Tuesday

TrixieJess · March 2018

MissKittyDanger said:

TrixieJess said:

MissKittyDanger said:

@OliveOilsMom I remember seeing somewhere about a belt that basically is like a fanny pack {since you can also hold small things in it} and you can hold your child on your hip without disrupting your back ....

This is basically best I could find, idk brand but google says 'hipseat baby carrier'

If you're going to do something like this, I would just recommend a carrier. Go for a Boba, Tula or Kinderpack.

KINDERPACK! That's the one I heard about! I couldn't remember the name for the life of me! Thank youuu

I have a preschool Kinderpack for my now five year old for when we are out walking for more than 3km at a time, but we had a Boba for when he was smaller and it was a life and back saver.

short+sassy · March 2018

kvruns said:

@short+sassy that sounds like one big cluster. I hope it ends up better than you think.

Indulge me if you will, as I am intrigued by your rental business:
1. is there a reason why you accept Section 8? Does that make it better or worse to get paid, usually?
2. For the Section 8 that needs the A/C issue, assuming you evict her, could you still rent it just not as a Section 8 rental and therefore not have to fix the window unit issue?

It could (hopefully) be much better than my worse case scenarios I outlined. But I tend to be a "plan and expect the worst" and then be pleasantly surprised when things go better.

1. To Section 8 (S8) or not to Section 8? That is the hotly debated and divided question in the rental business, lol. The "pros" of S8 are that some/all of the rent is paid, like clockwork, by a government agency. S8 reviews the finances of the tenants in their program every year. Then the rent portions for S8 and for the tenant are determined for the next year. So it can fluctuate from year to year. Usually not by much. Some tenants have 100% of their rent paid, most have to pay some portion themselves. That's been some of the problem with the tenant in Rental Unit A. She's lived there for 8 years. I "inherited" her when I bought the house 3 years ago. Up until Oct. '17, she'd always paid nothing or around $100 of the $1125/month rent. In Oct., her portion was changed to $788!!! About 75% of the rent. Pretty drastic change. S8 didn't tell me why it changed so much, I asked at the time because I was worried. Apparently for good reason, lol. But I think it is because her job went from p/t to f/t and 2/4 children went from being dependents to being adults. Though they both still live in the house.

S8 tenants also tend to have longer tenancies than non S8. For some lower income neighborhoods, you pretty much have to accept S8 or will have a hard time finding renters. As an aside, I always like to point out that "lower income" doesn't mean "unsafe". People seem to link those phrases together and it's often not true. I have two properties...including the one we are discussing...that have much lower than average rents for the city as a whole. But that is because they are more flung out, almost a suburb, from the main parts of town. But are very safe and lovely neighborhoods.

The "cons" are that there is a "middle" entity to deal with. They get to call a few shots that doesn't happen with my other tenants. For example, they dictate what I charge for rent. I'm allowed to turn it down before a tenant moves in, but then I'm back to the drawing board. They also have their annual inspections, which are a big hassle and we've had issues with them in the past. I'm not anti-inspection at all. But I am anti "white glove" treatment and then sometimes not adequately explaining what it is they even want in their reports. Sometimes the HANO person I need to get in touch with is impossible to reach and never returns calls. There is incompetence, like in my example with the inspection that neither me or my tenant received a notification about.

Also, S8 tenants have a reputation for being harder on a unit than non-S8 tenants. But that would be an average. Like anything else, there are fantastic S8 tenants also.

2. If she is no longer my tenant, either because I have to evict her for non-payment or the a/c doesn't get resolved and she chooses to leave, I could definitely still rent it to a non S8 person. But it would be hard to do in that neighborhood without (probably) greatly reducing the rent. And, unless cold air from the other window units (that have other egress in those rooms) make it into those two bedrooms, I would still need to figure out something. It's just way too hot in Louisiana summers. I wouldn't put the window units back because, at least on this point, S8 is right. Those units are secured down and can't easily be removed in the case of a fire. I'm actually a little horrified that my H and I didn't even think of that when we put those units in.

short+sassy · March 2018

OliveOilsMom said:

S+S - I hope you get a new tenant soon and your other situations work out too. As for your cable situation, do you have a board of public utilities? We have one in NJ and they will help out in situations like yours. I had to contact them when I didn't know how to contact Verizon or Comcast about trimming vegetation off of power lines. But they are also supposed to help with issues like yours.
I was logged out of TK all morning. I was trying to post a WTF type of Ask Amy letter, but I couldn't log in at all. So that's why I'm just now joining the party!

Thanks! I've thought about contacting whatever local gov't entity is in charge of the cable companies. I usually think of them as being "on the take" anyway, because that is how the energy commission is and I have also become a super jaded person in my "old" age, lol. But it might be worth a shot. Because it is a black and white "you are paying $X for Y package that includes On Demand service...but we aren't providing you with On Demand service nor will we be in the foreseeable future."

The second Cox guy did point out that the software glitch is only with the cable box. I can still access On Demand normally with their app, ie on my cell phone or laptop. This was towards the end of our conversation and I jokingly snarked back, "But Corey, come on! When I'm at home and want to watch "Corporate" On Demand, do you think I want to watch it on my phone or my laptop? Or do you think I want to watch it on my 60" TV?"

I'm a tech klutz, but he suggested some sync magic with my laptop so I can access On Demand from my laptop, but it plays on my tv. That's my H's department. Maybe it won't be too big of a hassle.

GBCK · March 2018

short+sassy said:

I'm a tech klutz, but he suggested some sync magic with my laptop so I can access On Demand from my laptop, but it plays on my tv. That's my H's department. Maybe it won't be too big of a hassle.

FWIW, we do this.
I just run an HDMI cable from my laptop to the TV for Game of THrones.
The major PITA is 1-my laptop battery is for shit, so I hae to have it sitting so cords go across my living room because of whee outlets are and 2-I can't use the remote and am forever trying to pause things and have to go hit pause on the laptop instead.

kvruns · March 2018

If you have an ipad and Apple TV you could stream it that way. Might be possible on other devices like Roku or amazon I'm not sure

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