Thursday, November 12, 2015

Corpses

So!

I was on Facebook earlier today and I saw a post of a friend of mine about her goldfish. You know thw new thing Facebook does of posting entries you posted the previous years on this day? Apparently in 2013, the friend something something something about a goldfish, so she misses them.

This reminded me off when I still stayed at Carly's and she had goldfish. I don't know if I told you this or not. I mean the part about her having goldfish. She had two little fish that she couldn't even remember the names of and which name was for which fish, even when she did remember the names.

Anyway, I think one had an Italian name and the other had a French or so. One day Carly came home from school, to find her fish dead. She said to me, oh my gosh Brook, my fish are dead! Can you help me? I asked her how she wanted me to help. She told me she wanted me to help get the fish out of the room, she wasn't going to be able to sleep with dead fish in her room. She wanted me to at least get them out of her room, I could put them anywhere else but not in the room. I was just like, anywhere else is where we all share the space! These are your fish! They are your babies! You need to figure out what you want to do with them, you and only you! She told me that she has never been to expect that before and she needed my help.

I'm thinking to myself, this chick, she has never dealt with bugs she never dealt with  roaches, she never dealt with rats, she never dealt with anything bad! And I'm supposed to be her rescuer? I'm sorry, I told her I don't even want to see them! "I don't want to talk about them, I don't want to look at them, I don't want to think about your dead babies!" I told her.

 She made a face and battered her eyelashes. I still did nothing! The following day, she was on her way to school, she left her bedroom door open for the first time since I'd been there. She doesn't really lock it but usually she closes the door when she leaves. This time, because there was death in the family, she decided she was going to share the love and leave the door open. Oh hell no! As soon as she left, I held my breath and pulled the door shut.

Later, that day, Bee, her roommate came home for a split second. Actually, it may have been day two because the first day the fish died, when Carly came home, I pretended I was asleep. I didn't want to deal! The fish were still in the tanks they died in. Carly came to me on the morning of day two to ask me to suggest what she should do with them. I told her, and you're surprised I was surprised you had pets? You are not the kind of person to give love to anything or anybody other than yourself! I told her, I said it's just not in your genes!

I'm sorry! That's how I see her! I told her that she used to call them her babies, she needed to figure out what she was going to do about them. Thhat was none of my business, at my age, I have no kids, that's because I didn't want them, And I have no pets and I never had one of my own, my family had dogs and cats and stuff growing up, but I, personally, didn't have any. And that's because I have a lot going on, or maybe I just don't want one. She decided she wanted to get those fish, so here we are!

As a matter of fact, they didn't even allow pets at her place, she went online to find. Pet that's apartment friendly. That's how she ended up with goldfish. Even then, she told me that her first choice was a pretty black and white one, she only bought those because they were cheaper. I felt bad that she said that in their presence. That's prolly why they decided to exit. Don't get me wrong, I felt for her about her fish, I did! But I didn't want that to be mistaken for, I feel so bad for you, I'll take it from here! No, that was not what time it was!

 I told her to Google what people do with their goldfish when they die. My thing was, pretend as if I'm not here! Just do things as you would if I were not here. Do you know what I mean? Eventually, because I felt kind of bad for the fish, & I was done being the same space with carcasses? I suggest that she burried them. She turned around and made that my problem agam!  She asked me where to burry them.  I was like, I just arrived from Vegas, you figure it out! You are the one who lives in downtown LA, who has in more than a year! Figure out where you wanna bury your fish! After that, she asked me if I would mind going with her. Basically she just wanted to make it my problem.

 Like, how can you not see that you're being a pain in my butt about this and I can feel you? I can feel you up my ass! How do you not see that, and stop it already! Eventually, she had to go to school or work or somewhere so she asked me if I thought Bee would help her.  I mean, even now,I roll my eyes just thinking about it. She knew more than I did that she and Bee didn't have a relationship. So, for her to act so dumb is laughable. I told her to ask Bee! I told her that that's how she would know if Bee would help her or not.

So that's the afternoon Beee came home and subsequently asked me what in the world Carly was talking about on text about fish. I told her that the fish are dead, they had been for 3 days or so. They were still in the water they died in, in exactly the same spot that they died. She told me, Bee did, that Carly had sent her a text asking her to help her bury her fish. I asked Be if she wanted to and what she said in response. She told me that that was absolutely ridiculous, and she didn't even want to dignify that with an answer.

B was like, "since I moved in here I have been killing bugs,  chasing after rats, killing roaches, spraying flies, I am NOT a handyman!" She always makes me take care of all the dirty work that she doesn't want to take care of, because she's never been in that situation before! Bee told me she's done, they are the same age, and if she can do these things, surely, so I can Carly. I was like, dude I don't want to get involved with your business, she asked me and I told her I'm sorry I don't feel like dealing with that right now, I have a lot going on, I need life, and not death.

 When Carly came home that night or the following day she asked me if I'd seen Bee.  I told her that I did. She asked me what she said about the fish. I told her she didn't say anything. Because I was not going to be the mailman. I'm not the messenger. They texted each other, in my absence, then she needs to wait for Bee to text her back or not!

 Day 4 or 5 or Lord knows what: I did what I had to do and then I came home that night I watched  Netflix as usual, & I went to bed. Carly came home, I pretended to be asleep until I actually dozed off. The following day I saw the fish tanks in the bathroom. They were empty.  I knew there and then what had happened. I think I heard the commotion the night before actually. But I just tried not to think about it. I feel so bad for the fish.

Who does that to their pets, flush them down the toilet.? The worst parent ever! Could you imagine being in a relationship with someone like that, give them something, aa pet, fowers or whatever: when it dies they flush it down the toilet? I, personally, I would not have kids  with someone like that! Maybe I'm drastic! But some people do use things like that as a test to see if someone can take care of something other than themselves. Like a kid! This would have been a dismal fail in my book.

When I awoke the following day, Carly asked me to check out  a note. Out of the blue!  Out of the clear blue sky!  It was actually around 3 in the afternoon. We hadn't talked about the fish that day. We have been talking all da,  about everything but the fish. I was happy, because I didn't want to talk about them. All of a sudden, that afternoon, she came out of her room with a somber face, and showed me this random note. I read the first line, something about mommy loves you or I'm going to miss you, something about mommy but I could tell She was the mommy in that instance. I pushed the thing so far away, as if it was the plagye. I was like, get the hell out of my space!  I am not interested, I did not want to deal!

 I asked her how many times do I have to tell you to respect my wishes about this? I don't want to talk about it! You need to respect that! She told me, " I thought I would write them a letter,..."  I interrupted, & I told her I don't want tohear it!! She tried to force the whole thing into my ears I tried to ignore it.

But, seriously, when I think about stuff like that, how can I ever miss someone like that! Someone who has no respect for me, for you, for the Animal Kingdom or anything else for that matter?

It's really sad if you ask me.

Sunday, November 08, 2015

Spa Day


A few weeks or so after my birthday, I took Carly out for her birthday. That wasn’t an easy task considering her reactions on the gifts her friends had got her for her birthday. I had to be extra careful about what I was going to get her. She and I had been talking about going for massages for the longest time. I decided to take her to the spa. Someone I met doing background work told me about this spa in Koreantown. It’s a Korean town as you may have guessed. They have specials on Tuesdays. If I’m going to pay for a spa day, why not save while at it right? My motto is, why pay more if you can pay less?

I called Carly and told her about the spa and everything. She was going to be available around 9pm on Tuesday, I thought it was going to be perfect, 3 hours at the spa. Not too long, not too short. We didn’t have to make a booking or anything, just walk in. I wasn’t going to pay for any additional services just the standard stuff. And dinner. I thought that was decent, no?

Carly told me that she was going to meet me at the spa after school. The spa is off Wilshire Boulevard, I live off Wilshire, I decided to take the bus there. Those buses run 24 hours. I took the bus there, caught up on my reading, got off there, found a corner cafĂ© that had all kinds of random stuff. I bought myself black lipstick that I had been looking for for a while. It was a good day. After that, I checked in. I paid and left a note for when Carly arrived. I couldn’t have my cellphone with me upstairs, so I stuck around the bottom room, and just lay there, chilling. It was nice and warm and had a nice essential oil smell, which I, as a massage therapist love.

They gave me an outfit to wear around there, khaki shorts and a yellow t-shirt. I lay on one of the couches and meditated. It was the perfect evening. I noticed someone sitting on what looked like those amazing massage chairs. I went over there and saw that it indeed was one! I quickly went back to my locker and grabbed a few dollars, sat next to the lady and got me a nice massage. Sleeping on the floor may have been okay but the massage was well deserved! I got about 15 minutes massage. After that I lay back on the couch and I was falling asleep when I got a text from Carly that she had arrived. I was so excited to be doing that for her for her birthday. She had never been to a spa before.

I took her to the lockers, she changed into her khaki and yellow outfit, we walked upstairs and grabbed dinner. I didn’t tell her I was going to pay for dinner, I just asked if she was hungry, she told me she indeed was. The food looked good. One of the staff at the restaurant turned out to be her music classmate. Small world! We both ordered different meals so that we could split them and get best of both worlds. After we ordered, she told me she didn’t have her wallet with her. Like who has their wallet with them in the middle of the spa? I had my card with me because I knew I was going to buy dinner. I had been paying paying for her or lending her money whenever we went to a cash only place downtown because she never had cash. She was so proud to say, ‘I don’t carry cash!’ It got to the point where I would tell her I didn’t have cash and then take out cash next place we went to where they were cash only. In my head, I dared her to ask me, ‘didn’t you say you don’t have cash with you?’ She never asked. It’s one of my pet peeves people who think they are too good to carry cash but are not too good to borrow money from other people. Plus she never paid me back all those monies. How was she going to? She never has cash! We would take the bus, she would know we were going to take the bus, but when we got on, she be like, ‘oh, shoot, I don’t have cash!’ Ugh!

