Who Enforces the rules?

 [my name] <heylookitsmyemailaddress@emailcarrier.com>

Good Afternoon-

As I have been getting mixed messages between calls and text message with long delays receiving a return call from voice mails, perhaps email will be a better form of communication for clarity's sake.

I am in [MY], [corresponding Apartment]. I have not had a working refrigerator since 6/20/2024. When I got home from work Thursday evening my fridge was not working, I am not sure what time during the day it stopped, but by 5 pm it was not working and freezer items were beginning to thaw. The outlet would trip each time I plugged in the fridge, but worked when my toaster or microwave was plugged in. I called in to the after hours help phone number and I have a maintenance request time stamped 5:55pm 6/20/2024.

On Friday, 6/21/2024 I received a text message at 2:27pm that maintenance had stopped by while I was at work. The text said maintenance did call and leave me a voice message. I did not have a missed call or a voicemail. I texted back that I could head home right away and meet maintenance. I left work an hour early and was home by 3:00pm. No one called or came by. I did not hear from anyone again until Monday morning.

On Monday, 6/24/2024 I received a call at 8:47am and scheduled to meet maintenance at my unit at 9:30 am.

The maintenance man knocked on my door promptly at 9:30. I walked him through the issue, showed him how the outlet would work for the microwave but not the fridge. He did some troubleshooting and determined the outlet needed replaced. He went and got parts, replaced the outlet, the fridge worked again, I filled ice cube trays and put them in the freezer and went back to work. Monday evening it was still working, but Tuesday morning, 6/25/2024 while getting ready for work I noticed the fridge was, again, not working. I did the same troubleshooting as before and it was the same issue. The outlet works for the microwave, but not the fridge.

I left an update to the maintenance request in the AppFolio Portal at 7:28am and sent a text message as a follow up at 9:28am. I received a text message back at 3:05 saying someone from maintenance would reach out to me. I did not hear from anyone at all after that.

This morning I received a text message at 8:12 am with completely different information than previously provided. The text message this morning said:

#1- they cannot schedule an appointment. I have scheduled appointments at least twice before. This is either a new policy or a lie.

#2: they stated maintenance is not permitted to call tenants upon or before arrival. This is a direct contradiction to the information I was told on Friday when they stated maintenance had called and left a message. This is either a new policy or a lie.

It is now well past the 72 hour period required for major appliance repair as set forth in RCW 59.18.070 that states, in part, "...Not more than 72 hours where the defective condition deprives the tenant of the use of a refrigerator, range and oven, or a major plumbing fixture supplied by the landlord."

ISSUES:

- I am now on day 7 without a working refrigerator. The contents of my fridge and freezer are a total loss. The ability to prepare meals has been suspended for almost a week. While I am fortunate enough to not require refrigerated medication, I cannot imagine how poorly this would have gone for anyone that required refrigeration for any reason.

- I will not tolerate being lied to. It was a chronic problem with [previous management company] for the last 6 years; constant different stories from ever changing managers, maintenance people, and administrative staff. It is extremely disappointing this is my experience this early on with [current property manager]. 

As I have repeatedly stated via text, phone, and other emails, my dog is not kenneled during the day. As per lease requirements, animals are required to be kenneled before maintenance or other staff enter the unit. She cannot be kenneled all day, it would be a health risk for her breed to not have access to water during the warmer temperatures. Additionally, I am a single, queer, female tenant. It is inherently unsafe for me to allow anyone into my very small, very exposed, very accessible studio unit when I am not home. I require to be on site any time ANYONE is in my unit. The few times [previous property management] was allowed access when I was not present, they grossly abused the access (ie: 10+ people walking through for an inspection when they stated it would be 3 people). I will not, ever, allow anyone in my unit when I am not home for my safety.

I have also repeatedly stated that I work one mile from the apartment, literally directly up the street. I can be home in less than 5 minutes to provide access at any point during the day.

My ability to pay my rent is directly related to my ability to work. Taking large windows of time off during the day as a "maintenance window" is not tenable. It would adversely impact my PTO bank which is reserved for emergencies only as it is. I have, so far, missed 2.5 hours of work for this issue. That is 2.5 hours of lost pay. 

I do not think I am being unreasonable asking for a specific appointment time (as has been available before), timely and honest responses from staff, or having repairs completed within the state mandated time requirements.

My requests are:

-Accurate communication. Do not lie to me.

