Yikes. You need to get the heck out of there. That could definitely be something toxic. There's probably carbon monoxide in that exhaust. Can you go buy a carbon monoxide detector and put in a wall outlet near the floor? If it goes off you'd be perfectly justified calling the fire dept. and they will come and look for the source. they would probably evacuate the place. plus, if you have renters insurance they might cover you to say in a hotel until its fixed. But that's not something to mess around with. You might just pass out and not wake up one of these times and all this hard work you're putting in will be for nothing.
But that environment is not conducive to being healthy or performing well academically. Can you find a roommate through the school, like a classmate or another professional student? Maybe better odds of less drama. Don't know, that's tough.
Ike's
Thanks for the response. I'm going to try couchsurfing.org since most of my friends are in another city.
I'm definitely not thinking on my feet as usually because every time I try to get some rest, I wake up due to the fumes.
I already have a carbon monoxide detector, but not a good one. I called Keyspan a while back after smelling fumes and they actually found carbon monoxide in my apartment and in the building's hallways - even though the carbon monoxide detector never went off. Now we have National Grid. I plan to call them next time the fumes are bad. Trouble is, the fumes come and go and in the past it's taken the gas company an hour to arrive. Maybe they'll still find something. I just don't want to "waste my bullets" by calling when it's not that bad (and then having it get worse later).
I'm not currently enrolled at a college, otherwise I would contact the housing dept. for emergency help - which most schools provide. And I let my renters insurance lapse. Good job me.
This situation might be resolved when my front door is installed next week. It's infuriating that my new front door has arrived and is ready to be installed but they're taking their time with it. If I were to take the onus, it would be because I'm not sure how to explain this situation to the landlord so that it sounds credible. (I've tried to explain over the phone and in writing.) Situations this bad are rare.
No matter what I say, it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. Suggestions about how to describe this fume problem are welcome. I may call back the guy who's going to install the door and give him a financial incentive to hurry up. That might go over better than a desperate explanation which he didn't seem to care about.
(I explained how bad my situation was to the maintenance guy and he was like, "Well I'll do it next week." using a tone of voice that suggested that he thought that was making good time. I told him that the fumes are causing dizziness, tremors, and sickness. And he said, "Well, I can't come early next week because I have to get a parking place approved." I said, "This is an emergency. I'll pay your ticket." Him, "Well I'll try to make it on Monday.")
As unacceptable as this is, I think I'm stuck because if I call the city's housing inspector, additional repairs might be ordered on my apartment which would make it uninhabitable and interfere with my MCAT. National Grid is still an option if they can find the fumes which come and go (about every hour or two in 30 degree weather).
As an aside, I've noticed that my landlord and his real estate management company have a one star rating on Yelp.com and over 50 reviews (almost all of them are one star). Certainly I'm upset with them right now, but I'm thinking that I might get a group of tenants and ex-tenants together later on and put together all of my paralegal contacts and try to sue this company for restitution. With any luck, it might help pay for my medical school - and save lives!
