Actually, it’s too bad you’re not based in San Diego. I’ve found there are many people doing the live in Tijuana/work in SD thing.
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One of my worst apartments was also my best… because so much happened. At the apartment and in my life. I can look back now 20 years later and tell funny stories about it all.
Like the time my neighbors crazy glued my door shut. Or the constant roaches. Or the crazy lady who kept stealing my cat. Or when my super redid my bathroom he did pretty pink tiles because he thought Id like that. And i got out of an unhealthy relationship and at 23 went to college for the first time.
I hope this period of flux does not last long for you and you’ll be able to look back and laugh. Also maybe get a small rice cooker? I had a budget of 50 a month for food back then and a rice cooker was the only way that worked.
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I’ve been both lucky and informed enough to know I’m lucky. My time volunteering in homeless shelters taught me a lot. The closest I’ve ever come to living in a terrible place was when I shared a dorm room with an insomniac who made his own ring mail from bed springs.
Your situation also brought to mind this poem.
LATE RISING by Jaques Prevert
Terrible
is the soft sound of a hardboiled egg
cracking on a zinc counter
and terrible is that sound
when it moves in the memory
of a man who is hungry
Terrible also is the head of a man
the head of a man hungry
when he looks at six o’clock in the morning
in a smart shop window and sees
a head the color of dust
But it is not his head he sees
in the window of 'Chez Potin’
he doesn’t give a damn
for the head of a man
he doesn’t think at all
he dreams
imagining another head
calf’s-head for instance
with vinegar sauce
head of anything edible
and slowly he moves his jaws
slowly slowly
grinds his teeth for the world
stands him on his head
without giving him any comeback
so he counts on his fingers one two three
one two three
that makes three days he has been empty
and it’s stupid to go on saying It can’t
go on It can’t go on because
it does
Three days
three nights
without eating
and behind those windows
paté de fois gras wine preserves
dead fish protected by their boxes
boxes in turn protected by windows
these in turn watched by the police
police protected in turn by fear
How many guards for six sardines . . .
Then he comes to the lunch counter
coffee-with-cream buttered toast
and he begins to flounder
and in the middle of his head
blizzard of words
muddle of words
sardines fed
hardboiled eggs coffee-with-cream
coffee black rum food
coffee-with-cream
coffee-with-cream
coffee crime black blood
A respectable man in his own neighborhood
had his throat cut in broad daylight
the dastardly assassin stole from him
two bits that is to say
exactly the price of a black coffee
two slices of buttered toast
an a nickel left to tip the waiter
Terrible
is the soft sound of a hardboiled egg
cracking on a zinc counter
and terrible is that sound when it moves
in the memory
of a man who is hungry.
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Well, shit, thanks, now I feel bad for complaining. I’m not hungry, I’m just paying too much for that fuckin egg.
and why is it hardboiled, I like my eggs seven minutes and forty-eight seconds at sea level god damn it
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Would you be OK with looking at places in Oakland? You’d have to commute into the city, but rents are still relatively more affordable there.
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I have to second the rice cooker idea. Cook as much “pure” food as possible, and stay away from the ramen and Hamburger Helper bullshit.
You can even steam eggs, instead of hard-boiling!
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You shouldn’t. It sounds like you’re having a tough time.
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And rice cookers don’t have to be huge or expensive. Go to an Asian market, not a Bed Bath & Beyond (etc.). I’ve got a lovely little 3-cup stainless steel cooker from Korea, bought decades ago and still going strong. A friend was over yesterday while I was making dinner and couldn’t believe how “small” it is. That makes it easy to use, and easy to move. How often does one really need a 6- to 8-cup rice cooker, unless one is actually cooking for an Asian family on a daily basis?
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You’d be suprised at how much rice & beans, rice & chicken, or rice & veggies I eat.
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I’m really sorry- that’s a rough go. I have little useful advice- all I can offer is my own story:
Worst for me was freshman year of college in Cleveland OH. Lots of things wrong with the situation, but I’ll simplify with this story:
I received written death threats (through email) from two of the suite-mates I lived with. When I took them to the administration, they asked if I wanted to move out- when I declined, they said there was nothing more they could do.
The next time I moved out of my parent’s place was when I bought a house with my wife.
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While on a limited budget? I thought we were discussing rice cookers from the POV of someone who is effectively homeless and having to move around a lot while trying to save as much money as possible.
I agree with you that my little cooker isn’t enough with all kids at home, even with cooking the rest of the food in other pots/pans/woks.
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Well, the electricity’s out for the neighborhood right now. First time since I’ve been here.
So relatively, this place now sucks.
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That’s scary and awful.
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On my trek across the U.S., I kept it to common fruit, nuts, and large bottles of drinks, instead of individual cans. All-you-can-eat is decent if you’re not afraid of the hygeine.
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Its out all the way to Ensenada. (Apparently something happened in Mexicali, I’m surprised we have electricity in my area)
Worst place I ever lived we had some problems with the neighbors in a small and quiet apartment complex, constant parties and the guests were always trying to pick a fight with the other tenants. One day I tried to go to the store late at night only to find the hallway blocked by my neighbor giving some stranger a blow job.
We moved out shortly after that.
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Thanks for the heads up. I was about to go try and squeeze in an appointment at the eye doctor, but they’re probably down, too.
I guess that cancels out a trip to the movie theater as well.
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No problem. In other news: I should not have posted that I had power. 
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My shift ends just as BART shuts down, so I’d need a car, at which point I might as well live someplace like Pacifica or Crockett/Port Costa. It’s under serious consideration. I like driving and I like small waterfront towns. I could hang out at Sea Bowl!
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Really, really wish I could help. I found a room in EPA for 900. Is Caltrain/Bart an option and going to SSF, Oakland, Hayward, etc?
For food I could donate a rice cooker, that and a hot plate served me great in Phoenix while I got on my feet.
One thing I could do if you’re interested is physically check out rooms or locations on weekends. I also have a decent car and can move a moderate (moderate! :D) amount of stuff.
ETA
I hadn’t read all the comments. Sorry for the dupe info.
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The worst place I’ve lived? In terms of amenities, when I was homeless I stayed in abandoned buildings or slept on rooftops. (That was peak violent crime era - early '90s - needed somewhere safer than the homeless shelter.) Slum apartments with shared bathrooms and no A/C (in the deep south in summer). Couchsurfed for awhile, stayed in a drug dealer’s run-down trailer which wasn’t very nice and occasionally woke up to a shotgun in my face. Section 8 housing next to the projects - cab drivers wouldn’t go near it when I needed a ride home from work, they dropped me off blocks away; wasn’t unusual to have a crackhead trying to break in at 3 AM looking for someone else because he’d ended up on the wrong floor/wrong apartment.
Moving up out of that is difficult. But you can do it. Key is to find somewhere stable/safe enough to not interfere with work, and where you can stay long enough to save up. For me, that was finding friends in a stable/safe place that would let me stay on their couch as long as I helped out.
I have to second the rice cooker idea. Cook as much “pure” food as possible, and stay away from the ramen and Hamburger Helper bullshit.
I didn’t have that, but I had a coffee maker for awhile. In addition to coffee, the hot water could make instant oatmeal, ramen, soups, etc. I also sometimes ‘cooked’ things on the electric heater.
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