The October (one-day) Blizzard

On October 26, 2011 northern Colorado got dumped on!  Really dumped on.  We had about 12" on our back porch.  Although we'd had a fabulous and gorgeous autumn, all the leaves were still on the trees and the weightof the snow damaged about 20% of the trees in town.  Our rental house was no exception!  It is bordered by 70 year old elm trees. The little locust trees completely snappped and they're goners!  The old elm trees were damaged but luckily noen fell on either the house or the one next door!  We'll be doing tree-survery next spring!

Additionally, we got two calls from one tenant in three days!  Two stove burners not working, furnace won't turn off,  toilet leaking, water leaking in laundry room.  Diagnosis:  clean the do-hickies on the burners, replace the water supply line on the toilet, fidget with the spring in the thermostat, and replace the pressure relief valve on the hot water heater.  Of course, this was easy for my fabulous husband.  It would have cost us an arm and leg if we'd called a plumber, a furnace guy, and an appliance repairman.  God bless my handy husband!

Diary of a Dead Deck and a Dying Water Heater

In mid-July we finished preparing the last vacant apartment.  Jana rented it a week later and it's been all good there.  Just once a week mowing the lawn, basically.  Oh yea, and a dead refrigerator this week!

So, we're done, right?  Not so fast Tonto!  You forget that we still have my Mom's house as a rental.

Death of a Deck
We knew the back deck was creaky and unstable.  We knew that at least one of the posts didn't even touch the ground.  But we did not know that only hope and good thoughts were holding that thing up!  We started dismantling the deck on Saturday, Sept 2. 

Nail by nail we started taking the deck planks off.  Then, when we pulled the last plank away from the joists nearest the house the entire frame of the deck, joists, header, and all, just tumbled to the ground.  Really?!  I think the deck planks were holding the deck together with friction.  It turns out that the header didn't even attach to the house!  There were no footers under any posts.  Some posts just landed on the dirt or a sidewalk.  One post missed the ground by about six inches! 

Saturday we tore the deck apart. Sunday we hauled the wood out to the back pasture where old tree branches and scrap wood goes to die. 

Water Heater Crisis
Monday, Labor Day, we were distracted from the deck.  We knew the water heater had been leaking a tiny bit for months.  Now it was REALLY leaking.  So off to buy and install a new hot water heater. 

Back to the deck
Saturday, Sept 10 we turn attention back to the deck.  After stringing lines, measuring, doing the 3-4-5 thing to make sure we were "square" with the house, we finally located where to dig post holes.  Dig, dig, dig. Dig, dig, dig.  Dig, dig, SPURT!  What the heck?  Yes, we hit a sprinkler line.  We also found the sprinkler line when digging the second hole. 

No worries, we thought.  Keep digging.  Dig, dig, dig, ping!  What?  Yep - hit the sewer line out to the septic tank.  Good grief!  Later when we were tracking down which sprinkler zone pipe we hit, we found out that we cut through two different lines.  Definitely a Murphy's law day.

Wanted: new tenants

Today marked the absolute donenatudeness* of our last vacant apartment.  The flooring guys installed carpet throughout the apartment on Thursday.  Today we did the final vacuum, installed a final few phone jack covers, and put drawer slides in the stove drawer so it opens and closes easily.  All in all, this apartment is sweet.

Now we need a tenant.  Our property manager showed it this week to the perfect tenants.  They liked the apartment and they seemed perfect.  Perfect, that is, until they said they had an 80 pound dog.  Screeeech.  The brakes locked up on that conversation.  No, no, no.  A small dog maybe - 5, 10, 15 pounds, maybe.  But 80?  To quote the Wizard's guard in the Emerald City, "Not no way. Not no how!"

Is there anyone left who doesn't own a big dog????

*Donenatudeness:  From the root word, donenatude.  Meant as a reference to something that is finished, or complete. 

Independence Day - almost

It's almost Independence Day, and I'm not talking about July 4th.   If you've been following this blog at all, you know we've been working on 102 forever.  It is our last vacant unit - and it's been vacant since last June.  Our Independence Day will be the day we take the lock box off 102 and declare that it is done.

