The Blogg

March 28, 2006

Ugh, More Decisions

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 12:27 am

I believe Rachel and I have finally decided on a place to live. After considering all of our options, it seemed that the Valley Park East apartments are the best fit to our needs and financial ability. I have our applications sitting in front of me, and intend to deliver them tomorrow. Then we just have to wait for them to determine that we are not criminals, and we can put this behind us.

However, I now have another difficult decision to make, one that may have much more far-reaching consequences. I have been working for the past two years as a Research Assistant for Dr. Hank Korth, developing a framework for distributed, heterogeneous database interaction. Around this time last year I became aware of the fact that I was much less interested in this project than in several other topics I had been studying in my courses. I spoke to Dr. Korth about this, and we agreed that it would be best for both of us if I were to find a new advisor and research project starting next year.

I have now reached the point where I must identify such an advisor and project, and I am quite unsure of what I would like to do. The decision extends beyond the scope of the few years I might work on another project; this would also be the area in which I eventually write my dissertation. From that would generally follow the research that I would continue throughout my professional career if I were to be granted a professorship in the future.

My area of interest is in a sub-field of artificial intelligence known as machine learning. The basic premise of this field is that we should be able to develop computer programs that “learn” in much the same way as humans. Such a program could recognize mistakes and avoid repeating them in the future, notice patterns that assist in decision making, and so on as we do on a regular basis. This theory has been used in many applications, including recognizing printed characters in a picture, determining what items in a grocery store should be placed in proximity to each other, separating useful web pages from advertisements, and developing winning strategies in computer games. At Lehigh we do not have anyone doing active research in the theory of machine learning, but there are professors working on each of these four applications.

My intention for some time has been to work with Dr. Brian Davison on the third application, increasing the accuracy of search results on the World Wide Web and similar services. It was in this context that I first studied machine learning techniques (although I had already written a program using some crude methods without knowing the theory). Since that time, I have continued to study this area through courses and in my spare time. However, Dr. Davison does not have guaranteed funding to support an additional research assistant. He is waiting to receive responses from several funding proposals, but cannot make any guarantees. However, there is a part-time position supporting high-performance computing for the University that, if I were to get the job, would allow me to work on my research with Dr. Davison. If I chose to try to work with Dr. Davison and none of these funding options came through, I would be forced to drop out of school and work for a few years.

An opening has recently become available to work with a different professor, Dr. Hector Munoz-Avila, on the application of strategy in computer games. I have much less experience in this area, but I find it intriguing as well. Furthermore, Dr. Munoz-Avila is able to guarantee me funding for the conceivable future. Although I had not thought much about this application of the machine learning theory that interests me, I became interested in computer science because of this very application. In fact, the game with which I would be working for this research grant is an offshoot of Civilization II, which is easily my favorite of all computer games I have ever played. Dr. Munoz-Avila has expressed great interest in working with me, so I believe it is likely that I would be given this job if I applied for it.

I have a much stronger background in the type of work that Dr. Davison does, which would allow me to do more effective work and have a better chance of graduating around the same time that Rachel will be finished medical school. However, spending 20 hours each week working for the University rather than on dissertation-related research would slow me down. I am unsure which of these effects would be stronger.

I know that the topic of Dr. Davison’s work is well-respected in the general computer science community, and I do not believe that a dissertation in this area would be detrimental to my ability to secure an academic job after graduation. I have a suspicion that research related to games may be unfairly considered by some academics to be of secondary importance, or to associate the topic with people who would be better suited to industry than the classroom. However, I do not know to what extent this is really true. I believe that both applications will continue to be relevant far into the future, and I believe that I will continue to be interested in both applications throughout my career. Moreover, I intend to focus on the theory to such an extent that my knowledge will (hopefully) be reasonably transferrable from one application to another.

And, of course, there are more immediate issues as well. I have gotten to know Dr. Davison well and greatly respect him as an academic and a person. Although I have taken a course with Dr. Munoz-Avila, I have had little individual interaction with him. Therefore, I do not know how well we would work together. Dr. Davison has three returning assistants, all of whom I know moderately well. Dr. Munoz-Avila has 5 or 6 students, only 2 of which I know at all. Dr. Davison has a spacious and comfortable lab in which to work. Dr. Muzon-Avila has a crowded and poorly air conditioned room. Dr. Davison and especially the University job would allow me to continue learning how to use UNIX computer systems, while work on games generally necessitates Windows.

