Update for Tuesday Nov. 9, 2010

This is just a quick update to say that I'm now staying with my friend. She has given me use of a small room in her house for a few weeks until my future roommates and I find a place. It's a little uncomfortable for me being in a place where someone else is already living. All the places I've lived in before I moved into them with my sister at the same time so there was never any feeling of being a guest. I recognize that I am a guest but if I'm going to be there for more than a few days I need to start feeling more at home while still being respectful of my hosts.

I had my first hot shower in four months. It was incredible feeling water running over my body that wasn't ice cold. Having real light after dark is also very nice. The real treat has been being able to plug in my laptop and use it for more than the two hours my battery lets me. I'm looking at getting a larger battery for my laptop, one that would give me around ten hours of use time.

Not much else to say at this time. If you missed it below this post is one about what happened Sunday night and my night in a storage unit.

Also I'm switching from the 'homeless?' tag to 'couch surfing' tag during my stay with friends, even through I have an actual bed.

Gilly

Update a day late

I posted Sunday night that I was going to stay one more night and get everything out early the next morning. Well I didn't stay the night in the dark apartment. I just didn't feel safe there anymore. Hearing the landlord's threats about police action kind of fed into my anxiety about staying there and it felt a bit overwhelming, so I packed everything up, took one last shower, and walked out.

I had my messenger bag with netbook and other sundry daily items in it; a large duffel bag full of clothes; a bag about 2/3 the size of the duffel with books, alarm clock, blanket, socks and underwear, and anything else I hadn't packed; a small bag with my shaving cream, shower gel, shampoo, toothbrush, and toothbrush; and finally a trash bag with my cat's litter box, bag of litter, bag of food, water and food bowls, and a jug of water. I think it was a good idea to leave last night because I had totally underestimated how much stuff I had left. If I had moved everything in the morning I would have been wiped for the rest of the morning but because I did it last night I was able to sleep it off and awake fresh.

Which brings me to where I slept last night. I slept in my storage unit. It wasn't too bad. I had my mattress, pillows, and blankets so I was pretty comfy. It only took me a few minutes to clear enough space to lay my mattress down. Then I fixed it up and went to sleep. When I went to sleep the unit didn't feel that cold but during the night the temperature fell off fairly quickly and in the middle of the night I was freezing with only one blanket on me.

A tip for anyone in cold weather: if you feel cold in the middle of the night; get up, find another blanket or two and add them to your bed. There is nothing worse then shivering all night long when you could have just gotten another blanket, which is why I got up, found another blanket in my stuff, added it to my bed, put on a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt, and went back to sleep feeling much warmer.

The next morning I woke up before my alarm went off. I was a little worried about having over slept because it seemed awfully bright but really I just am not familiar with how bright it gets in there in the morning. I should have gotten up then to get dressed and leave but I decided to wait out my alarm. When I did leave it was full bright out which made me feel kind of conspicuous leaving the unit. I was almost to the front gate when I saw some people across the street. I ducked back between the rows of units and waited for them to leave. When I couldn't see anyone I walked to the front gate. I decided that it would be better to slide under the gate than to possibly attract attention to myself by trying to climb over it. Once I was out I started walking like I hadn't just slipped under the gate.

The worst parts of last night were carrying everything to the storage at once and trying to slip out unseen in the morning. If I were going to stay in the unit for more nights I would probably work on leaving before it got full light out or find another way besides the front gate to get out. Right now it's a little cramped but that's because I have a lot of boxes full of books taking up extra space when they could be on the shelves that are also in the storage. Even if it was still cramped I could get a larger unit for not much more. A uninterrupted power supply could power some decent lights for quite a while. Some blankets on the walls to hide the bleak metal would also double as insulation and help muffle sounds from inside the unit. A small propane stove and I could even cook. To secure the unit at night from intruders would take two hundred pounds of weights attached to the door to make it very hard to lift and an alarm that would trigger if someone did lift the door more than a few inches.

I think about this way too much. ^_^

Gilly

Getting out just in time

Since Friday when the friend I'm going to be staying with called and said that I could move in on Monday I've been counting the days. Tonight is my last night in the dark apartment and tomorrow I move in with her. And not a day too soon. Earlier today I received a call from the landlord which I didn't answer and let go to voice mail. The landlord left a message saying that if he didn't get a call from us he was going to be changing the locks and calling the police on anyone seen in the apartment after that.

I had planned on moving my stuff after I got out of work. I'm now going to be getting up early, moving my remaining stuff to my storage unit which is close to the apartment before going to work and then never going back to the apartment again. After work I'll pop by my storage unit get my stuff and head over to my friend's house.

So I'm leaving just as I am kicked out. It feels like I've dodged a bullet.

As always, I'm going to be fine.

