But I can't pay the rent! But you muuuust pay ze rent!
I failed at Being an Adult this week. I haven't gotten the sheets changed, although I have kept up on the laundry. I have been faithfully doing my PT exercises. I haven't been making my lunch very well, although I have been mostly getting up on time. But I managed to fail at Paying the Rent this week.
Last Friday I wrote out the rent check and put it in my purse so I could drop it off at the rental office on my way in or out over the weekend. Somehow in my head this became conflated into "I have paid the rent!" Then the weekend became kind of crazy and it got away from me and I totally forgot that I had not, in fact, turned in the rent.
Wednesday night I got home late because Dayna had a little ice skating party for her birthday. On the way home I suddenly remembered that I had not turned in the rent. It was November 3rd; the rent is due on the first. I wrote a new check including the $25 late fee I knew they'd charge and dropped it off on the way in. When I got home, I found that A Scary Letter had been left on the door from the rental folks. Full of stuff like "YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO LEAVE THE PREMISES" and phrases like "legal action to take possession" and "failure to comply" and "vacate immediately."
Now, I knew that this was pretty much just a boilerplate letter generated by my landlord (my house is part of a complex which is owned by a real estate company which owns many, MANY such complexes so this wasn't personal) that more or less amounted to *shoulder tap* "You forgot to pay the rent, dumbass." But it was a scary letter! I must have read it a dozen times. It was strangely worded. Logically I knew that if I paid the rent, everything would be fine. They would not (and possibly legally could not) evict me if my rent had been paid. But the wording was vague and threatening and kinda made it sound like I'd have to leave even if I DID pay the rent.
Ever have something that you know logically is not a big deal but for some reason your brain just latches on to it and obsesses about it? That was this. I knew damn well that I had now paid the rent and all would be well. Frankly, it is not an unknown occurrence for me to pay the rent one or two days after the 1st depending on what day of the month my paycheck arrives. It's never been a problem. And to get The Scary Letter when the rent was a mere two days late did seem a bit draconian, frankly. But for some reason my brain kept circling the idea that the rental company had simply Had Enough of my occasional mild lateness and decided to give me the unceremonious heave-ho. To the point that I was anxious all evening and all yesterday morning, until I could call the rental office at noon when they open, at which time they told me what I already knew, namely that it was all good, the rent was paid. The office guy even apologized for the scary tone of the letter and reiterated that it's legalese boilerplate sent down from on high.
Well. That's good.
For once my weekend isn't jam-packed. No plans tonight except a massage and possibly a stop at Burlington Coat Factory to look for a winter coat. Hike tomorrow morning, and that's all. I have some freelance work to do. I'll probably go out hiking again on Sunday depending on the State of My Knee. But I will endeavor to relax. Coming up on the holiday season and I have several busy weekends ahead, two of which will be spent traveling, so I ought to take advantage of it while I can.
Pondering the making of Christmas cookies this year. I love doing that.
Last Friday I wrote out the rent check and put it in my purse so I could drop it off at the rental office on my way in or out over the weekend. Somehow in my head this became conflated into "I have paid the rent!" Then the weekend became kind of crazy and it got away from me and I totally forgot that I had not, in fact, turned in the rent.
Wednesday night I got home late because Dayna had a little ice skating party for her birthday. On the way home I suddenly remembered that I had not turned in the rent. It was November 3rd; the rent is due on the first. I wrote a new check including the $25 late fee I knew they'd charge and dropped it off on the way in. When I got home, I found that A Scary Letter had been left on the door from the rental folks. Full of stuff like "YOU ARE BEING ASKED TO LEAVE THE PREMISES" and phrases like "legal action to take possession" and "failure to comply" and "vacate immediately."
Now, I knew that this was pretty much just a boilerplate letter generated by my landlord (my house is part of a complex which is owned by a real estate company which owns many, MANY such complexes so this wasn't personal) that more or less amounted to *shoulder tap* "You forgot to pay the rent, dumbass." But it was a scary letter! I must have read it a dozen times. It was strangely worded. Logically I knew that if I paid the rent, everything would be fine. They would not (and possibly legally could not) evict me if my rent had been paid. But the wording was vague and threatening and kinda made it sound like I'd have to leave even if I DID pay the rent.
Ever have something that you know logically is not a big deal but for some reason your brain just latches on to it and obsesses about it? That was this. I knew damn well that I had now paid the rent and all would be well. Frankly, it is not an unknown occurrence for me to pay the rent one or two days after the 1st depending on what day of the month my paycheck arrives. It's never been a problem. And to get The Scary Letter when the rent was a mere two days late did seem a bit draconian, frankly. But for some reason my brain kept circling the idea that the rental company had simply Had Enough of my occasional mild lateness and decided to give me the unceremonious heave-ho. To the point that I was anxious all evening and all yesterday morning, until I could call the rental office at noon when they open, at which time they told me what I already knew, namely that it was all good, the rent was paid. The office guy even apologized for the scary tone of the letter and reiterated that it's legalese boilerplate sent down from on high.
Well. That's good.
For once my weekend isn't jam-packed. No plans tonight except a massage and possibly a stop at Burlington Coat Factory to look for a winter coat. Hike tomorrow morning, and that's all. I have some freelance work to do. I'll probably go out hiking again on Sunday depending on the State of My Knee. But I will endeavor to relax. Coming up on the holiday season and I have several busy weekends ahead, two of which will be spent traveling, so I ought to take advantage of it while I can.
Pondering the making of Christmas cookies this year. I love doing that.