Back to to the bday! We sat on the floor on the giant pillows. I hope they wash those things often. Anyways, We enjoyed out food. The portions were ok, could’ve been bigger. We then went to the floor with all the rooms. They have dry saunas that are crazy hot, I think the hottest one is 120 degrees F/ 51 celsius, which is pretty hot, you really feel it when standing up. They have clay room, jade room, salt room and ice room. When we first got to that floor, Carly saw the people who were passed out on the floor in the common area. She was like, ‘what’s wrong with these people? Why don’t they go home?’ I told her, they  chilling, they are too relaxed. She told me that you can’t be that relaxed.
We were in the second sauna when we met a cute Persian couple. At least they seemed like a couple to me. I started a conversation with them because one of them had the most perfect beard I had ever seen. We all chatted. They told us that they had been going to that spa since it opened. Carly started grilling them with questions. She will ask you so many questions, you will wanna stab yourself!  She asked them, in front of me no less, how much it was, they told him. Then they also told him the hours and the specials. She was like ok, so what do you get out of this, what about this and that and the other? I was dying! Like who asks around about how much you paid for their gift? Rude!  I guess she was looking for something to complain about. Something to be unhappy about. Also, couldn't she wait until I wasn't around and look all those details up online or call the spa her self? Wow! She told me she loved the experience so much, she was going to make a habit of going there once every month and she was going to take her mom when the mom's in town.
We went to the first room. The least hottest one, then the clay room, where they have pebbles of clay on the floor, you lie down on top of them and enjoy. Carly stayed in there like a trooper. I was so proud. Then, she went out and asked me to give her a minute, she was going to lay down for a second. I was like, there’s no freaking way you are going to be those people right now! Come on, woman! Let’s go to the third room! I am writing to tell you now that she didn’t even go to the rest of the rooms. She slept on the floor, with those mini sponges of course and asked me to wake her up when I was going to the ice room. She passed out and couldn’t even wake up when I tried to wake her up to go to the ice room.

I, on the other hand passed out in one of the rooms. I think it was the salt room. I just got in there and went to sleep. I was so fast asleep, I didn’t even know where I was. After a while, a dude came and woke me up. He asked if I was ok, I had been in there for a while. I was so grateful to him. We should only be in those rooms no more than a certain amount of time. I had definitely exceeded that amount. People were like, why did he wake you up? He could have scared you to death! That’s not acceptable! Only in LA! Thank you random stranger for saving my life. Don’t worry about those people!

The ice room felt even colder after being in the hottest space I have ever been in. But I sucked it up like the man that I am ;). After the ice room, I felt rejuvenated. I took Carly down to the showers but when we got there, I remembered that someone had told me they have Jacuzzi’s. I was like come on, we have to! She was so over everything, she was ready for bed. She was too relaxed. I couldn’t believe it! But at the same time, I was glad that mission accomplished! We went to the regular temperature Jacuzzi, they want you stark naked there! I just put my feet in there and went to the very hot one where there wasn’t anyone else. I wasn’t trying to catch anything in the regular temp one. I’m not saying anyone in there has herpes but… Then I went to the very cold one which could have been the ice Jacuzzi. Then we took showers. Even the showers were interesting, you sit down as you shower. After that, we hit the road jack. Carly asked if I wanted her to drop me off at the bus stop. It was right around the corner though and I had brought sweaters and everything with me because it wasn’t that hot yet. She offered to take me home, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. They have valet parking at the spa, Carly had left her key with the guy. When it was time to leave, it was interesting how he was looking to see if the guy was around so she could steal her car keys and dodge giving him a tip for his services. OMG! That was bad and hilarious at the same time. I stood as par away as possible as she pulled off that embarrassing trick.

She was so kind to give me a ride home.

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Firsts

Soon after I moved in, it was my birthday.

I had already got the gift of my dreams. What more could a girl want? 

The first few days in my new home were spent driving around, getting gas account, electricity, the works. This is the first time I have those kinds of accounts in The US. My previous apartments were all inclusive, so  I just paid one amount and the landlord took care of everything else. I must say, I am embracing having those kinds of bills. I feel more settled in in The US. Stepping Stone! I was lucky in that, even though there aren't any of those offices around my neighborhood, they are all in the same vicinity. I parked in the same parking, did my gas situation, and mailing stuff. I can't remember what but I needed to post stuff as well. Walmart was up the road and Albertsons was across the street. Albertsons was for me to buy their chicken tenders because I got hooked on them in Vegas.Ten minutes or so drive and I did electricity or the other way round. By the end of the day, I had taken care of everything. This was all done in day three because I had to work on day two. I was lucky they never disconnected the services, everything worked in my favor. Thank you stars!

