Archive through December 06, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: Archives: The return of The Return of the Gripe Thread (ARCHIVE): Archive through December 06, 2002

Zachsmom

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 09:25 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Well.. I guess I won't report the weather here in Sunshine..er..Southern California..myimage

Lumbele

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 09:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Aren't you all a little too early for the "dumps" because of a little bit of rain or snow? I thought the Midwest was tougher than that?winkduck

Goddessatlaw

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 09:46 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Not when you haven't seen the sun for three weeks. I think I'm getting rickets. I already have scurvy, I think, from this diet.

Lumbele

Tuesday, November 05, 2002 - 10:36 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Time for a Florida vacation then, Goddess or a surprise visit to Zachsmom's house.vacationSounds like Draheid's yellow roses are out of luck, too.wink
One thing about our climate up here, the colder it gets the more sunshine we seem to get.

Whit4you

Monday, November 25, 2002 - 07:53 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Boy all you gripers have gotten suddenly quiet...shall I get started? I could post 500 gripes LOL.

Marysafan

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 07:13 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Well I have one. The other day, our local news reported that they are considering having store security personnel be responsible for arrestiing shoplifters, so that they could free up police officers. They estimate that there would be considerable amount of time saved.

They very next day...they announced that the police will be stepping up efforts to check seat belt usage...and will set up check points all over the city.

Okay...first let me say that I wear my seat belt 100% of the time.

I am sick and tired of the police using seatbelts usage as a means of genreating revenue. And I am sick of using police officers as revenue generating agents. I think the police should be out there catching crooks and curtailing crime...which is there primary job. If they aren't doing it...no one else is.

My daughter was involved in an arm robbery at a grocery store a couple of weeks ago. It was terrifying...and the the crook got away with thousands of dollars due to slow response time...even though one of the store employees had followed him to an apartment...and called in the location.

When we have armed gunmen putting guns to the heads of cashiers in grocery stores...we don't need to be checking seatbelts.

It's time to get that "law" off the books. If people want to be stupid...let them. Protect the folks that need protecting.

"Police protection" ....now there is an oxymoron if I ever heard one.

Sorry ..just needed to get that off my chest.

Llkoolaid

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 08:05 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Marysfan, I agree that sometimes police are slow to respond but I can't agree with 'If people want to be stupid...let them', because sometimes they are stupid with their innocent children. I had that proven to me and am very thankful about searbelt laws.

When my son who is now 24 was 3 years old his life was saved by a seatbelt I will never forget it. It happened the very day that seatbelts became law in Nova Scotia. Up until then we were very lax about seatbelts, everyone was. It was nothing to hop in the car with the kids in the back and the baby on my lap and of we would go. I remember everyone complaining that we were going to have to wear seatbelts, it seemed like an invasion of our rights. How dare they tell us that we had to use those things, they weren't comfortable and the kids hated them. I shudder to think of the stupid chances we took. I remember when my son was a newborn, and we put him in a carseat and he would cry. We lived 2 hours away from our families so the trip would be long with a crying baby so I would just hold him until he went to sleep and then lay him down on the back seat or between us. It's terrifying to think about now.
Anyway, back to my point, as the day approach for the new seatbelt law came we started trying to get used to the idea but hated it. The very day that it became law was January 1st and my husband was running down to his mothers( we had moved home by then) and Trevor wanted to go to see Nanny with him. As they were leaving I said don't forget the seatbelt law starts today. We had a steep driveway and it was icy. Trevor was in the front passengers seat ( we still didn't think about putting him in the back). As they started backing down the driveway the car started to slide and then spun around. I still remember seeeing Trevors door fly open and him hanging out of it held on by his seatbelt. If it hadn't of held him in the car would have spun around on him.It was so scary. If this had of happened the day before I am terrified to think what might havwe happened.
It's very rare to see people with kids not buckled up now but when I do I get a little angry. So although it is annoying if it saves one child from their parents neglect than it is worth it.
I am sorry about what happened to your daughter and I think responding to the alarm or call at her store should have been top priority. Maybe the answer is more police or people hired just to do police checks, something like the guys who check big trucks. I hope your daughter recovers from her scare, it will probably take a while to get over something like that.