I have been wisely counseled to make a decision based on long-term effects, but I cannot help but consider these things as well. At this point, I am really quite undecided. This seems like a choice between two different but equally good outcomes. I really do not have time to think about this between the rapidly approaching end of semester deadlines and wedding planning, but a decision must be made quite soon. So, who has the comment that will push me one way or the other?

March 20, 2006

Choice vs. Life, where shall I be pro- ?

Filed under: Politics — chadhogg @ 3:58 pm

Here I am, minding my own business, innocently trying to get work done when BAM, a distraction hits me in the face. In this case, one of my friends is writing a paper on the ethics involved in taking a side in the debate over abortion. Given that my position is far too complicated to explain in a few sentences, I had no choice but to stop my work and write this, right?

I generally take a minimalist approach to law and order. I firmly believe that it is neither the responsibility nor the right of democratic government to legislate the morality of its citizens. Rather, the responsibility of government is to prevent the violation of a citizen’s rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness by other citizens or outside forces. Some people might consider the issue of abortion to be a question of the former type, but I think it lies solely in the latter realm.

The issue at hand, in the most general sense, is whether or not it should be legal for a woman to take action intended to prevent their pregnancy from resulting in a birth. The pro-choice argument is essentially that an unborn fetus is a part of the woman who carries it, and thus that she should be able to do what she wishes with her body. The pro-life argument is essentially that an unborn fetus is a distinct human being, and thus that preventing its birth would be tantamount to murder.

Both of these positions are of the form “x is true, therefore y is true”. I think most pro-life people would agree that a woman should be able to do what she wishes with her body, and that most pro-choice people would agree that it should be illegal to deliberately cause the death of a human being. The difference of opinion, then, is not with the conclusion nor the logical structure, but with the premise, the “x” of the argument.

So if we could determine whether an unborn fetus is a part of the mother or an independent human life, we could mostly agree on the conclusion that must be drawn from such a determination. Unfortunately, this is quite a difficult question. The complete process of human life for most people might be considered to start at the separate sperm and egg cells, to continue to the single combined cell, to the implanted combined cell, to the embryo, the fetus, the baby, the child, and finally to an adult.

Clearly, an individual egg does not count as a human life. Otherwise, it would be murder to not at least attempt conception each cycle. Similarly, an adult is obviously a human life. Otherwise, it would be permissible to extinguish life from arbitrary persons at any time. For the intermediate stages, this is a more difficult question to answer. I think the vast majority of people would agree that babies and children constitute human life, but it is possible to imagine a worldview in which a child is not considered a person until they have reached an age of majority.

The debate over abortion relates to those stages that occur between conception and birth. Many people have their own opinions about when exactly a combination of biomatter becomes a person. Some have even used scientific or theological arguments to back up their positions. But I cannot see how anyone could have knowledge of where this line lays. I certainly have no recollection of my pre-childhood, and I cannot think of any type of medical evidence that could convince me either way.

Because of this uncertainty, neither allowing nor disallowing abortions is absolutely appropriate to me. Regardless of which side I choose, there is a chance I am wrong. And regardless of which choice I made, the consequences of being wrong affect the rights of certain people. If I choose to ban abortions and I am wrong, then I have needlessly taken away a woman’s right to decide what to do with her own body. If I choose to allow abortions and I am wrong, then I have needlessly taken away every right the unborn child has.

So mathematically, it would seem appropriate to weight each action by the probability that it is wrong and the cost of making that wrong decision, then choose the action that is less risky. I cannot claim to have the slightest idea what the probabilities are that either choice is correct. I can, however, make an approximation of the relative costs of the wrong decision. Suppose we take one of them, the cost of needlessly taking a woman’s rights, and assign it a unit value of 1. Now we need to determine how the cost of taking a life rates against that. I would like to say that the value of life is incomparable to anything else, but we know this is not true. Nevertheless, consider that an aborted fetus will never have the right to choose whether or not to have an abortion! Joking aside, the most fundamental right to a person, according to the US Declaration of Independence, is that of life. Thus the cost of taking a life and with it all rights and choices must be very, very high. Therefore, I feel that my stance on this matter MUST be pro-life.

