Home?

[plumtreeblossom]

I am giving serious consideration to moving.

I’ve lived in the house on Bay State Ave for 5 years and have been Lead Tenant for 3.
I love this neighborhood and once loved this house, and it will hurt to leave when I do. But I can’t go on in a situation where I am increasingly regarded as a utility rather than a paying human tenant with a life.

The responsibilities of Lead Tenant were originally to collect/deposit rent, call contractors and plumbers as needed, and keep the yard picked up. This, in exchange for a small reduction in rent. Things would still be fine if it had stayed that way. One of the problems with being personal friends with one’s long-distance landlord is that it becomes difficult to say no when they need extra help and favors. He lives in California and is broke. I’m here and am being increasingly perceived as an installed household appliance.

The breaking point:

For the past 8 weeks I have been effectively tethered to the house to help in the fruitless crusade to rent out the downstairs 3-bedroom shit hole apartment. I am expected to make myself available at a moment’s notice day or night to show it to disinterested yuppie maggots prospective tenants, with not one bit of concession to my work or personal schedule. While I’d be glad to disembowel help my landlord and the people looking for apartments, I can’t continue in a living situation that trespasses into every sector of my life that matters to me. I have to miss classes at the gym, social functions, the morning exercise walks that I love, all to show the apartment. I’ve had to show it at 5:30 AM, was asked to show it at 9:30 PM on a Saturday night when I had plans (said no), and am taking heat because I’ll be gone for 3 days next week in SoCal. It'll rent eventually, sure. But then the 2nd floor apartment will need to be shown at the end of summer. This would be a perfect living situation for a little old man with a tool belt who never leaves the premises. I’m not that. I’d rather pay a higher rent somewhere else and have my human freedom back than go on in this restricted, utilitarian set of circumstances.

I can’t move now, because as a temp I won’t pass screening with any sane landlord. I’ll need to wait until I land a permanent position. If/when I do move, it will probably have to be to JP. As much as I love Davis Square, I couldn’t realistically afford anything else here, and I’d sever my jugular before moving further out into the suburbs at this juncture. I could do worse than JP, though. There’s a vibrant arts community there, as vital as Somerville’s. Still, where would I be going? My friend group there is aging so rapidly around me, and the social agenda there has eroded to watching videotapes of TV programs, and book clubs centered around one self-help book or another. If I want to go out for live music, and I always want to, I just go by myself now because absolutely nobody will pull themselves off the couch anymore. I don’t even bother asking. Shit, these are the same people I used to be in bands with, used to raise hell in P’town with. I have Theatre@First in Somerville. That’s enough to keep me occupied in Davis until the moving options open up and I decide what I want to do.

Home should be a sanctuary, not a second job.

Wow, my first real rant in this journal. Uh... sorry.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

i'm surprised your landlord doesn't get some sort of live in manager/handy person seems like that would be the best bet have you consider suggesting they look for someone like that to rent one of the apartments for a more substancial rent reduction? you might have to pay a little more rents afterwards but maybe could still afford to live in there and not worry about moving and all that stuff

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Yes, that was the case when I first moved in. A guy in the 1st floor apartment was lead tenant, and he was much better suited to the tasks involved than me. Just a quiet, sedentary guy who was always around, could fix things, etc. When he moved, it defaulted to me. But I'm a social creature, and out most nights either with friends, gym, classes, etc, and damned if I'm going to forfeit all that for a $150 rent reduction.

Who am I speaking to, btw? I only know of two non-LJers who read me, and I love ya both. :-D

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

I should hook you up with my best friends, steve & Tom. They go out to live music nine nights a week and are always happy to have company. They've developed quite a crowd of friends and acquaintances in the music scene, so could probably help you to get to know other folk so that even if you were heading out alone, you'd have a higher chance of running into people you know. Check out steve's website for reviews he's written that will give you an idea of his taste. There's also a list of upcoming shows they're planning to attend.

Also, Pete is playing with the Ken Ballou Band at the Kirkland this Saturday (if you're in town, maybe this is when you're of to LA?). They're scheduled to go on at 8:30pm. We're not sure if we'll make it, but at least you'd know the bassist.

On the apartment front, shall I start forwarding you all the "looking for tenant/housemate" ads I get?

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I would love to have people to go see live music with. Its something my friends and I used to do all the time, but one by one I've lost them to reruns of Seinfeld and chick flick nights at home. My most musical friend has moved away and so the Tuesday night jams are gone too, as well as having a willing buddy for any band I wanted to see. My female friends now mostly listen to crap like Celine Dion, so if I want to go to Dresden Dolls I have to go alone and stand around pretending I'm the sound mixer's girlfriend or something so as not to appear as the social alien I am.

Deep breath.

Anyway, yeah, I would love band-seeing company (not dates, just company). Absolutely love it.

Per the apartment, I'm going to hang in there until after my China trip. Hopefully then I'll know better what I want to do.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

Well, I will try to come up with an opportunity to really introduce them to
you--you met them at the New Neighborhood, but it was very late in the
evening and there were distractions. Failing that, here
is a picture of them and you can usually find them at the front of the
stage. They definitely know who you are, so if you turn up at a show and
find them, they'll be pleased to see you. I will drop them a line and say I
told you to do this, so they can look forward to it.