My castle for a. . . .castle?
Finding lodging in Miami Beach, FL is always a hassle.
Typing this out makes the statement seem self-evident. Finding -anything- in Miami Beach, FL except for cockroaches, palm trees and healthcare fraud is a hassle.
And yet here we are again.
Every year begining in January, the few, the proud and the crazy (the inner circle of ISI's meagre student body) gather their equally meagre funds and fly/drive/teleport down to Miami Beach in order to continue their education and further their mastery of the various technical skills and intentions relevant to our work. I number myself among them.
Most therapeutic professions are required to obtain a minimum number of continuing credit hours every few years - so, for some of us, this is part of the draw. Mostly, however, it is the simple fact that those students who continue post-graduate audits of the coursework improve far more rapidly in their ability than those who do not. And for those of us who, like myself, realize this obvious benefit - there are also the auditor fees. Each year, the auditing process is significantly less costly. Our faith is thus rewarded as we become ever more awesome and ninja-like.
Two years running, I have worked through this process. 2010 marks year 3 of the apprenticeship.
The biggest hassel of ALL of this is not gathering the money together for the plane tickets, the living expenses or the tuition. . . The biggest hassel of ALL of this is not disrupting ones regular work schedule and temporarily crippling one's ability to secure new clients while away for potentially disruptive amounts of time. . . The most difficult part of the whole damned ordeal, is simply finding a freaking place to LIVE.
Why?
Because we are only there for a week or two at a time - - or, at other times, a mere 4 days. Virtually no one rents for that amount of time repeatedly, and "seasonal rentals" // hotels are pricey. EVERYTHING in Miami is pricey in January. It's tourist season. hah!
So - simple solution, right?
We have devised a system. We find condos. One person is placed in charge - gathers money from the others, hunts a place, clears it with the others, stalks the owner, helps negotiate a lease and closes. Bam. Furnished, live-in awesomeness for 4-6 students at low-cost for a stretch of time that covers all of our comings and goings over increments of about 2 months at a go.
Right?
Right.
Except that there is always a catch. Always. There needn't be one - not really. But it's Miami Beach.
Take the last place we were in.
Sweet digs - GREAT owner. . very understanding if completely sketchy... - low prices - nice furnature....
And what does he neglect to tell us? Well - that in between increments of our stay the board of his complex has sat down and had a meeting and revamped their "guest" policy and disallowed subletting ENTIRELY.
Choke.
So we come back, seeking to get back into our nicely rented condo only to find out that we have apparently broken all of their rules. THEY have flipped all their locks, are charging for new keys, turned over the vast majority of their security staff (very few of whom speak clear English, which seems fine until I try to offer them a detailed explanation as to our presence in the building) and are immediately suspicious of us.
Long story shorter the very, very grouchy security staff explains, kindof, to the Board who then flexes to let us stay out our term - - but with lots of glaring, grumbling and notes to selves never to let us back in after this for our apparent duplicity.
Ridiculous.
So this year its ME in charge. I've found a place. Subletting is allowed - I've doublechecked. The place is furnished. It's in a lovely building. It, like our other stays, is within walking distance to class. The realtor is a friend of the "family" at ISI, so to speak, and all things seemed to gel nicely and quickly when I contacted him roughly 3 months ago.
And now here we are. And I have less than a month to settle things....
And this man - this realtor.... is absolute HELL to get in touch with!!
Rewind to November.
I'm talking details - telling him what we need. He says he knows juuust the place. Tells me about it. Sounds great!
OH! But this is a bad time to talk because he's JUST getting ready to go on vacation (for a week) and so will be out of touch the entire time and thus unable to contact the owner. Hmmm. Very well.
So he goes on vacation, and returns. I give him a couple days to recoup before contacting him again, and have taken the liberty of leaving an email in his box just to be sure he doesn't forget my name. So I get in touch with him, two days after I call - and he tells me that he's touched base with the owner (yay!) but that the owner has x,y,z concerns.
Fine. I'm more than happy to resolve them.
So we work out the concerns, and now the ball's in his court to get back in touch with the owner.
I hear nothing from him for about 2 weeks. Suddenly its the week before Thanksgiving, and I'm like - - Where IS this guy? And why is there no lease?
Hmmm. In the interim, I've left him an email and a voicemail. No response.
