in Life's name and for Life's sake

 So, I don't think I've really complained too much online about my current housing situation, but this would be the time to do so. Long story short, my roommate is very nice, but not very clean, not very open to my suggestions about how to better use our apartment space, often needs to be reminded multiple times to keep common areas accessible (we're talking piles of things on floors and tables and counters, where "things" sometimes includes "leftover food that needs to be put away"); overall she's the kind of person I wouldn't talk to more than once if I didn't happen to live with her. I love my room (except for the fact that it gets NO natural light), but the kitchen and the common room don't feel like they're "mine" because they're typically overrun with her mess. She is incredibly solicitous when it comes to cleaning up for OTHER PEOPLE (i.e. if one of her friends is coming to visit, she spends a whole day scrubbing down the apartment), but doesn't seem to understand that her roommate might want that level of cleanliness at all times. She's sort of clueless when it comes to social cues, and we're at the point where, short of being very stern/angry with her, I don't think there's anything to do to ensure that the apartment will consistently meet my (not overly demanding) standard of cleanliness.

In about January, I decided that I was better than this, didn't need to put up with it, and would take a gamble on a new unknown roommate for next year, because certainly things couldn't get worse. I'm in university housing now, which is really convenient both in terms of location and price range, and I had hoped to be able to transfer to another apartment in the university system at the end of May when my present lease runs out. It seems utterly logical that they would give you this option, right?

Well, guess who just found out today that they don't?

For whatever reason, university housing won't actually let you transfer at the end of your lease period. They will let you transfer in the middle of it, and write you a new lease -- but their "transfer periods" are October and February, which aside from being a long way away, are also times when I am generally so busy with schoolwork that moving house would be nearly impossible.

Now, non-university housing isn't bad -- it's just a lot harder to find, especially since I don't know anyone else in the area who needs a roommate or who is looking for new housing. The one person I know who might want me for a roommate is NOT the sort of person I could see myself living well with. So I'm looking up rooms for rent on Craigslist and crossing fingers that something comes up, because I was getting so excited at the prospect of not having to live here again next year.

Sigh. And now back to regularly scheduled "too much work, too little time" weekend plans.