Letter to my Landlord: The Results

Holly,

Please except my apologies for the burglary of your vehicle. I praise your choice on contacting the police department. Hopefully the more information they can get will allow them to catch this guy as soon as possible. I do understand your frustration regarding the late fees and I will be the first to admit that they are very strict. Unfortunately there is a reason behind the "no grace period". Unlike most communities we are owned by an individual not a big corporation. This means his mortgage is due on the 5th of the month and he uses all the rent received to pay it. The good news is there are other options. I have a form you can fill out in the office for your debit card to be automatically debited on the 1st of the month. Which means if the office is closed on the 1st I will deduct it upon our return. We also offer direct payment out of your checking account. If you set up for this option they do not deduct it until the 3rd of each month. One of the advantages of the debit withdraw is if you run into financial hardship one month, all you have to do is give me a call and ask for me not to deduct it on the first. Of coarse you would still be responsible for late fees but its a little easier that having to call the bank and temporarily freeze an automatic withdrawal. I would like to apologize again about your vehicle and let you know about the other payment options you have with us. In light of your recent problems and outstanding payment history, we have recieved approval to remove the $50 late fee on your account. Please understand that we will be unable to do so in the future for any additional late payments. I know that this does not eliminate your concerns but hopefully it will help restore some of your faith in us.

Respectfully,
[lady in the office]

I won! I won and it felt good. Also, this morning as I was leaving for work, I noticed two township police units monitoring my apartment complex. I not only won, but I also got the strength of the LAW on my side! I'm not a huge cop fan, but I do really enjoy when they work to my benefit.

On another note, I'm feeling the strength of my current anxieties and it's effecting my sleep. I'm having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. I think my body is ready to start moving again and I would like to start working out a couple times a week. I just have all this time to myself and I just keep allowing my head to fill with thoughts instead of letting them out. I'm pent up in Ohio and need to branch out immediately. I think I know exactly how Sam felt right before he went to New York for the first time. He just felt trapped, like there was nowhere else to go if he stayed here. When he came back a couple weeks ago from California, he said he was immediately depressed just because of the atmosphere. He missed his new home already and he had only been there about a month or so. Bottom line, I feel like I'm crawling out of my skin. I need to get out, and I need to get out promptly.

I just need to find a job somewhere, and so does Joey. Until Friday, I was waiting for Joey to land a job first but his dad convinced me otherwise. He said "why wait for Joe? You go where the job goes. If you find a job, you go there. If Joe finds a job, go there. That's what you gotta do." And he's right. Of all the times he has said "you gotta do this," he was absolutely right about this one. So in following his advice, I'm going to start looking for jobs elsewhere. If I stay here in Ohio, my market is limited. Not only is unemployment in Ohio terrible right now (which is a large contributing factor as to why Joey can't land a job), but the market is split into corporate radio or nothing. I WILL NOT work for Clear Channel for a couple reasons (they ruined radio, basically), and they're located in every major city. So I know any place I go will be mostly dominated by Clear Channel, but in wider markets I will be able to find more profitable, independent radio stations. Or I could stay with Cox, because I do have to say that they are a great company to work for. Yes, they're also a huge corporate company, but I don't think you can really ruin radio if most of your stations air political newstalk material. Biased hosts come and go, and Cox is willing to adjust to that. Clear Channel is not. I also thought of applying for a public access channel. I'm always a fan of non-profits.

Another reason I need to leave this place is because I'm so sick of the inactivity of this state. If you want to have fun in Ohio, you have to unbury it because your choices are the mall, a generic restaurant, and television. Yes, there are bars and clubs and such, but I'm not too into that kind of crowd. I don't like seeing over-primped drunk bitches and their equally drunk single male counter-parts mingling with each other.. it's just a mess. I get embarassed for characters in movies; it kills me to see it in real life. Plus it's expensive to have fun at a bar, and it's impossible to have fun at a bar if you're not drunk. Unless you like sports. But people drink to enhance their sports-watching, so even that's out. I just want a yard that I can sit out in and sip my lemonade during the day, and watch the stars at night. I know I can do that now on my back patio, but there's this giant flood light that I have no control over that seriously makes it feel like the apocolypse outside. So we don't sit out there... needless to say, we don't have to turn our porch light on.

Off to more things..

peace and stir crazy