When the Sea is Rocky

I haven’t written a new blog post in a while. The past two months have been… a whirlwind of sorts. The seas of life got a little rocky there for a bit. It took longer than I expected to get over Covid. I’m talking about the aftermath. Covid itself lasted about 4 days - the amount of time I had the flu - but the after-effects lasted so much longer.

My youngest and I developed, as a result, a very weird sleep pattern that we are still struggling with. I am just starting to get back on track but even now, I can’t go to sleep before 1 am and lately, I have been waking up at 6 am.

My son has been the same. Well, sort of. He’s still a teenager so sleep and staying up late are a given but his sleep pattern for school is definitely still off.

School for my youngest has been rough but he’s trying at least. I recently discovered that he has some pretty severe social anxiety and that has been something I have been working to understand and learn more about.

My oldest is doing very well in college. He has even been invited to join the honors society - though he has declined it because he worries about the extra pressure that might put on him and I understand that. He is doing well and doesn’t want to screw that up.

As for me, I have been doing okay. I have been dealing with landlord drama for the past three months, which has increased my own anxieties a great deal.

I am a person who values safety and security. I always make sure my rent (and all other bills) are paid and on time. I am a good tenant and have been where I am for the past 16 years.

So when a new corporation from New York came to our town in Massachusetts and bought the place, a lot of shady things happened. The office people don’t seem to be able to sneeze without having to tell corporate about it. They don’t seem to know much about what to do.

They are literally the middlemen and just follow orders most of the time. At least that is what it looks like from my viewpoint. I also recognize that I could be wrong and to be fair to them, I don’t believe they are the major problem in this situation.

Though I have heard from other tenants that they are hardly in the office and when they put work orders in, things don’t get done. I also experienced that with maintenance in the beginning. There was a person here who kept marking my work order as complete when he never even came to my apartment.

The constant screw-up with my lease and their overcharging me has been the biggest stressor. Since February I have been dealing with this. It has been a constant battle but one I think is finally at its end.

I think they finally got their asses on straight and fixed it but only time will tell really. I will keep moving forward though - and I will keep fighting if I have to - because that’s all I can do.

I am hoping to be able to move within the next year. The problem with that is inflation. Everything has skyrocketed and finding affordable housing has become damn near impossible now.

But as I said, I will keep moving forward - and I will keep fighting. The seas are rocky right now but they are starting to calm, slowly but surely.

Thanks so much for reading!