The inspection happened around 10:30 this morning, starting with a knock on the door; and it was like roaches when Manager, Head Maintenance Guy and Assistant Maintenance Guy, exiting from White-Haired Neighbors unit, swarmed into mine before WHN closed her door.
She looked amused and waved as the trio split up in my unit, scattered – again like roaches, in different directions.
The inspection seemed way more thorough than previous years, which I questioned "Why so thorough?"
"We’re always thorough", said Head Maintenance Guy.
"No, you’re not", said I.
For one, they flushed the toilet, said the water does not fill back up fast enough.
They never paid attention to things like that before. Even took the lid off this time, checked inside, ordered a part they said needed replacing and didn’t say I’d have to pay for it.
The A/C was on, which meant water was dripping into the tub from that condensation pipe that was an issue a few weeks ago … where Assistant Maintenance Guy was cleaning the pipe in WHN’s unit, refused to do mine while he was at it, as suggested by WHN, said I’d have to put in a work order.
My response to that was "If they don’t care, I don’t care".
All of a sudden, they now care with Head Maintenance Guy telling me water is dripping into the tub from the condensation pipe.
DUH! "Yes, I know".
"The rust from the pipe could damage your tub".
DUH! "Yes, I know. I’ve been cleaning the stain out for 14 years".
Manager said Head Maintenance Guy would return later, run equipment to clean out the pipe, and he did.
I was told there is a new law that smoke detectors have to be 3 inches from the wall. Mine looks to be about 2 inches, so they’re going to have to come back, uninstall the detector, reinstall it an inch further from the wall.
That sounded stupid, so I Googled it – "is there a law that says smoke detectors have to be 3 inches from the wall?".
"No, codes do not require smoke detectors to be 3 inches from the wall; instead, national and state safety standards require ceiling-mounted alarms to be at least 4 inches away from any wall".
It’s called the Distance Rule … "The edge of the smoke alarm must be at least 4 inches (100 mm) away from the wall. Dead air space right in the corner where the wall meets the ceiling can prevent smoke from reaching the sensor", and it's not a new law, as they said, but has been in effect for 40 years. So, why now is management so motivated to follow the law?
Whether 3 or 4 inches, I hope management gets it right when they return to tear up the ceiling.
Manager was looking at my carpets, so I said, "I hope there’s not a new rule that the carpets have to be changed because, though I’ve been here 14 years, they are in good shape and having to deal with moving furniture around or out for new carpet would be a headache".
She said, "Your carpet looks pretty good for 14 years".
"That’s because I shampoo it myself and don’t let people walk all over it with their shoes on, like you guys are doing right now".
"Oh, sorry", she said, and I heard Assistant Maintenance Guy laugh.
She went on to say the new carpet being installed is brown and cheap, wears out quickly and easily.
Whoa! she said that … "cheap".
Since she was being so chatty, I asked, "Did you ever find out who was messing up the bathroom?" … (the Feces Felon).
"No, but they stopped".
"I wonder why", said I.
"Probably because we talked about looking for him".
Makes sense.
At the end of the inspection, I was told the State inspection would be happening in two weeks.
Like I said … they were unusually thorough this time, so I can only assume it has something to do with the upcoming State inspection.
After all was said and done, I knocked on WHN’s door for a debriefing, saying to her, "That wasn’t so bad, was it?".
She said, "They looked in my closet. Did they look in yours?"
I saw Assistant Maintenance Guy go into the bedroom and later found the closet door completely closed, when I never fully close it, so I assume he did, but couldn’t answer WHN’s question at the time because I couldn’t keep up with what the scattered roaches were doing.
WHN said she got dinged on the tea lights she has attached to her patio railing, was told to remove them.
That is a rule … "Do not attach or hang anything from the patio/balcony railings".
I hope WHN being asked to remove her tea lights isn’t going to cause management to notice and make me remove the Halloween lights, when I attach them to the railing next month.
We’ll see, cause I’m definitely decorating the patio the month of Halloween.
I also hope manager told WHN about the State Inspection in two weeks so, if by chance she’s selected, she’ll be cool with it and emotionally prepared for the State, then Federal, then maybe the County.
BTW …… While chatting with her, she mentioned her unit has more wood flooring than carpet.
WHAT? They’re replacing carpet with wood flooring on 2nd Floor units now????
She let me in and showed me hers.
"Cute", I dubbed her unit. There’s that brown carpet in the main seating area, the rest is wood, which she loves.
I’d hate it …… brown wood flooring, brown carpet is depressing, old ladyish, and I wonder if it’s disturbing for those living downstairs from units with wood floors, no carpet to soak up the noise.
Her unit isn’t the elegant showstopper former Next-Door Neighbor’s was but, though darkish with all that brown and blackout curtains to keep the sun out, she has made it look cute, comfortable, but definitely makes me think "grandma".
Looking around my unit, I don’t think anyone would think "grandma". Maybe, "weird, fun, a little scary" but definitely not "a grandma lives here". Actually, a great grandma.
P.S. Hip Hip Hooray! Blogger is letting me post photos today.
Nothing about you screams grandma except the love you share (and the snark).
