Nightmare

It's been awhile and I've been busy, busy, busy!

I've had four interviews so far - 2 with headhunters, and 2 for jobs (1 of which was provided via the headhunter). Like in France (or anywhere else), entry level positions into the more prestigious houses are hard to come by - I mean, theoretically, if you worked at Chanel for example, you would not be planning on leaving anytime soon! I've mostly interviewed with a few higher price point contemporary brands (none of which do runway) but I don't have much US experience as a designer, so at least it would get the ball rolling.

However, I've been busiest with my apartment. I had subleted it out for the time that I was in Paris to this guy. I had forewarned him back in like, February, that I would take back my apartment in May. Unfortunately, the guy emailed me like, this weekend and said he had vacated the apartment as of April 1st. Back when the guy moved in, I made him pay me a $100 security deposit. I know, I know, it's not a lot, but I had subleted my apartment several times previously and had never really had any problems. Plus, this time, as I would be leaving for an incredibly extended period of time, I had cleared all my stuff out of the place, except for the furniture.

Well, suffice it to say, when I went to check on the state of my apartment yesterday, I was quite shocked! The place was absolutely FILTHY. Not just a little dirty, but really, truly, FILTHY. My air conditioner (which I had bought since the apartment didn't have one before, and Manhattan in the summer without air conditioning is akin to suicide) was completely broken - the entire front cover was lying on the floor along with the filter, wires hanging out of it, paper bags stuffed into the vents, and a large gap on the side of the window. The smoke alarm has been taken apart for some odd reason. My bathtub is disgustingly (and possibly permanently) yellowed. The knob to switch between the shower and bath is missing, as is the plug for the bathtub. My shower curtain has disappeared along with my coffee table, and my cheap Ikea bookshelves have been dismantled and are lying in a heap on the floor. There are 4 dirty glasses in the sink, a thick film of dust all over the place, and some creepy yellow liquid in the vegetable crisper in the fridge (which I think might be beer seeing as there are about 12 bottles of beer in the fridge). Plus, I had this desk from Ikea that had a shelf system attached to it, which has also been dismantled. Pots and pans are sitting in heap on a dirty stove (though the pots and pans seem to be somewhat clean) and there is a piece of silver foil with crumbs sitting inside the oven. The only good part was that the freezer had been defrosted and was extraordinarily clean, but still, I was really, really shocked. I mean, who takes apart your furniture??? It's a SUBLET, not a permanent rental!

Anyway, I was planning on bitching out the guy - he still has an extra set of keys for some reason, and I definitely want them back. The problem is, he still has not finished paying the March rent, and owes another $800 or so. I like to think that I am a nice and sympathetic person, and I understand that this guy has been having a hard time recently - I think he is in trouble with the IRS, and he doesn't really have health insurance since he is a freelance graphic artist, and I know he had some major health problems recently, which included a stay in the hospital. He also managed to find an apartment, but had to hand over a 3 month security deposit. I know that life can be tough, and I know what it's like, but still, my apartment looks like it has been trashed!

I told the H the whole story and he was nonchalant about paying an extra month's rent for April, but pointed out that once Ikea furniture has been taken apart, you most likely cannot put it back together again. We might have to hire a cleaning person to come in and clean the place up, and I guess we'll be getting some newer furniture, or at least putting up some shelves. Plus, we'll have to buy a new air conditioner, so these are more expenses that we were not counting on. Everyone says that since the guy still owes me $800+ for last month's rent, I should not bitch him out as this means that he might just not pay me the money he owes, and that I should be courteous. But still, who DOES THAT to a sublet???

Anyway, the H is arriving on Sunday night, so we'll see what we can do. I've emailed the guy asking him to meet me on Monday at the apartment as there are several things we need to discuss, and if he could please bring the check for the remainder of the March rent.