Roommate Adventure

The new roommate adventure has occurred for a week now with amusing results. I have not been able to find a roommate through my friends and acquaintance network so I have tried using three separate websites, roommates.com, craigslist.com and nuvo.net. It amazes me the things that people will post. The following are some of the more amusing posts.

Seeking 3 mature roommates who want to make to most of their limited budget. Our healthy lifestyle choices include non-smoking environment, shared household chores, weekly movie or game night, Golden Rule conflict resolution, recycling, and community service. Only $250 INCLUDES UTILITIES, LAUNDRY, CABLE TV AND PHONE. Plus SECURITY SYSTEM and off street parking. We are near IndyGo bus routes #3 East Michigan, #8 E Washington, and #26 Keystone north and south. Residents also give 2 hours per week to support the Quality Enviornment Contract. Two possible locations 19 N. Temple or 105 N. Arsenal.

I am looking for somebody to live in my home rent free in exchange for p/t help around the house doing basic chores. In a new home on the second floor with your own decent sized room (10ft by 10 ft) and full bathroom. Want to make money? I am also looking for a live-in full-time personal assistant(no experience necessary). You would help keep me organized, do some household shopping, do basic tasks in my home office and travel with me to various exciting cities at least 1 week per month. For the personal assistant position you will be paid $1,500 per month, $cash$, paid weekly. Your living and travel expenses will be covered in addition to your pay. For the room, you obviously would not be paid but your rent is free. For both opportunities you will need to be willing and able to move to Arizona within a month. The weather here is perfect! If you are interested, please tell me a little about yourself and your current situation and we can discuss this opportunity. Both availabilities discussed above will be totally professional.

Hi, I am seeking a SWF to spend quality, albeit not quantity, time. Let me be clear about this. I will pay you $400 a month to see you no less than 4 times a month and no more than 8 times a month. I will be there, with you, anywhere between 2-4 hours; maybe longer if we get along well. I will not ever sleep over. I am seeking someone who can be discrete and wont get religion on me ;-) for our quality time together you wont need a "real roommate" and can use the $400 as you see fit. Please be sure that you have the stomach for this type of arrangement before you answer this ad. I am a middle aged businessman trying to decompress from the stress of the road. please reply with a picture and your interest level and I will reciprocate.

I have to spent a great deal of time looking through these weird and bogus adds to find the real people. I have also had to advert some crazy people trying to scam me. I have corresponded with two people trying to set up a roommate situation with me just through email. These are fairly funny.

Hey Candace,Thanks for responding to my mail. I would have love to come see the room myself but I am not in the state right now.I am very sure you will never regret having me as your roommate.I want to make sure that we go perfectly well as roommates.I will like to know more about you and the total move in cost.I have to tell you more about myself.I am a very dedicated individual who is totally committed to human development, very trustworthy and value relationship above anything..I live by the principle of,"do unto others what you want others to do to you".And because i love it when people are good to me,i always do all in my power to be good,just to get a reciprocate(smiles).I am quite a laid back person,i am the interesting type.I didn't drink neither do i smoke and i love pets but i don't have any that's why i indicated no pet.I am the neat type.I love visiting new places. I love to swim, read and listen to nice music,I love meeting people I occasionnally attend parties ,I love community work, love to be around children too,I am the clean type and I am very friendly.I am 28 years old.My dad is an American while my mom is from the West Africa.I live in the United State,CA ever since I was born because my mum also live with my dad in the United State but I lost my dad some years back and my mum went back to West Africa to stay there since then I am currently with her now in West Africa.I have been here for a while with her but I am not really comfortable here.I am not use to there ways of life here and I am really coming back to the state asap.I have my own bussinees,I sell textile and fabrics material,In fact that is our family bussiness,that is what my mom is into as well and I promise to pay my rent and any other bills in time.I am very neat and cleaning of the environment won't be a problem for me.I really want to have a comfortable place upon my arrival Have a nice day and hope to hear from you soon.I have tried to attach a picture to this message so as to put a face behind my email.Thanks and god bless.Kara

I replied to this person that I was not comfortable agreeing to a roommate situation with out meeting them in person first. The very next day I get this email:

Let me tell you more about me. Name: Marrianne Davies
Age: 28Date of Birth: 10 June 1980 Country: Grow Up In CanadaEducation: MSCEReligion: Christianity Marital Status: SingleKids: No KidsLanguages spoken: English My personality traits are: serious, confident, calm, purposeful, persistent,smart, responsible, honest, modest, kind, sociable, sensitive, gentle,cheerful, optimistic, romantic, considered, responsible I like these kinds ofmusic: Dance/Electronica, Disco, I usually read: classics, novels, newspapers and magazines My favorite physical activities: Basketball, Working Out, Dancing, Swiming and Hiking/Walking My favorite cuisines: Barbecue, Chinese/Dim Sum, Deli, Eastern-European, Fast Food/Pizza, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese/Sushi, Mexican, Seafood, Soul Food, Thai, Vietnamese ,I like to go out to/and: cinema, disco, nightclubs, parks, meeting with friends.
My perception of an ideal relationship: Understanding, respect, love. I like the place and I'll be so glad if you can reserve the room for me and remove the advert from roommates sites as i'll love to rent the place.I sold African beads,i used to buy it in Africa and send it to Europe and U.S.A for sell and i based in Canada but now want to be selling it to the states there and based there .Thats is why am looking for a place to stay in the states there so that i will have comfortable chance to do this business,just not like to stay in hotel. I'm a quiet and easy going person to live with. My families lives here in Canada and i have some friends in Canada . and will love to come down as soon as possible to explore my business and hope to have a more business job. I do not have a pic presently on my system but will try to attach one to my next mail.However, based on your mail i will be making a payment to move in. I had like to make the payment for the first month ahead of my arrival, and then i will make subsequent payment thereafter as i plan to stay for more than 12months.The things i will be moving in my luggages and the rest loads.Check your attachment and find my pics there and make sure you send me your own too. Hope to hear from you soon

Regards

Marrianne


I am of the opinion that these emails were from the same person trying to scam me. There are warnings on the roommates.com website about international people trying to rent rooms without meeting first. They will send you a cashiers check in advance for an amount above what they owe you and then they want you to return the extra amount. The problem is that the original check is a forgery and a few weeks later you bank will want their money back.

I met with one person on Thursday night. He was 45 minutes late and didn't arrive until 10pm. This was a bit rude and also made it difficult for me as I had my brother come over to do the interview with me and he likes to be in bed by 10pm. After the interview I didn't think that he would work out, he said two things that concerned me. The first thing he said was that the house cleaning was women's work and he doesn't like to do it much. The second thing is that he said multiple times in the conversation that he likes to sleep allot. I just had the impression that he was lazy and missed work often.

The second person was supposed to come over on Saturday morning at 11:00am. Again, I had my brother come over so I wouldn't be alone with a stranger. This person didn't show up by 11:30 so I called him and he was like "I am sorry I just can't come". So this second person was dismissed.

The third person called me on Saturday and he came over on Sunday morning. He was also 30 minutes late but at least he called in advance. I liked him and I think that we could get-along. We talked for about an hour and he is going to get back with me on Tuesday to see if he can put in a notice on his lease. I think that is is kind of amusing that all of my adds have only drown responses from men. It made me wonder it only men use these websites. I have never utilized the Internet to do this kind of thing before but I am not scared to use new technology.


BTW...I had the fridge repair man out on Saturday morning and I need a new compressor. He has to order the part which will take about a week to arrive so maybe I can have my refrigerator working properly by next weekend. It is fairly uncomfortable to not be able to buy groceries.