Showing posts with label apt.life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apt.life. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

PASSINGS...






In apartment 103 lived a nice elderly man named Horace. I literally bumped into him when I was moving into my apartment. My sister was unsure where to park as we unloaded, and carrying in many totes and boxes I propped the front door open. He was trying to leave as I was walking in. He was taller than me, (heck,everyone is taller than my 5 foot 1") and down went the boxes. He apologized and helped me take them inside my apt. He told me that there was NO private parking spots. First come first serve. He did warn me that some tenants had lived here a long time and liked their "spots" a whole lot. I told him not to worry I had NO CAR.. so it would not be a problem for me. I am not the only one here who does not have their own car either. There are many of us. He told me I would LOVE the DART (dial a ride) and that turned out to be true. I do LOVE it.  Horace had lived in this complex for many years. He knew everyone here. Margaret, Barbara and he were great pals. 

Slowly getting used to the complex and how things get done here. Days were filled with re-doing cabinets and closets and trying to find ROOM.Trying to settle in to my new place. On and on the winter went.. we had a bad one last year..heavy snows what seemed like every day. Five months passed and the beginning of February Horace passed away. He went out to breakfast, as he did frequently, and came home and sat down in his easy chair and passed peacefully. People were in the hallway, Sheriff deputies, paramedics, and family members. Margaret in Apt. 102, had lost her second friend in less than 8 months. I felt so bad for her and for his family. He was a nice man. 

This past winter another tenant left our building.  A lady this time, and not very old, she died of a massive heart attack in her apartment as paramedics tried to save her. 
So far I have lived here three years this summer and have watched people come and go, move in and out and go on their way. Some left this worldly place for their heavenly homes. Lessons learned with each passing. 

               LIFE IS SHORT....LIVE IT TO THE FULLEST EVERY SINGLE DAY!

                                     

Monday, November 30, 2015

WHAT'S GOING ON????



Looking at the courtyard.
 OH MY..what is going on..???

Heard in the hallway when a woman left a large dog inside an upstairs apt.
IT started BARKING at everything that moved. NO DOGS allowed in this building so it was bound to bring people out of their apartments and into the hall. Is it any surprise that the lady left it in the place ABOVE ME??? NO not to me.. it sounded like an elephant running around up there. THIS was NO little dog. I have put up with people keeping me up all night and loud children running up and down but nothing like this. So I called the manager and reported it. The lady came back almost 2 hours later and I was so relieved when she left with TWO LARGE LAB dogs, I think everyone else was too. 

In APT 101 an elderly woman named Margaret lives and she has been in it for at least 25 years! I was startled to hear this. I also was surprised to hear that the management has NEVER replaced the carpet or painted since she moved there. She does not smoke but keeps her apartment hot summer and winter. I learned from her to put some sort of rugs over the top of the areas that are the busiest pathways. I asked her if they wanted to clean the carpet for her and she said.."Oh honey, I cannot move all this furniture around..so NO they have ever cleaned it." I made a mental note to not let my place get so cluttered that the carpet could not be cleaned somehow. Margaret and Barbara were good friends. Barbara lived in my apt for over 20 years too. Barbara was in her late 80's when she got too ill to stay here. Her daughter moved her to a facility out of town and Margaret could not visit her. They said their goodbyes when she left this place and Margaret never saw Barbara again. Two months later Barbara died from pneumonia at the facility. I had been on a waiting list for years and finally I got the call I had been waiting for.  The day I got keys to my apartment was a hot hot July day and the smell of new paint and new carpet was overwhelming. I talked to the maintenance man Aaron and he told me that almost everything in my place had been replaced. The only thing that wasn't was the tub and the refrigerator. He told me that Barbara was an immaculate housekeeper in her day but the place really needed so much replaced. The carpets had not been cleaned in years, again, because she had so much furniture they could not clean it. 

So I had to wait to move into my place because the smells were so strong it made my Asthma go crazy. I moved some things into the apartment but  I  really moved into my apartment a whole month later.
More later.....

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

APARTMENT LIFE

Nothing like moving into a new place to live and having to learn a whole new way to do things. I sure don't mind, but I just never know when I am breaking a rule or two..

... DON'T FLUSH at night! Around my building I have NEVER heard a person flush a toilet at night. IS that weird?? Granted I have only been here a short while, but so far the rule has stuck. Everyone has their own schedules and lives to lead, but common courtesy is NOT to flush in the middle of the night. I have heard showers run in the middle of the night but NO FLUSHING...just plain strange.

...ALWAYS ASK before you make changes in your apartment walls. Some places, I have been told, do not allow nails or any type of puncturing of their wall surfaces. I got lucky.. it was pretty lax here but I haven't pushed my luck just yet. Starting over I don't have a whole lot to add to the walls. I made a trip to the local GOODWILL store and bought some small snack plates I thought were charming. Very appropriate for the season. I thought how neat to look at them all the time. So I hung them up. Tiny nails and plate hangers. Guess that didn't break any rules. As you can see the walls are WHITE and boring and I have no earthly idea how I am going to decorate them so far. I guess I will know when the time comes though. (The plates, by the way, were collectibles and ended up being worth at least 10 times what I paid for them. I was very happy when I looked them up on EBay. I love a bargain!)
Sure miss all the stuff Mom had at our house that I could not keep. We decorated for every holiday. It's fun though finding all the things that make a place your own. Looking forward to the holidays and already got my turkey.. well not edible anyway. This bird was handmade by a local artisan in 1979. I will be using it as a centerpiece this year on my table. 
Next will be finding new things for Christmas, stores already have their decorations up, should be easy to do. Apartment life is a work in progress right now. Never know what you will do or find next. I also hung this up on my wall so I could see it every day..it says what I think about where I am right now. It's something I do every day.
HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A HAPPY WEEK!!








Friday, August 15, 2014

LIFESAVERS

Crazy week so far, busy and strange...

Every single thing here I have used this past week. They truly are
lifesavers. All this moving has made the old body pop and snap and so
I am using any and everything I can to get by.  I bought a new grocery cart that 
surely will come in handy this winter getting groceries inside my place. The less
trips the better I say.. NO lifting either. Wonderful idea! 

Kept hearing banging and thought someone was fixing a roof to the building.
When I went outside I saw that the balcony on the other side was being torn down.
TERMITES! Oh that made me feel creepy. I mean what about the rest of the building?
Needless to say, they are inspecting the whole building. Erected back in the early 70's
these places need updating anyway. Having a balcony patio that gives way is very scary indeed. As I stood and watched them working a neighbor came and introduced herself to me. She said that I was the LUCKY ONE.. I guess they nicknamed me
that. I was the one with an almost NEW apt. All new carpets, floors, bathroom etc. It
wasn't because of me.. it was because the older lady lived here sooo long. She was here for 24 years!!! She said that EVERYONE wanted the apartment that I was in. Well, I guess I am lucky then, because I got it instead of someone else being re-located.
LUCKY ME.. This is the one and only plant I have in my apartment so far, it has traveled FAR..for many years to get to this place. The only plant left that my mother had. I placed it in the East windows and it seems happy there. The hula girl was a present, she shakes when the sun hits her.. very entertaining!!