It is 6:30 a.m. on a Monday – and I think I’m screwed.
I’m on the bus to work when I check my Gmail. I see a message from the apartment building in Dallas. It says that my application has been approved, and that I have 3 days to sign my lease.
The message is from Friday evening.
The online lease papers expired on Sunday.
I think I’m going to be homeless.
After almost spilling my coffee on the bus, I frantically navigate the decisively non-mobile-friendly leasing website on my phone. I e-sign the documents, and then email the leasing agent.
I spend the morning in a crappy mood because I’m convinced that I botched my rental application. I surely lost my deposit and have to start my apartment search all over again.
Apparently the Lowertown Depot wasn’t a depot at all, but the old Standard Oil Branch Warehouse. The name was just a marketing gimmick for condo developers.
I’m surprised that they haven’t attempted to redevelop the area – it’s a massive undeveloped chunk of land right by downtown.
The Lowertown Depot reminds me a lot of Miami’s Midtown neighborhood. Midtown was just a huge chunk of undeveloped railroad tracks when I was in high school. Developers decided to play Sim City and turned it into a huge residential and commercial complex.
This neighborhood has become increasingly trendy (and expensive) which will likely force many of us to make a buying vs. moving decision next summer.
Rising rents almost drove us back to Minneapolis this summer.
In fact, we had a deposit down on an apartment, but we were rejected because my prior landlord didn’t respond to their reference requests. The guy who took my unit is a little freaked out because he’ll likely run into the same problem.
Exhaustion from the apartment search caused us to sign on for another year in Lowertown, but I suspect future rent hikes will soon turn this area into another Uptown or Warehouse District.
It’s a full circle moment. Remember how aggravating the housing search was when I first moved to Minnesota? Well, the post-law school housing search with dogs was even worse, and everyone’s over it.
We get a call from the Lithuanian landlady this morning. Tader’s not a felon and our application is approved. She also says that we can move in anytime in August and she won’t charge us extra rent. Vӧt!
My next challenge is finding a renter for my current apartment so I don’t have to pay double-rent for September. I showed my apartment to several interested couples last week, but no one put down a deposit yet.
Our fabulous gay landlord called us this morning and said that he rented the unit to another couple. We were suddenly screwed again. Tader was inconsolable.
Things turned around in the afternoon. I showed my apartment to two couples who drooled at the thought of a two-bedroom dog-friendly unit for $780. I told them that the rent could get down to $590, which would be a little over $300 per person with the utilities.
We had three showings today. Before the first showing I decided to call some random listings in the neighborhood. I was on the phone with one of the leads when Tader picked me up to drive to our first showing. When we pulled up to the building I realized that I just spent 20 minutes talking to the guy that Tader already vetted.
Me: “Um, sorry, Nevermind about that 7:30 showing. Apparently the boyfriend already talked to you and we are here for a 5pm showing!” Landlord: “Oh, you’re Tader’s boyfriend?” Me: “Yep! And we are here!”
Of course the landlord was this cute gay guy and the apartment had a lot of potential. One of the current tenants may be a hoarder, but I liked the apartment and the landlord also owns a Rottweiler! Win!
The end is near! This past week was the week of changes and drama. Finals are creeping closer and so is the law review petition…
Oh and classes are still going on apparently. Most of my section has become impatient with classes. Here’s a rundown:
Crimlaw is a waste of time. Even the “nice” girl has stopped reading Crimlaw and simply outlines during class. We can tell that our professor is extremely knowledgeable, but he is a thoroughly inept teacher. Our professor is also late for almost every class. What the hey?The whole Crimlaw experience is exacerbated by Billy Scratch N’Sniff. Scratch N’Sniff (SNS) is a boy from the other section who spends the entire class periodscratching his nether regions. Yes, even during the double-session we had on rape. Actually, the sex crime topic prompted an unusual amount of participation from SNS…it was bizarre. And yes, he was scratching as he opined about rape. The horror…
Corporations has really picked up. Several of my friends refused to take corporations because of Professor M’s verbal ticks1 but the professor has really relaxed and the stuttering has almost disappeared. The class is usually amusing, with Professor M taking plenty of pot-shots at the Delaware courts. I love it.
