What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been

Well, it's been a while. Yes. I wonder if any of my blog friends are still out there. Writing has been difficult lately because of all that has been happening. My roommmate in Bend gave me four days notice to leave. THAT was fun! I went into problem solving frenzy and tried to find every possible environmentally friendly living option that I could get to which numbered.....um.....Oh yeah! Zero! That was fun, too.

At the very last minute a friend suggested an ecovillage outside of Eugene. Otherwise known as hippie commune. At the VERY LAST MINUTE. I called them and asked if I could stay for cheap while they processed my application to rent an apartment for long term. They said yes. But I had no way to get there. At 5pm on Thursday I finally found someone who agreed to take me on Saturday - and a friend to let me stay in Bend one extra night.

My love of oldies paid off - he was the stepson of an Australian woman I know from oldies chat. Never know where connections are going to come from, huh?

He was a very nice, courteous and caring kind of guy. And his car was fortunately safe for me. We had a pleasant drive over.

The place I'm at is an educational center, has yurts, tents, cabins, and a few apartments. Lots of woods, etc. Common dining hall, thingd made out of cob.

So I stayed in a large apartment for a week , at the end of which they denied my application. At first I thought it was because my previous roommate gave a bad reference, which I overheard walking by the office. That was fun! Not. No, I don't know why I put it down.

But then I was told it was because they thought that my "sensory issues" were not compatible with living here. That that is basically disability discrimination did not occur to me until much later .

They did however let me stay for a short time in another unit while I looked for places to live in Eugene. Not as long as I had hoped, of course, but at least they let me stay. They are nice, generous, compassionate people, other than, of course, the whole disability discrimination thing.

At the moment I have a week left and still no place to live. Also fun - NOT. I have hired someone to do my grocery shopping for me as we are 40 min from nearest town (Eugene) and I don't drive. I hired someone to drive me to look for apts. I have done pretty good with independent living here, I'll say hat much. I have cooked everything on a hot plate.

So kudos for that but finding a place to live would be nice. I have one more possibility for Tuesday. If anyone has any ideas let me know.

I do love Eugene - ecocapital of the world .Most eco friendly city I have ever concieved of . They have a 140 page "eco friendly" business phone book, people actually know what chemical sensitivity is here, and tie dye and farmers markets abound. There is nothing more that I love than a good hippie city.

Except, of course, a place to live in said city.

So please I could use all the good wishes I can get....Thanks!

I just thought I'd do a quick update in case anyone was wondering where I'd gone to

I'm trying to be strong and am lucky to have support from friends....and an occasional family member although a good half of them are very against me trying to be independent it seems...

Kate