<p>One can sleep quite acceptably on a camping air mattress, costing less than $100 including the air pump, and it comes in a small box that you can carry home on the bus or subway.</p>
<p>No fuss, no waiting for a delivery, no big expense.</p>
<p>No bedbugs.</p>
<p>Marian, my thoughts exactly. Heck, when I first got out of college, I lived in an apartment without any bed. I put some hand-me-down comforters on the hardwood floors and slept on that for months. I survived!</p>
<p>The studio we’ve been inquiring about is fully furnished. He can walk in with his suitcase and get settled. It’s small, but if it’s relatively safe and clean he can manage. A friend of mine has a brother who works in DC. I gave her the address of the place and she passed it onto him to see if he could check out the area for me. Now, we have to hope that someone else doesn’t snag it before we get a little more info.</p>
<p>nysmile:</p>
<p>The area is fine! It wouldn’t even make the list of borderline sketchy neighborhoods in Washington.</p>
<p>If that’s the only issue in your mind, then just grab the place.</p>
<p>Agree with above. This area is definitely ok. </p>
<p>As to the craigslist thing. Craigslist is a MAJOR method of getting things done in the DC metro area. Everyone uses it. Just make sure due diligence is done and everyone stays safe.</p>
<p>Sorry haven’t read everything, but that address looks fine and is pretty near the red line. Craig’s list is really the way to go.</p>
<p>Sorry was talking about the 17 th street location. Checking N street right now. Checked. Great location. I live in md close to dc. Have kids who have lived downtown for the summer and one who went to school in NW. I will try to keep checking in if you have any ?s pm me.</p>
<p>Well, I think he’s taking the studio. Everytime my son has contacted the owner of the studio with a question, she responded back to him ASAP. To me, that’s a good sign. The building has video surveillance. Basically, all he had to do is show up. The cost includes utilities, cable,internet, rent, and it’s furnished. It has air-conditioning and she said she’ll take care of any maintenance issues if they come up. It’s a basic small studio so it should fit his needs for four months. </p>
<p>Son told her he’ll take it and asked her to send a lease. </p>
<p>Nothing is signed yet but I think this may be the place.</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone on CC for helping me through this process. I was so stressed between this and prepping for the holidays. I just got back from running around trying to complete another batch of errands. I’m ready to “fall over”—but wait, I have to put the groceries away and start putting together something for dinner. :)</p>
<p>I’ll keep everyone updated and I’m sure they’ll be many more questions for me to post.</p>
<p>Have a wonderful holiday everyone!</p>
<p>nysmile, for furniture, son can lease a zip car and there is an ikea in college park. very doable. so happy it all worked for him.</p>
<p>GREAT! Wouldn’t think he’d need to acquire more furniture, since the place is furnished. Zip car is a nice option though, if he wants to venture off the bus routes/metro. Friends we had in DC would also sometimes rent a car for the weekend, when they’d go off exploring. They never saw any need for a car the rest of the time & didn’t own one.</p>
<p>He does have a car, but he’s not bringing it with him. </p>
<p>The place is furnished so he won’t be buying any furniture. He may end up buying an air bed so they’ll be a place for visiting friends to sleep. It includes all utilities (even internet and cable). It’s small, but sufficient for a four month stay for one person.</p>
<p>He emailed the owner of the studio and told her he decided to rent the studio and asked her to send him a lease. </p>
<p>He’s off at a Christmas party right now so I’m not sure if he’s heard back from her yet He probably won’t be home until tomorrow AM and then he has to put in a few hours of work at our retail business to help out with the Christmas Eve last minute shopping craze. </p>
<p>So, we’ll wait and see if she contacts him and confirms that she will officially rent the place to him. I hope no one else beat him to it or that she decides to rent to someone else. Then, we’ll be back to square one.</p>
<p>
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<p>This is a very good idea. He won’t need one in DC. And if the place is furnished, he won’t need to do any significant shopping, except maybe for clothes. Has he asked about the dress code for his internship?</p>
<p>You might suggest to him that he pick up a bicycle for getting around while he is in town. My son lives in DC and for extra cash he buys, sells and repairs bikes on Craigslist. A lot of his business is selling to interns in town for just a few months. DC is great biking town.</p>
<p>Or he might find it convenient to sign up for this in March/April/May (probably not so useful in Jan & Feb!). We saw these stations all over while in DC on vacation last year, and wished we could use them.</p>
<p>[Capital</a> Bikeshare](<a href=“http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/]Capital”>http://www.capitalbikeshare.com/)</p>
<p>The bikeshare sounds like it’s a great thing if you only do 30 minute trips but otherwise can get VERY expensive. Clunker bikes that are unattractive to thieves purchased on Craigslist sound like a more economical option with more flexibility for the rider. Such bikes have served my kids well in LA for college as well.</p>
<p>Hooray! He heard back from the owner of the studio. She requested a reference from 2 previous landlords. He can only give her one reference contact due to living in dorms previous to that, but I don’t think this will be a problem. Nothing is signed, but things appear to be falling into place.</p>
<p>Re: clothing. He was told the dress code is business casual. My idea of business casual may be different from what others consider business casual. </p>
<p>To my CC friends: What is your definition of business casual?</p>
<p>Is it shirt, tie, and khakis? Is it shirt, tie, jacket, and dress pants? Is it khakis, shirt, tie, and V-neck sweater? Can it be minus the tie? :)</p>
<p>My opinion is no tie. A button down shirt open at the collar, a polo shirt (brand logo okay, but I personally would stay away from ones that say stuff like a golf course name), a sweater are all okay. Slacks or maybe Dockers, obviously no jeans. Although a lot of business casual workplaces allow jeans on Fridays, but obviously he will have to figure that out when he gets there.</p>
<p>Great!..</p>
<p>At S’ internship, soon to be job, in DC, he wears Dockers, shirt & tie. He said he was the only one who wore a tie. They have casual Fridays as well when he wears jeans & polo.</p>
<p>Any shirt with a collar. Sweaters are OK. No jeans unless they’re specifically permitted on Fridays. Probably no sneakers, although that may depend on the specific office. Jacket optional (it may be cold enough that he’ll want either a jacket or sweater). Tie unnecessary, although he may feel better if he has one in his pocket just in case on the first day.</p>
<p>Remember that this is DC, not California. There’s a certain seriousness to the place. Also a certain dowdiness. (Some of the women seem to own garments in only two colors: black and gray.) I would leave the Hawaiian shirts, camouflage pants, and any other loud or distinctive items at home.</p>
<p>Thanks. He has a pretty nice wardrobe that should be fine for the internship. He also received some very nice clothes for Christmas. He has plenty of button down shirts, a couple of pairs of nice slim khaki’s, a black Slim Cut wool blazer, comfortable black shoes, and 2 pairs of very nice casual lace up leather boots. He has a couple of pairs of black slim cut wool dress pants (lightweight) that he could pair of with the black blazer and get away with it looking like a suit, if needed.</p>
<p>I’m thinking the easiest things for him to bring and match together are slim no iron decent quality Khaki’s, button down shirts, a couple of polo’s, a couple of sweaters to change things up once in a while, a couple of ties just in case, the black blazer, black shoes, and a pair of the black dress pants just in case he needs to fake a suit for a special occasion. Of course, he’ll want to bring jeans and casual shirts for his down time and probably his casual lace up boots.</p>
<p>What about outerwear? We’re used to cold weather—down jacket and heavy hoodies and I’m not sure if it gets very cold in DC. I suppose I should google DC weather.</p>