Life Goes On

End of this month rapidly approaching, with me unable to get myself to the mall to complete that virtual Chocolate 5K for one reason or another, I gave up planning to hoof it and qualified on the indoor bike.

Feeling a bit guilty that 5K (3.12 miles) on the bike wasn’t burning as many calories as an hour-long walk, I upped to 10K (6.24 miles).  So that’s off my bucket list, as of Wednesday and, unless this hot weather leaves town, I won’t be signing up for any virtuals in the near future – no matter how the organizers tempt me with shiny new medals.

With nothing on my bucket list for yesterday, I tore myself away from needlepoint and headed down to 1:00 Bingo.

Walking past Community Manager’s office, it was sad to see she and her things not in it.

Upon learning Community Manager had been let go, Church Lady was in tears. I myself was close to tears, but always in the back of my mind is the belief (and experience) that what often on the surface looks like a bad thing, the Universe ultimately turns into good.

Nevertheless, I’ve come to the conclusion that the field of property management, at any level, isn’t a stable career choice because, since the current corporation took over back in 2013, it’s been a revolving door of staff being whisked away with no notice -- Maintenance Men, Assistant Maintenance Men, Office Assistants, that mean Community Manager Nurse Ratched (whom we were happy to see go) and her boss the Corporate Boss Lady (which shocked us because she held so much power) and now another Community Manager (which is shocking because she was well-liked and did a great job).

It’s looking more and more like Property Management is brutal at-will employment.

I was at-will once, but it wasn’t brutal like one moment you’re here, next moment whoosh you’re gone.  Working as a civil service employee in the law office, I was offered a promotion to private staff of an elected official. It was scary to leave a sure thing for something that would last only as long as the individual held office but, single mother raising two daughters on my own, the salary being offered was too good to pass up.

I took my chances and what turned out to be a fun and exciting job worked out for five years. When the official’s time in office was over, it wasn’t like we (his staff) had minutes to pack our stuff and get out before the new guy took over and brought his own staff in. Instead, we had plenty of lead time, from when the vote was in and he’d lost reelection, to find other employment; and actually, most of us were offered positions with his contacts -- other political types. But five years in a political environment was to me like dog years. I’d had enough of seeing and knowing of and having to keep quiet about maneuverings that troubled my conscious, went back into law, and have held a serious aversion to politics and politicians ever since.

At any rate, now that the initial shock of Community Manager’s dismissal has worn down, life here on the complex is rolling along like always – at least for now. We don’t know what this latest change in management will bring. But for now, Bingo scheduled 1:00 Thursday went on without a hitch.

I was once again a lucky winner, actually the second person to call BINGO! Winning on a game I think they called Crazy L and took home a nice little microwave cooking pot.