further updates in my Housing Adventures

since I haven't published a blog entry on this subject in a while (most just twitter & facebook status updates)...here's what's been going on lately.

Part of my crazy schedule these days, when not packing (or cleaning) has been spent touring potential places with my Aunt Jody (who's representing me as my broker - she is a residential broker, though she's San Diego county based) and my folks. I've placed multiple bids on potentially good places for me, but most have fallen through (I've been put into a Back Up position) even with my Cash offers. Almost all of these places are Short Sales, too, which means even if something IS accepted by the Seller, the bank may take its own sweet time. 


Never know though. :)


I've mostly been looking in the Lake Forest area, since prices are cheaper than Irvine, though as of last Sunday (4/25)  I'm also considering Foothill Ranch. (Found a few units that were cheap enough and seemed perfect for me so I placed a few bids. We'll see what happens. There's potential there, but I don't have any confirmations I can share at this point.)


As of TODAY, I'm sending in my 30 Day Notice to my landlord telling him I'll be out by May 31st (along with my reduced rent check - hey, he had said if we keep the place clean & allow people to tour, then we can have reduced rent for both April & May. Not reduced by much, but something. Also I don't think he realized how long it would take to market & sell his place even though its not a short sale. It didn't help his case when he RAISED the listing price on this condo. He's now lowered it some since then...I could have told him this place isn't worth that much! Of course he wouldn't want to listen to me. Hehe ;-).


Where am I going? Well, at this point, all the stuff I've been packing up has been going into some storage units my folks built on their property in Garden Grove. (They were going to store their own stuff from the garage in it, but they've kindly held off transferring their own stuff and let me transfer my own stuff in there for my temporary storage needs. Huzzah! for my parents! :) I'll continue to transfer all my stuff to the storage sheds as I now pick up the pace on packing. Also, now I'm not going to care as much about making a packing mess as I go ;-). As for me personally - my parents have also graciously suggested that they have a spare room (half home office & half guest room) that I can use while I'm searching for a place and or waiting for escrow to close (if any of my bids ever make it that far in the process). I have no other plans for housing as of June 1st, so I'm taking up my parents offer of the spare room. It'll be an adjustment living there. For one thing: I won't have much access to most of my stuff for a while; plus, it'll be a longer commute to/from work for me. And finally, I haven't lived at home for...oh, over 10 years! :) Since college at least.


Like I said, it'll be an adjustment, but should be temporary. :) And I'm VERY very glad that I even have this as an option!! :) So to my folks who *might* actually read this article (Yes, I'm looking at you Dad! ;-), THANK YOU so very much for all your generosity, love, & support. :) (Both now and over the years.) Love you back! :)

attempted unauthorized entry into my place!?!

So this morning, as I was just about to hop in the shower (took a day off of work and was doing things, such as cleaning, before I finally got around to showering) when I heard someone at the door trying to use the keys in both the deadbolt and the doorknob locks. What the...???

I quickly peeked through the Peephole and verified it wasn't my roommate. It was a guy (stranger or possibly my landlord?1? - hard to tell from the angle) attempting to use keys to get in. Good thing I had flipped the Security Lock that CANNOT be undone from outside! So, feeling relatively safe knowing that lock was in place, I showered. Afterwards I sent the following email to my landlord and his broker (who's selling the place...if you haven't been following along with the latest drama):


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rebecca (ME)
Date: Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:09 AM
Subject: attempted entry at [xxxx] around 10:30a?
To: Broker & Landlord
Cc: Roommate


Ali & Fred,

Did either of you or someone you sent over attempt to enter [xxxx] this morning around 10:30am? I was home and just about to step into the shower when I heard someone attempting to get in (using the key in both the doorknob lock and the deadbolt). As I was planning to shower and had received NO notice of anyone coming over, I had earlier this morning used the Security Lock (installed by my roommate and myself 5 years ago) that can only be undone from the inside to secure the front door.

I took the day off work and will be in and out all day. If you have people coming by, please let me know in advance of someone attempting to enter to view the place. 

Thank you.

Rebecca 

Tenant

[xxxx], Irvine, CA

---------------------------------------

And NOW I just got an emailed response from my landlord. Turns out it WAS him and he had some kind of appointment with a carpenter (LOTS of termite damage outside on the stairs leading to our place...we're on the 2nd floor) and the carpenter wanted to see the inside and make sure there wasn't additional damage (besides exterior). So my landlord thinking it was no big deal, attempted to get inside. UGH!