On my birthday, I was home settling in. I was waiting for Internet people to set it up for me. I must say, it was kinda cold outside, I had the heater on, I don't care about things like, just dress warm, and save gas or electricity, whatever the case may be. My heater is a gas one. I don't care because when all's said and done, you have to be comfortable. You can't worry about things like saving $10 per month. You know me, I'm cheap but I like to be comfortable and happy. That's more important than anything else. Plus, if you're worried so much about money, you will repel it because it means you don't believe that you will have it when you needed. Feel me? I know we were taught otherwise growing up. Change your thinking and change your life. I am still working on that myself. I had rented a sht load of DVD's from the library the night before in case internet people didn't set it up in time. I didn't want to be bored to death on my birthday. I was sleeping on the floor. I didn't have one piece of furniture. Wait, I lie! I did! I had a cute Ikea table I got from a good friend when she relocated to Canada. That story is somewhere in my previous blogs. I also had camping chairs, amazing ones that have a shelter/roof like part too. I told you I tend to get things for free. All those were a gift from the friend. I set those up in the living room as if I were camping. I even had a cooler bag to go with them from the same friend. It was great! Those are some of the things Chris had stored from me while I lived in Vegas. They are all fold-able though, so they didn't take much space. 

I had a few cans in the car that I had brought with me from Vegas. I had also bought a few things from Albertsons to munch on. I didn't have a fridge yet, so I could only have limited groceries. I remember texting Carly telling her I was starving, I wanted to heat up a can of something but I couldn't find a knife. Not too long after I got off the phone from her, there was a knock on my door. Who could it be? It was a guy delivering lunch that Carly ordered for me from her restaurant. She was off that day. The food was to die for! I still have to go back there. It was the perfect meal too, three different kinds of meat, sausage, beef and chicken, rice, etc. I was so touched. I called her. It had to be her because no one else knew where I live, not a lot of people do still and that's just how I like it. I was so touched, I was choking up. She picked up the phone and said, Happy Birthday! That was the nicest thing! I tear up just thinking about that gesture. I mean, what do you do?

I sat on my camping chair and enjoyed my birthday gift. I had picked up the rest of my stuff from Chris' as soon as possible. First, he told me he was going to be home at noon. Carly had stopped by because she went shopping in Beverly Hills. We drove to Chris' together. When we got there, I texted Chris to tell him I was outside, he told me that he was in San Francisco. 8 hours away. I was like, but boo! You told me to be here between noon and 1pm otherwise, I was going to miss him. He told me I misunderstood. He meant the following day. So that was a wasted trip. As soon as he was back in LA, I couldn't get the rest of my stuff sooner! He was very nice to me that day. He offered to take me to eat as usual. And as usual, I declined. He asked if I found a place to stay, I gladly told him that I did. It seems like he could tell that he would never see me again. He begged me to go to Santa Barbara with him. He told me he had always wanted to go and thought that now that I have a car, we could go together. I didn't think so, but agreed and left because I was tired of him spitting on my face as he was talking to me.

I blocked that person on my phone as soon as I got out of there! 

My internet was installed, which was a gift on its own because phone signal isn't that great in this apartment. I could then use wifi for stuff. I started shopping for furniture immediately! I may have watched some Netflix, I had Carly's account. I have my own websites that have everything under the sun, unlike Netflix but I was following a series and it was easier to just do it on Netflix. This was also my first Internet account in The US. I got them to waive the signing up fee by committing to a debit order that goes off automatically every month.  I also am saving about $13 per month by using my own Router. They let me use theirs until I bought my own. I bought it online, so I had to wait a few days, then I returned it and they credited my account. I love this people! Those $13 add up, otherwise I would have rented their router forever. It's not even like you're buying it. I am not big on renting if I can afford to buy.

Things went south with a lady I used to get most of my jobs from. She was bitter because I went with a company that was going to pay me cash instead of her that I have to chase after for my money just before I moved into my new place. I needed to have as much money as possible in my account to prove to the renting people that I could afford this place. Her owing me a wad of cash wasn't going to help my situation and I didn't feel like explaining that I need to get paid for the work I have done as soon as possible to someone. That should be a given. She had already owed me for more than a month, I got my money after another month or so. By then I had already stopped asking her for jobs. There comes a point in time where one stops working for free-ish.

I was still sleeping on the floor. I had my sleeping bag, Carly's, bless her heart and my Queen Latifah blanket. And heater! I was comfortable. I was happy!

Guilt Trip

I'm so glad I finally told you about my new Beverly Hills home! I've been dying to do so for months! But I have to blog in chronological order. Thanks for the comments and the congratulatory notes, they mean a lot to me.

I moved in on the 6th of April, my birthday is on the 10th. Best birthday gift I could ever have! Peace of mind! Just freedom and fulfillment of a dream. Who knew that a girl from a small town in Africa would live in this amazing neighborhood? So, kids, dream and dream big! I'm gonna let you in on a secret: when I decided I want to live in Beverly Hills, I had never actually set foot here at all! I had passed by bus but that's it! But I managed to make it as real as possible in my head until it became a reality in real life. It just goes to show you! Another side note: I just updated my vision board. It's the most fun to take off things from your vision board because you have achieved them. Do yourself a favor, give yourself the gift of a dream come true this Christmas and make a Vision board asap if you haven't got one yet, put it somewhere you can see it all the time, make time to look at it whenever you can and tune the whole world out, let it be just you and your dreams/desires, feel yourself living the life you want to live. Actually feel it! You will know when you're doing it right, you will have the most exciting feeling ever, an overwhelming feeling of hope or knowing for sure that whatever you want, you can have! Do that as often as possible. Try not to look at it when you are not in a good mood. Figure out ways to lift up your mood from the inside out, as opposed to making it someone else's job to make you happy. When you can do that, you have succeeded in doing something a lot of people may never get an opportunity to do. And when you can do that, you will realise that you can't blame someone else for how you feel. It's all entirely up to you! Let me know how it goes, Facebook - Babalwa Brook. Twitter/Instagram: thelovelybrook or here on the blog.

