The squeeky wheel and all that

[helblonde]

I did, finally, get around to nagging (in a nice way) the landlords about Getting Things Done(tm). So, Friday, they sent the Landlord's sister over with her handyman (she is also, apparently, a landlady in the area). I showed her the things that needed to be fixed: the decayed door trim around the exterior garage door and the adjact door the the water heater; the decaying water heater door (yes, using an interior door on the outside of the house means that it will fall apart when rain gets inside of it); the sagging gate; the worn-away grout on the kitchen counter. While she was contemplating the garage door trim, she saw our dryer vent pipe sitting out in the middle of the floor, pointing out the door*  and said "do [landlords] know about this?" I assured her that I had told them when we moved in that it needed to be done**. She responds that it must be fixed! Now! Woo hoo! I am unreasonably excited by this. Hurrah for someone who can see that pumping steam and lint into the structure is a Bad Idea! She can come be their representative any time.

A little later, she asked whether I had put in the nectarine tree. I confirmed that I had, along with all the other fruit trees. She mentioned that she had just moved down to this area, so I pointed her to Regan's Nursery and Dale Hardware. Then we talked about the tomatoes I have going. I ended up walking her through the whole garden and showing her everything I had put in. She was suitably impressed, which is always something to aim for in dealing with landlordery.

I liked the handyman. He did a reasonably quick job. He also knew when to ignore the LL instructions and do what needed to be done. I especially noted this in the grout repair in the kitchen. LL sister says that the only spot that needed repair was the really worn spot. I said that any place where it was worn below the lip of the tile needed to have more. He did it my way. :-) I also got him to caulk around the base of the range, so that when liquid spills on that counter, it doesn't drip on the pans in the cupboard below. Because that's straight up nasty.

Having all the repairs done really inspired me, so I finally got 'round to laying cardboard down in the few garden beds that needed it for weedblock. moriven got most of the rest broken down for recycling, so we don't have a big unsightly pile in the side yard any more. I covered the cardboard I laid in the front rose bed with some cedar chips I got from joycebre, which have now filled the whole house with the cedar smell. Nice! Next comes getting more compost for the garden beds in preparation for the fall growing season.

Today's project is to clean the top of the washer and dryer and then take the shop vac to all the lint in the garage. Talk about taking care of something that has been bugging me forever. W00t!


* See, the houses in this development were not built with exterior dryer vents because the developers were... just not thinking things through. I am unconvinced that people did not want dryer vents in 1973.
** I told LLs three years ago that we would do the work, but it needed a permit. We were not about to pay for the permit. Also, I doubt the city would have issued us one. Anyway, I am quite certain that the handyman did not get a permit for this change. But, since we have not done the work, I consider whether or not they get fined to officially be Not My Problem(tm). I'm pretty certain they'll have to change it once the inspectors notice the change. I'm guesing that it's too close to another wall. Boy, that's going to suck to have to patch.

Comments

[evil-macaroni.livejournal.com]

Yay for repairs!!!