Don't Do As I Did ...

I got back from Baltimore a week ago, and I'm leaving for another visit in three weeks.
Why? Because I'm a dumb-ass.

I saw this Hampden apartment (w/pics!) listed on Craigslist by a JHU student, and everything seemed to be going well with making arrangements ... a little too well.
The actual landlady kept hesitating in letting me sign a lease without seeing the apartment, so I decided on a weekend trip to the east coast with my mom. The plan: visit the apartment so the landlady would see that I was serious about it, then spent a lot of time in DC because my mom couldn't stop talking about visiting all those sights.
The Amtrak ride on the way to Baltimore from DC was delayed, the weather hot when it was suppose to be cold, and some woman cut in front of me in line. This dumb skank actually explained to me why her friend should be able to move ahead with her. The heat, my sinus headache, stress and lack of sleep made me want to beat her, and I even stated it out loud, but my mom gave me that Shut-Up-Now look.
So my mom and I got to Baltimore late, we had an argument over directions (though deeper issues threatened to surface), and we somehow made it to the apartment "viewing" on time.
What a fucking disappointment!
The neighborhood of Hampden, described on the internet as "bohemian," was actually more "bum-like." The Avenue, a street filled with little shops, looked so run-down and sad. Some obviously high woman walked passed my mom and I, making slurred statements littered with cussing.
And finally, the apartment!
It had this flimsy front door, a big rectangular hole in the bedroom wall, two closets of broilers, a narrow doorway (w/o door) to the bathroom, and 6 ft high ceilings WITH pipes running all over. The kitchen cupboards looked like a modern art sketch.
No. Oh, no, this is not what was advertised!
The JHU student tried really hard to sell the place, stooping over to make the ceiling look higher (she was much taller than me) and telling me that she and I "live on a student budget," so we have to settle with what we have. She claimed to not know what was behind one of the broiler closet doors ("I don't use it too much!") and that I should just throw a poster over the hole in the bedroom wall. The kicker was when she showed my mom and I the combination lock on the side gate, so as to keep anyone from going through the trash.
She asked me to let her know if I would take the apartment after all.
Walking back to our hotel building, I tried to get my mom to tell me her opinion and she refused. Then my nose began to bleed from the heat and previous sinus issues. I stuffed some tissue up my nose, bought some sandwiches at the deli across the street where we were staying, and actually thought it best to not buy a bottle of liquor.
In the hotel room, my mom finally spilled what I had been trying to get out of her; she hated that apartment, but she couldn't tell me where to live. And I agreed with hating the place, and I would continue to look elsewhere. Many, many elsewheres.

So, yeah. Don't travel across the country with so many expectations pinned in one place. Seeing pictures and asking a 1,001 questions amounts to not much. I took a chance and almost had quite the fucked-up living situation.
The JHU student sent me an email saying how "selfish" I was for not taking the apartment. I told her how "upset" I was seeing the apartment that way.
I sent the landlady a thank you email, and she appreciated it.

A little on the background for this search: University of Baltimore doesn't offer housing, so it's all me. But my trip wasn't a total loss. I walked around Charles Village and it actually is as nice as it says on the internet. I have a list of places to visit on my upcoming day trip.
I like how a friend of mine put it: "You're traveling across the country to run some errands."
Yup, pretty much.

And on the upside, my mom and I totally enjoyed DC the next day.

The East Coast and Chicken Pox

I'm going to try to write more than a blog every six months. But hey, a lot has happened.

I suppose I should get the bad news out of the way:
-two deaths happened in my family, one of which was my grandmother passing away on my birthday
-plentiful rejections from my graduate school applications
-a jailbird family member caused some ruckus
-dealing with lawyers and real estate agents now because my grandfather died without leaving a will two years ago
-identity theft; my parents, not me

Okay, got that out of the way. The good news:
-got a new puppy and named her Gizmo
-I did get into two graduate schools, and chose University of Baltimore
-finally started my job as a tutor
-Visited the east coast

And that brings up the east coast. I thought I'd visit the college campuses I had applied to before I started my tutor job. I had never been to the east coast.
I visited Boston, Salem, Washington DC, Baltimore, New York and Chicago. I traveled by airplane, train and bus. I meant to visit New Orleans, but was pretty tired by the time I got to Chicago. I think I had been traveling for almost two weeks.
It's a good thing I went home because I got a fever and lay in bed for three days. Then big red spots started appearing on my back and face. My mom took one look and said, "You have chicken pox!"
I'm in my late 20's and I had never had chicken pox. I had the vaccine shot and a whole lotta nuthin' that helped in the end.
Needless to say, I went through hell for three weeks. I had to put off starting my new job, and I'm damn lucky they let me keep it.

So now I'm scrambling. Planning for school, a big move, trying to make money, find a place, and just keep up with everyday things: writing, breathing, job appointments, laughing.

Oh, boy.