To break the tension of a serious post, here’s a great quote about the difficulty of giving a number for something that is valued very highly:

“Lois may be worth a million dollars to you, but to me, she’s worthless. I love her, Mr. Pewterschmidt.”

There may be people who would agree with my analysis thusfar, but disagree with my conclusion for one of several reasons that I will discuss below.

“What if the pregnancy is a result of rape?” Presumably the underlying concern here is that giving birth to a child conceived in this manner may be extremely emotionally painful for the mother, and that is quite a legitimate concern. But we must again look at the cost analysis. As painful as it might be for the mother to have this experience, I do not feel that such wrong outweighs the wrong of taking an innocent life. The mother certainly does not need to be responsible for raising the child and living with a constant reminder of what happened to her, but she does not gain the right to (potentially) kill to prevent her own suffering.

“What if an abortion would save the mother’s life?” This is more complicated still, as it involves death if a wrong choice is made regardless of what that choice is. Does the law allow a person to kill another innocent person to preserve their own life? Generally, no. But this is certainly an area in which I could envision myself being persuaded that such a thing might be best for all people.

“What if the child would be poor and disadvantaged?” First, adoption is always an option to remove a child from such a situation. But if you took a survey of people who grew up in poor homes asking whether they would prefer to have never existed, I don’t think you would find many affirmatives. Even if many people did wish they had been aborted, that doesn’t allow us to make the choice for someone else.

“What if the child would have some debilitating disease?” As above, I think people should have the choice of whether or not they would like to live with a disease, rather than someone else making this decision for them. Even if a child is predicted to live only a few months, I cannot look at a decision to spare the child this pain by killing them and call it compassion.

“But if it isn’t legal, won’t people just do it unsafely?” This is quite a legitimate concern. As we have been discussing, it is necessary to weigh the cost of banning abortion ( the death of women who attempt illegal abortions ) against the cost of allowing abortion ( the death of children who are aborted ). I am not sure which way this goes, but I think a government can outlaw abortions and make contraception, pre-natal care, and adoption available to all people without being irresponsible.

So there is my opinion on the matter. I know of at least one person who disagrees with my fundamental point, that the personhood of a fetus would imply that its life should be preserved. I would welcome any other opinions, insights, etc.

March 19, 2006

A Taxonomy Of Religious Belief

Filed under: Religion — chadhogg @ 4:04 pm

In response to my On “The Essentials” of Christianity post, one of my good friends from Bethlehem wrote a post in his own blog discussing his own religious beliefs. This is partially a response to him, although I have been meaning to write something similar for some time.

Matt writes:

Now I was raised to be a good christian moravian, but I find myself lacking … for lack of a better word “faith.” [...] You could of course argue that this makes me an atheist at worst or an agnostic at best. But honestly I don’t feel like either of those things describe better than christian. The church in aggregate is a fine orginization that believes in helping people and I don’t have it in me to tell them that the fundamentals of their faith is wrong. [...]

This begs the question, of course, of what “faith” really means. In the Christian Bible, the author of Hebrews 11:1 writes that “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Merriam-Webster gives a number of definitions, but I find the most useful to be 2b(1): “firm belief in something for which there is no proof.” Having discussed this with Matt, I think what he means by a lack of faith is that he has no particular belief in the supernatural things generally associated with Christianity — the existence of God, an afterlife, etc.

On this point, I must disagree with Matt. In my opinion, if he does not hold these beliefs to be true, then “Christian” is simply not an appropriate term to describe his religion. To me, religion is nothing more and nothing less than a set of beliefs about the supernatural. It is true that religions often involve submission to some higher authority that dictates a moral code. Furthermore, this moral code often includes a call to love and assist their fellow man. However, these moral code is a side effect of religion, not the religion itself. Otherwise, are organizations such as the Lion’s Clubs and Kiwanis religions? Their members share a common moral code and work through the organization to help people, but they are not religions.

To clarify what I think about religion as a set of beliefs about the supernatural, I have created a bit of a taxonomy of religious belief. A few of the terms here are of my own invention, but I hope they will be useful. I am hardly an expert on religion, particularly those other than my own, so I will gladly accept feedback if any reader believes their religion is not represented or is misrepresented. Of course, I cannot hope to include every religious system, but I hope to organize all of the most common ones. The idea is that each person should be able to find a node in this tree that they identify with, and both that node and every node above it should characterize their beliefs.

