So I am okay

Thank you to everyone who has expressed concern and support in recent days. Yesterday morning I hit bottom, but Sylvie got off work at 11:30 and we spent the afternoon together, which we haven't done in ages. We are practically the same temperament, so nobody else gives good perspective as she does.

Several friends here suggested that I might need more than moral support. That cut to the heart. One of the drawbacks of an online community is, it's more difficult to do anything about that. I was fortunate to have Sylvie here yesterday, to get me moving and doing what needed to be done.

Insurance will not pay for new carpets and ceilings a second time. Landlords can only afford to be stupid once. Tenants can't afford to have stupid landlords. Fortunately my apartment took hardly any damage this time. If I can get the new hall carpet dried out before mildew sets in, no one will ever know.

The worst damage was to my optimism. There's nothing like believing you've come out on top of a disaster, only to have another one strike. I hardly have the heart to put things back together a second time.

The good news is, Joanne who works in the store downstairs has been on the owner's back and convinced him to install new pipes and wiring upstairs. All my pipes seem to be copper, but the third floor has galvanized, which partly explains why they started rotting. For now the ones to the third floor have been capped, so there is no more water to fall out of the ceiling. The work is scheduled to start next week. This will probably mean more inconvenience for me in the short term, but a safer apartment if I decide to stay. Sylvie encouraged me to let things settle down before I decide about that.

The writer's circle has dwindled to me and Sarah D. (not Sylvie's partner, but another lesbian friend through the library). That's not necessarily a bad thing. She is just as committed as I am. We are considering working together through Carol Lloyd's book, Creating A Life Worth Living, a course in career design for creative types. Otherwise we'll consider putting the word out to find several more writers.

Sarah is quirky, gently sarcastic, extremely funny, Jewish, and at least ten years younger than me. It's approximately like having ghostsandrobots as a weekly writing partner, which is ideal.