I saw a woman with her iPhone in one hand, a grocery bag in the other, a lit cigarette hanging on her lip, with a small child (aged 3, maybe 4 at most) cross a 7 lane stretch of road between two very busy intersections. There was a zebra pedestrian crosswalk at the spot, where one presses the button and yellow caution lights flash to get drivers to stop. This woman walked across the street without (a) pushing the button for the caution lights, and (b) most upsetting to me, not holding the little boy's hand, leaving him to stagger across a busy highway as best he could. This was after a big snow storm and there were piles of snow and huge patches of ice all across the road. To me, this was child endangerment….
Today, walking the Labradors, I saw a man on an expensive bicycle riding toward me in a construction zone on a residential street. He had a clearly home-made, jury-rigged carrier over the rear wheel, and this feeble-looking construction had an infant seat attached. There was a baby, I'd guess less than a year old, in the infant seat. What ticked me off here was that the man did not have his hands on the handlebars, or anywhere near the brakes…. He had a Starbucks coffee cup in one hand, and an iPhone in the other. Heavy equipment was in use in that construction area - dump trucks, a grader, a Bobcat, and a cement mixer. I was terrified and appalled. What the hell was that man thinking?
People who believe that they are privileged, and that the law doesn't apply to them. This includes (1) pedestrians, who don't press the button for the pedestrian crosswalk lights, and just step out into traffic believing that everything moving can stop instantaneously; (2) pedestrians who just step out into traffic, believing they have the right to cross the street even when they have a red hand saying "Don't Walk" and the cross traffic has a green light; (3) joggers and runners who believe that the sidewalks are not meant for their use - they run and jog, sometimes with one or more dogs in traffic lanes on busy roads; (4) bicycle riders who believe that stop signs and red lights do not include bike riders; (5) bicycle riders who have a clearly marked and clean bike path, but ride on the sidewalk or in traffic; (6) people who wear thingies (head sets, ear buds, Bluetooth sets, etc) covering their ears or in their ears so they cannot hear traffic and then get angry because they almost get struck by something or someone; (7) bicycle riders who ride up behind pedestrians and do not make themselves known by speaking (or ringing their bell, which is the law in Boulder), and then brush by you, usually hitting you with a handlebar, backpack, or pannier; (8) drivers of vehicles who are so intent on their tablet or phone or make-up or passengers or personal hygiene or changing clothes or simply getting to their destination - while driving - that they never see pedestrians at stop signs or traffic lights and run into them. (I have been hit by 6 cars in the last year, and had the toes of my shoes run over by car tires 7 times while in pedestrian crosswalks at intersections because the driver was too intent on whatever he/she was doing and did not look at the crosswalk. Beatrice and I were nearly struck by a car when we ran out to grab a man in a motorized wheelchair who was in the crosswalk and the on-coming car never slowed down until it almost hit us - the driver was running late and never even saw the man in the wheelchair, and was speeding up to make a right turn into traffic without stopping at a stop sign.)
People who make assumptions without listening to another person. The Assistant Maintenance Manager for the lost-cost housing company where we live comes to mind immediately. He decided we were two old ladies who didn't know anything when we first reported the leak in our bathroom ceiling. He told us "it was nothing," "it's not an emergency," and that he had "fixed it." Turned out there was a hole in the main water line to the apartment above us, and our apartment. When Rex found it, 11 days after we first reported it, the water was spraying in a fan pattern into our bathroom ceiling. Apparently, when the pipes were placed when the place was built, a saw had cut into the PVC main water pipe - not quite through, but with a deep gouge and a half-inch long - it was left. in place, but after 4.5 years of changes in water pressure, the cut finally wore through, and we had water spraying in our ceiling for 11 days. Most of the ceiling has been re-plastered (as of Thursday), but it still needs work and the wall beside the tub and the baseboard in that area needs to be taken out and re-placed and re-plastered, too. But young Tyler assured us that the water dripping down from the ceiling was normal and nothing to worry about. Yeah. Let me sell you some ocean front property in Rocky Mountain National Park…..
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Friday, December 20, 2019
"The USMCA, like the song 'YMCA,' right?"
Yessir, that's one of the 45th President's comments at one of his political rallies in Green Bay, Wisconsin on 27 April 2019. - "The USMC, like the song 'YMCA,' right?" - Somehow, I simply cannot equate a trade agreement, that is essentially NAFTA 2.0, with a song about gay men trolling the local YMCA for new friends…. Now, please don't get me wrong - I completely love the song when sung by The Village People. The beat, the lyrics, the huge grins of the singers, and the sassy glints in their eyes make it a truly great song - especially when you know the real meaning behind the lyrics (kinda like "In the Navy"). The problem is, I just don't think that 45 knows what's going on with the song… Would he really compare his USMCA with the song "YMCA" if he knew what he was saying?
At a G7 interview, 45 was asked: "What do you think the world should be doing about climate change? And do you still harbor that skepticism?"
The person's verbatim reply was: "I'm not going to lose that wealth. I'm not going lose it on dreams, on windmills - which, frankly, aren't working too well. I'm not going to lose it."
From the 26 August 2019 G7 press conference (also notice he left out the word "to" in the second sentence)….
After a break for applause at a rally in North Carolina on 17 July 2019, the 45th President said these three sentences back to back, without much of a pause:
"We had 14 seasons, think of that. The Apprentice. I proudly signed four bipartisan human trafficking laws securing $400 million to support victims of human trafficking."
How the hell do these two items fit together in coherent thought?
He's still claiming to have invented specific words - in El Paso, Texas, at a rally on 11 February 2019: "How about the word 'caravan?' Caravan? I think it was one of mine." He was speaking about groups of people from Central America seeking asylum in the United States.
At the Constitutional Political Action Committee meeting on 2 March 2019, he was speaking about his tax reform and his tariffs - "But I found some very old laws from when our country was rich - really rich. The old tariff laws - we had to dust them off; you could hardly see, they were so dusty." And then he rambled off to another short subject.
During a telephone call that was aired live on CNBC on 10 June 2019, the President said: "We are - if you look at China, China, as great as they are and they are great, they are near the capability of our geniuses in Silicon Valley that walk around in undershirts and they were not $2 billion a piece." - What the hell? How do those words connect into anything coherent? What were not $2 billion a piece? All all people in Silicon Valley geniuses? Does everyone walk around in undershirts there? Do they wear anything else? How does China tie in with undershirts in California?
And a statement by the 45th President at the El Paso, Texas rally on 11 February 2019, really does show everyone how he thinks. This is the statement, in its entirety: "So, someday, with all of us - this is all of us - and those hats are beautiful, by the way. Someday."
Of course the hats he was referring to were his red MAGA hats, made in China, which his supporters pay $25 to $50 for, which goes right back into 45's pockets. Of course he thinks they're beautiful….
At a G7 interview, 45 was asked: "What do you think the world should be doing about climate change? And do you still harbor that skepticism?"
The person's verbatim reply was: "I'm not going to lose that wealth. I'm not going lose it on dreams, on windmills - which, frankly, aren't working too well. I'm not going to lose it."
From the 26 August 2019 G7 press conference (also notice he left out the word "to" in the second sentence)….
After a break for applause at a rally in North Carolina on 17 July 2019, the 45th President said these three sentences back to back, without much of a pause:
"We had 14 seasons, think of that. The Apprentice. I proudly signed four bipartisan human trafficking laws securing $400 million to support victims of human trafficking."
How the hell do these two items fit together in coherent thought?
He's still claiming to have invented specific words - in El Paso, Texas, at a rally on 11 February 2019: "How about the word 'caravan?' Caravan? I think it was one of mine." He was speaking about groups of people from Central America seeking asylum in the United States.
