to be clear.

they put an ad up for a bachelor at $700. i'd seen it before and knew it was a small one bedroom. so, i get there and the property manager says "i thought it was a bachelor, but it turns out it's a one bedroom". after sniffing out the place a second time, i tentatively take an application - and ask if it's the same price, now that she realizes it's a one bedroom. she says it is.

the building was recently purchased.

i decide to apply later that night, so i call her up, and she's evasive - tells me to drop off the application on the other end of town. them, claims she's not in the office. she's never in the office, apparently, until i get declined.

she claims i was the only applicant, and that appears to have been true.

there are other reasons for a big company like this to decline me, but i have to point out that they rent to refugees and to students, so they don't have problems taking government checks, or applicants with high rent to income ratios. students might have cosigners, though. and, as mentioned, i don't know what the real story about housing access and refugees is - i don't know what kind of a deal a big company like york is getting to open up housing.

i suspect it was at least a partial factor.

it's now listed for $775, which is still affordable. my own rent is set to go up in a few months, remember, to about $720 - as my income goes up this month from $1150 to $1170.

but, i was clear enough that i was kind of panicking, and now that the serve is down, the impetus of that panic seems to have passed. i'm not sure that moving there solves the problem i set out to solve...

the place that declined me also just relisted, but at a higher price. they didn't give me a reason for declining me. how much did the price boost have to do with it? they also changed the listing from 'bachelor' to 'one bedroom', which is correct, but when the manager told me she had it listed wrong, she told me the price would be the same. if that's what was going on, it might explain why the situation felt so sketchy. i may call them again if it's still sitting there, as it's actually still in my price range, although it seems a little odd to react to disinterest by increasing the price.....

but, i have to get across once again that...

there's 50 people there to see a tiny little apartment. they're all white. yet, we know that the factor causing the housing crisis is an influx of migrants - and i see them out and about all over the place.

they're here, and they're occupying a lot of housing, but they don't apply for the places i apply for. why is that?

i don't pretend that i fully understand what's happening, but it doesn't add up.

the showing was a bust - smoke coming up through the vents. yet, labelled non-smoking. this happens over and over again...

i don't see any clear way out at this point, and am planning to file the appeal.

the unit had a lot of flies when i moved in, and i've actually mostly cleared them out.

as far as i can tell, the termites are coming up from the subfloor, and i suspect there's a nest between the units. for a few weeks at the end of june, they were "swarming" the light fixture in the living room, which is a technical term around their mating rituals. and, they seemed to come right up out of the floor. it's just another reason to repair the flooring....

the moths are coming in through the screens, i think, but are not really that bad, either. i can deal with a few stray moths.

it's the termites that seem like a real problem.

that should have been clear from the start, but some people are stubborn.

don't misunderstand me: i don't know what happened.

but, it's been clear from day one that the situation was eventually going to flip over, and the tables would eventually turn. at some point, the owner has to pull his head out of his ass and realize "this chain smoker is costing me a fortune, and i'm sick of standing up for her.".

so, i got my money order back, and deposited it back into my account. it cost me $7.50 in money, and i got some exercise - it's not catastrophic. or, at least, it won't be if i can figure it out...

like i say: it was a long shot, although it really shouldn't have been. it's the same thing i'm paying right now, for a slightly smaller unit. the reason i'm not that upset is that i don't know if it was really a way out of the smoke or not.

that company doesn't seem to care about non-smoking policies. and, that building was a little older.

on they way back in, i noticed that they've got signs up in the building explaining that they're taking some steps to keep the bugs out of the building. and, you know, for all the problems with smoke i've had here, i haven't had really serious problems with bugs - or at least not the bad ones. no bed bugs. no roaches. well, i've seen a couple, but it's been very minor. i've had some flies, some termites and some moths, which i think are of at least concern in the broader scheme of it. i don't know what other people are experiencing, but it's not something i've dealt with, here...

i noticed on the flyer, though, that there's a new property manager.

did i get this woman fired? i don't know. but, there's a new sheriff in the building.

i have a showing this afternoon, but i'm going to give the new boss a call when i get back. i don't think the situation is in any way immediately salvageable. but, if the new manager gets rid of the smoke machine below me, and i'm still here for the length of time it takes, it could make sense to put in a new offer.

i want out of here, don't get me wrong.

but, i'm having a hard time finding healthy housing. i need to look at all of the options.

at the least, what i can say is this: i think this old woman was a big part of the problem, because she took the wrong side of the fight. if this new woman takes the right side, the situation could reverse itself.

i mean, get your head around what i'm dealing with: i have a neighbour that smokes drugs and listens to loud music all day and all night, and when i made a complaint i was asked to move. that's absurd, and could only exist as a function of the friendship between the neighbour and the manager. if the manager is out, the friendship is out, and there's some possibility that logic could reassert itself.

i said some possibility.

this is still windsor, after all.

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