I moved into this lovely old house in Eagle Rock in August and was the first of a new wave of tenants here; the last group lived here for 15 (yes, fifteen) years. They told me that during that time, the landlord was never there, the carpet had never been replaced (or, I'm sure, cleaned - it was a bunch of boys) and she left it up to them to make household repairs.
So the new manager of the house gets tenants in, we're all aware of the state of the house (I pull up my own old nasty carpet from my room) and all is well. UNTIL the landlord decides to stop being a slumlord and just start being an ass.
Out of nowhere, she painted the outside of the house - when I got back from my JetBlue trip, I walked into my room to find a strange man looking in on me from my 2nd floor bedroom's window, painting - and has now dug up the entire back yard. Where we once had a lovely grassy lawn with a hammock, a lemon tree, a bushy tree with purple flowers, and beautiful overgrown blooming shrubs, there's now a pit of mud & dying grass, a heavily pruned lemon tree, no shrubs, and the gorgeous purple tree has been chopped within an inch of it's life. It literally has one branch and looks like a limping amputee.
I know it still looks green but that's because this is Cali. Believe me, it looks barren compared to what it was.
Every day there are strange men at my house and the landlord often walks in without notice, banging the door open and then stomping through the entire house yelling, "HELLO??" The one time I answered - I was in the shower & she wouldn't stop yelling "HELLO?? HELLO?? HELLO??" Can you not hear the shower running??? - I said "yes?" and she said, "Oh you're here, that's ok." And left. Really? That's ok? It's ok that I'm in the house I pay you rent to live in, at 10:30 in the morning? What a relief.
Grrrrrr.
She still hasn't done the ONE thing that would actually make this a BETTER place to live - replace the carpets. She's promised us wood floors, but on the condition that WE paint the entire interior of the house for her. Bull. Honky. But whatever, we painted. Then she complained she didn't like the colors we chose, even though she approved them. I really feel like she wants us to break our lease & get out & is purposefully trying to make it uncomfortable for us to live here.
It really sucks because I like this house a lot, I get along with my roommates, and I love the area and the view. I'm settled and comfortable and don't want to go through moving again. But I'm keeping an eye out for a cheap studio or one-bedroom, just in case.
Sorry to be bitching. I sat outside to write & sit in the sunshine, but the roar of powertools and the sight of backyard destruction has made nowhere around the house a comfortable place to be. Oh well, hopefully it will be over soon. For now, it gives me a good reason to get out & DO something.
Today I am so happy & grateful for:
~ my hoodie
~ sleeping in
~ conversations with new friends
xo! n.
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