Because Life Doesn't Suck Enough Already...
June 26, 2009
So I live in a crappy apartment.
Rite of passage, right? Yeah, I'm in my 20's, so I need to have a tiny bachelor apartment.
The place smelled like smoke when I moved in. There was old bacon in the fridge and some kind of sludge in the crisper. The first time I went to close the blinds in the bathroom, I discovered that they had a huge gaping hole RIGHT in the middle so neighbours could see me pee (as a result, I never turn my bathroom lights on...ever). One of the elements on my stove doesn't work. And my freezer...sucked. Whatever food was resting on the bottom, it ended up covered in ice. Whatever was on the top didn't get frozen.
So washed everything repeatedly, including the walls. Mum and I washed the fridge. I tied up a sarong over part of the blinds to cover them up. I just don't use the stove element that doesn't work.
However, in two months, my freezer/fridge situation has gotten progressively worse. A few days ago, I got some freezies and put them on the bottom of the freezer.
They melted.
EVERYTHING is thawing. I'm sitting here, awake, at 3:00 am because I'm stressing about this. I can't change the temperature in the freezer. I tried in the fridge and it isn't helping. My water won't even get cold in there.
So, call the landlord, right? They're supposed to fix that stuff.
Well, see, I have my dog and my cat here. And I'm not supposed to. Now, legally, I can't be kicked out for having them, but...plenty of landlords find ways around that if they want to. I'd rather not piss off the nice landlord right now. I always figured that I'd just have all the crappy apartment stuff as leverage if he ever came to yell at me. "OMG, you have a dog!" "Yes, well, my freezer sucks ass."
And this is why it sucks being a pet owner. I can't complain about things because I don't want to get in trouble for something that legally, I shouldn't even get in trouble for. The fact is that this was the only apt I could afford, and I really don't want to be kicked out on the street.
So I'm going to buy one of those mini fridge/freezer things. It's just me here--I don't keep a lot of food in there, and I'll just take it with me when I can eventually move.
And here comes the sucky(er?) part. During the summer...I'm half out of work. My regular income as a tutor is gone until it starts up again. If I had that money all year round, I'd be able to afford a kick ass apt. But knowing I'd be out of work for at least four months out of the year, I saved and saved and made sure I had a nice pad so that, combined with my other work as the Senior Editor of DOOM and some freelance cover art, I should be totally good. I'd even possibly have some savings to get some cavities filled so I can start chewing on the left side of my mouth again (I tutor for a non-profit agency--we don't get benefits), or get my dogs needles updated, and I could definitely afford my meds.
And now I have to drop $200 on a fridge/freezer. And I'm still paying off my bed.
*sob*
So if you're a reader of one of my serials, now would be a FANTASTIC time to show the love and
I don't generally ask because I love doing the serials and giving you guys free entertainment, but...it would be greatly appreciated right now.
Comments
#1 Wow!
Hi :)
I LOVE your website, your blogs & your Tweets. I've had an apartment like that. I think most of do who start out on Life's journey as an adult. Congratulations on the Senior Editor job - that continues to sound amazing to me. What are your pets' names?
I'll be able to Donate on June 30th. Is that okay?
Love From Canada
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo
#2 Hi Rob :-) Thanks for
Hi Rob :-) Thanks for commenting. My pets are Sophie (dog) and Jilly-Bean (cat). That's sweet of you to offer--I always appreciate that kind of thing. I know times are tough for everyone, which is what helps drive me to keep free fiction on the site, but then times get tough for me too, lol.
#3 I could only afford a small
I could only afford a small place. and have been living there for ages with the help of roommates (I refer to alot of the roomies as "ex-sex", and they weren't a big help). Any hoo, my old landlord only patched things, and TADAh- now I have a new landlord. He actually sends people to TRY and fix things. (See TRY)Loooong story short, i went through 2 fridges in less than 2 weeks. I was keeping the best of the best in a cooler, in the living room.
Cause I am classy like that.
Don't you hate hiding your pets?BLARGH on that.
#4 My mum got me a second hand
My mum got me a second hand fridge...so now I have two. I don't want to throw out the old one because it's technically the landlord's property. Maybe he'll want to fix it. In the meantime, the one that doesn't work is unplugged, has dried out, and now I use it for extra storage.
Because I am also classy like that. ;-)
The "new" fridge keeps getting a build-up of ice on the back of it that I have to keep scraping, but I'm not complaining because at least everything is cold.
