Apartment hunting

Today my husband and I took advantage of a pleasant sunny day to drive up to Big Rapids and look at various apartment complexes. I have an appointment on Wednesday to look at a studio apartment that is within walking distance of campus (at least on pleasant days). It's $475 a month, with all utilities paid. That's more than I pay at Betty's ($300), but I would have my own bathroom (no sharing), my own key, my own parking space (no garage or carport, but also no having to back out for a quarter mile), and my own stove and refrigerator. I don't mind Betty's, and I really like Betty herself, but I don't like not being able to get up and shower when I want to. Also, having to share a bathroom means that I'm never relaxed and comfortable when I have to do certain things because I hate the idea of other people being offended by the odor. As a result, I am (to use advertising's euphemism) "irregular."

There's also a problem at Betty's farm house with lack of lighting. An outside security light comes on once someone is near enough to the house, but it doesn't light the set of concrete steps that I have to traverse to get to the door we all use at the back of the house. Once I get to the door that goes onto the sunporch, there's never a light on, and the other night, I stepped on Betty's new kitten. Once I had to step over a rolled rug that was lying across the sunporch in the path one would take from the outside door to the door that leads into the house. The light that illumines the stairs inside the house is dim and lights the top of the stairs more than the bottom, and more than once, I've nearly lost my footing on those narrow steps, especially when I have an armload of stuff.

But the main thing is that Betty had promised that for my $300 a month, the room was mine. I could leave my things there without having to carry them back and forth. However, this weekend, she's got a houseful of company and told me that my bedroom would be needed for one of her guests, so I had to move my clothing to the side of the closet, strip the bed and bring my sheets and pillows home, and put my personal items and books away so that they would not be in someone else's way. I've discovered at least four stink bugs in the room, including one on the leg of a pair of pants I was about to put on. And there is the problem of the electricity. The one wall switch turns all the outlets on and off, so I can't have an electric alarm clock.

Mainly, I suspect that I'm just someone who prefers privacy. More than once, I've gotten to my room at Betty's house, only to discover that someone had been in there. For instance, someone had rooted around in the closet once to do something with a cable connection, and in so doing, that person got dust and debris all over my clothes in the closet. One drawer on the dresser doesn't have a handle and is useless because it can't be opened. The bookcase/vanity is too shallow to hold much, and the room gets quite chilly if the heat isn't on. When it is on, it pops and crackles and makes odd, erratic noises. And speaking of odd noises, someone, perhaps Betty's son again, woke me up far too early on Thursday morning with a coughing fit that sounded like death was near. It also bothers me that Betty and I are the only two women. One of the men who sleeps down the hall from me at least one night a week is thus far invisible. I've yet to see him. The young man who is a friend of Betty's son is a quiet sort, but Betty's son is anything but quiet. He talks loudly, he walks loudly, and he coughs loudly. He smokes cigarettes on the sunporch, which worries me because of the fire hazard. He parks however he pleases, which causes problems for getting in and out that long, curved, narrow driveway.

If it sounds like I'm trying to convince myself that this move would be preferable to staying at Betty's, I guess I am. I think she's counting on me for next semester, and if I can't get a place right away, I'll probably stay with her. Since her son graduates this December, maybe he won't be around much. I don't know if the other three men will be there or not. I know living in another old house would be much the same, and the one with the studio apartments is really old, around 1910, and has 9 apartments in it. Supposedly the landlord rents only to older, quieter students, but there is no one as quiet as I tend to be when I'm alone. I can likely count on several sleepless nights because someone's music or tv is too loud, but being downtown is going to be noisy even if everyone in the building is quiet.

Whatever will be, will be. Or some such nonsense. I'll find out Wednesday whether it's feasible.