vc318

Old Thread: Off-Topic #3: Congress goes on vacation in August and so do we!

Carry on!

sunnykerr

Okay...

vc318

I was just hoping to bring other posters into the conversation. Okay, then we'll just carry on.

So, everything in the unit must be taken care of you (I mean, the tenant)? Works that way in my place too but from the sound pf it yours are way more aggressive about getting work done, which is good.

That's understandable with your school and workload. Do they have GNC's in Canada? I ask because they have this Women's Supplement Vitamin that's supposed to be very good.

Speaking about school, how is that these days?

She's fine - thanks for asking. She's been a little trouble maker though at bedtime but we're working on it. I've just been a walking corpse lately. Kind of tired. Is it wrong that I'm already looking forward to summer. How are you doing?

sunnykerr

Everything's that part of the unit, my landlords take care of. That includes heating, water, light fixtures, wiring, and so forth. But the unit was rented unfurnished, so I brought in my own appliances. They aren't part of the unit. They're mine. So, just like I'd be responsible for any furniture I break, I'm responsible for the upkeep of my appliances.

Mind you, I have ridiculously good rental insurance. Like, if there's a bomb that destroys my apartment, I get indemnity.

My landlords have always been very open about the fact that they maintain their units. My wouldbe upstairs neighbour died before I moved in. And they did a complete gut job on his apartment before renting out to someone else. Renovated everything. They had to go through my ceiling to fix his pipes, so they then redid my bathroom ceiling and re-painted it. My choice of colour.

I think, mostly, that they want to keep the value of their units up. So it makes sense that they'd take care of them. These are old buildings. They could go decrepit easily. But the landlords obviously know their bylaws and they do their due diligence. I have no complaints.

I don't know if we have GNC in Canada. Is that a product or a chain? Is that the name or an acronymn? I'm guessing we don't, since I tend to be fairly aware of what's out there, but I'm not sure.

I just had a midterm last night and I was so sick the week before that I didn't go to class, so I didn't realize that our midterm questions would be taken from a selection that were posted online. Needless to say, I wasn't very prepared. Mind you, I was so out of it for such a long time (still kinda am, to tell you the truth) that I'm not sure how much energy I could have put into preparing, even if I had known.

I'm trying to focus on the fact that I don't technically need to pass this class. But I do enjoy getting good marks, so it's not easy.

I think it's normal for a new parent to look forward to summer. We have a colleague at work who's scheduled to come back from mat leave in May and all the other parents are saying that she's insane if she does come back before the summer officially arrives, because that's the time to do all sorts of activities outside with the kids. Two other colleagues are scheduled to leave for their mat leave... one in May and, I guess, the other one in July, since they're due two months apart. They're both second-time mothers, so they have a whole plan as to how it's gonna happen...

I do know what you mean about walking around like a zombie, though I have nowhere near as good an excuse as you do. I think it's just a leftover from being sick. My body's still recuperating. It was running on high adrenaline for a while there and now I'm pooped.

vc318

Hey Sunny. Gosh, you really do seem exhausted from all that you've shared in your post. You owe yourself some time off from school and work just to relax. GNC is General Nutrition Center. I checked their website and they do have locations in Canada. Here they are: http://www.gnc.com/storeLocator/results.jsp
They might carry something to help give you a little pep in your step.

It's nice to hear that your landlords care about following rules and regulations. My association could us e a lesson from them. Can you tell that I can't stand my place right now? Err, just really looking forward to getting out of here. Well, I'm off - Ashley's calling.

sunnykerr

Hm. So turns out there's a GNC, literally, fifteen minutes from my house. By car anyway. It might take me a little longer to get there.

But so much for my whole "I think I know the kinds of stores we have around here and that one doesn't ring a bell" thing, huh?

Mind you, I shop a lot at the natural products stores downtown... it seems fairly similar. But I'll definitely check out GNC the next time I'm around... where they are.

