Rocking The Boat In Crap Creek

I'm pretty sure that is not dirt that he is shoveling.

Well, another day and another cluster at our apartment building. Saturday was a wasted day as maintenance was in our apartment three times attempting to fix the leak leaving us behind on our errands and too tired to do much more on Sunday. After those unsuccessful attempts they agreed that a plumber needed to be brought in to address the problem… that was the plan until today when we were informed that they had entered our apartment without our permission to attempt to ‘fix’ the problem again. I am not sure as to whether they lied or management wouldn't approve the request; either way it is a huge load of crap. By the way, still no word from management about the situation nor an apology for previously ignoring my communications regarding our refrigerator.

On top of that mountain of crap we found out on Friday (luckily I read the notices posted in the mail room) that work will be done to repair the connection to the power grid beginning on Monday morning at 7:00 am. While the repair is necessary it should have never been required as the line was severed in the fall when they dug up the parking lot and lowered the new boiler into place. It wasn’t until a recent two day power outage that this became a priority. So what does this mean? Per the posted notice, residents that normally park in the garage under the building now have to park in the lot which is already at capacity. Translation: no parking spots available.

While we have rarely requested any maintenance work in the two and a half years since we moved in and we have not caused a stir in the building regarding little things that have come up here and there, this situation has put us over the edge. We are done with this building and we are done with playing nice and letting the little things go. So much so that I sent a letter to the management office and copied the president of the board. One of those correspondences when you summarize many of the issues that you have been letting go, the bag of crap if you will, all stemming from the most recent turd left at your door. Now, I post it here for all of you to enjoy (I removed the building name and all proper names).   

Dear Building Management,

On Friday evening I took note of the notice posted in the mail room regarding the repair work that will begin on Monday morning. While not required under House Rule 18, my wife and I would have appreciated a note placed in our door or in our box which was previously done as a courtesy prior to all major projects. This has previously been an effective means to keep us informed as we do not regularly enter and exit the building through the main lobby.

As I write this on Sunday afternoon all of the parking spaces in the lot are occupied. As I expect this to be the situation when I return home from the office tomorrow I am writing to inform you that if I, or my wife, are required to park in the shopping center across the street we will be holding the building personally liable for any damage, theft, or towing that may occur. Additionally, it is my hope that the building has received written permission from the shopping center to allow residents overnight (it remains unclear as to whether this has been received). Simply put, the parking arrangements outlined in the notice are unacceptable. Parking across the street will not work.

With regard to parking, there has been numerous issues that we have taken note of over the years and we have gone without bringing this to the attention of management or the board, until now. While most “contractors, workmen, and service persons” abide by House Rule 9.B.9 there have been numerous occasions when resident parking spaces have been occupied by service vehicles most notably in front of apartments A and B. I have yet to witness and rectification of these instances when they occur. This is in addition to the fact that, when my wife and I first signed our lease, we were given the verbal assurance that the parking spaces along the side of the building were reserved for the aforementioned apartments. While not outlined in the House Rules or our lease, it is disappointing when a verbal agreement is not honored.

There are a few residents that frequently use these spaces, the agreement of which they are certainly unaware, however that is not my concern with these individuals. What concerns me is that there are at least two apartments that park along the side of the building so that they can specifically use the emergency exit from the fire tower to enter and exit the building. In addition to this being detrimental to our own sleep as they discourteously slam the door behind them both late at night and early in the morning, they seem to be in violation of Lower Merion Fire Code (78-12.1, Section 5-2.1.5: “Locks, Latches, Alarms and Release Devices” and 78-26: Sections C.7 and D both pertaining to high-rise buildings).

Furthermore, additional consideration needs to be made regarding parking during large gatherings as we find ourselves in a similar situation that we are in now. This parking situation needs to be resolved (even three extra spaces like the ones occupied by the immobile vehicles near the dumpsters might offer some additional logistical leeway). There are more and more cars parking in the lot that are without a proper permit. For all visitors, parking tags or passes should be issued as well. As residents, it is our responsibility to have our permits displayed on our vehicle. All residents and employees should be issued permits, all others found in the parking lot that do not have a resident or employee permit, visitor pass, or are service personnel in the building should be towed!

Lastly, I would like to express my displeasure regarding the limited communication from the Management Office. When I recently attempted to contact management directly regarding an issue with our refrigerator I never received any communication back. I attempted to reach out through numerous means of communication (phone message, verbally through the front desk, and a note left at the front desk) as a courtesy before calling to have the service done but did not receive a single correspondence in return. While I don’t expect an immediate response, no response is simply unacceptable.

If you have any questions regarding the content above please feel free to contact me via phone or email. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Regards,

Sean

I am generally an easy going person. True I can let my passionate opinions shine now and again but, overall, I maintain a pretty even disposition. This stockpile of issues has recently ruined that for me and that fact alone has pissed me off. I guess we are just going to have to see how this thing plays out. All I know is that I am not going to just sit in my paddle less boat as the crap level in the creek continues to rise.

Where Does The Time Go?

That question can be applied to many different things with a variety of parameters. Sometimes it is a movie or television show that flies by, a book that seems to read itself, a project that defies the confines of time, a day with more tasks than hours, a week of constant motion, months of revolving deadlines, years of living. All these things seem separate from the simple ticking of a clock and are counted not in seconds or minutes but in memory and motivation. It was all of these actualizations that converged into this weekend which is now gone and counted in the past with all those other experiences.

