LETTER TO THE LANDLORD

Ms. Lea and I really like the place we live. You've seen some of the pictures, its a very pretty area in a quiet little valley. At night, when the traffic on the road below us slows down, we can hear the sound of the river running on the other side of the road, we can hear coyotes, owls, foxes and frogs.
Its peaceful.
But, we rent!
Whats more is the property manager is, to say the least, extremely by the book!
Lea and I have owned two homes in the last ten years. However, when we sold the last one in 2003-2004, even though we actually made $35,000 on the sale, most of the money went to pay off
bills. We did not have enough left to make the kind of down payment that we wanted to. We knew we wanted to be out here in the Applegate valley. We also knew that we'd have to have fairly low house payments in order to get by when I was laid off. It just wasn't feasible, so we opted to rent.
Neither of us have ever had a problem renting. Never saw the landlord or the property manager. When it came time to move on we cleaned and left the place spotless. Everyone was happy!
Here, the landlord is not happy, the property manager is not happy. You see since I was laid off, we have not been able to put together the rent money until the second week of the month. In all of the places I've lived before it was not and issue. It is here. Its become a big issue, they want us out! We have tried working with them, but the conversations have become increasingly personal.
Ms. Lea has been a executive assistant for years, she is all about the business. So when the landlord makes comments about what time the garage door opens as a reference to what time I get out of bed, she is offended and incensed. She feels that is an invasion of her privacy. Like in the 1st house we lived in, where the neighbor would stand at the fence and peep through the bushes at us. I'm going to have to go with her on this one.(naturally) Not only is the garage door not a good indicator of when I got up, ( I usually spend a couple of hours every morning on the computer, checking email, looking for a job, silly stuff. You know?!) but, how dare you make comment on it? what bearing does that have on our business relationship?
Lea asked me what is it with people today,? It seems like more and more of our personal lives are under scrutiny on a daily basis. I can understand late rent, what I can't understand is, comments about how late I sleep, comments about why I don't go hang drywall for a living, comments about whether I think I should of turned down the job that was offered to me last June, that was three hours away. What bearing does this all have on the business at hand? Its all a little too personal! It seems to me that they are trying to get Lea angry with me, on the mistaken assumption that I'm lazy.
I'll tell you kids, not going to happen!!!
Ms. Lea and I have been though a hell of a lot in our ten tears together. Ms. Lea was there when I worked 7-12's and hour and a half away from our home, for three months solid. We even moved during that time. She watched me tear the porch roof off our 1st house and rebuild a beautiful veranda like structure, from the ground up, in one weekend. Lea and I have moved ourselves 5 times in 10 years, without a whole lot of help, Clampat ( sp. as in ole Jed) style. Truck and trailer. One load at a time. Thick and thin. We've been there, DONE THAT!
Landlords, property managers, its business! Use your internal dialog. Keep the disparaging and personal remarks to yourselves!
To you kinder hearted souls, PRAY FOR US! Maybe not this month or next, but here soon,
we'll be back on the road, Clampat style, and we'll need a roof.
B.T.W. If you could say a few words about a job, that would be appreciated too!
There, I'm done venting.
Thank you ever so much!!!!!!!!!!!