I mentioned in a previous blog entry that I’m probably not going to be renewing my lease. When I get my raise, bonus, or tax refund, whichever comes first, I’m going to seriously start looking for a new apartment. Right now, I’m just casually looking for a new place.

This one had me drooling.

I guess I need to figure out what I’m looking for before I start to seriously look for a place.

It absolutely must be Reggie friendly. That means that not only must the property allow small dogs, but the kitchen and bathroom floors should be solid wood, tile, or vinyl. Laminate wood floors don’t typically handle pet accidents. As good as Reggie is, he occasionally has accidents. I don’t mind gating him in the kitchen during the day. That’s where he sleeps now, anyway.

It absolutely must be vermin free. I’ve killed too many mice in this apartment.

Laundry must be readily available. In-unit hookups would be preferable, but in-building is a must. At the same time, in-building must mean that it’s easily accessible. Right now, my apartment has what Josh would call danger stairs, and I’m not going to do that again.

Parking must be readily available. Off-street would be best, but ample on-street would be okay, provided that there are solutions for winters.

I want to be out of the city of Boston.

This is big for me, I’d like to be near the water. I like walking on the beach, and I want to be able to walk Reggie on the beach in the fall. My parents will visit more if I have something close to the beach. Oh, wait…

This is crucial, it has to have a decent kitchen. I can’t handle an electric stove, but an electric oven is okay. The kitchen absolutely must have electrical outlets for things like food processors, mixers, and coffee makers.

It should be well maintained with a landlord who will fix things or allow me to fix things myself.

The bathroom should be larger than a closet.

I’d like something close to the commuter rail, north of Swampscott.

Gas heat

I’d like a neighborhood without annoying ice cream trucks.

Brookline Resident in Finals of Public Radio Talent Quest

Now this is cool enough… But what makes it even cooler is that I used to work with her.

After three and a half hours, I just took the beef brisket out of the oven.

OH

GOD!

This is one succulent piece of beef. It’s literally falling apart.

This was a small piece of meat and really could have come out of the oven 45 minutes ago. But still, it’s amazing.  The layer of fat that people trim before cooking literally fell off the meat when I went to cut it.

Dear Landlord John,

My lease is up in March. I won’t be renewing. You’re lucky if I stay that long.

Love,

Mike

When I was at Whole Foods yesterday, I bought a three inch piece of beef brisket. I really had no idea what I’d do with it, but the tattooed guy at the meat counter was hot, and I had to buy at least a few things from him.

My friend Liz gave me a great recipe that she had, and I’m certainly going to give that a try when I have a bigger piece of brisket. Today, I wanted to experiment.

First, I seasoned the hell out of this thing, leaving the fat right on the brisket. Then I seared all four sides, creating one hell of a stink in my apartment. I’m really surprised that the smoke detector didn’t go off. The brisket went into a baking dish. Without thinking, I ran some water into the skillet I was using to sear the meat. It started steaming and smoking. I should have used wine to deglaze the pan, but that’s okay. Instead, I let the water reduce down with all of the drippings and poured it into the baking dish with a little bit of beef broth. This all got covered with foil and is now sitting in a 275 degree oven. It will remain there until supper time.

I’m thinking about cashing in all of my frequent flyer miles on US Airways and booking myself a nice vacation to a Caribbean island. I just need to work out the cost of the resort.

thoughtful.skeleton
Originally uploaded by impactmatt

I’ve been saying for a few years that I want to get a facial or neck tattoo. This is a bit much, though.  It’s awesome that this guy can get away with tattoo work like that.

Wow.

you.lookin.at.me
Originally uploaded by impactmatt

I have no idea who this guy is. I came across his picture on Flickr.

Hot tattooed guy with piercings and beard… WOOF!

My neurologist just called me. That’s right, she called at 8:00 PM on a Friday night. She was just returning my call from earlier today.

My bloodwork is back. The good news is that my vitamin B12 levels are higher than before, although slightly low. Normal is 240-900, and mine was 230. She says we should monitor it and not start replacement therapy. She also cleared me to stop taking my Rebif.

For the first time in four years, I’m on no injection therapies. None.

This is a happy day for me.

I mentioned before that I had asked my boss for a raise. After all, you don’t get what you don’t ask for.

Last night, I did a little bit of cursory research. I started looking for a job. The intent wasn’t to actually find a new job. Instead, I wanted to know what I was worth in the marketplace. A very quick search showed two jobs that I could walk into today and do with the skills I use on my job today. Both of these were significantly higher paying than what I’m making today.

Earlier this week, my boss told me that our HR department was crunching some numbers to determine what I’m worth in the marketplace. It never hurts to do your own research. So this morning, armed with some good information, I demonstrated what I’m worth. He said it probably wasn’t reasonable to expect my company to jump to the upper part of the range. I can only drool at that kind of money. I told him that I didn’t think it was unreasonable to be making the lower end, though. He didn’t even blink at that.

Lets just see what they come up with.