And so it begins

Oran viewed our first potential apartment in Dublin this evening. It has some very firm pros - great decor, not too pricey, parking space, and most importantly owned by a friend of my sister's so we know we're not getting a bum deal. HowEVER, it's on a street best known for its late night kerb crawling activity and less than ideal for my commute to work. What to do...? We are both extremely inexperienced as far as renting in Dublin goes - the market has shifted completely since we last lived there five years ago. Part of me is reluctant to sign up with shady agencies (they're all somewhat shady, no denying it), but if it meant getting a place closer to work... Plus we're up against some pretty tough timelines - I start work on July 9th and am facing into a three hour round trip commute from a sofa bed at my parents' place if we don't have something sorted out by then. Right now we're keeping everything crossed, but as I type the one and only decent rental website is down and I am taking that as a sign.

In the meantime I am planning ticks for some of the boxes on the list below, the first being tomorrow when I embark on my last booze cruise round the canals. The weather is (hopefully) set to stay in its current tropical state, which should make for three hours of bliss. If it rains I'm not sure if I'll have a chance to reschedule - here's hoping the weather and apartment gods get together tonight for a pep talk.