Complaint Review: SB realtor

The landlady is pretending to offer to connect me with her "connections" in education. Of course she is banking on my falling for it, just like a Charlie Brown being played by Lucy. You see at PGPCS all the retired teachers automatically qualify for substitute, and in fact, their applications just roll over from year to year. So early this year in March, landlady said, well you have to wait till July to apply to PGPCS. After several interviews with them (and they claimed I pass, but marginally), I was fully expectant that if nothing else, in July I would apply for substitute. In July, all July, week after week, the substitute page just said to keep checking back. Then mysteriously in the Oracle IRecruit pages, there was an application link to apply, but everytime I went through the process (no less than 7 times already), the application would not follow through. Now I have applied to numerous jobs with PGCPS and DCPS so I know when the application is pulling a number on me. Their substitute application does not work online.

    The landlady offered by way of largesse to drive me to the office (hard to get there by bus). Of course, she said, if you go in every year like I do, there's nothing to it. Yes, I bet there's nothing to it for her, especially with the color network. Well, already she's forgotten about that offer, and it does no good to remind her. She's the type that will just put it off or bark at me if I insist.

    She already barked at me again this week for turning the thermostat up. Over half of my rent money goes to pay the power bills, and I had been investigating where the high power drainage comes from. She took out the nightlights down stairs (.25 Watt LEDs seems to be quite a bit to save on), whereas she continues to do things like leave TV on all night, insists on 24/7 air conditioning (it's the heat pump which may also need to be serviced), and well, she has no less than 3 freezers. These all add up, but it's her house, so she will not cut down on those.

    The other fake offer she played on me was to offer to connect me with a friend of hers who is looking for a substitute. Said she would forward my name and some information. Of course being a desperate stooge, I composed a nice cover letter and with email and phone, but I do not expect to hear back ever. Why? Because first, landlady's office is a permanently disorganized. Papers and notes under the sofa, etc, and so my paper has already gotten lost probably. I anticipated this of course, so luckily, the letter was sort of general.

      A while ago she wanted me to complete the rental application over, and then left it lying in clear view for several day in her office/living room. When I expressed concern that someone--her niece or the cleaning persons might see it, she pooh-poohed that entirely. "No one who comes here sees anything!" she said, "They wouldn't come here if they were that kind of people." Since there really was no need to do it over, I sort of just secretly took it back.

     So even if she may mean well, she doesn't mean well enough to offer her friend's name, email, or physical location or workplace to refer me to, and again, to ask her for that is to risk her becoming difficult.

     She is just a quite truculent type. I don't think it is power play merely but a combination. After all, she really stopped teaching full time quite some time ago. As a realtor, there is no need for her to teach---more than say 1 day a year. These realtors around here all claim to have graduated from teaching, to have had experience as teachers. Well, she really does, but back when she graduated, all that was needed was a 4 year degree.

     And so just paying the rent and hoping to stay out of her way is really the best. As for anything else, she is basically utterly unreliable. Her niece doesn't have to pay any rent, and for some reason or other, mostly following in the footsteps of her aunt in her sexual preference. Good thing maybe in terms of adis.

     I simply cannot trust talking with landlady or building manager types about jobhunting. My experience is they make things difficult, they only interpret that through a rent lens, and they only see you as a weak renter. I recall that one building manager outright favored medical students and law degree students over any other type of renter, because of the eventual connection or payback. So it is really the other way around---they can only value what I have to offer if it is something beyond money such as connections. Already it is obvious she does not in anyway value my past titles, my knowledge skills or abilities, or current status in terms of titles. She eskews that, or would shove it aside, since it all comes back to it being about her.

    Women are notoriously shallow and awful towards one another when it comes to friendships or getting to know. But her regarding me as of another race, it is too much to expect that she cannot but see me in terms of an outsider. There is too little of the poetic and so much of her person is founded on sybaritic lifestyle values. A fun time for her, for instance, is to to out to see a football game and then drink and do some gambling. A nice entertainment equates to renting a BET DVD funny. A vacation is a standard getaway. And of course anything that comes in a can or bottle recommended from TV is something to buy.

     So she can't begin to understand where I am coming from with all that self-education, later generation theorists, life-long questioning, less is more, or eastern philosophy. She hasn't ever even taken college chemistry. But she's really sharp, and a financial whiz---she and her friends discovered crowd-funding in the 90s, so she's done extremely well there. And so the way she sees it, I am nothing more than any one of hundreds of over-educated fools. And her slightly bullish sadistic streak tells me that this might also be a way to tease and play all those fools getting back at them for all those years her ancestors were slaves.