Marysafan

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 09:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I am sorry, please let me explain why this got me so upset. There is a serious budget crunch in the state and the city right now. Setting priorities has become pararmount.

The situation was this. My daughter is the manager of the service dept. and does payroll for a very large supermaket. It is one of the premiere stores in the city. It is in an area where there are a lot of retired people and most of their clientelle are elderly. It was an extrememly hectic day and a very busy afternoon.

TEN minutes prior to the incident, there were five gals at the desk. Janel (a young 20 something) had just finished her shift. Janey left to releive another cashier to avoid her having overtime...she had planned to be away for only ten minutes. Vickie was just coming on duty and came to get her key. My daughter Karen was training a new cahsier who had just arrived for his first day on the job. That left Jean. Dear sweet, petite grandmotherly, prim and proper "Saint" Jean....all alone.

He came in the front door walked past my daughter (she noticed the gun, as he was cocking it. He jumped and jumped over the desk, and put the gun to jeans head demanding money usuing the most vulgar language. In line at the desk were several "regulars" all of them elderly...and one employee...a mentally challenged young man who immediately took exception to this treatment of Jean. He started to get in the guys face...shouting at him...telling him to leave Jean alone. A manager stepped in to take the boy out of harm's way. Jean said later...that she feared for his life.

Vickie lead her customers out the back door.

Meanwhile, four customers phoned 911 from the parking lot as they were seeing the man run into the store. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt and had a bandana wrapped around his face.

Daughter told her new trainee who had been on the job less than 10 minutes...to get down. She proceeded out the front door to check out the getaway vehicle and to determine if the guy was alone. He was...there was a white van parked just outside the door with the engine running. She gave careful thought about what she should do. Should she move the van? Should she take the keys? She decided that those options were not good ones...because he had a gun and she didn't want to put him in a position where he might do something desperate. Instead she memorized the license plate and vehicle description.

Then she spotted Janel who had decided to take this opportunity to balance her check book! Janel saw the fear in daughter's eyes...as the man ran passed her and jumped into the white van. Karen told Janel to "GO! GO! GO!". Janel followed him...staying three cars back. She followed him to an apartment complex and noted the apartment he went into and called the police on her cell phone. By the time they got there...he was gone.

The police arrived at the scene... they were there for hours. They closed the desk to asses the damage...and investigate the scene. CSI...did their thing. Three hours later, after everyone had gone...daughter went to go to lunch. Her jacket was at the desk. It had been knocked to the floor...and the robber had stepped on it. (she was pissed). She picked up her jacket and underneath it was a bullet! They had to call the police to come back. Evidently this city's CSI is not as thorough as our friends in Las Vegas.

Now..as far as priorities go...where do seatbelts rank?

The police say they know who the guy is, now it is just a matter of finding him. Let's hope he doesn't wear his seatbelt.

Oh...and on a lighter note...why are commercials on Canadian television funnier than ours!

Llkoolaid

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 11:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Marysfan, I didn't mean to be insensitive to what happened to your daughter, it was a horrible terrifying thing and I understand your anger at the sloppy police work. As far as priorities, I agree that checking for seatbelts shouldn't be in the same ballpark or even universe as immediate response to your daughters situation. I apoligize for taking one comment of your post and even argueing it. The fact that the comment was something that I could relate to was not a good enough reason to respond. I am very sorry that your daughter had that horrible experience and hope you can forgive me for being so insensitivel.

On a lighter note... Canaidian television commercials may be more funny because we are used to laughing at ourselves so you will find a lot of them with regular looking people doing regular stupid things that most of us can relate to and laugh about. It's hard to be sexy in ski-doo boots and a parka.

Marysafan

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 12:04 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Llkoolaid, there was no offense taken...I just thought I needed to explain it better.

BTW...you may be right on the mark about those Canadian commercials.

Whoami

Tuesday, November 26, 2002 - 01:14 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Marysafan. I'm so sorry your daughter, co-workers and customers had to go through something so terrifying. It does scare me that one person followed him. If he had seen the person following him, who knows what could have happened. That was very brave.

One thing you said, about the police knowing who this guy is....I can't help but remember an incident in our family's past involving a car accident. I was 10, my sister just a baby, my two older sisters 13 and 15. Mom was driving. We were coming home from Denver, when a man ran a red light and sideswiped us. He was drunk (came out of the car staggering and slurring, to talk to us). Then, he walked away from the scene and disapeard. Found out later his plates were either expired, or something was wrong with them. Anyway, several infractions to nail him with.

It was nearing midnight, and the cops left us on a corner in downtown Denver (a young woman with four children) all alone and said they'd call someone in our family to come pick us up. I still distintly remember hearing a church bell (or something) chiming in midnight.

A week or so later, Mom calls the Denver police to find out if they'd caught the guy (our car was totaled, and I think she was seeing if he would be forced to compensate us). The police's response was, "well, we sent him a letter, but we haven't heard back from him yet."

When you said the police knew who the guy was, I couldn't help but think of what the cops told my mom. I hope they don't act the same way in your situation! Yea, we know who he is, but he hasn't come forward yet.

Kstme

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:09 am EditMoveDeleteIP
I need to gripe this morning. Just a little gripe. Nothing that won't be resolved in time.

We've rented our home for over 7 years and 2 years before that. It makes sense but not much.

When we first rented this place it was beautiful and well kept up. When we returned our landlady had undergone some major financial issues and couldn't maintain the house properly. She has fobbed us off regarding upkeep so many times, I've lost count. We do ALL the repairs to the sprinkler system, pool(acid washes $$$) and inside the house. We've bought new faucets, painted, fixed toilets, fixed broken tiles, etc., etc., etc. Last year she had to replace the air conditioning units. Absolutely NO WAY were we going to put out that kind of big $$$ on a place we don't own.

She also owns three other homes here and has let all but one turn into ruins. The one she has kept up, she has spent thousands and thousands of dollars on, doesn't even need all the work. She refuses to put anything into any of her other homes.

We are moving out the end of next October. Our lease will be up. She and I are battling each other almost everytime we talk. She just doesn't understand that a home needs maintenance to stay standing.

She now says she "expects" us to take care of EVERYTHING inside the home INCLUDING having the ducts cleaned and replacing a flange in a toilet(flange replacement via plumber will cost over $350)!! All the things we've done for her have been because we needed them done to be able to live here and to help her. Now the dh, thekid and I are beginning a revolt! We will do nothing unless it absolutely has to be done!

We pay quite a bit for rent here. I know what her house payment is here and she clears almost half our rent. She has one house (the money pit) she has kept vaccant for the last year.

She was in town the day before T'day and brought a friend with her. The friend is a real estate agent from CA. By the time they left I was fuming! The RE agent kept aging on a disagreement between the landlady and I. I was so embarrassed and uncomfortable I was in tears after they left. I called the landlady on T'day and tried to talk to her about what happened. She felt I was the one who was wrong and wouldn't reason with me at all. It was a fiasco!! This mostly had to do with her expectations of our painting the entire upstairs!

Anyway...I vented. I feel better. I dislike my landlady and will be VERY happy to get out of here! I love this neighborhood and I used to love this house. Not anymore!

(please don't suggest buying...we rent because we want to)

Whoami

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:27 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Have you by chance kept the recipts for all the repairs you've done yourselves? I really don't believe she can expect you to pay for normal wear and tear on the house. You might want to post to this "TroubleShooter" message board (if you get no response here). Trouble Shooter.com

They can be pretty unforgiving on that board though (most boards aren't as good as this one here!). So be advised, they may call you to task for taking care of the expese of repairs yourself. However, there is usually someone up on consumer laws and stuff.

If you kept your reciepts, you could always try taking her to small claims court for those expenses, as well as the damage deposit she is likely to keep. Otherwise, just move out and let her take YOU to court for the painting. What is she going to do, bar the door and not let you move until you paint?

Wargod

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:47 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Kst, I should let you talk to my sis, LOL. They've been in their apartment for about 8 years now....only move has been from a one bedroom to a two bedroom when their daughter was born. They've been through hell and back but they enjoy the quiet area and their neighbors. Their last fight was over their A/C, which wasn't working during the hottest part of summer. You're in the desert too..you know what thats like. The manager wouldn't even call the owners to put in a repair order. So, she called the housing department who reffered her to the health department. When they came out, they found a bunch of stuff wrong with the interior and exerior of the apartment, but couldn't do nothing about the A/C....because in CA, the laws say landlords have to provide working heat not working A/C. She informed the health depatmnt that then she'd have to call them back once winter hit because her A/C and heater were the same unit. To get to the point quickly, LOL....they got that fixed, but thats not the first time she's had to go through drastic things like that. They've had to call the health department for pest control probs and oozing sewage...that one was fun. Plumbing in the hole building started to ooze down the sidewalk....then the driveway, out into the street. Manager came over and sprayed it down with a hose and left. My sis wasn't the only one to call over that.