So I email again, trying to keep an even tone, and asking: Hey, guy. . . Now that we've discussed pricing and whatnot - how 'bout that lease?
"Oh!" he responds. He's just been very busy and whatnot - and has clients moving in today, and so will get to the lease by Wednesday (before Thanksgiving), and have it all written up in no time.
Right?
Right.
Whew.
Thanksgiving comes and goes.
The week after Thanksgiving comes and goes.
I bide time, and try not to be annoying - and then I email.
No response.
Then I call.
No response.
Then I email, wondering if he has taken ill or gone off on another vacation or has simply decided to give the condo to someone else.
Finally he says: "I have to talk to the owner. I'll call you tomorrow."
Tomorrow is today.
Guess what?
No phonecall.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now December. That last message came YESTERDAY. -Where- is the lease?
I have not heard from this asshole since before THANKSGIVING. And its not like I haven't been trying to keep in touch.
Obviously, shame on me for not having an excellent backup plan - but as of about 2 months ago I was pretty damned sure I had this living situation in the bag. He'd said okay. He'd named a price, and I'd agreed. He'd said the owner was in. He'd said he'd draw up the lease.
I said OKAY.
At this point, everything else is prohibitively and ridiculously expensive and I've got 3 other people who voted ME in charge due to technical seniority and my experience with the area who are thinking that I've secured our living space. And *I* thought I practically -had-. What a potential crapfest.
Now - - Sigh. . . As frustrated as I am, I am also relatively sure that, as this is simply the way things always seem to go in Miami Beach - - that things will all tumble together perfectly well here within the next week or so. But I had started this process early soas to be finished with it before the insanity and potential upheval of the holiday season. Fat chance. Now I get to make a last-minute trip to Arizona AND try to resolve this.
All because the man who stands to make a profit (however tiny) off of this transaction can't seem to get up off his lazy ass and do precisely what he says he's going to do to make this work.
Gah!
Anywho ;0) I really am sure it'l work out one way or the other - it really always seems to. It's just that I've been meaning to update for a while, now and this is what made it to the webs - the rest was all reflective and Jasony-woooo000ooo and the mouse never afterwards completed it's journey to the "Submit" button of the LJ client. Perhaps another time...
Right. ;0) so that's it for the moment. Sigh. Hugs!
J_
Typing this out makes the statement seem self-evident. Finding -anything- in Miami Beach, FL except for cockroaches, palm trees and healthcare fraud is a hassle.
And yet here we are again.
Every year begining in January, the few, the proud and the crazy (the inner circle of ISI's meagre student body) gather their equally meagre funds and fly/drive/teleport down to Miami Beach in order to continue their education and further their mastery of the various technical skills and intentions relevant to our work. I number myself among them.
Most therapeutic professions are required to obtain a minimum number of continuing credit hours every few years - so, for some of us, this is part of the draw. Mostly, however, it is the simple fact that those students who continue post-graduate audits of the coursework improve far more rapidly in their ability than those who do not. And for those of us who, like myself, realize this obvious benefit - there are also the auditor fees. Each year, the auditing process is significantly less costly. Our faith is thus rewarded as we become ever more awesome and ninja-like.
Two years running, I have worked through this process. 2010 marks year 3 of the apprenticeship.
The biggest hassel of ALL of this is not gathering the money together for the plane tickets, the living expenses or the tuition. . . The biggest hassel of ALL of this is not disrupting ones regular work schedule and temporarily crippling one's ability to secure new clients while away for potentially disruptive amounts of time. . . The most difficult part of the whole damned ordeal, is simply finding a freaking place to LIVE.
Why?
Because we are only there for a week or two at a time - - or, at other times, a mere 4 days. Virtually no one rents for that amount of time repeatedly, and "seasonal rentals" // hotels are pricey. EVERYTHING in Miami is pricey in January. It's tourist season. hah!
So - simple solution, right?
We have devised a system. We find condos. One person is placed in charge - gathers money from the others, hunts a place, clears it with the others, stalks the owner, helps negotiate a lease and closes. Bam. Furnished, live-in awesomeness for 4-6 students at low-cost for a stretch of time that covers all of our comings and goings over increments of about 2 months at a go.
Right?
Right.
Except that there is always a catch. Always. There needn't be one - not really. But it's Miami Beach.
Take the last place we were in.
Sweet digs - GREAT owner. . very understanding if completely sketchy... - low prices - nice furnature....
