I need a home

After what has felt like an almost endless series of deals that came that close (holds fingers that close) before falling apart apart, we have finally sold the house. Now I need a place to live. Tessa and Marlowe already have a great place over in Bremerton. I have between three days and a week to get out of the house.

I thought about returning to Anchorage. I spent a few months in Anchorage earlier this year, where I was able to confirm that rent in Anchorage is about the same as in Seattle proper, which is too expensive for me, Everything else is more expensive. After all, everything else from pencils to beans to toilet paper needs to be shipped in from Seattle. If I had a nice grown-up job waiting for me in the old country, I'd definitely go back. But, I don't. I'm starting over, so staying where it's cheaper is the better idea. Rent goes down fairly quickly once I leave Seattle proper. At this point, finishing the book is the only thing that gives meaning to my life. So, as far as where I live is concerned, that means I'd like to stay within and hour or so of the University of Washington library. North of Seattle or west, across Puget Sound, are my preferred directions.

So, what are my criteria? Price/space and accepts cats are the top two. I figure I can afford around $800/mo for rent and I'd like to get at least 700 sq/ft of space. I can probably manage to pay a little bit more if I can get all my stuff in. I have some furniture and 104 boxes of books. If I have to keep some things in storage, I'll have to figure that expense as part of my rent. A cat is really non-negotiable. Tessa took Marlowe with her and my muse, Mehitabel, died while I was in Alaska. I need some mammalean companionship or I'll go nuts (nutser?) living alone.

My next criterion is more vague. I need some place where I could imagine staying for a while. Without getting too personal, losing my marriage, my home, my sister, and my cat have left me feeling a bit unanchored in the universe. As a freelancer, I don't even have a place of work to make me feel like I belong somewhere. This is not the sort of thing you can put on an application or prove in credit check, but I think it is the sort of thing a landlord might like to hear.

After the craziness of the last few years, my credit sucks, so I can't get into any property management company apartment complexes. Even if my credit was great, I'd rather not live in one of those; my preference lies in renting part of an old house. When our house closes later this week, I'll have a sizable chunk of change and could afford to pay several months in advance if that would make a landlord more comfortable.

If you have any contacts or ideas, drop me a line at archymarquis at aol dot com.