  • Atheism is the specific and firm belief that no supernatural beings exist.
  • Agnosticism is an uncertainty about the existence of supernatural beings.
    • Hard Agnosticism is a belief that it is not possible to know anything about the existence of supernatural beings.
    • Soft Agnosticism is a belief that it is not worthwhile to know anything about the existence of supernatural beings.
      • Cultural Theism is a bit of a misnomer. I use this term to refer to people who associate themselves with some particular theistic religion despite a lack of interest in the supernatural beliefs that define that religion. Rather, cultural theists are attracted to a theistic religion because of societal pressure, a desire for community, appreciation of the religion’s contributions to music or general culture, a desire for moral guidance, or other such reasons.
  • Theism is the belief that one or more supernatural beings do exist.
    • Monotheism is the belief in the existence of a single supernatural being or one most significant supernatural being referred to as a god or deity.
      • Abrahamic religions are those that believe in a deity known as God, Allah, YHWH, or by other names, who created the Universe and whose early exploits are chronicled in the text known as the Old Testament to Christians.
        • Judaism is the belief that that God made a covenant with the ancestors of Abraham through his son Issac and that the men Jesus and Muhammed did not have the significance attributed to them by Christianity and Islam, respectively.
        • Christianity is the belief that a man named Jesus was the fulfillment of a promise to the Jewish people, that he was both God and human, and that he died after leading a sinless life to pay the price required for the sins of mankind.
        • Islam is the belief that God’s promise to Abraham was fulfilled through the descendants of his son Ishmael, and that the man Muhammed was the last prophet of God.
      • Hinduism is the belief in an impersonal supreme deity who requires souls to progress their way through multiple lives, doing good works.
      • Deism is the belief in a deity who created the Universe but does not interact with it in any way.
    • Polytheism is the belief in the existence of multiple supernatural beings of roughly equal importance.
      • Buddhism is a belief that supernatural beings are just one of many stages of life and consciousness that a soul might experience on its journey to find Nirvana.
    • Universalism / Unitarianism is the belief that all religious beliefs are equally valid.
    • Pantheism is the belief that the supernatural is contained within all things.

I have ended up rather dissatisfied with this entire post, but suppose I will publish it in its current form anyway. I’ve put too much time into it to just throw it away. My primary point, however, is that moral convictions, cultural traditions, and the like do not make a religion. Religion, at least in my life, is defined by the beliefs one holds rather than the actions they take, even though one is typically a result of the other.

March 17, 2006

I Am An Addict

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 5:24 pm

Now that I have become fully immersed in the blogging culture, I crave your comments like a drowning man craves air.  Ok, maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration.  At any rate, I check the site religiously to see whether or not any new comments have been posted.

Therefore, I am sponsoring a friendly competition among my few but proud readers.  You can read all about it here.  Good luck to all!

I Need Motivation

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 4:07 pm

I’d be more apathetic if I weren’t so lethargic.

It seems I have a terrible case of what I call “conditional laziness”. To demonstrate, let me describe my week to you.

From Monday through Wednesday I was working on a long-term project in which I have much interest. During this time I frequently was in my lab from 10:00 am until 3:00 am, and actually working the vast majority of the time. One night I even slept on the floor of the lab so I could be sure of making it to an early morning meeting despite my late night work. I am quite pleased with what I accomplished during these three days, and it didn’t bother me at all to concentrate so exclusively on this project.

I spent most of Thursday working on a homework assignment that was due this morning. I had no interest in the topic of this assignment, but it was something short-term that I could clearly finish and be done with at the end of the day.

Today I absolutely must work on my funded research. Unfortunately, this is a very long-running project with no forseeable end or even significant milestones in sight. Further, it is a topic that I have minimal interest in, and what I am doing is really quite difficult compared to any other task I have ever worked on. Aside from the necessity of earning my pay, I really do have a desire to do a good job with this. I feel very fortunate and grateful to my advisor for supporting me through this, but I just can’t seem to be interested in it. In contrast to my industriousness over the last four days, I haven’t really accomplished anything yet today, and it is 4:00. Here is an example list of things more interesting than working on my research:

  • Working on my other project
  • Reading non-required sections of my textbooks
  • Checking my email
  • Writing a blog entry
  • Checking to see if anyone commented on my blog
  • Checking to see if anyone responded to my comments on Chris’s blog
  • Reading a random Wikipedia article
  • Playing a game of Freecell
  • Eating a snack
  • Taking a walk
  • Reviewing my housing options
  • Reading my IRC logs
  • Thinking of other blog entries
  • Re-organizing my media files
  • Cleaning up my desk
  • Checking to see if there is a new Slashdot article
  • Taking a nap
  • …

If you can help me concentrate, please let me know.