The weekend before I found my apartment I had taken Carly to a dealership in Culver City. I practically forced her to go and test drive a car she kinda was interested in. It was a Black Beetle or Bug depending on where you're from. She was obsessed with buying a white car. I wonder why? Side note: My car is white, side eye! We had seen a really pretty white Beetle before that. She wanted me to take her to the Valley to test drive it. I refused merely because I didn't feel like it. She offered to gas the car up. I told her to use that money to get Uber. She refused. Oh well! The car was really pretty, and it was cheap. The seller said he was relocating and wanted to get rid of it ASAP. Carly didn't have cash. She tried to haggle the car over the phone. The guy had posted that the price was negotiable. When Carly tried to negotiate, it turned out it wasn't as negotiable as she thought. She basically wanted the car for free, if it were up to her. Wouldn't we all like to get free cars? Sadly, life is not the Oprah show. Well, it kinda is for me. I tend to get a lot of things for free. All I do is win! I will tell you more about that as we go along, if you have been following my story for a while, you probably know about some of my winnings. I won something just yesterday! Details later!

I told Carly that you don't negotiate over the phone, no one will take you seriously if you do that. You have to show up with cash in hand or tell them that you will get them a cashiers check and then they will take you seriously! I mean, do I have to teach you everything? Clearly, yes! She still tried to negotiate, the guy gave her $200 discount. She wanted about $1500. I know! When she asked me if I thought the guy would go that low, I told her to call him and ask. I guess that's why she called him. I also asked her if she would go that low. She told me she would, I told her to stop lying!

The guy ended up selling the car. I could see that Carly was trying to make me feel bad for not taking her there but this is The Valley in LA. I took the bus from Vegas to come buy my car in LA, I never guilt tripped anyone into doing me favors. Then I still took the train, bus, train and another bus or something. I told that story here, if you haven't read that entry. I wasn't going to be guilt tripped by someone into driving them around as if they contributed in my getting my car. Heck naw! That's why I insisted in paying her rent so that I wouldn't be her slave.

Back to the black beetle story, I took her to Culver City. She wasn't feeling the black car, she told me she would regret it forever if she bought it. I told her she didn't have to commit to anything, I was just saying she needed to check it out. She had been looking for a car for weeks, it was about time she went to test drive one, I thought. We got there and she started shaking. She fell in love with the car immediately she laid her eyes on it. Thank Goodness! She told me, "Brook! This is it!" I was happy she found her car. I told her as hard as it was, she had to look for faults in the car and negotiate based on them. She told me to help her, she didn't know what to look at. You know, because that's Rocket Science. I didn't want to seem like I was jealous, pointing out faults in her car. Plus, knowing her, she would just change her mind about the whole thing. She's very indecisive.

I told her that the tires, for one, were very smooth, she could get fined if caught driving around with those. She looked for more stuff but there wasn't much, really. She didn't like that because that meant paying more for the car. I told her the up side to that was that her car was in mint condition. She took it for a test drive. She loved everything about it. We then went to the office to negotiate. She tried to stay behind so that auntie Brook can do all the talking. I took out my phone and got busy on social media. Plus, the guy was Russian, so I used my 12 dozen Russian words and flirted with him a little. For fun. It turned out he wasn't even the main guy to negotiate with, he was the mechanic, the main guy had said he was going to wait for us. He didn't. Or well. Carly had to fill out paperwork, the dealership was going to finance the car for her as well. When she tried to negotiate with the mechanic, the mechanic guy told her that she didn't even have cash. He was like, "What kind of negotiations are these? You don't even have a dime on you! You still want me to help you finance the car!" I had to bite my cheek to stop from smiling because I had told her the same thing that you don't negotiate just to negotiate.

The mechanic told her if she got approved, he would change the tires for her but if she needed more of a discount to call the boss. She called the boss the following day, he told her sorry, not negotiable. Take it or leave it. I moved out while they were still processing the financing part. When I told her I got the place, she told me that it was a great week for us, I got my apartment, maybe she was going to get her car too. I was like, I hope so, but I really didn't feel like talking about her in that moment. I just wanted to celebrate me for like a split second.

A few days after I moved in, I texted Carly asking for an update on the car. She told me that she was at the 99 cents, grocery shopping. She had already picked up the car. I was like, thanks for calling me as soon as you got the car I practically made you buy! She told me she was going to tell me but she was calling people telling them, then she was going to call me. You know, because I'm not a person! I thought to myself, this chick is a waste of my precious time. I need to block her as soon as possible. I hate to that I didn't have the greatest experience with someone who helped me when I needed it. But you have to save yourself, I can't hold myself hostage for the sake of guilt.