At the Constitutional Political Action Committee meeting on 2 March 2019, he was speaking about his tax reform and his tariffs - "But I found some very old laws from when our country was rich - really rich. The old tariff laws - we had to dust them off; you could hardly see, they were so dusty." And then he rambled off to another short subject.
During a telephone call that was aired live on CNBC on 10 June 2019, the President said: "We are - if you look at China, China, as great as they are and they are great, they are near the capability of our geniuses in Silicon Valley that walk around in undershirts and they were not $2 billion a piece." - What the hell? How do those words connect into anything coherent? What were not $2 billion a piece? All all people in Silicon Valley geniuses? Does everyone walk around in undershirts there? Do they wear anything else? How does China tie in with undershirts in California?
And a statement by the 45th President at the El Paso, Texas rally on 11 February 2019, really does show everyone how he thinks. This is the statement, in its entirety: "So, someday, with all of us - this is all of us - and those hats are beautiful, by the way. Someday."
Of course the hats he was referring to were his red MAGA hats, made in China, which his supporters pay $25 to $50 for, which goes right back into 45's pockets. Of course he thinks they're beautiful….
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
A New PC Tower
After saving for 8 months, I ordered a new PC tower and a one year warranty from Best Buy. My old PC tower was more than 10 years old, and extremely slow in processing information. The first refurbished PC tower I ordered from Best Buy arrived in late September, and would not turn on. I took it back to Best Buy, who could not turn the unit on either; another refurbished PC tower was ordered, and arrived two weeks later. I was able to set up the new refurbished tower, transfer all my files, and begin computing with a wonderful quickness. Ten weeks later, watching a day of Impeachment testimony, I placed my PC in the "Sleep" mode - it never woke up. I did everything I knew to re-awaken it and then ran a Diagnostics test. Then I called the Geek Squad at Best Buy.
I took the tower in, they ran diagnostics, and sent it away to be fixed. I received an e-mail from the repair center saying they had fixed the problem, and they were sending the tower back to Best Buy. Ten days after I received that e-mail, I called Best Buy to inquire on the whereabouts of my tower - surely, even though it is the Holiday season, since it only took 3 days in transit to arrive at the repair center, it shouldn't take more than 9 days for the return... When I called, the technician took my name, and then said.... "oh. The junked tower." That freaked me out.
Yesterday evening I was at Best Buy looking at new PC towers. Of course I had purchased a refurbished one, as it is/was much less expensive than buying a totally new unit. I had ordered an HP 8300i, with 8 gigs of memory, and a terabyte hard drive, along with the 1 year Geek Squad protection plan and warranty. Apparently, since the first tower was damaged in transit to Best Buy, and I was told that "UPS had damaged" the repaired second tower while it was in transit from the repair center back to Best Buy, the store decided that I had to choose a new PC tower from those in stock, in the store, only. I was, seemingly, expected to pay another $200+ to purchase a new tower that matched the specifications of the refurbished one that I had ordered and that had been damaged by no fault of mine. I had to choose a different PC tower with half of the memory, because I did not have money to make up the difference. Then they informed me I had to purchase another year's warranty, at full cost, for the new PC tower, because the old one "was junked out."
I lost my temper, and, as usual, got teary-eyed while doing so. The store manager was called, and heard me out again. I was "given" a one year warranty on the new tower, but, because the new PC tower, with half of the memory I wanted, cost more than the ordered refurbished tower, I still had to pay $3.14 out-of-pocket for a replacement of the one broken by UPS.
My one question of why I couldn't order another refurbished tower at the same price as the first two was never answered.
Apparently, the Geek Squad was able to remove my personal files (hopefully, all of them) from "the junked tower" and is transferring them to my new PC tower. I have an appointment to pick up the new tower Friday evening....
The only problem with the timing of this is that I start house- and pet-sitting in Louisville tomorrow, and will only have 90 minutes a day at home with my kits, Lovey and Nedi. I'll also be trying to get the new PC tower connected, and getting my usual programs added and set up....
So I may not be totally and completely back up and in full force on the internet until 4 January, or later. I give you my apologies now - for I would like to be sharing photos and other things, that I can't do from the 10-year-old laptop that I've been loaned for the interim....
I took the tower in, they ran diagnostics, and sent it away to be fixed. I received an e-mail from the repair center saying they had fixed the problem, and they were sending the tower back to Best Buy. Ten days after I received that e-mail, I called Best Buy to inquire on the whereabouts of my tower - surely, even though it is the Holiday season, since it only took 3 days in transit to arrive at the repair center, it shouldn't take more than 9 days for the return... When I called, the technician took my name, and then said.... "oh. The junked tower." That freaked me out.
Yesterday evening I was at Best Buy looking at new PC towers. Of course I had purchased a refurbished one, as it is/was much less expensive than buying a totally new unit. I had ordered an HP 8300i, with 8 gigs of memory, and a terabyte hard drive, along with the 1 year Geek Squad protection plan and warranty. Apparently, since the first tower was damaged in transit to Best Buy, and I was told that "UPS had damaged" the repaired second tower while it was in transit from the repair center back to Best Buy, the store decided that I had to choose a new PC tower from those in stock, in the store, only. I was, seemingly, expected to pay another $200+ to purchase a new tower that matched the specifications of the refurbished one that I had ordered and that had been damaged by no fault of mine. I had to choose a different PC tower with half of the memory, because I did not have money to make up the difference. Then they informed me I had to purchase another year's warranty, at full cost, for the new PC tower, because the old one "was junked out."
I lost my temper, and, as usual, got teary-eyed while doing so. The store manager was called, and heard me out again. I was "given" a one year warranty on the new tower, but, because the new PC tower, with half of the memory I wanted, cost more than the ordered refurbished tower, I still had to pay $3.14 out-of-pocket for a replacement of the one broken by UPS.
My one question of why I couldn't order another refurbished tower at the same price as the first two was never answered.
Apparently, the Geek Squad was able to remove my personal files (hopefully, all of them) from "the junked tower" and is transferring them to my new PC tower. I have an appointment to pick up the new tower Friday evening....
The only problem with the timing of this is that I start house- and pet-sitting in Louisville tomorrow, and will only have 90 minutes a day at home with my kits, Lovey and Nedi. I'll also be trying to get the new PC tower connected, and getting my usual programs added and set up....
So I may not be totally and completely back up and in full force on the internet until 4 January, or later. I give you my apologies now - for I would like to be sharing photos and other things, that I can't do from the 10-year-old laptop that I've been loaned for the interim....
Mind-Blowing Statements Made By Mister DJT
Just a few things about the current sitting President, who lost the popular vote by a little over 3 million, but who won the Presidency via the Electoral College. First, he has told 15,413 lies in 1,055 days while holding the office of President of the United States - just in case you're counting.
Second, here is a listing of CNN's "most mind-blowing statements" made by the current resident of the White House. It gives the quote, the date of the quote, and comments on why it is wrong...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/16/politics/trump-top-lines-2019/index.html
Third, here is an opinion regarding the 6-page letter that was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the US Congressional House of Representatives regarding the current, on-going impeachment:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/opinions/trump-pelosi-letter-ghitis/index.html
Fourth, here is the six page letter that was sent to Speaker Pelosi:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-full-letter-trump-sent-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-eve-n1103476
Second, here is a listing of CNN's "most mind-blowing statements" made by the current resident of the White House. It gives the quote, the date of the quote, and comments on why it is wrong...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/16/politics/trump-top-lines-2019/index.html
Third, here is an opinion regarding the 6-page letter that was sent to Speaker Nancy Pelosi of the US Congressional House of Representatives regarding the current, on-going impeachment:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/17/opinions/trump-pelosi-letter-ghitis/index.html
Fourth, here is the six page letter that was sent to Speaker Pelosi:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/read-full-letter-trump-sent-house-speaker-nancy-pelosi-eve-n1103476
Monday, December 16, 2019
Mad As Hell (And a Little Frightened, Too)
When my less than 10-week-old new PC tower suddenly died before Thanksgiving, suddenly telling me that "the Intel (R) 82579 LM Gigabit Network Connection adapter is experiencing driver- or hardware-related problems" after a 2 hour break in Sleep mode, I called the Geek Squad at Best Buy and spoke with three different people. Both the first and second person I spoke with said that they thought that the driver could be re-booted, and I should take it in to be serviced. I asked if I should copy my files, and they said that the memory wouldn't be affected, so I wouldn't have to do it.
