01/06/2024
Well, my landlady, the daughter of the wonderful woman who invited me to live here back in 1987, refuses to work with me regarding the 33 ⅓ percent rent increase she announced on November 10, in a "happy holidays to you and your family" card. Seriously: That's how she did it. I have asked her to work with me as I get back on my feet after being sick for coming on two years. She will not consider making the extreme increase incremental. Pay the full increase now or be evicted pronto. This leaves me staring into the maw of imminent homelessness, as I have depleted my savings during my illness. I am beyond despondent, which is death to creativity. I am still in such deep mourning about the loss of Lark that it is all I can do to put one foot in front of the other. And now this, when I have zero resilience. Honestly, it feels like a death sentence. I did a very successful Go Fund Me campaign in Nov. '22 so I can't go in that direction. I'm working on book proposals but they are quite a ways off from producing income. I've been applying for jobs but have not gotten a single response, not even a call back. My heart hurts horribly and literally, mostly because of Lark but also because I am now faced with losing the home I have lived for 35 years and where my dear Joey and dear Lark are buried, as are Rosemary, Poe, Mario, and Jamaica. Instead of saving every penny, I have poured thousands of dollars into this place, including with improvements that will last for decades. When a toilet needed replacing, I did instead of asking for it to be done. I get ZERO acknowledgment or credit for all I have done here. I have made other repairs that are a landlord's responsibility and now, on top of the increase, she has told me that all plumping and septic issues are my responsibility. I have been an extraordinary tenant. Honestly, I do not know if I will make it through this. I have devoted my adult life to working about Sonoma County in myriad ways, including a 50 percent pay reduction to stay with the PD and including putting KRCB on the national map through my 27 years as a volunteer programmer who received 5 James Beard Nominations for Broadcast Journalism for a show with NO BUDGET. I was up against shows from NPR and other big budget/big staff programs. At the time, the nominations got a lot of attention at the awards cemetery, which is how Mouthful and thus KRCB got a lot of national exposure to people who pay attention to such things. But all that work, all I did to make Mouthful the success that it was, means nothing now. The station made so many promises – syndicate it, promote it, spread the word about my outstanding interviewing skills, etc., but nothing ever came of the promises. But I never even got a thank you for all I did for the station. And now I am on my own with challenges that feel utterly and completely overwhelming. And my grief at the loss of Lark is emotionally crippling in ways I have not experienced before.
Concrete ideas are welcome but, please, no comments about finding low income housing, moving, etc. I need to double or triple my income. This was already what I was working on when the notice of the increase came. Now I had to peddle even faster just to stay where I am and that may not be possible.
But, hey, it's after 5. I can have a glass of wine.
