Mistakes made and unmade

Well, I guess there's some truth to the old saying that some things are too good to be true. The situation at my apartment has gotten so far out of hand that I've finally had to acknowledge the fact that I have to leave it. The apartment itself is perfect for me: small, cozy, full of light and windows, and ridiculously close to the ocean. It's the people in the house that have made the situation unbearable. I could go into high detail (and I have, with several unsuspecting friends whom I victimized with my tales of woe), but here are just a few of the "highlights" of living here:

-my roommate, Alan, is a gay man-whore. He offers "adult massages" to a strictly male clientele (unless, of course, they choose to bring along their spouses). This happens in my apartment when I'm not home. Despite his cash-only inflow, he has yet to pay rent since I moved in 5 months ago.

-my neighbor (who lives in the other separate unit next door) also apparently services men. It's funny because when I first met her, I nicknamed her "CrackHo". Apparently, she also dabbles in drug sales from time to time.

-my landlord, who lives upstairs, appears initially to simply be ignorant of all that is going on around him. However, I now have reason to suspect that he is not only aware of the situation, but is somehow involved in it. Whether he takes a cut, or is a client himself, is anyone's guess.

How did I get involved with these people?! So much for using Craigslist to find a place to live...
And now, the good news: I've found a new home! This time with a seemingly (I'm proceeding with caution now!) sweet 79 year-young Russian lady. She is offering a furnished bedroom, separate living room and dining room, shared kitchen, laundry room, garage storage (perfect for dive gear), and a huge back yard. While I will be paying her rent each month, she has offered to reduce it provided that I help her take care of errands for a few hours per week. She recently lost the use of one eye due to a minor stroke, and so now (honorably, I think) has elected to give up her driver's license. Thus, she would like someone to be available to drive her for things like shopping, appointments, etc. It sounds like a perfect arrangement!
And as for work, things have fortunately gotten quite busy of late. For the last four days, we have been able to watch Orcas on the Princess Monterey whale watching boat. It's been amazing! On the day before yesterday, we watched for a couple of hours while two pods of Orcas (each led by a patriarch bull) led a coordinated and brutal attack on a gray whale calf. At times it was heart-breaking to watch as the mother gray whale desperately struggled to keep her young calf from being battered, bitten, and drowned by the relentless Orcas. Mostly though, it was absolutely captivating. I've never before seen such highly orchestrated behavior in the pursuit of prey, and I feel so incredibly fortunate to witness a spectacle which I never thought I'd be lucky enough to see. To top it all off, there were also Humpback whales involved. For reasons unclear, they (starting with two, and building up to six or more) were placing themselves right in the thick of the brutal action. Some of the customers onboard stated their belief that the Humpbacks (which generally do not associate with either Orcas nor Gray Whales) were somehow trying to protect the young calf by shielding it with their enormous sleek bodies. If that's the case though, I can see no logical reason for the Humpbacks to do so. Furthermore, Captain Leon (who has been out here for nearly 30 years) has never seen such interaction between all three species, and in fact when he called everyone he knew with more experience than he had, they had never seen nor even heard of such behavior! Fantastic!
And so anyhow, things are basically going quite well. I've come to be in high demand with all of my jobs, and it's an honor to be so. Tomorrow, I work as a divemaster on a scuba dive boat in the morning, then guide four customers during shore dives in the afternoon. As I always say, It's better to be busy than bored!