Wednesday

VarunaTT

This week already feels heavy, even though it's just been one business day.  Oh well.

Don't really have anything new to report.  SSDD.  I did see Everything, Everywhere, All at Once.  I thought it was a visually stunning movie, very well directed, choreographed, written, and acted.  However, I did not connect with it like some of my friends did and I think it's a age thing.  At this point, I've simply consumed more media than they have -- I found it to be predictable, some of it was pretty damn toxic and presented as healthy, and there were some stereotypes I was uncomfortable with.

Nothing else big going on.  I'm starting to feel like a very boring person. 

charlotte989875

I’m also a boring person now. Weekend was good- ran a PR in the half marathon, hung out with the family, got a lot of sun. 

Therapy yesterday and still feeling the effects of it a bit. I’m doing the work but I think everything of the last few weeks, plus some work burnout are catching up to me. Trying to give myself a break. 

ei34

Good on you to recognize needing a break @charlotte989875
 
My kids' school is having a Pride Day today to kick off the month of June.  Nothing too fancy, the learners were just invited to wear rainbow clothes and each class will read an age-appropriate book with LGBTQ representation.  Ahhh the joys of living in NY vs. Florida...

The heatwave broke (thankfully back in the 60s) and work is very SSDD in a good way.

MissKittyDanger

BK brought cupcakes today and she'll bring cupcakes tomorrow.
Today was dino and vanilla - tomorrow is unicorn and chocolate.
I tried to split as fun and simple that also goes ask chocolate vs vanilla in case.

It'll be interesting next year when BK isn't actually napping. She's off at 3:15 so I figure first week she'll likely come home and crash on the couch.
That's basically where we're at.

I finally heard back from BK's friend A's mom - we're doing a splash pad weekend after this one. Her friend has gymnastics also - same place but different day - and tbh I may see if I can convince her to swap to Saturday for fall classes lol
We were joking about stuff and BK & A are so similar. She joked that when A first went, she took off into the gym and they had to go find her.
I asked if A was found in foam pit, and she laughed - yes and did BK do that?
No but would if she made it lol

It's good to hear BK isn't only one. Also foam pits are siren calls for kids lol

short+sassy

I hadn't checked my credit score in awhile.  Apparently, it had been months, which is unusual for me.  But I finally did a couple days ago and was completely in shock, it had sky-rocketed up about 40 points!  I've been wanting to replace my current HELOC with one from another bank, but felt I needed to get my 'cc and HELOC utilizations down first...to get my credit score higher...to get a better rate and feel more solid.  But now I'm planning to do this in late June, after I come back from my trip.

The funny thing is, even though I have a substantial understanding of how credit scores work...or as much as a mere mortal can with that arbitrary system...I have no idea why it jumped up so much.  Not much is different than what it has always been, including my utilization %, which is a major factor.  I did have some hard inquiries drop off, but that's only a minor factor. 

The credit report gods giveth and they taketh away, often in ways that seem very random.  So I'm just hoping it stays this high for another 2-3 months, while I get through the HELOC process.  Now that we are starting to get more of our properties rented out, I should also be able to start paying more of my debt down and improve my utilization score, which should help even more.  They recommend below a 25-30% utilization rate and I'm not too far off from that.

I have three cc's that are the "worst offenders" for utilization rate because their balances are on a 0% interest deal, so I haven't been paying much more than the minimum payments.  But two of those deals are ending in late August anyway, so I'm going to pay those down below 25% a little early, in preparation for my HELOC application.

So that's been my excitement.  I realize not for most people, lol.  But I'm happy that it looks like I can get out of my current HELOC and into a better one, sooner than I had expected.  

short+sassy

ei34 said:

Good on you to recognize needing a break @charlotte989875
 
My kids' school is having a Pride Day today to kick off the month of June.  Nothing too fancy, the learners were just invited to wear rainbow clothes and each class will read an age-appropriate book with LGBTQ representation.  Ahhh the joys of living in NY vs. Florida...

The heatwave broke (thankfully back in the 60s) and work is very SSDD in a good way.

Jealous!  We won't see the 60s again until November, lol.

I wish I was rich enough to live in the South, in the winter time.  But further North in the summer, lol.

Or just retire to an oceanfront condo in Baja Mexico, where the weather is awesome all year long.  This is the better plan.  Someday.

VarunaTT

Oh man, I am listening to the new episode of Roe v. Wade on Slow Burn (thanks for the heads up @mrsconn23, I resubscribed just in time) and I.AM.LIVID.  I've already posted on my FB, "Hey friends in my life who own penis'...I'm going to be ragey at y'all for awhile, go listen to this and understand why."  

