Today's show:

Ring ring ring...ding dong ding dong ding dong. Sounds of tenant's son hitting both doorbells. One is for each of the 2 rentals so I can tell who is at the back door without looking first. Something must be URGENT!

I go out and meet middle house's son (long time resident and a nice guy)

It's always fun when he tries to explain the 'problem'.

Conversation: The tank thing is not working.

Me: The sewer pump?

Him: No, the water thing, the handle thing.

Me: You meant the TOILET?

Him: Yes, it's not watering.

Me: OK, I'll be right down.

I get there and see that once again, the overflow hose in the toilet tank is OUT of the overflow tube. I replace it and remind him it has to be there to fill the bowl.

Then he shows me the problem. The 'fill tower' isn't putting out any water after you flush, so the tank isn't filling. BUT if he turns off the water at the wall, then everything works FINE, once, then not again.

Strange, never saw that before.

So I go to rinse my hands in the sink and there is a DRIBBLE of water with both taps on. Hummmmm. Both Mom and Son say it's ALWAYS been like that. I know it hasn't because I'd been there in the past few months and it was fine.

Me: Can you get me some pliers?

Minutes later, he's back with pliers and I screw off the screen thingy and tap out one tiny rock. didn't do any good. Took out the low flow insert and all worked fine without it. So up to my house, get a replacement low flow insert and we are back in business with the sink. Nice.

Then back to the toilet where I figure out if the low flow insert on the sink was hopelessly clogged, then the toilet tower probably had a similar problem. I'm not agile enough to crawl around the toilet and replace the tower (I have a spare) so they will have to continue the 'wall valve on...off' bit until next week after my payday. It works, it's just inconvenient but I can't pay the plumber now.

Amazing that it works with the on/off bit. I'm just going to have it changed out and cure the problem with limited fuss.

Now I can't wait till the NEXT ding dong ring ring, and playing 20 questions to see what's wrong now.

I'm suspicious because it's 'good timing' for something happening soon. Probably relatives coming to 'visit' for weeks. It's usually when I get the repair requests. AND yesterday, the old car which hasn't run for years, got towed to a repair shop. Mom says that a brother from up North sent MONEY to the son here so he could fix his car. They have another car, only the son drives, and it's strange timing that now they need TWO? And why is the brother concerned about a car that's just sat there for years" I'm anticipating company for sure and they will need a vehicle so it's time to fix one.

Can hardly wait to see who arrives and how long they stay.

Stay tuned for the 'next installment' of Fun With Tenants.

Who knew Sorta was MacGyver?

YOu sure are a jack of all trades!

Ana

I've needed a little fun with Sorta's neighborhood!!

More fun. Got stopped by the Tenants whose son temporarily lived here for a year. He went back 'home' for a month to 6 months. No one is sure. Anyway, HE got a Jury Duty Summons! Yeah. This is so strange. He's not a citizen, doesn't have a Driver License, hasn't registered to vote, etc. So they made some sort of error and now his younger brother (long time here) will be calling tomorrow to explain to the court why he can't serve on Jury Duty. Should be fun. He's not even in the country now. Feel bad for them since they have trouble figuring out 'legal' stuff and I half expect them to come up tomorrow and ask ME to do it. I will if asked, but it's not like I know anything other than his name. He refused all paperwork to become a Tenant, wouldn't produce any identification for me, etc. Just lived there and now isn't there.

Another fun day with Tenants.

Egads... hard to come up with an intelligent response to someone like that getting a jury summons!

Wow, I almost forgot to update on my first tale of woe. The Tenants did indeed have company as I predicted. 2 or three different 'groups' on various nights/days. They came and went and some stayed for a week. Had to figure out who is sleeping over and who is just spending all day and night.

Finally asked who was there and found out it was the youngest son from San Francisco, and another son from Seattle plus various other relatives. They finally all went home July 1st. Extra water use expected for the next bill. So that explains why they suddenly told me of the 'toilet problem'. They don't let me know until it's beyond simple repair. Wish I could get them to understand that early alert will save me (and them in the long run) money. Then again, when I was a renter for 20 years, I didn't let the Landlord know about anything except major disasters. I fixed it all myself, at my expense and my rents always stayed low. Made sense to me.