Here's his email to me in response:


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Fred (landlord)
Date: Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 12:15 PM
Subject: RE: attempted entry at [xxxx[ around 10:30a?
To: Me & Fred's Real Estate Broker
Cc: Roommate

Rebecca,

I was meeting with a carpenter this morning to look at the stairs and some other exterior items that need fixing. While the items in question are the associations responsibility, they are slow and I wanted the estimate as back-up in in case HOA was not able to expedite the repairs. I was not expecting the need to come inside.

After inspecting the exterior, he asked if he could look inside to make sure none of the items did extend beyond what was visible. I rang the bell a few times and did not get a  reply. I assumed you are not home and  tried to open the door and was not able to do so. So we left. I am sure based on the inspection done previously, fixing what is visible from outside will be adequate.

Sorry about not providing you with the notice. I was not expecting the need to come inside. I told him to limit his estimate to what he saw and we will take care of any additional items if we come across any. Thanks,

Fred

 

---------------------

Seriously?!? That's his excuse? He didn't think he'd need to come inside so because the guy wanted access and he assumed that we weren't home (doorbell doesn't sound in the master bedroom or master bathroom - no way I would have heard it) he thought it would just be OK to let himself in? Uh, No Way! We have rights to privacy still. Just another example of how he thinks cause he owns the place he can let himself in whenever. I'm sorry, per our Lease (and CA law), he must give us "REASONABLE NOTICE" of his intent to enter. Ringing the doorbell was not reasonable notice.

My landlord just sets my teeth on edge. I can't WAIT to get outta here!

Follow Up from yesterday's post (housing hunt)

So, at end of the work day yesterday, I got a response (via email) from the poster of the 3 bedroom condo for rent. And I gotta say, it was a little weird. Perhaps the gal is just overly enthusiastic? (Also, I can tell that English isn't her first language just by the sentance structure and some of the word choices. My co-worker, who's married to a Chinese gal - she's from Taiwan & she's so very sweet/a fun person! - read part of the email response to me and remarked, 'you know, based on the writing, it almost sounds like this person could be Chinese.')

I had a co-worker do a search on Win2Data (provides property information including owner name) and my aunt do a title search...just cause I wanted to be sure that this person really does own the place their listing...and I came up with a weird discrepency. So guess I need to contact her and ask her how long she's owned the place. (Unless she's not the owner but a renter and needs to sublet while she's away? Hmm....but she did say "I owned the home you are interested in". Past tense, but could be just an issue with not having English as a first language.)

She's going on some trip and says that the place is available for up to 5 years. Um, ok. Good to know upfront I guess.

Also, my email had specifically asked to tour the place, meaning the INSIDE of the place, but she responded "You can go ahead and view the surrounding of the house and the neighborhood area". Um. Thanks. Not exactly what I meant. Ok, maybe she just didn't get what I was asking. It's possible....I guess. 

Another weird point (maybe she's just overly concerned about the care/condition of the property??), she states outright that "also i will be come once in 4 months for visit to see how you are taking care of the home, and if any thing need to be repair inthe home, and fix it back!" I appreciate the willingness to be available to fix things, but having someone Check In on me every 4 months? Kinda weird.

Obviously she's requesting some information from me (reasonable, when your considering leasing to someone - name, contact info, number of people who'd live there, proposed move in date, etc.). No biggie.

She also finishes off the email with "Looking forward to hear from you with all this details so i can have it in my file in case of issuing the receipt in your name and contacting you. Await your urgent reply so that we can discuss on how to get the documents and the keys to you..."
(she goes on about giving this based on trust, etc.)

So...um...yeah, like I said. A tad weird of a response. But then again, I'm used to dealing with commercial brokers and commercial tenants and our process of leasing here. So maybe just my perception of things.

And to respond to her point about documents & keys - there's no way I'd sign papers/give over any money WITHOUT looking at the layout of the place (inside & out). I gotta know what the insides look like and if it'll even work for me. Like I said previously...it all sounds good on PAPER. Gotta see it in real life.

So basically, I haven't responded yet. Still thinking of what to say. I mean, she just could be a very nice person who isn't as comfortable with English as I am and has a lot things on her mind and hasn't got much time to lease this place.

Thoughts anyone?

New Development in the Housing Hunt

OMG, OMG, OMG......

My roommate found a rental listing last night (posted last night - so NEW) on Craigslist for a rental property here in Irvine that sounds too good to be true! 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 carport spaces, larger square footage....and for $100 less monthly than what we are currently paying! (Landlord pays for water & association/management fees vs. in my *current* place we the tenants pay for water in addition to all other utilities. Thought we don't have to pay the association fees. Written in to the original lease.)