The tenants moved out last June (2010) without notice owing us a boatload of money - surprise!  It was a mess.  There was food in the cupboards, trash everywhere, a mattress and other "furniture" left behind, feces on the bathroom floor, and the carpet was Nasty, with a capital "N." 

So, facing this mammoth task, we focused our efforts and money on other vacant units that we could turn around faster.  It sat vacant month after month after month.  Finally, in March we turned out attention to 102.  When Courtney moved out in April we were briefly distracted by refreshing her apartment. 

But, basically we've spent every weekend in 102.  Here's the drill Saturday morning - arrive at 9:00 a.m. and work til 5:00 or 6:00.  Sunday work from 2:00 - 5:00.  That's about 22 total 'man hours' per weekend. 

Here's what we've done:

Downstairs bathroom:

• CLEAN the downstairs BATHROOM.  That was job #1.  Bleeech.
• Replace medicine cabinet
• Replace light bar

Tear out carpets (all of them).
Scrape the popcorn stuff off living room ceiling and refinish and paint
Paint (God bless Tino who painted the apartment in exchange for rent that month)
Replace outlets throughout the apartment.  They were all loose and cords would actually just fall out.
Kitchen:

• Replace back door with new steel door (all the glass panes were broken out and door was falling apart). 
• Replace broken window (we did that last June when they first moved out)
• Replace floor in laundry room (not floor covering..the floor clear down to the joists.  It was rotten, rotten, rotten.)
• Replace hot water heater,
• Lay new kitchen floor.  We're experimenting with self stick floor tiles.  I think I'm gonna like them!  They have a nice weight and we'll be able to replace one at a time when they get gouged.
• Clean cabinets (inside and out) and replace hardware
• Clean nasty refrigerator, find and replace door shelf brackets.
• Replace kitchen blinds.  (Bali makes some very nice vinyl blinds that are super easy to install!)
• Replace dining room light fixture

Upstairs bath: 

• Remove grout from tub tile, and re-grout.  Easy to say, hours and hours to do!
• Replace upstairs bathroom floor.
• Paint vanity.
• Replace wallboard behind toilet. 
• Replace medicine cabinet.
• Replace outlet - yes, honestly, the outlet was fried!

Replace smoke detector and CO2 detector.
Replace light fixtures in almost every room
Remove bi-fold closet doors, scrub down, and re-install. 
Remove sliding patio door in master bedroom and replace with 6' window. 
Fix the rotten floor along the base of the patio door.

Buy new carpet for both bedrooms, hallway, stairs, and living room.  615 square feet. 
The guy is coming to measure on Tuesday.  Hopefully we can get the carpet installed yet this week. 
I'm exhausted!  Going to bed for about a month!

You never know what you're gonna find

Memorial Day.  Harley owners are out riding their noisy Hogs.  Others are in the mountains getting their cabins ready for summer.  Families gather and fire up the barbeque.  Children are playing in the yard and blowing soap bubbles, watching them float with the breezes.

You can guess where we were.  Last weekend Diego put a new subfloor down in the kitchen of #102.  A scant 1/4 inch of plywood to give the new floor a nice level place to live.  Then on Saturday we put leveler on the seams.  Later, while Diego was working in the bathroom upstairs, I sanded the leveler down.  Sunday we got a late start at 3:00 and cleaned and vacuumed the floor and then painted the floor with a primer in prep for tile.

Today, Memorial Day, we started at 9:00 a.m.  We decided to use self stick vinyl tiles, thinking that when the inevitable gouges occur, we can pull and replace individual tiles instead of replacing the whole floor.  The field tiles went down really fast.  The border tiles each had to be cut, and although not difficult, did take quite a bit of time.

Meanwhile upstairs....Diego was fixing the walls in the bathroom.  It became apparent that a part of the drywall was damaged and would actually have to be replaced.  When he had the wall opened up there was something back there.  Diego came downstairs with - no kidding - a pair of dirty mens underwear hanging from a screwdriver. Eeew!  I can only imagine how they got there.