-Ability to schedule appointments at a specific time. This has been done before. It should not change without notice (or at all).

-Repairs to be completed within state mandated timelines. I need my appliance repaired or replaced ASAP.

Respectfully,

[my name]

[my phone number]

 

 

 

 

The above is an email sent to my property management company on Wednesday, 6/26/2024.

 

I received an automatic Out-Of-Office Response:

I will be out of the office Tuesday June 25th 2024. I will respond back to your email as soon as I am back in the office on Monday July 1st 2024. If you have urgent business, please call our office [phone number].

Please allow time upon my return to respond to any emails, text messages, or voicemails recieved during my absense.

Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. Cool. July 1st. Monday. At least another 4 day without a fridge. 

The next morning, Thursday, 6/27/2024, I received a text from the management company asking again if I would like to schedule a window on Friday, 6/28/2024. I had already agreed to work the Homestead Conference in CDA for work. I would be meeting my coworker at 6:15am and be in CDA all day. So. No, I can't schedule a window on Friday. I reached out to a friend with a 4 day work schedule and asked if there were any way he could be at my apartment for a 2 hour window Friday morning to let maintenance in (and maybe get a real answer because he's a dude). Just what someone wants to do on their day off- wait for maintenance that isn't even their own maintenance. He very graciously agreed, I scheduled the appointment window by text, thanked my friend a billion times, went about my day.

 

Thursday evening, 6/27/2024 I got home from work to a "sorry we missed you!" door hanger from maintenance.

 

I texted management at 4:31pm WHAT IS GOING ON?

 

Management texted back at 8:17am on Friday, yesterday, 6/28/2024.

 

I'm already in CDA. What am I supposed to tell my friend? Is the window still scheduled? I'm literally in another state. There's nothing I can do.

 

Management texts at 8:17- no clue, didn't send anyone, window still scheduled.

 

Ok. On as scheduled. Get a text from my friend he's at my apartment, put Stella in her kennel (even swapped her potty pads for me!), let maintenance in. They both walk through the problem, exactly like I explained. The fix? Swapped the outlet again for a standard outlet, no GFCI. The safety mechanism that kept tripping? Just remove that piece. See! It stays on now! Why was it tripping? Who cares, it won't do it again! BECAUSE IT CAN'T.

 

But you know, a major appliance with an electrical issue and no safety mechanism in a 100+ year old building, what's the worst that could happen. It's not like people die in house fires or anything.

 

oh, wait... 

 

So.  Using every ounce of eloquism available in my brain at this moment: this sucks.

Now what? Code enforcement? How long will that take? My fridge *technically* works now. After 9 days.

I don't want to use a fridge that could burn down my apartment at any time. Contrary to pervasive thoughts, I do want to stay alive.

It took 9 days to get *any* kind of solution. How long will it take to get the CORRECT solution?

I was doing better about budgeting. I was doing better about less fast food and more cooking at home. I was doing better about drinking water and staying hydrated. For some reason room temperature tap water just doesn't sound good. Barely cold forever plastics and metallic pipe flakes anyone?

 

*sigh* WAS

So what do I do? Keep fighting management? Whatever the issue is it's going to cost money- a new fridge or some electrical work (realistically, both). What are the odds of that actually happening?

Do I move? I'm sure management wants me to. My rent is $750 til February 2025. The other units are going for over a thousand. But there's literally no other apartments in town for $750. None. Not to mention first/last/deposit/screening fee/moving costs.

Who enforces the RCW's? Who enforces code?

I tried to find help. The city has a new tenant/landlord department, right? All apartments are supposed to be registered with the city, they pay a fee per apartment that goes into a pot to pay inspectors and things like that, RIGHT?? That went into effect January 1, 2024, right? Wouldn't one of the larger property management firms in town be expected to comply? So who is that inspector person? How do you get ahold of them? 

Maybe the city web site- oh, 311. Ok. I'll call them. And get Dan. Who is out of office. Period. No-return-date. Just out of office. Call 311. But 311 sent me to you Dan.

Ok. Maybe SNAP. They work with housing all the time. Maybe they know who to call.

SNAP: We don't have any money, we ran out.

ME: I don't need money. I just need to know who to call to make apartment managers actually fix things.

SNAP: We don't know. Here's a number for legal aide.

Ok. Maybe legal aide.

ME: Hi. *Explains problem* So, what do I do next?

Legal Aide: We can't advise you as we're not your lawyer.