March 13, 2006

The Most Interesting Talk Ever

Filed under: Personal,Religion — chadhogg @ 12:32 am

In my life I’ve had occasion to hear quite a few people speak publicly.  I have both listened to and slept through countless lectures, sermons, speeches, and memoires in various venues.  But in all that time I do not think I have ever been quite so educated, entertained, and moved as I was last night, when I attended a talk by Don Smarto that was a bit of each.  It is certainly possible that the 2 hours of sleep I had gotten in the previous 48 hours had something to do with it, but I would most highly recommend that anyone who has the opportunity go hear him.

March 11, 2006

Myth #1: Christians Are Hypocrites

Filed under: Religion — chadhogg @ 11:13 am

One of my goals in this website was to discuss and either verify or refute the many beliefs about Christians that I would frequently read at places such as Slashdot.  I have no problem with people disagreeing with me, but it really bothers me when people simply do not understand what I stand for.  I intended to work on a lengthy background before getting to the myths themselves, but I feel the need to discuss this one in particular now because I recently had an experience that might shed some light on the matter.

So, I hear or read quite frequently that [all] Christians are hypocrites.  Before I discuss the merits of this, it should be unnecessary to say that virtually any statement imaginable applies to at least some people who refer to themselves as Christians, and that virtually no statements could apply to all people who refer to themselves as Christians.

Now then, what does it mean to be a hypocrite?  Merriam-Webster defines it as “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion”, which is not very helpful to our discussion.  Certainly there are people who deceivingly claim to hold religious beliefs in line with Christianity who in fact do not.  (Indeed, the existence of such people is, I think, how some of these myths start.)  But it would be illogical to say that all people who call themselves Christians have a false pretense of Christianity, or indeed to say that this is true of any person who is in fact a Christian.

Wikipedia provides perhaps a more useful definition of hypocrisy as “the act of pretending to have morals or virtues that one does not truly possess or practice”, which seems closer to what Christians are accused of. But how does this actually apply?  Consider the following several statements that a person might make if asked to clarify their belief that Christians are hypocrites:

1. “Christians claim to follow someone who they believe is morally perfect but they themselves are not morally perfect.” This statement is most certainly true, but I do not think it fits our working definition of hypocrisy.  The failure of Christians to be morally perfect is not (primarily) a result of them not actually believing that Jesus Christ is a good role-model.

2.  “Christians claim to be morally perfect but in fact are not.”  This statement is patently false.  By my definition of what beliefs constitute the core of Christianity, all Christians must believe that they are morally imperfect.

3.  “Christians have thoughts or engage in actions, but censure other people when they engage in the same actions.”  There are three reasons this might be true.  The first is that the Christian whom we are discussing truly believes this action is morally wrong, but performs it due to his lack of self-control, lapse of judgement, or other reason.  This would be covered by the first case.  The second is that the Christian truly believes this action is morally wrong, but chooses not to be shackled by morality.  The distinction between the two is subtle; perhaps this would be a better way to explain it:  In the first case, the Christian engages in this act, later realizes the error of his ways, and attempts to avoid said action in the future.  In the second case, the Christian engages in the act but feels no remorse.  I cannot really imagine this second reason describing anyone who truly holds to Christian beliefs, but I would be interested to hear anecdotal evidence to the contrary.  The third reason would be that the Christian does not believe this action is morally wrong but acts as though he does.  Again, i can’t really see how this would fit with Christianity, but I would be interested to hear whether or not people actually think this occurs.

