Random Frustrations

Life and some headaches it causes

There’s going to be some heavy whining in this one.

RENT

We just received notice that our rent is going up again. Another $400 a month. Now, the apartment didn’t get bigger, and there were no capital improvements. The things that were broken when we moved in 4 years ago have yet to be fixed, and newer broken things have yet to be seen by maintenance.

The list of indignities gets longer by the week. A couple years back, half the power went out in the apartment. This included the kitchen and bathroom. It took them 4 months to fix it. 4 months with no refrigerator, and no bathroom. When the water heater died, it was 2 months of cold showers and then the old water heater sat at our front door for another 6 weeks. The entire facing of a kitchen cupboard popped off revealing that it had happened before and been “fixed” with about 40 framing nails - it’s been 19 months since we asked to have that fixed. The dishwasher died. 3 months to fix.

On and on it goes, and every year we get the letter telling us that they are so happy we live here as a “valued resident,” and that the rent is going up. Oh, and, you have to give 60 days notice to move out or pay a $2,000 fine. 60 days … who the fuck can do that? You can’t book a new place to live two months in advance. When we moved in, we were perfectly capable of paying the rent, but the rent keeps going up, and our wages don’t.

There are no renter protections in Utah. The GOP legislature used COVID Rent Relief Funds to pay for landlords to sue tenants. The Democratic side of the legislature is too busy being nice and playing the meek mouse to stand up for ACTUAL PEOPLE because they’re afraid of Republicans. Republicans won’t pass renter protections because fuckabuncha people, businesses are important, and people can fuck right off.

I need a new place to live, but I’m being held hostage economically. I don’t know what to do.

HOLIDAYS

What is the point of all this shit? Consumerism demands a sacrifice of money for short term dopamine squirts, and we all play along like it's fucking normal. Every year.

I grew up in the traditional WASM(ormon) Christmas way. Coke fueled polar bears and an alcoholic faced Santa with a quick reading of the nativity to cover any religious obligations.

I remember one year, the giant side of family - the religiously performative side of the family - put on a huge damn Giant Christmas Pageant. The family took over some church in the fancy part of town, dressed all the kiddies up in bathrobes and taught us the dreidel. They handed out a dangerous amount of gelt, and performed the nativity scene with an energy and in a way that only culturally oblivious white people can achieve.

I remember it was fun, and that gold foil wrapped chocolate tastes awful and will make you very sick if you eat too much.

I do miss the blissful ignorance of youth, especially during the holiday season. There are a lot of December holidays. I know that NOW, and had no idea then. Cultural awareness is important.

All my kids are grown, so there’s no more visits from Santa. I miss that quite a bit. The one lesson I learned as a parent was to let Santa bring the socks and underwear, and let mom and dad give the good stuff. There were a lot of Dollar Store Christmases where Santa was a cheap bastard. I’m fine with that.

I miss watching the kids get excited, even in the lean years. I got lucky and had three kids that love to sleep. Christmas morning was more a case of me testing how long I could wait before I woke up the kids. That’s gone.

Now I’m in the phase where I’m lucky if the kids remember to call on a holiday, let alone get a visit. I get it. I did it, too. I need to remember to call my dad and apologize for 1989 - 2002.

WORK

I love what I do right now, but I can’t afford to keep doing it. I hate my job twice a month: on paydays. It’s not really the job’s fault, it’s retail. The whole world shits on retail workers.

On the other hand, I’m old now. I’ve aged and experienced out of my field. I won’t work in politics again, especially for Democrats in Utah (I’d probably do it somewhere else, but I can’t afford to move there.) How many years in a row do I need to get stiffed on getting paid? How many years do I want to be unemployed headed into the holidays? Turns out it was about 26 years.

I need a new gig.

TIRES

I need - NEED - new tires on my car. The lowest cost I can find is a bit more than $600.00 for some summer radials … still more tread than I currently have. Sheesh.

I literally have a sizable screw stuck in one of my bald tires. I had a friend gift me what should have been enough money for a new tire but I deposited it into a negative balance bank account without looking first, and ended up with only enough to get a very nice couple of cans of Slime to keep it from leaking. The Holiday station down the street has free air, so … there we are.

This is a very random list of stuff, isn’t it?