I had purchased my tower from Best Buy, and also purchased a 1-year repair and support contract. The tower itself is a "refurbished" one, that had been built and sold by, Best Buy. When the first one I ordered arrived, it would not even turn on; I took it back to Best Buy, and waited another 15 days before a replacement arrived. The replacement, or second tower, was the dream PC that I wanted - very fast, and with double my old (10-year-old) PC's memory. - As a retired person, on Disability, and with a very limited income, my little "gifts" to myself cannot be expensive. I have wanted to go home to Chincoteague Island every summer for a week or so, staying with relatives and friends, but have been unable to afford it for the past three years. (Of course, I can save up for the plane tickets, and for my food, car rental and gas - it's that I have no credit card, and must agree to have an extra $500 to $750 charge placed on my debit card, which will be returned when the car is returned. As I live paycheck to paycheck, saving up that amount, on top of everything else, is impossible....) In any event, it's just a fact that I have very little to spend other than for every day items, so I was extremely happy to buy a refurbished PC tower at 1/3 the cost of a brand new tower with the same specifications.
So, I took the PC tower to Best Buy on 15 November, and they said they'd do their 11-hour diagnostic scan and let me know. Saturday, 16 November they called and said they'd have to send it off to the service center to be repaired, and it was covered under warranty. I made very clear that I had not copied any of my files onto memory cards, and that I had files that I could not lose. I asked if I should come pick up the tower, copy my files onto memory sticks, and then return it to the store for them to send it off for repairs. I was assured that it wasn't necessary, as the memory would not be touched or affected in any way. I also asked when I could expect to get my PC tower back; I was told it normally took about two weeks, but since it was the Holiday season, it might not be until Christmas or the New Year.
I sent out e-mails to friends from one of the PCs at the public library about my computer woes, and a wonderful friend has loaned me her old laptop until my tower is returned. The laptop is older, has an older no longer supported version of Windows, and the touchpad for moving the cursor is very oddball and extremely unwieldy. It will suddenly change pages on me, without my touching anything, and I can't access several spots that I normally visit... But I can blog and e-mail and post on Facebook, thankfully.
I receive an e-mail from the Best Buy repair center that they had sent my PC back to the Best Buy store here in Boulder on Friday, 6 December. I kept telling myself that I hadn't received a call from them because of all the Holiday packages backing up the deliveries, but I broke down today, and called Best Buy to ask about my PC Tower and where it is and when would I get it back. The young man who answered my call asked for my name a second time, and then said, "Oh... right... the junked tower. We're in the process of trying to copy all of your files right now. We'll call you when we're finished doing that."
I froze. I have files of historic photos in those memory files, and more than 7,000 family tree entries, with pages of documentation constituting millions of keystrokes that I have collected over the past 40 years. I have records from pet- and house-sitting in those files; I have documents in those files that have been scanned in; all of the photos that I have of my husband are in those files.... Now I want to kick my own ass for NOT copying those files before they sent my PC tower off to be repaired...
I said, "Wait. What do you mean 'junked tower?' I was told it was repairable." The young man informed me that "UPS somehow damaged the tower" when it was shipped back to Best Buy. I asked what he meant by "trying to copy" all of my files, and he said that he was saying what he meant - they were trying to copy all of my files from the now unrepairable tower. And that once they had copied all my files, they'd have me come in, and choose a replacement tower, and then it would be a couple of days while they downloaded my current files to the new tower, and then I could come in and pick up the new replacement tower... But they would call me once they finished copying my files from the damaged tower....
I want to scream!!!!!!!! Now it's another wait and see scenario - will I be offered a PC tower with the same specifications of the one I originally purchased - or will it be one that costs the same amount as I originally spent? - What the hell is going on with my PC tower? - I feel as if the Gods have abandoned me!
I had purchased my tower from Best Buy, and also purchased a 1-year repair and support contract. The tower itself is a "refurbished" one, that had been built and sold by, Best Buy. When the first one I ordered arrived, it would not even turn on; I took it back to Best Buy, and waited another 15 days before a replacement arrived. The replacement, or second tower, was the dream PC that I wanted - very fast, and with double my old (10-year-old) PC's memory. - As a retired person, on Disability, and with a very limited income, my little "gifts" to myself cannot be expensive. I have wanted to go home to Chincoteague Island every summer for a week or so, staying with relatives and friends, but have been unable to afford it for the past three years. (Of course, I can save up for the plane tickets, and for my food, car rental and gas - it's that I have no credit card, and must agree to have an extra $500 to $750 charge placed on my debit card, which will be returned when the car is returned. As I live paycheck to paycheck, saving up that amount, on top of everything else, is impossible....) In any event, it's just a fact that I have very little to spend other than for every day items, so I was extremely happy to buy a refurbished PC tower at 1/3 the cost of a brand new tower with the same specifications.
So, I took the PC tower to Best Buy on 15 November, and they said they'd do their 11-hour diagnostic scan and let me know. Saturday, 16 November they called and said they'd have to send it off to the service center to be repaired, and it was covered under warranty. I made very clear that I had not copied any of my files onto memory cards, and that I had files that I could not lose. I asked if I should come pick up the tower, copy my files onto memory sticks, and then return it to the store for them to send it off for repairs. I was assured that it wasn't necessary, as the memory would not be touched or affected in any way. I also asked when I could expect to get my PC tower back; I was told it normally took about two weeks, but since it was the Holiday season, it might not be until Christmas or the New Year.
I sent out e-mails to friends from one of the PCs at the public library about my computer woes, and a wonderful friend has loaned me her old laptop until my tower is returned. The laptop is older, has an older no longer supported version of Windows, and the touchpad for moving the cursor is very oddball and extremely unwieldy. It will suddenly change pages on me, without my touching anything, and I can't access several spots that I normally visit... But I can blog and e-mail and post on Facebook, thankfully.
I receive an e-mail from the Best Buy repair center that they had sent my PC back to the Best Buy store here in Boulder on Friday, 6 December. I kept telling myself that I hadn't received a call from them because of all the Holiday packages backing up the deliveries, but I broke down today, and called Best Buy to ask about my PC Tower and where it is and when would I get it back. The young man who answered my call asked for my name a second time, and then said, "Oh... right... the junked tower. We're in the process of trying to copy all of your files right now. We'll call you when we're finished doing that."
I froze. I have files of historic photos in those memory files, and more than 7,000 family tree entries, with pages of documentation constituting millions of keystrokes that I have collected over the past 40 years. I have records from pet- and house-sitting in those files; I have documents in those files that have been scanned in; all of the photos that I have of my husband are in those files.... Now I want to kick my own ass for NOT copying those files before they sent my PC tower off to be repaired...
