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Post by oxen on Aug 15, 2019 4:46:36 GMT -5
Hi again everyone, It's been a long time away from the board for me. I am back because I am struggling with mustering the motivation to tidy up, and the Department of Public Health will be here in TWO DAYS. But don't fret for me, it's not what you might think! Read on... After many times cluttering up and then decluttering again throughout my life, I finally left my ex boyfriend (for unrelated reasons). With nowhere to go, everything I owned had to go into storage and I became homeless. It was a very rough road, but I finally made it into affordable housing. Which almost didn't happen. For almost two years after I found housing, most of my things remained in storage. I simply could not afford a moving van and extra storage access fees to get my things out of storage until more recently. So it was not hard keeping my tiny place tidy. In fact, building staff would remark how *clean* I kept my home! ! Well, it turns out my housing is very unsafe. I did not understand this right away. No wonder it is "affordable housing for the formerly homeless." No one cares that this place is a deathtrap. For some time now I have been making complaints to my City about what tenants are forced to go through here. We are literally being collectively abused. It has taken a lot of work to get anyone to pay attention. But now, the Department of Public Health can no longer ignore all my emails and calls, so they have arranged to come into my home to see what the problems are. The catch? I was overwhelmed by getting all of my belongings back. Maybe a lot of you can relate to the surprise of seeing in front of you all that you were able to tuck into storage. So though I have easily (without distress or sentimentality) donated many items I truly did not miss and therefore do not need, I still have a lot of things I want to keep that need a better location in my tiny apartment. I also have other items to sort through that just sit there, overwhelming me in piles... I also found out that *for sure* my bouts of depression make me "messier" than my now-baseline CLEAN. And the depression seems to be getting worse, not better. But here I sit, two days from when the Department of Public Health will be looking around! I can tell you I have had some successes along the way: you will notice I said I was not sentimental about a lot of things that were in my storage space. This shocked me, a *good* shock! I even gave something to a friend I really liked and spent good money on, but had no room for. I ENDED UP FEELING FINE ABOUT THAT. I also have enough room for the rest of the things I hope to keep, thankfully. It's admittedly not a LOT of room, but it *is* enough room. My biggest hurdles right now are my lack of motivation/ depression and the time crunch. I'd LOVE some caring support and PRO TIPS feedback! I am getting back to what worked for me in the past: I pick an area or room to clean, then try to create clear tasks for myself (small shelves; organize under sink; sort like items to store together/ more sensically). Then I do as much as I can without exhausting myself, taking a lot of breaks to stay interested/ curious and therefore motivated. Sometimes it helps me to move a few things around when I can. For example, I have a bag neatly loaded for storage in a better location, but right now sits on the floor near my bed growing barnacles. When I can get to that bag and move it to its place to stay, it will change the look of my room pretty quickly and seem like I did a whole lot, keeping me motivated. I can also say that though my time left to clean is pretty short, I do think I can spiffy this place up enough for even the Department of Public Health to admire it. But I could use some help and gentle coaxing and several high fives. Are you up for that, friends? Here to support your efforts too, oxen
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Post by papermoon on Aug 15, 2019 6:08:47 GMT -5
I'm a little confused about why you are cleaning your apartment. What exactly do you want the Department of Public Health to look at? Are there health hazards inside *your* apartment? Or does this visit concern other areas in your building? Do you have photos to show DPH? Does the building manager know that DPH is coming?
Sorry, I know this doesn't answer your request for support and cheers. I *do* want to cheer you on, and I'm up all tonight and will check in periodically. But I don't have a clear enough picture of what the DPH visit is all about. Can you add some more details?
BTW, I also live in gov-subsidized housing and it is an ungodly nightmare. So I can sympathize with your situation, even without knowing the specifics.
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Post by mylittlescholar on Aug 15, 2019 6:38:16 GMT -5
wb oxen! I will be away from the computer today, so I will give you preemptive . Congratulations for what you have been able to accomplish. I was also a bit confused about your immediate goals. Specifically, is your remaining stuff still in storage or back in your apartment? Are you needing to clean, organize or both? Let us know what you are working on, and I'm sure folks will chime in with tips!
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Post by oxen on Aug 15, 2019 6:55:49 GMT -5
I'm a little confused about why you are cleaning your apartment. What exactly do you want the Department of Public Health to look at? Are there health hazards inside *your* apartment? Or does this visit concern other areas in your building? Do you have photos to show DPH? Does the building manager know that DPH is coming? Sorry, I know this doesn't answer your request for support and cheers. I *do* want to cheer you on, and I'm up all tonight and will check in periodically. But I don't have a clear enough picture of what the DPH visit is all about. Can you add some more details? BTW, I also live in gov-subsidized housing and it is an ungodly nightmare. So I can sympathize with your situation, even without knowing the specifics. Our apartment units dangerously overheat, but the common areas of the building do not. So property management denies our suffering. Tenants die from the heat alone (not a typo- tenants die here often). We also have a rampant cockroach infestation, since they love the heat in all the apartments and because the "pest control bait" is so useless it basically just feeds them. It doesn't help the problem at all. And though I hate my clutter right now, several staffers and even City department employees have been in my apartment since it started going from clean to messy, and they ALL agreed I was not helping to feed the roaches (I have zero food/ crumbs mess since I'm so upset by the roaches- I refuse to add to a problem I did not even create). Case in point- a staff person said to someone else, in front of me, "she moved into an infestation!" That's how little the property management company cares about the safety and sanitation of the building or its tenants. I can't just show DPH pics since they need to take their own/ gather their own evidence of the habitability problems that affect ALL tenants. They claim to be unable to go into individual apartment units without permission, so they are only coming to mine since I begged them to let me prove how unsafe our housing is. I am fighting for everyone here. It's exhausting and scary. We have two tenant memorials this month. We had two memorials last month too. It needs to be in a courtroom, what is being done to us. An ER doctor told me to move. Move where? I am deeply impoverished. But the lack of proper ventilation is hurting me more and more. There are weird shared problems between units, so now I am smelling mystery mold under my (sanitary) sink which connects to other units' plumbing. I hope that clarifies things. Such a scary way to live. I've said before it feels like paying rent here is just paying for my own hitman.
