Late Night Country Roads

Paul and I found ourselves with an empty apartment on our hands. He performed the final walk-through with the tenant, signed off on it, returned her deposit and said a relieved good-bye. This young lady was a somewhat difficult renter. But we say, if one is going to have a difficult renter, her kind of difficult is preferred. She was simply a whiner. A pain in the butt. But she was on time with her rent and relatively, um, tidy. We allowed her to have her old golden retriever, who was a well behaved pup, but stinky as a dog can be. Our young lady did not wash the dog, nor did she clean up after the dog. This was beginning to be an issue to be addressed, but she gave notice to vacate so it became a non-issue.

We called this woman "the princess" because she was so helpless and thoroughly expected others to come to her aide for every little event. In the interest of being "helpful", during Irene she left Paul a voice mail that the power went out and perhaps he should notify the utility company. Because that house was the only house in CT that lost power during the hurricane??? The neighbors were glad to see her go. She had temper tantrums if anyone was using the washer/dryer during what she thought of as HER time to use it. She turned to the man upstairs for all kinds of help, including fix her flashlight. He told me he took the batteries out and put them in correctly and it worked. The neighbors tell me she would knock her broom handle on the ceiling at night because their cat was running around, yet her TV would be turned up to a volume that would suffice for a deaf person.



She was with us for two and a half years. I doubt she ever cleaned. REALLY cleaned - the things we do every now and again, once a year at least, like moving the stove/refrigerator and washing around/behind and under. Cleaning out cabinets. Washing down walls, including the brown discolored areas where your dog brushes against! Washing around the toilet. Washing around the garbage area. Washing windows! The unit smelled so badly of dirty dog, that it could be smelled in the hallway and upstairs.

When Paul checked the condition of the unit with her, it was late in the day making the interior a little shadowy. And though this person didn't clean, it was left in good condition, and mostly swept, giving the impression of a clean apartment. At least that is what Paul says. He says he opened the freezer and noted that it needed wiping down, and her response was to huff and whine at which point he said he'd just had enough and got the checkbook out.

Then I looked at it. Oh Em Gee. I looked at Paul, hands on hips and said, "You shouldn't have given all her deposit back. This place is DIRTY. Really dirty." It took hours to scrub the bathroom down, and when I started to wash the little pedestal sink, it nearly fell over. What? I called to Paul. "I think you'd better look at this, the sink is loose."

He replied, "It's a pedestal sink, it going to be a little loose."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Number one, I've supervised the installation of a pedestal sink or two. Loose is never ok. Number two. Why would I bother him if it wasn't real. Like it is a real problem. Like, I'm not a silly girl who has a tendency to see problems that aren't there. Erg.

When he humored me and looked at it, he saw the problem. It wasn't attached to the wall. There is a hole in the back of the bowl of the sink where the bolt goes to attach it to the wall, and that hole was broken. There was no way this happened after the tenant had left, and there was no way she wasn't aware of it. Well, what is simply is. Only direction is forward, so Paul took the sink out and installed a new one.

Meanwhile, a friend of his decided he would live there and I don't know what time frame Paul agreed to, but I was not finished cleaning and this man was moving in. I was there for three days at the apartment, scrubbing down walls and baseboard heaters, and tile. It is not a big apartment, but when it comes to cleaning I am a fiend. All the while, I'm working up an epic anger over the whole situation. Paul remarked that he thinks I would be much better at checking future residents in and out. He could be right, but that doesn't help the fact that I feel dumped with the responsibility of cleaning up after a tenant that he let go, leaving the unit in that condition. Then, although I'm glad we got someone in, I could surely have used a little extra time to get the unit in move-in condition. I remarked to Paul that he would be better at check ins and outs if he were the one who was left to do the make-ready for the resident turn-over.



I'm just venting, he feels badly so I don't want to make it into a huge thing, and in a little while I won't even remember it. But I did tell the new resident, whom we have known for years and is a great guy that I don't believe we need to collect a security deposit from him for damages, BUT, we will be collecting a cleaning deposit of $250. The units are all spotless when we rent them, and I fully have a right to expect they are spotless when they are returned to us. All our renters are past their leases, so we are going to be writing up new leases which will include the $250 cleaning deposit.

