I graduated university with a tremendous amount of student loans… I was also struggling to cover a motorcar payment, insurance and living expenses.
I was happy to be gave a job in my field in Fort Worth, Texas, however, the paycheck of an entry level position made it difficult to afford an apartment.
Hoping to keep expenses to a minimum, I chose living accommodations within biking distance from my work, and the house building was severely aged, most of the windows in the house were painted shut and yet they all leaked air, and just a small number of the electrical outlets worked… Because of the age of the wiring, I couldn’t run more than one appliance at a time. If I tried to microwave something while also seeing television, I’d trip the breaker. The toilet ran all the time and the living room faucet dripped. There was only enough hot water for a ten-minute shower and certainly low water pressure. I needed to tie the door to the refrigerator shut, and whenever I baked something in the oven, the smoke detector went off. My largest complaint with the house was the heating and cooling unit. In Fort Worth, the summers are certainly brutal. Temperatures are steadily in the high nineties and often soar above a hundred degrees. The humidity is excessive. The A/C in the house couldn’t begin to keep up with demand. I was consistently warm and hot and found it impossible to sleep. I couldn’t run a fan without tripping the breaker. In the winter, when the outdoor temperature dropped into the thirties, I needed to wear a coat inside.