Usually I don’t mind the rush of my schedule and trying to keep up with my calendar as is pulls on the leash trying to drag me away from what I am doing. Sometimes it is a good thing to move on, take a break from one task, and get other ones done or at least started. This weekend was not one of those times. I had a few things that I wanted to get done, a few projects that needed to be completed, and, for the first time in a while, I set aside time to do them. My weekend turned into something akin to the Obamacare rollout… I fought to get the plan together and moved a few things around but when I began implementing those plans it turned into a giant CF.

There were also reminders just how much time has gotten away from me over the years as birthdays listed on Facebook represented a whole group of people that I haven’t talked to in a long time. I have seen the changes in their lives through the quick glimpses on my social media streams but it is one flow of information that is nearly impossible to paddle against the current. And, most of the time, I am only able to catch a brief ripple of a photo or update as the currents are too broad to cross and try to catch all the information out there.

Of course, that was the broad application of the question. On a daily/hourly basis there are the usual list of things that got in the way like having to head into the office this morning and dealing with the snow tonight both cleaning and driving on the untouched roads. This combined with a delay in my wife’s flight (again, due to weather) sucked much of the time out of my day and weekend. It seems like this is an all too common of an occurrence which leaves me tired come Sunday night.

But tomorrow everything is back to normal and the Freaky Friday weekend will be over. I am sure that tomorrow morning will be a rude awakening for my wife as I am by no means a morning person and will require my alarm going off for at least thirty minutes. Maybe future plans will stick and I will be able to rest for a weekend. Well, maybe next month, the next two weekend have something scheduled.

Where Is H. G. Wells When You Need Him?

Excuse me, can I get a lift?

Did you ever have a day at work that just seemed like you were stuck in quick sand? That was the kind of day I had at the office when, no matter how much I got done, there always seemed more things that needed to be taken care of as the hours passed. It wasn’t until about six in the evening when I could feel the frayed end of a rope between my fingers and I was able to pull myself away from my desk.

We all have these kinds of days regardless of profession and, like many other things, there are pros and cons to this occurrence. While the pace of the day and frustration of the growing pile can wear on you, the fact of the matter is that the day goes much faster when you are constantly jumping from one project to another. Of course, that presents and entirely new problem in that when you look up at the clock and see that the day has passed you by, you are left wondering what the heck happened and feel like you didn’t get enough done.

I am also curious to see what the carry over is going to be like in the morning. Normally I wouldn’t think much of the overflow, the fact that I will be out of the office all day (I am taking a theoretical “day off”) could turn a busy day into a bit of a cluster. If it were a simple day off I would have cancelled it but it is rarely just a day off and I have made a commitment that will keep me from my desk. Tomorrow will just have to be one of those days when my laptop will just have to travel with me.

While some may say that is unfair or just generally complain about the situation that is not how I feel about the situation. Yes, I would like to have a day off when I don’t have to think about these things, when I could leave work at work and just enjoy the day, but that is not the career I chose. As I have said before, I have to be busy, I have to feel like I am getting something done all of the time. Sometimes that need is satiated by action while other times it can just as easily be quenched by thought.

The only thing I have to figure out is how to add hours to the day so I can have the best of both worlds… enough time to get everything done at the office with enough hours left over to accomplish all of my other side projects and even more time left over to spend some quiet time with my wife. But, unless someone had a time machine, Delorean, or time turner for sale, I am going to have to make do with the limited hours of the day. So now it is time to rest and prepare for the avalanche that will inevitably break away from the mountain in the morning.

Happy Unday!

For some, including many of my fellow Rotarians, today was one of celebration as most of the world celebrated United Nations Day. There were long speeches given and countless messages of peace and recollections of what the UN has done for the world. And I am one that whole heartedly agrees that the UN has done some phenomenal work to make this world a better place.

However, this international body is a shell of what it once was and the blind faith and loyalty that some have given to this misguided body is naïve at best. What was once a means to ensure the freedom of people around the world has veered so off course that now they are trying to strip United States citizens of their rights and their freedom like they have in so many countries in recent years. How sad it that?

What makes the situation even worse is the fact that this ‘impartial’ body of, let’s be honest, politicians refuses to enforce any real sanctions that would have a measurable impact on the nations of this world that have promoted and preached hate over the last several decades (and longer). Oh, that’s right, we can’t punish those who deserve it because they may not like us and that wouldn’t be nice. After all, if I make them mad they might break my rose tinted glasses.

However, what is downright shameful is the way that the UN has treated Israel while pandering to the Palestinian Authority. Almost every time, if not every time, Israel defends herself against countless attacks who is the one that gets blamed by the United Nations for the ‘hostilities’? That’s right; Israel is the one that is blamed because they gave a quick jab to the jaw of someone that was running at them throwing haymakers.

The UN has been diluted into a delusional CF comprised of castrated politicians that more closely resemble a fanny pack (those in Ireland will understand what is truly meant by the use of that expression) rather than a just delegation of international representatives. So, rather that celebrating UN Day, from now on I am simply going to consider it an unday. A day when we think about how far we have come and so far we have gone off track.

Hopefully, the United Nations can resurrect itself and realize that the utopia that rattles around in their heads is by no means reality and if you want the support of the people you must support and uphold the rights and freedoms of the people. The UN must be in opposition of those try and strip us of our rights. They must oppose those who serve as catalysts of conflict.

It is time to stop being pukes and start acting like a drill sergeant…