Friday, January 7, 2011

My Landlord Finally Got Off His Ass

OK, So in past posts I've complained about how ridiculous my landlord is and how everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie.  To make a long story short, basically over a year ago, our hallway and 2 of our bedrooms were flooded because of a broken pipe in the laundry room.  They sent someone out who couldn't soak up the water because they just had a cheap carpet cleaning machine and it wouldn't handle that amount of water so they said they were coming back the next day to soak it up.  Well that never happened.  We literally let the carpet air dry which is horrible because there could be mold under there.  So we had been calling these people every week for over a year and they have lied and said it would get done but it never did.  So finally when my husband was at the store, he overheard someone talking about how they contacted the city inspector to come and inspect their house they were renting because the landlord wasn't fixing anything.  So that's what we did.  He came out and made a list of things including the roof that needs to be repaired and said that they landlord had 45 days to complete the list.  Well needless to say, the landlord still didn't fix anything after the 45 days.  So the inspector came by about a month ago and we reported to him that nothing had been done and that the landlord just keeps lying to us.  So he sent them a notice to appear in court and get this.  From the day after the 45th day to now, they are being charged $25 a day plus a $250 fine for not fixing it within the allotted time.  So after the court date, all of a sudden the landlord starts sending men to fix various things.  First he sent men to fix the front door but the problem is that he never calls to tell us that they're coming.  And maybe my husband and I are a little old fashioned but unless someone calls me to tell me they're here to fix something, if I'm here alone, they are not coming in the house.  I don't feel comfortable with 5 grown men coming in my home who I don't know unless my husband is here.  That is not cool.  My husband makes it a point to be here when they're supposed to be working.

So about a week ago, I hear a knock at the door and it's like 5 Mexicans at the door.  I have nothing against Mexicans, I think they are some of the most hard working people in the world so don't go there.  But no one called us to tell us that they were coming.  So they were like "the landlord sent us to fix stuff" and I was like "well no one told me that anyone was coming to fix anything".  And then I proceeded to tell them that my dogs were off their chains and that I wasn't going to put them on the chains.  Just to let them know that if they were some crazies that I had 2 dogs ready to defend me.  Anyway they said they were going to stay in the front yard and I was like ok.  Then they knocked on the door and they just said to me "we need power".  And I was like what?  And they were like "power".  So I'm like completely clueless so I started guessing.  And I was like oh, do you need me to cut the power off?  And they were like no we need it for our tools.  Well I don't have an outdoor outlet so they wanted to be let in to use their tools.  So my response was "Oh well no one called us to let us know that you were coming so when you call and my husband is here, then you can come in" and they were like ok and left.  I just don't play that.  You just can't trust people and again there were 5 of them.  Why does it take 5 men to replace a screen door?

So I guess after that, they started calling.  First, one showed up to fix the toilet.  This toilet as been running non stop to the point where our water bill is above $200 a month.  That's ridiculous.  Then he came the next day to replace a part on the toilet and to fix the drawer below the oven that is always jutting out.  Apparently it's a safety hazard and the inspector felt the need to add it to the list.  Come to find out that there was a Christmas ornament, not from this year, but from last year that was lodged in the back of the drawer and once he removed it, it closed fine.  Then today a whole crew of men came and they fixed this part of the wall in the bathroom was hanging down because of water damage and made it so the lent vent from the dryer goes to the outside and not into a cup.  You know the little cups that you can hook your dryer hose to instead of it going outside.  So they fixed that.  And I believe they are coming tomorrow to fix everything else.  But the crazy thing is that because it took so long for them to come replace the carpet, it is all dry now and there's no way to add it to the list of things to fix per the city.  But it's ok because everything else is going to get fixed.

So once the men got here, my husband was here and I actually took a nap in our bedroom because I knew that they didn't have to come in there.  Once I woke up, I let the dogs off of the chains, cleaned the guinea pig cage, had lunch with my husband, and took a shower.  Then I watched Private Practice with my husband.  You know it's funny because I never thought my husband would like a show like that but he's hooked.  I mean as soon as it comes on, we dvr it and watch it. 