I said, "Wait. What do you mean 'junked tower?' I was told it was repairable." The young man informed me that "UPS somehow damaged the tower" when it was shipped back to Best Buy. I asked what he meant by "trying to copy" all of my files, and he said that he was saying what he meant - they were trying to copy all of my files from the now unrepairable tower. And that once they had copied all my files, they'd have me come in, and choose a replacement tower, and then it would be a couple of days while they downloaded my current files to the new tower, and then I could come in and pick up the new replacement tower... But they would call me once they finished copying my files from the damaged tower....
I want to scream!!!!!!!! Now it's another wait and see scenario - will I be offered a PC tower with the same specifications of the one I originally purchased - or will it be one that costs the same amount as I originally spent? - What the hell is going on with my PC tower? - I feel as if the Gods have abandoned me!
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Representative Matt Gaetz: Dangerous Driver and Threat Generator
Matthew Louis Gaetz II is a Representative for the 1st congressional district of Florida in the United States in Washington, DC. He is a staunch Republican and a "yuge" supporter of the man who was installed as the 45th sitting President of our nation. He was born and raised in Florida.
Matt's father, Don, was born in Rugby, North Dakota, and was the son of the Mayor of Rugby, who went on to become a state legislator for that state. Don was a registered Democrat until his father, running as a Republican, died while running for the office of Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota in 1964. Don then registered as a Republican. He moved to Florida in 1978, working as a hospital administrator in Jacksonville and lobbying in Tallahassee to create hospice programs. In 1983, Don created VITAS Healthcare Corporation with a group of investors; the business was sold in 2004 for almost half a billion dollars. In 2013, the US Department of Justice charged VITAS Healthcare with Medicare fraud beginning in 2002. Don declared no knowledge of the fraud. (But the company had to pay $75 million to the government in fines and false charges.) In 1994 Gaetz dipped his own toes into politics, beginning small, with the Okaloosa County School Board, and won. Six years later, he ran for Superintendent of Okaloosa County schools, won, and kept the position until he ran for the Florida Legislature. Don served in the Florida State Senate for 10 years, from November 2006 through the same month in 2016; and he was President of the Florida Senate from 2012 to 2016. (Being a member of the Florida state Senate was important in 2008.)
Matt, in the meantime, graduated from Florida State University in 2003 with a BS degree. He then traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he received his Jurisprudence Degree in 2007. He then returned home, to Fort Walton Beach and worked in a local law firm. (There is a delicious, but unfounded, report that an FSU roommate of Gaetz was found dead in their dorm room, and that Gaetz was suspected of his murder sometime between the years 1999 and 2003. There are no reports of such a death in local or state papers, and no investigations by either FSU police, Tallahassee police, or the Sheriff's Office.)
In the early morning of 31 October 2008, Matt Gaetz was driving back from a bar called The Swamp on Okaloosa Island in the 2001 BMW that was registered to his father, Florida state Senator Don Gaetz. He was driving at 48 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. A Sheriff's Deputy pulled him over. According to the Deputy's report, Mr. Gaetz's eyes were red and watery, and he stumbled and swayed getting out of the car. The Deputy smelled alcohol coming from the driver. The Deputy first made a field sobriety test by asking Gaetz to follow his moving finger with his eyes. Gaetz failed that test twice, nearly falling over. He refused to take a breathalyzer test to check his alcohol level. He was arrested for DUI, and mug shots taken. The firm that employed Gaetz took up his defense. -- However, before the court date for Gaetz's hearing, the Sheriff's Deputy was forced to resign over a previous arrest, and Daddy Don Gaetz made certain that all charges against his son were dropped.
In Gaetz's hometown in Florida, the local newspaper describes him as "an entitled ne'er-do-well." A political opponent said, in 2016, "Matt would be a WalMart manager, if it wasn't for his father." Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican political strategist, says of Gaetz, "Matt Gaetz is living proof that Veep was less parody and more prophecy. To some degree, he's a character in the grandest reality show of all. He exists at the hinge of reality and alternate reality."
Between 1999 and 2014, Gaetz has racked up 16 speeding tickets in Florida alone, and is particularly well known for rear-ending a car stopped at a traffic light while he was talking on his cell phone in 2014, while a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
In February 2010, a Republican Florida House member resigned from office due to corruption charges. Matt Gaetz began his run for that Special Election seat in March 2010. He served at the district 4 (southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County) from April 2010 through November 2016. During Gaetz's time in the Florida legislature, the killing of Trayvon Martin, an un-armed African-American youth, took place. After the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Martin, using a Florida "stand your ground" (law) defense, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives ordered a hearing regarding the "stand your ground" law. Matt Gaetz, the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, was tasked with reviewing the legislation, and announced before the hearings that he would not support changing "one damn comma," though he said he would listen to arguments on both sides.
He was sworn in to the US Congress as Representative of the 1st District of Florida on 3 January 2017. And he has been 45's lick-spittle ever since.
*** United States House of Representatives Committee Assignments ***
House Committee on Armed Services
(1) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
(2) Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
House Committee on the Budget
House Committee on the Judiciary
(1) Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
(2) Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
Republican Safety Committee
In April 2018, Politico described Matt Gaetz as "one of the most enthusiastic defenders of President Trump on cable news" and a "proud Trump protege." Aaron Blake of The Washington Post referred to him as "one of the most controversial members of Congress," and as someone who has "unabashedly aligned himself with Trump on basically all things."
Gaetz wants to completely abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, because "our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans. It is time to take back our legislative power from the EPA and abolish it completely." He says there is climate change, but it has nothing to do with humans and their waste and factories.
Matt Gaetz has an A+ rating from the NRA and is a lifetime member. While serving in Florida, he fought for both open carry and concealed carry gun rights. Former NRA President Marion Hammer said that Gaetz was "one of the most pro-gun members to have ever served in the Florida legislature."
Gaetz opposes sanctuary cities and has stated that illegal immigrants "suck us dry." In January 2018, Gaetz defended Trump's statement that Haiti and African countries were "shithole" nations, saying that Haiti was covered by "sheet metal and garbage" and was in a "disgusting" condition. In October 2018, Gaetz falsely declared that George Soros paid for a caravan of migrants travelling from Central America to the United States. - The man is bursting with hatred for anyone not of his race or his monetary standing. - In January 2019, Gaetz invited Charles C. "Chuck" Johnson to be his guest at the State of the Union address by 45. Johnson is a known alt-right Holocaust denier and has raised money for neo-Nazi website "The Daily Stormer." Gaetz said in an interview that Johnson "is not a Holocaust denier, he's not a white supremacist."
The stupid asshole even believes that his buddy Jim Jordan didn't know about the sexual abuse at Ohio State while he was coaching there, and that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions had "...got Stockholm Syndrome" over there at the Department of Justice, "he's become sympathetic with his captors over there in the Deep State." - Yep, Gaetz is a true believer in all the "Deep State" idiocy, too.
Matt Gaetz is a Trump-humping brown-noser and has no reason to be on this planet. Let's send him in a rocket to explore an asteroid. He's stupid enough to open the door and get sucked into space. (And I wish that would happen to him.)
Matt's father, Don, was born in Rugby, North Dakota, and was the son of the Mayor of Rugby, who went on to become a state legislator for that state. Don was a registered Democrat until his father, running as a Republican, died while running for the office of Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota in 1964. Don then registered as a Republican. He moved to Florida in 1978, working as a hospital administrator in Jacksonville and lobbying in Tallahassee to create hospice programs. In 1983, Don created VITAS Healthcare Corporation with a group of investors; the business was sold in 2004 for almost half a billion dollars. In 2013, the US Department of Justice charged VITAS Healthcare with Medicare fraud beginning in 2002. Don declared no knowledge of the fraud. (But the company had to pay $75 million to the government in fines and false charges.) In 1994 Gaetz dipped his own toes into politics, beginning small, with the Okaloosa County School Board, and won. Six years later, he ran for Superintendent of Okaloosa County schools, won, and kept the position until he ran for the Florida Legislature. Don served in the Florida State Senate for 10 years, from November 2006 through the same month in 2016; and he was President of the Florida Senate from 2012 to 2016. (Being a member of the Florida state Senate was important in 2008.)