And yes, I hate hiding my pets. I had to put off a walk with my dog last night for half an hour because there were other tenants standing out front talking. Grrr.
#5 Offer Critiques?
What if you offered to edit queries, synopses, or manuscripts? I've seen a lot of these offers lately on auction. I'm sure you'd get responses. I know you deal with them all day long, but...
#6 Actually, I do offer a basic
Actually, I do offer a basic service like that--I accept what I would look at in the slush pile (cover letter, synopsis, first couple of chapters) and then send the client a critique. Never get many takers, though. Not sure I'm known enough to do an auction. But since I have a few hundred regular readers of the free serials, I figured it wouldn't hurt to see if they might, you know, throw in a couple of bucks of support for their author. ;-)
#7 There are a lot of "professional editing" sites out there...
And they make a ton of money. A friend of mine just sent me a link to a site that offered a professional edit (full manuscript) for onlyyyyyyyyy 200 dollars. She thought it might be worth it to make hers more polished and possibly catch attention that way.
Anyway, I just wanted to throw out the idea.
#8 I've certainly thought about
I've certainly thought about it. For me, it's a time issue, too. Spare time is non-existent. While I was tutoring, that time combined with editing and cover art left me with no time to write. I went a few months without producing anything, and since the writing is my primary career (even if it doesn't pay all the bills)...I think I'd rather have less money and more time to write. And if it means I can't buy groceries...well...at least then I wouldn't have to buy a fridge, LOL. ;-)
Bright side: we're taking over another e-publisher in a little while, so I'll get a raise. Of course, it'll be more work, but...
#9 Yay!
Raises are great! Especially in these times. Though I know it can't come soon enough.
How's your writing going now? Have you gotten out of the rut, yet?
Is there ever enough time to write?
#10 Yeah, I'm actually kind of
Yeah, I'm actually kind of glad to be in small press/epublishing right now where sales are increasing...the large houses are laying off staff left and right, and freezing acquisitions. I'm incredibly grateful to have the job I do.
The last few weeks have been very productive writing-wise, but then it's mostly been on the site freebies rather than stuff that pays. I think it's because there's less pressure there--I've had three books under contract for over a year now (thankfully with no due date), and haven't made much progress lately. Bad Skyla! ;-)
Nope, never enough time to write, as far as I'm concerned. Doesn't it seem like the more ideas you put down, the more you suddenly get? ;-)
#11 Things to smile about
The new Kindles and Sony Readers have to be helping your business, too. I just hope the economy turns around soon. It's scary for everyone right now.
Bad Skyla! *slaps wrist and taps foot* From now on, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., write your paycheck...then play video games :P
It's always easier to write when you're not under pressure. I hated trying to write a paper the night before handing it in, it never worked for me. Guess that's why I was always one of those who had theirs written days/weeks before their due dates. Of course, I never finished editing those either. Handed them in thinking of all the things I should'a, could'a, would'a...
It's crazy the number of ideas that flood in when you're working on your newest project. I have three in my head that are competing, and they're all driving me crazy. They're completely different genres, too. I can't even classify one...lol! Why does it seem the one project you want to work out takes a backseat to the others?
#12 They've been moving older
They've been moving older titles into Kindle during the past year, and it's giving a nice bump to sales.
I used to do school work well under pressure (well, when I did school work, which was rarely). I was always a never study, write essays last minute kind of girl. But I've always had a problem with my own writing in that I can't write a first draft if I know where it'll end up. It seems to box me in.
I've always had writer ADD. I bounce between projects and genres are often vastly different because I get bored easily. But it's totally true--no matter what project I'm on, something else is almost always trying to take over. ;-)
Okay, I'll try really hard to work on the contracted stuff. We'll see how long before either I kill my heroine, or she kills me...
#13 Might not help much but its
Might not help much but its worth a try, pull the fridge away from the wall and vacuum off the back side of it. The dust that builds up in there can stop the tubes from exchanging heat properly and stop the fridge from working well. Worst case nothing happens, best... it works!
Jamie
(Aka, Jack of all trades, master of none.)
#14 I remember my first
I remember my first apartment; the gasket on the fridge wasn't tight, and there used to be roaches in it sometimes. I thought the fridge in my second apartment was yellow, but I washed it and it turned out to be white. It was a nice apartment though (old house), and I improved it a lot. I had cats and dogs there, btw. The manager/landlords never said anything. My first apartment building was razed, btw, and it deserved it.
Joy
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