Sold but not over

Monday was a "key" day -  the day we turned over the keys of the 8 plex to the new owner and the day passed without drama.  Frankly I was ready to walk out of the closing if needed.  The buyer(s) are a family; mom, dad, and son.  Son is local but mom and dad are several hours away.  This is a good thing since the dad is a bully and tried to pick at least two fights with me the first day I met him.  Fortunately, the son had a power of attorney which meant he signed everything and mom and dad didn't have to be here. 

When it was all over Diego's question was, "so if I go over there now am I officially trespassing?"  Ha! 

So after closing I went over to the other building to work on that apartment.  Like I've said before, my knowledge of electricity can be summed up pretty fast: white to white; black to black.  So when I decided to replace the back porch light switch this is what I found: black to black to black, but the white and ground wires were just bundled up together.  Yikes.  The amateur in me says don't touch this one.

That didn't stop me completely, however.  There was still the dark bathroom to address.  Sunday I hung the medicine cabinet and Monday I tackled the light bar.  The wire was coming out of the wall in the wrong place.  Diego gave me a few pointers on how to pull the wires and said he was confident I could do it.  What could I do?  I had to prove him right. 

White to white - black to black.  With only one finger bandaged in sacrifice (utility knife cut both the sheathing on the wires and the sheathing on my finger), I finally pronounced "let there be light," and there was!  (and I only had two light bulbs, thank you very much!)

All good things must come to an end

Although we've only been "in" the apartment business for a bit over a year, it has sometimes felt like a prison sentence.  The 8 plex has been full of colorful tenants and fodder for many good stories. 

• Remember Vicky - who kept telling us lie after lie until Jana finally evicted her in November? 
• There was the leaky bathtub in #2 that caused a $13,000 repair bill in the apartment underneath. 
• There was the scary tenant who said if he couldn't keep the pit bull dog he was leaving - he left.
• And on and on.

Well we've had enough, frankly.  About 6 weeks ago we put the apartment on the market thinking that only God could bring a buyer.  Well, He did.  We received an offer yesterday that looks like it's going to work.  We're still negotiating a few details, but it's looking good. 

However, we're not out of the rental woods yet.  We are only selling the 8 plex, and will retain the 4 plex for now.  The 4 plex is newer and I think we can get it stabilized.  And maybe, maybe we can have a little piece of our life back.  Stay tuned!

Courtney's World - the final chapter

I have sad news for you.  Courtney moved out on Saturday.  But in true form, she moved out without telling us.  Diego arrived at the building to work on the apartment next door and there was a big ol' UHaul sitting in the driveway.  Courtney's husband was busy loading the truck and Courtney was just wandering around. 
When asked, she told Diego they'd found another place to live that would take her dogs. 

When I arrived I went to talk to her.  She got really testy with me and said they were moving because I suddenly wouldn't let her have two big dogs and that there was mold in the bathroom that was making her sick.  She then went on a little rant that she had reported the mold and that Jana hadn't done anything about it. 

Let me tell you all right now - mold is a serious accusation, and both Jana and we take it very seriously.  She never reported any mold issues.  Further I checked her apartment that very afternoon.  Two guesses what I found and the first one doesn't count.  Ding.Ding. Ding.  You're right!  No mold. Anywhere. 

I have mixed feelings about Courtney leaving. 
I'm offended that they left with no notice (after she begged stay as long as they only kept one dog).
I'm relieved that she's gone and we won't have to deal with her anymore.
I'm richer now that she won't be plugging the drains every month.
I'm sad that I won't have anymore great Courtney-stories to share.

 

Who are you?

I don't have any good storiest to share this week, so I'm going to borrow one from my wonderful property manager.  She got a call from a tenant who lived in a house with a vacant basement apartment.  The tenant wanted to know who had moved in downstairs.  The answer was "no one.  It's still for rent."  Ha!  That's what she thought.  It turns out that there was someone living in the basement.  Here's my paraphrase of the conversation.

Jana:  Who are you?
Squatter: I'm Lisa 
J: Why are you here?
S:  I needed a place to live.
J:  How did you get in?
S:  The door was open so I moved in.
J:  But you can't live here.
S:  Why?
J:  Because you aren't a tenant.  You haven't paid any rent, you haven't signed a lease, you haven't done anything.
S:  But I am living here.
J:  But you can't  just move in without signing a lease.  I don't even know who you are!
S:  Why, I'm Lisa! 

of course ... It's Lisa!  That makes everything okay.  And the conversation went downhill from there. 

Jana called the police who said they couldn't/wouldn't do anything.  This woman is living in a parallel universe where it's okay to just move into any vacant space.  It wasn't breaking and entering, since she hadn't done any damage.  They suggested that Jana would have to go through the eviction process.  I kid you not!  They have to go through the expensive eviction process to throw out the person who just moved into an apartment because the door was open.

So, Jana posted a 3-day Eviction Notice on her door and, fortunately, Lisa left ... presumably to find another unlocked vacant apartment. 

Dumpster Diving

In this episode of Courtney's World we find her peering out of her kitchen window to find someone pulling up to the apartment dumpster throwning a bunch of trash into our dumpster.  Ever the  good "Do-Bee," she writes down the license plate number and calles the police.  Yea!  Then she digs around in the newly-delivered trash to find the name and address of the offender.  Yea! 

The cops respond and take Courtney's statement and proceed to contact the offender who says she'd gladly retrieve her trash rather than get a "theft of services" ticket.  However, somewhere along the way Courtney told the woman that was okay for her to leave it there.  WHAT?  The cops trot back to Courtney to verify and, sure enough, Courtney gave her permission to leave the trash.  So, the official disposition of the Police case is "unfounded" and we/they won't prosecute because Courtney gave her consent to leave it.

So if you can figure this one out, call me!  Why did she give permission for the woman to leave her trash and yet still call the cops AND give them a statement?  On what planet does she have authority to tell someone that I'll pay to have their trash hauled off?  Why...I could go on, but ...Why? 

We offered one of our tenants who was significantly behind on rent the opportunity to do some painting in exchange for rent credit.  He did a great job!  He was kind of slow but we were "paying" him for the job, not for how long it took. 

Subsequently he split up with his wife and is living with his mom about 15 miles outside of town.  He has now asked if he can live in one of our vacant apartments in exchange for more work.  Without a doubt, there is plenty of work to do.  He's proven that he can do a good job and he's eager to work.

My fear, however, is getting him back out of the apartment.  We have a vacant apartment that is going to require a lot of work and is on the bottom of our list for renovation/repairs and he offered to take that apartment. 

Call us crazy, but we're actually thinking about it - but with parameters.  Written parameters, with a sunset clause.  Hear me out.  The grass will be growing (or is that groaning) again very soon, which means fixing sprinklers, spreading weed and feed, mowing lawns, and trash pick-up.  We also have two other vacant apartments that need lots of attention; painting, carpet shampooing, window blinds, screens, etc., etc., etc.

So we'll see what happens.  I don't know whether we'll do it or not.  And if we do, it might turn and bite us.  Stay tuned.

And now for scenes from our next episode...My favorite tenant, Courtney is in rare form when she calls the cops on someone dumping their trash in our dumpster. 

Spa Day

We've been pretty absent from the 8 plex since October.  It's a case of the squeaky wheel gets the grease.  Our attention has been on getting Mom's house ready for our daughter and working on one of the vacancies in the four-plex.  This combined with relatively few maintenance issues this winter, we just haven't been over there very much. 

Then, last week, Jana tells us that she's rented #8.  It's been vacant since July and we'd already painted, shampooed carpets, replaced window blinds etc.  I thought it was ready to rent - until it was actually rented.  Then we looked again with a critical eye.  Yikes!  Our walk through on Saturday yielded a long to-do list. 

I spent last Saturday afternoon in the tub.  It wasn't a spa-day, however.  I was scraping grout - except it wasn't grout.  It was more of that blasted rock-hard putty* - my Dad's favorite cure-all.  This stuff does not scrape out.  I spent hours and still didn't completely win. I even tried our nifty little multi-tool that has a jiggly little saw-blade kind of thing. 

