Elevator vs Walk-Up: Do the Grocery Math

Hey — a longer note on Elevator vs Walk-Up, as if you were moving onto my street next month.

Don't optimize this like a spreadsheet in week one. Get a workable version first. Polish after you've seen your real overtime pattern.

My blunt tip: Grocery-stairs math is real math.

Also: Clear landlord messages beat clever ones.

Please don't keep falling into vibes accounting with roommates. I've watched that one burn weekends and goodwill.

When you're here, you'll notice a WeChat repair thread. Let that be your reminder this is a living city, not a packing list.

If you only do three things

• Decide a default you can repeat tired
• Write the Chinese names / pins / chats somewhere searchable
• Revisit in thirty days — not every evening

Copying someone else's routine from a different district and different job is how people waste their first quarter.

When in doubt, choose the option closer to home. Travel friction compounds quietly.

If it only works when you're energetic and the weather is perfect, it doesn't work.

Write me (or anyone further along) after you've tried one real version. Adjustments are easier with scars than with theory.

— someone a few mistakes ahead