The point of all this venting is to describe an emotional state I was in. I've not been up to par because of a lingering cold which is kicking my butt, and lack of a good night's sleep in many days because Sean is filling in for a coworker on vacation and is working eleven nights in a row, which means I am driving eleven nights in a row. I'm sick, I'm tired, and pissed off.

The second day of cleaning went sort of late-ish. I was there most of the day, and Paul joined up later in the day to fix the sink and other odd assortments of fix-it tasks. After I had had all I could take of the smell of cleaners, filling countless buckets with water, then emptying their black contents a few minutes later (that's how dirty the unit was, and on top of that, their was tufts of icky dog hair everywhere which swarmed around in the black ucky bucket of water) and my hands were raw, I said, "Paul? I think it's a Valentino's day, don't you?"

Valentino's is a nice restaurant in the town of Ledyard. We like it and save it for a treat after a hard day working at the rental property. It's not a chain, very comfortable and clean, we sometimes run into people we know, and always enjoy a pleasant experience there. They employ an actual chef, so the italian food is mostly authentic and mostly outrageously delicious, yet we never feel uncomfortable being a little unsavory ourselves after a day of working in the yard or painting or somesuch.

After a delightful supper, where I taught an amazed young bus-boy how to hold three or four plates solidly, Paul and I got into our separate vehicles to head for home. I went one way, and he went another. I was passing Buttonwoods when he called to give me a heads up that Rt. 201 was closed at Rt. 2 due to an accident and traffic was being redirected. I told him thank you very much but didn't go that way and was five miles from home already. Silence. "Wow." he said, "Guess I took the long way."

"Yep"

I laid down for a little bit when I got home, waiting for the time to bring Sean to work. I didn't sleep, but it felt good to be horizontal.

Driving along the dark country roads late at night with my son is actually peaceful. On this particular night, I enjoyed a few delightful surprises that sort of erases the gritty emotions of the day. The moon was huge, a surreal crescent that hung low in the sky and as I rode up a hill, it suddenly appeared in front of me, on the horizon as if it were placed on the road before me. The sight took my breath away.



Further ahead, rounding a tricky bend, the road was lit up with a slew of emergency vehicles. Another accident! This one only a few miles from where Paul reported the earlier one. A little red car was headlong into a tree in the yard of an old white farmhouse. Must have been traveling at a goodly speed to miss the turn, crest the hill and make it all the way into the yard to be stopped by the tree. Although my first thought is of kids being reckless, these roads are full of wildlife and it wouldn't take much to lose the road after being surprised by a wandering deer. At least the road wasn't closed and I was able to get around all the activity.

A little closer to my destination, I noted a little possum bumbling in the typical possum way in the oncoming lane. There was a car coming the other direction, headed directly toward the little guy. I knew what I would be seeing on my way back home. Yuck. This time of year the roads are literally covered with the carcasses of racoons, squirrels, deer, possums, chipmunks, and I hate it.

Sure enough, there was the mound of torn possum flesh in the road on my return trip. Food for the crows.

And another four hours of hacking and wheezing, and up again at the crack of dawn to pick up the boy, then head back to Ledyard to finish up cleaning.

Note: The cleaning is done. My hands and back hurt. But the lawn (both, actually) needs to be mowed. Stayed home today though, caught up on some basic tasks here - dishes and laundry, took a nap, but tomorrow needs to be yard work day, both places. And the laundry room at Ledyard needs a good cleaning out, and scrubbing down, too. And the dogs need to be washed, bulbs need to be planted, and wood needs to be split, hauled and stacked.......

Note note: Sean got a start date for American Cruise Lines. He will embark on a ship October 12 out of Providence. He will be gone for two months, since there are no cruises in January and February. This cruise ends in New Orleans, where he will have to find his way home. The scary thing is, a 21 year old in New Orleans with a pocket full of money. Could be a recipe for disaster. I'm going to choose a more optimistic position and predict that he will find a good friend on board, and they will keep each other out of trouble while they enjoy a week exploring museums and other historic/cultural activities before finding their ways home. Right? Keeping to this vein, he will have performed well for the three months, and be asked to return to the ship once the cruises begin again in March. I just know it.



Sincerely,
Elfscooter