Gilly

Oh on a side note today I borrowed my sister's vehicle to move a few things that didn't get moved last Wednesday. While I was at my storage unit I noticed an outlet near my unit. This discovery makes the possibility of me living in the unit that much more feasible.

Good news today

Ok I was a little hasty in crying foul on the universe. The water has been turned back on. I'm not sure why I turned the faucet on but I'm glad I did. When water started to sputter out and then flow it seemed like a miracle. I quickly turned on the shower and rinsed my hair out before filling the water gallon I bought Sunday night(I wasn't taking any chances). I took a shower that even if the water was cold felt like the best shower I had ever taken.

I talked to my sister who said she got a txt from the landlord asking about the water. She didn't respond but she said that she had heard from those that live next door that he sometimes forgets to pay the bill and the city turns it off. Its a bit disconcerting to think that your water could get turned off on a Sunday but I guess they work seven days a week.

Also Monday, I got my storage unit. It's a 10x10 non-climate controlled. The units are fenced in and access is by a keypad controlled gate. I could totally live there. There's no on-site security and the units are off the main road so there's little passby traffic. When I say live there I really mean sleep there. I wouldn't be spending a lot of time there; just like an hour or two before and after sleeping. There's easily enough room to put my stuff, I really don't have much, on one side and my bed on the other; if I had to I could upgrade to the 10x20. Downsides of living in a storage unit: no electricity, no water and no toilet. Until I got home and found the water back on I was in that situation so it wouldn't be too bad and as I said I wouldn't be spending a lot of time there.

I actually went online to get ideas about how to deal without running water. I found a few guides to living homeless and one blog written by a guy who was homeless for several years but is doing much better now and wanted to share what he had learned. My biggest concern was how I was going to stay clean and good smelling without taking showers. The other night I resorted to using a wet hand towel to wipe off my body. Some ideas that he had were joining a gym to access their showers, sneaking into the showers in the sports center of a college or using the showers at a pool. The gym idea is probably what I would have done. There's a 24 hour one not far from the apartment and it's on the bus routes so it would be easy to get to if I did become homeless. Using the showers at the college while cheaper would require me to investigate how easy it would be to get in what hours they're open and what hours they're least busy.

One other downside is that the gate doesn't have a way for a person to get out. There's a sensor that detects cars when they roll over it on the way out but not people. I would have jump the fence to get out or crawl under the gate. The gate has a pipe running across it's midpoint so it wouldn't be to hard to get out. As long as I left in the morning before it got too late in the no one would see me and if they did I'm not breaking in; I'm leaving after checking my storage. Coming back after dark would present fewer problems as I wouldn't have to hop the fence and as the units are not on a main road there would be little chance of being seen.

I doubt I will need to use any of these options but knowing that I have options makes me feel less stressed about the future.

Gilly

Not so good news

You know I think the universe is just fucking with me now. It feels like it's playing a game of "let's see how much emotional range Gilly can go through in less than a day."

Yesterday I got the good news that I would have a place to stay but not until the 8th. I told myself I could live in the apartment in the dark for a little more than a week, no problem.

Last night I went to refill my cat's water dish, turned the faucet on and nothing happened. The landlord has turned off my water. What really galls me is that it was Sunday which means he must have had the handyman, that is supposed to work on the apartments when something breaks, do it. The same handyman who never got around to fixing the slow draining tub or leaky pipes or running toilet. No, he doesn't have time to fix anything but he can turn off my water on a Sunday!

My overall plans are the same. I'm going today to rent the storage. Wednesday, I'll put all my stuff in storage, that's when F, who has a truck is off, is going to help me move everything. Then I'll stay in the apartment as long as I can or until the 8th and then go to stay with J2(J being one of the other guys I'm moving in with and J2 being the friend who is lettting me stay with her for a little while). Finally once we(FJM) have a place move my stuff out of storage to there.

I'm more and less ok in different ways but overall I'm ok.

Gilly

The friend I was talking to about staying on her couch has said I can stay with her. She being real cool about it and is even moving one of her boys into one of her other boy's room while I'm there so I'll have a room of my own. Her mom is visiting for a little while so I can't start staying with her until the 8th or 9th at the earliest. I think I'll be ok staying where I am until then. I still have to move my stuff into storage which I'm going to do during next week.

So I have a definite place to stay until we(F,J,M) find a place.

Ok this is going to be a little long and rambley, so I'm going to start with a quick summery. First off I'm doing ok, not great but ok. Second I'm still living in the apartment alone except for my cat. Third the power got shut off Friday morning. Fourth M who wasn't going to move in with the rest of us until January is on board to move in as soon as we have a place. Fifth I really am ok, just in the dark.