I was back in the tub on Sunday with caulk.  It doesn't look great, but it's water tight, and that's the biggest thing.  I also replaced the doorbell and the latch on the storm door, installed the smoke detector, measured for window screens. 

Meanwhile Diego was under the sink.  Repairing the air gap, fixing the diverter to the sprayer, replacing the valve stems, replacing cabinet floor, and more.  I love him.  I feel like everything he does at the apartments is a tangible demonstration of his love for me.  He didn't ask for this but what a guy! 

**************

*Durham's Rock Hard Putty.  My Dad's answer any maintenance issue that requires filling a hole.  It is a fine yellow powder that you mix with water in a disposable cup.  Don't use too much water - keep it the consistency of peanut butter or maybe a bit looser, depending on the application.  You can cut it, sand it, and paint it, and if it's thick enough, you can mold it.  But be careful - it really does dry rock hard.

How did Dad do it all those years?

I'm not sure how Dad did it all when he was younger - manage the apartments alone, that is.  Mom helped for a lot of those early years.  Both of them cleaned, painted, collected rents, posted eviction notices.  But in the later years mom couldn't do the physical stuff. 

Clear up until three months before he died he was still responding to calls for plumbing emergencies, no heat, etc.  He poured his heart and soul into those apartments.  I'm not sure if he enjoyed it or just did it because it was his retirement.  He was self employed most of his life and there was no 401k, no defined benefit plans, no PERA.  Just hard work. 

The biggest problem that we face with the apartments now is that Dad didn't really do it for the last 10 or so years. Not for lack of trying, but climbing ladders, painting, and cleaning trashy apartments is really more than should be expected of any 78 year old man.

So the maintenance issues just piled up over the last 10 years and Dad either did things just enough to get by or just ignored problems completely. But it's caught up with us now.  I've thought that I might have grieved more over his death if he hadn't left us such so much work to do.  Sounds kinda heartless, but honest.

So we spent the day getting #8 ready for a new tenant.  We did a walk through first then I scraped tile,  dug the nasty grout out from the bath tub and installed a new smoke detector.  Diego worked on some leaks under the kitchen sink and fixed a leaky bathtub in another unit that we discovered.  We called the glass company to measure windows to replace cracked glass. 

We're hoping to take tomorrow (Sunday) off from the apartments, but stuff just keeps stacking up. While we were working in #8, the gal from #1 said her oven door won't open and the garbage disposal won't work. We found the leak in the bathtub in #4, and Louise in #8 has a broken window.  Yikes!

Who knew? The Pit Bull and the Screen Door - Part II

One of our rock-solid paying tenants moved out last weekend.  He was such a nice guy.  The tattoos and piercings were scary looking, but he was polite and friendly.  His apartment was always spotless when we had to be in it for some reason.  But he refused to get rid of the pit-bull dog.  And since he said it was either the dog or him...we waved goodbye. 

He left the apartment clean and brought the keys back - just like you'd hope a tenant would.  So, what's the catch?  The other tenants in the building are dancing with joy.  It was only when he moved out that they started telling us about the parties, the noise, the tons of people who were always hanging out there and the fact that his friends would take up all the parking places.  I need to vacuum the front yard to get all the cigarette butts! 

Why wouldn't they tell Jana or us?  They didn't want to cause trouble.  Were they afraid of him?  Or are they afraid of us?  Or are they just nice people who don't want to make waves?  Regardless our remaining tenants are happy campers.  Now if they'll just pay their rent ...

The new meaning of Tax Season

Tax time has meant various things to me over the years, but in landlord speak it means paid rent.  "Huh?"  Really. Two of our tenants were desperately behind in their rent.  In fact, Jana posted a 3-day eviction notice on one of them.  The very next day she walked in the door with $1,770 in cash.  The other tenant also walked in with a wad of cash to catch up.  Both said it was a tax refund. 

