Letting the Days Go By

And you may find yourself in a Motel 6 in Van Nuys,
And you may find yourself eating a Tommy burger at 2 am
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a financed Jeep
And you may find yourself with all your belongings in a Venice alley

And you may ask yourself-well...how did I get here?

How DID I get here? It's a long and boring story. But my lease was up at the end of June and my landlord wanted me out. O-U-T. At least that's what I interpreted the 3-day eviction notice to mean. I needed to find a new place, and despite a borrowed Westside Rentals password and constant Craigslisting, I found no place that would take me and my dog... at least none I could afford.

Most nights during the two weeks I curled up fetal on my bed, my dog on the floor  looking up at me like a kid who hears the knocking of Child Protection Services. Yes, Stevie, I failed to take care of you. I'm 32. Imagine I DID have a child, a real one, not one who slept on the floor at the foot of my bed scratching and licking her privates. But a live  human baby. Lina is having one. A beautiful baby GIRL. But me, I can't even keep a home for me and my domesticated pet, who requires only the occasional praise and a daily bowl of lamb and rice nuggets and water. I feel like a failure. Finally a few days before the reckoning, I start to pack after long work days. How did I accumulate so much shit? I kept old bills, receipts, and the business cards of people I don't remember meeting.  I kept ill fitting clothes and furniture I barely used. The day before Armageddon I packed at a furious pace. I dragged the furniture into the alley. I dragged my old red bike, the new IKEA closets I built, and my cherished desk to their new fate, either a beggar's treasure or the garbage man's burden.

When all was said and done I had a storage unit in Culver City, a Jeep full of "going out" clothes, an air mattress, and a dog I couldn't house. I called my friend, a friend I thought we could stay with, but alas, a cat was involved, so the comfy garage I thought would be refuge was an illusion. I looked at Stevie and cried. "You can call the pound, they'll keep her and you'll have 5 days to get her," offered a friend. "that'll buy you 5 days."  Stevie back at the pound I found her. I couldn't do it, Plus, 5 days wouldn't help. Friend after friend, offered to let ME stay with them, but Stevie could not come— cats, and more cats. So I drive. I drive— to where I'm not sure. All I had was a dog and a financed Jeep. I'm down one dog, and a beautiful house and now what? There's a Motel 6 in Van Nuys that allows dogs, there's a Tommy's around the corner, I can eat. I'm starving. That's as far as I got...

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?

Comments

[Tanya]

Does Stevie get along with other dogs?

[Dogman]

Please do not take your dog back to the pound. If you're desperate for a place to put her, you could bring her to my house. I have two dogs, a male and female, and the female is semi-alpha, but I've had foster dogs here and, when necessary, I kept them segregated from my girl. (My female will usually get along fine with non-alpha females; my male gets along with all dogs.) That way, you could house your dog here and stay with your cat friends. My email address is: turveydrop at earthlink dot net. I live near Burbank.

[Lenny]

Pick up a copy of "PetPress," which is a freebie newspaper found at many petstores, libraries, and places where you'd find the "LA Weekly." PetPress lists rentals that welcome people with dogs and cats.

[Linda]

Thanks everybody for your support and suggestions! I finally found a friend to help. He offered to take Stevie for a whole month. I also found a place to live in August with a yard. The landlord said "not only are dogs welcomed, they are encouraged." Things are looking up. thanks again!

[Dogman]

Glad everything turned out okay. Stevie is very fortunate to have an excellent human, and Linda is very fortunate to have a furry friend.

[Ali]

So sad. I happened upon your blog and read your last post, I guess...Which was two years ago. I hope everything worked out for you.