    There are a lot of sharpies like her who are Asian too.

Well, I think I may have done the landlady and her niece a bit of an injustice. Watching TV during a heatwave is a nice way to stay out of trouble, for instance. And I neglect to consider some of her nicer acts. In fact, recently she has even volunteered to help me with my job search a little. I told her she shouldn't feel compelled to. After all, this is a home, it's a place where people should just be themselves and relax. But she really said she wanted to try to help me, and no matter how it turns out, that is worth a good solid rebuttal. I mean, I am really learning a lot about different people just being a renter. Being in a home has some distinct advantages too. And she lets me read any book I want from her library. She even lets me keep some of the books in my room. These books helped me pass the praxis, and also guide me in my hopes and aspirations. Of course she is still cranky and has these days where the office looks like a blizzard is passing through it, but I would have to say that in a way, I sort of lucked out being able to stay with someone who at least can claim some success in the field I have been trying to transition to for so long, if only because it is the most logical for affording me some writing time.

I have been forced to recognize that there is nothing to fear about homosexuals. I have been forced to realize that in order to be a good person you should really try to practice what you think you can preach. And that even the most handicapped person always has a special talent or ability tucked away somewhere--it is just hard to see it, and even hard to describe it sometimes. And then, I have to try to better develop my communication skills and attitude. I mean, they may not be very nice at the school district, but these days, that is almost normal, and the protective stance may be because of the fear of strangers hijacking the system. I am not sure. Certainly one set of selfish people cannot represent the whole, and MLK was one of the first to prove that in his speech, "The Drum Major Instinct." 

This is an update on the how things are going. Not too good. The niece seems nice enough, but unlike her mother who was a minister, she never (hardly ever) attends church, never reads the Bible, never notices anything, hardly except the 48 inch screen TV with built in boom boxes. If you have a job based on a disability, you never have to improve on it per se, so with the kind of ADHD she has, she has reached the pinnacle of self-development.

So after she moved in, because so much furniture and boxes of items were moved out into the hallway, I had to help tidy up the library next door. The rooms are nice and spacious--supersized--but of course her aunt and other deceased have many objects that they had collected. The aunt moved out all her deceased sister's Bibles and ministerial books on the back porch. It was lower priority than the TV set and cable boxes. I took it upon myself to assert that the Bibles and ministerial books ought to find a place among another bookshelf cabinet if only the crystal were reaaranged. So that became a special project the week that she and her gf were gone on vacation to the coast. I cleaned all the crystal, reaaranged the dishes, and made an empty shelf where the Bibles and books found a home. They had already been on the back porch for over three weeks and were getting some dog dander.

Of course neither the Aunt nor the niece had anything to say. The aunt was probably speechless, while the niece never notices anything about me. And yes, she pretty much, like some other ADHD types who work as security guards, does not talk to me except "What do you need" type tone. She is utterly unwilling to engage in any kind of small talk. However she lathers attention on this mutt. So far, I have tried to overlook most of her faults which include laziness, close-mindedness (any tenant of her aunt's is basically a serf), and lower self-development.

It's really demoralizing sometimes though. Living with and being surrounded by does not make you more of a friend or neighbor ever. I think maybe it's some of those white slave owner genes they inherited by crossbreeding. That's why the master-slave black-nonblack dichotomy is so prevalent. For instance, the aunt pretty much tries to continue to even monitor my going out into the night to make a private telephone call. I tell her, gee, I feel more freedom talking under the night sky than under your roof. Do you have a problem with that? She responds about how unsafe the neighborhood is. Good old mammy had a different story when I moved in, insisting this was a safe, problem-free neighborhood, and has almost always argued from that end. The truth is that it is really is not very safe. I know that well enough from the cruisers, from the vampire-like girls less than fifteen years old but trying to fan out around me last night in pre-attack formation, all the while the five of them pretending to be chasing their ugly little dog. But if I am talking with a close friend, do I have to take the chance of Mammy listening in. And Mammy never tries to monitor her niece like she does me!

Her niece comes and goes as she pleases, coming in at 2 or staying out all night. Coming in late, or whenever, Mammy is very doting towards her. Coddles her, feeds her, and shares with her all the intimate and connections. The niece, in her own high and mighty way does not really regard the aunt as much more than someone who must be watched over!