She had called her parents, understandable even though they were not here when I was being pain in the butted by her about the dog on car, they were not the ones who drive her there and forced her to have a look at the car etc etc but I understand why she did. However, she called friends she hadn't talked to in a while to tell them she bought a car but she didn't think to tell me that the purchase went through. She could've even sent me a text.  How would she have felt if she got home one day and I had moved out and didn't tell her? Crazy!

I soon got over that. I had too much to celebrate to worry about that. As it was, I was soaking in my Blue bathtub when I called her. I couldn't be bothered but  I did make a mental note.

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

The Hills of Beverly

The apartment I was viewing was marvelous! I looked like it was double the size of the apartment I didn't get. The kitchen had gazillion cupboards, there were drawers and doors everywhere. And it had what seems to me to be a closet, it has the part where you hang clothes, a shelf above that for suitcases, I guess, and more shelves on the side for folded clothes but to sound proper, we'll call it a pantry cos it's in the kitchen. Don't judge me, I'm just a girl from a small town called Uitenhage in Africa.
The Kitchen.

There are two closets in the hallway, a linen closet and a spare full closet.
Look at all those cupboards! 

 The bathroom is blue, I took a picture of it myself just so  I can have a look at it when I got home to see if it really was that blue. I posted a picture on the previous blog entry. What I liked about the bathroom was the fact that it had a tub/shower, two medicine cabinets, you can never have too much storage, this place wasn't lacking on that at all! I also liked that the shower has glass doors as opposed to shower curtains that stick to you when you take a shower. Big deal! So big that I have the doors on the list of things I want in my new apartment.
This is how excited I was! Photo taken in the bathroom

Now to the bedroom. I walked into the bedroom and started laughing out loud, I loved it so much! I literally, stretched my arms out and spun around until I got dizzy, then I lay down until I almost fell asleep. That's when I knew I had to have the place. I was so comfortable just lying on the floor that I was like, gotta have it! I got up from my almost nap and went back to laughing, hoping no one would hear me. There's a big closet in the bedroom too. Of course! It's the main closet! I walked back to the living room and heard a knock on the door. I opened as if I already own the place. It was the guy who helped direct me earlier. He had changed into his house clothes and brought his pregnant wife. He walked around, then told me my apartment is bigger than his and  that I was lucky to be downstairs in the shade because these apartments get really hot in the summer. I was like, I like how you refer to it as my apartment. As he was leaving, he congratulated me. I was like, uhm, from your mouth to God's ears. He told me that as far as he was concerned, the apartment was mine already. I thanked him and stopped the tears from falling down as I was touched by what he said. 
The Living Room aka sitting Room

I locked the door and headed back downtown. I didn't say anything to Carly. I wasn't ready. I mean, I hadn't even filled out the application yet! That night, I completed the application on line. Application was $30. This is when it was clear to me that there was a reason I forgot to give the previous realtor my money order. That was so that I could use it in the next apartment where I had a fighting chance. When came time to make application fee payment, I realised I couldn't use money order online. They wanted banking details. I entered mine. For the life of me, they wouldn't go through. I had to tell Carly what was going on. I needed to vent. She offered me her credit card. I thought that was sweet, but I politely declined. I told myself that I would just tell them I could pop into their office and give them the money order in person. There's a part where you write a note in the application, that's where I wrote about the credit card situation. I submitted all the necessary paperwork and went to bed.

The following morning, I called the office to discuss the situation. They told me that they were actually working on my application, if I got the place, they would ask for the money order, if not, they wouldn't. Apparently, unlike all the other companies, their application fees are refundable. I be damned! This is the best company ever! They called me again, I was so nervous. It turned out I wrote my number as a reference for one of the previous apartments I had lived in. I was like my bad and gave them the correct number. Who knew that they actually do call references? The also called my previous landlord from Vegas, they called me back and told me that she has nothing but good things to say about me. I was touched. It's good not to burn bridges, you never know when you might need someone again.
There's a door from Living room to bedroom/bathroom/hallway which I love. It's one of the two brown doors you're looking at

I spend that entire morning sitting on the couch waiting for the call because they called me so many times. I tried not to get nervous but how can you not? By noon or so, I got THE CALL! I GOT THE PLACE! YYYyiipppppppeeeeeeeee! Oh my goodness, I could die! I was so thrilled you guys! I kept thinking about how amazing that apartment was and to think that my dream of living in Beverly Hills had just come through was absolutely insane! They told me how much I had to pay initially, which was double one month's rent. I was prepared for that, so it was no surprise. I told the lady that I was ready to drive to her office and pay there and then. She was like, well, ok then, see you soon! I went to the bank, got a cashier's check, I think that's what it's called of two month's rent at my new place and headed to Culver city. That's where their offices are based. 