Matt, in the meantime, graduated from Florida State University in 2003 with a BS degree. He then traveled to Williamsburg, Virginia, where he received his Jurisprudence Degree in 2007. He then returned home, to Fort Walton Beach and worked in a local law firm. (There is a delicious, but unfounded, report that an FSU roommate of Gaetz was found dead in their dorm room, and that Gaetz was suspected of his murder sometime between the years 1999 and 2003. There are no reports of such a death in local or state papers, and no investigations by either FSU police, Tallahassee police, or the Sheriff's Office.)
In the early morning of 31 October 2008, Matt Gaetz was driving back from a bar called The Swamp on Okaloosa Island in the 2001 BMW that was registered to his father, Florida state Senator Don Gaetz. He was driving at 48 mph in a 35 mph speed zone. A Sheriff's Deputy pulled him over. According to the Deputy's report, Mr. Gaetz's eyes were red and watery, and he stumbled and swayed getting out of the car. The Deputy smelled alcohol coming from the driver. The Deputy first made a field sobriety test by asking Gaetz to follow his moving finger with his eyes. Gaetz failed that test twice, nearly falling over. He refused to take a breathalyzer test to check his alcohol level. He was arrested for DUI, and mug shots taken. The firm that employed Gaetz took up his defense. -- However, before the court date for Gaetz's hearing, the Sheriff's Deputy was forced to resign over a previous arrest, and Daddy Don Gaetz made certain that all charges against his son were dropped.
In Gaetz's hometown in Florida, the local newspaper describes him as "an entitled ne'er-do-well." A political opponent said, in 2016, "Matt would be a WalMart manager, if it wasn't for his father." Steve Schmidt, a veteran Republican political strategist, says of Gaetz, "Matt Gaetz is living proof that Veep was less parody and more prophecy. To some degree, he's a character in the grandest reality show of all. He exists at the hinge of reality and alternate reality."
Between 1999 and 2014, Gaetz has racked up 16 speeding tickets in Florida alone, and is particularly well known for rear-ending a car stopped at a traffic light while he was talking on his cell phone in 2014, while a member of the Florida House of Representatives.
In February 2010, a Republican Florida House member resigned from office due to corruption charges. Matt Gaetz began his run for that Special Election seat in March 2010. He served at the district 4 (southern Santa Rosa County and Okaloosa County) from April 2010 through November 2016. During Gaetz's time in the Florida legislature, the killing of Trayvon Martin, an un-armed African-American youth, took place. After the trial of George Zimmerman for the murder of Martin, using a Florida "stand your ground" (law) defense, the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives ordered a hearing regarding the "stand your ground" law. Matt Gaetz, the Chairman of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee, was tasked with reviewing the legislation, and announced before the hearings that he would not support changing "one damn comma," though he said he would listen to arguments on both sides.
He was sworn in to the US Congress as Representative of the 1st District of Florida on 3 January 2017. And he has been 45's lick-spittle ever since.
*** United States House of Representatives Committee Assignments ***
House Committee on Armed Services
(1) Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
(2) Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces
House Committee on the Budget
House Committee on the Judiciary
(1) Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
(2) Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law
Republican Safety Committee
In April 2018, Politico described Matt Gaetz as "one of the most enthusiastic defenders of President Trump on cable news" and a "proud Trump protege." Aaron Blake of The Washington Post referred to him as "one of the most controversial members of Congress," and as someone who has "unabashedly aligned himself with Trump on basically all things."
Gaetz wants to completely abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, because "our small businesses cannot afford to cover the costs associated with compliance, too often leading to closed doors and unemployed Americans. It is time to take back our legislative power from the EPA and abolish it completely." He says there is climate change, but it has nothing to do with humans and their waste and factories.
Matt Gaetz has an A+ rating from the NRA and is a lifetime member. While serving in Florida, he fought for both open carry and concealed carry gun rights. Former NRA President Marion Hammer said that Gaetz was "one of the most pro-gun members to have ever served in the Florida legislature."
Gaetz opposes sanctuary cities and has stated that illegal immigrants "suck us dry." In January 2018, Gaetz defended Trump's statement that Haiti and African countries were "shithole" nations, saying that Haiti was covered by "sheet metal and garbage" and was in a "disgusting" condition. In October 2018, Gaetz falsely declared that George Soros paid for a caravan of migrants travelling from Central America to the United States. - The man is bursting with hatred for anyone not of his race or his monetary standing. - In January 2019, Gaetz invited Charles C. "Chuck" Johnson to be his guest at the State of the Union address by 45. Johnson is a known alt-right Holocaust denier and has raised money for neo-Nazi website "The Daily Stormer." Gaetz said in an interview that Johnson "is not a Holocaust denier, he's not a white supremacist."
The stupid asshole even believes that his buddy Jim Jordan didn't know about the sexual abuse at Ohio State while he was coaching there, and that then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions had "...got Stockholm Syndrome" over there at the Department of Justice, "he's become sympathetic with his captors over there in the Deep State." - Yep, Gaetz is a true believer in all the "Deep State" idiocy, too.
Matt Gaetz - Doofus Deluxe
On 26 February 2019, the night before Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen was to testify in an open hearing to the House Oversight Committee, Gaetz directed a Tweet to Cohen that implied - without evidence - that Cohen had had several extra-marital affairs, and also suggested that his wife might do the same if he was incarcerated. Other members of Congress saw this as an attempt by Gaetz to intimidate the witness, Cohen. Gaetz defended his Tweet, saying it was "witness testing, not witness tampering," and "I don't threaten anybody." Asked to clarify, he said the "tweet speaks for itself." After multiple complaints from other Congressmen, and a rebuke from Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gaetz deleted the Tweet and gave a wishy-washy apology.
In late October of this year, Deputy Defense Assistant Secretary Laura Cooper was to begin testimony before the House Intelligence Committee regarding 45's behavior and the possibility of impeachment. She was scheduled to begin her testimony at 9 o'clock in the morning. Representative Gaetz organized a "storming" of the Secret Compartmentalized Information Facility by almost two dozen Republican House members. They took their cell phones with them breaking all security rules, and camped out on the steps and in the hall - even ordering pizza to be delivered - until finally leaving. They managed to delay Ms. Cooper's testimony by 5 hours. They did this because they claimed they weren't being allowed to sit in on secret meetings. There were - and are - 8 Republicans sitting on the House Intelligence Committee, who can ask questions and share their findings with their Republican colleagues.
Matt Gaetz is a Trump-humping brown-noser and has no reason to be on this planet. Let's send him in a rocket to explore an asteroid. He's stupid enough to open the door and get sucked into space. (And I wish that would happen to him.)
Friday, December 6, 2019
Most Disgusting Scumbag of Ohio
James Daniel Jordan, currently 55 years old, is one of the most disgusting people serving in the Congress of the United States today. Somehow, he has been elected to serve at the United States Congressional Representative for the 4th District of Ohio since 2007. His District is obviously gerrymandered, having been redrawn over time to avoid the urban areas of Toledo, Columbus, and Cleveland (and their suburbs), and to include as much rural area as possible. A panel of three Federal judges that the District was unconstitutional due to the obvious gerrymandering, and that the Districts in Ohio needed to be re-drawn by the 2020 elections. This decision was made and ordered in May 2019, and absolutely no work has gone into seeing the order followed so far. (It is currently believed that the re-districting will not be looked at until the results of the 2020 Federal Census are in, counted, and calculated - which means sometime in 2022.) Prior to his political work in the US Congress, he was a 3-term Representative in the Ohio state legislature, beginning in 1994; in 2000 he ran a winning campaign for a seat in the Ohio Senate, and then won a second time, before running for a national seat of governance.