So yes, everything sometimes seems a bit upside down. The person with the highest education level and professional qualifications is reduced to sort of a useless dunce, while the privileged government ADHD who never went to college but has a job is running the show. And aunt, well, she says one thing, then another, but she is never willing to help anyone who is not black or kin. At least not directly. She has let me read a lot of her former teaching books. Otherwise of course as a tenant all she wants from me is that I stay here and pay rent. In fact, she doesn't really want me to move up in life, because she would lose the rent money and my sweet servile presence. I don't mean to come across as servile, just helpful. But that's what she values.

Fine lot that does. Around here, the only way a teacher can be employed is if they are black, white from prestige university, or black starting out. All the interviews, the professional exams, etc, mean nothing. They run you through the system, and then never call you back. Or worse, like in the neighboring district, they set you up to fail with lousy interviewers (who either are untrained or just using anything to cross you off the list), or lousiest possible job situation even just volunteer work. Of course in some other pentagon infused districts, you simply have no chance of working there unless you graduated from their school system or know somebody or worked there as a student teacher.

This is why I am really mixed up about the truth of whether or not we need more civil rights. I think what we really need more of all the way around is more love and humanity and genuine heartfelt integrity. Oh, there is definitely some of that which I experience outside this house, say while shopping. But when it comes to networking and jobhunting, everyone is just very complicated, full of pretenses, if not down right hateful....:(

Thanks to ripoff and some insight, I was able to try to talk with the landlady yesterday. The landlady's personality is basically steamroller, one who cuts me off, and inserts her own conclusion, end discussion, period. It makes me feel pretty much like a stick figure, besides the fact that I have been feeling dizzy from the insecticide (a bit hyper from it, and dizzy, and asyphyxiated). Firstly, like I said, she will not apologize. She just thinks whatever way she undertakes to do things, she is not answerable. That I as a tenant, however educated or experienced, have no substantive advice or skills (this is forever the l*****n typecast of other women?). I cannot even think of asking her to leave a note on my door, since she will probably say, "I don't do that!" I mean, I can ask, but she probably will interpret that as a command rather than a request. Secondly, the handy person does things the strangest way. For instance, to seal a vent off so more air can be directed up stairs, he tapes up the vent using cardboard and plastic tape. So the vent cover over time due to some trapped moisture begins to rust. I mention this because she said that one of the vent covers in my room will be taped up (too much air blows into my room in the basement). But I already decided today to complete this minor task which the handyperson will inevitably complicate, by taking off the vent cover and placing some aluminum foil sheets, folded up. It was such a simple, yet imho more effective way since foil is more temperature resistant, and no tape or paint involved. But with this landlady, she may take offense if "I showed her up." That is really how insecure and bully she is.

  But I did get some reward with my chat with her yesterday, even though she treats me like it is a big favor to listen to me at all, which is supposedly I found out the handy person will come today to "polyurethane" her niece's newly installed door (next to mine). When I asked her what she meant by polyurethane, she became testy and asked, "You don't know what polyurethane is?" Of course she refused to explain too. (Could you believe this is a retired "DC Award Winning School teacher?"). A lot of patience and fine skills sets to exhibit and exemplify. The handy person naturally is not here today (I stayed home to wait him out, thus assuring I can get more insecticide laden air in my body), while she is out galavanting around.

I did just look up "polyurethane the door," and I think she means varnish. If that is it, I can count on her [jack--s] handy person making the most of it, sanding, coating, sanding and recoating, so he can be assured a few more hours of pay. It really doesn't need any paint, if you ask me, because it is a naturally light blond wood, a few coats of natural olive oil would do fine. And that, anyone could, of course, do.

Natural, however, is a word that monetized persons probably abhor. I will probably have to tolerate the repair person in and out of my room too, whether it is "redoing the vent" or some other invented work. I even had to "surrender" my copy of the bedroom key to her yesterday. She said if I am not at home, and she has no key, she will "break the door down." Hmm, at 300 hundred pounds, I guess a few nudges would be all that it would take. Of course, this is a door handle that I had to put in ON MY OWN. She simply would not hear of a door that locked when I first moved in, saying "since this is my house, I can go in the room whenever I want." The ostensible pretext for entering the extra large room is that there is a water shutoff valve, and the electrical panel. But she won't ever stop to think of asking me to open the door. After all, if I don't open it fast enough, she starts yelling!  Her saying she would "break the door down," however is another indication of the brutish nature.

