It's my last night in this shithole. Got the key to the new place and I'm moving tomorrow. Pretty amazing that it only took half an hour to pack up everything I have. And yes that is a large bag of dirty clothes to the left. No sense in washing them here, they can't hold anymore mildew.
The Adelaide has been quite an experience. I've met people that I never would have known existed. You know why? Because they keep people like that hidden away from society in dive boarding houses. You're not supposed to see them but for some reason only known to baby jesus, I was not only allowed to witness them but to live like them.
As I filled out the rental transfer (god, I feel like I'm being relieved of duty) today I reminisced aloud..."I'm kind of going to miss the guys at The Adelaide...". The manager said, "They are characters. You'll never meet people like that again." Hmmmm...is that a promise or more of a passive aggressive way of saying that I just spent the last 2 and a half months in a "home" of sorts. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest comes to mind but oddly enough I was more of the cuckoo than most residents here in the scheme of things. The rental manager could have played a convincing Nurse Ratched but I didn't think she would find this as a compliment and I'm not pushing it. Personally I think she is an America hater but that is neither here nor there.
There are little things I'll miss...I can always tell the exact time of day or night it is by the traffic noise on Adelaide Road. And before getting out of bed I always knew if it was a rainy day by the sound of water on the car tires. The amount of sweat on the walls helped determine that as well.
Frank, I'll miss you the most. I know you, Franklin, and the other several hundred rodents living in these dilapidated walls will get along just fine. Within 10 days this place will be boarded up and you'll have the place to yourselves. Well, almost. I'm sure you'll have to share the place with junkie vagrant squatters at times and I'm afraid to report that people like that don't have food, just remember...you have a McDonalds dumpster only a couple of blocks away.
I feel like #7 165 Moxham will be my first "home" in NZ. But I've thought that about the other two places I've lived. Here goes.