Linen Closet

There was more paperwork to be filled out in the office, I took care of all that. The lady was so cool, we chatted about random stuff while I was there. She gave me a set of keys and told me to get myself spares if I wanted but then she was like, you know what? It's your lucky day, I have an entire other set of keys for you! That way, I got my spares as well, which was amaze! I asked if I could give the lady who was helping me a hug, she was like, of course, I'd live to get a hug from you!  I told her she had no idea how she had made my entire life. I called Carly on my way out and asked where she was. She had just got off work in Beverly Hills, just five minutes from my new place actually! My place and her job are off the same streets but on two different ones, if you know what I mean. I told her that I was in the neighborhood to wait for me. She waited at the bust stop which, now that I am familiar with the are, is a block away from my place. She was already on the bus but she got off. She hates buses lol. 
Spare Closet in the hallway

I picked Carly up and asked if she would mind if I quickly checked out an apartment in the neighborhood. Of course she didn't mind. We went to my place, found a nice free parking spot right across from it and headed inside. I was like, omg it's so clean, let's take off our shoes. I didn't want her messing up my new place :). She was like, wow, it's so big! That's what she said haha! 

I gave her a tour of the apartment, when we got to the bathroom, she was like, wait...! I said, oh yeah, I forgot you know about this place. She told me the bathroom doesn't look that bad in person. I didn't think so either, that's why I took the place. She told me she has a good feeling about the place. I was like me too girl, as I said that, I took out my lease and told her I got the place! She was so happy for me, she screamed and jumped up and down. I did too, we both went berserk!  She teared up and told me how happy she was for me. I believed her. Sht, I was happy for me too, child!
Bedroom Closet

My official first day at the apartment was the following day but I had keys so I did what any self respecting human being would and moved out of Carly's that very night! We headed back to Carly's, my stuff was already in suitcases, so I just loaded the Rover. It all happened so fast! I was at her place for two months and all of a sudden, I viewed a place and moved in within 24 hours. Crazy, right? She helped me load my car and even lent me her sleeping bag and a few bags, very sweet of her. I thanked her from the bottom of my heart, vacuumed her floor for the last time, you know after you take big things like suitcases how it can look. She walked me to the car, we said out last goodbyes, I found someone in the parking lot and gifted them the rest of my parking for the next 24 hours and drove off to the Hills of Beverly!
More of the living room/dining area facing the front door
And now, ladies and gents, it's your turn to send me pictures of your homes  :)

Free Stuff!

I decided against calling the real estate after finding out that I forgot to give her the application fee money order. I still called daily to check on the status of my application. Luckily, she was taking my calls. I tried to stay positive and happy at all times, Lord knows part of that was really hard considering who I was living with! Day 3 or so, I called the lady to ask about my application, she told me that the other tenant was approved. I was relieved to finally know what was going on. At the same time, I was let down that I had to go back to the drawing board.

I went back on line with gusto to look for a new apartment all over again. I had to find it asap, come rain or high water. My birthday was coming up. I wanted to celebrate my birthday in my new apartment. Please! I needed that so badly!

I was still gigging on tv, singing or dancing for free t-shirts in between takes, no shame in my game! I was having a good time being back in LA. I made sure not to book the few hour shows, I was determined to work for real money or nothing at all. I would have rather stay at home and invest that time on booking myself on other shows or commercials or whatever than drive all the way to Hollywood for a few hour show. I was determined!

Carly told me about this movie she did background in, I could tell she didn't really want to tell me about it but she was really frustrated that it had been four months and she still hadn't received her check for that job. Apparently, there's this guy who books her for background work, I think that's the part she didn't want to tell me about. She didn't want me asking for the guy's number and getting jobs through her connection, even though all her other tv work was through my connections. She told me that she had been calling that guy endlessly for months and he would always tell her he was going to follow up and call her back, which he never did. One day, I sucked it up and asked her who the guy is, she just told me that it's some guy, but she no longer  was a fan of is all things considered. She didn't want to give me any info on him. I dropped it.

One day she called his office in front of me, I heard his name. I had never heard of him before, it wasn't going to be easy to find out more about him. I had a great mind to track him down, get him to book me and tell her about it, out of spite. I couldn't though because I had never heard of him. One day, she had the never to ask me about one of my connections. I told her that I didn't want to talk about the connection. I shut her down just like she did me when I asked for her connection. Fair, no?

One day, I was at home, minding my own business, doing my nails on the futon when Carly got a call from a friend of hers asking if she was available to work on a show. She wasn't. She had a 'date' with a guy I am convinced she has a crush on and is gay. She says they're really good friends. They met on Tinder though, so. She didn't want to cancel the meeting with her 'friend' for work which is so unlike her. As they were talking, I was thinking to myself, but I'm here! Just as  I did, her friend asked if she knew of anyone who was available because it was a rush call and they needed lots of people. Rush call = last minute call. She had the phone on speaker, so she was fcked. I heard the entire conversation. That'll teach her not to put her calls on speaker. Nobody wants to hear her conversations. Being in a tight corner, she asked if I wanted to work that gig. I didn't feel like it but I took it because she never hooks me up. I wasn't going to turn down the only time she ever hooked me up. Plus, the guy had mentioned that the gig was through the guy she had been trying not to give me his contacts. I thought that was a great chance for me to get them.

