Our lease is up at the end of November. Can you believe John’s been here nearly eight months already? Our complex is actually a convenient place– a bit pricey for the space but super nice pool and hot tub as well as great location near his work. Unfortunately, the place just changed management, and the new peeps are driving me up the wall already. First, they are obviously unorganized. I have called or spoken in person to three reps over the past month. Despite assurances that someone would follow up with me, no one did. I just want to know our renewal options for one year or month-to-month. Is that so much to ask? Basic shit, right? And I mean, our lease ends November 30! Not much lead time. So when I called the first time, the response was that the new management is still figuring it out. I asked for a rough estimate, a ballpark. I mean, hello, they are leasing units to new tenants now, right? So, what rent do they charge them? Duh. The reply was that management can’t even give me a ballpark, because the rent varies depending on the location within the complex and also on how long someone’s been leasing. So lame. I can’t even get over how stupid that is. So that’s like strike one and strike two. Then, last week some beotch from the office showed up at my door to inform me that tenants aren’t allowed to hang-dry laundry because when the leasing agents show prospectives around, everyone can see the clothing and underwear and it’s unslightly. Well, fuck me: you’re unslightly, do I tell you never to go outside? At the time, John was home early with a major migraine, so I didn’t want to get into an argument about it, but thinking back, I should have ripped her a new one. For sure. I mean, how asinine is that? One of the great things about living on the peninsula is that the weather is sunny and warm most of the time. Why the fuck am I going to pay money to use their half-ass, inefficient electric dryer when I have a perfectly good and free energy source to dry my clothes?! I was so pissed afterwards. What, like people haven’t ever seen underwear before? If it’s so freaking offensive, go gripe to all the media outlets about all the trash that’s aired on tv! That’s goddamn disgusting and offensive! Needless to say, we are searching for a new place to live.
As for the job hunt, I was invited back for round two this morning at the sustainability nonprofit. The board chair is super nice– an attorney, I believe, but older (maybe in her 60s). Very elegant and polished. The more I learn about the gig, the better it sounds. I mean, I would work mostly from home. 40-50 hours/month. Pay is not bad, even by private sector standards. Very self directed. Only thing is, I’d have to develop contacts with city government– sort of cold-calling ish. I’m not really a natural sales person, but I’ve definitely delivered presentations, and so long as the content is good, I don’t think it would be that bad. And of course, it’s promoting the concept of sustainability, building awareness, etc. I’ve been working hard on my networking/social skills, so what better place to put them to use? I must say, overcoming (at least partly) the social anxiety has been incredibly liberating and empowering. It’s so nice not to deal with the inconvenience of that kind of paralysis.
Anyway, the fuel cell start-up has contacted at least one of my refs; hopefully that one is moving forward as well. I can’t tell you how excited I am about some job progress. Of course, knowing me, once I start working, I’ll probably gripe about it. John and I definitely subscribe to the “grass is greener on the other side” philosophy. It’s our nature. Can’t help it. Heh, heh.
OMG! That huge IBM recording that I did? It was over eight hours worth of work, and then my PM tried to pay me for only three. I dunno what the deal was; my reported hours have NEVER been an issue, but I definitely read slower this time. But whatever, it seriously took eight hours. Then after I finally got the hours approved, there was some issue about the quality. I don’t know if the problem was my rattling Vaio or my mic, but basically, I had to re-record practically all of it. Another eight hours, I’d say. Ugh, hopefully that’s the last of that project. I’m so paranoid now: any day, I’m sure I’ll get an email telling me it’s still not good enough. I’m going to run some recording samples on my new MacBook Pro. John installed Audio Hijack, so hopefully that will enable me to record some decent quality clips. Then, it’ll be time to say goodbye to my beloved Vaio. (Something tells me having a laptop in each room of the apartment is a bit over the top.) But I don’t know… so hard to give up the Windows OS. What if I have to access something– an archived document or something. Dilemmas, dilemmas.
In other news, my parents return from Taiwan soon. I still haven’t gotten their DC condo rented out. The rental market is cooling, I think. So the price has dropped. Any takers? I know, John’s already ragged on me about the template– looks insanely similar to StarPups. Back off, man. I’m not going to do a new design/color scheme just for a condo listing! Anyway, please pass around if you think of anyone who might be interested.
Ok, time to prep dinner: steak, potatoes, and asparagus risotto. You’d be proud: I rode my bike to Trader Joe’s this afternoon. Only three miles, but that didn’t stop me from huffing and puffing my way back. I just checked the tire pressures, and they dipped way low– down to 20 psi from 60 psi. Surely, it was the drag from these flat tires that killed me. Surely.