A Very Expensive Lesson Indeed

Work has been incredibly hectic, but I've been managing to keep my head above water. . . I thought it would be fun to complicate things even further by moving this month.

My lease ended on April 30, so I thought I would take the opportunity to find a 1 bedroom apartment and to exit my dinky little studio. I searched high and low during the month of April and managed to find a fairly good sized 1 bedroom apartment on the Upper West Side at 71st St. The monthly rent was definitely within my budget and it seemed I would be able to get about twice the space for only $150 more a month.

The unit was in an old brownstone building built around 1900; so, it had quirks like mis-matching kitchen cabinets, 5 inches of white paint on the walls, and limited closet space. But, it boasted a private outdoor garden and brand new hardwood floors. . . I had a few misgivings, but thought it was just the stress and anxiety I was feeling from work combined with the chore of having to move, so I signed a lease.

I spent the entire weekend packing all my junk; and, when I finally had it all in boxes Sunday night, I laid in bed for hours concocting all kinds of "bad omens" . . . I dreamt that the landlord had stolen my identity and run me into the ground with debt; I dreamt that when I opened the door to my new home with the movers behind me that a pair of squatting roommates had moved in before me; I dreamt that the movers double-charged me and shattered my TV . . .

Nonetheless, I shook it all off and had the movers carry all my things to the new apartment on Monday afternoon. Not twenty minutes after they left, I sat on my bed and burst into tears. I began to walk around the apartment and noticed a plethora of issues that I had missed on my two previous inspections--I found a 1/2 inch gap ran along the door jam separating the bedroom from the living room; the kitchen counters were separating from the wall behind the sink; a small colony of ants decided to become my roommates; there were no lights in any of the closets; there was a 1/4 inch gap between the new flooring and the walls all the way around the unit; the landlord had used double-sided tape to re-insulate the back door, which immediately fell off when I opened it; and, neither of my cell phones could get a signal in the apartment, which terrified me as a single woman living alone! On top of all these things, I felt this overwhelming vibe of bad energy surrounding the apartment. . .

I called my mom hysterical . . . what was I going to do? I had already signed a one-year lease. I had already given notice to my current landlord and he had been showing to potential renters. I had already paid the movers to bring all my things here.

I felt as if all along my inner voice/the Holy Ghost/Guardian Angel/sixth sense/woman's intuition/internal compass had been hinting to me that I had not made the right decision and that after weeks of ignoring its gentle whisperings, it was now screaming in my ears: You should not live here!

Luckily, I called my current landlord and found out that my apartment had not been rented. When I told him that I would stay there, he was overwhelmingly relieved. So, I called the movers and had them bring me and all my belongings back to my dinky little studio on Tuesday. I lost a full month of rent and had to pay the movers twice, but I am finally calm with my decision to stay right where I am.