I'd do the same thing you're doing now. Don't do anything else to the house unless you have to, and leave when your lease is up. Good luck, and take a couple deep breaths when you have to deal with the woman. Failing that, sick Ollie on her, LOL....he can lick her til she gives in and goes away!!!

Kstme

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 10:53 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Whoami...we have "some" of the receipts but not all. I think what's really blown me is her attitude. That's my gripe! We'd previously owned our own home in Seattle for almost 14 years and truly understand the concept of "upkeep." We "chose" to keep this house liveable. Now she "expects" it. She's a bit of a whirling dervish and very difficult reason with. She is a martyr with a capital M who believes the world owes her a living. She's gotten much worse over the last couple of years.

On the funny side...she'd totally convinced our gardner that she had big bucks. She was driving a friends Mercedes and told him it was hers. She's very flashy and led him on. He does the lawn for her at the money pit and has had trouble collecting from her. He's now on a cash only basis!

As I said, we'll resolve this soon...I just needed to vent.

War...we posted at the same time.LOL YES, I remember your sis's problems this last summer!! It's amazing what people can get away with, isn't it?

Djgirl5235

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 11:33 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Kstme: I am a "landlord" of sorts (I work as a lease administrator for a property management company) and checked out the laws for your state. (I think it's your state) In anycase, this website has the laws and summaries of the Landlord/Tenant laws for each state.

I have looked into this for you (sorry, when it comes to something I'm very familiar with I tend to get my nose into it) and the laws are on your side. The next time that something breaks in the house, send a registered letter to the landlord, and advise her that she has 10 days to repair the problem. If she doesn't repair it, you can also (in the same letter) give her a 14 day termination notice... Check out the link that's below and let me know if you need any more info...

DJ

Landlord/Tenant info for Nevada

Kstme

Tuesday, December 03, 2002 - 12:43 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Dj...THANK YOU! I can't find my copy. It was sent to me from the Attorney General's office a few years ago and a VERY poor copy! The part I'd needed at the time was blurred out! I'm going to go read it now.

We have pigeons roosting on the roof eves because the wood has become rotten and it's a terrific place to nest. There is poo EVERYWHERE and it's almost a full time job keeping it clean! It's also a health hazzard!

The stucco has fallen off the lower part of the house and working it's way up. The deck is about to fall through. The cool decking is so chipped you can't walk in certain areas around the pool in the summer...too hot.

The bedroom we FINALLY painted a few weeks ago, had not been touched for over 12 years!! She wouldn't do anything and it was too gross for words!

Our kitchen floor is vinyl with big gouges and holes in it. She won't replace it and at one time, told me to do it myself if I couldn't live with it. The tiles around the tub in our bathroom and in the entry hall are falling apart and have broken or come loose. She DID put some tiles in the laundry room before we came back, but didn't seal them so the grout has come out. Looks stunning!!

We have replaced EVERY blind in this house at least once and some windows more than that. We've replaced the dog doors three times. (This I feel is our responsibilty)

We replaced the gate to the backyard because it was falling down and she did repay us for that...six months later! The other side is almost ready to go now. With a pool, you HAVE to be confined! She's let the hedge die in front and wouldn't help me with the cost to fix it with some new plants.

BTW...this is a fairly upscale neighborhood and the neighbors aren't too happy with her either.

OK...now I'm really depressed!!! I'm going to go now. Dang, I made myself mad again!

Djgirl5235

Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 04:38 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Kstme...

Have you been documenting this stuff, and saving receipts? (I can't remember - I read the whole problem throughout, but can't recall) There are certain things that a landlord is not responsible for - such as the blinds as they're considered cosmetic, but anything capital (such as the roof, the porch, the fence) is the landlord's responsibility.

