Monday, December 15, 2008

A partial update

Remember way back when we had that squirrel in the kitchen?

He came back in September. And brought a whole bunch of friends. They decided the attic space above our apartment would be a great place to shelter over the winter in and made themselves at home. We notified the new landlord as soon as this happened and told them it had been a problem in the past and would need to be dealt with ASAP. So about 3 weeks later they brought an exterminator in. The same initially ineffective one as last time. Who put traps out and then said they ignored the traps and there was nothing else he could do. Cue same repeat this year. And nothing further from the new landlords.

Do you have any idea how much noise a family (or whole clan from the sounds of it) of squirrels can make? Besides the requisite scratching sounds, we've discovered that apparently we're infested by clumsy squirrels who frequently drop their nuts, which then roll all across the attic floor. Surprisingly loudly. Also, apparently 3:30am is when the Squirrel Fight Club meets... At this point, neither Brian nor I are sure we've slept through the night without drugging ourself since we got back from Walt Disney World. In September. The accumulated sleep deficit is definitely affecting both of us.


So in November we sent the landlords politely asking for a written plan of how they plan on dealing with the squirrels. And they completely ignored it. Not even a phone call. No response at all.

Last Thursday they were sent (registered, signed receipt required) the notification that we intend on breaking our lease due to their lack of maintaining a habitable apartment. So now we wait (at least a little while) to see if they're going to contest it. And if not, we're out of here as of Feb. 15th. Although we don't normally celebrate it, S. Valentine's Day will be a special celebration for us this year!


So that's the short version of what's been going on lately with us. We've been getting all our ducks in a row to do this. And finding a new place to live. We've pretty much decided on where we want to go. It'll be a much longer drive for both of us, but it's worth it in trade off. Assuming we get it, it'll be a two bedroom townhouse with a garage and a back yard!

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