Also, I know the area that this place is located in, and its a pretty nice area. Ok, yeah, I know what you're thinking...its IRVINE. Irvine doesn't really have a lot of "bad" areas with all their focus on community planning, etc. ;-P Whatever. :)

Moving on now. The write up says "spacious kitchen" and "gas range" - which you KNOW immediately got my attention! :D I have truly MISSED having a gas cooking range and would love to have one if given half a chance. But alas, the last whatever number of years all the rentals I've lived in have only allowed for electric cooking ranges.

Anyways - I've already emailed the contact person who listed the rental. Waiting to hear back about touring, etc.

Fingers Crossed!!! :)

another annoying message from my landlord

So tonight I came home to yet another message (left on my home phone) from the landlord about the state of the master bedroom. Apparently, now the "brokers" are complaining that its not organized enough to show it off as well as they'd like ("they're concerned that its not showing well"). Well, tough! This is not a model home, I live here...and I work full time. It takes time to box everything up. And there's no way I can box EVERYTHING up to be out of site. I've got projects I'm in the middle of (including stuff for committees I'm on) and research for classes I'm committed to teach in a couple of months - so I've got deadlines.

And his suggestion that the items I box up (to create more open room in the master bedroom, in order to show it off better) are stored in the downstairs closet is laughable.
        1) The key doesn't always work - there have been periods of time (*months* at a time) when I could *not* get the key to turn in the keyhole of the doorknob in order to open the door. I've come to think its some weird fluke of the weather affecting it, cause other times it works so easily its like night & day. (And yes, I'm using the SAME key each time. Not grabbing the wrong key and trying it in the lock. Trust me. I double & triple checked :).
        2) We already store things down there...so there's no room to add up to 10 additional boxes (he left 10 empty boxes). Also I don't store things in cardboard boxes down there for a reason (see next item for reason).
         3) We've had rodents in the complex, and they have specifically gotten into that storage closet. There's rodent droppings and dried urine over most of our items down there (one reason I don't access stuff in there much) and the few things I haven't stored in heavy duty plastic/rubber bins have been chewed through and I had to toss. So I'm having to store things off site, which means trips to take said boxes elsewhere. (Yes, I have a lot of stuff, but I also have a lot of hobbies & interests...which means I have to cram them all into my room. Its a bedroom, office, & sewing room all combined into one.)

I realize that brokers recommend a place be pretty much in 'model-home' condition in order to show off the place in the best possible light to potential buyers. But c'mon! Be realistic! The only *real* way to achieve that look is for there to be no tenant at all! Its one thing to do when you're motivated to sell your own place - but as we all know, this is NOT my place and I live here. So, yet another reason for me to pack up as much as possible while I try to look for a new place to live.

And before anyone suggests to me just give him my 30 day notice - Not yet. 1, that would be unfair to my roommate to do w/o discussing with her first. And 2, I want as much time to find a place as possible...and time to pack so I don't have to take days off of work. So for now I guess I just get to suffer through things a bit more (and cancel appearing at some of my previously scheduled engagements/events) so I can focus on packing & finding a place to live.

Whew. Rant over. :) No back to your regularly scheduled evening. (And I'm back to packing :).

catching up on stuff (March 2010)

So it seems like I haven't posted in a while on here. Sorry about that!
Things have been kinda crazy busy lately.

First, I started attending Ren Faire Workshops (held weekends beginning March 13 on the Faire site - Irwindale - while Building was going on to turn the area into Faire as we know it) cause they were interesting and good improv/character development practice. I could see how some of the classes could be adapted for other groups that portray different time periods, such as one obviously dear to me - American Civil War. Though it was interesting stuff, and I enjoyed attending the classes (and challenging/stretching my creative side - Improv has never been my strong area, though I'm working on it) I actually hadn't completely decided if I was going to "participate" this year with one of the Guilds. Part of the issue was that I knew I couldn't commit to the *entire run* of Faire as I already had specific commitments for some upcoming dates that conflicted with Faire Dates. Committing to be there every weekend day for run of workshops, with the Dress Rehearsal date falling on Easter (4/3) this year, and then every weekend for run of Faire which starts April 10th and ends May 23rd...and then helping during Tear Down in the weekends that follow is a LOT of commitment. And already busy enough with other things that are important to me, so there's no way I could ever commit to ALL of that. There was a slim chance that one of the Guild's (St. Cuthbert's - Parades & Pageants) might take me in even if I couldn't attend the entire run or make all the 12 required workshops for a 1st time/year newbie (aka "apprentice").

Turns out, however, that I didn't have to make a decision - it was made for me in the form of my landlord giving me (email) notice on Thursday, March 25th* that he's selling the condo that I rent. Gah! And he insisted that the place be more clean/organized than it currently is for showing (and a bunch of other unreasonable demands given the time frame he gave me - he wanted it lok-boxed & signage up by end of week and clean/organized for show-able condition by end of Month...which meant Wed, March 31st!). Which means that a) this last week I've been busy cleaning organizing in almost all of my spare time, and b) I'm now looking for a place to live (rest of my spare time). I have no idea if my roommate wants to stay roommates and we find a place together or if she wants to go our separate ways (she told me she's exploring all her options right now and won't tell me either way at the moment), which leaves me in a bit of a quandary. And while the new owners (which may be in as little as 30 days, since landlord is advertising 30 day escrow cause he wants this place SOLD quick to earn some money - and no, he has no mortgage or liens on the place, my aunt did a title search and this address came up clean, so he's just trying to make some money...not being foreclosed upon) may be ok with tenants, there's NO GUARANTEE  that they will want tenants. They may want to live here themselves. (By law, since we've been here over a year...actually its been 5 yrs now...we're required to have 60 day notice. BUT apparently there's a loophole that says if an escrow is open, only 30 days is required. Boo!!! Not that I've been informed escrow has started yet).

There was also the added twist of seeing if I could possibly afford to BUY a place. I've never seriously considered it, knowing that I would never qualify for loans, or whatever, just on my current income alone. Plus So California (and Orange County) is just plain old expensive! But they still have that government 1st time homeowner's incentive ($8K back) and my folks were willing to crunch some numbers to see if they could perhaps loan me the money (instead of me going to the bank) so that I could actually buy and have an investment for the future. (And of course I'd pay them back!) This looked like it may be possible, but we had to rush our thoughts and decisions so much, we felt pressured in making decisions - which is never good. And after looking at some possible places listed - I took one Saturday and drove around neighborhoods in Lake Forest to get an idea of where those listings where and what the places/neighborhoods looked like, how was parking, etc. - we discovered that with lower prices and enough investors plunking down cash still out there, there wasn't that much wiggle room for negotiating the price down (repairs, etc.) and you had to make a deal there and then when you found it or someone else might beat you too it. AGH!!! Don't need that pressure right now when I'm cleaning & organizing and just about to start packing up! So we're back to the drawing board right now. Focus on packing up and start looking for a short term lease so perhaps I can look for a place to buy later in the year. (Who knows? The Government may extend that 1st Time Homeowner's incentive again? They already did it once when it was expiring in November '09 and extended it through June of this year - so its conceivable. )

So THAT'S been my crazy hectic life so far. Things have been going better at work at least. Haven't had any more problems with my accounting software since they did the system maintenance on 3/25 (yup same day as my notice) and updated things & migrated the software to a new server. So that's been nice to not have to worry about randomly not getting into the program cause of a stupid glitch or getting kicked out while in the middle of using it cause of a different glitch! :) Also been able to get almost completely caught up on my back-log of work. Also nice feeling! :)

Must run now - if I don't leave, I'll be late for work. Eek!

-=-B

- - - - - -

*Yes, got the notice same day as my trip up to Hollywood to see Tommy & the High Pilots perform at the Viper Room. That was a LOT of fun, and a good distraction from my troubles. I'll write a separate post about it and links to my pics online (there's some cool ones! :).

Microwave Update

As of this morning, I received an email from my landlord saying the mircrowave he ordered has arrived!

Yippie!

(Of course he never mentioned to either my roommate or myself that he ordered a replacement microwave. So this is great news.)

Now we just need to schedule a time when he can come over to install the new microwave, and Jill & I are back to having access to a fully working microwave. Yes! (It has now been a month since we've had a microwave at home).

V. Excited, if you can't already tell.
=)

Life without a Microwave

So, for those of you who don't already know, back on November 2nd, my microwave died on me. Actually...it kinda went all haywire and started microwaving on its own, without any prompting from me or my roommate, the touch pad/buttons went dead and so did the screen.

Finally, my roommate and I just unplugged the dang thing since we couldn't get it to shut off otherwise.

Now here's the thing - we moved into this place and it already had a microwave. So seeing this microwave isn't ours and therefore not our responsibility to replace, I emailed the landlord that very night saying that the microwave is malfunctioning and we need him to check it out and possibly replace it.

Over a week goes by with no response.

Nada

So on the 11th, I email the landlord asking if he got my previous email, and he *finally* responded (same day) with "What appears to be the problem with it?". OK. Fine. I'll explain in detail. (And so I did in my next email). After I sent that email, I got this in response: "Looks like an electronic problem. I will come-by to check it out and see if I need to replace it."

Ok. Sure. Whatever. (Its totally broken, so he'll need to replace it - once he actually looks at it he'll see this fact real quick).


So Jill & I waited to hear from him as to when he was going to show up (and hopefully give us a few minutes warning)...yet nothing came.



Therefore, on the 20th of this month, I emailed the landlord again basically inquiring if he could give us an approximate time frame as for when he'd come by to check out the microwave.

Didn't get a response.

HOWEVER, on Saturday (11/22) afternoon, he suddenly showed up to check out the microwave. Without letting us know he was arriving, no less. And he barely knocked before letting himself in and calling out "hello?". So annoying! I was in the back of the condo busy with laundry, so it is hard to hear someone knocking or ringing the doorbell, but still. A phone call or email giving us the heads up BEFORE he came over would have been appreciated! (And I still find it unnerving that he just lets himself in).

After he enters, I go back to my laundry and let him look at the microwave. He soon realizes its unplugged and plugs it back in...only he can't get it to come back 'online' and calls me over confused about it. I reexplain about how the microwave went berserk, and reiterate that the touch pad and screen went blank on us. So yes, it is broken. At this point, I leave him alone with the microwave to 'futz' around some more, and go back to my laundry. A little while later, I realize I haven't heard any noise from the front of the condo for a while, so I come around the corner and discover that at some point he left without saying a word. So I have NO idea if he's planning on buying a replacement microwave and coming back or what.

Sheesh.

In the meantime, its been interesting to figure out how to do things I'm normally used to cooking/reheating in the microwave. I've managed to reheat a few things fairly successfully using the stove and or the oven, but it certainly is different! =) (And of course takes longer, dirties more pans/pots/dishes, etc.)

I'll be glad when I finally get a microwave again. But at least I do know that I can actually cook (or reheat) without a microwave. It's just annoying to not have one (especially when you get home late from work and want to quickly fix something for dinner).

Oh well. Hopefully life will get back to 'normal' soon.
=)

Just a little update on things...

Since its been SO slow at work these last few days (seriously!! It really needs to pick up around here soon), I thought I should probably post again to catch everyone up on some things.
=)

[SIDE NOTE: wouldn't you know I *finally* start working on a blog post...and work decides to pick up! LOL! Yea that it got busier here, though =) ].


1. The Apartment/Bathroom Remodel is (basically) done!

Finally! After 3 weeks, 6 days a week...the remodel is done! Well, except for one minor thing that hasn't yet been fixed (the drill bit broke when they went to drill holes for the toilet paper holder so that it can attach to the wall through the tiled section of the wall). But other than that, no more construction! Yes! Which means as of Saturday (Sept 27th) I officially began cleaning the apartment/my room of the layers of construction dust. It's still ongoing, but I'm finally making a discernable dent in my room. (I did my bookcase in the front/living room first - and between that dust and the dust I attempted to sweep up on the front porch - I ended up with a nice sinus headache later on. Ouch!)


2. I'm going to Halloween Haunt on Oct 4th!!!

Yes, indeed. I actually am *finally* going to Halloween Haunt. It's been on my 'to do' list for like...forever, but I never got around to going. But this year, Jenn Mulvey has decided to go for her birthday, so I'm joining her and Bryce this Saturday at Knotts for the Haunt. (Anyone else want to join us? Please do!!!!)

And earlier in the day I'll be joining up with some of my friends to celebrate a few October birthdays at a Birthday lunch, which will be fun! =)


3. I'm going to the Cicada Club on Oct 26th!

Yet another item I've wanted to do at some point. And now that I have some friends going on the 26th, and they've invited me along, I'm going! (Need to update my 1930s outfit to be more evening wear oriented, but that shouldn't be *too* hard to do). I'm currently trying to figure out how to do a really great updo for my hair that's 1930s styled, but haven't come across too many reference pics for med-long length hair. I'd like to do some fingerwaves and curls, probably. (Not that I've tried fingerwaves on me before...which reminds me, I'll need to go buy some setting lotion if I'm going to pull this waved look off properly =).