STARMOON44

@VarunaTT you know I do get the people with penises language but it occurs to me here, with this rage, for me, I specifically do not mean people with penises who identify as non-binary or female. I only mean men and in particular straight men. 

VarunaTT

@STARMOON44 I get what you're saying and usually I would agree.  In this particular instance, the rage is at people who can get me pregnant.  Which is not fair and also true.  This also comes from me living in a conservative area and having to deal with conservative queer folx, which makes me mad on a whole 'nother level.  It will never not be shocking to me to have to deal with a Republican transperson....never.  And it freaking happens.

CharmedPam

Those cupcakes sound delish @MissKittyDanger

heatwave broke for us too. I picked up my lawnmower and set it up yesterday so tonight, I better get at it. I have someone professionally do my back yard because it’s just so large and uneven… and they were supposed to do it last week but canceled and said this Friday now.  I asked why. They said wet conditions. This is complete and utter BS and my coworkers agreed when i told them. The company has an “if your grass is over 6 inches you’ll be double charged” rule and if they wait that week to do that, it’ll be there. I think that’s what they’re doing too. I understand not mowing on Monday, being a Holiday and all, but they had all week! It only rained Wed, Thurs. i’m getting annoyed. Ready to fire them and see if i can do my backyard, but it’s really bumpy so a riding mower makes more sense.

climbingsingle

Well, at least it's already Wednesday. 

Traffic was insane yesterday. There's this smallish bridge I have to go over to get to the turnpike. There's been construction on this bridge for the entire 4.5 years I've worked here. Some years it's not so bad, some years (like this year) it's just fucking terrible. For a large portion of the bridge, there is NO SHOULDER. And whenever there is an accident, it's always the part where there's no shoulder. It took me an hour yesterday just to get to the turnpike. 

We had some crazy storms roll through last night. The thunder was so loud it jolted us both awake around 12:30am. I thankfully was able to get back to sleep but I'm feeling sleep today. 

Other than that, SSDD. 

MissKittyDanger

CharmedPam said:

Those cupcakes sound delish @MissKittyDanger

If you can find them, they're the "2 bite" brand

CharmedPam

climbingsingle said:

We had some crazy storms roll through last night. The thunder was so loud it jolted us both awake around 12:30am. I thankfully was able to get back to sleep but I'm feeling sleep today. 

Other than that, SSDD. 

Us too! I don’t know the time because I didn’t check but It was so loud and shook my house and woke me up. And then at 6, i was to tired to work out.

2 bite.  I have seen those… it’s something I would have to buy and bring somewhere to only eat 1 or 2 and not have that in my house

STARMOON44

climbingsingle said:

Well, at least it's already Wednesday. 

Traffic was insane yesterday. There's this smallish bridge I have to go over to get to the turnpike. There's been construction on this bridge for the entire 4.5 years I've worked here. Some years it's not so bad, some years (like this year) it's just fucking terrible. For a large portion of the bridge, there is NO SHOULDER. And whenever there is an accident, it's always the part where there's no shoulder. It took me an hour yesterday just to get to the turnpike. 

We had some crazy storms roll through last night. The thunder was so loud it jolted us both awake around 12:30am. I thankfully was able to get back to sleep but I'm feeling sleep today. 

Other than that, SSDD. 

Lol I think we are pretty close and I missed this entirely. Must have slept better than I thought!

banana468

I think the storms skipped us.  The other advantage is that the window AC drowns out most nose.  It's a blessing and a curse. 

climbingsingle

banana468 said:

I think the storms skipped us.  The other advantage is that the window AC drowns out most nose.  It's a blessing and a curse. 

we actually had the window AC unit on in the bedroom! Which is why I was so shocked we both heard it so loudly. 

short+sassy

People who drive me nuts.  I have a long term tenant who, back in February, told me she was getting a S8 voucher and asking if I would accept it.

I emphatically told her "no".  Many times.  Unfortunately, she is a very, very difficult person to communicate with.  It's like she has this narrative in her head of what she wants to happen and ignores everything else.  My H has the same problem with her.

At any rate, the reason I told her "no" is because she was originally only approved for a 1-bedroom voucher, but she rents a 3-bed house.  S8 won't approve the current rent I charge in that kind of situation.

