The best news I have at the moment is that I was offered (and accepted) a job at a great apartment complex in downtown Minneapolis. They are GORGEOUS apartments and I really couldn't have asked for a better job! I was pretty bummed thinking I'd have to sit in a call center again (the last time I did that a blood vessel popped in my eye and I couldn't wear makeup throughout the Christmas season that year). I prefer face-to-face contact and I really enjoyed the line of work I was in at my last place of work. This will be a lot like this, but twice the apartments and a lot of new things to deal with (downtown city life!). I really haven't lived in the center of a city before, so I'm really looking forward to that.
I didn't realize that they had a 90 day period until I could move into an apartment until three days ago, so I've been scrambling to find a place to live. Currently, T and I are staying at T's parents' house. They have been extremely generous in giving us a place to stay, and T's mom (who left for a women's retreat this afternoon) even left us $20 so we could go see a movie. Time and time again they have given of themselves and I would never be able to thank them enough for being the most awesome in-laws anyone could ask for. I would continue to stay here if their house wasn't 86 miles, or about 1.5 hours, from my new job.
I can't afford to drive 3 hours, 172 miles, each day for work. Wednesday, T and I went to check out an apartment that we could afford and also offered MTM leases (for a low price). I had this feeling that something was up with that, so I insisted we go see it ASAP so we could decide right then. I am VERY glad that we saw it in person! Not only did the landlord try to strike a deal that my father-in-law (a legal services lawyer) simply coined as "unlawful," but the apartment itself was gross. It was a pretty good size, it had a nice view, and the carpet was definitely new, but beyond that there wasn't much to like. The walls had a kajillion cracks and the unit looked like it hadn't even been painted. There was one fan in the kitchen (no AC at all) and 3 of the 5 lights I tried didn't work. The building itself is located in a part of town I wasn't comfortable in (we were walking around during the daytime, mind you) and there wasn't any parking at all! It was pretty close to downtown so I didn't expect MUCH in the way of parking but the landlady said, "Most people just park on the street." T said, "What about snow emergencies?" And she just laughed!! No help there at all. They had an underground parking garage but there was apparently a waitlist for that. The street parking was pretty scarce in the daytime, and I don't want to think of our car sitting out there on the street in that part of town at night. The hallway smelled like urine and the landlady said we would sign a MTM lease but we wouldn't get our deposit back if we didn't stay 6 months. The deposit was equal to one month's rent, and we wanted to stay only those 3 months that I can't live at my new place, so we'd lose our deposit according to her rules. They also wanted to charge a $200 non-refundable pet deposit (not fee, deposit), which is also unlawful in the state of MN.
Soooo, yes. Not worth staying there for 3 months. Not worth the legal battle to get our deposit back. But to be fair to the citizens of Minneapolis, I do plan on reporting this "rogue landlord" to the city and they can figure it out from there. I feel like someday, I should be a secret shopper for that. >:)
We walked to a nearby Starbucks and I tried to surf rent.com from my cell phone, but my phone is the dumbest of the smart phones and I couldn't really get anything to load. So we drove back to T's parents' house and didn't see any other properties because we couldn't find them. We felt very disappointed and frustrated. We did some internet searching and found a couple things we liked, but the most immediate problem became that I don't have place to stay for my first couple of weeks of work. So then I panicked about that (read: cried a lot) and asked a couple of people to help me.
One of the people I asked was my sister. She needed to talk to her hubby and said she'd get back to me. They're not used to house guests staying more than a couple days, so a couple of weeks is something they needed to discuss. They don't really have a place for people to stay because their basement is completely unfinished and their main floor has 2 bedrooms and an office, all of which could not accommodate another bed. I asked a couple of other people close to the cities, who, for various reasons, didn't want to or couldn't accommodate me. I wasn't asking for much; just a place to put my blow-up mattress and a bathroom with a shower. It would seem those two things are quite a challenge for a lot of people right now. I really have no place to judge these people; they just couldn't do it. But it upset me nonetheless (read: cried some more).
My sister called me this evening to let me know they can accommodate me and I nearly cried again, this time out of relief. It was either that, or spend money we can't afford to spend to put me in one of those extended-stay hotels. Hence the reason for the panic. For a moment, I can afford to take a breath and try to relax, knowing that I have a place to stay for a couple weeks. I told my sister that there just aren't enough words in the English language to thank her for her help in this matter and she just laughed at me. I am very thankful for their generosity as well.
The next thing that has to happen is finding a temporary place to move a few necessities into until such time as the final move can commence!! So we will have moved a total of 3 times within a 5 month period before we final settle in. I guess that housewarming party will have to wait...
I am not looking forward to spending two weeks without my husband (or my puppy!!) but this has to be done to follow the path before me. I did, for a moment, seriously question whether or not I was supposed to be doing this, but I've been praying a LOT lately and it still shines before me as the right way to go. It reminds me of that poem by Robert Frost:
The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Not out of the woods yet, but I bought myself a few more days. If you know ANYONE in the cities who is looking to sublet their apartment through the end of June, email me. Puh-lease.
And thank you.
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