Our landlord doesn't allow cats. When Nina moved to Albuquerque she left her cat behind and when she moved here she still couldn't bring him. It's been a point of contention and the resolution has been that, when my lease runs out in January, we would move into a pet-friendly place.

So recently Nina started looking for places going up for rent. She found one that looked good on paper and last night we went to look at it. The landlord ended up being a lady I recognized from the climbing wall at the YMCA, and the current tennant was someone Nina knew from her old job at the coffee shop.

The duplex unit was basically the same in floorplan as our current place, though it lacked the "infinite baffle" wall and was in much better shape. However, it lacked a basement and would probably be too small for all of our stuff. There wasn't really any space for my tools and rocket building, etc.

As we were leaving the landlord mentioned that the other half of the duplex was also going up for rent in a month or so. Fancy that, we were actually hoping to move in in May. So we asked her about it. She offered to show it to us as well. And it was amazing.

A breif rundown of the outstanding features: jacuzzi on the deck, giant back yard with access to and a view of Pueblo Canyon, climbing wall on the walls/ceiling of a storage area, gas grill on the deck, huge kitchen, three bedrooms (though one is a walk-through), master bath with a tub that has air-jets and a separate shower, separate laundry room, tons of storage areas, covered carport for one car, and an awesome landlord.

We were sold instantly. The only problem is that it is understandably expensive. With a monthly rent of $1500, we will probably need a roommate. Which, for a place this huge, is fine. The good news is that we can probably afford it even with just the two of us, since Nina now has her lab job. If we split it evenly between us, I'd be paying $100 less than what I pay now. But paying $500 a piece for this place would be rad. I think we'll take it. I mean, geebus, it has a climbing wall in it.

The major complaints about our current place are that the wiring is ancient (no three-prongers), it is in terrible repair, and they don't allow Nina's cat. This new place is fully rennovated and is very pet-friendly. It solves all of our problems. Speaking of pets, I randomly found out that my network manager here at the lab lives right down the street from us and has six sugar gliders. She off-hand asked if I'd like one of them. She has a number of girls and some fixed males as well. So if she was serious I think I might get Soleil and Noid a boyfriend.

This afternoon I'm going down to the Guads with Carrie to meet Mike, Jake, and Brianna for some caving. We'll keep working on the impact map of Hell's Below, and Sunday I don't know what we'll do. But something...