Ok. Maybe the tenant's union.

Tenants Union: Have you tried legal aide?

How do you find someone to enforce things? If there's no one, what's the point of even having rules that need enforces? And the reversal of the Chevron Ruling hasn't even kicked in yet.

How long does all this even take? *Technically* my fridge works now. Do I want to leave it plugged in? No. So now is it just be being a difficult tenant?

 

Who enforces the RCW's? Where's the *actual* tenant protection? Who do we really call when management just wants to lie, cut corners, violate NEC code?

 

I just want to live in my tiny apartment with ice during the summer and not die in a shitty preventable fire. 

Wed, Jun 26, 12:13 PM (3 days ago)
to [current property manager]

on manifesting wealth

 so, the other night i jokingly posted to facebook about my new form of manifesting wealth: drinking from my scrooge mcduck pepsi cup.

if you’re a child of the 80’s, you may remember all the pepsi cups- i personally own scrooge mcduck, cool cat, foghorn leghorn, along with two peanuts and two happiness hotel glasses as well as three garfield mugs. yes, they’ve all been recalled for using lead paint. no, i don’t plan on getting rid of them. i don’t lick the outside, so it should be fine, right?

after sending the same picture via snapchat, a friend responded: unlimited wealth and no pants?

YES.

i laughed pretty hard as i was sitting there in my underwear, on a thursday night, eating pizza and cheesy bread. that felt pretty wealthy to me. being able to sit in my underwear, in my own apartment, on a thursday night, with an entire pizza (and cheesy bread) to myself. i call it meal planning- one pizza is at least 3 meals, three days of not having to think about what i’m going to eat. that feels pretty wealthy. not to mention i was drinking royal crown cola, like the queen that i am. queen of my own 400 sq feet.

but then i really leaned in. maybe it was the weed i’ve started smoking again, maybe it was just the change in perspective i’ve been working on fostering, maybe it was both, but man. when you really lean into something, BE READY. it will hit you like a mac truck.

i was sitting alone, in my own apartment. that i pay for. with my bills paid and enough left over for a pizza. that’s three really big things, especially in this economy. my rent is paid. my bills are paid. i have money between paychecks. 

those aren’t a given right now for a shockingly large portion of america. rent is out of control. people are drowing in debit between job lay offs and using credit cards to get through. mortgages are insane because housing costs are insane. groceries are now a “splurge” item according to news outlets. people are working two, three jobs, selling plasma, side hustling, gig working, scraping any and every bit together they can.

in that moment it felt exceptionally rich to be able to sit, on a thursday night, and just enjoy my pizza. nothing to do until work the next morning. no errands to run, no side hustle to work on. just…netflix and pizza.

wealth is a tricky subject. what i recognized as wealth in that moment was NOT what i was thinking of when i made the joke about manifesting. but holy fuck if it wasn’t true, just as it was. i was thinking of a literal scrooge mcduck vault of gold coins to suba dive through. what i found was a much more real and tangible form.

the next day, friday, was payday. i again thought about my wealth manifestation. i budget carefully. very carefully. i look ahead at the calendar and plan for any appointments, events, trips, etc. while paying my bills and splitting out my paycheck. again, i found wealth in an unexpected place: regularly scheduled appointments. i have a hair cut scheduled out for june. i have a regular brow appointment every 5 weeks. i have stella nail trims scheduled every 2 weeks. the ability to schedule appointments in advance and know there will be money there when it’s time? WEALTHY. in so many ways. financially: wealthy. mental health wise? WEALTHY. hair is a big deal for me. it’s a never ending journey of trying to find what works. what feels like me when i look in the mirror. what was a mistake. how long does it take to recover from that mistake? when money gets tight, fancy things, like hair and nails, are the first thing on the chopping block. losing the ability to have regular appointments can make a rough journey even harder because that’s when impulse and DIY creep in. i can’t afford a full color appointment, but for $9.99 i can buy a box of something at walgreens (NEVER, EVER a good idea). i can’t afford a full salon cut, so i’ll try a barber shop (the mullet phase was ROUGH y’all). when i know i have an appointment scheduled, it’s much easier to set down the scissors and the dye. just a few more weeks. don’t touch it. just a few more weeks. you can avoid SO MUCH stress (and months of awkward photos) when you can afford to just have regular appointments scheduled. same for brows. getting an itch to just pluck a few? back away from the tweezers,  you have an appointment next week. don’t you dare ruin all the hard work of the last several years! the 00’s were NOT kind to eyebrows, let’s not go back there again, for the love of low rise jeans and whale tails. 