Now waiting for the big YARD SALE. They are getting ready but I doubt it's going to be big. Their storage room (30 by 10) is nicely stacked with all sorts of stuff. Wife is going through it little by little and invited me to look at the whole thing. Nice since I'd never been in the room when I bought the property. Yep, bought it without ever seeing inside either of the 2 rentals or that storage room. I just trusted my Landlady's word and what I could remember from short peeks inside the houses over the years.

Sale scheduled for August, maybe, since I can never pin them down to any facts. I've gone against all my 'rules' and told them they can have the sale IN the common driveway/parking area. They didn't take me up on my offer of my front yard which is the perfect place. Don't even need signs. So whenever it is, I'm expecting that it will be a nightmare of cars in and out, parking in MY spots despite the signs (Landlord ONLY) and I will just close my eyes and block off my car with orange cones so nobody hits it as they try to back up and turn around to get back out the one-way driveway. Can hardly wait.

sure enjoy reading about all this. have missed it all . by the way how are the people in the house that was redone?

Ah yes, the old Squatter's house. One of my favorite places to watch. Well, since the new owners moved in about a year ago (August), they started having parties every weekend, 2 on some days. Found out they ran a family Party Supply and hosting business. One of them is a DJ with all the LOUD speakers, live mic, loud music, etc. It was party after party which they always told a neighbor (who told me) that it was 'family'. Yeah. Like family wouldn't know how to get into the yard, and they never let anyone into the house, and they bring in Porta Potties for the events? Uhhuh. Parties went on from 5ish until 1-3 am. Yep. Noise noise noise!

So during the winter, things calmed down to an occasional party, but now that it's good weather, the parties have started again. So far only kids parties with 'jumpers' and of course loads of cars parked all over the neighborhood. All of us keep wondering when the next one will be. Not looking forward to the parking and the loud speakers and laser lights.

Family itself is pretty quiet, fairly friendly if you go over to chat, but keep to themselves. Lately they have been moving in more bedroom furniture (I think they added another member) and now lots of long wood going into the backyard. Probably going to build something. They have permanently put up those HUGE white canopy thingies, which look awful. Sometimes they put up more than the 'usual' and the entire yard is covered with various structures. Not sure what all they are.

Just waiting for the next party which might be this weekend from the looks of it. I'll know when the porta potty arrives. Hope someone calls the cops like last time at 12 pm and they shut down the music to a dull roar. Better, but not gone. Guess someone got tired of not sleeping. Wasn't ME. Nope.

OH and the funnest part is that besides the dark blue house, with white trim (horribly out of place in this neighborhood) they have a peach colored front door, 6 foot wooden fencing of white pine, which they added 4 feet to of RED pine, and then put up some of that white plastic fencing that joins that. Horrible mishmash of colors. We keep waiting for them to make it all the same color, but never gonna happen.

AND the wonderful fruit tree (Zapota) that is pretty rare around here is all but cut down. They kept 'trimming' it and now it's just a 15 foot high 'stump'. Hope it leafs out because it was a wonderful shade tree and produced tons of fruit that the old guy who died used to allow people to pick.

New guys, not bad, no real drama over there. Nice for a change. Hardly see the cops anymore.

Sooooo...after the last few weeks of watching my neighborhood, here are the fun happenings.

The Squatter's house is GROWING. Yep. From the mom and pop and an occasional son living there, now we have mom, pop, 2 sons, a young woman, and another male adult on a consistent basis. Saw a mattress and stuff going in last week and from then on, the 2 cars that had been there, have grown to SEVEN. Yep. Seven cars every night. I think they have moved the rest of the family in that they had lived with in a duplex in a nearby city just before buying this place.

Small house (only 1200 sq ft if you count every square inch, with 3 tiny bedrooms and 1 1/2 bathrooms. Gotta be crowded.

Good news is, the Zapota tree which they hacked the heck out of, is indeed leafing out again. Hooray!

Only 2 parties since last month, but lots of activity in the back yard with canopies and more fence building along the adjoining neighbor's fence. Again a different color than all previous fences. I think they just buy whatever is cheap at the time. Looks really weird, but it's fairly quiet over there and nothing bad is happening. I'm thankful for that.

