Homefolks Hopeful, Homeful & Homeless

This is the season when all God's Children and all God's Creatures need a home.

Just this morning I saw a Robin with a beak so full of gauze and grass, so focused on gathering nest-building material that she barely hopped away from my wheels as I drove past her on my way out of the neighborhood.  The ants are also busy with fresh mounds of fine, black dirt as they too build and expand their subterranean homes.

Inga, away at the University of Oregon, has been diligently searching, along with 2 other gals for a place to live for their Junior year at the University of Oregon.  Roommate Jasmine has been adding to her elaborate spreadsheet since January, evaluating potential house rentals and apartments.  There are columns for rent price, and a rating scale for space feng shui, kitchen size, laundry availability, building manager's temperament, acceptance of pets (just in case a cute lemur needs a place), vicinity to campus and all other variables the ladies are considering.  In the give-and-take of putting together the ideal matrix among the three girls, Inga lobbied for a close-to-campus priority (along with low rent), while the other two were a bit more swayed by "charm" or curb-appeal as the realtors call it.  Once all the variables were weighted and the columns summed, the they did mange to reach a consensus.

Inga called and said she needed the money to make a deposit by Monday, April 11.  I transferred the funds to her meager account and I received a text message at work Monday afternoon; "I'm housed!" (I am glad that she put that "u" in her message).  A big relief to get that chore put to bed so she can concentrate on all the other moving parts of campus life.

Her new place is 300 yards from her current apartment, so it is right across from campus.  As described, it is more like a small 3 BR house, rather than an apartment.  It is built into a slope, so the complex has two levels, they have the upper level.  By finding a good place for next year early on, they have the complication of still having a lease that goes through September at the old place while their new lease begins in June.  Inga is hopeful that by working with management at the old place that she can sublease to folks who will be in Eugene for an extended environmental conference over the summer.

Grant too needs housing for his upcoming freshman year at the University of Missouri, Columbia.  We were recently updated and informed on the Mizzou housing process a couple weeks ago when we attended a Mizzou information event [see: Connecting Dots & Connecting Stripes; March 2011]. Grant will begin in the dorms, and the dorm he will be assigned depends upon which Freshman Interest Group (FIG) he selects.  Mizzou offers a large variety of FIGs which link incoming freshmen to others of similar interests, and places them in the same dorm and also enrolls them into several of the same classes during their first year; all in an effort to build identity and support during one's first year away at school.

During our introduction the other night, we were told that when it comes to housing, it is based upon your FIG selection, and when it comes to FIG selection, it is first-come-first-serve, and that FIG selection begins with online registration on April 11 at 4 PM (CST).  We were told to be prepared with your top 6 FIGS as thousands will be applying for the 15-20 openings in each FIG, and you will not likely get your 1st choice.  After attending to some other Mizzou business online Saturday evening, I noticed the University web page warned that the server would be down for maintenance on Sunday.  I thought to myself, is it really a smart idea to take down the system 1 day before thousands will rush online to select their FIG?  But hey, what do I know?  They have Ph. D.'s in computer science and information technology out the wazoo at a large university.

I guess they are not concerned.

I texted Grant from work at 3; "R U Ready to sign up for ur FIG at 4?"
He was.
I came home about 6:30, and saw him at the computer; do you have a place to live at Mizzou? I asked.
No, he grunted.  "The system won't let me in."
He was homeless. 
I figured he was going to be sleeping in a big white tent on the quad, port-a-potties on the right for men, on the left for women.
He finally made it to the second screen around 6:40, but the system locked up on him again.  He decided to log out and try from the beginning again.  Still homeless.
After some time, he got a message on the screen: "University of Missouri Website is experiencing technical problems - Please try again in 2 Hours".
We broke for dinner.  After dinner he was able to log in and he was able to get his first choice FIG.
A Home at last. Thank God almighty! Home at last!

Inga has two homes currently.
Grant has finally secured a home in the dorms for the Fall.
Our home will soon be a place for the kids to visit the old homefolks.