I Cleaned My Carpets and Then…

The carpet in my apartment is disgusting. Really. I *think* it’s supposed to be beige (almost creme) but in several large areas it’s black. In fact, it makes me wonder if the carpet has ever been cleaned. Who puts lightly-colored carpets in rental properties anyway? My landlord (the one who called the cops on me, you’ll remember) is incredibly shady.  And weird. And I know somehow I’ll get blamed for this. He’ll say something like, “Don’t spit toothpaste into the sink. It creates clogs.”

The other day I decided that the best use of my time would be to rent a Rug Doctor and clean the carpet the night before Thanksgiving. That way I’d leave and no one would be around to walk all over the wet carpet and when I came home, the apartment would sparkle and no longer be depressing. You can see where this is going, right? My plan worked beautifully, except the carpet didn’t get clean. I mean it’s not black anymore but more of a dingy gray. And the spots didn’t disappear. It’s all very sad. Not unexpected and yet still sad.

I went to Orange County for 2 days and when I returned last night, I knew something was wrong as soon as I opened the front door. Shouldn’t my apartment smell clean and fresh instead of moldy and sort of like a diaper bin? It was like entering a prison. In fact, it reminded me of that time I toured Alcatraz… dark, dank and depressing with the smell of death permeating from the walls, or in this case, the carpet.

And why was the carpet soaking wet in the hallway? The bathroom sink overflowed (the sink, not the toilet) and I spent the next 2 hours cleaning up whatever all that stuff was left behind by the water. Did you know that plunging a sink doesn’t do anything? Rather, it just makes the water slosh all over the already wet floor. Lesson learned.

I still haven’t heard back from my landlord but I hope he calls soon because it smells like a toilet in here.