Here it was, the end of the month, the end of the year. I was already a month late on rent and I knew I not only didn't have it, I wouldn't have next month's either.
Unlike past relationships I had with other landlords, I didn't want to rip this one off. But I was broke.
Though I had a job, it wasn't making it anymore. Utility costs were the big culprit. I owed over $800 to Providence Gas and so they cut me off. Now, like that winter 5 years earlier, I was facing a long, freezing winter without heat. Just a tiny space heater. But that increased my electric bill. And that was on the verge of default as well.
I had no choice but to move. I should have sought cheaper digs or gotten a replacement roommate back in '94 when Wayne left. But my pride wouldn't have it. I'd fallen in love with this apartment and I was determined to maintain it. But not enough so to get a higher paying job.
So now, even though I'd done an amazing job of keeping spending at a bare minimum, and doing a parttime stint or two at DM when needed, I was facing, for the first time in 5 years, a major financial crisis which was about to jeopardize my housing.
I contacted John and asked if I could rent his 2nd floor unit (really no longer an individual unit, but a part of his house). He was a little hesitant at first. He'd become happily accustomed to living alone for the past year or so since his last roommate. But he soon realized the desperate situation I was in and he agreed.
I got a waiver from my landlord Dan on what I owed, thankfully. He was going through his own personal crisis himself having just filed for divorce from his wife. He was soon moving to Los Angeles and his wife was going to take ownership of Rosebank as part of the agreement they had.
As I cleared out the last of my stuff from the apartment in early January, Dan's wife was there, painting and repairing the place, getting it ready for a new tenant. I told her that the walls I built in the living room were secure and sturdy, but they needed baseboards. She said she loves the walls and would keep them so she'd be putting baseboards on them.
So as I left Rosebank for the last time, at least, I thought, something of me will remain with the house long after I'm gone. And that made me feel better.
Unlike past relationships I had with other landlords, I didn't want to rip this one off. But I was broke.
Though I had a job, it wasn't making it anymore. Utility costs were the big culprit. I owed over $800 to Providence Gas and so they cut me off. Now, like that winter 5 years earlier, I was facing a long, freezing winter without heat. Just a tiny space heater. But that increased my electric bill. And that was on the verge of default as well.
I had no choice but to move. I should have sought cheaper digs or gotten a replacement roommate back in '94 when Wayne left. But my pride wouldn't have it. I'd fallen in love with this apartment and I was determined to maintain it. But not enough so to get a higher paying job.
So now, even though I'd done an amazing job of keeping spending at a bare minimum, and doing a parttime stint or two at DM when needed, I was facing, for the first time in 5 years, a major financial crisis which was about to jeopardize my housing.
I contacted John and asked if I could rent his 2nd floor unit (really no longer an individual unit, but a part of his house). He was a little hesitant at first. He'd become happily accustomed to living alone for the past year or so since his last roommate. But he soon realized the desperate situation I was in and he agreed.
I got a waiver from my landlord Dan on what I owed, thankfully. He was going through his own personal crisis himself having just filed for divorce from his wife. He was soon moving to Los Angeles and his wife was going to take ownership of Rosebank as part of the agreement they had.
As I cleared out the last of my stuff from the apartment in early January, Dan's wife was there, painting and repairing the place, getting it ready for a new tenant. I told her that the walls I built in the living room were secure and sturdy, but they needed baseboards. She said she loves the walls and would keep them so she'd be putting baseboards on them.
So as I left Rosebank for the last time, at least, I thought, something of me will remain with the house long after I'm gone. And that made me feel better.