Recently, she told me she was able to add her adult daughter to her household voucher (her daughter already lives there), so S8 upped it to a 2-bed voucher.  I told her S8 might pay enough now, but it isn't guaranteed.  I also told her another big problem would be there are a couple large projects we would need to complete on the home for it to pass their stringent inspection and we wouldn't be able to get to that for a couple months.

My H even looked over the property and then had an in-person conversation with her about the renovations we would need to do and the time frame.  Including that they need to pay their rent, the entire time and through S8 processing, until S8 starts picking up their portion of the rent.  I'm very concerned she doesn't understand this part, but we haven't gotten to that point yet.

She contacted me yesterday, asking me to sign her voucher because it expires on June 14th.  On my prodding, she checked with her case worker and told me it was okay if the inspection was not for a couple months.  Okay, great.  I asked her to look at her voucher and tell me, what's the "maximum rent the owner can charge"?  She doesn't know.  Because the voucher she has is the old one, from when it was for a one-bedroom.  Well, I can't sign outdated paperwork anyway, smh.  She told me today she is picking up the current voucher tomorrow. 

So I STILL don't know if S8 will even allow me to charge the rental amount they are paying.  I'm already charging them $100-$150/month below market rent, so I'm not taking less.

That's a long story to say that I don't think she understands what is going on or is choosing not to understand what is going on.  Which is stressful for me because there are a lot of ways this can go haywire, which is potentially going to be disappointing and upsetting for her.  Along with I don't want to have to keep explaining, ad nauseum, every tiny detail to her.  

I know she fully expects that this S8 thing will work out just fine.  Even though I have repeatedly been telling her, it's more likely that it won't and have encouraged her to find another place. 

banana468

short+sassy said:

People who drive me nuts.  I have a long term tenant who, back in February, told me she was getting a S8 voucher and asking if I would accept it.

I emphatically told her "no".  Many times.  Unfortunately, she is a very, very difficult person to communicate with.  It's like she has this narrative in her head of what she wants to happen and ignores everything else.  My H has the same problem with her.

At any rate, the reason I told her "no" is because she was originally only approved for a 1-bedroom voucher, but she rents a 3-bed house.  S8 won't approve the current rent I charge in that kind of situation.

Recently, she told me she was able to add her adult daughter to her household voucher (her daughter already lives there), so S8 upped it to a 2-bed voucher.  I told her S8 might pay enough now, but it isn't guaranteed.  I also told her another big problem would be there are a couple large projects we would need to complete on the home for it to pass their stringent inspection and we wouldn't be able to get to that for a couple months.

My H even looked over the property and then had an in-person conversation with her about the renovations we would need to do and the time frame.  Including that they need to pay their rent, the entire time and through S8 processing, until S8 starts picking up their portion of the rent.  I'm very concerned she doesn't understand this part, but we haven't gotten to that point yet.

She contacted me yesterday, asking me to sign her voucher because it expires on June 14th.  On my prodding, she checked with her case worker and told me it was okay if the inspection was not for a couple months.  Okay, great.  I asked her to look at her voucher and tell me, what's the "maximum rent the owner can charge"?  She doesn't know.  Because the voucher she has is the old one, from when it was for a one-bedroom.  Well, I can't sign outdated paperwork anyway, smh.  She told me today she is picking up the current voucher tomorrow. 

So I STILL don't know if S8 will even allow me to charge the rental amount they are paying.  I'm already charging them $100-$150/month below market rent, so I'm not taking less.

That's a long story to say that I don't think she understands what is going on or is choosing not to understand what is going on.  Which is stressful for me because there are a lot of ways this can go haywire, which is potentially going to be disappointing and upsetting for her.  Along with I don't want to have to keep explaining, ad nauseum, every tiny detail to her.  

I know she fully expects that this S8 thing will work out just fine.  Even though I have repeatedly been telling her, it's more likely that it won't and have encouraged her to find another place. 

Is it quite possible that she's of the mentality that if she shares you the information that benefits her it's going to go fine? 

I have clients that are like this.  I'll itemize:
-In order to meet this request the following must take place and the lead time is 8 weeks from when these are received:
1) You need to do this.
2) You also need to do this
3) You must do this.  

The above 3 criteria must be met and then we can move forward with the next steps.

::1 week later::

I am following up on the request below.  Could you please advise this afternoon where the 3 items stand?  As stated, the 3 details are needed in order for our team to move forward.

::1 week later::

Customer - where does this stand? We need stuff in a month!?
Me - per the notes below our team is waiting on you for items 1, 2 and 3.  The current lead time is approximately 8 weeks from when all three details are received.  If you are able to supply them.