Her friend told her I can just show up on set. I told her that I wasn't comfortable showing up somewhere I had never been to work for someone I had never worked for, I would rather confirm with the person who was doing the booking, that's when she gave me the number of the casting guy. I was so happy. It was a good day! I made it to set on time, found the last parking spot on the lot and had a great time working. I sat next to a semi-crazy girl who had vacationed in South Africa, when I told her that's where I was from, she greeted me in Zulu. Which was endearing. We became text buddies sorta.
On the set of the court show wearing my trusted old Woolworths dress.

I got to meet the casting guy, he gave me his business card. It was a good day!

As I was stepping out that day to the car from Carly's, I saw a bunch of stuff in the hallway. It looked like someone was either getting rid of them or they were moving out. I sniffed around and saw a brand new blender amongst those things. I didn't want to grab it in case someone was moving out. I called and asked Carly to keep an eye, if the stuff was still there after an hour or so, could she get the blender for me. She sounded nervous as if I was making her steal for me. She then went outside to have a look at the stuff and called me back ever so excited! She told me that she met the owner of the things, it's actually a lady who lived two doors from her apartment. The lady was moving to Paris that night and was getting read of everything in her apartment. Carly took the blender for me and asked when I thought I was going to move  out. He thought of getting me the bed but he didn't have room to hold it for me until forever, he needed a definitive date when I was going to move out. I thought that was interesting considering she knew I didn't know for sure when I was moving out. I also thought that that was her chance of telling me she wanted me out.
The blender after I washed it a gazillion times, even though it was brand new

I told her that I would definitely be out by my birthday, April 10th, if you want to sing for me on my birthday :) Carly got me a queen size bed, I asked her to leave it in the hallway, I would check it out when I got home, she told me she also saw a pretty couch which she was going to keep for herself, she got a gigantic mirror too and a bunch of other things. I don't know where she was going to put the couch, personally, I think she was being her greedy self. I saw a lot of things that I could have taken for myself but I didn't want to end up with a bunch of things that were not going to go with my furniture. I didn't have furniture yet, I decided to let the stuff go but Carly just wanted to keep everything for herself.

When I got home that evening, Carly had put the bed in her apartment, which was sweet but I wish she had left it in the hallway because it had bedbugs! I saw about three and blood stains from them on the mattress, one was crawling as I inspected the mattress. Yuck! Carly was out with her friend, the bed was near my clothes. I was freaking out. I couldn't help  but think, this girl! The one time she does something nice, it backfired! That probably wasn't fair because how could she have known that the bed had bedbugs that were clearly crawling all over it #sarcasm

I pushed the bed back to the hallway and vacuumed the floor like a million times. I moved my luggage to the other end of the apartment. I wasn't about to move bedbugs to my new Beverly Hills apartment. Hell No! Carly felt bad when I told her about the bed bugs. She freaked out too and was like, 'OMG, are the clothes I had on safe? I don't know about things like bed bugs, what should I do, Brook!' That's kinda like a dig because it says I know about gross things like bed bugs and you don't. Why? I advised her to wash her clothes separately from the rest of her clothes or just throw them away. She has lots of clothes anyways. She did neither.

The same afternoon as when the lady told me I didn't get the old apartment, I was perusing through Craig's list. I saw an apartment in Beverly Hills, it fit everything I desired but had a blue bath tub. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Oh and a blue sink. I went on this other site that has rentals for the west side, that's Westwood, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, etc. The best side haha. I saw that same apartment advertised on there as well but one would have to pay to get contact details on that site as opposed to Craig's list. I bookmarked the apartment and kept looking. I was going to call them the following morning during office hours. I showed it to Carly. She told me that the blue bathroom could be worked on. I didn't make a big deal about whether or not I was interested in the apartment. I like to tell people after I achieve something not while I am still working at getting it, I believe that their opinions and energies can ruin my vibe. That may be a weird way to go about things, but it's my way. What do you think?

The Blye bathroom. 
The following morning, Carly went to school. I called the apartment people, they told me that the apartment was still available, I could view it whenever I wished. They had a lock on the door and a code to access the keys to the doors. I was then to fill out the application on line if I were interested. I took the bus to view the apartment. I tried to clear my head of any negative thought even though my spirit was kind of hurt because I didn't get the first apartment. I took my headphones with me and listened to music on my iPod. It was good times! The bus turned out not to go all the way to the street  I was going to even though that's what it said on Maps. Oh well. I walked the rest of the blocks. It must have been a ten minute walk.
That's the face of someone chasing after a dream

I loved the neighborhood. It had a lot of apartments, some of them had the to let sign. I didn't want to confuse myself by taking those phone numbers but then again  you never know! I got to the street I was headed to, walked towards what I was hoping was going to be my new apartment. It was a small building with +-10 units. I walked around looking for the unit I was going to view. Luckily, a man asked if I was looking for the empty unit. I told him I was, he directed me and told me what the code was. I made my way towards the apartment, opened the door and took of my shoes. It was too clean for me to walk with my dirty shoes on the rug. The entire place is carpeted except for the bathroom and the kitchen.

The apartment is gigantic! As soon as I walked in, I had this huge smile in my face, I locked the door behind me for privacy and just walked around smiling...