More coincidence

In two days I have had contact with two Realtors whom I used to process their loans - 25-28 years ago.
The first one I called yesterday because my clients were interested in his listing. I processed Rick's loans while working at Transamerica Mortgage. We talked about the house and caught up.
Today, I got a call on my listing from another Rick, who's loans I processed while working at Mason McDuffie. I worked with Rick and his dad, Nick back in the mid-80s. We caught up, too, and his client may be interested in my listing.
So weird to have these coincidences in two days.

Odd coincidence

When we had to call 911 to have my dad taken to Kaiser last month, there was a fire captain there named Dave. He told us he remembered us, as he had been to the house a couple of years ago, when Mom had fainted and they came over. He was so nice and caring and I can't believe he remembered us.
This morning I passed a fire truck and thought of Dave and how great he was to Mom and Daddy.
Also this morning Pat had to take a class - ACLS - Advanced Cardiac Life Support, which he has to take every two years to maintain his RN license. Guess who was also at the class? Dave and Tiffany, who was also at the house last month.
They remembered Pat and asked how Daddy was. Sadly, he had to tell them Daddy had passed away. They were very nice and respectful.
We live in San Jose - a city of one million people. Campbell is on the other side of the street from us. We have Campbell Schools and phone number, but we vote in San Jo and have city services from them. Campbell has a population of about 40,000. We live on the border of these two cities. We consider ourselves more Campbellites than San Joseans.
My point of all this is we really live in a small town and we do love it.

Happy Birthday to me

My birthday last week was a delight. I don't remember when I've had such a great celebration.
Pat and I started the day with a 22 mile bike ride, I got a couple of hours of work done (even though I intended to take the day off) and ended the evening with Pat, Kristen, Laura, Mom and sister Jeanie at Royal Taj, our favorite Indian restaurant. Mom and Jeanie had never tasted Indian food and were great sports about trying a new cuisine. They loved it!
The only thing missing was my dad, of course. When I opened the card from my mom, I was bummed. Daddy always drew his little guy saying something cute in our cards and the little guy was missing. I didn't cry or say anything, but I did notice his absence.
Pat insisted I open K & L's gift and card last. They made me a beautiful apron, hand painted with an under sea motif. They even hot glued little shells on it. It's so pretty, I'm afraid to use it, lest I get it dirty.
The best part of the evening was the card they gave me. Laura drew a cartoon in the style of Daddy's little guy. THAT made me cry. It's SO cute and so indicative of how sensitive and sweet my daughters are. If you click on the picture above it'll enlarge so you can see it better.
I am blessed with the best family in the world.

Speak properly!

Nothing bugs me more than professional people slaughtering the English language. If they're from somewhere else, and English is not their first language - I'll give them a pass.

Heard today in my office... "In lieu of that, I'm willing to do this" She meant "in light of"

More peeves "anyways", "I have a self-depreciating sense of humor", "It wrecked havoc" and the list goes on...... Argh, it's an assault to the ears.

Birthday Burp

People may think I'm crazy, but my Dad gave me a birthday greeting today. I admit, it was an unorthodox one, but it was him.
Pat and I went on a long bike ride and when we got home I showered so I could go to work. When I got out of the shower I heard a masculine burp in the bedroom. Thinking it was Pat, I started talking to him. I didn't get an answer so asked Pat where he was - downstairs. "Did you just burp?"
"No"
We were the only people in the house. I know it was Daddy's goofy way of wishing me happy birthday. Yeah, I know it's weird, but I believe he was here for a moment.

Exhaustion

My Dad has been laid to rest with a wonderful memorial service. It was lovely. Our family and friends were there to celebrate the rich life that Harry had. There were some tears, but mostly funny stories.
Mom, my sisters, my cousin, Susanna and I planted a redwood tree around noon in John Morgan Park, just a couple of blocks from Mom and Daddy's home of over 50 years. The tree is between the baseball field and the kiddie play area. Right next to the path and a picnic table and barbecue. It's perfect. We have planned to have some picnics in the park next to Daddy's tree and I myself, will go there on occasion. Just to be nearer to him and talk if I want to.
This has all been such an emotional time and after making all of the arrangements for hall, food, speeches, decorations, etc. the exhaustion has set in. I am beat. Both physically and emotionally.
My dad would've enjoyed his sendoff party. There were many wonderful, sweet and funny stories. Family and friends had many kind remembrances of a great man, who we will never forget and always hold in our hearts. My dad is half of who I am today and he'll always be with me.
Thank you to all of my wonderful friends and colleagues. You have all given me great comfort and help. I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be associated with.
Harry's mortal body may be gone, but he'll always be here.