And what does he neglect to tell us? Well - that in between increments of our stay the board of his complex has sat down and had a meeting and revamped their "guest" policy and disallowed subletting ENTIRELY.
Choke.
So we come back, seeking to get back into our nicely rented condo only to find out that we have apparently broken all of their rules. THEY have flipped all their locks, are charging for new keys, turned over the vast majority of their security staff (very few of whom speak clear English, which seems fine until I try to offer them a detailed explanation as to our presence in the building) and are immediately suspicious of us.
Long story shorter the very, very grouchy security staff explains, kindof, to the Board who then flexes to let us stay out our term - - but with lots of glaring, grumbling and notes to selves never to let us back in after this for our apparent duplicity.
Ridiculous.
So this year its ME in charge. I've found a place. Subletting is allowed - I've doublechecked. The place is furnished. It's in a lovely building. It, like our other stays, is within walking distance to class. The realtor is a friend of the "family" at ISI, so to speak, and all things seemed to gel nicely and quickly when I contacted him roughly 3 months ago.
And now here we are. And I have less than a month to settle things....
And this man - this realtor.... is absolute HELL to get in touch with!!
Rewind to November.
I'm talking details - telling him what we need. He says he knows juuust the place. Tells me about it. Sounds great!
OH! But this is a bad time to talk because he's JUST getting ready to go on vacation (for a week) and so will be out of touch the entire time and thus unable to contact the owner. Hmmm. Very well.
So he goes on vacation, and returns. I give him a couple days to recoup before contacting him again, and have taken the liberty of leaving an email in his box just to be sure he doesn't forget my name. So I get in touch with him, two days after I call - and he tells me that he's touched base with the owner (yay!) but that the owner has x,y,z concerns.
Fine. I'm more than happy to resolve them.
So we work out the concerns, and now the ball's in his court to get back in touch with the owner.
I hear nothing from him for about 2 weeks. Suddenly its the week before Thanksgiving, and I'm like - - Where IS this guy? And why is there no lease?
Hmmm. In the interim, I've left him an email and a voicemail. No response.
So I email again, trying to keep an even tone, and asking: Hey, guy. . . Now that we've discussed pricing and whatnot - how 'bout that lease?
"Oh!" he responds. He's just been very busy and whatnot - and has clients moving in today, and so will get to the lease by Wednesday (before Thanksgiving), and have it all written up in no time.
Right?
Right.
Whew.
Thanksgiving comes and goes.
The week after Thanksgiving comes and goes.
I bide time, and try not to be annoying - and then I email.
No response.
Then I call.
No response.
Then I email, wondering if he has taken ill or gone off on another vacation or has simply decided to give the condo to someone else.
Finally he says: "I have to talk to the owner. I'll call you tomorrow."
Tomorrow is today.
Guess what?
No phonecall.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now December. That last message came YESTERDAY. -Where- is the lease?
I have not heard from this asshole since before THANKSGIVING. And its not like I haven't been trying to keep in touch.
Obviously, shame on me for not having an excellent backup plan - but as of about 2 months ago I was pretty damned sure I had this living situation in the bag. He'd said okay. He'd named a price, and I'd agreed. He'd said the owner was in. He'd said he'd draw up the lease.
I said OKAY.
At this point, everything else is prohibitively and ridiculously expensive and I've got 3 other people who voted ME in charge due to technical seniority and my experience with the area who are thinking that I've secured our living space. And *I* thought I practically -had-. What a potential crapfest.
Now - - Sigh. . . As frustrated as I am, I am also relatively sure that, as this is simply the way things always seem to go in Miami Beach - - that things will all tumble together perfectly well here within the next week or so. But I had started this process early soas to be finished with it before the insanity and potential upheval of the holiday season. Fat chance. Now I get to make a last-minute trip to Arizona AND try to resolve this.
All because the man who stands to make a profit (however tiny) off of this transaction can't seem to get up off his lazy ass and do precisely what he says he's going to do to make this work.
Gah!
Anywho ;0) I really am sure it'l work out one way or the other - it really always seems to. It's just that I've been meaning to update for a while, now and this is what made it to the webs - the rest was all reflective and Jasony-woooo000ooo and the mouse never afterwards completed it's journey to the "Submit" button of the LJ client. Perhaps another time...
Right. ;0) so that's it for the moment. Sigh. Hugs!
J_