The Landlord of the guy across from me (the one who has been 'shunning' me for at least 3 years now) came over with 'papers' for that house and the 2 others adjoining it. The property has a 2 bedroom, a 3 bedroom, and a granny flat. We aren't sure who lives in the 3 bedroom but it's a strange crew. A guy we are calling 'baby daddy' comes over 4 nights a week, parks around the corner on my street, and waits until exactly (and I do mean to the second) 5 pm to walk around the corner and go into the house with a small backpack. He spends about 2 or so hours and then leaves. We can't figure if he's a relative, a tutor for the 2 young boys there (about 4 and 6) or a social worker, or what. Very interesting. Sometimes he and a younger woman take the 2 boys for walks up the street. A mystery. THEN baby daddy came out of the driveway (he never parks there) with a mattress in the bed of his truck. Later, a SUV appeared and a woman unloaded tons of bags that probably held clothing. So maybe someone new is moving in or something. Baby daddy still on normal routine so far. I will figure it out someday. Keeps me guessing.

OH and shunning guy has had a cast on his arm for 9 weeks now. I'm guessing a wrist break. Had the cast 'altered' several times, and then it was off for 1/2 day and then a new one on. Can't figure out what happened, but he's been out of work all that time and I heard him say to a friend, "He hit me, and I hit him, I guess I should be arrested'. Yep. That's what he said in a bragging tone. I'm guessing he got into 'another' fight at work like last time he was off work for 2 months (no injuries that time). Can hardly wait till he's back on normal routine. He does nothing all day, seems to be 'hiding' his car and laying low since the break. Might be scared the guy he hit might find him?

Off to watch the happenings, but so far this morning it's been VERY quiet around here, except for the young man who seems to have moved into the shunner's house and has been spotted 2 mornings brushing his teeth with the garden hose on the front porch. Weird. Then he goes off up the street on his skateboard. Small house, 2 bedrooms, mom, dad, 3 teen daughters, so I'm sure everyone knows he's staying there. Probably the middle daughter's boyfriend. Looks like him. He has a 'man bun'. Cute.

Sounds like neverending fun, Sorta

Things were going well until:

Ring ring ring. There goes the doorbell that the tenants use. I go out and find the son who tries to explain the problem. Seems a light isn't working, might be a switch, or the 'outside thing'. Just changed the bulbs but it won't go on.

OK, I go down and see it's the kitchen florescent fixture THEY installed years and years ago. It used to be a nice dropped light over the kitchen table and now it's a 5 foot florescent. Not MY light. So I try out the wall switch. Son shows me that the 2 new lights he put in today won't go on. I have them try the rest of the kitchen lights which work and the fridge, micro etc. All working.

So I go next door and beg my friend/tenant to come with his little voltage tester thingy (I have no idea how it works) and he determines that electricity IS getting to the light. So it's the light (probably the ballast).

I offer them a nice pretty kitchen type light that I have in storage. Nope, they want a florescent. So I advise they need to go buy one. I'm not responsible for any things that they replaced themselves as long as I determine there is no safety hazard. In that case, I'd fix whatever.

They said they 'might' get one tomorrow and I again begged my friend to help me install it. Hooray. He will do it. I hate to ask, but I can't be up on a ladder with my back problems. Otherwise, it's an easy fix.

Waiting now for them to contact me to let me know they have the new light. They still insist it's 'new'. I know it's not. Wasn't there when I bought the place and it's jerry-rigged from the original ceiling socket with some romex wire. Looks safe enough, just ugly. AND the ceiling, which I never really look up to see when I visit, is not white anymore. Nope, it's dark brown from the nicotine from the cigarettes. It was all I could do to resist taking some cleaner and wiping it down. SOOOOOO ugly. Yuk!

Hope they get the new light soon. My friend goes to Indiana in a few days for a month or more. Won't be anyone to help. It's a full moon on Monday....I'm getting an early start.

Oh, dear! Hope it all works out ok.

Waiting for them to approach with the 'new' light. I priced them at Wally Mart this morning and they only cost 10.98. If they don't come up today with the new one, I won't be able to guarantee that my friend will be able to install it. It's really not his job in any way, but I appreciate him doing that for me. Tenants might need a small 'lecture' on what I am responsible for and what they must do for themselves.

They are expecting 'company' from Seattle AGAIN, but at least this time they told me. Gonna be a week or so of 1 or more people. Up goes the water bill, probably will clog the sewer pump. I love to complain. Sigh. AND it's the gal who advised her brother (the one who camped out here for a year) not to sign ANY documents for me. So he became a tenant without a rental agreement. OK for me. I know how that works. But she seems to be either a paralegal or works for one. Lot of free information from her that isn't always right.

Waiting...waiting...waiting.