New Tenants!

Tom and Kendall Adlard now live in #209.

They are getting officially married soon but until then one of them is going to stay in the new digs until they get married next month. There apartment is so nice! 

Looking forward to the days to come.

Unforseen Vacancy

I am not sure but I think the people who lived in the apartment with the mold in it, are no longer living there. Not sure what happened, if JD evicted them or offered them another apartment. But their blinds are drawn closed and nobody answered the door. If I don't see any change in a few days I will just assume that they are gone.

The 15 year old, neighborhood tough, Izzy and I are starting to talk a lot more too. Which is cool. We will see where that goes...

Not much else to update on.

Attemptive Break In (into my apartment and not into my heart)

So as you can see, the purp tried to get in by busting the handle off by force. The handle on both sides has two indentations where the tool they were using was trying to break it off. I left my apartment last night and stayed at my grandma's working on editing videos there cause I can get Internet there, than during the day I was with Katie. So the incident could've happened at anytime between 10 pm Sunday night to 8:30 pm Monday (Valentines Day).

The lock on the bottom was the one I changed from a crappy, cheap, plastic one JD had put to the solid, heavy Home Depot (9 bucks) one I had purchased. Is it coincidence that this one was messed with and not the top? Because JD has a key to my top lock but not my home depot one. Is it also coincidence that they started to work on the apartment next door today too? Or was it the kid and his friends that i kicked out last night cause they were trying to play beer pong in his old apartment? Not sure. All I have is suspicion but I am going to go tomorrow to home depot to get a new one. Even though I have nothing really of too much value in my apartment, I am thankful it was a mess that got prevented.

Wyatt Earp

On Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 6:06 PM, James Rutledge <jimirutledge@gmail.com> wrote:

Its # 105, see attachment for a picture. Its size is a foot and a half in length.

On Fri, Feb 11, 2011 at 12:08 PM, Esko Siipola <> wrote:

James,
Why don't you give me the unit number and I'll "push the issue" a bit and get Miguel to come meet us on site. You're doing a great job, don't get frustrated, remember they have lots of properties to deal with.........Thanks, Esko

-----Original Message-----
From: James Rutledge [mailto:jimirutledge@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 11, 2011 11:37 AM
To: Esko Siipola
Subject: meeting/mold

hey esko,

Just wondering if you were able to scheduale a meeting with miguel and david. I think it needs to happen at this point. Miguel seems neglectful when I am approaching him on things like mold in one of my tenants apartments. In fact, he flat out ignored me today... So not sure really what to do at this point and hoping a meeting can happen.


james

I was pretty upset with Miguel. I called him and told him on his voicemail that next time I am going to have to hold him down and pin him to the ground to talk to him (I was pretty frustrated). Anyway, I will have to apologize when that conversation comes up.

So yeah, not sure how to handle the mold issue. Its in Esko's hands now (if it is a big deal). I looked up on the internet the hazards of having mold and it seems like it can create some pretty bad conditions for a person's lungs. We'll see what happens...

So the tenant next door to me, the 19 year old kid who I suspected of dealing attempted to come back last night with a group of his friends and have a party in his apartment. He didn't pay rent for this month, and was given an eviction notice to vacate by the 18th. Thinking this meant he could have a party... I quickly redirected his thinking and became like Wyatt Earp and told him that he and his friends need to go play beer pong somewhere else. I was pretty stern about it.

I am starting to realize how difficult this is going to be. Not impossible, but difficult. As of right now, I feel like I am simply floating, like down the San Joaquin. Not sure what gross and disgusting things are beneath the surface, not sure what direction the river is taking me to, but I do know this; as long as I can control my temper and stop getting frustrated over people I should expect to be a jerk, hopefully I will have a grip more on things. I can't control JD's negligence or apathy, but who I am in this process is up to me. I need to remain faithful.

Waiting

So I called Miguel yesterday about the mold in apartment #105 and he put me on hold, and then I got hung up on. Not sure if it was intentional, but I called him back right away and left a message on his voicemail. I figure I will wait a few days and try again and if no immediate response, I will let Esko know with code enforcement.

I have also been emailing Esko about setting up a meeting with David Hovenisian, Miguel, Phil and I to sit down and have a blunt conversation on expectations of each other and what our goal is with the complex. I feel like this is vital to me being here because to be honest, I am not exactly sure what my purpose is here as far as what JD Homes expects from me.

When they made me sign some forms to move in, they also made me sign something that says I owe them 500 bucks a month. I was dumb, and when Pa (office manager) said "I am going to write this here but you don't have to actually pay us" I took her for her word. But Bryan Feil brought it up that if they ever wanted to, they could bring that up in the future and say I owe months of rent because on paper it says so. Not sure if that is a position I want to be in.

Anyway, my life group from The Well is meeting this Saturday to tour the Lowell neighborhood. Should be fun, one of them has been a cop for 23 years... he should bring a great perspective. I am pumped to show them the complex as well.

"Be therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Matthew 10:16

A Jenny Jones Makeover

The outside is starting to look really good. Its definitely changed a lot and I think people in the neighborhood are starting to notice. I was taking pictures of this and then Veronica and Fred who live behind me told me to check out some stuff in their apartment. They told me they have lived in the complex for a few years and they hope that these conditions can change as the renovations are happening:

(leak from roof, in shower)

I am going to call Miguel, the head construction guy and see what can happen. That mold is disgusting. I will post an update as soon as it happens. As far as the mouse in my apartment, Katies' cat is still working on that.

The Call

Made my first 911 call tonight. After walking my rounds around the complex I found a group of teenage kids in the alley and a fight was starting. I called the cops but because my stupid phone's touch screen app sucks so bad it took forever to get through. Once I hung up the fight happened and was over in a few minutes.

I go to back to my apartment and kick it with my neighbor a bit, who is 19 and renting from JD. He told me about Rent-a-center, and his HBO. I am pretty sure he dealing drugs to pay for all of it and his schooling but he moves out tomorrow so nothing much I can do about that.

Anyway, I'm talking to my neighbor for awhile and then one of the fighters from the alley walks up and talks to us (hands busted and covered in blood). His name is Izzey and he is 15 with a baby on the way; which I guess is what started the fight with his baby's mama's brother. He had a few cuts, like a boxer, around his right eye.

I got a small mouse in my apartment as well. Just put traps out and hopefully will catch something in the morning. I don't even know what I'm gonna do with it if I do get a live one.

My neighbor said too that the complex looks a lot better than when he moved in. Testimony to progress is encouraging.

James 3:18
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.