And since the Club will be featuring Dean Mora and his Orchestra, I think its time for me to start brushing up on my Swing Dancing so I can join in while I'm at the Cicada Club!


4. Planning Mode for Moorpark (Civil War Event) is kicking in.

Yes indeed. Now that we're about a month (or less) out from the next Civil War event that my group is attending, planning mode is certainly starting to kick in. I'll only be doing/serving two mid-day meals at this event (to my group's members who pre-register/RSVP), and doing a bit of 'for fun' cooking for basically just me and a couple of others throughout the day. And of course, since the event is in November, when the weather is cooler, I'll definitely be making my Mulled Cider! Yum!


5. Costume College 2008 Postmortem / Costume College 2009 Planning

Yup, it is already time for the CoCo 2008 Postmortem (Oct 12th in Santa Monica). I'll be attending and giving my report (which I still need to write - note to self) on the Roommates Dept. (As I was the Roommates Coordinator/Head for that Dept this last year...and the year before =). Next year, I'll be switching over to a different department (Information/Check-In) as the Head person and will train (unofficially assist) the new Roommates Coordinator. Should be fun! Plus its time to give our brief assesment/review of the classes we taught last year (which will be used most likely in a report at the Postmortem...or at least in reference for planning 2009 classes)...and that's something else I need to write up soon. (Just got an email from the CoCo 2009 Programming Chair asking for that summary report sometime this week). And I need to decide what classes I'd like to volunteer to teach next year. Hmm... Decisions. (Next year is an 18th Century Track. ).

Which reminds me! I need to fill out my Costume College Membership form and have it ready to mail. (The window of time for CGW members to mail in their form is approaching soon! =)


Ok. Well, I guess that's it for now. Must dash!

Later!
=)

Update on the Aparment Remodel

So, when I got home today, I had a few nice and not so nice surprises.

The Good:

1) My stove is back in its spot and hooked up. Yea! I can now use it to make myself some dinner! (Besides the fact that I can walk on the Kitchen floor again, to get to the pots, pans, dishes, sink, etc.).

2) They already put up the new door that will separate the remodeled bathroom from the master bedroom (my bedroom). It's kinda nice NOT to look at the mess in there. =)

The Bad:

The DID NOT move the fridge back into the kitchen yet...which would be ok, I guess, except that they had told me it'd be back in place at some point today...and the fact that when I came home, I could not longer hear the hum of the fridge's motor. (It's a faint humm, but its usually there, and it lets me know it really is plugged in, etc. =). Not hearing that electrical hum is certainly not a good sign! Don't know if its just being really quite, or if something is actually wrong with it.

Ugh!

And of course, as expected...there's fine dust (construction dust, not 'normal' dust =) everywhere. The landlord said that he'd have them put up plastic sheeting over stuff, so I was expecting that I'd come home to plastic covered piles in my room....only I didn't. No plastic sheeting whatsoever. Great! My computer, sewing machine, and other elctronics are in my bedroom and I'm sure that construction dust isn't THAT incredibly helpful to these highly sensitive elctronic systems. ;^)

Oh well.

I must get going - gotta see if there's something easy I can fix for dinner...and if there's anything (leftovers) in my fridge that's still edible after having no use of my kitchen to prepare things for a week.

Later!

------------

p.s. - a couple of minutes after I wrote this, I stuck my ear literally against the fridge...and I finally heard a soft humming. Yea! What a relief. (Of course, I did play with the plug to really make sure that it was actually plugged wall outlet...which is hidden directly behind a large piece of furniture...where else would it be? =)

sewing progress (9/6/08)

Well, clock's ticking down, and I'm running out of time to make my new outfit (1930s) for the upcoming Jeeves & Wooster party. Having to deal with the remodel of my kitchen, the laundry closet, & the hall bathroom has been fun...and now the focus is about to switch the bathroom attached to the Master Bedroom. (My room). Ack! That means not only do I have to stop & pack up practically EVERYTHING in my bathroom (including the seperate vanity) area, and find a spot to put all the packed up stuff), I have to clear away things around the bathroom and through the center of the room (so they can get things in and out of there). Just what I needed right now. When I COULD be sewing!

Fun, right?

So anyways...after taking time on Friday and Saturday morning to pack up a lot of stuff, I buckled down to tracing out my patterns onto banner papper (so I could make my modifications later on that pattern piece, instead of the original). While I was working, I decided for the heck of it to use my camera's self timer and take a photo of me working. Brilliant! :D So included in this post is one of my two self-shots. (Yeah, I looked at the camera for this one. So what? Who cares, really? LOL! =).

