Life in the ghetto

The bottom pic is what an intact tubing looks like. The top two pics are ours.

O.K. So I don't really live in the ghetto...we call it the 'hood. Typical low-income housing apartment complex. This is one of the sacrifices we made to come down and work with the business (knowing our income would be significantly less than what we were used to). It's not too bad, we think, as we first move in. It's gated, well maintained, in a decent area of town, etc. Well, we're so sick of living here now, we just can't WAIT to get out and get on our way to California! This morning I woke up and it seemed warm in the house. Well, it's not the first time our AC has bombed, so I didn't think much of it. "I'll just call maintenance when I get the kids up and dressed", I think to myself. Well, not two minutes after I realized there was an issue with the AC, there's a knock on the door. It's maintenance. He informs me that we'll be without AC for a while, they're not sure how long. I asked what was wrong. "Someone vandalized your AC unit, and cut the tubing to your AC. It's running, but it's not working." I ask how long...a day or two? He doesn't know. It depends on the weather (it's raining right now). So I think nasty thoughts about the packs of teenagers and pre-teens that lurk around our building, and go grab my robe. As I walked outside, I see my upstairs neighbors leaving their home. I ask if they are also without AC. Nope, it's just us. She told me how she heard a noise around 1:30am, and looked out her window to see the tubing flopping around like a snake. She called maintenance this morning, which is how they knew what was going on before I had a chance to call. I proceed out to the AC unit, where I find that all of the other units were untouched...only ours was vandalized. Someone had attempted to cut a large copper tube, but couldn't cut through it. It was, however, crimped completely closed. The tubing beside said copper tube was completely severed. My thoughts take me back three days to me calling the police on a pack of teenagers. They were standing outside of my building shouting and screaming profanity at each other late in the evening. Not only did it scare Deklan, but it also woke Gavin. I asked them nicely to be quiet or leave the area, I have children who are trying to sleep, etc. They were quiet, so I went back inside. As soon as I had closed the door, they started up again. I went back outside, and asked if any of them lived in this building. None of them do. I ask them to please go to their own building and cause a ruckus, but to please get away from mine. They glare at me and start swearing. I go back inside and call the police. They made a drive-by, and the pack dispersed. So, was it them who did it?? Maybe. Was it a random act of a vandal? Possibly. The point is...I WANT MY OWN HOME. So far since we've lived here, we've had our truck vandalized, our porch furniture stolen and then the new furniture broken, our water line broken, our gas line tampered with, our power tampered with, and now this AC issue. We've lived in two other similar apartment complexes, but even when the people were loud and their behavior questionable, they never vandalized. So here I sit, sipping my ICED coffee, windows and blinds shut and fans on, trying to cycle what cool air there is left and keep the hot, humid Florida air out, dreaming of California and saving for a downpayment on a house. We've moved so much since we've been married. Four times in six years. It's been by choice, of course, going on this adventure or that, but I'm SO ready to settle down into one place. *sigh* It's only a couple of years away!!

The moving sale went well! We ran it Saturday and Sunday, and made $420. Not too shabby!! I can't believe we made $420 on stuff we were just going to give to charity! I still ended up dropping off a trunk-load of stuff at Goodwill, the remaining things that didn't sell. This means we can now begin to PACK!! Woohoo!!!