Monday-11am

Good morning, Sunrise!

Something I rarely see--LOL!  Had a bad night--I think it was Monday night, actually.  I woke up about 3am coughing and couldn't stop for 20-30 minutes.  Then after that I'd cough when I tried to lay down--all day long--but I didn't cough much if I was sitting up.  It miraculously disappeared so that I was able to go to bed about 9pm on Tuesday night and, after 2 hours of sleep the night before, crashed for almost 14 hours!  Have had stuffed sinuses and a headache since then, but that is letting up some now.

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Plus that right knee (I did something to that I woke up with on the 8th) has been so painful that it had been messing with my sleep a lot, too.  However I twisted it caused pain up the back of my knee, limping, and swelling--some days worse than others.  Let's just say it was one of those weeks...two weeks, actually--LOL!  A lot of quiet time with Annie and the TV! 

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  When I woke up on Thursday there was a note under my door about a meeting down in the community room at 1:30 that very afternoon.  Said it was important and all activities were cancelled.  So, of course, I hobbled down to find out what this emergency meeting was all about.  Went early so I knew I could get a chair.  (The last resident meeting we had was a couple of years ago and there were so many people that some had to stand.) 

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The activity director, Pam, was somber and silent.  Not her usual self.  But she was making coffee and putting out cookies.  People wondered what was going on?  We were told we were waiting for a lady from the main federal housing office downtown--so you knew it was serious.  Nazar showed up late, of course, looking the same as usual.  But when the two maintenance men even showed up...well, I thought maybe the place had been sold.  Something big was happening.

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Finally the entire staff and the lady from federal housing were gathered on the one end of the room by the kitchen--next to the table where I was sitting.  Two strange men wandered in on the opposite side of the room.  The stage was set.

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 The lady we were waiting for started the meeting by telling us that the entire management staff was leaving at the end of the month.  Everyone was in shock as they said their goodbyes one by one.  Pam cried several times.  Even the lady from federal housing teared up talking about how much they care about the residents and how they had put in to continue managing but were rejected by the investors (sounded like their contract was up the end of July and they didn't give them an answer till the end of June).  The seniors were all concerned about them not having a job (did notice no one was overly concerned about Nazar not having a job--LOL!) and were assured that they were all being moved to other federal housing facilities.  (Nazar is going to an all wheel-chair high rise--poor people.) 

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But the worse was yet to come.  They turned the meeting over to the two strangers.  One never spoke and just leaned against the wall the whole time.  The spokesman for the incoming management company said that nothing was going to change...many times.  But when people had questions, he spoke like a politician and left the majority of the answers up to interpretation, or not completely answered.  Often it was that he wasn't positive and time will tell type of answer.  But our leases remain the same for right now (glad I just signed a new lease July 1st--so I am good for a whole year) and the rules won't change unless we sign new leases--which, of course, they will probably have us doing when our current leases are up.  People were getting very nervous and some of them were getting obviously scared and panicky (we have people in their 80s and 90s here).

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The federal housing lady advanced aggressively part way down the room and was pointedly asking him if he was going to tell them who they were.  She seemed ready for a fight and out to defend us--which was even more confusing.  She had to ask him twice.  

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He looked a little shamed by her and reluctantly the confession came out of his mouth.

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"Goldmark."

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There was a roar of shock and outrage--a roar!  From a room full of seniors--myself included.  I was surprised that everyone there had the same low opinion as I did of Goldmark.  Obviously they are very well known up here...as the absolute worst company to rent from.  They are absolutely for profit and known for high rents, never putting money back into the buildings, never giving back deposits, constantly raising rents, treating people like crap, and never being able to get in touch with them.

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Both Dagan and Leah had rented from them years ago.  I remember one apartment Dagan was living in that was so filthy I couldn't stand to visit there and he could hardly stand to sleep there.  It had flat, stained, shag carpeting with bare spots--dirty walls--just awful!  I knew Goldmark was well known among the college student community but even all these seniors knew about them, too.    

