Life etc., Vancouver

Moving to Crazyville

Blerg. I’m feeling wildly unproductive & uncreative right now, in part because the awesomeness of the Home & Garden Show totally kicked my ass (thank you, rad customers!) & partly due to a nasty cold that I seem unable to shake (& by “shake” I mean “unable to stop the sieve that is my nose from pouring snot upon every viable surface, including my dogs”). But my biggest hurdle to happiness right now is moving.

Like most folks, I hate moving. However my particular shade of hatred resembles the white hot intensity of the sun as my brain will. not. allow me to function until/unless I feel settled. I don’t know if this is an ADD thing or a crazy artist thing or a matter of being a self-employed person who works from home & already has an unstable source of income, but I *need* to feel settled. My particular brand of crazy absolutely requires it to function.

The last few days I’ve felt like I’m in a constant state of a low level panic attack as I scour Craigslist for apartment listings that: are reasonably priced (ha!), have at least a wee bit of storage space (haha!) & take dogs (Bahahahahahaha!). Anyone who’s ever lived in Vancouver will feel my pain.

The dog thing particularly irks me because mine are small, quiet beasts. They’ve never caused a problem anywhere I’ve lived. I owned a condo in a high rise building (back in Alberta) with carpeting, elevators & long hallways designed to attract the attention of dogs wondering who the voices were outside the door – no barking, no accidents, no damage. But in a place like that? Sure. I can see why a building would implement a “no dogs” policy because there is the *potential* for problems to arise.

But you’re telling me I can’t have a dog in a dingy basement suite with laminate flooring? With such tiny windows that a dog would never see a glimpse of life at which to bark? With only a cement pad rather than a yard, lest a blade of grass ever be peed upon? Come on, people. I can’t fathom a way even the worst dog could damage some of the places that refuse any & all pets.

Actual text from a listing: “NO DRUGS, NO PARTIES, NO SMOKERS, NO PETS!!!!!!!”. Yeah. ‘Cause those are all totally the same thing!

Perhaps these landlords are banking on keeping their mortgage helpers hopeless & depressed so they continue to fork out $1400/month for the privilege of living in said hovel.

So. I’m frustrated. I really just want to find a place to call home & feel settled. I wouldn’t have moved into the place I live now if I’d known the landlords were planning to sell within 2 years. Moving is expensive, but more than that, it’s exhausting. I can’t handle the instability of not knowing where I’m going to live next month & what’s lurking in the back of my mind is wondering how long I’ll be able to stay in the new place I find anyway. Throw in the arbitrariness of the decision on whether or not I can occupy a space & my mind goes something something.

Prior to moving to Vancouver, I always owned my home so the hurdle was saving up for a down payment & having good enough credit to qualify for a mortgage. This makes sense. There are clear cut qualifiers & I knew (& followed) the steps. I didn’t have to come across as more “likable” than the other stacks of couples also applying. I didn’t have to assure anyone that my family is always in bed by 10:30pm & we never raise the television volume above a whisper. I didn’t even need to supply references! I just had to have the money.

Today I had a lady email to tell me she didn’t think the 2 bedroom suite was large enough for my family (me, my mister & the boy), so she wasn’t going to let me view it (you know…to decide for myself). If your garden suite was constructed so shabbily that it has zero soundproofing, then I can understand why you wouldn’t want to rent it out to a family with a baby or a toddler. But the boy? The only noise you’ll hear coming out of his room emanates from YouTube clips & video games. Annoying to me, perhaps, but really should not effect our neighbors. And may I remind you for a moment that this is in a city where 2BR condos selling for $400,000+ are 650 sq feet. WTF people??

So, my search continues. I do have a bunch of showings lined up this weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

2 thoughts on “Moving to Crazyville”

  1. I am with you Kris, finding a home here is SO hard (and we are “just” a family of non-smokers with no pet). Why do you have to move again ?
    I hope you’ll find something quick ! good luck.

  2. I know how you feel, I hate moving and even more looking for places!
    I’ve just moved to a new home and that costs me months of feeling unsettled and have my creativity and business all over the place…I still have everything in boxes.

    Good luck with your search, I really hope you can find a lovely place that you can call home 🙂

Leave a Reply to Tania Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *