Life in Willow Glen

So far things are going okay. There is one vacant unit that is driving me nuts. So far, five different people have dome to look at it but have turned it down, or we turned them down. I have two appointments to show it tomorrow. Wish me luck. I've met the painter (Ivan), the mailman (Gabriel), and the plumber (Hector).

Yesterday, a water heater pipe exploded in no. 4. The water heater and pipe were repared but not before horrible water damage was done. I'm letting it dry out now, and will do the necessary wood and sheetrock repairs (part of the structure fell off when I opened the door.) on Saturday morning.

My tenant in no. 8 is threatening to call the police about her neighbor's alarm clock going off at 5 in the morning. I'm not going to do anything about it. The way I see it, if she wants to press charges for disturbing the peace she can, but the guy has to go to work and I don't want him to get a quieter alarm clock, oversleep, get fired for tardiness, and fail to pay his rent.

I have at least 4 tenants who have cats. This is supposed to be a "No Pets" complex. I don't know what I am going to do about this. I don't want to serve them all with notices to perform only to see them move out and leave me with 4 vacant units.

I had a pool contractor come by today to give me a bid on re-plastering the pool. It needs it bad. It seems the City Health Department has been "suggesting" it for a couple of years. I'll gather two more bids and present all three to my boss for a decision. Besides needing re-plastering, the pool has a leak. It loses about 4 or 6 inches of water per day. Who knows what kind of shape the gunite is in?

Athanasia is enjoying doing all the paper work (you'd be surprised by how much there is) but we need a file cabinet. I ordered a beautiful four-drawer oak upright (tax deductible!!!) today. It should be here in a few days. Why so fancy? Because the "office" is in my living room and I do not want an ugly metal file cabinet dragging down the mood of the room.

We are still looking for a suitable hall table or console (I'd really like a Bombay chest, but have you priced those recently? WOW!) to use as a home altar. Haven't found one yet, but still looking. I did find a set of gorgeous brass bison heads to use as a gun rack. Now, other than the hall table/altar all we need is a shoji screen to hide the ugly area under the stairs where all the wires for the modem and wifi router live.

Oh, there is one more good thing about living here that is worth mentioning. When my wife first started at Stanford she worked on one side of campus, the side closest to our house in Mountain View. It took her about 20 minutes to get to work. Then she got a new job at the University that took her to the farthest away place she could possibly be from our house. Then it took 45 minutes for her to get to work. Now that we live in Willow Glen, which is actually farther away from where she works, it only takes her 20 minutes because between here and where she works is all freeway. Plus, she is able to ride to work with a co-worker she likes.

Anselm Samuel made two new friends today. They are the sons of the man who lives in no. 15. They are polite boys. Their dad is a skilled tradesman. (If any teenage boys are reading my blog, I'd like to encourage you to not go to university. Instead, become a plumber, electrician, roofer, or painter and then start your own firm. I know many men who work in each of those trades and they all live comfortably.)