The Better Choice

Cardio Abs and P90X Ab Ripper Trial (Wednesday)
Before leaving the bank job I decided to try combining the two ab workouts from P90X and Beachbody Insanity. Not bad but I need more practice.

Plyometric Cardio Circuit (Thursday)
41 out of 41 minutes. I finally completed this shit, but it came at a cost. My ENTIRE body is completely sore. I’m having trouble lifting my fingers to type this entry. This was brutal, but my legs are getting stronger. It’s almost as if I have my regular legs but with new muscles encasing them like stilts. Very proud but very sore.

No Workout Today
I was going to do Cardio Abs, but I’m too sore from yesterday’s workout. Fit Test Monday.

I rested in my basement apartment after working at the bank job yesterday. As I lay there listening to the pitter-patter of little welfare feet from Nicky’s apartment, I started to wonder: If I had to do it over again, who would I have rented the apartment to if not Nicky?

I went back to last year’s posts when I was renting out the apartment, with two posts in particular: Hide Your Black and Common Sense Background Check. I also took a look at the applications that I saved to see who would have worked out the best. I should have disqualified Nicky immediately because the math didn’t add up. She can’t afford an $800 apartment making what she makes. Then I remembered that girl Terry who wanted the apartment, but her boyfriend could never make it to meet me. I got paranoid, thinking she was one of those “hide my black” tenants and immediately disqualified her. Then there was the immigrant Ethiopian family of eight whose only income was Public Assistance. Personally I liked them very much, especially the 13-year old that was the spokesman for the family. If they were on public assistance and one of them was working, I would have considered it. After all, the former tenants, Lex and the Indians, had some assistance but most of them worked. But I simply refuse to move in tenants that just sit there without a job, no matter how much I like them.

After reviewing everything, I believe my best option should have been to take the $800 hit and wait for more prospective tenants in December. But if I had to choose I probably would have picked Terry, so long as I got to interview her boyfriend beforehand. They both worked and could have afforded the apartment. Besides, after I rented out to Nicky, Terry called me two days later to ask whether the apartment was still available. No matter what happened in the past, the future of property Alpha's upstairs apartment is clear. My “second-guessing” phase is over and there’s no doubt in my mind that I will not renew Nicky’s lease, so she should be gone before the end of May. Once she’s gone I’m going to spend a week or two cleaning out the place and then take my time to find the right tenant with the right deal, even if it means going through all of June and July without the place being rented out. Learning from my mistakes will make me better at finding the right tenant, and that will make me better at this business overall.