Tuesday, November 30, 2021

Keep Moving Forward

Started off a gloomy morning with breakfast and the Rankin-Bass special The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold, since I couldn't get anything to play on the TV. An Irish sailor finds himself stranded on a floating island inhabited by a clan of feuding wee folk. He accidentally releases a banshee when he chops down the pine tree that held her prisoner for 100 years. The banshee wants the leprechaun's gold, but he gives it to Dinty rather than let her get it. She has other ways of tricking the lad...but her deception finally brings the clans back together. 

Went online after the cartoon ended. Got an e-mail back from Susan Bromley, the real estate agent in charge of the house on the White Horse Pike. She'd be willing to show it to me at 3 or 4 PM. I had counseling at 2 and went with the 4 PM showing. Wrote out and sent the application for the Oaklyn Villas, too. 

Broke at around quarter after 1 for a banana-strawberry smoothie for lunch and the other recent Muppet Babies holiday episode. Nanny explains to the kids that she celebrates Hanukkah and misses her family, who is away for the holiday. The kids decide to do "A Mitzvah for Miss Nanny," something nice for her, and hold a party to make her feel better. Piggy wants to make a frame for the photo of Nanny's family, but she keeps dashing off to help the others with their duties. Gonzo and Skeeter go up against each other in a "Winter Sport-a-Thon." Gonzo's nervous because he claimed her can tie his shoes and he really can't. His shoes trip him up at every turn...until the others explain it's ok to not know how to do something. 

Went online for counseling after lunch. It took me a while to explain everything that's been going on. I've applied for five apartments, but only seen two. Of those five, three rejected me because I don't make enough money, even though I have money in the bank. One turned me down because they were full, and there was the one on Sunday who went with a friend instead. There were also the two apartments back in late September-early October that were rented out days, or even hours, before I was scheduled to see them. 

There's everything going on with my family, too. I'm starting to realize how much of our lives the men in this family had control over. Once they died, all the women and children crumbled and melted into squabbling. I need more independence outside of a family that's vanishing before my eyes...and I really don't want to be a part of Jodie and Rose's feuding. They can sue each other until the cows, pigs, and chickens come home, but I want out of it. I just want a place to live. 

After I left off with Mrs. Stahl, I printed out my pay stubs. I had a hard time printing out the letter I wrote to explain having money in the bank...until I realized the black ink was low and changed it. Scanned my savings account statements to prove I have the money in the bank to pay. 

Hurried up the White Horse Pike around 3:35, dodging the start of rush hour traffic. I figured it would be quicker to go straight up the Pike than roam around the back roads. The apartment is on the block between the Audubon WaWa and the CVS on the corner of the Pike and King's Highway. Susan Bromley, the real estate agent, met me at the door. She told me right away that she was showing the apartment to two other people that afternoon. After the owner of the apartment I looked at on Sunday didn't bother to tell me someone else also saw it, I appreciate her honesty. 

It's not that far removed from the other Audubon apartment, a second-floor enclave in a 1940's Cape Cod that may have been carved out of two bedrooms. The kitchen is shoved into a tiny box (Ms. Bromley was probably right about it being a former closet), but had all new appliances and counters. Like at Manor Avenue, a large living room and bedroom make up for the small kitchen. The bathroom was also recently remodeled in a cute yellow and brick retro tile design. No storage room, but there's lots of cubby holes and narrow but deep closets, including one downstairs in the foyer. The small fenced-in back yard has a wide covered patio that'll work for parking my bike, and there's a basement laundry room that the first floor resident is willing to share.

She did mention some work still needs to be done on the apartment. The previous tenant left a hole in the plaster wall of the bedroom and had a cat when she wasn't supposed to. The cat apparently did some damage, including scratching the edge of a cabinet in the kitchen. She also mentioned possibly replacing the carpets, though they looked all right to me. 

I told Ms. Bromley I'd take it if at all possible and gave her the folder with all my paperwork, then explained to the best of my abilities about my current precarious situation. She gave me a paper application to sign, scan, and e-mail her and said she'd text me links to credit report companies tomorrow. (I looked them up tonight anyway and sent one. I've already lost three apartments to competition that moved faster than I did.) 

Stopped at WaWa quick for a drink. They had my favorite Vanilla Coke (and were out of the Winter Spice Cranberry Sprite). Grabbed a soft pretzel, too. 

Went into writing when I got home. The giggly Daisy (Joyce Bulifant) and curvy Rose (Lynda Day George) happy flirt with Richard. The haughty Iris (Kitty Carlisle) is more concerned that he should be trying to convince the King and Queen of Hearts to lend them aid. Richard and Brett explains that they were already attacked, while Jimmie the Dodo kisses the leaf of a cute pansy (Chelsea Brown). 

Jodie came out and said she wanted to talk in the den as I finished writing around 5:30-6. Basically, she repeated the same things she's said for the past three months. She's selling the house on the 19th because she can't afford it's upkeep, the sale is legal, and it's legal for a month. She can't extend it by another month. She also claims none of this is her fault and she doesn't want to confront or deal with Rose. If the sale of the house falls through, she and her lawyer nephew will sue Rose for damages.

I listened to her go on...then finally said I've had enough of this. Rose tells me one thing, Jodie tells me another, and they both insist that what they say is the utter truth and they're in the right and the other person is completely in the wrong. They mean well, but they're not communicating. Rose pushes too hard, and Jodie needs to learn to deal with things and not let some white knight do it for her. I told Jodie to call Rose and get their stories straight, then walked out and texted Rose about what happened.

Put on Match Game '79 to cheer myself up while having a raspberry jelly omelet, celery sticks, and fried sweet potatoes for dinner. We finish this week with Gene ducking away from Patti Deustch sneezing on him. Meanwhile, the others try to figure out the Audience Match for "__ Tut", and the audience gives Don Galloway his first booing. 

Did the dishes during Match Game PM. Brett starts things off modeling her newest dress, a brilliant flower print on a black background. She's not the only one in a nifty outfit, either. A Canadian contestant sports a Match Game PM t-shirt, a long list of family members that has Betty White taking notes to figure it all out, and some really strange answers. Meanwhile, Richard Dawson reminds Charles that a man who wears a toupee is the last person who should be making jokes about hair roots. 

Mom called as PM ended. She was pretty much just checking up on me. She also said that what happened with the house on Sunday wasn't fair. The owner should have told me someone else looked at the house instead of leading me to believe I had it. That's why I was so upset. 

Finished the night after a shower with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I go into the first of two movies I'll be doing with music by the late Stephen Sondheim this week at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

No comments: