The Flat

I have been the sole inhabitant of an upper flat in Royal Oak since August 2005.
There are pros and cons of flat living that I've discovered upon move in.

Pro's:
1. Flat sounds so much more exciting than upper attic of old house.
2. Makes me sound British instead of cheap.
3. Which brings me to rent. It is not too expensive for me to live within walking distance of coffee shops, bookstores, bars and a farmer's market.
4. Character: It's got charm in a bit run down kind of way. My kitchen is in two parts. If I was any taller than 5'2", I'd hit my head on the doorway leading into the front room.
5. I've got 2 sky-lights and both a living room and a front room to put a desk, and bookshelves.
6. Decorated to suit my taste and since everything is very close together, I'm never more than 4 steps away from anything.
7. Fresh paint and slow addition of art work have added an air of ecelectic taste and maintained a sense of mystery. Guests may wonder, "Does she ever plan on buying a dining room table to give those 4 dining room chairs a sense of purpose?"
8. My neighbors are two girls who live right below me, but I have my own entrance. And they're the best kind of neighbors. They watch out for me, they pick up my mail when I'm gone, and it feels like we're a team over our collective home.
9. In exchange for drive-way parking on their part, they mow the grass.
10. I have my own washer and dryer inside my flat.
11. If something breaks, I call the landlord. Of course he once advised me to glue my kitchen tile back on, rather than repairing it, so I don't call him too often.

Cons
1. Rent- I don't own a home yet. But until I know where jobs and life will take me that's how it goes.
2. The tempeture: It's always blazing hot in the summer even with A/C window units and fans.
But manages to be freezing cold in the winter. Old windows leak air, and thus I freeze. No matter how hot I turn up the thermostat, I'm chilly. Consumer Energy doesn't see it that way, and continue to charge wads of cash so I can be freezing cold, inside the home.
3. The Shower: I think the H/C knob is purely decorative. It doesn't matter what I select, the shower is always burning hot. Even on the lowest heat setting.
4. Ratty carpeting. Thread bare and long ago clean, I did my best to spot clean it and instead bought bright colored area rugs to cover the floor. At least I can take those with me.
5. Storage- Or complete lack of it. I have no area in which to put anything not in immediate use. The only "storage area" is this random black hole in my hall closet. I throw stuff in there and pray a gremlin won't chew my arm off when I go to retreive something. I keep expecting to pull out a Santa Head decoration and see his face half chewed off by a random rodent.
6. When the girls downstairs listen to music I hear it. All of it. I'm sure it's not that loud in there house, but it echos. And they told me upon move in to please let them know if it's ever too loud. It's never that bad, and I can't bring myself to be that guy. That one that comes over and says, "I know you're having a party, but I need you to stop having fun so I can watch PBS and take a nap."

The pro's outweigh the cons, and as I suspected even with its quirks, I enjoy my little home and I'm happy to have it all to myself.