Thanks to everyone who posted suggestions about my rental situation. I called Airbnb’s emergency number Sunday evening and had a 48-minute phone call, about 45 of which was waiting on hold. The young man with whom I spoke told me he didn’t know what to do and couldn’t find someone who did. He said he was taking copious notes which he would mark “urgent” and forward to the legal department. I asked when I could expect a return call or e-mail, and he couldn’t guess. It’s Thursday late morning here, and I still haven’t heard from anyone at Airbnb. In my original post I had said that I didn’t know whether to let James bring prospective tenants to tour the apartment despite Seth’s protests. I haven’t heard from James. I have heard a bit from Seth. Instead of using the Airbnb mail, Seth contacts me by calling the landline phone in the apartment. I don’t like this because then there’s no written record of his weird instructions. So the other day I heard the phone ring and didn’t answer. Then I unplugged it. Since then he has sent me a couple Airbnb messages including this one this morning:

Hi Kathryn, I spoke with Monica yesterday who is the owner of the building and we have made an arrangement for me to keep renting my unit. They did not want to go to court with me. Sorry for James coming by and scaring you. I probably wont be by for a few weeks!

Meanwhile, I’m going to take Charlie to a walk-in clinic today. For the past couple weeks he has had pain (varies in severity between a 3-6, he says) in both ankles when he walks. He also sometimes has knee pain. Maureen told me to take him to a pediatrician, not a walk-in clinic. When I called a few pediatrician offices, though, the receptionists said we can’t get in without a referral and that I should take him to a family doctor. So I called the offices of some family doctors. Many are not accepting new patients, but those that are won’t see tourists. When I explained our situation to a receptionist, she was annoyed that I didn’t seem to understand what a family doctor is for and told me to go to a walk-in clinic. We’ll try a different one than the one we went to in April when they had the cold-like virus.