8 Months Ago…
Five days before we moved up to Eugene, I got a call from our soon-to-be landlord telling me that our apartment wouldn’t be ready by our move-in date. Not only that it wouldn’t be ready for two weeks. This is all after we have packed, rented the truck, coordinated family and friends to help us move (Thank you Erik and Chris…), coordinated having current and former Lodi Band students help us pack up the apartment, paid for transfer of all the bills, etc…Evidently I was only finding out now because she had been “sick” for two weeks and had not known it was behind. Sure…
We moved up anyay, because we didn’t have a choice. And supposedly she would have it livable for us. I still had to pay for an extra night in a hotel plus an extra day of van time, but considering our house situation with the market in Lodi, we simply could not afford to upset the landlord here!
When we moved in, the carpets were not cleaned well (We didn’t find out until AFTER we signed the paper saying it was all fine…) The Dishwasher broke in the first week and they had to come replace threee sets of blinds and linoleum in the kitchen…This, my friends, should have been my first sign….
About 3 months ago…
We started smelling cigarette smoke in the 2nd bedroom. We don’t smoke. It was coming through the walls of the former meth addict next door. I had been patient with so far, despite the overwhelming smell of cat urine that emanates from her apartment every time she opens the door, and the fact that her dog gave Sophie fleas the first week we were here too.
I went to the landlord and she INSISTED that she is not smoking in her apartment. I guess I must be imagining the magic wet-ashtray smell in the apartment I am PAYING to rent….Hmmm. Despite telling her 3 other times and having other neighbors do the same. Nothing has been done…
This was sign number two…
About a month ago:
The only neighbors that could corroborate our story moved to New Mexico.
This past Tuesday:
Our neighbor was having a get together and as I got out of my car I could smell the cigarette smoke coming out of her apartment. Not only that, the landlord who had insisted she was not smoking in the apartment, was in there with her…smoking. This was the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back”
Now, I have nothing against people who smoke. It is your right to smoke. HOWEVER, with a baby on the way, I no longer felt comfortable in this environment. So we began looking for a new place…and found one.
Yesterday
We were accepted into a BEAUTIFUL apartment complex in the south hills of Eugene, surrounded by a forest of trees. The landlord appears to be caring and understanding and they DO NOT allow smoking in their units. When I head of our acceptance, I realized that for the first time – I had acted out of concern for my family, despite hardship or cost. Pretty incredible feeling….
We will be moving in about 3 weeks. We will keep everyone posted…
