She drove us to her office and then tried to get us to buy rental insurance from the people downstairs, presumably for the commission she gets. She took us to three apartments, three that Hannah had found and emailed her about, no more. She didn't let us stop for lunch. She only let us go when we said Pete had to sleep, and I had to pretend that he wasn't already asleep so she would drive back to our hotel. I spent a lot of time trying to signal to passers-by that we were hostages who needed assistance.
Despite all that, we think we've found our new apartment. Only think, because "welcome" lady has erected numerous panic-inducing obstacles ("you have zero dollars in the bank account you opened yesterday? How are you going to pay the deposit?") But, if we can cut her out of the loop, we'll soon be the occupants of a nice place near Stanley Park which has an indoor swimming pool - we're not in California any more - and a squash court. So all the important stuff.
Writing this down has certainly made me feel less agitated at the end of the first day that the thought "why are we leaving Walnut Creek?" has entered my mind. A few glasses of red wine may have helped my mood too. Tomorrow is our last day before heading back, and with the summer season ending there are a lot of tourist T-shirts and maple syrup bottles at 50% off. I wonder if Chevron will pay for excess baggage?
An impressive light fitting, in a flat we decided not to rent.
Pete gives his perspective: no.
One of those magical toilets that does stuff to you. This is in the place we're hoping to live, so look forward to it visitors!
What is, fingers crossed, soon to be our view. You can even see the Chevron barge - Hannah is happy ("someone should bomb that," commented the "welcome" lady, who perhaps had not checked to see who was paying her wages today...)
