This week is turning out to be one of those silly roller coaster weeks. It started out marvelously, despite the shitty slug-crawl of my new commute, because I finally found out exactly how much my car insurance is dropping just by leaving the ridiculously overpriced kingdom of Montgomery County (it’s going down around $55/month) and I also learned that my health insurance costs will go down a bit since I’ve been at my job for five years. And things continued to shine because I finally managed to snag my mailbox key (after being without my mail for a week and a half) and I also received a really sweet card and housewarming check from my grandfather.
Then things went south. I learned (through the gigantic pile of accumulated mail waiting for me in my box) that condo fees are going up an extra $25/month. Not a lot, and they’re still cheap fees for this area, but I was annoyed because I didn’t see it coming and because it was one of those two-steps-forward-one-step-back situations. It’s like, “Oh, yay! My health insurance and car insurance costs went down! Aaaaaand my condo fees immediately went up.”
Then I got the icing on the cake: the news from the HVAC guy. The hope was always that my home warranty would cover the half-broken HVAC unit as long as the inspection report said nothing about it not working properly. Well, the HVAC guy unfortunately thought (and rightfully so; I got the final verdict the next morning) that the warranty company won’t cover the repairs after all, because the previous owner made no effort to maintain the HVAC unit. Not maintaining something makes it ineligible for warranty coverage. And the fact that the previous tenant was at fault—instead of me—makes things even worse because it’s showing that the problem is a pre-existing condition, no matter what the inspection report says.
So I paid $150 for the HVAC repair visit, only to be told that the $450 I paid for that warranty is basically useless. I mean, it could cover something else down the line, but the HVAC unit is, hands down, the most expensive item in the condo, so it’s not exactly a victory to find out that the warranty might cover the replacement of, like, a piddly broken stove at some point. I’m going to try to cancel the policy and get a refund. Why keep the policy if it does no good?
Now I’m looking at thousands of dollars in repairs (like around $5000, according the HVAC guy, although my sister’s honest and reasonably-priced HVAC guy will be taking a look at the unit soon and may offer me a better deal). I guess I'll have to hit the bank or credit union and apply for a loan to cover the repairs, since setting up my household drained my savings. Let’s hear it for the American dream, y’all!
Added to that, I just lost my second of five freelancing projects, as the publisher decided that these two journals no longer need a proofreader. After I lost the first gig (about two weeks ago), I became incredibly paranoid that I’d lose all my other projects as well, which means I’d be f-u-c-k-e-d, because I can’t live on my non-profit salary alone—especially now that I’m a homeowner. And I really, really felt in my gut that I was going to lose, at the very least, my biggest freelance project—the one that pays me the most money. And sure enough, I got the news yesterday (my gut can be so freakishly accurate!).
Fortunately, one of my production editors told me that some other of the other journals published by his company need freelancers, and he gave me a lead on one of them, so hopefully I’ll be able to recoup the money I’ll lose with those two journals disappearing.
I’ve also been told that there are freelancing jobs listed on Craigslist; I’ll get on there soon to suss things out. As much as possible, I want to stick with freelance editing, versus getting a second job elsewhere, because unless that job involves, like, cleaning offices or doing data entry alone at night, I’m going to be miserable doing whatever I do, since I’m an asocial mess. I just don’t want to deal with the public.
My last resort would be leaving my non-profit job for a corporate job that pays more. This would solve the second job equation once and for all. But that’s truly a last resort, because I love my job and love working for a cause that means a lot to me.
Being an adult is truly a headache sometimes.
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Here We Come A-Wassailing/Bottom of the Punch Bowl—Bonnie Rideout
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3 comments:
I know that following your internal compass despite the lack of monetary gain is painful, but you get kudos from me. I could go work in Big Pharma killing rabbits and dogs to make better E.D. treatments, but instead I analyze poop water and river sediment. I'd rather live with myself under an overpass than be dead on the inside of a McMansion.
Is there any chance you can recoup something from the company that did the home inspection? If they should have found this big issue for you upon inspection shouldn't they be liable in some manner? What's the sense in a home inspection that doesn't turn up a big issue like that one. Just a thought, sorry you got hit with that, especially at Christmas time.
Ah, sadly, the inspection guy did find the problem right away, but he deliberately left it out of the report (so the warranty company wouldn't see it as being a pre-existing condition, so to speak). My realtor, the inspection guy, and I were all pretty confident that the warranty would cover the repair/replacement of an item that seemingly broke after I lived there. I don't know why it didn't occur to the inspection guy to say, "Hey, you know what--this outside unit isn't in the greatest shape. I mean, clearly the previous owner did nothing to maintain it. The warranty company might not replace it in light of its obvious neglect."
Honestly, though, I still would've bought the place even if everyone had said to me, "Look--you're gonna have to pay for this heat pump. There's no way the warranty company will replace it." Even with the broken HVAC unit, it was still too good a deal to pass up. But I would've thought twice before buying some new furniture and paying $2k to have professionals paint the place, that's for sure! :-)
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