xraytheenforcer: (bunnypwn)
xraytheenforcer ([personal profile] xraytheenforcer) wrote2006-07-27 11:48 am
Entry tags:

My Apartment Is Killing Me + The Scofflaw

My apartment may be killing me.

We moved on July 2nd, and since that day I have been asthmatically wheezing and coughing and not sleeping (onaccounta the wheezing and coughing), and it's severely impacted

1) my job performance. I am so tired I can barely function, and I cough incessantly and ugh.
2) my self-esteem. I look horrible. I feel terrible. I can't exercise because I can barely breathe. I can't even really talk about it because it talking brings on coughing jags.
3) my outlook. I'm distraught at 2am every morning because I'm stuck in an apartment that's killing me, and there's no chance for us to really move until September because of work, school and upcoming vacations, and I have freelance articles due and I'm too sick to actually do the work necessary to complete it. My first feature for another mag, and it's square in the crosshairs.
4) my faith in my body. I hate being reminded of my mortality. Not because I'm afraid of death, but because dying is such an awful process. And now I have an immune system that won't chill the fuck out. I never had allergies until I was 27, and even then, only to one species of tree. Now I'm reacting to something totally different, I don't know what it is, and it's worse than it's ever been.

On the bright side
: the last two days have been much better, because I'm sleeping in the living room on the futon.
The shit sandwich: I'm sleeping on the fucking couch in my own goddamned apartment.

Whence the poison? We think it's coming in through the bedroom window from an airshaft between our building and the building next door. Only the bedroom and bathroom have windows onto this airshaft, and it's pretty grody down there. Perfect breeding ground for mold, roaches, rodents, etc. We have since closed those windows and installed in HEPA air filter in the bedroom. I'm still sleeping on the couch because I want to heal as much as possible before I brave whatever is in that bedroom. Maybe, in a week or two, I'll have healed enough that whatever is in there won't bother me as much (I'm thinking my immune system is reacting to everything now, and it needs time to calm down.)

Plans: Visit an allergist, find out what's going on with my IgEs and MHCs and whatnot. Document the problem, maybe identify the culprit. Start sending letters to the landlord explaining the problem. The landlord can either fix them, or we break the lease and move out. We may have to move out anyway.
The Middle Finga: We wasted $3500 on broker's fees and movers, for nothing. And we'll have to pay out again to get to the new place. Which may or may not have some crypto-poison lurking in the walls, invisible until I sleep there for a night and wake up heaving and choking like some Dickensian tubercular wretch.

A Drink, because we need it:

The Scofflaw

1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz dry vermouth
1/4 oz lemon juice
dash grenadine (use the real stuff, made from pomegranate. the fake makes a bad cocktail)
dash orange bitters

Stir over ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a twist. Quaff, and reflect on the frailties of the human body. Have a sympathy asthma attack, then burn some money.

[identity profile] yagathai.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:21 pm (UTC)(link)
1) The cocktail sounds nice.
2) I'll be in town tonight!

[identity profile] yagathai.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Depends which train I catch. Arriving either at 9:30 or at 10:30. Staying through Sunday.

[identity profile] yagathai.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:45 pm (UTC)(link)
For the weekend, yes. For tonight, I hope so! Why, are you offering?

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Sure. If you need a place, we got one. Apartment is still full of boxes, but no biggie.

[identity profile] yagathai.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I have your cell #. If it turns out I'm stranded in the big city with nowhere to go, I'll give a call. Right now plans are still fluid and hazy.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 05:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Use Doug's. Mine is dodgy at best.

[identity profile] yagathai.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
Word.

[identity profile] cwrubs.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Allergies suck man, mold especially. Our apartment is fungi central, and no amount of bleach, cleaning, filtering has done any good. Why is moving so expensive? Here's to finding some answers love.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
thanks, Stine. moving in NYC is weird. lots of brokers, plus we also stumped for mofessional movers this time around. but if we must move, then there it is.

I keep hoping that things will sort themselves out. Oh yeah, your massage client sounds like a total dillweed.

[identity profile] after-nightfall.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 05:32 pm (UTC)(link)
Owww, poor dear. Sympathies. I hope you get it sorted out. Old houses can be a bitch to live in. But The Drink sounds fantastic. May it relieve your suffering!

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
also, we will make you a Scofflaw in LA, if you so desire.

[identity profile] after-nightfall.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 09:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Awwww... *loves [livejournal.com profile] xraytheenforcer*

[identity profile] sorceressn.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
That's rough, especially when you were so happy to have found that apartment.

Good luck in dealing with the issue. I hope the allergist can help figure out what is causing your problems - and recommend a way to cope with them.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
many thanks, dahling. and may your cats stop being such sleep-disrupting dweebs.

[identity profile] tara62.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 06:08 pm (UTC)(link)
God, I'm sorry. Damn you, apartment!

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 07:53 pm (UTC)(link)
LOL. I say that everyday. "damn you, apartment!"
I'm gonna go eat peach ice cream. :p

[identity profile] d-arte.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 06:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Maude, I hear you. I'm sorry you're dealing with this. My allergies/asthma have been *horrible* lately, so it could also be that this is a bad time of year for you BESIDES being allergic to mold or whatever it is.

I'm sorry.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Ooooh, damn. I hope you feel better. *hugs*

[identity profile] pippingeek.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
i vote against the apartment killing you - is it just you or are you both affected? this time of year is a bit of a nightmare, i'm terrified of the fact that jason's coming here tonight to stay through sunday, i really don't know if he's going to make it given his cat allergies and the other shit in the air lately. i hope so, for both our sakes. here's to your landlord actually fixing the issue so's you don't have to move, as unlikely as that sounds.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-27 07:51 pm (UTC)(link)
It's just me. Doug's started joking that I'm allergic to *him*. Haha, that's funny. Not. Grrrrr.

Damn, good luck with your man. It's gonna be whinging all over the Eastern Seaboard, apparently. :p

[identity profile] rudbekia.livejournal.com 2006-07-28 12:57 am (UTC)(link)
Damn damn damn. I hope that this is just a seasonal thing so that you don't have to move. Again.

[identity profile] xraytheenforcer.livejournal.com 2006-07-28 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
thanks Ru. I keep crossing my fingers.

[identity profile] miss-del.livejournal.com 2006-07-28 04:07 am (UTC)(link)
once again- my sympathies re: your allergies. ugh, how bloody miserable for you.

[identity profile] sivestrit.livejournal.com 2006-07-29 07:49 am (UTC)(link)
That sucks mate :(

I hope you can find the source soon and sort it out

the drink looks good though