Candles and Flashlight Batteries

The Santa Ana Winds rolled in like a giant freight train last night.

Along with the Santa Anas came an emergency message from the power company that they’re exploring options for a potential public safety power shutoff in this area.

What the heck?!

To prevent the spread of wildfires, I suppose, but how inconvenient.

I’d better stock up on candles and flashlight batteries.

As far as shutting off power for public safety, this is an area where to do so would have the opposite effect. It would be like that movie Purge, where the bad guys see darkness as an opportunity for mayhem.

Speaking of which, there was that issue of damage done to mailboxes when, under cover of darkness, someone broke into the boxes middle of August.

Management did a temporary fix to keep the metal from harming anyone, then pushed it all into position, kept in place by use of  duct tape.

And in that condition the mailboxes remained for weeks and weeks and weeks until Apache, the unofficial mayor of the complex, began bugging management to fix it so residents effected by the damaged boxes, could begin receiving delivery again.

Management blew Apache off so, in mid-September,  he called his contacts at the County who came out, assessed the damage, gave management an October 6th deadline to get repairs done.

They missed the deadline, so Apache promptly turned management in.

A representative from the County came back on October 9th to verify repairs had not been made.

In addition, Apache contacted Corporate, even tough Corporate had long ago have their lawyers send Apache a cease and desist notice to stop bugging them.

That notice meant nothing to Apache. Once he has a cause, he’ll take it all the way to the Supreme Court ─ joke that the Supreme now is.

At any rate, the fact that Apache contacted Corporate, got him and the new Community Manager into a heated discussion. Which, Apache also doesn’t care, but which spurred the new Community Manager to assign the two maintenance guys to the task.

The guys began repairs last Thursday -- two days after the County returned to prove they meant business, at which time Apache texted me urging I come down as it was quite the comical scene to see the guys struggle to, as his text titled, “How can you get a square object in a square space”, photo included.

Though I did not go down, I heard the guys struggled for most of the day on Thursday into the night around 8:00.

Yesterday, when I went down for mail and to check out last week's work, the installation looked done, but not quite, because the area around the boxes hasn’t yet been concreted in, just held together with duct tape still. Looks like management did just enough to get the County off their back.

They’d better get onto finishing quick, before Apache calls in his contacts again. Plus, if repairs are not completed before the power company cuts power, conditions will be perfect for the mail thief when he comes back for another go.

And I’ve no doubt he’ll come back, especially since it appears management did nothing to capture the thief or relocate the mail center to a more secure location inside the building.

On the other hand, inasmuch as this damage caused Head Maintenance Guy so much extra work, lazy boy that he is, maybe he will be more likely to do something when next he hears someone breaking into the boxes, which I’m sure he had to have heard as he lives right over that area.

On tap for today is my last chance to practice with online DMV tests, because my written renewal test is tomorrow.

I’m not feeling confident.

I know what to do on the road, but my brain scrambles on written exams, written scenarios, especially when the DMV throws in trick questions.

The notice to renew indicated one could renew online but, when I tried to go that route, it said I was not eligible. Inasmuch as my driving record is clean as a whistle, I’m assuming my ineligibility is age discrimination.

I’m hoping DMV doesn’t further age discriminate against me by requesting a behind the wheel test.