June 07, 2000
Looking Again
I'm going for a record here, my friends. It's not a record I especially wanted, either. As of right now, I've taken 383 calls today. That averages out, at the moment, to a call every 1.3 minutes. And I've been productive aside from the phones as well. Needless to say, today has gone by fast, but damn will I be glad to get out of here. People have been crankier than hell today too. I've been yelled at more times than I can count.
Despite all that, it's been a very good week for me. I've felt... well, emotionally self-sufficient. I've spent a lot of time doing my own thing and being quite happy about that fact. Those of you on the notify list already know that I got some very good news earlier this week. It's nothing I can discuss completely publicly yet, until a *big grin* contract is signed, but if you're dying to know before that, email me.
I'm feeling hopeful again, the way I always do before big changes, and during big changes. Of course, this is all also probably linked to the way I've been living my life this week: lots of good sleep, eating at least marginally better than usual. And quite possibly the Zoloft is starting to kick in. It takes a couple of weeks. Whatever the reasons, complex as they are, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Things are at least marginally sunny from where I sit. I'd like them to stay that way for a while.
Thursday, June 8, 2000, 12:32 pm
Okay, so I, um, didn't finish this last night like I'd planned. I ended up going to look at an apartment -- yeah, that's one of my big changes, I'm moving again. I hate that I have to, but last weekend I sat down and went over my budget carefully, and figured out one reason I've been having so much trouble with money lately. I can't afford to live where I am. I adore the trailer and I would love to buy it, but... I've tried to make it work for eight months, and I need to be honest and admit that it isn't working.
So, apartment hunting again. Feh. Last night I drove out to the town my mom lives in, where I'd heard about a studio apartment for rent for an extremely reasonable price. I made an appointment to see it, and Mom met me there. I knew the apartment was part of a house. Not unusual for this particular town. First impressions: the lawn was a mess. The bushes had grown up over most of the windows. The front door was painted white -- once upon a time. It was filthy. So we opened the door and went inside. The interior was worse than the exterior. There was trash sitting around. The floors were dirty. I mean really dirty. The guy who owned it had made a big deal about how he'd just put in new carpet and just repainted. I couldn't tell for all the garbage and dirt. It was tiny, but I'd expected that.
Then we looked at the bathroom. My comment: "Well, I know for sure they don't have a water softener now." This particular town is known for rusty water. The shower stall, sink and toilet were all bright orange. The water in the toilet was brown. We looked at the kitchen. One half of the sink was backed up with the same brown water. It was, predictably, orange. I didn't look in the refrigerator. I was afraid one of the previous occupants might have still been in there.
Mom and I just kinda looked at each other and said, "Um, no."
I have seen unpleasant apartments before, so I wasn't horribly surprised. I think Mom got her eyes opened a little though. I have to admit, of the apartments I've seen, this was most definitely the worst. So, I'm still on the lookout. If anybody knows of a nice, clean, inexpensive one-bedroom or studio in the Ann Arbor area, let me know.
(By the way, for the curious, I ended up getting 400 calls yesterday. A new Services Reception -- sorry, Services Administration -- record. Yay me. I could never have done it with you. Well, you and the 400 cranky people I talked to yesterday.)
Posted by Lisa at June 7, 2000 07:08 PM