Cat Lady

Ah, the joys of my job as a property manager. Don't get me wrong, I love the job and business and am good at being the go-to person for both the tenants and owners.

I manage a property that's a condo in South San Jose. Our tenants moved in the first of July. The next door neighbor is a cat lady and has been feeding five feral cats. These cats are not spayed or neutered and have been using the front patio of the unit I manage as a litter box. My poor tenant not only has to clean up cat poo every day, but she cannot use the patio, nor even open the door, lest the odor of cat feces wafts into her home.

Supposedly the cat lady has been trying to get rid of the cats, but wait, there's more!
I wrote a letter to the HOA asking them to address the problem in mid-July. Their next meeting wasn't until tonight. Hearing nothing from them, I attended their meeting. Seems reasonable to me.

The cat lady is the manager of the association and was at the meeting. She was clearly angry and combative with me. Accused me of meddling in the affairs between two neighbors. (Um, that's my job - the owner hired me to take care of this shit - pun intended). The short story is that that HOA informed me that they have no jurisdiction over the patios, as they belong to the homeowner. Okay, we'll call animal control and get some traps - probably should've done this long ago, but I was trying to do things right and be civil.

The cat lady just wanted to fight with me, which made all of the board members visibly uncomfortable. I thanked them for their time and listening to our problem and told them I wouldn't take any more time and they could get back to their meeting. This is not over and I've made an enemy for just doing my job. I asked her to be a good neighbor and not feed the cats. She just told me she will continue to feed them. Argh. Thank goodness my tenant is very tolerant and a very nice woman. We'll get some traps and get rid of the cats.

I have to say, I am an animal lover and we regulary contribute to the Humane Society, so don't accuse me of being an animal hater. I'm just trying to be a responsible landlord and give my tenant "quiet enjoyment" of her home.

We also live in a condo. Thank GOD we have great neighbors and don't live next door to the cat lady.

Family Photos

This family photo was taken at Thanksgiving 1963 in Grandma and Grandpa Mattison's back yard. It is truly a goofy pic.
Starting at seven o'clock and going clockwise, here is the narrative.... I am on Grandma's lap and I appear to be barfing on her. She and Aunt Sallie are looking at the commotion in Grandma's lap. Grandpa looks normal. Cousin Scott has his eyes closed, looks silly and his fly is part way open. Uncle George is looking at the sky. Daddy is in his uniform, smoking a cigarette, sister Jeanie is leaning against him, and looks normal. Cousin Sue has sister Karen in her lap. Susie has her eyes closed and Karen looks really unhappy. Cousins Meri and Jan are in the front with their mouths open. The only family member to escape this scrutiny 46 years hence, is Mom, who mercifully was behind the lens. Hey, it's tough to get 12 people to all look good in one photo.
My niece, Erin, pointed out that with the current use of digital photography, gems like this will be discarded. I say too bad, because this pic totally cracks me up.

Scatter brained

After my Dad passed away I got a very nice note from our friend Bob. In it he cautioned me to stay alert and pay attention, especially while driving. I think I'm okay driving, but yesterday afternoon was just ridiculous.
I left the office to go to the bank and grocery store. Halfway there, I realized I had left my cell phone at the office. I drove back to get it then realized I should've gone to the credit union to deposit rent. Rent of OPM as in Other People's Money. I went to the credit union and deposited the rent.
When I got to my bank, I filled out the deposit slip (reimbursement from Mom for Daddy's obit) and then couldn't find the check! Since I was next to Safeway, I bought the groceries, then went back to the credit union. Sure enough, I had deposited my check into my Viking Property Management account. It took them forever to reverse it and give me my check back.
When I started making dinner I realized that two of the necessary items I had purchased somehow didn't make it home with me. I'm sure I just walked off and left them. So back to Safeway I went, receipt in hand. Sheesh.
It was really nice to get home and relax. I'm going to take things one at a time today and slow WAY down.