Paging Harry Buttle.

There was a minor incident last night. I get a call while at the library from Al. "Get home right now!" What is it? "We got an eviction notice!" Click. So I run home. It appears that the letter reminding us to renew our lease had some strange wording and stipulations about posting date verse receiving date and month lengths verse a standard 25 days from indistinct start points. Calendar verse fiscal. All sorts of weird things that have apparently been misread. The long and short of it was the thought we had through august to respond and it turns out that perhaps we only had through the 24th... Freaking out ensues. I am so distressed that I can only read clunky science fiction in an attempt to focus my mind on other things and negate all emotion. the game plan becomes this: Show up at the offices the next morning at opening and follow the procedure, moving to the next step if the current step is not successful.

1. Ask to renew the lease.
2. Explain that we're busy planning a wedding and just barely missed the date.
3. Tell the person that here, she can deal with this crying bride. Have fun telling her she'll be homeless before the wedding. And prepare to go to a special hell.
4. If all else fails, sign up to be the next renters in our own place.

I walk in and ask, "Is it too late to renew our lease?" The response: "No. You've got until the end of your lease (another month). Oh, did you get a letter?" It turns out that we're supposed to get the first letter and then after the 24th/25th reminders that our lease is in the office ready to be signed up until the end of our current lease. It was a mistake by temps at the main office. There is no eviction. She goes on to say that previously some temps had actually sent the eviction notice out to everyone, including people who had already renewed their leases. This time around she got 3 phone calls about eviction notices yesterday but had hoped that they were the only ones. When we came in she knew that there was going to be a whole line of people waiting for her through the rest of the day. We signed the leases, relieved beyond measure, and headed out. On the way to the door she wished us a good weekend and I wished her good luck. She said that if we see the phone fly out the window, not to worry. And with that, I present you the story of why we will not be homeless this year.