Apartment Hunt 2009 Day One
What a busy day. I started around 9am with dropping Louis off at work. Simple enough. I then decided to go waste an hour driving around to find apartments I might be interested in, mainly to pass the time until my 10:30am oil change appointment. Around 10am I realize I am lost in the middle of nowhere suburbia Texas. I was in Leon Valley. At this point I was driving down Grissom looking for a familiar major road. I couldn't find one. I reached the light which turns Grissom into Culebra (which is a road I rarely know as well) and took the opportunity to grab my phone and use the GPS. First direction it gave me was "make a u-turn at culebra road". Obviously traffic was already going then and I was in the right lane. About a mile down the road I found a shopping center. Perfect. I turn around and make a left on what is now Culebra. The GPS updates. It tells me to go back all the way from where I had made a right on Grissom and keep going. I should have made a left in the first plac and I would have never needed GPS. So after finding Bandera road and making my right, I see it, Wurzbach Road, a road I know and love. So I make my way to Carmax for my oil change with 2 minutes to spare.
Happy as clams an hour and a half later, I pay for my oil change and leave. Time to go find me a new home! Or so I thought at that moment. I forgot my list at home, so I remembered one apartment Louis and I both liked online. I drive there, dealing with traffic as I go, and find Stonehouse Apartments without a problem. I walk in, everything seems fine and the guy tells me I cannot make more that $30,000 annually to live with four people there. I was blown away. Who makes less than $30,000 a year when you have two kids? I get in my truck and call Louis. We both knew the cheap pricing was too good to be true. During the call he tells me to just go to an Apartment Locator since it's free of charge on our part.
I pull into the Colonnade, thinking it's there in that shopping center. I was wrong. So where did I see it? Having no clue, I pull out my GPS on my blackberry and type in for business "Apartment Locators". Viola! There in print is several listings, all two miles away. Things are looking up once again.
I arrive and sit down with the lady and start talking about what we need and what we want in apartments. At this moment I feel dampness on my lap. Samantha was drooling and playing happily on my lap so I passed it off. When we were done she gave me three apartment listings to go tour. I stand up and leave. That's when I have noticed it. Samantha's onsie was untucked from her pants and unbuttoned, thankfully, but her pants are soaked. She was warm as well. The dampness was her diaper almost full. She had peed in my arms as I was leaving. I lay her down in the backseat and change her diaper, thus removing her pants and just buttoning her onsie which is actually dry. After I buckle her in her carseat, I do a once over. Thank you Clothing and Baby Gods ... she did not get me wet. I must have been holding her perfectly as she soaked through.
Now I have this dilema. Stop in at home and get her in a new pair of pants, or continue on? I take the risk. I figured that the truck was warm and we were only going into buildings. What little time we spend between the two she can wrap her legs in my jacket. So I head to my first destination, the gate's closed. I dial #111 for the leasing office, no answer. No, not now. Things were just looking up! Grumbling, I reverse and turn around and head to the next place. GPS fails me for the first time. It takes me to a wall. Yes, a wall. I spend the next hour driving up and down the road looking for this complex. I don't know how many school zones I went through or how much traffic I dealt with. It was such a blur. And now my GPS is not even connecting to help me out at all.
Eventually I find the place, tour the apartment and it seems fine. So I return to the place with the closed gates. This is about the time I realize I have to pee. Then this lady tells me that I need to bundle up the baby to view the apartment. Why do I need to bundle her up?, I thought. I grab Louis's sweater out of the very back of my truck and then I realize it. This woman is taking me on a golf cart to the very back of the complex with my 8 month old on my lap bundled up in a XXXL men's sweater. Oh my god, it was cold! When we returned to the leasing office, this woman gives me this vibe she disapproves of my parenting. I ignored it and left.
Here I am, ready for the third stop, but something is bothering me more. I really have to pee at this moment. So since home was closer, I stop in. During this time I forgot another pair of pants for Samantha. I did manage to grab and make her a new bottle. Which is perfect for hungry Sammie. My phone rings, it's Adrian, finally some good news. I had a friend to talk me through the apartment hunting. Too bad I couldn't use my GPS, but he gave me the directions a lot better than my GPS does.
Finally, I feel the day going my way, I pull into this new apartment complex, 10 minutes outside of town. The guy who helps me shows me the perfect apartment with a great deal. If I turn in the application tomorrow, I will only owe $49 application fee, no deposit. But another block. They only have 3rd floor units available.
My day now seems wasted. Maybe I can call the perfect one outside of town to see what else they have available for $1100 a month an under. Right now I have to deal with Sammie ... her slight congestion and cough from the past few nights is now a full blown cold. My fault for letting that woman take me and my baby on a golf cart across the complex.