Don't get me wrong.  I am very happy they are caught up and we desperately need the money to pay bills and make repairs.  But I am concerned whether they will be able to remain current.  I'm trying not to borrow worry. 

Here's this weekend's to-do list:
#103
Replace medicine chests in both bathrooms
Replace light fixture in stairway
Paint upstairs bathroom
Replace bath faucet
Replace valve stems in lavatory faucet
Buy new drip pans for stove
Fix evaporation tray in refrigerator
Replace smoke detector
Spray paint the stairway and closets
Paint bathroom vanity
Check window coverings and replace if needed
Replace light fixture in kitchen and dining room

Ugh...that's not all, I'm just tired of listing things. 

The Pit Bull and the Screen Door

One of our most reliable tenants showed up with a pit bull.  We actually saw the dog about two months ago and told him the dog had to go. No Pit Bulls.  Well, that fell on deaf ears!  But bless our dear property manager's heart!  She confronted him when he paid the rent on Feb 1. 

He said if the dog goes, he goes.  She said, "don't let the door hit you on the way out."  I love it!  Then she sent a follow up letter confirming his intent to vacate before March 1.  YEA!  Although I'm sad to lose a steady tenant, the other tenants were complaining and it's all good.

Also, our dear property manager has worked miracles!  Remember our dear Courtney?  Rubber bands in the drain? Tub wouldn't drain because the lever was down? Two big dogs?  Jana found them a new place to move effective April first.  Meanwhile, they got ride of the nasty dog, took down all the signs and paraphenelia that screamed "Beware of Dog."   She's a miracle worker.

Call the plumbers, would ya?

A plumber responded to #4 on New Year's Eve to fix a bathtub that wasn't draining.  Here's the bill:

Tub not draining. 

Put lever down.

Drains fine

$49

Help me! 

Speechless!

It's amazing, and stunning, and unbelievable.  We did, indeed, talk with our fabulous property manager and decided to proceed with evicting Courtney and her dogs.  Jana posted her 3 day notice today and tonight I was getting cell phone calls from Courtney on my cell phone.  When I didn't answer I received a text message. 

I responded that I was unavailable and she should call Jana with any issues.  Here's her response (verbatim):

" K i hope ur okay i just had a question if u or ur husbend had a problems with my dogs...i'll let u know how everything goes."

I am speechless!

Puppies, paint and panic

1.  Puppies (aka DOGS)  I've had it.  The property manager and I never did get together to confront Courtney but I'm SO done.  Every time we're over there the dogs - the big dogs - are alone in the apartment, barking like crazy, clawing at the window.  There is big poop all over the little back yard that they've wire-tied together.  Now they've posted a "Beware Of Dog" sign. 

We had resolved that we would have to wait until we rented the vacant apartment next door before we started eviction notice on Courtney and Trinidad for their dog violation(s).  What to do?  We aren't getting enough income from the rented units to cover the expenses.  Do we evict a paying tenant?  AAARRRRGGGGHHHH.

2.  Paint:   We're working like crazy on Mom's house for the kids.  They're planning to move in asap, but target date is Feb 15.  Diego and I both took Thursday afternoon off work to work over there.  We taped and masked the ceiling and floors in prep for spraying drywall texture.  The sprayer must stay parallel to the wall - well that's just fine between 3-5 feet off the floor - but at floor level and ceiling level?  Squat, stand, reach, stand, squat, repeat.  Who needs Work Out West?

We vowed to spend Friday night doing nothing, but Saturday we were back at it.  We sprayed primer in the morning and paint in the afternoon.  Same technique for spraying paint:  squat, stand, reach - keep the sprayer parallel to the wall.  I was exhausted. 

What's left?  Bedroom ceiling trim, bedroom base moulding, fix acoustical ceiling tiles, closet shelves, install bi-fold closet door, repair carpet in bedroom and living room, build new counter top with new laminate, install new kitchen sink, paint second coat on dining room walls, and a few other things.  Individually each task isn't bad, but as a composite - Yikes!  None of this takes into account what the kids have on their own to-do list: grout tile back splash, finish final touches of paint on cabinets, install new cabinet pulls, replace cabinet doors paint living room, etc.,. etc,. etc.  Even after they move in they'll have a long to-do list. 