i imagine the day i’ll have ALL the appointments regularly scheduled again. dentist? it’s been a while. doctor? ha. not doing that without insurance! oil change? technically i’m a few thousand miles under the number limit, and they said the date doesn’t matter as much as the miles. but just imagine- hair color, facials, massage, pedicures, maybe even house cleaning, stella spa days. how luxurious that would be.

having things scheduled AND the ability to pay for them? WEALTHY. i’m part of the way there. but just think…the ability to do regular grocery orders. car maintenance. subscriptions (hulu, netflix, etc). vitamins. appointments of all kinds. OH MAN. the thought of how good this would be for my mental health? whew. regular self care, food stability, transportation stability, housing stability, health stability. all scheduled, secure, budgeted for. WEALTHY.

that’s my next goal.

speaking of goals, there’s a certain level of wealthy that goes with being able to set goals.

i was scrolling tiktok and there’s a new, gen z version of dave ramsey floating around chewing people out and giving them advice for how to unfuck their finances. while listening to him yell at someone, the thought occurred to me: there is SUCH a difference between living paycheck to paycheck and just living. when you can only plan 3 paychecks in advance, universe willing, it’s hard to plan for the future. really hard.

i plan three paycheck in advance. that is extravagant to me after the last few years. and even that feels like balancing on a razors edge. i can plan three paychecks (6 weeks) in advance AS LONG AS…

as long as i don’t get sick. as long as i don’t miss any days. as long as nothing comes up. as long as nothing breaks. as long as i don’t get invited to anything. as long as i don’t make any mistakes (mathematically or purchase wise). as long as i don’t do any emotional spending. as long as i don’t forget anything. as long as…as long as…it can be exhausting always holding on by your fingernails and always being on high alert.

there hasn’t been savings. or investments. i wasn’t allowed to have either for a long time. qualifying for any government assistance over the years meant not having any resources. you’re not allowed to have retirement, investments, land, cars, boats, savings, any resources over $5,000. if you’re that rich, you obviously don’t need government help. i don’t know about you, but $5,000 doesn’t go very far in the grand scheme of things. maybe it did when they first wrote the rules, but i can promise you that number hasn’t been updated in at least 26 years even though every other parameter has extremely changed. i spent 26 years learning how to survive without a safety net, it’s hard to learn to build one now (hard, but not impossible, i have to keep reminding myself).

i don’t plan for the future right now. there is no 5 year plan. there is no retirement plan. there is no generational wealth that i’m leaving behind plan. there’s “i hope i can make it to friday without my other brake light going out” and “i can eat toast and cereal til friday” plans. 

i think the next level of wealth i want to work on is being able to plan. a vacation in 6 months (both the time off AND money for it). i want to plan on having more regularly scheduled appointments, maybe more than one at a time. i want to plan on retirement.i want to plan on more than just making it by the skin of my teeth. social security is a joke. there won’t be any left by 2048. if there is, it won’t be enough to live on the way cost of living keeps increasing. 401k and IRA are phrases i know but not things i have.

being able to plan for the future, in some ways, also means you plan on having a future. i don’t really remember a time when i planned on having a future. “just get through today. just make it til friday. just make it to next friday.” those have been the mantra for 26 years.

and i don’t know if you know this, but the world is a shitty place. people die all the time of fires, cancer, overdose, car accidents, covid, suicide. young people. people my age. people my parents age. the odds of making it to an age where retirement is even a possibility doesn’t seem possible. there’s a horrible old joke about people that retired just in time to die. how many have i known? more than a few. retired for a few months then a heart attack or an accident hits. a few years away from retirement and a fire wipes everything out. starting to plan for retirement and cancer knocks on your door.

it’s hard to plan for the future when you don’t really think there’s much of one coming. it’s hard to be interested in staying alive today when there’s no future. that’s a brutal sentence, but that’s where i’ve been for the last several years.

facing eviction while being unemployed for 7 months was incredibly traumatic. what options were there? was there a point to finding options? what options was a looking for? recovery strategies or exit strategies? what options am i looking for now? survival plans or growth plans?

the old phrase: money can’t buy happiness is a lie. sure, there’s no item on a shelf you can buy labeled “happiness” but there ARE items called groceries. housing. stability. security. health. all those go a LONG way towards happiness. when you’re not constantly worried about one mistake. stretching a dime into a dollar when even a dollar isn’t quite enough.

