Smile

Well, I'm not the happiest person on the planet, but I better off than I was on Friday.

We found a place to live. It's not great, but it's not bad either... and it's a roof over my head.

So now that the chaos has been averted, I thank all of you who helped me out over the last week and an half (was it really that short of a time frame?). All your encouraging words, and emails containing millions of ads, was all very appreciated. Thanks.

Onward and forward. Wednesday is Library day and I'm looking forward to getting some writing done, at last. I did manage to throw some researching into the last week, so that it wasn't a complete loss. I'll do some writing on Wednesday, go to a wedding on Friday, and start packing on the weekend. Busy week ahead of me.

In closing, I'll leave you all with an affirmation. These are helpful phrases to help you through just about anything. Here is the one I used this weekend:

I have the strength and courage to face all of life's challenges!

Have a great day!

C

Apartments

I'll keep this brief.

I'm still looking for a place to call home. 3 weeks, 4 days and counting. We have found a couple maybes but one was super tiny and the other was kinda grungy. The tiny one we said no to, but the grungy one is big and cheaper than most we've found (you get what you pay for right?).

We're going to try and squeeze another viewing in tomorrow before 'D', my boyfriend, leaves for the weekend. He's going on a boys camping trip to Jasper. Perfect timing don't you think?

That means I'm on my own this weekend trying to find an apartment. I hope we decide on one before he leaves. That would mean that all I have to do is the paper work and give them money. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until Monday.

Things are going so quickly in this city. An ad came up in the paper and I called at noon to ask about it. It was already gone someone came by and put the damage deposit down that morning. Granted it was for an amazing price but still... people are desperate.... and I might be one of them soon.

Sorry to rant about something completely not related to writing. I haven't gotten any writing done since I found that nasty note under my door last Friday. This weekend will be such a waste of valuable writing time. (sigh)

Hope your having a better week than I am. Cheers.

C

New Everything

I walk into my apartment on Friday after work. It's 5pm and I'm looking forward to reading a bit and having a relaxing evening. I almost step on a notice that had been slipped under the door, 3 in fact.

The first one says the building I live in was sold on Thursday, and here is the new contact information for the landlord. The second one says the caretaker of the building is moving into a different apartment number and we can drop off our rent there from now on. The new owners don't accept cash, and rent must be in the form of a cheque or money order. So far so good. I couldn't understand why someone wouldn't take cash but it's a not life or death issue.

The third one is addressed to me and says "Your lease agreement is up for renewal on July 31st. We hereby serve you notice that we will NOT be renewing your agreement and expect possession of your apartment by noon on July 31st."

I'm being evicted.

"Jump on a plane and fly me to Canada." A civilized, first world country. You would think that having a place to live would be a basic necessity. You know, "food, clothing, shelter", the stuff we learnt in the 5th grade. But I guess it's not so in Alberta. If I don't find another apartment in the next 4 weeks, we might just be buying a tent and joining the hundreds of working homeless who live and work here in Edmonton. What a joke.

I called the new owners to ask what was going on, and they basically told me the rent in my apartment building was too low. They won't be renewing any one's lease. Once we're out, they'll be gutting and renovating our apartment so they can charge, "a lot more money". Hurray for capitalism.

The rest of my weekend was spent looking for an apartment. Here's a fun fact. Surrey, BC has cheaper rent then Alberta. British Columbia! How's that for "catching up to the other top five cities in Canada." I think we've surpassed that. Edmonton is on par with Toronto, the capital of the Country. Calgary is the 2nd highest in rent, next to Vancouver. Vancouver I can understand, they have an Ocean. Alberta has oil. One of those will run out, can you guess which one?

Sorry about my rant but this really burnt. In four weeks, I have no idea were I'm going to call home. That isn't the nicest feeling in the world.

Cheers to all you starving artists. Life bites, but never give up on your dreams. They're the only things that will keep you sane.

C