Day 46: Ready to jump out the window

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 46: Ready to jump out the window

For the past 30 years or so, I have lived in a condo building and never given much thought to the person in the management office.

To the best of my knowledge, that person was there in case one of the residents had a complaint and in due time that complaint would be taken care of.

Today, I have a newfound respect for people in management offices everywhere. How they put up with the constant stream of complaints, I don’t know.

As a temp, my latest assignment is working for such a management company and I tell you ... if it wasn’t that I worked on the ground floor, I would be ready to jump out the window.

I started in the management office last Thursday and initially the work was fine, if not a little boring. That all changed today.

Earlier this month two men from a fire alarm company came to inspect the units to make sure that the smoke and fire alarms were in working condition. Today, they came back to visit the units where a problem had been found.

All-day long I was getting calls from residents demanding to know when the two men would visit their unit. How was I supposed to know that? I didn’t accompany the men and they didn’t check-in with me.

In addition to this there was a steady stream of visitors to the office, each with their own complaint: a hole in the ceiling needed fixing, something was stuck in the garbage chute, a dead rodent was found in the garden, two people protested a fine they received after not paying their maintenance fees on time. By three o’clock I had enough. Did these people do anything but complaining?

The cherry on the cake came at 3:00 p.m. A man walked in, I guessed him to be in his early 50s, who looked and smelled like a bum. He asked me when the next flea market was to be held. I told him in early October. Could I give him a registration form? I told him that no registration forms were currently available. “Well, if you can’t do the job then why are you here?” he stated.

Next, he told me that he wanted to file a complaint. When I asked him as to the nature of his complaint he barked, “That’s none of your business.” I wasn’t gonna argue with him, but it was my business. How could I address his complaint if I didn't know what it was?

I’m not exactly looking forward to tomorrow and as far as I’m concerned, this assignment can’t be over soon enough. Like I said, I have a newfound respect for condo management office staff everywhere. How they put up with the complaints day in and day out, I don’t know. If I had to do it, I'd jump out the window.

Day 147: Happy Birthday Halley - From Kitten to Cat

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 147: Happy Birthday Halley - 1 Year Old

We adopted Halley from Jackie (a Toronto Cat Rescue foster mother) when she was a three-month-old kitten. 

 

From day one, Halley made herself right at home. She explored the house, made friends with the resident cats, and tried different places to sleep.

She was a rather curious kitten, exploring places such as cabinets, drawers and even the inside of the fridge.

 

When Easter came around, Halley took a close look at the ornaments and told them in no uncertain terms to move over. 

 

Since she took a liking to one chicken, in particular, we let her have it and it was love at first sight.

Right from the start, she had a particular liking for colorful springs, which she batted all around the house. Unfortunately, in the process, quite a few of those springs went missing. When we cleaned under the sofa, we found no less than 15 of those springs, along with rubber balls, stuffed mice and even a Christmas ornament. Other toys of preference are a rotating ball and a life-size fish, both toys she claims as her own and is not keen on sharing.

Halley is very much Dieter’s cat. She’s made it her business to wake him up in the morning, but unfortunately, her inner clock is a little off. While Dieter has his alarm set for 6:00 a.m., Halley often wakes him with kisses and headbutts sometimes as early as 4:30 a.m. Neither does she know the difference between a work day and weekends. As you can imagine, a wake-up call at 5:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning is not appreciated.

When Dieter is on the computer or working on his tablet, she likes to keep him company. At times she merely sits on his lap or shoulder, other times she likes to get a really close look.

The same with watching TV. For Halley it’s not enough to watch from a distance, she prefers a front row seat.

When Dieter is busy with diamond painting, Halley is there, keeping an eye that he does things right.

When it’s time to relax and unwind, there’s nothing like cuddling with daddy in his arm.

 

When summer came around, this opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Halley is a keen birdwatcher, and an inspector of construction works of the parking lot. She also took an interest in fish.

After sundown, Halley could be found in the swing, or in the company of Greyson.