For the past week starting Monday I've been living with the fear that the light was going to get turned off. Coming home to see the kitchen light still on has never felt so good. Because the light company wouldn't give me an extension on paying the overdue part, I had planned on praying to any deity that would listen to keep the light on until I could pay it Friday afternoon when I got my paycheck. Friday I was off work so I had planned to wash clothes and then go get my check in the afternoon when they release them. I was just starting to pack my clothes into my bag when the lights went out. Even though the breaker jumps a lot, somehow I knew it wasn't the breaker. I walked down the stairs and to the front door. I opened it and looked to the left where the light meter is and saw the man just finishing up. I said, "Hey," and he said, "Hey, it's getting turned off cause it hasn't been paid." He sounded a little defensive like he's had to deal with hostile people too often. I just nodded and said, "Yeah I know," and went back inside.

I called the light company to find out how much it would cost now with the disconnect and reconnect fee which came to more than I can pay right now. They told me and I was polite and I hung up before I began to cry. Then I had a little break down and wailed to the universe about how unfair it was to let me get so close to being able to pay it and then just dash my hopes like that. I collected myself after only a few minutes and went to wash my clothes.

On the way to wash I stopped to talk with my sister. Yes I'm still on speaking terms with her despite how she left me. It's not something I can explain but even though I know I should be extremely mad at her, it just doesn't feel worth it. She is the closest family I have besides my parents. I grew up around her and have lived with her for eleven years. I've lived with and helped raise her three kids. It's a very strong bond that I don't want to lose. Anyways I stopped and talked to her at her boyfriend's business which is just down the street from where I live and told her that the light was off. After a few minutes I left and walked to the laundry mate.

I had grabbed Voices of Dragons by Carrie Vaughn on my way out of the house to read while my clothes washed. It is a really good book and I'm going to try to write a review of it in a few days.

Walking back from the laundry mate an idea began to crystallize. A plan you might say. I'm going to put almost all my stuff into a storage unit and couch surf until we have a house or apartment lined up. I'm talking with one friend right now about staying on her couch and have a couple of other people I can ask.

In the mean time I'm staying in the apartment with no electricity. It's not too bad. I can do without tv or my x-box. I have books to read. I had to buy an alarm clock that runs off batteries and a small lantern so I'm not stumbling around in the dark. I've been spending my afternoons in Hasting's cafe to use their free wifi and outlets so I'm not cut off from the internet. They're open until 10pm so I can stay there until late if I want.

The real inconvenience is going to be not being able to cook on the stove or even microwave food. I get a free meal everyday that I work at the deli which along with a couple small snacks later enough for me to get by. Days that I don't work I would cook something for lunch large enough to have leftovers for the evening. Now I'm not sure what I'll be doing.

Good news though M, my best friend and co-storyploter is on board to move in with the three of us as soon as we have a place. He was going to wait until January due to family responsibilities but things have resolved themselves. I'm glad he's moving in now and not later. It's been a while since I've had someone to call my best friend. It's hard for me to get close to people but with him it feels like we've known each other for many more years than we have. Since I got fired from the cookie store I haven't been able to see him as often as I used to when we were working at the same place.

That's about everything that's been going on. I know it sounds bad but I'm doing ok really.

Real life writes the plot

Ok basically next month is going to be nothing like I thought it was going to be like. First off I'll now living alone. My sister has moved out. She told me yesterday morning. I don't really mind being alone but I was kind of depending on her for rent and half the bills. She lost her job about a month ago an my job doesn't pay a whole lot so we've been falling behind on bills and rent. Now that she's moved out I'm really in a bind with the bills and rent. Now it may seem like my sister has screwed me over but the bigger picture is hard to explain without writing several pages about my our lives so just believe me when I say I'm not mad at her.

Second I'm not going to be able to do Nanowrimo. I really wanted to try this year but with this going on I don't think I can face up to a brand new project. I will keep writing the stuff I've been working on.

My light bill is over due but if they hold off until Friday I can catch it up. Rent wise I'm up the creek with no paddle. I figure the landlord won't evict me until sometime in November hopefully not until the end.

Yesterday afternoon I went to my old workplace to see some friends. While there I asked if they knew of any cheap apartments which led to me explaining everything. That's when F said that he, M(the guy I've been working with on that series and my best friend) and another guy that I know but not too well have been planning on renting a house together and if I wanted I could join them and lower the amount everyone has to pay.

So now I'm looking for a house we can rent. F has said that they can have money saved up by the end of November to pay for first months rent and the deposit. I gathered that they hadn't planned on finding a place until around January but because of my precarious situation he's pushing the others to do it sooner.

It's weird the way life can work out. Monday morning I thought I was facing homelessness. By that evening I had been invited into a new home made with friends. It's not a perfect solution there's still a chance my light could get cut off early or I could get evicted before we find a place or save enough for rent and deposit. Despite this possible disasters I can't feel too worried about them cause at the other end is home.