As an example, I recently had a long conversation with a friend who had been in a situation where morality was not clear-cut.  When he explained what had occurred I had to respectfully disagree with his opinion that his actions were justified and morally acceptable.  Nevertheless, I immediately pointed out to him, it is quite likely that I would have responded in exactly the same manner that he did, despite my convictions to the contrary.  To my shame, I doubt that my convictions are strong enough to overcome my will in the heat of the moment with regard to this particular situation.  The only difference between us is that, with the benefit of hindsight, I would have felt guilty about my actions.  Does this make me a bad person?  YES!  Part of a mature Christian faith is recognizing that “bad” and “person” are practically synonymous, and freely admitting your own guilt.  Paul, one of the cornerstones of the early Chrstian church, wrote about “sinners — of whom I am the worst”, and I think that is a healthy Christian attitude towards self.  Does this make me a hypocrite?  I tend to think not.

So what is the status of this myth: Busted?, Plausible?, Confirmed?  How about “depends on your definition”.

Sometimes, I Do Dumb Things

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 10:17 am
KRAMER: But now I have a big problem, buddy.
JERRY: What is it?
KRAMER: Well, I waited so long I — I missed my chance.
JERRY: You didn’t go?
KRAMER: No. And now I can’t get it back.
JERRY: The thing to do is just not think about it.
KRAMER: How could you not think about it?

Thankfully, my predicament is not, as in this classic Seinfeld scene, movement of the bowels. Nevertheless, I am experiencing a similar problem. Last night I indulged in the rare but oh-so-enjoyable activity of staying up all night playing video games with old friends. As the night wore on I progressed through various stages of tiredness, from “I could sleep now” to “I need to sleep now” to “Eh, who needs sleep?”. I got back to my apartment around 5:00 am, and found that I was not in the least bit tired. (And this was without caffeine!) With the help of a hot shower, I managed to fall asleep around 6:30 am, which would have been ok since I have nothing I NEED to do today. Unfortunately, I woke up again at 8:30 am and have been awake ever since. It isn’t that I am not tired; far from it! I just can’t seem to actually sleep.

March 10, 2006

Spring Is Here! … maybe

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 4:02 pm

There are few activities like driving around the countryside with your windows down and some classic Skynyrd blasting to relieve the tension of apartment shopping. It’s a shame you can only do so and get maximal enjoyment when the temperature is just right, as it is now. Of course, in a few months I can just ask my lovely wife for a massage. Wait, forget that! I hear there are other activities frequently undertaken by married couples with even better stress-relieving properties.

Peter: Well what could me and you do together?
Lois: heheh..
Peter: Lois, you’ve got a sick mind!
Lois: Peter, I’m talking about making love.
Peter: Oh, I thought you wanted us to murder the children and harvest their organs for beer money.

Housing Update

Filed under: Personal — chadhogg @ 2:33 pm

After our disappointment with Sherwood East Apartments, I went visiting 4 more today. Of these, I really liked 1, strongly disliked 2, and 1 had no vacancy. So now our best options appear to be Valley Park Apartments and Water’s Edge Apartments, each of which I shall describe below.

  Water’s Edge Valley Park
Address 340 West Lehigh Street 2252 Catasaqua Road
Address2 Bethlehem, PA 18018 Bethlehem, PA 18018
Available Early May Early May
Type 2 Bedroom 1 Bedroom
Rent $895 $774
Laundry In Apartment In Building
Cats $100 + $25/month $200 + $25/month
Parking Yes Yes
Internet 1-Cable / DSL 2-way Cable
Appliances Electric Electric
Inc. Heat No No
Inc. Electric No No
Inc. Hot Water No No
Inc. Water Yes Yes
Inc. Sewer Yes Yes
Inc. Trash Yes Yes
Inc. Cable No No
Inc. Phone No No
Community None Pool / Volleyball / Picnic Grove
Time To Lehigh 4 minutes 9 minutes
Time To Hospital 21 minutes 17 minutes

There are pictures of Valley Park Apartments here, and Water’s Edge Apartments here, but neither really tell you much. Both locations are on a nice residential park property, but especially Valley Park, where the available apartment would look over a large grassy courtyard. Both locations offer a small patio for first-floor apartments or balcony for higher floors. The manger at Valley Park was great, and the one at Water’s Edge was helpful, though pre-occupied with another customer. Both are at the high end of what we wanted to spend, but finding non-studio apartments in the $600 range has proven more difficult than I expected.

From what I wrote above, Valley Park Apartments seems like a great place to live. But then look at these ratings, which are terrible. It seems we would definitely have to talk to some residents before signing a lease. Unfortunately, there are no ratings whatsoever about Water’s Edge.
So, where should we live? I hate making long-term, expensive, important decisions.

Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress