Why does life have to be so hard?

Wow.. that title is a bit more than I think this post deserves.. but since I'm sitting here freezing my *ss off in Panera at the moment, I'm going to let it slide.

I'm in PA for this week, watching a friend's house. Actually, I'm apartment hunting, but staying at his place was so much more convient than running back and forth from NJ. Plus.. it's probably the ONLY way I'd ever get him to give up the remote control! :) (Not that he's reading this while on vacation.. but yes G, I changed all your TiVo settings )

So why am I having so much trouble finding a place? I don't think I'm being too picky when I say I'd rather stay south of rte 78. Problem is, most of the towns seem to be north of 78 and almost all the apartments I've found are north of the highway. Why you ask do I want to be south? Well, 78 is not a fun highway even when they aren't working on it (which they presently are), and there seem to be a LOT more backroads south of 78 that don't run you through the center of town. As an added bonus, if I ever get off my butt and go to school, I'll probably be in Philly and living south of 78 will cut the commute time.

I think I'm really looking. I've been checking craiglist for the past three weeks (even though I didn't know for sure about the job). I bought two separate Sunday papers yesterday, and went through all the ads. Problem is, no one puts down where the apartments are.. or if they'll take pets. Today, I went out and did some semi-zen driving to get to know the area a bit better. (I've been hanging out in this area for years, but G never lets me drive so I wasn't totally comfortable with it). Now.. I'm sitting in Panera freezing just so I can check the online sites... seems my friend is still in the stone age and uses AOL for his dial up connection.

Well, I think I'll give up for the day... I'm starting to shiver, and I don't think I'll get much more done. I'll be heading back to Jersey on Wednesday for the fingerprinting fiasco (funny thing.. I'll also be printed on Tuesday for my new job.. sigh). From what I understand there are two packages waiting for me. One I know is from my CASP, and the other I'm assuming is from my Spooky SP since I don't recognize the addy, haven't ordered anything lately and I'm not on the RAK list..

ETA: the name my wheel contest will now go till Wednesday, since I'm pretty sure I won't have internet access on Tuesday.