Today was moving day at the house, which meant that all of our tenants moved out. I regret to say that being a landlord has not exactly enhanced my opinion of the human species, and consequently I felt nothing but relief to see all of them go. One in particular has been a thorn in our side for literally eight years, first by never paying his rent on time and later by being a slob, leaving his things all over the place in a way that left us no choice but to clean up after him: I'll spare you the details of exactly how or why this came to pass, but if you're the type of person who feels comfortable going for years on end without ever opening (or discarding) your mail, we probably shouldn't take our relationship beyond the blogger/reader stage!
Today as he was leaving, I resisted the temptation to remark upon the piles of junk -- mail, magazines, dishes, food, clothes, appliances, a box of 'commando underwear patches' (i.e., 'apply to your pants, not to your body') etc -- he had predictably left behind. I just handed him his security deposit and went back to cleaning. One of the things I've learned in my life is to STFU when there is basically nothing to be gained by 'getting into it' with someone.
There will be more tenants in our future, but I'm fairly confident that we've learned how to take precautions to avoid the 'bad eggs' such as the one who left today. In any case, we're drinking champagne to celebrate, and I'm enjoying it, even if the taste is bittersweet.
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