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You may remember I came up here to go to college.  So I heard all about how Goldmark only cared if someone signed the original lease and they got their rent--which was high.  But usually several people lived in any given apartment so they could split the high rent.  I even heard that apartments were sometimes handed on to friends because Goldmark never cleaned the apartments anyways and never returned deposits...so why give them more deposit money was the attitude of the students.  Understandable, but not smart for the person who originally signed the lease years ago.

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Anyways, there was such an uproar in the room--people shouting in dismay, people saying they were moving, some trying to ask questions.  The old staff settled things down enough so he could answer questions.  But, like I said, he answered them like a slippery politician.  He did say that they have a 15 year contract with the investors and they had to agree to keep it low-income to get the contract.  We will still deal with annual reviews from federal housing.  

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But federal rules can change...also, the investors could say the rents should be higher.  Federal housing will only help with a specific portion of the rent...beyond that, we would have to pay the difference.  They could make it so we can't afford to live here even if they don't kick us out.  Who knows?

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There were a lot of vagaries and confusion and partial answers.  Supposed to be another resident meeting soon to meet the new management team.  People milled about in the hallways afterwards...many saying they were moving.  The big question on everyone's mind was why would a for profit horrible company like Goldmark even want to manage a low income complex?

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Time will tell.  

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Myself--I'm not going anywhere.  Unless they make it so I can't afford to live here I already know what it is like to watch a building crumble around me.  And if we stay a senior building, at least there won't be kids smashing, tearing, and breaking things and pulling the fire alarm every few months.  I love my apartment and I don't plan to go anywhere.  I just know now odds are even worse that anything will get repaired.  With Nazar they weren't good in the first place.  My kitchen linoleum has never been repaired.  So--not much different, right?  I plan to wait and see what happens and hold my ground.  ;)

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Anyways, despite my head cold and painful knee, Ian and I still wanted to have a Gramma Day.  So Ian came over on Saturday with his lunch and snacks.  He knew we would spend the day mostly watching some shows.  We settled in together on my chair after lunch and watched a dolphin spy pod documentary (fake sea critters with cameras in them).  Ian wanted to watch Cars 3 again and we were watching more Maru and Hanna youtube videos (one of his latest favorites) when Daddy came to pick him up.  I appreciated a long afternoon of Ian cuddling.  Had a really nice day.  :)

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During the night Saturday night my knee was so painful.  I had been doing stretches the whole two weeks--but nothing had changed and it seemed to be getting worse, if anything.  Waking me up again--awk!  Laying there feeling defeated I did a fed-up-with-this, straighter-than-straight, if-it-kills-me, super-duper angry stretch and I felt a pop in the back of my knee.  And no more sharp pain!  My knee has been really tender, sore, and touchy--no surprise after something being stretched out of place for two weeks--so I am being really careful with it and hoping whatever it was will heal up. 

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Before I forget something else--LOL!  Last week I forgot to make a comment on my blog post for a long time so that I could answer your comments by email.  So if you didn't hear back from me you can go back to last week's post because I answered them online.  Today I have a big note in front of my face to remember to make a comment--LOL!  Sorry about that.  Old dog and all.  ;)  I wish Blogger would fix that issue.

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Oh, and I did look it up and Annie came a year ago end of June!  She's been here over a year already.    

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Talk about not wanting to walk around to even take pictures...

...all I have are some pictures of the birds... 

...checking out the colander I decided to try again to keep the patio cleaner. 

Doesn't really work because there's just as much poop everywhere--LOL!  But I was hoping it might curtail some of the sprouting of bird seed in the grass and the rocks around my patio.  I was out there one day pulling the weeds (till my knee hurt too much) and got half a trash bag full!  And I still have more to pull.  You can see that fatter "grass" out there in the yard.  Yup--bird seed sprouting.  It's not crab grass--pulls right out.

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Well, that's about it from here this week.  When we have the next resident meeting I'll let you know what I find out...and how my knee is doing.  The head cold is already better.  I hope you all had a painless week and this will be a better one for those of us who didn't--lol!

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Till next week, my friends.  :) :)

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"We don't know what life will bring, so it is what we bring to life that matters."

Patricia Campbell Carlson