The Disaster Zone known as Home

So, just so you guys can actually SEE what I came home to today, I took pictures. Yup, that's right, Pictures! (I'll attach one here, but the rest will be on my Flickr and Facebook accounts =).

I walked in and it was a COMPLETE mess with large appliances all over the main room living/dining room, trash left out (they obviously ate In In Out for lunch since there's leftover fries and drinks lying about), and just generally mess everywhere.

Oh, and they forgot to flush my toilet. Ugh!!!! At least remember to flush!

I can deal with most of that...but the one thing that REALLY got to me was the fact that they butted up the stove against the refrigerator SO THAT I CAN'T ACCESS THE FRIDGE OR ANYTHING IN IT! Sheesh!

Obviously I won't be cooking any dinner tonight (wish I had known before I came home), but the fact that I can't even get into my fridge for cold water or to put away leftovers from buying dinner? Awful! (I managed to manhandle...with my one good arm... the stove out far enough from the fridge so I could get my water cup out, which I had placed in there before I left for work this morning. Then I took pictures, so you'll see the stove out as far as I could push it by myself).

Ugh!
...

Landlord just showed up a couple of minutes ago to check on the status of everything. And when I complained about the stove in the way of the fridge, he helped me move it out of the way enough so I can get to it. So something positive. =).

Up in Arms about Tenant's Rights

Ok, so I'm not *literally* up in arms about something...but I am quite upset/frustrated about a situation with where I live/rent.

A bit of background:
I and my roommate rent a condo (2nd floor) from a private individual. We originally signed a lease agreement when we moved in, but when it expired, my roommate preferred that we go 'month to month'. We've now been in this condo for over 2 years (has it been 3 yrs? - possibly).

We have a few issues with the condo at present.
1) The air conditioner unit is QUITE old and it leaks coolant (in a slow leak).

After complaining about the A/C unit not sufficiently cooling the place (it has never cooled my room, which is the master bedroom), we finally got the landlord to send someone out. He sent someone out a year ago, and at that time, it kinda worked better (he replaced the coolant and the filter, etc.) and recommended that the vent be fixed in my room since that was the problem why my room got no cool air. (The landlord said he'd do it - and never followed up).

So this year, the landlord calls sometime on Friday (August 8th) and leaves a message on our home machine saying he'd like to have someone come out this weekend for the AC and please call him back. Well I got back late, so I didn't get the message unitl it was too late to return the call. (And my roommate didn't call him back since he addressed the message to me - I wrote him the letter saying he needs to fix some things).

Next morning, I was busy doing things, and didn't feel like calling first thing when I got up. So when noon rolled around, and I was still in the middle of things (I think I was cleaning or something), he called again saying he wanted to schedule the AC guy for "7am tomorrow morning"...7am Sunday morning!!! And he wanted to know if that was too early! Too early? Uh, Yes! So then he offered 8am Sunday morning. Still too early we said. (By this time I had gotten Jill in on the conversation). Jill reminded me that it probably also would be beneficial if it was actually hot outside when the guy was working on the AC, so that he could see how the unit wasn't sufficiently cooling...and at 7 or 8 am in the morning, its still quite cool.

At that point, when we told him that neither time would work (and I questioned what AC company, since I'm not used to having AC companies available on Sunday mornings...but I also work in commercial, not residential), he got all huffy and said "well, do you want me to get someone out there or not?". We said we do, but just not Sunday morning. So he said he'd try for Monday and call us back with a time. He set up an appointment for 3pm and called us to let us know. We said fine. At that point I planned to take a 1/2 day so I could be home when the AC guy (and my landlord) came over.

On Monday the 11th, I went home early as planned. Good thing, cause my landlord called me just before I left work (he first calls our house landline, and then when he doesn't reach anyone, calls my work number - go figure, why he calls the house landline when its during normal work day hours!) to say that he wasn't going to make it in time for the AC guy, so he wanted to make sure that I'd be there. I told him yes, I was already planning on being there and was just about to leave work. He then said I'd have to pay the guy, since the AC guy would expect payment at the end of his visit, but then he'd repay me (when he showed up later). The AC guy showed up around when scheduled, fixed the AC unit (added coolant, replaced the filter, and fixed the vent to my room - so I FINALLY can get some cool air in there!) and I wrote him a check. About 5-10 minutes after he left, my landlord showed up. He had gotten the note the AC guy left, and I also reiterated what the guy had done to fix the unit. Then he wrote me a check to repay me for the check I wrote to the AC guy. (Yea!!!) I also mentioned that the AC guy highly recommended that the unit be upgraded...besides the many problems it has (like leaking coolant), its old and not energy efficient. My landlord said he's not going to do that until it completely breaks down and has to be replaced cause installing an new unit would 'involve doing structural work' to the condo to get it to fit, cause they're different shapes and more wires, etc. (Whatever!)

