Hmmm... Do I want to rant in my Bunny Blog or Off Topic?
Here's theroomie adI ran on CraigsList:
"Must Love Rabbits".
Spare room for rent in an awesome location -- a roomy two-bedroom suite on the main floor of a (very) old house on a residential street in the heart of West End, three blocks from Stanley Park andEnglish Bay, an easy walk to downtown. Clean, comfortable double bed, a beat up desk and chair, and a small TV and VCR.
I'm a quiet writer (entertainment industry) with three cats and five rescue rabbits (and plenty of wildlife in the backyard). No animals hang out in the room, but two rabbits reside in an enclosed back porchand I cut through the room to feed them and change their litter -- unless you want to do it, which is fine by me. I'm working on a book, not much time to take care of my house and menagerie, all help appreciated. (If you offer to make salads for the rabbits and you love to vacuum, you're in!)
If you're grossed out by hairballs or stray bunny poops in the kitchen, this isn't the place for you.
The ideal person would be a vegetarian animal lover with no friends -- or at least friends who 'drop by.' The room is far away from mine (and can even be configured to have a private entrance), but the sound of conversations in the common areas can be distracting (not to mention I really dislike running into strangers when I come stumbling out of my room in my PJ's or smelly sweats).
Non-smoker, meat-free cooking.
I thought it would be easy, but what a bunch of flakes out there!
Candidate #1. She's perfect! Or at least she sure seems to be going out of her way to seem perfect. She's going to take care of my animals, bring home the groceries, paint the place, fix my car and re-enamel the bathtub. Uh, sure! Seems like a con job. I brush off the feeling, and wait for her deposit. No sign of it. No answers to emailed questions with silly little details like, 'what's your last name?' My phone calls are cut short. She'll call me back. Uh yeah, but when? After two weeks, no cheque, no last name, an email address and phone number that draws a blank in Google, and no call backs, I repost the ad. (She finally did phone back 10 days after my last message and acted 'shocked' that I re-rented the room). :shock:
Candidate #2. My ad has my pets in the title, it lists them in the body, and the version she saw offered reduced rent for vacuuming. Ater she moved all her stuff in, she announces she's allergic to cats and rabbits.And their food. And dust from old houses. And vacuum cleaners! (Not to mention pretty much all cleaning products, fragrances, dairy products and wheat). But she still wants to stay. Uh, ok. Day 3, she gets mad at my upstairs neighbourfor walkingacross her floor (my ceiling) after midnight. Next night, she stomps out of her room and glares at me for using the bathroom. (And I didn't even flush!) Next day, she quits her new job (didn't like the work, her co-workers, or the colour of their walls), comes pounding on my bedroom door several hours before I planned on getting up, demanding all her money back, she's leaving town. Right. I keep a week's worth, pro-rated, give back her the rest. She's livid, takes off with the keys. Fine, good riddance. One must expect the odd weirdo. (Now I have to change the locks).
Candidate #3, a desperate bi-polar gay guy who needed a temp place immediately. Okay, we had a two-week hole, so hey, why not. He gives me a deposit cheque, phones and books the movers from the my place. Moving day comes, he's a no-show. Oh well, it was a risk. I look at the deposit cheque, it's an out-of-town bank. Right. Probably wouldn't have tried to cash it anyway. Don't want to mess the guy up. Lots of people are still interested in the room, somebody else comes by that same day.
Candidate #4, A 21-year old computer nerd. He wants the room, he'll take it immediately, offers me a deposit. Like an idiot, I decline, giving the bi-polar gay guy what's left of the day to show up or call. Duh. Needless to say, that doesn't happen. Nerd is going to drop off the deposit, but one day I'm not available, next day he's not available. We're keeping in touch, even coming up with grocery lists. He's moving his stuff in on the weekend, fine, I can wait 'til then. Okay, it's the weekend. His current landlord (a relative), decides him moving is a major inconvenience, wants the next month's rent. The kid backs out of the deal.
Arghhhh!!!:banghead
And this isn't including the lesbian/pagan,anutnamed 'Pope Snarky',the couple who showed up at the door with all their stuff in a shopping cart (and I hadn't posted the address!!), all the no shows, the singles who turned into couples, the non-smokers who smoked and the rude jerks who simply stopped corresponding while arranging show times instead of saying, 'sorry, found another place', or 'got hit by a bus').
I've spent the entire month working on renting it (unlike most people out there, I'm responding to every email, and I'm spending TONS of time on the computer checking out names, email addresses and phone numbers just to make sure all these people are who they say they are. I haven't worked, not only no work income, no rental income.
:rant
Anyway, thought I'd post that. :grumpy:boohoo:sunshine:
(I'm such awhiner!!) :melodramatic