*blows nose*

Okay, Adam, look: You know what's going to happen if you listen to "No Telling." You're going to make it to the last verse, and then you're going to dissolve into a sniffling mess. It happens every single time, regardless of what kind of mood you're in. It's downright Pavlovian at this point. So just do yourself a favor and don't pr—

*presses play*

Gads. Why do I even bother?

GAHHHH.

I must not have studied enough for my English degree, because I don't have enough expletives to cover this one.

As I was saying on Wednesday, I had put in an application to have my car loan refinanced, which would give me enough cash to cover the deposit on the new apartment as well as kill off a few old bills that were dangling over my head. I hadn't heard anything from the credit union since then, so I just gave them a call. It's been approved! Huzzah! All I have to do now, the nice woman said, is bring in the original title for the vehicle to any of the credit union branch offices and sign a few papers.

Things I didn't say, but wanted to: "@%#$." Because, see, there's two problems here:

1) The lovely car in question isn't so lovely at the moment, because I haven't had the time or cash to get it repaired since it started failing to promptly accelerate several weeks ago. I don't feel safe taking it on the highway. Nearest credit union branch is 45 minutes away.

2) I don't have the title deed to this car. The troglodyte who sold me the thing sent it to an old address (one I specifically corrected him on), and it was never seen again. I can order a replacement from a small fee, but there's a five to seven day turnaround.

*headdesk* *headdesk* Why oh why can nothing ever be simple? *headdesk* *headdesk*

Okay, y'know what? Screw it. Current landlords are getting their rent late. I pay a late fee, but we get a place to live. I'm not going to cry over this one any longer. Wish me luck. (I don't think I fully explained the situation earlier. The problem isn't that we don't have the money to pay for first month's rent and security deposit; the problem is that we don't have enough money for first month's rent, security deposit, and rent for the month of May for the place we're still in. The thought of the development group not getting their cookie for another week or two isn't exactly breaking my heart.)

* * * * *

UPDATE: New landlords have been called. We sign the lease on Monday. That whooshing sound you heard was a sigh of relief the size of Manitoba.

DOUBLE GAHHHH.

All right, this was a rhetorical question before, but now I'm really asking: Why can't anything ever be simple?

So on my way out to head to the DMV to get my title replaced (as explained in previous entry), I stuck my head in the rental office to let them know what was going on, because the less you tell people, the more likely they are to make assumptions at you. I told them that May rent was going to be late. I told them why. I told them that they were not being stiffed, and I would be glad to pay whatever late fees they were going to hit me with. I told them that if it was between getting a late fee and not having a place to live a month from now, I was going to take the late fee, thank you very much.

They told me to pay up by the 10th, or they'd be taking the matter to court and dumping us and our worldly possessions unceremoniously on the curb. Fuck. (I'm beyond self-censorship at this point.)

To be fair, the woman I spoke to wasn't completely unsympathetic—she said they'd accept a payment of 50% by he 10th and the rest by the end of the month, and suggested talking to the new landlords about the matter and seeing if they'd be willing to accept something similar under the circumstances. But seeing as I had already called up the new landlords and told them, "Yes! We have the money!" I can hardly show up on Monday for the signing and say, "Well, okay, we have most of the money...."

I was really hoping and praying that I wouldn't have to take any of you up on your amazingly generous offers of assistance, but it appears that I may have to. That's not a definite yet, because it all depends on when my new title deed arrives in the mail; the DMV said "less than a week," and if that's the case, then I'll have the cash in plenty of time to stave off disaster. If I do need help, it will be for only half of the $650 I quoted earlier (less than half, actually), and I will absolutely be able to pay it back well before the end of the month. I'll keep folks posted. In the meantime, thank you all again so much. Just knowing that you're out there makes this whole mess so much more bearable.