Customer - But I need them in a month!

Me - The lead time for materials is at least 6 weeks before this can be produced.  These can be shipped in approximately 2 months if everything is received today.

::1 week later::
Crickets.....

short+sassy

@banana468, that is a great example of what it is like.  I feel less alone, lol.

I put in writing (text) what she should expect.  We've told her over the phone and in-person.  I've also told her daughter, over the phone.  The daughter is actually much easier to communicate with because she seems to understand what I say, but it's the mother who has always done the majority of the communication.

I also get this a lot with potential tenants, for a variety of things.  One of my requirements, which is both in the ad and we verbally tell people when they fill out an application, is they need to make a "gross, verifiable income" that is at least 3x the rent.  This can be a combination of the adults living in the household.

I have one woman who applied for the first unit we had available at this location.  That was over two months ago.  She has sent me periodic e-mails asking about the "status of her application".  She included her job info on the application, but not her daughter's (an adult and co-applicant).  She doesn't make enough, on her own.  I told her back when she first turned in the application, that we also need her daughter's income information also.  I even specified what I need: employer, their contact info, and salary.  That's it!

She keeps telling me she'll send it and then never does.  I keep replying back that I can't do anything with her application, until I have her daughter's income info.  I am not exaggerating, I have told her that 5 times.  I've also been letting her know throughout this how many units at this location we have left.

She finally sent me some weird, self-prepared page about a week ago.  I don't even know what it is, but it had expenses listed.  It then occurred that maybe her daughter is self employed.  So I asked that question and she said her daughter is.

OMG, then why didn't she tell me that two months ago when I was first asking about her daughter's employer.  It's fine her daughter is self employed, but then it's obviously totally different documentation I need, if there isn't an employer I can call.  Specifically, one tax return...either from 2021 or 2020, I'm not even picky...and her last two months of bank statements.  I explained what I needed.  And also warned her that we are down to our last unit, though it won't be available for another 2-3 weeks.

She promised she would send that info.  That was over a week ago and I still haven't been sent anything, lol.

I actually have about four people, including her, interested in this last unit.  I will contact each of those people before I put an ad up again.  But any of them, including her, could "cut in front" by letting me finish their application process and paying a deposit.

As it stands now, the person I am the most interested in is...funny enough...the sister of someone who has already been accepted for one of the other units.  In fact, we have the S8 inspection scheduled for that unit today.  My soon-to-be tenant was displaced from Ida and is currently living with the sister.  I went to the sister's house to sign the lease and S8 voucher, so I've already met her and we talked about the last unit.  That sister also came to the original showing, so she is familiar with what it will look like and the location.  She isn't on S8, but we already talked about the income requirement and she almost makes enough just on her own to qualify.  Plus, there will be another adult working f/t, who will be living there also.

banana468

@short+sassy yesterday I had a call with a client.  They are working with a sister company and we have a trial going this week.  They are major need of product and asked that we buy stock.  We said that we need a list of their items and sizes and a forecast so we know what to buy.

20 minutes ago I received an email asking that we buy 4 months worth of material. 

We don't know what that is!  If you can't tell me your usage I can't buy it!  

short+sassy

banana468 said:

@short+sassy yesterday I had a call with a client.  They are working with a sister company and we have a trial going this week.  They are major need of product and asked that we buy stock.  We said that we need a list of their items and sizes and a forecast so we know what to buy.

20 minutes ago I received an email asking that we buy 4 months worth of material. 

We don't know what that is!  If you can't tell me your usage I can't buy it!  

"Great!  So will that be 100 widgets?  1,000 widgets?  10,000 widgets?  100,000 widgets?  More?"

banana468

short+sassy said:

banana468 said:

@short+sassy yesterday I had a call with a client.  They are working with a sister company and we have a trial going this week.  They are major need of product and asked that we buy stock.  We said that we need a list of their items and sizes and a forecast so we know what to buy.

20 minutes ago I received an email asking that we buy 4 months worth of material. 

We don't know what that is!  If you can't tell me your usage I can't buy it!  

"Great!  So will that be 100 widgets?  1,000 widgets?  10,000 widgets?  100,000 widgets?  More?"

In manufacturing we're all frustrated.  But I can't help you if you won't tell me what you need. 

And also, you can't make changes on me on short notice.  And I am not going to feel bad that your lack of notice means you have the wrong version of something. I'm done feeling bad when others don't plan well and can only do so much to help.