When winter comes around, Halley is almost sure to fancy a walk in the snow and I'll be sure to have my camera ready.

Happy birthday Halley, what will your second year bring?

Day 142: Management decided to turn off the A/C

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 142: Management decided to turn off the A/C

Even though the summer of 2018 will go down in history as the hottest year around the world, with heatwave after heatwave, the management of our condo building has seen fit to switch off the air-conditioning.

Never mind that yesterday’s temperature reached 32 degrees C (89.6 degrees F) and people are just about fainting in their units, according to some stupid bylaw the heat must be switched on by September 15th and that is the rule the manager of this building followed.

Technically, our building doesn’t have to follow that rule, because it is a condo building, not an apartment building and as such the government doesn’t have any say over us, but because the building holds approximately 10 rentals the bylaw gets enforced.

I’ve lived in this building for the past 18 years and this is the first time this rule has actually been enforced. Other years the building manager used common sense. If the temperature is still in the high 20s he waited with switching off the air-conditioning, after all, who needs heat when it’s still so hot.

However, this year we have a new building manager, a woman, and she goes by the book. When a notice was posted in the elevators that the air-conditioning would be switched off the next day, residents descended on the management office to complain about this decision. Some asked, some pleaded, some begged for the air-conditioning to stay on, but the manager could not be swayed. She said that some people might be cold and might need heat.

Some people might need heat!!! ... When it’s boiling hot outside!!! ... who are these people?

At first the lack of cool air was not such a problem, as the temperature remained below 25 degrees C (77 degrees F), but as from Thursday the temperature climbed and climbed, reaching 32 degrees yesterday. To say that it was uncomfortable inside would be an understatement. It went from warm, to hot, to stifling. Nobody had any energy and tempers flared.

If you live in a house, don’t think for a moment that this a the same as living in a condo. There’s a big difference between living in a brick and mortar house and a south facing, glass fronted condo on the 11th floor.

To bring some relief we have two fans going, but that only cools to air to a certain extent.  And if the days are difficult, the nights are even worse. Who can sleep in this heat?

Charlotte, Gabriel, Holly and Halley suffered too. In a way it’s worse for them then for us. While we could position ourselves in front of a fan or take a cold shower, the cats were laying flat on the hardwood floor, under the bed, or sought relief from the heat in the relatively cool walk in closet. After a while they figured out that though that the fan was nothing to be afraid of and sat in places where the wind of the fan lifted their fur.

Greyson was the only one who wasn’t bothered by the heat. For him it was business as usual. He ran around and played, but for once he couldn’t find anyone to play with. The others clearly were not in the mood.

Today it’s a little cooler than yesterday, and tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday will be cooler still, but on Friday temperatures are going up again. Well, technically it’s still summer until September 21st. Only the manager of our building seems to think it’s already fall.

Day 124: 2.5 million dollar project (1)

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 124: 2.5 million dollar project (1)

In addition to my own 365 creative writing prompts project, I would like to keep you up to date on another project. A $2.5 million project.

The works involve replacing the membrane of the parking garage of our condo building. Four members of the board of directors were in favor of this project, one was against it, so this was a no-brainer … with 4 to 1 the majority won.

The quotes that were presented for this project ranged from $2.5 million to $4 million, or so we were told. I contacted a construction company on my own and received a quote for $1.3 million. Why the difference? Who knows, draw your own conclusion.

Anyway, the works started last week by ripping up the asphalt.

While Charlotte and Gabriel couldn’t give a flying leap about what’s going on outside, for Holly and Halley this is great entertainment. The works usually start at 8:00 a.m. at which time one or both of them sit on my bedroom windowsill. Once I’m up and about and the balcony door is open, they move to the ledge and keep an eye on the workers from there.

 (Halley clearly has her doubts)

I should mention that this particular project is set to finish in November. Then next year phase two will start, followed by phase three.

In the meantime, I would like to keep you up to date on the progress by means of a weekly report. Since pictures are worth a 1,000 words, let the pictures do the talking …

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