I am sorry to report that my posts here will be fewer & more further between for this month and much of the next. Thanks to that bone-headed ex-roommate (who I believe I detailed about in June or July), our power at the house has been shut off for a minimum of six weeks. This is about how long the current roommate & I have calculated it would take to pay off a 4-figure past due balance, plus reconnect fees & service charges.
We thought at first this would result in our immediate eviction, but the landlord begged us to stay, simply because his name is involved in the electric as well; and he needs the electric turned on before he can re-rent the house.
I am sorry to say that I may sound self-centered, but this I cannot handle. I am in the process of relocating at this time, even if it's to a dingy hotel for a week at a time. A person needs to bathe, eat some meals in the house, and be able to read at night, or at least listen to the radio. In my case, if I don't have active room circulation while I'm sleeping, I will wake up in a cold sweat. It's happened the past three nights, and have been tempted to sleep outside each night.
I don't feel I will be necessarily disowning the landlord, since I will still be doing what I can to get that bill paid off. He's allowed us eight days' extra leeway in paying this rent. He does side with us, and all of us are SO against that ex-roommate, whom my father knows pretty darn well. (Apparently, those that learn the slowest learn the hardest.) And here's a funny follow-up: this person didn't know why I wouldn't smile at him when he passed me in the hallway at work that night.
But personal comfort always has been & always needs to be a first priority. One of my favorite sayings is that you are the only one who has to live with yourself 24/7/365, so you better make things good for yourself first. Am I not going to bathe but once a month for six weeks? How many cold sweats can I take before I really become sick? These are chances I cannot take, and I'm sure these are chances my landlord will understand.
This ex-roommate is a puppet for his father; at times I can see the strings coming out from the hands. Well, where's a pair of scissors to cut these ties that bind me and will allow him & his father to boldly go to where they deserve to go?
