STATUS REPORT: APARTMENT V. HOTEL

The news is good, folks. Your government has decided to subsidize this little family for one more month :) It took a little begging, a lot of paperwork and a big ole emotional shrug as we submitted our plea and let the chips fall as the may.

We last left the situation with the realization that our Sept 1 move in date was waaaayyy outside of the batter's box of easy government subsidy (they think that 2 months is plenty of time to find a suitable place to live) and we were wondering what we could do as we spun our wheels waiting for the Holy Grail Apartment to be ready for us! We trotted down to our favorite meeting spot: the housing office -where waiting is guaranteed, and appointments are not- to find out what next steps we could take.

It turns out that our guesses were pretty much right on - Option One: we could move into a furnished one bedroom apartment and do all of the paperwork for a permanent place to cover the rent for that temporary time frame. Then a month later, we could move out and go through the same paperwork process with our legitimate apartment, and say a few thousand rosaries that the double paperwork in a 30 day time span would go through without a hitch, question or disastrous financial shortfall. The upside to this plan: we'd gain a couch and a kitchen - two things that hotel living doesn't provide...

Option Two: We file a request for an extension - to be printed on Hubbalicious' Command Letterhead and signed by his boss (uncomfortable)- and submit it with a copy of our signed lease, explaining our need for the extension and proving that we weren't trying to milk the system (which I have to admit, is a pretty good system). The upside to this, of course, is that we wouldn't have to move, we'd still get a stipend to cover our meals, and did I mention that the hotel has free internet and maid service??

The downside to Option Two is that the deciding party takes their sweet, sweet time in making this decision - so we were told not to expect an answer until....oh TWO DAYS AFTER OUR PERIOD ENDED. Yep - they didn't think it was at all troublesome that the message could be "We're sorry, but your claim has been denied. You need to move two days ago and you'll be responsible for all costs pertaining to your temporary living until you can find a furnished apartment and negotiate the contract and have it approved by the housing office"

Well, sometimes you just have to trust in the system. Sometimes you just have to do some internet shopping instead of looking for furnished apartments that you probably/hopefully won't need. And that's exactly what I did :)  We implemented Option Two and they did approve our little extension and I'm free of the need to vacuum or change the sheets for another month - sweet!