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Post by oxen on Aug 15, 2019 7:03:57 GMT -5
wb oxen! I will be away from the computer today, so I will give you preemptive . Congratulations for what you have been able to accomplish. I was also a bit confused about your immediate goals. Specifically, is your remaining stuff still in storage or back in your apartment? Are you needing to clean, organize or both? Let us know what you are working on, and I'm sure folks will chime in with tips!
I have no more storage unit now, I was finally able to get my things out. So though I have already donated a lot of items, it feels kind of overwhelming to have everything I own in one single place. Though it's nice, too! Having certain clothing pieces and my violin and toiletries back is awesome. I am mostly needing to organize, so figuring out which items can reasonably be put together and the best place to keep everything is what overwhelms me most. I don't have much to clean as in *scrub*, besides that I will be mopping the floors, dusting and vaccuming once things go where they should/ to new and better places. Oh and I have a lot of laundry to tackle! I typically enjoy doing laundry so it rarely piles up like this, but I was super busy the last few weeks. Which contributed to this time crunch now to clean! I haven't had much of a chance to begin before now.
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Post by charis on Aug 15, 2019 13:11:49 GMT -5
Oxen, when I have to clean up quickly I often go to Un**ck Your Habitat and use their emergency cleaning plan. For regular cleaning I clean for straight time periods, usually 8 minutes.
I am hoping and praying that your visit from the Department of Public Health will get some action. I am so sorry you and your fellow tenants are living with this and admire you very much for fighting back.
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Post by oxen on Aug 15, 2019 14:22:48 GMT -5
Oxen, when I have to clean up quickly I often go to Un**ck Your Habitat and use their emergency cleaning plan. For regular cleaning I clean for straight time periods, usually 8 minutes. I am hoping and praying that your visit from the Department of Public Health will get some action. I am so sorry you and your fellow tenants are living with this and admire you very much for fighting back. Thank you, charis! I truly appreciate the kind words and encouragement. I'm feeling so emotionally worn out but physically recovering a bit after staying up cleaning. I will practice good self-care as best I can today, and keep pointing out to myself the progress I have already made in here. I am going to take a pleasant nap...
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Post by mylittlescholar on Aug 15, 2019 16:30:38 GMT -5
ok, got it! ditto what charis said, and oodles of your way!
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Post by papermoon on Aug 16, 2019 23:12:09 GMT -5
oxen, how did it go today? I'm dying to know!
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Post by ClimbingPyramids on Aug 18, 2019 13:05:53 GMT -5
oxen, Thinking of you and sending hugs. Is the Public Health visit tomorrow? For what it's worth, and I realize it is worth little, the only thing that jars me out of my continued lack of motivation and depression is a major time crunch. Looking forward to an update.
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Post by oxen on Sept 14, 2019 1:02:35 GMT -5
Hello everyone. I am SO sorry for falling off the face of the Earth, a LOT has been going on!
The inspection did indeed happen!! I was told by the Department of Public Health that I am "very clean", and regular building staff called my unit "spotless."
SPOTLESS. I KID YOU NOT.
Unfortunately the overwhelming cockroaches (which multiple sources have confirmed is NOT my fault) and the incredible heat are still too much to bear! I was taken to the ER by ambulance for heat-related illness symptoms the same day as the inspection. It was awful.
It's very hot in my apartment unit even now at 11PM. I am up in part because I finally wanted to try to spend some time online updating everyone here who cheered on my progress and was following my story, but also because I got a new bed frame at long last- so I am actually having some *fun* sorting through storage bins that were under my old bed frame. I now feel much more capable of tackling miscellaneous projects as the hard part is largely done! As y'all read!
Thank you for all the kindness and encouragement. Pardon me for saying so very much about my own crisis clean deadline to an inspection and then saying absolutely nothing after the fact! I did not mean to leave my beloved community of people who "get me", hanging.
My health is improved but truly, all tenants here ultimately need to be evacuated. People are dying.
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Post by joyinvirginia on Sept 14, 2019 23:15:26 GMT -5
thanks for the update oxen! so sorry you have been sick. I hope they can get the place ventilated well and get the roaches gone!
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Post by oxen on Sept 15, 2019 1:28:51 GMT -5
thanks for the update oxen! so sorry you have been sick. I hope they can get the place ventilated well and get the roaches gone! Thank you for your kind words. It's pretty bad here but I do try and hold on to what's healthy and good in my life. I have great friends and a great parrot that does just fine with the "tropical jungle" heat in here! I am also looking for a job- this will not just provide me with much-needed funds, but provide me with a sense of purpose.
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Post by Unswamping on Sept 17, 2019 17:15:25 GMT -5
oxen im so glad you had such a wonderful report. Spotless! You should be very proud. I hope you can find a good job quickly and easily, its supposed to be a job seekers market right now. Then i hope you can move out of that hellhole. I hope it is cooling off where you are.
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Post by mylittlescholar on Sept 17, 2019 18:48:51 GMT -5
oh jeez louise! thanks for the update!
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