there's no question that i liked that basement apartment a lot, but there were health problems attached to it, i believe as a result of the gas furnace. i was getting frequent migraines. aphasia. auras. that has completely stopped since i moved out.

the headaches i've been getting here are different. it's the smoke.

they replaced the upstairs smokers with an outside smoker, which in a lot of ways was worse, as it hung over the property. there were neighbours smoking outside the window. the main floor upstairs neighbour was smoking in the laundry room, which was right outside my inside door. it was as unhealthy as where i am now, if a little less intense at times.

and, when you combine the gas with the smoking...

the floors were structurally unsound, which i could deal with if it weren't for the fact that the tenants were all obese. they destroyed light fixtures. and, the cracks in the floors were legitimately frightening.

and, even if i could deal with that, the owner was throwing cat shit at my window, entering my apartment illegally and broadly harassing me to leave - because she wanted her mom in.

it was unhealthy and unsafe, and i was unwanted. my pushback was warranted. and, the reaction was just a reflection of why it wasn't a good place for me to stay.

i could have outlived the old guy on top of me. but, the gas furnace was there to stay. and, the new owner was actually less concerned about the smoke than the previous one.

it was the change in ownership at the root of the situation, not my fully justified behaviour.

and, as bad as the smoke is here, i'm at least not getting overwhelming headaches.