standing in a septic tank

the ironic detachment which allowed me to endure this place is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. about a week ago, things were disappearing at an unprecedented rate, gosling was caught breaking into a room, and he and joseph combined to kill a roommate's cat. so i issued sandra an ultimatum: if gosling was not gone within the week i was going to file a police report, list her and her husbands as accessories to the thefts, and file for constructive eviction. apparently the possibility of a court appearance was enough to overcome sandra's inertia; she spoke with gosling and he began vacating his room. this was well. this was good.

but as of this morning he has returned. the others have told me that sandra is allowing him to stay because he "already paid for the month." i keep telling myself that i shouldn't be surprised by this, that of course this happened, but i honestly didn't see this coming. i contacted sandra again and told her that gosling's continued presence constituted a violation of her responsibility to provide a habitable apartment and that my original deadline still stood.

so we'll see if i have a place to sleep next week.