The visit in Clemson was perfect. I didn't miss out on any visits, and I got to do all the things I had on my list: I watched Metalocalypse with Meg, ate at Waffle House, took pictures at the abandoned mill in Newry, finally hung out with Katie in person, went to Super Taco, spent a good amount of time with Alia, did an Irish Car Bomb with Jeff and Bobby, hung out with Kells, and even got to see Jenn, which I though would be infeasible.

I got to do some unexpected things too, like learn how to brew beer and play with an adorable puppy. I fell totally in love with Bobby and Shelly's dog, Gerty. She was incredibly affectionate, yet well-behaved — she rarely barked and was not yappy. I think when the time comes for me to get another dog, I will look for something in the same vein as a Schnoodle.

I was impressed with Bobby's house too. It was really spacious, with good-sized yards in front and back, not too far from Clemson, and yet it wasn't ridiculously expensive. I've always diverted my father's recommendations that I buy a house, on the assumption that it's too big a committment and I'd be scared to invest so much money in something that might turn out to have all kinds of problems. But a house like Bobby's I could definitely see myself buying. I guess I was misled by the high real estate costs in Puerto Rico. Houses cost much less in the US (or, at least, in the area around Clemson). I saw an ad for a 4-bedroom mobile home for $49,000. Granted, if I were to buy a house I'd aim for something a little nicer than a mobile home, but it still amazes me that you can buy a 4-bedroom home for the cost of a nice car. I was used to thinking that houses start in the $200k range and go up for the really nice ones.

Anyway, with all of those good experiences under my belt, today I finally made the drive over to New Orleans. It wasn't bad, aside from the temperature; I definitely wish I had gotten the A/C fixed. That will be one of the first things I do now that I'm here.

As soon as I arrived, we went over to look at my new apartment; it's huge. I had seen Bryan and Cat's, but it didn't look quite so big with all of their furniture in it. I'm excited. This is going to be awesome.

Many of my friends will already know of my plans to turn the spare room into a ball pit. I think that's just something a guy has to have. When I investigated it, though, I was discouraged by how expensive it would be — filling a 12x12' room with balls 2' deep would cost about $700 for the balls alone. Bobby and Shelly suggested that I build my collection of balls little by little — assuming I'll have friends coming to visit, they could pay for their room and board in balls liberated from their local McDonald's. It was a clever idea, but it would take far too long. And I'm not sure I want used balls anyway. That just doesn't seem sanitary.

I had already started considering other options to minimize cost, like buying a kiddie pool and filling that with balls. I realized that devoting the entire bedroom to that purpose would effectively mean I was paying the additional $150/mo just to have a giant ball pit. Arguably worth it, but I could think of better uses for that money.

Once I got here and actually saw the room, however, I realized that 12x12' is actually really big, and it would make for a ridiculously oversized ball pit. Upon further investigation, however, I realized that the walk-in closet in the spare room is perfect for the task. It's about 6x8' — still quite a good size and capable of comfortably supporting multiple occupants — and it leaves the entire room free for other uses. The door even opens outward, which means I don't have to worry about finding a way to move the balls out of the way to allow the door to open. This is totally happening.

I arrived in Covington at 9pm. Bryan and Cat put their old bed in storage for me, but it was too late to go get it tonight, so I'm staying at their place tonight. Tomorrow we'll go get the bed and I'll start moving in for real. I'm excited. There will, of course, be many pictures.