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dantesspiritFirst, the absurdities.
So, 3 years ago now, when my brother moved into the house he's currently renting, we thought it was too large and too old (as in, not well maintained), but he liked it, he was paying and that was that.
Every winter the pipes freeze. No matter what he does. Every winter, his electric goes up to over 300.00/month, for one person, because the house isn't well sealed, and that's with windows sealed, rooms closed off, etc.
Now, there's foundation issues. And the roof leaks in the hallway, but maintenance keeps claiming it's the gutters (the gutters are no where near the door way water is dripping from, nor does water run *uphill* here.)
It leaks *right over the circuit breaker box*. The hall light shorted out last week because of the leaks.
So this week, they had an electrician come in to rewire the light. He *didn't turn the main breaker off first and caused a short to fry the surge protector my brother's modem was plugged into*. I was flabberghasted when my brother told me- he'd even asked if it should be.
Nope, seems the breakers are mislabeled, so rather than hit the main, do the rewire, then trial and error and correctly label things, he just... rewired the light and caused a surge on another line.
At this point, dear reader, the 3 of us are in agreement- my brother needs to move.
The incompetent contractors the rental agency hires, combined with the lack of proper maintenance/upkeep, *and* the increasing rent every year, it's not worth it in any way (we didn't think it was worth what they were asking 3 years ago, but well, that's us.) So now, he's saving up to move, packing extraneous things and starting to look now. His lease is up in Sept. Hopefully he can get into one of the limited income residential places around here. Personally, he should have tried there in the first place, but well, what's done is done.
Just, ugh.
Meanwhile...
Yesterday, I set the Merlin Bird ID app to catch the birds that are active here around noon, since morning birds tend to be different and evening birds are too.
We have a lot of birds.
All those in a 31 minute period. Sheesh.
Went through my recordings, since I'd been slacking, and found, I'd had *11* new to me birds-
Green Heron (that I caught this past Sunday), Veery, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruby Throated Hummingbird (!!! Can't believe I actually caught one!), Red Breasted Nuthatch, Savannah Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy Woodpecker, Fox Sparrow (so. many. sparrows.), Common Raven (they like to hang out in the hay field and are fun to watch), and a Blackpoll Warbler.
Several had repeated hits, so they are definitely here. Others, I hadn't had the app running and have seen them myself, before getting a hit on the app (startled a Red Headed Woodpecker yesterday when I went out to fill the large suet feeder, for example.)
Most days I just watch them at the feeders and don't run the app. For example, I can hear a Mourning Dove out there. Heh. There's a Blue Jay on the porch railing currently, and House Finches looking for seed.
Anyway, back to working on were bunnies, I have a Festival next weekend.
So, 3 years ago now, when my brother moved into the house he's currently renting, we thought it was too large and too old (as in, not well maintained), but he liked it, he was paying and that was that.
Every winter the pipes freeze. No matter what he does. Every winter, his electric goes up to over 300.00/month, for one person, because the house isn't well sealed, and that's with windows sealed, rooms closed off, etc.
Now, there's foundation issues. And the roof leaks in the hallway, but maintenance keeps claiming it's the gutters (the gutters are no where near the door way water is dripping from, nor does water run *uphill* here.)
It leaks *right over the circuit breaker box*. The hall light shorted out last week because of the leaks.
So this week, they had an electrician come in to rewire the light. He *didn't turn the main breaker off first and caused a short to fry the surge protector my brother's modem was plugged into*. I was flabberghasted when my brother told me- he'd even asked if it should be.
Nope, seems the breakers are mislabeled, so rather than hit the main, do the rewire, then trial and error and correctly label things, he just... rewired the light and caused a surge on another line.
At this point, dear reader, the 3 of us are in agreement- my brother needs to move.
The incompetent contractors the rental agency hires, combined with the lack of proper maintenance/upkeep, *and* the increasing rent every year, it's not worth it in any way (we didn't think it was worth what they were asking 3 years ago, but well, that's us.) So now, he's saving up to move, packing extraneous things and starting to look now. His lease is up in Sept. Hopefully he can get into one of the limited income residential places around here. Personally, he should have tried there in the first place, but well, what's done is done.
Just, ugh.
Meanwhile...
Yesterday, I set the Merlin Bird ID app to catch the birds that are active here around noon, since morning birds tend to be different and evening birds are too.
We have a lot of birds.
All those in a 31 minute period. Sheesh.
Went through my recordings, since I'd been slacking, and found, I'd had *11* new to me birds-
Green Heron (that I caught this past Sunday), Veery, Lesser Yellowlegs, Ruby Throated Hummingbird (!!! Can't believe I actually caught one!), Red Breasted Nuthatch, Savannah Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy Woodpecker, Fox Sparrow (so. many. sparrows.), Common Raven (they like to hang out in the hay field and are fun to watch), and a Blackpoll Warbler.
Several had repeated hits, so they are definitely here. Others, I hadn't had the app running and have seen them myself, before getting a hit on the app (startled a Red Headed Woodpecker yesterday when I went out to fill the large suet feeder, for example.)
Most days I just watch them at the feeders and don't run the app. For example, I can hear a Mourning Dove out there. Heh. There's a Blue Jay on the porch railing currently, and House Finches looking for seed.
Anyway, back to working on were bunnies, I have a Festival next weekend.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-26 16:55 (UTC)My landlords are meh, but at least they always manage important repairs. Jeez!
(no subject)
Date: 2023-06-28 15:22 (UTC)When we lived in the townhouse, our landlord was fairly prompt too, about repairs.
The house my brother lives in is rented through a property management company, and I'm betting the house is simply a tax write off for the owner, unfortunately. He's on the wait list for a low income residential place that we'd checked out before, so that's something at least.
(no subject)
Date: 2023-07-14 23:26 (UTC)