Re: CHAT: living conditions/conditionally Re: Miscellaneous Nonsense

Jonathan Chang wrote:

> In a message dated 2000/08/18 04:59:58 AM, Matt wrote:
>
> >I lived in an efficiency for a while which was about the size of a
> >walk-in closet.  It had a full-sized sink, but only a midget refrigerator
> >and a hot plate for cooking.
>
>     Sounds like my living situation, except I describe it more like this:
> "a jailcell-sized residential hotel room."
>     In a space approximately 16 feet by 10, I have a bed, a chest of drawers,
I've always wondered about the distribution of this phrase -- "chest of drawers".
My mother uses it, but I've always used "dresser" or "bureau".  Are there any
dialects this is associated with?

> a colour TV (on a nightstand) and a folding table that serves as my desk -
> besides small sink, a snack fridge, and a double burner stove. (I also have
> tons of books and a large music instrument - a custom-made metallophone).
>     Besides the cramped conditions, another down-side is that bathroom
> facilities are shared by the entire floor (about 10-12 people per floor).
>     The advantage: I pay only $222 a month rent (next month is goes up to
> $226) - this is fantastic in the Bay Area (California). My utility bill is
> usually under $10 a month, but phone bill is another matter...
That sounds pretty fantastic anywhere.  Near campus in Austin, the average
rent is around $425, and across the river (several miles from campus), it goes
down to only about $380 or so.  This probably has to do with the nearly
unlimited housing needs of 50k students, but it still seems high.

>     Ever feel like there is something sinisterly banal about phrases like
> "cost of living", "What do you do for a living?", "I do ____ for a
> living...". etc.? Well, even DNA can be patented now... so I guess life
> itself is a commodity...
Well, let's not be hasty.  We don't live in a world purely of spirit, either.
People tried that in the Middle Ages.  It didn't work.

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Tom Wier   |     "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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