Property is a death march. I really like the subject but the class has become tedious. Professor P has a stiff, mechanical style and is relentless when questioning students.It’s really painful to watch. When a student doesn’t know the answer to a question, Professor P simply repeats the question. Over, and over. Have you ever seen two kids do that, “Yeah-huh, nuh-uh, yeah-huh” bit? That’s how questioning feels in Property. Today’s class was especially brutal. please let it be over soon…
But there is always Civil Procedure. I have been preaching the gospel of Professor V since last semester, but most of the section hasn’t come around until this semester. Professor V is the best professor ever and has amazing powerpoints. Today’s slides started with a Yogi Berra quote. Past classes have featured Diana Ross and Anna Nicole. I love it…although we’ve spent so much time on Erie/Hanna analysis that it better be on the exam…
On Thursday I was the distraught 1L in computer services when my laptop suggested that OneNote had deleted ALL OF MY NOTES. Yeah. I was almost the kid howling “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” in the study carrels. My laptop then proceeded to do this:
Unacceptable. Everything turned out alright, but I could have done without the 20 minutes of remmidemmi…
Things in the Gamma house have deteriorated ever since the trashing. The housemates are divided into two camps. People are pissed off and it is getting hard to be civil to Slovenly Housemate.
I tried really hard to be accommodating. But I’ve had to walk over too many beer bottles, pizza boxes, and Coke Zero cans. Slovenly’s friends are also annoying people and over WAY too much.
Charity stops here. I’m pissed off.2
There is going to be a contested election for house president within the next two weeks, but I’m done. I’m moving out after finals. I refuse to live in filth.
I visited an apartment building today that I’m probably going to move into. There were two apartments for rent. The first unit was a dank place on the bottom floor that rents for $575, and the second unit was a huge place on the top floor that rents for $650 a month.
The problem is that the huge apartment is…well, huge. Like, “I entertain” huge.
I’m negotiating a lease right now. We’ll see how it goes.
The building allows dogs, which is crucial. I need a canine running partner.
I arrived for the apartment showing a bit early so I stood outside of the building while talking on the phone. While I was on the phone, a lady left the apartment building with two small dogs.
I was on the phone with Jack and mentioned that the humane society has a lot of pitbulls on its website. My main concern is that a formerly abused pitbull is going to have a flashback and rip my throat out in my sleep. EXTRA: MINNEAPOLIS LAW STUDENT MAULED TO DEATH. DUMBASS ADOPTED AN ABUSED VICIOUS DOG.
Of course potential-neighbor-lady overheard this and started writing down websites where I can find non-throat-ripping dogs. She then detailed the various substance abuse3 problems of the tenants. It looks like it’s going to be an interesting experience…
This was definitely the week of changes. In addition to the apartment hunt, I gave up Splenda and started running because I signed up for a marathon. The marathon is in October, but I’m training now. My first run was 3 miles. The next morning I was so sore that I thought “OH MY GOD I BROKE MYSELF!”
I bitched at myself for a good half hour before I went back and ran 6 miles. The 6 miles were not as painful as I expected. Running is a great people-watching opportunity. The funniest thing I saw was a gay guy walking a pair of chihuahuas.
How do I know he was gay? Well, besides the Juicy Couture sweatpants he was wearing… there was also the fact that his DOGS were sporting pink camouflage hoodies. Diva please.
I had two “Diva Please” moments at bars this week because I was mistaken for a 32 year-old TWICE.
I’m actually 22. I think it’s the beard that does it.
Ah well. Age is overrated, as Sloven Housemate has proven…
1 Professor M used to string together “uh, uh, um, ers” … he never went over six in a row though. Yes, we counted.
2 I refuse to lecture someone who is OLDER THAN ME about “how NOT to be the dirty irritating housemate.” If you haven’t learned how to respect your peers by college, then you have some deep character flaw that’s not getting fixed any time before your wife serves divorce papers on you…
