O.K. Has anything interesting happened since mid-August? Certainly! I don’t think I’ll even attempt chronological order. I’ll start with the fact that I am writing while sitting in front of the TV. I’m getting my fill before the cable gets shut off on the sixteenth. So, that’s why this entry might be a little disjointed.
Our household is not two anymore, but three. Pam decided she needed something to cuddle, so we brought home a Teddy Bear Guinea Pig. And, since he is a teddy, and we already have a Tigger, we called him Pooh. He’s about seven inches long, and all dark brown.
I had my ten seconds of fame today, seeing myself on television. I got to show my true colours by complaining on air. A-Channel asked how it was to spend two hours in line for my ID card. I said “painful”. Then I got to see it on the evening news.
As well as spending two hours in line for my new ID, I was able to sample some of the usual orientation hubbub. I won a hat, a Taco Time meal and two cans of shaving cream. Two bad I already have a hat, don’t like tacos and shave with an electric razor.
Pam and I found our winter parkas on Sunday. We paid almost half price for them. A good deal. Now, I am wondering if down parkas are really necessary. Maybe it won’t really be so cold here. I have no idea. Guess I’ll have to wait until December or January to find out.
Oh, an addition to the Pooh tales: Our lease expressly states no pets, but the manager and the previous owner of the building said they had no problem with caged animals. A guinea pig is one of the larger caged animals you can get. We’ll see what our manager thinks about Pooh when she inspects our apartment tomorrow.
Why is she inspecting our apartment tomorrow? I don’t believe I’ve mentioned that our building has just undergone a shift in ownership, a very quick shift. The previous owner also acted as the caretaker/manager, so he was here all the time, but not once did he mention that the building was being sold. Out of the blue one day, a woman came to our door and announced that she was our new manager. We said “what?” She had no idea that the tenants hadn’t been informed of the sale, and we had no idea what she was talking about.
Why is our new manager coming to inspect the apartment tomorrow? Because the previous owner neglected to do it when we moved in, even though it is required by the tenancy act. Although we asked him about it, we didn’t argue when he was not concerned, since, without an inspection, we cannot be held accountable for any damage.
That is not the only time we had to refer to the Tenancy Act. We were thinking of moving up from the ground floor to the third floor, but that was before we found about building ownership changes. We found out the change in ownership meant that we would be paying more for the third floor apartment than the present tenants were. Was the new owner raising the rent? All the numbers of the new manager had were more expensive than what we knew. The Tenancy act said that rent couldn’t be raised without three months notice. The manager (poor woman) had no idea what was going on? The sale and the beginning of her job happened very quickly, and she was not provided with very much information. She went back to the new owner and found out that the new changes would only apply to new tenants. We were relieved, but still annoyed at the disorganized transfer of ownership. It went so far as not getting the power shifted to the new owner’s account. For a whole day, we had no power for a whole day and the laundry room power was off for longer. The next day, there was a little written apology in all our mailboxes.
We’re not thinking of moving upstairs anymore.
We’re going to hold on here until after winter, and then maybe move across
the river, closer to the university.
Any comments?
