Your Nose is Growing

My landlord lied to me today, with a grotesque blatancy that nearly sent me off the edge. He said that he did not own my house, and therefore was not in a position to properly repair the roof, which leaks and has caused some mold damage to the interior. The matter was out of his hands. If I'm lucky, and keep on prodding him to do something, he'll patch it, but that's the best I can expect until the next round of damage occurs. My discounted rent, he said, was to make up for all of the sh*t I "have to put up with."

However, I was informed by one of the (many) maintenance men I've met in this year-long journey that they are just sitting on the property to tear it down and construct an $800,000 replacement on the prime real estate, and that they're waiting for the people next door to sell the lot. The matter is well within his grip, he just doesn't want to put any money into the house.

I've been on this guy's tail since April when I detected the (first) leak, and they've been "calling roofers" and "fixing other units." They'd get there as soon as they could, and thanks for letting them know.

Then the bathroom started, and water was coming in through the air vent. They didn't pick up their phone because they were "busy serving other units," their voicemail box was full because the child of an immigrant woman who doesn't speak English "keeps calling and filling up the box."

Then water started coming in through the electric socket in the bathroom, and mold erupted on the ceiling. "It isn't for lack of trying," they plead when I sent them a written request via fax last week (the first week of JUNE). "This winter was bad, and there was a lot of ice damage in all of our units."

And I accepted what they said because, you know, maybe it was all true. (Those immigrant children can be burdensome!) But it doesn't add up, and I'm sick of being trod on because I'm a relatively open, trusting individual. My grandmother recently called me "an injustice collector," and I'm starting to think it's true, and, even worse, that it might be my own doing (like, for not standing up for myself due to chronic insecurity and self-devaluing, etc.).

So I'm not sure quite what to do. If I were acting solely on principle, then I'd move out tomorrow, but as a sentient being, there are other factors to consider. But wait, isn't that what got me into this in the first place?? Bugger.