So, are you actively looking for a new place? How's the market where you are? Montreal's pretty easy, if you have an average income anyway. There's fixed-income housing, but there's so much demand for that that it opens up the door for slum lords, and that sucks.

But I can afford... obviously not all neighbourhoods of Montreal. Most of them, actually, are way above what I can afford. But I can afford a normal, decent one. And there's usually something to be found when you have that freedom.

vc318

Please do. I want to hear that you're feeling better soon.

I live in Florida, which is one of the states hit the worst by foreclosures. We bought our place in 2005 when apparently this supposed housing boom was going on. So, while hubby and I were just simply looking for a place to call our own, greedy individuals were buying up 50 properties at a time to try and make a quick buck! Now we can't sell our place for nothing. It's really frustrating. Plus it's a 1 br/1.5 bath, which is just not enough space for the 3 of us plus 2 cats. We might just rent it out but either way we'd like to be out by the summer.

It's nice living on your own but it surely does come with a price tag.

sunnykerr

Well, I am feeling better. I'm just not 100%. It takes time when you do it naturally. Mind you, at this point, antibiotics tend to knock the knees from under me, so that's not better.

But, I kid you not, the apple cider vinegar/Chinese oil combo works. I drink the apple cider vinegar and it's absolutely foul, but it kills bugs dead. Just kills them. And the Chinese oil is technically illegal, though it wasn't twenty years ago at the time of purchase, because it's got a tiny amount of chloroform in it, but it unplugs the most congested sinuses in no time flat.

There's just no magical bullet. Add to that the fact that I'm so not used to being really, actually sick, and you know it takes a while to get back to normal. A co-worker of mine asked me if I had a fever and I couldn't tell her because I don't even own a thermometer. I never got fevers as a kid, so... you know, there's just never been any need.

I'm sorry to hear about the problems selling your place. I didn't realize you owned it. I've heard, of course, of the Florida foreclosure problem. Believe or not, we're actually on the eve of some new legislation up here to prevent a similar situation.

It does seem like renting might be a good idea and, who knows, it could become a decent source of income down the line.

Living by myself has definitely increased my rent, but the neighbourhoods of Montreal are what they are. Where I live is fairly decently priced, even for a person living on their own. There's a scale. Some places are on the more rundown side. That's normal. The city's old, you know? Well, for North America anyway. But my point is that there is something to be found that's not too income-gutting, you know?

vc318

Hi Sunny!

I hear you on the antibiotics thing. It's like a double-edge sword. Actually, today hubby had to take Ashley in for her antibiotics and I wasn't too happy about it. But what can you do? It's either risk getting diptheria and all the other diseases or risk the shot. Either way it was just painful to hear her cry once they poked her. There are so many debates on vaccinations that you could lose your mind on deciding what to do but I guess unfortunately is that people get sick so you might as well do everything in your power to protect your child as much as possible.

Yes, I own my place but the enthusiasm I once shared for it about 5 years ago is no longer there. Hubby and I never meant to have this place forever but then again, we didn't think it would be this hard to sell either. It's great that where you are they are trying to put provisions into place to prevent the foreclosure crisis that we have going on here. We would definitely like to rent next time, a home preferably, and hold on to that until things are better. We realize now that condo living just isn't for us, unfortunately.

sunnykerr

Well, for little kids like Ashley, you seriously have to go with antibiotics. Their little systems are overwhelmed so fast, I wouldn't even play around with that myself. I took antibiotics when I was a kid. Of course, today, I have the stained teeth to prove it since antibiotics had that time did that.

Even now, when I was sick, my mum had me keep a real close eye on how I was doing. If it had lasted much longer, I'm pretty sure I'd have gone in for antibiotics. Because you don't want to risk sepsis or anything like that. I mean, if it's a virus, then it's a virus. But when it becomes a serious infection, that's a whole different ball of wax.

Fortunately, my rank apple cider vinegar, my Chinese oil, my vitamim supplements, my Neo Citran, my Tylenol Sinus and my Robitussin have yet to fail me.

