It was a pleasant enough school. Very friendly, actually. It's a Catholic school but they don't push catholicism on you. It seemed like a good school. The teachers all seemed friendly, and the student body was a mix, everything from kids staying in the dorms to middle aged types.
The woman giving the tour was really quite friendly and cordial, too. She was very helpful in answering my questions.
The school is pretty much one giant building, which I like. Call me lazy, but I like not having to trek all over the place to get from one class to the next.
I saw the art wing, which was fun. Parts of it looked like it was some sort of pre school arts and crafts class, because they were cutting out shapes and doing all kinds of collage. But there was some really nice watercolor works as well as some good design work.
The writing program seemed equally good, and it was a very cozy feeling campus. I kind of dug it, probably more than anything else that I've explored thus far.
I'm definitely going to apply. There's no application fee, so I figure why not. I still want to apply to Wayne, I think, but as I've mentioned I have reservations about that.
On less cheery news...
The job front sucks. Rob's recruiter called. He asked Rob how the interview went. Rob gave him all this inside info, only for the guy to then tell him they were also trying to place one of their inside guys in the job as well, and he was going to have an interview today. This, of course, was disconcerting because it seemed like a conflict of interest. It also brought up concerns of them arming this other guy with the info that Rob gained through meeting with these guys, and undermining Rob's chance at the job. Rob is still very much a candidate, but the whole thing is a bit less certain. At least his technical knowledge is better, which is a plus, but this other guy is a lot cheaper. So it all comes down to which the company wants more: knowledge or to save money.
So he's still waiting to hear back.
Meanwhile, no word from those bastards at Drake's Pond. They had the nerve to insinuate that we were being unreasonable since they had "accomodated" us in the lease transfer. That's bullshit. They knew we had to leave Kalamazoo. Carrying out our lease was not an option. Opting out of our lease was not an option since we didn't have the money to pay them the $3000. they wanted us to give them to do this. If they hadn't done this, we would have simply broken our lease, and paid it off whenever we were able. And we would have got a place that was half as much. I realize that the situation helped us a lot, too, but it was far from an altruistic act on their part. They did it so they could continue to get money from us. They weren't really doing us a favor so much as they were protecting their own interests.
They went on to say that they had to re-carpet the entire place, even though it was only a tiny spot that had a stain on it, and even that was minor, because "our residents expect to have a place that's all the same carpet". In other words, they thought replacing a portion of the carpet would have been "unsightly". Now, this is bullshit on so many levels. First of all, all the carpets in all the apartments look the same. It's reasonable to assume they could have patched up the one portion with the exact same brand and color of carpeting, and smoothed it out so that it wasn't noticeable. We didn't damage the whole carpet, just a very small part of it, and shouldn't be held liable for their decision to re-carpet the whole thing. Secondly, we're only responsible for the damage we specifically cause. If they want to add to the expense of their re-decorating based on a standard they have for their residents, that isn't our problem. Just as it isn't our problem if they go for the more expensive means just because someone is too lazy to attempt to repair something, and it's easier for them to pay some contractor to strip out and re-do the whole thing.
And they still haven't offered us any proof. They've said that they have pictures. They've said that they have carpet samples. They've said that they have bills. We have yet to see any of this. All they've said is, basically "we wanted the place to look as snazzy as possible and we would have had to work to find a cheap way to do this, so fuck you we're keeping your money." We aren't letting it stop there. We're going to demand to see all those things, and we'll take them to court over this if we have to. We aren't responsible for their re-decorating fees,in fact we paid both a re-decorating fee and a pet deposit when we moved in, and we're not going to let them scam us just because we paid a bigger deposit than some of the other tenants.
Yeah right, a tiny corner of one room meant replacing the carpet on all 1100 square feet of a two bedroom. I'll tell you what, if we'd paid a $500. deposit like some of their tenants, they'd be finding a cheaper way to make the place look nice. I'm convinced of that.
Hmm. Maybe after I get the journalism degree, I should follow my mom's advice and go on to law school. I could specialize in chasing after bastard landlords. I want them and everyone like them to pay.
And I'll tell you, the way our luck has been completely fucked at every turn, I'm beginning to feel a hell of a lot like Job.
