Homeless and Hapless, but not Hopeless

So, I've been crashing on Tal and Amit's couch for about a month now. For free. The couch itself is about as comfortable as anything could be, but the living situation is certainly not. If it were Amit, Tal and me, it would be great. Unfortunately, they live with Brad Grants and his girlfriend Brooke. I love Brooke. She's sweet and patient and cute. Brad... is not those things. He's like a 60-year-old divrced woman. He drinks his weight in alcohol every night and watches TV and shitty rented movies until he falls asleep. I've been in play rehearsals which means I am not around to witness this graceful, nightly process. But, that means I get home late, which tends to disturb his hibernation. So evry night, I have to tiptoe through the house, and every morning getting up at 6am, I have to tiptoe as well. They don't really heat the house, so I literally am shivering throughout my silent morning routine. I used a hairdryer for the first couple weeks to stay warm and dry myself off (since my towell is always wet from the day before), but Brad, in his signature passive aggressive style, told Tal to tell me that it was too loud in the mornings. So, back to shivering I went. I don't use the fridge, I don't use the heat, I don't use the TV or internet, I use the toilet about 3 times a week. The only impact on the bottom line I have is my daily shower use.

Well, its bills time at the fun house, and Brad sent out an email to Tal and Amit asking them if I was planning on contributing. As of today, I've got $13.75 in my checking account. I get pais on Friday, but most of that goes to my portion on the mortgage (for the house I can't live in) and my other bills. I have $50 cash that I was saving for a rainy day, so I think I'll give that to Brad as a parting gift.

I think that it's time to move on, yet again, into another "temporary" solution to an ongoing problem. I've done an amazing job of not letting this get to me so far, but I fear if this lifestyle (if you could call it that) persists...that I might lose it. We'll see, I always manage to stay happy and optimistic.