the rix mix

A feisty new city housing inspector came through here last week. She wasn't impressed with how I live, a rather spartan, cluttered place with the "bedroom" serving as a large walk in storage area. I'm not a neat & organized person. She threw the book at the apt. At first, I thought it was my mess that done it, but I keep my kitchen area & bathroom in decent condition. All dishes washed before I go to bed, never more than a few stray coffee grinds on the kitchen table, never any wet or edible garbage, all unsealed food refrigerated including cookies. Look past the clothes carelessly tossed on the folding chair & into a large box on the floor serving as a hamper & you'll see shelves & a closet filled with laundered clothing. My former therapist noted my fondness for clean clothes & that I always shaved for our sessions. & I don't dust enough. No, the listed failures are all my landlord's responsibilities.

After a year of relatively few roaches, the bugs suddenly appeared in larger numbers. I mentioned it to the inspector because it was pissing me off, & she marked it down. She was disturbed by the stained ceiling tiles in the bathroom, where the landlord has failed to solve the problem of the guy upstairs. I don't think there's any pipes leaking up there, they've been checked & checked again; the tenant just doesn't know how to fill up the tub & take a bath, & since he's a borderline group home type, what's really needed is a talk with his social worker, & I'm certain he has one. She failed the kitchen sink counter for having some cracks in it. Those cracks existed when I moved in & no other inspection took note of them. She failed the bedroom for a "hole in the wall." This hole is actually a small piece that was cut to get at the bathtub plumbing before I moved in, & I securely taped the piece to the opening. I'd prefer that access be left there. She wouldn't have noticed it had I pushed a chair or box in front of it. & then there's the mystery of a gurgling kitchen sink drain noise, which really does bother me & started up after some major plumbling repair last year in the basement.

The major problem is that the reinspection is on Monday & nothing has been done to fix this stuff. The landlord receives a copy of the inspection report. So I'm going to flunk again. Then, he's got one more chance to do it. If not, I lose the apt, although none of these problems makes it uninhabitable. It's not like I have 20 cats, piles of empty ravioli cans acattered around, no heat, & a toilet that backs up.

When the monthly exterminator came through on Thursday, I made him do some extra spraying, & before that the bug outbreak was subsiding.

My landlord has frequently said I'm a good tenant; quiet, reliable with the rent. If I have to move - certainly that possibility is not 100% bad - this place could be vacant for several months & by law the owner would still have to do the repairs, & paint, too. So his inaction puzzles & worries me. I wonder how I would find another apt & pull together the logistics of moving in the alloted time. It took me forever to move in here. Professional movers could empty this apt out in two hours if I could afford them & had enough sturdy boxes. I had a brief talk with the "handyman" who does most of the repairs here. But he doesn't live in the building & what he does is minor work.

Labels: home furnishings, mental health