Signed Contract

I got a call on Wednesday asking if I could come in to fill out paperwork for my job as the Residential Manager. At first I didn't think I was gonna be able to go because I didn't have a ride to work, but when I got up this morning, I remembered that I could rent a car for about $20. I got up early, took the bus to the bank, rode out to Walmart to load money onto my prepaid Visa debit car and took the bus back to the rental car company. It was 9:10am when I got there. Plenty of time to rent my car and make it to the Homeward Bound program to complete my paperwork. I got to the counter, gave the woman my ID and debit card and she told me she couldn't take it. WHAT?? She said that the prepaid card won't allow her to "hold" a security deposit. Uh, WHAT? When I looked at their website it specifically said that rental car companies will hold the money on the card. I thank her and before I left she told me that the other rental car place would be able to help me. I went down the street and sure enough, they would take the card, but they didn't have any available cars. Grrrrrr. What to do, what to do?

In wondered around the street until I realized that I had enough time to hop back on the bus to make it to my 10am appointment. I got on the bus and asked the driver which bus to take to get me to my destination. He told me to take bus #22. A passenger on the bus was telling me to take bus #18. I decided to follow the instructions of the driver. He should know the bus routes, right? I made it to the bus terminal and bus #22 was late--10 minutes late. So I waited and when I got on, I told the driver where I needed to go. He said I needed bus #18, but it had already left and then he said ok he would get me close. I thought everything was good. But, we started going the opposite direction. Hmmm. I just waiting and then as we were getting closer to the end of the route, I asked again and he said that I actually need to take bus #11 and it would get me a block away from where I need to be. He said that if he dropped me off, I'd have to walk a long way. I said ok and when we got back to the bus terminal I hopped onto bus #11. It took me all around the city before I got to where I was supposed to be--an hour late. As I was getting closer to my stop, one of the lunch ladies from the school I worked at got on. She said that she was headed to the school taking bus #18. I asked her if it goes by where I needed to go and she said yes, it goes straight from the bus terminal to where I need to go. AAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! I should have listened to the passenger who was going in the same direction that I was going, but I figured that the drivers should know.

By the time I got to Homeward Bound it was an hour later. I filled out my paperwork and picked up my keys to my apartment. I was excited, but I didn't know where the apartments were, but since I wasn't going to be able to make it to work, I needed to tell the temp agency, so I walked to the office which was not far from downtown (where the bus terminal is). When I got there I told her that I wasn't going to be able to make it. I explained to her about the car rental place and then I explained to her that I needed to take this job because I NEED a place to live. I didn't tell her that I was homeless, but I told her about my unemployment issues and not being able to pay my bills and how with this position I will be able to live rent free and not have to worry about being evicted. She said she understood and was happy that I told her and that she would call the bank to let them know. That was a relief. I didn't want to have to convey this message to them too. I"m sure I will have to talk to them on Monday, but I was glad that she could initially talk to them. I told her the address of the apartments for the job and she told me that it was right behind her office. Sure enough when I left her office I walked across the street and there were the two apartment buildings.

I was pleased with the apartments when I first arrived. These apartments are nicely maintained on the outside. Not like my old apartments. When I walked in, I went to apt 2 and thought I heard somebody in there, so I walked out and looked at the paperwork. Yeah, it said apt 2. I went back inside and put my key in the door and someone yelled, "what do you want?" Oops!! I told them I was sorry, I had the wrong apartment. I went back out and looked at the paper again. "Hmmm. Maybe I was in the wrong building." There are two buildings. So I went to the other building and looked at my paper again, this time I pulled out the lease and sure enough, the lease said apartment 12. LOL. So I went back to the other building and went to apt 12.

I was happy that I was forewarned about the carpet. The Director told me it was filthy and that it needed to be replaced. She said they didn't have any money in the budget to replace it right now, but they were going to get it cleaned as best they could. She said that it was stained. When I walked in, I understood. It was NASTY, FILTHY, GROSS. I was trying to figure out what type of stains it was because it was EVERYWHERE. I didn't understand how it could get that NASTY. And it wasn't just in the living room, it was in the bedroom also, just plain NASTY!!!! When I'm at home, I don't like to walk around in my shoes. As a matter of fact, I take my shoes off at the door because when you walk outside and come back in you track dirt from outside and I like a clean carpet. After looking past the carpet, I looked around and it's actually a nice apartment. It's small, but nice.

To be continued.