they're open late or are open 24/7 in some cases, and I need the exercise anyway, plus travel time is a non-issue. However, during the summer months and in the worst parts of winter it could be a major inconvenience. Walgreens and the Sunoco station pictured above are close by but the stores I like best, where I've gotten to know the people who work there recently, are a good distance to the south of me. Not sure what to do about this yet.

One last issue is just me being stupid. As I mentioned earlier, Stop and Shop is closer to me now than when I lived in Retardo Land, just in the opposite direction. Before moving day, the only things of interest between me and Stop and Shop were a movie theater and a few businesses of various sorts. Now, there's a McDonalds directly in my path. A Burger King and Wendy's are in the way, too. By the time I get to Stop and Shop, I'm full. Bad, bad Cassini.

[Lynnie]

I've noticed more panhandlers and hitch hikers in the Seattle area than any other city I've lived in/near. They can cause some discomfort for sure. There are three regular panhandlers that like to hang out at a busy intersection I need to cross through when going to my side job. T here's an elderly lady who always smiles and waves at everyone. A middle aged man who always has his face half covered by a hoody, and a young man who tries to entertain everyone with a drum set and a harmonica. He's not real good but I got to respect his effort. Although a part of me is suspicious as to how badly they need help and why can't they take better care of themselves, another part wishes I could help if I had more to spare. I always groan when I approach the intersection and I see one of them standing there, and the light is red.

The hitch hikers are as bad as I imagine they can be anywhere, they're just more plentiful here than I've seen anywhere else. A lot of times when they see you're not going to slow down, they'll flip you the bird as you're passing. Yeah, that really makes me want to stop and pick them up.

[Howard]

Phoenix is REALLY a bad place for panhandling. And these jerks are agressive too. There have been people that have actually gone to fisticuffs with them. Many of them hang around the Phoenix Public Library (which is a beautiful building), in the parking lot. Not too many hitchhikers, unless you are on the many reservations.