Not to make this post too long but I wanted to briefly go over what happened yesterday.  Basically I had to go to the store to get the essentials like toilet paper, milk, etc... and I invited my mom to come because her car is messed up so I take her everywhere.  So sometimes my mom can be difficult, hence why I moved out when I was 19.  It's just better if we live apart.  Anyway we went to the pharmacy to pick up the rest of my prescription and then to dollar tree and then to Wal Mart.  So at some point before we got into Dollar Tree, my mom found out from an old co worker that another one of her co workers had passed away.  So I was telling her how sorry I was and seeing if she just wanted to be dropped back home but she seemed like she wanted to still shop.  So everything went fine in Dollar Tree and then we got to wal mart.  I had to get some cedar shavings for my guinea pig cage because for some reason, since the last time I cleaned their cage, it has really stunk more than usual so I was determined to clean it out.  But I usually get the smaller packages of it which is usually $3.  But wal mart only had the huge bags of it for $8.  So I only had a limited amount of money and I told my mom that I really didn't budget to have to buy a huge bag of it and I didn't want to switch to pine because it's bad for their lungs.  So she just explodes in the store telling me that I shouldn't have had a New Years Eve party if I didn't have enough money and so on.  So I told her calmly that we had more money, I just didn't have it with me and I didn't want to have to come back to wal mart the next day.  So she dropped it.  So then I pretty much got everything I needed and we got into the line to check out.   So then my mom starts mumbling about how she doesn't do something and I assume she's talking about buying expensive items and I say "yeah that's why I get my detergent at Dollar Tree because I would have had to buy Tide for $12, so that saves me money"  and she turned to me and just exploded while we were standing in the line.  First she starts talking about my friend and how she could "talk trash about me because I don't have a job".  Then I asked her about McDonald's because she mentioned earlier that she had some coupons with her.  So I was like "Do you have a few dollars so we can get some food at McDonald's"  and she was like "if you can pay it back to me".  So I wasn't sure when I was going to see her again so I told her I could but it may be the next time my husband gets paid".  Then she really blew up and started dropping F bombs right there in the line.  And I was like, "there are children around us, do you mind"?  Then she started talking about how I never give her money for my grandparents birthday presents and so on and how I should never have parties if I don't have the money.  It was a nightmare so I just told her "Look, you are no negative, I didn't even know if I wanted to pick you up today because I knew there was going to be some crap".  After that we didn't speak until today.  She claimed that she felt like her blood sugar was low because she had only eaten oatmeal earlier that day and she thinks that why she was such a bitch.  She did apologize.  But my thing is, I have helped her out many times with my grandparents gifts.  My husband and I still have money to spend after the party and it's none of her business anyway.  She's the kind of mom that still tells her daughter to "get your money out" (in a New York accent) when I'm putting my items at the checkout.  She has improved a little especially since I've been married now for 3 years but she still has her moments.  I'm not a little girl.  I'm a grown woman who keeps a household and is a good wife to my husband.  Not to mention I practically have a zoo in my house and I manage to keep it cleaner than most of my friends homes who don't have animals.  I love my mom and we're more like sisters than mother and daughter but even my mom told me today that maybe we shouldn't see each other as much and go shopping as much etc...  What do you all think about the mom situation?  Have you had similar situations?  Please share. 

Anyway that's my last 2 days in a nutshell.  Thanks for listening and God Bless.

3 comments:

  1. That is sad, your moms blood sugar is no excuse for how she talked to you.
    If you run her around how you say, she should have OFFERED to buy you lunch and the damn cedar shavings unless she is on an extremely fixed income herself. My mom and I are like sisters too, but she si still my mom and would do anything for me.

    Don't sell yourself short, No matter who it is, don't allow them to disrespect you

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  2. I agree; if your mom's blood sugar makes her act inappropriately then it's her responsibility to keep it in check so that she never gets to that point. That is not an excuse.

    If I ever act inappropriately because of psychosis or other reasons related to my mental illness I will still take responsibility because it is my job to keep that in check and get help if I need it. That's why I have gripes with the concept of an "insanity plea".

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  3. One Girl's Story - Thanks for reading and I agree about not letting anyone disrespect me. The thing is that I left my mom's house when I was 19 and I don't mean left in a planned way. I literally got in my Jeep and left and lived in hotels for 6 months until I found my own place because I couldn't deal with living with her. Back then she was going through menopause and it was just unbearable to live with her but we've grown closer since then. She definatly has control issues but I feel guilty because she lives alone, doesn't really go out, and isn't that social so I feel obligated to take her with me so she isn't depressed. She has a bad habit of going back to men that aren't worth anything when she feels lonely so I try to make her feel better by hanging out with her. But even my husband can't believe the stuff that comes out of her mouth sometimes. He just says I shouldn't be that close but after my best friend died this year, I keep thinking that I should be spending as much time with her as possible because you never know how long you have. IDK, it's an emotional thing I suppose.

    Justin - Thanks for reading and the funny thing is that it's not like she's diabetic or anything. She just didn't eat anything of substance that day. She did apologize to me the next day over the phone but there have been many times growing up that she's acted the same way and not apologized. When I was growing up, it was just understood that my mom was crazy. I mean there was one time when I was just sitting in the den and I dropped a spoon on the floor and when I looked back up from picking the spoon up, I had to duck because she through a phone book at me. A PHONE BOOK! Needless to say, that wasn't far from when I moved out. But she claims to not remember that incident. She must have blocked it out. LOL

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