Jim Jordan was a high school and collegiate wrestler, and failed in his Olympic try-out. He earned a BS degree while wrestling at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He was the assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987 to 1995. During his tenure, at least 53 members of the wrestling team that he coached were sexually assaulted by the OSU team physician. Jim Jordan has refused to cooperate in any and all investigations regarding the sexual abuse that occurred during his time as the Assistant Coach. He has also refused to answer any questions regarding this horrendous event, and ends any interview that brings up the sexual abuse of students that in his care. He is a monster in this regard. Young men trusted him, and he repudiated them and their trust.
Jim Jordan earned a Master's degree in education during his years as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Ohio State University. And, while working so diligently in the Ohio State Legislature, he also earned his Jurisprudence Degree in 2001, when a state Senator. Jordan joined the 110th United States Congress in 2007. Four years later, in the 112th Congress, Jordan was appointed Chairman of the Republican Study Committee, and turned down a seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
During the 114th Congress, Jordan became one of the nine founding members of the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of Congressional Conservatives, whose stated purpose is "to advance an agenda of limited Constitutional government" in Congress. - No wonder he's doing his damnedest to stop the Impeachment of 45! - He was chosen as the Caucus's first Chairman. This group is credited with pushing then-Speaker John Boehner into retirement.
Representative Jordan is described as "being one of Congress's most conservative members." He has earned a perfect score from the American Conservative Union every year he has served in Congress. He is very much in favor of the Pro Life movement and for the group "Americans for Prosperity," founded by the Koch Brothers. He voted for: (a) continued production and upgrades to the M1 Abrams tanks that are manufactured in his district, (b) opening the Outer Continental Shelf for oil drilling, (c) Barring the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and (d) barring greenhouse gases from the Clean Air Act, among many other items. He is very much against Planned Parenthood, and voted against: (a) enforcing limits on carbon dioxide emissions contributing to Global Warming, (b) tax credits for renewable electricity, (c) tax incentives for renewable energy, (d) tax incentives for energy conservation, and (e) curtailing government subsidies for oil and gas exploration, along with many other items.
Jim Jordan is a rabid supporter of the person currently seating itself behind the desk in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC. In April 2018, Anderson Cooper asked Jordan if he had ever heard Mr. Donald Trump "tell a lie", and Mr. Jordan responded, "I have not." In April 2019, Jordan warned pharmaceutical companies not to comply with a request sent by Representative Elijah Cummings, then the Democratic Chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, about how they set the prices for the drugs they sold. Jordan suggested in his communication with the drug-making companies that Representative Cummings would "leak cherry-picked information" in an attempt to harm the stock prices of the pharmaceutical companies. - Talk about slander! -
*** Currently held, and one past, House of Representatives Committee Assignments ***
Past: House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi
Current: House Committee on the Judiciary
(1) Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
(2) Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform (Ranking Member)
(1) Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules
(2) Subcommittee on Government Operations
Temporary member of House Committee on Intelligence
Caucus Memberships: Freedom Caucus, Congressional Constitution Caucus, Congressional Western Caucus, U.S. - Japan Caucus
Former Ohio Representative Capri Cafar said that Jordan "... is someone who has built a reputation as an attack dog...." In my opinion, this attack dog needs to be given a rabies shot, muzzled, and placed in a fenced-in run with a dog house.
In a Politico article published 29 October 2017, former House Speaker John Boehner called Jordan "an asshole." Stating that "Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio house and senate." - I also endorse the asshole label.
Jim Jordan is a sorry excuse for anything that is alive on this planet we call Earth. Invective words fail me when I think of him and the orange faced monstrosity that sits in the White House.
Jim Jordan may be an attack dog - but that dog needs to be euthanized, and put out of our misery!
Jim Jordan was a high school and collegiate wrestler, and failed in his Olympic try-out. He earned a BS degree while wrestling at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He was the assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University from 1987 to 1995. During his tenure, at least 53 members of the wrestling team that he coached were sexually assaulted by the OSU team physician. Jim Jordan has refused to cooperate in any and all investigations regarding the sexual abuse that occurred during his time as the Assistant Coach. He has also refused to answer any questions regarding this horrendous event, and ends any interview that brings up the sexual abuse of students that in his care. He is a monster in this regard. Young men trusted him, and he repudiated them and their trust.
Jim Jordan, at left, coaching the OSU wrestling team
During the 114th Congress, Jordan became one of the nine founding members of the House Freedom Caucus, a bloc of Congressional Conservatives, whose stated purpose is "to advance an agenda of limited Constitutional government" in Congress. - No wonder he's doing his damnedest to stop the Impeachment of 45! - He was chosen as the Caucus's first Chairman. This group is credited with pushing then-Speaker John Boehner into retirement.
Representative Jordan is described as "being one of Congress's most conservative members." He has earned a perfect score from the American Conservative Union every year he has served in Congress. He is very much in favor of the Pro Life movement and for the group "Americans for Prosperity," founded by the Koch Brothers. He voted for: (a) continued production and upgrades to the M1 Abrams tanks that are manufactured in his district, (b) opening the Outer Continental Shelf for oil drilling, (c) Barring the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases, and (d) barring greenhouse gases from the Clean Air Act, among many other items. He is very much against Planned Parenthood, and voted against: (a) enforcing limits on carbon dioxide emissions contributing to Global Warming, (b) tax credits for renewable electricity, (c) tax incentives for renewable energy, (d) tax incentives for energy conservation, and (e) curtailing government subsidies for oil and gas exploration, along with many other items.
Jim Jordan is a rabid supporter of the person currently seating itself behind the desk in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC. In April 2018, Anderson Cooper asked Jordan if he had ever heard Mr. Donald Trump "tell a lie", and Mr. Jordan responded, "I have not." In April 2019, Jordan warned pharmaceutical companies not to comply with a request sent by Representative Elijah Cummings, then the Democratic Chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, about how they set the prices for the drugs they sold. Jordan suggested in his communication with the drug-making companies that Representative Cummings would "leak cherry-picked information" in an attempt to harm the stock prices of the pharmaceutical companies. - Talk about slander! -
*** Currently held, and one past, House of Representatives Committee Assignments ***
Past: House Select Committee on the Events Surrounding the 2012 Terrorist Attack in Benghazi
Current: House Committee on the Judiciary
(1) Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
(2) Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice
House Committee on Oversight and Governmental Reform (Ranking Member)
(1) Subcommittee on Health Care, Benefits, and Administrative Rules
(2) Subcommittee on Government Operations
Temporary member of House Committee on Intelligence
Caucus Memberships: Freedom Caucus, Congressional Constitution Caucus, Congressional Western Caucus, U.S. - Japan Caucus
In a Politico article published 29 October 2017, former House Speaker John Boehner called Jordan "an asshole." Stating that "Jordan was a terrorist as a legislator going back to his days in the Ohio house and senate." - I also endorse the asshole label.
Jim Jordan is a sorry excuse for anything that is alive on this planet we call Earth. Invective words fail me when I think of him and the orange faced monstrosity that sits in the White House.
Jim Jordan may be an attack dog - but that dog needs to be euthanized, and put out of our misery!
Thursday, December 5, 2019
The Bathroom Leak
Finally, the bathroom leak has been fixed... - Or, at least it is no longer dripping. The leak began just before or after the midnight hour Saturday morning, 23 November. Rex, our assigned Maintenance man for this 6 month period, sealed or blocked or fixed the leak from a water pipe in our ceiling and caused it to finally stop spraying water into the ceiling at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, 3 December. He cleaned up after himself, and left the apartment at 6:30 that evening, having arrived at 9:50 that morning.