Like I say, no one would actually think that such a respectable Heather Bouquet type of comedic homeowner, with the picture perfect garden, the faux trappings of success all over the house, and awards and things like that, including lots of church volunteer work and socials, could be so hypocritical at times.

Either I just forget about it, and keep my cabinets locked and let her and the repair person come in whenever they like, or I stay and wait around forever, never knowing when, because she has no sense or empathy or consideration, at least towards this reporter.

You probably do live in a mildly racist area. It could be worse, they say. It could be a hole in the wall. The niece is rather just the type that floats along with everything, whether it's funeral receipts on the stairs, or Totally Awesome on the carpet every day. (of course if the aunt feeds her and all) That is what they call a tough skin. And, yes, so they don't take my complaints very seriously at all. I mean, this is the kind of situation ideal for Love Canal story, where the contractor or realtor does whatever they heck they want, and too late. What is really strange is that first the step sister, then their dad, then the hubbie, then possibly a couple other people all died of cancer. Well, definitely at least two of them--shouldn't say which here, it may get too obvious.

But anywhere you live, it is bound to be messed up nowadays sort of, because people are so unbalanced. If you are rich, you have servants to deal with. If you are surrounded by fair skinned types, they never stop talking or just totally hyperactive, either that or s****.>

The point is you are most likely stuck, and the fact that you spend time cleaning is a waste of time. You should not do anything more than pay your rent, since it is not appreciated in any way. You should also realize that if you fix your room up nice, she or the niece can just interpret that as a better opportunity, for one of "their kind" to move in at the slightest excuse.

And the whole county is sort of that way. So, there you are. But it could be a hole in the wall....just stop talking or trying to reason with her. Every time, she or they just shrug you off like you are not a real person. If they refuse to believe you are a real person, you can only do so much. If you keep trying to extend yourself, you just make yourself a laughing stock. Since they already see you like that, just don't have anything more to do with them than necessary. They only respect money anyway, which explains quite a bit.

This is what I get maybe for only paying for a room. Last week, the stairs smelled really awful for almost a week; it stills smell awful right now. The old lady did NOT BOTHER to tell me it was Insecticide that she spilled on the carpet. In fact the ONLY reason why I know about this today is that it is about the third time she or her worker (who according to the Peter Principle causes more damage each time he repairs anything, thereby assuring himself of more work) have been scrubbing the stairway carpet. Today, since her niece has now move in, the old lady has the consideration, for her niece's sake, to move an air fan downstairs to help blow the stairs dry and move the air up the stairs. SHE ONLY INCIDENTALLY INFORMED ME OF THE SPILL when I turned the fan off while I was vaccuuming the carpet to the basement back door. She was mad that I turned the fan off, and while talking about why it had been scrubbed again, dropped the insecticide remark. But again, she makes it out that I am inconsiderate, NOT HER for turning the fan off this morning. Because she is IMPOSSIBLE to speak with (she treats me like a peon even though I pay rent, probably more than her niece), she is not open to discussion about WHAT KIND OF INSECTICIDE she spilled.

   Never mind! I know it smells awful, and I thought it was the Totally Awesome that they were using to scrub the carpet with! In fact, I thought my cancer was coming back or something. I was wondering why a little walk outside in the 80 degree heat and I felt so dizzy. I was wondering why my stomach felt a little upset, and why I was thinking a bit slowly. She just doesn't see me a a real person, because 1) I am "just a woman"--you know, she sees women as potential sex objects, being a l*****n; 2) I PAY rent, as opposed to COSTING her. She is so into the monetizing mentality of the business, that she VALUES her BUMBLING (uncouth) (inefficient) male workers twice as much as me, even when I have performed some minor repairs and cleaning myself! 3) She may be a bit of a racist, since she has referred to me as "your culture" as if I was not American; 4) I am not family (although her past deceased relatives also lived in the wretched basement for a while before they passed on....

  So no wonder I hide my papers, and lock my cabinets, and wonder if my time is soon to come...But I try to be considerate even if she is not, even if she never apologizes, even if she rather play sick than admit of any kind of wrong doing or inconsideration. So yes, here I am, practically like a Cinderella (didn't I have enough of that with my mom?) and am stupidly volunteering to vaccuum the carpet, do some of the laundry, undertake simple repairs, taking out the garbage, helping organize (she had to move out 3/4 of the furniture and contents to prepare her niece's room). And I have to try to reason with myself that not all of "her kind" are actually as selfish or inconsiderate! Or make mild fun of me for not being so well to do....