It sounds, unfortunately, like you've fallen privy to our favourite scum of the planet - the slumlord. She will only do what is absolutely necessary to keep herself out of court, but there's still ways to get retribution - really read the info I sent you - not just the summary, but the whole clauses in the act pertinent to your situation as it's FULL of information.

As I live in Canada, and the laws are different, I can't help you without researching myself, but I would be happy to interpret anything for you if something isn't clear - it's a pretty standard law no matter where you live.

I hope things get better. Have you a new place to go if you were to terminate your lease early? I feel for you, I know how landlord's can be - luckily I'm a landlord to companies only but I used to work for a company who were landlords to private citizens, and were instructed by the landholder to only do minimal repairs as required...it was awful seeing these poor people coming into the office everyday frustrated and upset...

GOOD LUCK, and I'm here if you need to talk!

Kstme

Wednesday, December 04, 2002 - 06:06 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Dj...I read the Nevada T/L Act yesterday. There are so many "gray" areas where our dear slumlord can slip through the cracks, BUT she IS negligent in regard to the upkeep. It deems we are NOT responsible to "normal" wear and tear on the property and it must be kept up by HER. It states we are responsible for "minor" repairs as stated in our lease (nothing is written out).

It's just so frustrating. Yes, we've kept "some" receipts but not all. She's changed so much over the last two years. Before, we never felt it was necessary. Lessoned learned!!!

Her "friend" with her this last week, told me we were responsible for cleaning the air-ducts. Doesn't sound like it...it's part of the air-conditioning/heating system.

We'll suck up and deal with living here until next October. We have too much money invested in the security deposit (over $1400). If we leave early she has every right to hold it. I don't have pictures to show the extent of deterioration and she might try to say we rented the house in this condition.

Nevada didn't have a T/L Act until 1977 and it's still not a good one!

Dj...thanks so much for all your help. I just hope "what goes around will come around" and someday she'll understand. Doubt it, but I can hope!LOL

Weinermr

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:19 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I sought out this thread.

Despite my care in keeping my virus definitions current, and scanning frequently, and scanning all emails and downloads..... AND not opening executable files unless I know what they are.....

Some awful program got ahold of my laptop, and after several bizarre messages, DOS windows that opened by themselves, the PC trying to connect to the internet on its own.....

I CAN'T BOOT INTO WINDOWS!!!

I'm trying everything I can to avoid running the System Recovery Disk, because I will lose the programs I have loaded since I purchased the laptop, and have to reload them, and all the updates, patches etc. that go with them. I will also lose alot of the data, which has not been backed up anywhere (I know I know but it is not critical data, just annoying to lose data).

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

FYI, I'm typing this on my good old uninfected desktop PC, not the laptop.

Car54

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:24 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh Weiner, not your new baby!

Can you see your stuff on the C drive...are your programs and things still there?

Do you back your stuff up to anything...a zip drive or anything so you can save your files and stuff?

If you can get to the C prompt you can still copy things off manually onto floppies...

Aw that sucks. :(

Weinermr

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:34 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Yeah Car, it's annoying as hell, and I can probably save some or all of the program files, but still it's a royal pain in the you know what. I've never had this happen before.

And with my desktop PC, I have a full version of Windows 98 that I can use at any time to copy individual Windows files or reload Windows without disturbing my other files.

But with the laptop it has Windows ME, and just the System Recovery Disk, not a separate full version of Windows ME, otherwise I would not be so peeved by this rude intrusion on my PC.

Thanks for commiserating.

Car54

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:44 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Oh, lost an ME hard drive myself a couple of times. Nope,.... when you restore you restore with that one.

Maybe one of the computer gurus here will have some ideas. Don't give up!

Crossfire

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
That is a bummer. Reinstalling everything is such a pain...especially if all you have to work with is that stupid system recovery disk which blows everything away. Bad MS!

Incidentally, what error do you get when trying to start windows?

Weinermr

Friday, December 06, 2002 - 06:50 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Crossfire, I don't get an error. All I get is a dark screen with a blinking cursor. That's it. No C prompt, no A prompt, no nothing. Windows doesn't even TRY to load. It never gets past the initial startup screen.

I can boot using my Norton SystemWorks CD to GET to an A prompt however, and then to the C drive from there.

I am taking this nice and slow, not taking any drastic actions.