So we had water continuously dripping from the screws holding the metal HVAC access panel in the ceiling dripping on us for 10 + days - for 256 1/2 hours. We were placing, exchanging, and washing multiple beach, bath, and hand towels every 2.5 hours. This interrupted our sleep patterns, our eating, cooking, and normal life patterns. At one point in time, the two screws above the toilet (at shoulder or arm width) were both oozing 75 drips per minute, while the two screws at the other end, over the towel rack had drips falling at 45 and 37 per minute.
Beatrice noticed Saturday evening, 30 November, that the wall and baseboard at the front corner of the bathtub looked different. I felt them and they were damp. By Sunday morning, the baseboard join at the corner was separating, and there was a crack up the plaster of the wall. I dutifully called in these observations to the Maintenance office.
Now, when I first called the leak in to Maintenance on Saturday, 23 Nov., I called it in as an Emergency call. I did so because the last time we had a leak at the same place, it had been summer, and while the leak was being fixed, the two men who did the work explained that it was from the condensation drip pan, and that this happened frequently during the summer, when air conditioners were running constantly. Since this was winter and the air conditioner had not been in use for 5 weeks, I thought it should be treated as an emergency.
When I called the Maintenance request number at about 8:30, since I pressed "2" for an emergency, I was connected to the person on call for that day. He listened to me, said it was not an emergency, but that he'd be down to Boulder after he finished his breakfast and coffee. He arrived, said he was Tyler, and that he was the manager in charge of plumbing and HVAC things, but he was on call this weekend. He opened the HVAC door, and was finished in about 5 minutes (for once I didn't watch what the repair person did). He closed the door and screwed everything closed. He commented that it was just a drip, and when Bea and I voiced our concerns, he brushed us off. He said he had fixed the problem and that if there was any more dripping, call it in as a normal work order. He grossly offended both Bea and I, acting as if he were a King, and we were "ignorant females" - you could read that in his eyes. We were stupid old women that were upset over nothing.
Less than 20 minutes - maybe only 15 - after he left, we suddenly had three screws dripping water at a much greater rate than the first one that Tyler had "fixed." I immediately called it in to Maintenance as a non-emergency work order. I called Maintenance to report on the leaks and drips 16 times over 11 days, telling them how many screws in the overhead were dripping, and at how many drips per minute, as well as the splitting of the baseboards and the cracking and plaster peeling wall.
After Tyler visited on Saturday, our next Maintenance visit was on Wednesday, 27 November, the day before Thanksgiving, just before noon. (We had the 23-inch snowfall that began Monday afternoon and ended Tuesday afternoon.) Mickey, the man who arrived that day, opened up the HVAC door and was surprised that the condensation drip pan was dry, but the insulation around the HVAC unit in the ceiling was dripping wet. He took photos, talked to someone on the phone, and closed up the HVAC door. He told us that Elevation Mechanical, who had installed the HVAC unit would be contacted, and they would come as soon as they could.
Around 2 o'clock Friday afternoon, 29 Nov., Kevin K, from Elevation Mechanical arrived. He opened up the unit in the ceiling, checked everything that he could, and turned various water lines on and off. He, too took photos of the unit and the dripping wet insulation, talking to 3 different people on the phone. He finally asked us to experiment with the HVAC water lines. We had to turn off the heat, and shut off the intake and outflow water lines from our water heater, and see if that affected the leaking. So we did that for 4 hours Friday afternoon and evening. Besides my usual report to Maintenance Saturday morning, I also called Kevin and reported. We turned the heat off for 14 hours on Saturday, along with the water supply.Sunday morning, the 1st of December, day 8, I called Maintenance and talked about the drips and the baseboard and wall; I also called Kevin and reported to him. He stated that since there was no change in the drips and leaking, the problem was not with the HVAC system - it was somewhere, and something, else.
Because the dripping had become much more frequent, I called the Maintenance line Sunday afternoon, and reported the heavier leaking, the continued splitting of the baseboard, and that Kevin K of Elevation Mechanical had said that the problem was NOT in the HVAC system.
I called and made my usual report to Maintenance Monday morning. I was fed up and angry by 11:26 and called again and left a message to please return my call. Forty minutes later, the Office Manager called and told me that she was trying to make an appointment with us "with a vendor" and she'd call back when she had the appointment set up. She called me back in another 30 minutes and said the vendor said he couldn't do anything - I asked if it was Elevation Mechanical, and she said yes. I said that I had explained in a Sunday call that they said it wasn't a problem with their HVAC system, and that the Thistle maintenance people needed to deal with it. Hadn't she listened to that message and made a note about it? She did not answer my question and said that they were looking into our problem.
I called Tuesday morning and made my normal report, detailing the leaks and the baseboard and wall splitting. Bea got upset and made a call demanding a call back around 9:05. She never received a return call... But she stepped out to take the recyclables to the main bin, and saw, first Mickey (who had been here the day before Thanksgiving) and a few minutes later, Rex. She stopped and spoke with Mickey who told her there had been a Maintenance Department meeting, and that our ceiling leak was the only topic. Chris, who was the maintenance man assigned here for 18 months, asked which apartment? When told our number, he declared "If Beatrice and Betty are complaining about something, you can be certain it's a REAL concern. They don't contact us about piddly things."
Rex had been on vacation starting 23 November, and had just returned to work on 3 December. He arrived at our apartment at 9:50. Bea and I shared our tale of woe with him, including what we had done for Kevin to test the possibility of an HVAC leak. He told us no one had given him that information... When Rex opened the HVAC door Tuesday morning, almost a gallon of water poured out onto the floor. We, and he, were glad we had the towels down. After he had been here for a couple of hours, another man, who I didn't know arrived and started working with him. They cut two holes in the ceiling and removed the bathroom exhaust fan. Besides the ceiling that is visible to us tenants, there were two more layers of drywall ceiling separating different layers of pipes and duct-work. The men couldn't find the leak. They had thought it was from the upstairs bathtub or toilet, but it wasn't. They thought they were going to have to cut off the water supply to both apartments for 2 days and cut through the concrete floor in the bathroom above us to see the water pipes.
They were about to give up and decide to do that, when I heard Rex exclaim, "Holy fuck, I've found it!" A water pipe that supplies both our apartment and the one above us, had a saw cut next to a joint. Rex and John (the other man who joined him), decided that it had been a cut that had almost cut through the pipe, and that since the pipe held up and didn't leak, the construction crew let it go. However, after 4 1/2 years of differing water pressure and varied temperatures, the weakened area of the pipe opened. Rex and John were able to feel water spraying out of the pipe. So our water was cut off for 3 hours while it was repaired, and while Rex and John removed wet dry wall, wet insulation, slime and mold from all the areas they could reach.
So..... we have holes in the ceiling and the HVAC ceiling door has to stay open until everything is dry enough for the drywall, insulation, and ceiling to be replaced. Then it's got to be re-plastered and re-painted. The same goes for the baseboard and wall at the front edge of the bathtub.
Since we were working to save our rental until for 256+ hours, which equals 31+ 8 days of work, we have asked to have our rent for January reduced by half. We have also stated that we hope there will be no retribution against us for expressing such a wish. We had to send the recompense message to our "Community Manager" - who made us stop feeding the birds and squirrels with a bogus report of rodent infestations and complaints from tenants on the ground floor - so we also sent copies to his Senior Community Manager, the Maintenance Office Manager, and the CEO of the apartment complex/low-cost housing company. Rex and John said they'd put in words backing up our request and saying that our constant vigilance had helped keep damage to a minimum.
