I think this is called a "rant"

Well, after all that it now appears that my Easter Granite Belt bike tour will have to wait for another year. This time around I'll be busy moving house instead. After yet more crap from my landlord, I have finally decided that I have had enough.

This all started back in February before I jetted off to New Zealand for five weeks. I put in a call to the agent to ensure that there was nothing that required my attention before I went away. I was told that everything was fine, and assured that the next "inspection" would be in April some time. That was OK, until about two days after my return, when I received a phone call at work saying "we're doing an inspection today, but we've lost the key". Apart from the glorious admission of their own incompetence, I really appreciated the notice on that one.

Now after the inspection has been done, I've been told that they object to what I keep in my garage (funny, it hasn't been a problem at all in the previous four years I've been there). I've also been told my rent was going up by $30/week because -- wait for it -- apparently the way I keep the apartment is going to cause it to deteriorate. Funny, this wasn't a sufficient problem over the four years I've been there for them to send out a tradesperson to fix anything even once. Consequently, I think I'm going to tell them to f*ck off, and move elsewhere.

The timing on this could have been better. If I'd known I was going to be walking back into this sort of crap, I might have spent my money a little less liberally in New Zealand. While I'm in no immediate financial danger at present, it would have been nice to have had the chance to save a little bit as a "deposit" which might have allowed me to purchase something in the city which officially has the third least affordable housing in the world. Renting seems to be a complete pain in the arse at the best of times, and having a landlord like this only makes it worse.

I suppose I should look at the positives. Firstly, it's a chance to get rid of a lot of the crap that I've accumulated over some indeterminate period of time, since I'll almost certainly be looking for a smaller place anyway. Secondly, there's a lesson in this somewhere. I guess it says that when entering into a transaction of this kind, try to get a feel for the people you're dealing with as well as the actual deal itself. Officially two and a half weeks back in town today, and I've just about had enough of the idiots already.