Part Three.

Long story short, I ended up packing up and moving to Columbus officially June 24th of 2020, My first apartment I moved into on my own and it ended up being a bad decision, so I was having to hire a lawyer to help me out of my lease — never had to do this before, it was scary, it was mentally fatiguing and very upsetting that I had to get to this point after moving with only a few items and then having to move again assuming I would win the case (Which I did). I had visited Columbus many times for events, festivals, etc, but never knew the areas very well in order to choose where I should live and I was trying to rush order moving because my bosses were hounding me about it (while also trying to help me find places) but I am very cautious because I obviously wanted to make sure I could afford my living comfortably and at the time safety was on the list but not very high. The first apartment I ended up moving into had many difficulties:

1. I had to take a virtual tour of the apartment I would be staying in, so had to go off pictures and the sales agent in order to determine.
2. I was told I would have upgraded appliances but the day I moved in, I didn’t. This really upset me considering I was basing it off their leasing agents word.
3. I wasn’t sold on the access point to my front door, it was going down many flights of stairs in an alley and at night it would be perfect for someone to take advantage of me, although I did like my private entrance and patio section.
4. When I told the leasing agent about the appliances not being upgraded after signing the lease (not realizing until the day I moved in) .. she basically told me she would have her manager get a hold of me about the issue. Which was a red flag.
5. Of course the manager calls and I am telling her the details of the situation and she mentions how my particular apartment wouldn’t come with upgraded appliances and the walls that I saw on the video tour that were white … aren’t supposed to be white but tan. She makes a huge deal out of the fact that I want nice things and makes a “deal” that she would have new black appliances delivered to me in a couple of weeks BUT would tack on an extra $75.00 to my rent each month. I literally could not believe this bullcrap but agreed to it.
6. Soon after that we had some rain, and my bedroom was leaking from the celling (small drips to start with) then as time progressed more drips with bigger wet spots were happening. I put in an emergency call to maintenance that same evening and nobody came out that day or the next. It was literally toward the end of the week before they shown up & when they did, they said they would need the roofer to come out because nothing they could do about it (didn’t even offer to give me a tarp or anything to keep the water from falling on my new carpet or bedroom items [ I was using all my bath towels] and while we waited a week for the roofer to show up, mold was growing on my ceiling in the bedroom and spreading fast. I took pictures daily just to have as proof. It was supposed to be fixed when the roofer stopped by but it wasn’t. He fixed the holes in the roof that he could find (which he said were a lot] but soon after that… maintenance basically found there was more damage and they had to tear out my whole bedroom ceiling and I was expected to live out my days in the living room until the process was over (it tooks days on days).
7. All the while I am speaking with a lawyer that was recommended to me from a client from my gym, I decide I would put in a complain to the BBB about this apartment and my situation. It was handled within days, because soon after I get a call from management talking about how they seen my complaint and heard from the BBB about my situation and offered to terminate my lease without penalty and give me 30days to find a new place to live. I agreed of course and shared the news with my lawyer, who was shocked.
8. If that wasn’t enough, I go to do dishes in my sink and my water floods the whole kitchen from underneather due to bad plumbing, at that point, I was livid and thankfully a coworker who also got hired at the same time as me who was having issues finding a place to live — well he found a place and it was on the north side of the city (very nice area) and told me about it and I decided to set out and put in an application for their one bedroom and got an in person tour of the exact apartment I would be staying in, I took some time to look at other places in the area and finally after 3 days of thinking it over, agreed to sign the lease and move in. I was moving within July 8th to my new apartment. It took me hours (even though I don’t have a lot of furniture, or fire items, my car is small and so it was a lot of back and forth driving 25 minutes back and forth if not longer due to traffic) I was moved out by the end of the day July 8th, had all my services transferred.
9. The management team from the previous apartment was trying to offer me to their sister apartments but of course, I ignored that. My lawyer continued to work with me because the next obstacle was getting my deposit from them and since they have 30 days to do so, I wanted to make sure I got it back because I hadn’t even lived their long enough to buy furniture or even settle in.
10. My bed was ordered but would be another month before I got it, at the time seemed long but thankfully it worked out that it was delivered while living in the new apartment.
11. I received my deposit in a timely manner and was thrilled, now I am focusing on furnishing my new space and really just figuring out what like and styles. I have colors picked out in my head and I have bought new dishes, pots, pans, knife set, bathroom stuff — all the smaller items, but need to invest in bigger items and lighting. I also have a patio I would like to add some things to for next summer perhaps.

I do like my new place and the area is nice, feels safe and my coworker lives in the same area as me, which makes me feel very comfortable. I have had family visit once or twice, and a friend or two visit. I still haven’t met too many people and my work schedule is tough most weeks because I am up extremely early or leaving fairly late at night. I make enough to pay bills and live comfortably and I was blessed to have a nice savings built up as well prior to moving. To say that I want to work my job for the long term would be a stretch, I am always looking to better myself in opportunities that arise, so if something better makes an appearance or if I do my research and find something that interest me, I am going to take it. I strive for the best career and life for myself… small steps got me here , and those small steps will get me further if I continue to work hard and network, make connections and look for ways to develop myself as a trainer and person. I have so much I want to do and take advantage of, I just need to not rush the process and take my time along this new chapter of my life.

I workout still .. and plan to still compete in my powerlifting events. The gym I chose for myself was recommended and it gives me separation from my job; which I love. Hopefully as time goes on, I will have more positive news and more exploring to talk about. I plan on sharing tons of things and places I have visited since moving here but I also plan on getting back to the basics of talking about fitness/wellness/health/mental health… etc because that is why I created the blog. My dream of a book and podcast will happen, I need to do more research and find out how I want to go about those things but I want to make them happen for sure. I don’t know what my blog schedule will look like, but I plan on getting back into the swing of things as often as possible when I have the time and I plan on making this a profession as well like I had always wanted — but again will be another thing to research once more and really make a priority, so small steps. I have two blogs, and I haven’t yet started on the second one yet, but I might get to that one in due time as well. Anyways, this has been a short piece of my journey, plenty left to talk about…

so look out for more blog post about my life in the big city, and more fitness/health topics.