We'll see what happens.
So we had water continuously dripping from the screws holding the metal HVAC access panel in the ceiling dripping on us for 10 + days - for 256 1/2 hours. We were placing, exchanging, and washing multiple beach, bath, and hand towels every 2.5 hours. This interrupted our sleep patterns, our eating, cooking, and normal life patterns. At one point in time, the two screws above the toilet (at shoulder or arm width) were both oozing 75 drips per minute, while the two screws at the other end, over the towel rack had drips falling at 45 and 37 per minute.
Beatrice noticed Saturday evening, 30 November, that the wall and baseboard at the front corner of the bathtub looked different. I felt them and they were damp. By Sunday morning, the baseboard join at the corner was separating, and there was a crack up the plaster of the wall. I dutifully called in these observations to the Maintenance office.
Now, when I first called the leak in to Maintenance on Saturday, 23 Nov., I called it in as an Emergency call. I did so because the last time we had a leak at the same place, it had been summer, and while the leak was being fixed, the two men who did the work explained that it was from the condensation drip pan, and that this happened frequently during the summer, when air conditioners were running constantly. Since this was winter and the air conditioner had not been in use for 5 weeks, I thought it should be treated as an emergency.
When I called the Maintenance request number at about 8:30, since I pressed "2" for an emergency, I was connected to the person on call for that day. He listened to me, said it was not an emergency, but that he'd be down to Boulder after he finished his breakfast and coffee. He arrived, said he was Tyler, and that he was the manager in charge of plumbing and HVAC things, but he was on call this weekend. He opened the HVAC door, and was finished in about 5 minutes (for once I didn't watch what the repair person did). He closed the door and screwed everything closed. He commented that it was just a drip, and when Bea and I voiced our concerns, he brushed us off. He said he had fixed the problem and that if there was any more dripping, call it in as a normal work order. He grossly offended both Bea and I, acting as if he were a King, and we were "ignorant females" - you could read that in his eyes. We were stupid old women that were upset over nothing.
Less than 20 minutes - maybe only 15 - after he left, we suddenly had three screws dripping water at a much greater rate than the first one that Tyler had "fixed." I immediately called it in to Maintenance as a non-emergency work order. I called Maintenance to report on the leaks and drips 16 times over 11 days, telling them how many screws in the overhead were dripping, and at how many drips per minute, as well as the splitting of the baseboards and the cracking and plaster peeling wall.
After Tyler visited on Saturday, our next Maintenance visit was on Wednesday, 27 November, the day before Thanksgiving, just before noon. (We had the 23-inch snowfall that began Monday afternoon and ended Tuesday afternoon.) Mickey, the man who arrived that day, opened up the HVAC door and was surprised that the condensation drip pan was dry, but the insulation around the HVAC unit in the ceiling was dripping wet. He took photos, talked to someone on the phone, and closed up the HVAC door. He told us that Elevation Mechanical, who had installed the HVAC unit would be contacted, and they would come as soon as they could.
Around 2 o'clock Friday afternoon, 29 Nov., Kevin K, from Elevation Mechanical arrived. He opened up the unit in the ceiling, checked everything that he could, and turned various water lines on and off. He, too took photos of the unit and the dripping wet insulation, talking to 3 different people on the phone. He finally asked us to experiment with the HVAC water lines. We had to turn off the heat, and shut off the intake and outflow water lines from our water heater, and see if that affected the leaking. So we did that for 4 hours Friday afternoon and evening. Besides my usual report to Maintenance Saturday morning, I also called Kevin and reported. We turned the heat off for 14 hours on Saturday, along with the water supply.Sunday morning, the 1st of December, day 8, I called Maintenance and talked about the drips and the baseboard and wall; I also called Kevin and reported to him. He stated that since there was no change in the drips and leaking, the problem was not with the HVAC system - it was somewhere, and something, else.
Because the dripping had become much more frequent, I called the Maintenance line Sunday afternoon, and reported the heavier leaking, the continued splitting of the baseboard, and that Kevin K of Elevation Mechanical had said that the problem was NOT in the HVAC system.
I called and made my usual report to Maintenance Monday morning. I was fed up and angry by 11:26 and called again and left a message to please return my call. Forty minutes later, the Office Manager called and told me that she was trying to make an appointment with us "with a vendor" and she'd call back when she had the appointment set up. She called me back in another 30 minutes and said the vendor said he couldn't do anything - I asked if it was Elevation Mechanical, and she said yes. I said that I had explained in a Sunday call that they said it wasn't a problem with their HVAC system, and that the Thistle maintenance people needed to deal with it. Hadn't she listened to that message and made a note about it? She did not answer my question and said that they were looking into our problem.
I called Tuesday morning and made my normal report, detailing the leaks and the baseboard and wall splitting. Bea got upset and made a call demanding a call back around 9:05. She never received a return call... But she stepped out to take the recyclables to the main bin, and saw, first Mickey (who had been here the day before Thanksgiving) and a few minutes later, Rex. She stopped and spoke with Mickey who told her there had been a Maintenance Department meeting, and that our ceiling leak was the only topic. Chris, who was the maintenance man assigned here for 18 months, asked which apartment? When told our number, he declared "If Beatrice and Betty are complaining about something, you can be certain it's a REAL concern. They don't contact us about piddly things."
Rex had been on vacation starting 23 November, and had just returned to work on 3 December. He arrived at our apartment at 9:50. Bea and I shared our tale of woe with him, including what we had done for Kevin to test the possibility of an HVAC leak. He told us no one had given him that information... When Rex opened the HVAC door Tuesday morning, almost a gallon of water poured out onto the floor. We, and he, were glad we had the towels down. After he had been here for a couple of hours, another man, who I didn't know arrived and started working with him. They cut two holes in the ceiling and removed the bathroom exhaust fan. Besides the ceiling that is visible to us tenants, there were two more layers of drywall ceiling separating different layers of pipes and duct-work. The men couldn't find the leak. They had thought it was from the upstairs bathtub or toilet, but it wasn't. They thought they were going to have to cut off the water supply to both apartments for 2 days and cut through the concrete floor in the bathroom above us to see the water pipes.
They were about to give up and decide to do that, when I heard Rex exclaim, "Holy fuck, I've found it!" A water pipe that supplies both our apartment and the one above us, had a saw cut next to a joint. Rex and John (the other man who joined him), decided that it had been a cut that had almost cut through the pipe, and that since the pipe held up and didn't leak, the construction crew let it go. However, after 4 1/2 years of differing water pressure and varied temperatures, the weakened area of the pipe opened. Rex and John were able to feel water spraying out of the pipe. So our water was cut off for 3 hours while it was repaired, and while Rex and John removed wet dry wall, wet insulation, slime and mold from all the areas they could reach.
So..... we have holes in the ceiling and the HVAC ceiling door has to stay open until everything is dry enough for the drywall, insulation, and ceiling to be replaced. Then it's got to be re-plastered and re-painted. The same goes for the baseboard and wall at the front edge of the bathtub.
Since we were working to save our rental until for 256+ hours, which equals 31+ 8 days of work, we have asked to have our rent for January reduced by half. We have also stated that we hope there will be no retribution against us for expressing such a wish. We had to send the recompense message to our "Community Manager" - who made us stop feeding the birds and squirrels with a bogus report of rodent infestations and complaints from tenants on the ground floor - so we also sent copies to his Senior Community Manager, the Maintenance Office Manager, and the CEO of the apartment complex/low-cost housing company. Rex and John said they'd put in words backing up our request and saying that our constant vigilance had helped keep damage to a minimum.
We'll see what happens.
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