And, seriously, my heart goes out to you. I can't imagine the situation you're in right now. Mind you, I haven't yet reached a point in my life where owning anything tangible beyond appliances seems like it's gonna be in the cards for me. Hopefully that'll be the case someday, but I've so never been anywhere near there...

vc318

I was - and still am - nervous about having her get the vaccinations but unless i plan on having her locked up in the house for the rest of her life, I guess there isn't much choice.

Yeah, it's pretty annoying being here. I mean, yes we're grateful to have a roof over our head but it's still a pain the things that go on here. I guess what makes it bad is the useless $315 that we have to cough up each month for "maintenance" fees when in fact they don't "maintain" a darn thing. The building manager does more than those people do. sigh We're just hoping that things will turn around.

sunnykerr

I'll have to ask my brother, when his condo is finally completed (which, considering the fact that it was initially supposed to be done by June of last year,...) what his condo fees are. I have no idea what's reasonable or what's not, even in the context of the building co-op keeping sums at the ready for larger things such as roof repairs and the like.

Meanwhile, I'm getting ready for the massive "whatever" storm that's supposed to occur between tonight and tomorrow evening. Most forecasts call for about a foot and a half of snow, which would make sense given the mild-ish weather we've been experiencing, but the weather is so mild right now that a good part of that might actually just be rain. Which, you know, would be easier to shovel. But then it might also turn to ice if ever the temperature dips quickly (as tends to happen every time the sun goes down...)

Bleh. I hate the not knowing.

And I also hate UPS. They've got a crazy system. What, come three times to the door and, if you're not there (which, since they don't tell you when they'll be coming) then you're out of luck and you have five days to pick up your package God only knows where? What is that? At least, with Canada Post, the postal office is where you pick it up and they're nice and obvious in their locations.

sunnykerr

Well, I got my package. eventually. It took some risks on my part, but it got here in the end.

How are you doing?

vc318

Hi Sunny! The post office is truly a headache here too. They will also give two raps at the door and run off as well. Then you have to trail to the post office that's like 10 miles away, which is quite annoying.

$315 is exuberant for a place that was built in the 1970's and doesn't even come with free cable. There have been newer places where the maintenance fee is half that. So what's happening with your brother's place?

This past weekend I introduced Ashley to solids. Well, if soggy rice cereal counts as solids anyway. She really did well, actually. I can't believe that she's 6 months already. The time really does fly by.

I'm doing okay. Thanks for asking. Ashley is still waking me up every 2 hours so functioning at work has diminished greatly. How have you been?

sunnykerr

Well, the postal service is actually decent. I don't know about the knocking and running, because I'm not usually home when it comes around. The problem this time was UPS. Normally, with Canada Post, if you're not home, they bring the package to the nearest postal office. Within a 15-minute walk, there are three of those around here. The one I've always had to deal with since living here is about three minutes away on foot. And, once the package is at the postal office, you have 15 work days to pick it up.

UPS comes to your house three times. They don't tell you when they'll come. You can't ask them to come at a specific time (and, by specific, I mean "after five"). And, if you haven't been there after three times (and Lord knows if they bother to knock because they came three times at the exact same hour in this case, smack in the middle of the work day), then you have five work days to pick it up at the nearest UPS center. Which is not accessible via the metro system. And I don't own a car nor do I know how to drive one.

So that was a pain.

I don't really know what's happening with my brother's place beyond the fact that the kitchen still hasn't been built. I imagine some progress has been made, but I couldn't tell you how much. The weirdest thing is that one of the first things to go in were the floors. I can't imagine how scraped they'll be by the time it's all over. Mind you, my brother's not the type of person to let that slide. He's already had them move switches and things that were put up in weird places that had nothing to do with the blueprint everyone signed on.

I'm glad to hear Ashley's onto solids. It's a good sign, isn't it? And, though I can't quite personally relate, I can feel your pain on being awakened every two hours. I recently found out that my cousin's two-year-old still doesn't sleep through the night...