a wolf angel is not a good angel

I think I hear chirping.

In my fireplace.

It might be freezing cold here, and it might be only September, but I have a fireplace!

Found out why dishonest contractor never got back in touch with me — he’s trying to sue the old owner. I assume I’ll get more info later. When he gets back in touch with me, I have a written estimate for one thing (where he charged TWO TIMES the estimate), so that should work. The other he just charged a few hundred more — I will offer a few hundred less than the estimate, because all the paint chipped off over the winter, so I need to sand and repaint it. I admit I am totally paranoid about this whole thing. Also, seriously, twice the written estimate? Is he insane as well as totally dishonest and unethical?

The house next door to my parents’ house — priced *at least* 50% more than it is worth (and about 2.5 times what they paid for it, a few years ago — they didn’t do major renovations, but they did fix up a lot of it — and most people figure it’s priced more like 70% over what it should be) — has given in and brought the price down. By 5%. We’re still betting no sale, though.

One of the apartments in my building has just been rented, and if the number I heard is correct, then I could, theoretically, rent it out for 50% more than my mortgage+condo payments.

The person who bought the building behind me is, by all accounts, still trying to illegally force current tenants out. (First rule of changing to a condo: you cannot do it for 5 or 10 years after you’ve illegally forced a tenant out. *If* you’re caught.) And most of the tenants are, I think, too tired to fight it. Now the new owner is trying to get the building condemned.

Since someone is coming to drop off art, and then other people are coming to look at it with me, I need to clean up. I started around 8:15 this morning, and I take more breaks than I do work. My bathroom is clean (including the toilet), and my kitchen is cleanish, but I have all these other places, like my staircase, and my living room, and my office (my bedroom is terrible too, but that has a door). I need a better way to clean, bearing in mind that I hate cleaning more than anything else at all. (I do not mind: laundry, dishes, and cleaning the toilet.)

I decided to look at an open house near my place today, just out of curiosity.

A comparison, for the features I remember offhand.

I’m thinking this place isn’t going to sell so fast.

Condo meeting next week! This should be exciting. We’re finishing the nasty argument discussion about last year’s work, and discussing sealing the balconies. I’d like to add “meeting scheduling” to the meeting. And I am sure there are a huge list of other things on the agenda. And I will get a sneak peak this weekend, when I and some of the other co-owners (the sane ones, plus me) who conveniently have a majority in the building (50.8, or something, I can’t find my agreement to check) will discuss our game plan for this meeting. Part of which better involve trying not to be too obvious that we pre-agreed about things, especially by doing something silly like publishing that fact on the internet.

Meeting scheduling needs adding because: we had a meeting set for some time late April or early May. I kept the day free. Heard nothing, neither ‘yes it is on’ or ‘no it is cancelled’. It was cancelled. Another one was planned for shortly after. Kept the date free, same thing happened. Kept another day open (Monday next), heard nothing. This time I left a note saying that without one week’s notice, I might not be able to show up. Another person then said the same thing, and hey wouldn’t it suck to organise ANOTHER day? Suddenly, meeting confirmed. This is a fairly typical story. (One of the problems is that one person in the building seems to have moved out. No one is entirely sure. But it’s hard to organise with a missing person. Especially a missing person who has the minutes from the last meeting and never gave them out.)

This time it will be my turn to take minutes, which will at least be something to do during the fights. Especially if I take minutes on my computer. (A minute playing freecell, a minute playing spider . . . )

[1] There’s something about condos having to be new properties. I live in a (divided) co-ownership.

Now that the leaves grew in, during a very brief respite from the three weeks of near constant rain.

My herbs and flowers bucket. I actually also want to grow some herbs separately, but I can’t decide which ones: basil, of course, and cilantro, but I have something which will hold *three* sets of herbs, so what will I use a lot of?

My breakfast, lunch, and dinner table. When it’s nice enough out. Sigh.

All it needs is a nice lounge so I can rest on it, if ever it’s sunny again.

Best wishes to Moebius Stripper, who has had her offer accepted on a condo. Since she almost certainly is in a building with more co-owners than I am, I wish her great joy at the condo meetings. With luck, her first annual meeting will not end with someone leaving the meeting crying; if it does, I hope it’s not her (it was not me).

That made *total sense*. Gah. It was *horrible*.

I have to work out what sorts of air conditioning can be done, and what it would or would not imply for holes in the walls and stuff — there’s that ductless thing, which I think is supposed to make sense? Because if I don’t really need to heat my place in the winter, I am going to be very unhappy about cooling it in the summer. But I really do not want to deal with any of it.

Next meeting in 2 weeks. Sigh.