i’m working on buying my happiness. i’ve got a good start. a lay away plan. pizza in my underwear on a thursday plan. regularly scheduled appointments plan. the knowledge and discipline to make and stick with a budget. i’ll keep chipping away at it. wealth shows up all the time in unexpected ways and unexpected packages. an unexpected pedicure treat from a friend who doesn’t like to go alone but wants to try to keep his feet healthy. a free coffee because you hit double points day. new tires for your car because a friend cares about your safety (that’s a twofer!).

anyway. TL/DR manifesting works. pizza in your underwear is awesome. wealth is a matter of perspective. money can buy happiness. 

shake off the dust

well. it's been a minute since i've been to this particular corner of the internet. may of 2022 to be exact.

i had to look back through my iphone photo gallery to even remember may of 2022. for the record, that was a particularly rough part of the mullet phase. if i ever have to remember anything before either my iphone photo gallery or my facebook galley, lord help me. if it existed before facebook, did it even really exist?

this week is a local literature event. i convinced myself to take a day off to attend some of the writing workshops and events and whatnot. maybe even the book fair...if i leave my debit card at home.

time to crack the old knuckles (no, really, they're old. they hurt. they need cracked to function) and attempt to regain any remnants of any literary prowess i ever flailingly attempted to claim.

occasional bolts of singularity strike in a time and space where i can manage to scratch them down on paper or make a note in my phone only to be forgotten and lost to the realm of...did i think that or was it something i heard once?

the occasional cheeky phrase or pensive though cracks the surface. not nearly enough to string together in any attempt at publication to date.

missives such as:

"i am wholly convinced that my words would be of offense to those that know me and completely inconsequential to strangers. but to truly speak my mind would result in a hold of the medical kind versus that of compassion."

"a superior inferiority complex freezes my pen, both convinced and terrified, equally, of success."

brief snatches of character descriptions: "i have never seen hair that so desperately wanted to be somewhere else."

brief  plot points: "this is the kind of night memories are made of. those bright vibrant flashes of experience to look back on. the "i can't believe we did that," the "do you remember that time..." the "whatever happened to..." glimpses of future changing history. when, ten years hence, you sit up all night remembering, closing loops, retrospecting and reliving."

rare moments of truth: 

if i ever sat down to think about all the things that make me sad in my life, i don't think i could ever get up again.

so i set them aside and keep moving. it may make me cold and heartless, but it's required to survive.

instead of allowing them to swallow me whole, i cover them up.

with tattoos. with inappropriate jokes. with distance. with a callous attitude and a plethora of dirty words. i distract myself with netflix and fall asleep with the noise on to block the sounds in my head.

i don't invest in relationships, as much as i want to, because no one sticks around during the hard stuff  and what is life besides a string of hard stuff?

bizarre to think that last one was from the great before. june of 2017. before the last child left. before the world changed. before so many things. before so many more hard things.

moments on moments, nothing coherent or cohesive or concise enough to send out into the world.

even moments that explain my absence:

"what's even the point of writing? a blog? screaming into the void in a random corner of the internet? nothing important. nothing impactful. nothing lasting or virtuous or inspiring or enlightening. just drivel. whining. lessons from the universe the basic toddler had a full grasp on before even understanding words. maybe it's best to just keep NOT writing. what is it they say? don't contribute to the conversation if you can't improve it? and holy roller skating jesus knows i'm not improving it."

whew. no one can ever be as mean to you as you are to yourself. i had a friend call me on that the other day. she said "you know, if i heard anyone else say the things about you that you say about yourself, we'd have issues."

but. here i am. again. shaking the dust off. returning to the thing that bites and scratches and draws blood from the inside. like a siren song, the words call out. to write. to be written.

maybe this weekend will relight the flame. incite a riot of thought. reignite the passion literally carved into my skin.

i don't know what i want to write, but the last few years of relative silence have built up a flood of words behind a damn of isolation. i need to say things. i need to get the thoughts out of my head. i need to stop worrying about who or if will read. stop dreading criticism and rebuttal. stop dismissing and doubting before the ink even has a chance to stain the parchment. write first, reflect later.

so. here is to a return. not grand, by any means. but a return none the less. perhaps even more the less. a few words. a few sentences. a few thoughts. less is at least some. and some is more than none.