ReplyDeleteI don't know about love, but I'll admit to the snark 😉
Delete"That’s because I shampoo it myself and don’t let people walk all over it with their shoes on, like you guys are doing right now".
ReplyDeleteThat!!!! Slayed me.
And your apartment is eclectic and fun and colorful and isn't giving grandma at all!
"Eclectic" pretty much sums it up.
DeleteI LOVE eclectic.
Delete👍
DeleteNothing lights a fire under management's ass like government inspections. Maybe there's even been a couple of surprise ones already, LOL!
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when the ONLY way to get management and maintenance to move their asses was when we received notice of an impending agency inspection. Then they'd run around like chickens with their heads off, trying to get everything in order.
DeleteIt does sound like an inspection is a good way to get the deferred maintenance done.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, because if the agency inspectors find nothing wrong, it means they won't inspect for two years and management really wants the agencies off their backs for two years, so they can go back to dragging their heels. Should they ever pass and get the two-year extension, us residents will be SOL in getting things done until the two-year period expires. So, hopefully, the agencies will find something, keep management on their toes.
DeleteYes. I had Photo problem the other day. I had justt received a Microsoft update and thought that might be the cause but then it went away.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, it was a short-lived glitch, but definitely a Blogger issue, not Microsoft update related.
DeleteWell, the good news is that at least you are getting some things done in your unit. I'm not sure the whole thing is good news.
ReplyDeleteSo far, it's good for myself and WHN. Unfortunately, one of Crafty Lady's neighbors is someone who is "nasty and dirty". "Pests" were found, which I assume means "Bed Bugs" and now Crafty Lady, and others in that quad, have to remove EVERYTHING from cabinets, closets etc, pull furniture away from walls and be out of their units for an undetermined length of time while their units are treated.
DeleteI hate those inspections. We have smoke detector inspections twice a year an and we get two guys at a time that head in different directions. Strangers inside alone in a bedroom where most people keep their jewelry boxes. What go go wrong?
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean. It did seem that Assistant Maintence Guy spent an exorbitant amount of time in the bedroom, and when I later realized he'd opened the closet door, I've twice gone back, stood there, looked around to see if I could see why so much time he'd spent looking. I don't see anything of the 14 things the State is concerned with that has anything to do with opening closet doors, so ??????
DeleteMy old apartment has old ceiling smoke detectors that don't wake up anything. I put my own detector in each room. A couple of rooms have those ceilings with the square white tiles. I mounted a couple of my detectors ON the WALL.
ReplyDeleteWhat an adventure to have so many people stomping around your place. Love your decor. The roaches will come and go less if you put a "Please remove shoes" sign at your entrance. (Very Hawaiian, ya know.) Or offer them a beer/wine. Or set out the voodoo dolls. Cheers, Linda in Kansas
Maybe a doormat that doesn't just say "boots" but "boots off".
DeleteI like your apartment -- it's full of life and colour! Yes, I'm home now and back to daily blogging!
ReplyDeleteWelcome home and back to blogging.
DeleteGlad Blogger auto-corrected about Photos loading too... it was annoying... probably moreso than when it wouldn't let me Comment. *Smiles* No, your Apartment is Stylish, and it is curious why Management is all of a sudden so thorough? Perhaps they're thinking of Selling, perhaps they're worried about getting dinged by County or Feds when they Inspect? You're like my Mom about upkeep, her Apartment had everything Original too coz she knew how to take Care of things and didn't abuse stuff. Today's folks often, at any age, are just hard on everything. We take shoes off in the Home, it was a Custom in my Mom's Country and she couldn't Believe American Homes didn't do it. The Son said Asian Homes do it too and sadly, in predominantly Asian Neighborhoods he lived in when he and the Cambodian DIL were together, Thieves learned quickly that if there were no Shoes outside the Front Door, nobody was Home and they'd Burglarize. So, he told the DIL, always leave a couple pair out there so it gives the appearance someone is home. They were one of the only Families that never got broken into using that tactic. I thought it clever of him to figure out how the Thieves were choosing their Victims. He joked, well, just Hood logic Mom, you can take the Man outta da Hood, but you can't take da Hood outta the Man... True that. *LOL* Love that Art piece on your Wall near the TV BTW.
ReplyDeleteI think they're being thorough because they hate these agency inspections. Probably because they have to spend money and fix things they've been blowing off, LOL. The downsize for them is IF the inspectors ding them on things, they come back the next year, inspect again. BUT, if they don't get dinged, the inspectors won't be back for 2 years and they can relax, not spend money and dick us around again on repairs for a while. That's why I hope they don't get a clean bill of health, so we only have to wait until the next 1-year inspection period to get things taken care of, instead of 2 years. It's silly of management to play this stupid money saving game at our expense, and counterproductive; but it is what it is.
DeleteYou're going through some of the same inspections we went through here when this place was bought by new people. Maintenance came out, fixed everything that needed fixing for the next inspections to go on without any bangs. I like your apartment. After the next inspections, management probably won't care about the Halloween lights. They just don't want them out there for the inspection.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point about wanting lights off the railings just for the agency inspection. Hopefully, they'll be all done with that by October 1, so I can start decorating.
Delete