My landlady and her husband just left from fixing my toilet. Well, he fixed it and she and I gabbed. She was quite impressed by my report about the Road and was devastated to see the state of the ceiling in the bathroom. I’d told her that rain came in and caused the paint to start flaking, but the impact of this didn’t hit her till she saw the damage.
My relation with my dueña has been very good. We don’t have any sort of written agreement, but with a bit of give and take on both sides, this business relationship works. She trusts me that the rent will show up at some point and I trust that repairs will be done in a timely manner. She pays the gas and power bills to make sure service isn’t cut off and I don’t balk and reimburse her as soon as I can. And, of course, she got internet in and handles all inquiries related to that while I do my best to keep her house clean and neat and alert her of problems.
Unfortunately, the yardmate situation has been terrible. I like the house, the location, the price, and get along well with my landlady, but I’ll confess that there have been many times since the yardmate arrived in December that I have thought of moving because of her. She is also the reason I hesitated in committing to the idea of coming back to this house, with the fear that the yardmate had the same thought.
But I’ve heard through the grapevine that the yardmate is going to look for other accommodation if she comes back to Isla next year and this makes me very happy. I’ve decided not to say much more about the yardmate because I don’t want to sink to her level.
I want to come back to this house because it works for me, the kinks with the landlady are worked out, and I’ll know I’ll have good internet within a few days of arrival. It just doesn’t seem worth my time to look for a more architecturally interesting building, something cheaper, or even something quieter.
I’ve been a homeowner for more than half of my adult life and I have to say that there are real perks to being a tenant — like not having to fix your own leaky toilet. 😀
You could encourage her to move on by playing rap music at full volume through the wall at 3:00 AM. 😉
Croft, I doubt she’d hear that since music blaring 24/7 is so common here. 🙂
Glad your living arrangements worked out so positively except the yardmate situation. I am sure your landlady likes having a decent tenant – those are very hard to find
The grapevine tells me that this fairly new suite has been pretty much empty since it was built, except for the stretch last year when my yardmate rented it (which probably explains her sense of entitlement to the property), so the landlady is really glad to have someone long-term! This is a win-win for both of us in that I get to go home and enjoy my summer and have zero stress in the planning process for next summer, much like my decision to return to Dawson city for the 2010 summer let me enjoy my Vancouver Island winter.
So glad I was able to refer the place to you. I did however warn you about the yardmate once we found out she was coming but nothing could be done about it.
Our email and first in person conversations were so positive that I remain shocked that the situation is what it is.
Of course now, we that don’t know what the yardmate is like, are dying to know what it is she has done that has intruded on your enjoyment. LOL
Without giving very specific details, she’s an unpleasant person who gives off negative vibes and complains about everything. She completely ignores me, except for leaving passive aggressive notes, and does whatever she wants no matter the impact on others, like watering the yard doing a water shortage. Those who knew her last year warned me about her and I can’t believe she is as bad as they said she’d be.
sorry but your degrading word for your neighbour puts you on the wrong side of life. spreading negativity is sad for every one involved, remember when you judge another you condemn yourself so please for your sake and you only be happy with all situations
If you’ve been following me for any length of time, you’ll see that I very rarely speak ill of people. I have put up with a lot of crap from her since I got here, including her spreading lies about me. She is a nasty, negative person whose presence has had a big impact on the quality of my life and I cannot write about my experience this winter without bringing that up. Said yardmate knows about this blog and so it’s not like I’m talking about her behind her back.