Reason number 24 I need to move.
So, I noticed a leak under my kitchen sink. I pulled out everything I keep under there (cleaning supplies, trash bags, etc.) and discovered that the pipes coming from the drain are wrapped in duct tape. (Yes, I have a landlord who is generous when it comes to not raising the rent, but stingy when it comes to home repairs. )
I don't think I've ever had a plumber in my kitchen during my nearly 14 year tenure here, so I assume the tape has been there for at least as long as I have. I touched it to confirm it was wet, and I felt the metal underneath the tape crumble in my fingertips.
I had a sink full of dirty dish water. After contemplating the hassle of siphoning it out into a bucket (I have a fish tank so am equipped with siphon hose and accessories), I decided to place a plastic pan under the pipe, open the drain and see what would happen.
And the water drained, amazingly with just a little leak, even though the water was basically exiting through a tube of tape, not an actual pipe. Obviously, this is not a permanent state of affairs, and so I must now call my landlord and ask for a plumber. Depending on his mood, he will either be calm and apologetic, or curse me and tell me how expensive plumbers are.
* * *
I hate living here. It's not just the shoddy state of the apartment and the building, although that's a big part of it. Why am I still here? It's incredibly cheap. Over the years, I've toyed with the idea of finding another place, a nicer place that would cost me more, but my family and friends always convinced me that was insane. (Note that both friends and family have also lived in this building at various times, drawn here by the ability to live dirt cheap in a great neighborhood.) They reminded me that I could live here, save money, and then I'd have more money to buy.
Of course, despite being somewhat frugal, my ability to save was outpaced by the boom this neighborhood has gone through in the last decade. And when I finally decide that I am ready, that it will never be the "perfect" time, I find myself looking just when others are halting, when the mortgage crisis is having an impact on the real estate market. Is this the wrong time? I don't think so, but time will tell.
I bring all of this up because it's hard to justify why I am still here, when I am still so miserable here. I feel like I will never be out of this place, and now that I'm stuck in limbo (apartment still half-packed, in contract on another apartment that might also fall through for reasons I have yet to anticipate, and then, finally, the hell of the actual move - thinking of movers bringing my piano from one third floor walk up to another makes me nauseous), it's just that much harder. I want it to be spring, and it all to be behind me.
And I'm scared that it will be spring and I'll still be sitting here as yet another piece of infrastructure in this building crumbles around me.
I don't think I've ever had a plumber in my kitchen during my nearly 14 year tenure here, so I assume the tape has been there for at least as long as I have. I touched it to confirm it was wet, and I felt the metal underneath the tape crumble in my fingertips.
I had a sink full of dirty dish water. After contemplating the hassle of siphoning it out into a bucket (I have a fish tank so am equipped with siphon hose and accessories), I decided to place a plastic pan under the pipe, open the drain and see what would happen.
And the water drained, amazingly with just a little leak, even though the water was basically exiting through a tube of tape, not an actual pipe. Obviously, this is not a permanent state of affairs, and so I must now call my landlord and ask for a plumber. Depending on his mood, he will either be calm and apologetic, or curse me and tell me how expensive plumbers are.
* * *
I hate living here. It's not just the shoddy state of the apartment and the building, although that's a big part of it. Why am I still here? It's incredibly cheap. Over the years, I've toyed with the idea of finding another place, a nicer place that would cost me more, but my family and friends always convinced me that was insane. (Note that both friends and family have also lived in this building at various times, drawn here by the ability to live dirt cheap in a great neighborhood.) They reminded me that I could live here, save money, and then I'd have more money to buy.
Of course, despite being somewhat frugal, my ability to save was outpaced by the boom this neighborhood has gone through in the last decade. And when I finally decide that I am ready, that it will never be the "perfect" time, I find myself looking just when others are halting, when the mortgage crisis is having an impact on the real estate market. Is this the wrong time? I don't think so, but time will tell.
I bring all of this up because it's hard to justify why I am still here, when I am still so miserable here. I feel like I will never be out of this place, and now that I'm stuck in limbo (apartment still half-packed, in contract on another apartment that might also fall through for reasons I have yet to anticipate, and then, finally, the hell of the actual move - thinking of movers bringing my piano from one third floor walk up to another makes me nauseous), it's just that much harder. I want it to be spring, and it all to be behind me.
And I'm scared that it will be spring and I'll still be sitting here as yet another piece of infrastructure in this building crumbles around me.
posted by medusa at 6:06 AM
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