This has been my terrible, awful, very bad day as a landlord. It's 10 PM as I write this and thank goodness midnight will be soon. Maybe my luck will change with the clock.
We have been battling bats at my house for the last week or so. Thanks to Critter Control, most of them were caught, but he missed two of them. My Dad and I captured those two last night but we waited patiently for our Wade, our Critter Control Associate to come pick them up.
Of course, he was late. Meanwhile I went to get lunch and they got my order wrong. Back at the house, lunch was interrupted because Wade had arrived.
"Oh come on, don't you want to see the bats?" he asked as he held them up by their wings. Their little heads move around a lot and they seem to change expressions, especially when you make them mad.
"No, I don't want to see them, thanks anyway. Just get them out of here."
At 1 PM I went over to a friend's house to help her with her website. My laptop almost crashed. Her daughter volunteered to help and ended up bringing in reinforcements, which was a young man who is a computer expert. So far, they haven't figured it out and I'm sick I might lose all my files. I even offered to pay them.
Later, I had a 5 PM appointment to show one of our duplexes. No one is ever on time to see one, so I thought I had a few minutes for the bad traffic. Nope. I arrived to find an upset couple who asked me if I knew anything about that unit being broken into.
Wwhat?
A heavy footprint on the newly painted white door and damaged door frame killed that deal.
On to the ant problem in 3915. "I'm so stressed," the tenant told me. "
Stressed? Is she kidding?
Got home to find an email from another tenant who just wants to find another place. Uh oh. And that wasn't the only one. Another one is moving too. That one had an electrical problem the night before when a storm blew down a power line. I had to hold their hands all the way through it because frankly, I think a lot of them need to move into assisted living right after college.
His room mate had called me wanting me to fix the electricity. I told him to call NES, the electric company.
"But I don't have their number," he whinned.
"I'm driving and I don't have their number either." (I hate getting cell phone calls in the car. It really makes me nervous, especially when they're from tenants.)
"Okay, I'll take care of it just as soon as I get home."
Mercy. Can't they do anything for themselves?
NES told us we had to turn the breakers off. I tried to get back in contact with the tenant. Too late, he was headed to work, and it would be all night before he got back home. So I had to go all the way back out there and turn them off myself, only I couldn't see without my glasses in the dark. I had to ask another tenant to help me.
Then there was the police car that had just driven up. They had gotten the report about the downed live line and she was checking it out. Intimidating.
Finally, I was back home but was awakened by the phone at 11 PM.
"Uh, can I turn the breakers back on? " It was the other room mate.
"Is the power line back up outside,"
"I don't know."
"Could you look?"
How hard is that?
Yep, if the line is up, it's okay, I reassured him. Finally. Everything was taken care of. Maybe I wouldn't be hearing from them for a few days anyway.
Next call from him was this morning when he informed us he's moving.
I wonder if he'll get the same service we give at his new place. Or better service, perhaps? Better put NES phone number in your cellphone, fella.
Now I'm at my computer in my office because it's my only computer now and I just got rid of bat #12 all by myself and it's not flying around the room any more. It actually went out the window, thank goodness. And I didn't have to call Wade. Hope that's the last one.
So I guess I should think things are looking up, maybe?
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