Sunday, June 24, 2012

Exposed!

See that lower balcony? That's mine (thank you Google Maps). Soon to be gone. It's been happening for the past few weeks, but I haven't heard anything 'official'. Until last week... Between the two apartment buildings within my complex, there's 18 different balconies. And every one of them is getting replaced. It's part of an upgrade project around here, as the entire siding around both buildings will be replaced as well. I ran into the guy who who's doing the work and asked him if all of them were going to be replaced, he broke the bad news.

Why is this so bad? You've seen various pics I've posted while out on my balcony. It's carpeted, sort of, with astro-turf-like stuff. It's got solid walls, so I can sit out there buck nekkid if I want and not worry about anyone seeing me. Well, no more. The balconies are all being replaced with a wrought iron thing, and some sort of composite decking. So now everyone who walks by can look up and see what's going on. I'd much rather have them spend the money on a screen door to the balcony. Or replacing the carpet inside. Or fixing the hole in the bathroom ceiling that they haven't repaired since the leaky bathroom incident from last year...
One positive thing that will happen is that the upstairs neighbors will quit doing whatever the hell they're doing up on their balcony. I think they've got a mini-garden growing up there, and don't have a care in the world about where any extra water may go. Which is through their floor, through my ceiling, and soaking my deck to the point of unusability (is that a word?). I suppose that's the reason the balconies are all getting replaced...
Four weeks until the big concert! Things seem to be going well, but I had no idea the number of off-beat phone calls I'd be getting! The big ones I'm fearing are going to be the political campaigns. Can't blame them. They'd be fools not to take advantage of someone else's crowd of 15K. Fortunately, the I.R.S. saves me. Because the college is a non-profit organization, the I.R.S. prohibits political activity, unless ALL political views/candidates are present. The penalty is revocation of the college's non-profit status. What that means for me is that I get to tell them "no" when they call. Even more fun will be telling the ones that don't call that they can't set up any tables or booths. I can't wait!
After weeks of very pleasant temps in the mid-70s, this weekend saw the temps skyrocket. It was 98° today, and might break 100° tomorrow. I'm not a fan. Like most northerners, I don't have A/C. Won't buy it for a handful of days throughout the year. Though on a day like today, I question my sanity.
With the hot weather, we've got some forest fires started. A couple within an hour from here, due south. Nothing like Colorado is experiencing right now, but I can't help that this might be Montana's year...
For those who were wondering...OsTour this year is going to be heading west finally. Target city--Portland. From there, I'm not certain how I'll get back. Perhaps north to Seattle. Perhaps south to northern California. Maybe just the regular beeline back (such as it is). Also excited about the possibility of meeting up with someone coming here! Details if/when they get hammered out!

1 comment:

MinorityReport said...

That stinks you're losing balcony privacy. You'll just have to be more creative with how you use the new one. :)