Pros: Its a pretty nice building and the unit is on the "Penthouse" (their pretentious way of saying "5th Floor"). It gets a ton of light, which I love since my current room faces the inside of the courtyard and feels like the bat cave. All new carpet, paint and the kitchen is nice. The whole area behind the complex is residential houses which means parking shouldn't be too much of a hassle (of course this is LA so who really knows). Trader Joe's/Longs/Starbucks/Albertsons within walking distance.

Cons: Expensive. No free weights in fitness center (re: Paul). No swimming pool (re: Joyce).

It looked like a creepy horror movie apartment complex where scary little girls with long black hair over their faces crawl out of TVs that aren't even plugged in. We kept on driving, appointment be damned!

Pros: They have a gorgeous, resort-style pool and waterfalls! (I didn't see the waterfalls myself but I'm told they were somewhere on the grounds). There is also a dry cleaning service which would do wonders for my wardrobe considering the Banana Republic bag full of dirty, wrinkled, dry-clean only crap sitting in my room. (This shirt is dry clean only, which means...its dirty. - Mitch Hedberg, RIP). They have the most kick-ass fitness center, complete with treadmills facing a line of TVs! Oh yeah, and the apartment was pretty nice too.

Cons: Right off the 405 near LAX. Read: major traffic jam, all day, every day. (On the other hand, cheaper cab rides to and from the airport). The unit is on the first floor in a corner of the complex shaded by trees and gets absolutely no light whatsoever. Patio faces the street so it is Very Loud when the windows/patio door is left open, which means they'll have to be shut all the time including during the Very Hot socal summer (=scary energy bills).

Pros: Very close to the Farmer's Market/The Grove and where I might possibly be working when the girl I'm filling in for comes back. Nice building and unit. Rooftop pool, small fitness center.

Cons: Parking nightmare. The closest freeway is at least 2 miles away which doesn't sound like much but it can easily eat up a half-hour of your time one way.

So after scanning through hundreds of apartment listings and creating the all-important Spreadsheet of Pertinent Information, where will Paul and I be living? NONE of those places. In fact, all my hard-work was for absolutely nothing as I receieved an email from a friend who has decided to pick up and move to Taiwan and needs to pass his lease off onto someone. Guess who that someone is? That's right, me!

It turns out all of those places we looked at are out of our budget because Paul is still unemployed and antsy about taking on such a big rent responsibility in his current financial situation. I did give it to him for not speaking up until after we had put down $100 (no-risk) deposit for Contestant #3. But it works out well because the rent we're taking over is only $820 and its only a partial lease so we'll be able to move in somewhere bigger not too far down the road.

At least that's one less thing for me to worry about. Now I can focus on finding a job I like.