Anyone Know a Lawyer?

Every 2-3 weeks for the last 3-4 months the following has occurred:

• Get a notice from my apartment complex saying they will be spraying for pests so I must “prep” my apartment – attached is a list of how to prep based on the pest being sprayed for.
• I call the office to figure out what “prep” needs to be done since the notice doesn’t tell you what pest they are spraying for
• They don’t know so they tell me to do everything
• I do “everything” which takes 4-5 hours (empty kitchen completely and put everything in living room/dining room table, empty bathroom, empty all closets)
• I get these notices late on a weekday and so that means I have to do all of this the following weekday (at night) which means I have to do it after work which means I am getting in bed around midnight and getting up at 6AM.
• That whole night (and the day they spray) the living room and dining room are unusable because they are full of stuff.  The kitchen is also unusable because we can’t dirty any dishes since we can’t wash them because everything is “packed up”. This means we have to eat out 2-3 meals which costs us unnecessary money.
• Their window for spraying is 9AM-3PM and we can’t return for “4 hours” after they spray.  They don’t tell you when they spray so you don’t know when you can return.
• ALSO since we have to be gone when they spray and for 4 hours after we have to find something to do all day.  During the summer this meant Justin couldn’t do homework for an entire day AND that he had to somehow entertain kids for an entire day.  During the school year this means again – Justin can’t do homework and neither can the kids (well not easily).
• The next day I have to put everything back (3-4 hours)
• Repeat every 2-3 weeks.

If I fail to do any of this I am in lease violation and get a write up.  HOW IS THIS REASONABLE? HOW IS THIS OK? How can they keep doing this and costing me hours of work, costing us money (since we can’t be at home or use our home for 2 days), making Justin miss homework, and making me miss work getting this all done so often?  If “pests” are that big of an issue shouldn’t they be paying to move us somewhere temporarily while they address it?  Why should I have to pay for somebody else’s problem?  OH I forgot to mention…they aren’t even spraying our apartment because we reported an issue… the “pest” issue is some other apartment…

I understand this happening on occasion.  But at what point, at what frequency is it "too much"!

The Boy Named Nico

I dropped Taylor off today at CF Dance Academy and headed to the stairs to sit and wait for her to finish.  At the half way point was a young boy dancing about.

Me: Do you mind if I sit here to?
Boy: Sure! (a huge smile spread across his face)

I sat down and took out my dinner and began to eat.

Boy: Is that your food?
Me: Yup.  Did you eat dinner already?
Boy: No
Me: How long before you leave (I assumed he was also waiting for somebody to finish a dance class)
Boy: I don't know, what time is it?
Me: 5:45
Boy: Oh (I could tell the time actual meant nothing to him)

The boy sat looking at his hands and fidgeting next to me.

Me: So do you dance?
Boy: Yes! (his eyes lit up) I do ballet, jazz, and hip hop!
Me: That's cool, what's your favorite?
Boy: Ballet
Me: How long have you been dancing?
Boy: What month is it? (doesn't give me time to answer and instead begins counting on his fingers)
Boy: 7 (I have no idea if that is weeks, days, months, years, or the age he began)
Boy: I don't live here you know
Me; Oh? Where are you from
Boy: Oregon.  I come here every summer to visit my dad, but I only see him on weekends.  The rest of the time I'm with my cousins.  Dylan's a bully.  He started punching me for no reason.  I miss Oregon.  We have rain there!  And we get do do neat things.
Me; What kind of neat things?
Boy: Like play in sheds.
Me: That sounds cool.
Boy: Yeah!  I miss it there.  I have lots of pets.
Me: How old are you?
Boy: I'm 8 and I turn on 9 on December 19th.
Me: My daughter is 9, that's who I'm waiting for. Who are you waiting for
Boy: Dylan, he's the bully.
Me; What makes him a bully?
Boy: He just gets mad and mean all the time
Me; I'm sorry. Is there anything you like in California?
Boy: My dad. I like when I see him on weekends.  He's fun.  He takes me to the movies.
Me: What's your name?
Boy: Nico.  My friends call me Nico.  My real name is Nicodemus.
Me; That's a really cool name.
Nico: I think it sounds like a fish.

An older man who was sitting at the bottom of the stairs the whole time playing Pokemon Go stood up and walked passed us.

Nico: Oh, I gotta go.
Me: Nice to meet you Nico
Nico: That's my grandpa.

I had no idea the man at the bottom of the stairs who never once looked up at us was actually there WITH Nico.  And for some reason I was just sad for this young boy named Nico.  He spends summer away from his mom, in a place he hates, with family that is mean to him, and during our 30 minute chat I could tell he just craved attention.  Obviously this is just a summary of the conversation (which involved all his pets names, stories about Oregon flooding, how CA beaches don't get waves, and how he knows his dog can open doors because while he slept his tablet magically fell and cracked so it must be the dog).

I know this is random story, but this little boy has been on my mind since I left so I figured I'd share the story of the time I met a boy named Nico.