3.  Panic:  A new tenant moved into in the 8 plex this weekend - Thank God!  Wednesday night I had a dream that he backed out of the lease because he was told there was asbestos.  I woke up at 3:30 a.m. trying to decide if it was real or a dream and worried in a half-conscious state til morning.  Good grief! 

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

If you give a mouse a cookie, the story goes, he will ask for a glass of milk.  If you allow a tenant one small, 10# dog, he will bring in a 40# dog, and then two.  It's true. 

In August, when Courtney signed the lease, she told the property manager she had a dog.  A small one.  We soon discovered it was a 40# black lab mix dog that BARKS!  Now we find Courtney has two dogs that bark in stereo.  We've actually known it for a month or so, but we haven't done anything proactive about it yet. 

Flash forward to today.  Chris, my son, was at the 4-plex painting one of the vacant units.  Courtney, who has been spying on Chris between the slats of the blinds for two days ran outside to tell him "you're going to have to replace the carpet, you know, because of the dog." 

He proceeded to tell her tenants were allowed one small, 10# dog and not two large dogs.  And if the carpets were damaged and needed to be replaced it would come out of her deposits.  "Oh no," she said, "I mean in this vacant unit.  Inez had a dog."  

A.  Inez did, in fact, have a dog.  For two months she had the tiniest chihuahua you ever saw. 
B.  There was very little 'evidence' left behind in her apartment.
C.  Where the heck does she come off "ratting out" Inez, when she has two dogs the size of Manhattan?

Chris called to tell me the story - and we chuckled.  But the big laugh came an hour later when the property manager emailed to tell me that Courtney called to say, "We had to get a (second) male dog because one of my husband's friends said he was going to come have sex with me."  (Cue to barf here. This is not a pretty picture)

The saga will continue tomorrow when the property manager and I confront Courtney.

You couldn't make this stuff up!

The (undesired) Return of the Evicted

It's been about 2 months since Vicky was evicted. (Read below for full story)  She was two, three ... I lost count ... months behind in her rent.  Then, standing before a judge, she had the nerve to lie to him and tell him that our records were faulty and that she should be allowed to stay.  But it's all behind us now.  I thought.

Today it was snowing and the temperatures are going to be in the single digits this week so we stopped by the 8 plex to check on the boiler .  Julie was shoveling the show - hallelujah!  Here's my conversation with her:

Julie:  Hey, remember that girl who lived upstairs?  (Vicky)  She came by here the other day asking where your mom lives.  She said she wants to move back in here.  She said she didn't want to talk to Jana (our property manager), but wanted to talk directly to your mom. 

Me:  WHAT?  There is no way.

Julie:  Yea, I told her "after all you did to them and you owed them so much money?  You need to leave them alone."

Ya think?  After all her lies, I am done dealing with her. 

Vicki is street smart and a good liar and great at manipulation.  However, I'm confident that Mom won't give her the time of day. She'll refer her to The property manager.  But I'm still amazed at her nerve.  Either she is the most nervy person I've known, or she's the most delusional.  I'm not sure which!

A story of two phone calls (okay, three phone calls)

Last month Courtney called to say her bathtub was clogged.  Friday she called again; the bathtub is clogged.  She tells me that the last time the plumber dug out a bunch of rubber bands.   WHAT?  I'm thinking that's not my problem - but it is. 

Diego and I were right in the middle of pulling wire for new outlets at my mom's house and really didn't want to drop everything go clear out her drain.  So I asked our wonderful property manager to call a plumber.  It will probably result in a $100 after-hours call (New Year's Eve and they'd already gone home).   Plus, if it turns out to be clogged with their own stuff (rubberbands??), then the property manager will bill them for the call. 

Then, today I had two voice mails from Courtney.  The first said that the power was out in the building but they had called Excel.  The secon call said that the power was back on.  Now those are the kind of calls I don't mind getting on a Sunday morning.