Let in a little light

I’m sure many of you have been curious/worried on what’s been happening in my life, especially when it involves the downstairs tenant and the ensuing complications. Well, this is how things are so far.

I told the handyman about the problem when he showed up during his weekly duties. I told him the whole situation. He agreed that something needed to be done, and informed me that the landlord has problems like this with all his apartment buildings, not just the one where I live.

Well, that wasn’t comforting.

He said he’d inform the landlord and see about putting a deadbolt on the bottom entranceway door. I would have loved having one on my door too, but I suppose such a thing would cost too much money. And I can’t personally have one installed since it would be defacing property. I would end up paying the landlord for property damage.

Whatever.

Really, I shouldn’t be too hard on the landlord. He did call me and ask what happened. Then he personally talked with the guy, asking questions, letting the tenant know he wouldn’t put up with such nonsense. He had the handyman install the deadbolt. The landlord also had the handyman fix the electric for the tenant. Seems as if something happened to the outside circuit breaker box. The downstairs tenant was without power in his bathroom and living room.

How did I find this out? Directly from the horse’s mouth, of course. The downstairs tenant. The man confronted me as I was crossing the street from the Laundromat. He acted all cheery and friendly as he voiced the following conversation.

Tenant: “Hey, do you live on the second floor above my apartment?” (He already knows I do. Why else would he walk directly toward me in the middle of the sidewalk out of the blue?)

Me, cooly, keeping my distance: “Yes.”

Tenant: “Is your circuit breaker box inside your apartment?” (Another weird question. Who in the world asks someone where their circuit breaker box is before even introducing themselves?)

Me, staring blankly at him, completely taken off-guard by such a strange question: “Yes.”

Tenant: “Wow, you’re lucky. Mine is on the outside. I’m having problems with my power. Well, nice talking with you, ma’am.”

Me, coldly: “Sure.”

Okay. Who else found the above conversation completely devoid of logic? Raise hands. Yeah, mine is raised also. Let me do a quick recap in an objective manner concerning the situation so far.

- Michelle overhears downstairs tenant wanting to break into her apartment to steal laptop (I think I forgot to mention that in my previous posts - he saw my old laptop I was trying to get rid of and wants to steal it instead of asking me how much I’m willing to sell it for, which is $50 because it’s so old.)

- Michelle writes note and sticks it to her door.

-Tenant waits until Michelle goes to sleep and breaks into entranceway to the upstairs apartment. He reads note Michelle left, telling him she overheard everything and will tell police if she finds anything stolen. Tenant chickens out, leaving entranceway while cussing LOUDLY as he slams his apartment door.

- Michelle lets the handyman/landlord know about the tenant and gets additional locks on the door.

- Landlord speaks with the tenant about the situation. Tenant denies everything.

- Tenant confronts Michelle about where her circuit breaker box is since he’s suddenly having problems with his electricity. Weird how that happened, like someone was messing with the outside circuit breaker box and somehow created problems with the electricity for the wrong apartment - like his own.

- Tenant lets his wife know he doesn’t care what landlord said. He still wants to break into the apartment. His plans have changed though. Instead of breaking in while Michelle is there, he might have to do it while she is out of the apartment. There is worry in his tone.

- Michelle overhears this conversation too and tries to figure out logic in that. Wouldn’t it be better if she wasn’t there to break into the apartment? No witnesses. No chance of getting his skull split open with various tools at her disposal? No chance of her calling police while he’s bleeding on the floor?

- Michelle also wonders why the tenant insists on letting her overhear his entire conversations. There is a thing called "talking quietly."

End recap.

Next post: Michelle’s trip to the police station.