Anyways, at least the AC now works so we can use it if/when we need to.

So, on to an explanation of the 2nd item...

2) There's a section of flooring in my bathroom, next to the shower, that is rotting away (caving in). I noticed the soft section upon moving in, so I made sure to write a letter and inform him of the problem. He did nothing about it. So, when I wrote my recent letter, I made sure mention that the problem is STILL there, and despite my best efforts to avoid the area, its getting worse. So as I'm on a 2nd floor, I'm obviously concerned about the integrity of the floor.

At the time of the landlords visit on the 11th (when he repaid me for the AC guy's visit), I showed him the damaged section in the bathroom flooring. He said he was going out of town again, but would have someone come by soon to fix that.

On the 12th, he called me at work to try to arrange when his handyman could come out...either the next day or the day after. And the handyman preferred to work evenings (after normal work hours). He conference called me in to the guy, and we eventually set up a time (between 6pm and 7pm) for Wednesday the 13th. Less than 24 hrs notice, but I managed to make it work so I would be there.

The handyman arrived about a quarter to 7pm (just when I was in the middle of cutting up raw chicken, of course), and I showed him the damaged section of flooring. He said "yup, its definitely damaged" and caving in, and will need to be replaced, but he can't really see the extend of the damage until he pulls up the linoleum...which he wasn't authorized to do on this trip. It was just a 'see the damage' and 'get an estimate' of the work involved type of trip, apparently. He recommended that I get a piece of board (like plywood) to put over the area to distribute any weight more evenly. (He realized that while its all well and good to try to avoid the area, no one will remember ALL the time to avoid stepping there - which is so true!).

After that visit, I didn't hear anything for a while.

But then Saturday night, I get home from a Sewing Day at a friends house (after midnight) to find a message on the machine from my landlord. He wanted to have someone else come over to look at the damaged floor section on Sunday morning at 10am and to give him a call back if this was 'ok'. Well, since it was after midnight, I of COURSE did NOT call him back when I got the message. I went to bed. And in the morning, I sent him an email saying Sunday mornings do not work for either Jill or I as we both usually attend Church on Sundays. And I also told him I would be out most of the day (and that Jill was also gone).

As I was just grabbing my last things to leave for church, I thought I heard the phone ring, but wasn't sure. (It's hard to hear the phone...or even the doorbell for that matter...in my bedroom). I was in a hurry to get to church (running late of course – hard to not be when I went to bed so late), so I left without checking to see if there was a message.

I got home around 7pm on Sunday, and my roommate was home by then. She mentioned that the message was indeed from Fred, and she saw my email to the landlord on which I had copied her. I went into my room to set my stuff down, and went over to my bathroom…where I discovered that things were different than I had left them.

The shower door was wide open, the bath mat (that covers the section of linoleum right next to the shower, including the damaged area) was pulled back towards the center of the floor, and the small fan that I have placed to blow into there for ventilation (cause its pretty enclosed and doesn’t ventilate that well), was moved. So I came out to tell my roommate, and she said that she had wondered if he had come in since the front door lock was different. Whenever she & I leave, we always lock the bottom lock before we close the door (so we pull shut an already locked door). Instead, the deadbolt was locked on the door – which we only do when someone is home (its easier to flip that when you’re inside). She said she didn’t put it past him that he let himself in while we were out when he couldn’t reach us.

That just upsets us both since a) he needs to give us at least 24 hrs notice he wants access to the premises (which he didn’t…his original call/voice mail came after my roommate left on Saturday, which was sometime around 11am), b) we have the right to be present when he has access, and c) he is not allowed to enter the premises without our permission. (Jill is certain its illegal for him to do that – but we’re going to check up on the codes/find something to back up our claim that it was illegal before we send him an email telling him we don’t appreciate the less than 24 hr notice and letting himself in when he couldn’t reach us…and reminding him that its illegal to do so).

That, in a nutshell, is why I’m upset!

(Actually, writing this was very cathartic. So I am calming down at least. But I’m still upset enough to want to write him a strongly worded letter/email).