A New Lease on Life

Although we had just listed our house on the market last week, it sold in six days. And for $51,000 more than the list price!

The closing date is April 14th, and I had not found a place to live for Holly and me.

I will be renting a place to live – for the first time in nearly 50 years!

And this is the only home that Holly has ever known.

But I will not be purchasing a home – I will be renting instead.

Sure, I can own a condo and not have to pay monthly payments – but then all of my money will be in the house. So, I want to travel and see the world rather than be ‘house poor.’

However, I didn’t know how to go about looking for a place to rent.

I know that there are agencies representing landlords and tenants, but I prefer to research on my own.

Years ago, I got my first acting gig by checking Craigslist – so maybe, I’ll look there for places to rent.

I had thought about moving to the Maritimes or Ontario, but it would be too difficult a move for Holly. She hates being in the car – much less spending hours on an airplane!

There are many beautiful places to live in the world, but my heart has been in British Columbia ever since I first lived here in 1974.

I knew exactly where I wanted to live, and regular readers of my journal will already know the answer: White Rock!

Craigslist is the best place to search for anything. You can enter all of the search criteria and then view the results. The majority of listings feature photos and lots of descriptions.

But I also noticed one listing without pictures, and the description of a ground floor, ‘garden suite’ – was exactly what I wanted!

It was in a newer house, and everything in the home was brand new. And it is about a block from the beach!

So, I wrote a reply to the listing, and several emails later, I was invited to view the place on Saturday.

Anita, the homeowner, had given me the address – so at least, I could do a ‘drive-by’ the home. It was on a street I’ve walked by hundreds of times!

For the past week, whenever I was in White Rock to meet with Norm or go for a walk, I made a point of driving by the home.

I was getting excited and couldn’t wait for Saturday to come.

It’s been years since I counted the days until the weekends began – because when you’re retired, every day is Saturday!

My appointment was at 2:30 pm.

I had been up since 3:00 am that morning because of the excitement (and the fact that Holly needed to go outside to go potty).

I got to White Rock, a half-hour early, so I bought a coffee and sat in the West Beach parking lot and counted the minutes.

And then, at exactly 2:20 pm, I pulled into Anita’s driveway.

There were two cars in the driveway, and I figured that one of them belonged to another prospective renter.

I remained in my vehicle and waited patiently for the other person to leave.

A few minutes later, a man approached and asked:

Can I help you with something?

I was a bit surprised by his question, but quickly replied:

Oh, yes. I am here to view the basement suite.

But the gentleman looked puzzled.

Excuse me?

And now I was puzzled. I looked at the house number, and it matched what I had written in my notes.

I have an appointment at 2:30 with Anita, to view the suite.

But I could tell by his facial expression that I had made a terrible blunder.

Sorry, fella, but we don’t have a suite to rent. And that’s my wife over there and her name isn’t Anita.

My heart sank to the floor of the vehicle as I apologized for being in his driveway.

I quickly viewed my cellphone for the emails between Anita and myself. I also had her phone number. But I couldn’t see where I had gotten the address from.

It must have been one of our telephone conversations.

So, at exactly 2:28 pm, I phoned Anita and explained that I had lost the address.

Anita gave me the address, and it turns out I was only three or four houses away!

I pulled into the driveway and was looking at the outside of the building for the first time.

It’s nicer than the one up the street, I thought.

I quickly jumped out of the vehicle, and my heart was racing with excitement as I approached the front door.

I rang the doorbell.

Although the walk from my vehicle to the front door took about 30 seconds, I had a vision of the last landlord I had – and I got a sudden chill at the memory.

The landlord’s name was Bruno, and he could hardly speak English. The apartment was one of a four-unit complex in Whitby, Ontario. It was when I had moved in with Annette before we were married.

We were great tenants, but Bruno always seemed to be angry. Not at us but life in general. I tried to carry a conversation with him once, but he did not seem to care for small talk.

********

So, I rang the doorbell and a young, pretty lady greeted me at the door. She was wearing a mask, and I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to put on mine!

I excused myself and ran back to my vehicle to fetch a mask. I have a dozen in the glove compartment.

Now I felt really foolish. I hope Anita doesn’t think poorly of me.

But she was very friendly and introduced me to her husband, Ralph.

We chatted for a few minutes and then Anita took me to the suite, and I couldn’t believe my eyes!

It was exactly what my mind’s eye had envisioned.

I wanted to scream, Yes, I’ll take it! But I remained somewhat calm, and we discussed the suite.

Anita and Ralph had over a hundred inquiries about the suite, and they had the list down to a shortlist – and I was on their list.

Anita said she would email me an application form, and I would complete it as soon as possible.

Later that day, I got Anita’s email with the application files.

But the files were in a PDF format, and I had no idea how to fill in the form because you can’t edit a PDF document unless you have an application to convert it to a Word document.

I began to panic. It was Sunday, and I didn’t have access to my car, so I was stuck at home with no idea how to edit the document.

I called my friend Pamala, a computer genius, and she asked me to send her the files, and she would format the files so that I would be able to complete the application.

But I fell asleep watching the Blue Jays baseball game and didn’t wake up until almost 7:00 pm.

I checked my mail but hadn’t received the files back from Pamala yet, so I sent Anita an email explaining that I wouldn’t be able to complete the application form until the morning.

I usually go to bed between 8:00 pm and 9:00 pm each day and wake up between 3:30 am, and 4:00 am.

So, at 3:30 this morning, I checked and saw the email from Pamala.

I completed the application form and submitted it to Anita and Ralph.

And now, I will have to wait to see if I am the lucky person they choose to be their tenant.

Norm and I meet for coffee at 8:00 am at the Whitby House, and I will show him the place by doing a drive-by.

But then again, I don’t want to jinx myself. Yes, I am a bit superstitious!

Maybe, I’ll hold my breath and wait.

Fingers, legs, arms, and eyes are crossed for good luck!

UPDATE: Tuesday, March 2nd.

I spoke with Anita on Monday, and she indicated that she would be making her decision sometime today or on Wednesday.

So, either way, I will soon know if I have a place to live for Holly and me.

Stay tuned!

UPDATE: Wednesday, March 3rd – I got a call from Anita last night and was informed that I was their choice. Holly and I now have a place to live! And it’s one block from the beach in White Rock!

I will be signing the lease etc., on Saturday!

I plan to move my smaller stuff between now and April 14th, the closing date on our house sale. It will give me a chance to introduce Holly to her new surroundings slowly.

It will be the first time being on my own since 1976.

Here are some photos of my new place: