Back in the Playground
I've ignored a few e-mails about my status so here's the rundown.
I'm back from Iraq for good. For those who want to know what its like, ... it sucks. With a lot of US intervention and help, it will suck less. Now you know everything you need to know about Iraq. I've accepted a fairly good job in Tampa that I'll be starting at the end of the month. Concurrent with that, I've established some important goals for my life: 1. I'm getting a xylophone, because nobody who plays the xylophone is ever unhappy. 2. I'm getting a telescope because life here began out there. 3. I officially formed Lost Pirate Productions, LLC which is already engaged in putting out "Myths of History", an audio documentary series because nobody on the planet has done an audio documentary series, ... at least not like this one. Dawg and Joie like it so I know its a good effort. 4. I'm calling my daughter and grandchildren at least once a week to remind each of them that I love them. 5. I'm gonna light a candle on my back porch every Sunday to honor all of those serving the country away from home. (I did this before I went to Iraq but now I know a lot more of those I'm honoring personally). 6. I'm taking music lessons. I've got a damn fine electronic keyboard and it would be nice to play the xylophone a little better than my five year old granddaughter. 7. I'm getting married. (Like those who know me didn't know that was coming). 8. I'm getting a new annual Disney pass. (If you live in Florida or California its one of the best investments you could ever make). 9. I'm dedicating 2009 to the year that I watch every western and Samarai movie ever made ... or give it one Hell of an attempt. (Red Sun is anxiously awaiting the DVD player). 10. I'm declaring all personal strife I've had with anyone from 1 Jan 2009 to the beginning of time to be null and void. If anyone has issues with me, they're entirely one-sided. 11. I'm going to respect women wearing French Maid's outfits for their minds. 12. I'm buying a new bicycle. (I used to ride all over Virginia and Hawaii and intend to start doing that again in the summer). 13. I'm gonna recertify in Scuba and dive among the sponge farms beause there's nothing that makes you enjoy life more than moving around on the bottom of the food chain. 14. I'm gonna find a way to sponser some more children through OPERATION SMILE. (Check it out. Its one of the best charities in the whole world and its been well checked out to ensure that all donations go to the project and not to buy guns in Zimbabwei or something insane like that). Again, its OPERATION SMILE, ... and since psychology says you have to hear something three times before you pay attention, its OPERATION SMILE (http://www.operationsmile.org/). I find that sponsering a child every father's day is a great way to make sure that you don't forget. 15. I'm gonna find some way to convince Don to finish his battlestar model by Dec 2009. 16. I'm gonna locate all the stuff I haven't used in the house for five years and toss it out. 17. I'm gonna track down the professor and get him his Space 1999 stuff. 18. I'm gonna invite everyone I know over to give out candy to the kids on Halloween. 19. I'm gonna finish GINO - The Audio Production (ep 3 and ep 4). 20. I'm gonna watch The Ten Commandments on Easter. (Because its the greatest film ever made). Your resolutions may vary. All my best to all, Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Welcome home, Russell.
I am Dawg :warrior: |
Re: Back in the Playground
Welcome back, my friend. :)
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Re: Back in the Playground
hells bells that's a new years resolution .. Welcome home .. and best of luck on all your endeavours 2009 and beyond
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Re: Back in the Playground
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:rotf: Welcome forward to the United States of America. :salute: :warrior: |
Re: Back in the Playground
Thank you fellow geeks. Its nice to be home.
As part of my transition, I'm upgrading to a new geek e-mail. MasterBlaster@OldSciFi.com . I'm phasing out some of my other e-mail accounts and just forwarding the rest. All my best, Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Now those are resolutions I can get behind! I'm with you on the westerns man!
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No, wait! Did I say the United States of America? I meant to say the Allied States of America.
:D |
Re: Back in the Playground
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Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
lol
glad to see you made it back from Iraq |
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BTW, I just downloaded and saved this to my PC hard drive. :salute: Quote:
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Re: Back in the Playground
DELETED BY ME.
Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Super-freakish update!
I'm not sure how to properly express in words the mania of the past few days. On Sunday (yesterday), I drove over to my newly rented four bedroom house, with a mustang full of critical stuff, including pillows, blankets, and clothes. My new job started Monday (today) and so I had to come over to Tampa to start my new life out right. Since its the start of the new Chinese New Year, this seemed to be a good omen. When I submitted the application for this house, I was asked whether I would like to negotiate for a higher rent in order to use the furniture that was there, because anyone who spent a year in Iraq can only possibly be moving around like John Rambo, with a small pack and worn out jeans. For a good price, I could rent a whole house full of furniture. Sorry, not interested. I got a call Friday asking if I'd like to buy some of the furniture. Still not interested. I got a call Saturday asking if it was alright if the landlords left a couple of pieces of furniture in the house for a week or so until they could make arrangements to move it. I said "Sure, why not. If it helps them, no big deal to me." The house has a huge front living room and I figured it could all be shoved in there while I settled. To my surprise, when I got here last night, the house was crammed full of furniture, ... and clothes, ... and books, ... and food, ... and every item that everyone else has in the house that they're living in. I was provided with the closet of the master bedroom, which was cleared out, and the master bath, which was also mostly cleared out. The rest of the house was crammed full. At the same time, I was provided with a list of items that the owners made me swear I wouldn't use. The list was comprehensive and effectively covered the entirety of three of the four bedrooms, part of the living room, and most of the items in the kitchen. I was allowed to sit on the sofa. I signed the document, as the property manager demanded. Then, as soon as she left, I took every item in the three bedrooms in question and piled it in the front room. This morning, the property manager called me and told me that she could get some of the stuff moved within three to six weeks. I told her that was unaccepted and we had a fairly ugly discussion. She ended asking if I'd be "satisfied" if she could get a couple of the closets cleaned out and the stuff boxed up. I informed her that the closets were already cleaned out and that wasn't the issue. She became quite angry and demanded that I didn't have a right to move the owner's stuff without first getting permission. She came over in something of a huff and showed me the paper I'd signed. I pointed out that I'd agreed that I wouldn't use the items and I'm not using them. They're waiting to be shipped out. She produced a paper with a long list of everything in the house which she then demanded I sign, promising that each item would be in the same condition as to when I moved in. I refused to sign it, citing that I was already offended that I'd been asked to do the owner a favor and store a couple of pieces of furniture and had since had that kindness totally reversed on me with absolutely no sign of gratitude. I certainly wasn't going to take responsibility for items that I didn't want here in the first place. She demanded that I do so, claiming that the owner shouldn't have to take the risk since they don't know me. I told her to get all the items out of the house tonight. She responded that I shouldn't have rented a FURNISHED house. She contended that since the house had items in it when I saw it, I should have expected that it have items in it when I rented it. I specifically asked if she was claiming that when I rented a house, I should have expected that the owner was going to leave all of their possessions inside. Without blinking an eye, she said "yes" and since I didn't specifically request the house be emptied before I moved in, they are making arrangements to move the owner's stuff as a courtesy. However, its my responsibility because I didn't stress that I didn't want the owner's stuff in the home. I clarified that in her and the owner's mind, when I rented a four bedroom house, that in fact, meant I was allowed to use a closet and allowed to sit on SOME of the furniture but couldn't use the rest of the house or any of the kitchen cabinets, etc. She said yes. If I didn't want a furnished place, I should have said so. I took out the listing that I had printed out that said it was unfurnished. She said I had to deal with it. I decided she was a woman in desperate need of my opinion. I gave it to her. She cried. I made her cry more. Those that know me should be proud that I never raised my voice once. At present, she's calling the landlord to hire someone to come and move all of their items out of the house. I'm trying to figure out how an ordinary looking Tampa home is actually located in The Twilight Zone. All my best, Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Ok, Mr. Sanders. ;)
To rub a little salt in the wound... calculate what % of the residence that you are actually using and multiply that amount by your rent. Then, deduct that amount from your rent and BILL the owner for storage fees. At the very least, your first month's rent should be reduced by a fairly healthy amount, for the aggravation as well as for deception. You know the line.. "the squeaky wheel gets the grease". :D |
Re: Back in the Playground
Good grief....
That's about all I can say about it. :wtf::yikes::wtf: I am Dawg :warrior: |
Re: Back in the Playground
Anyone want to send me a book report on Sandy's post?
(Yes, I do know how to maintain my sanity.) :rotf: |
Re: Back in the Playground
*Knows to budget extra cubits for the Secret Service starting next month.*
:salute: |
Re: Back in the Playground
She fully deserved your opinion. I would've been yelling before I signed the silly "don't use" paper. Bravo for keeping your cool.
And welcome home. Did I hear you say wedding? :D |
Re: Back in the Playground
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Jim:salute: |
Re: Back in the Playground
No Julie, you heard me say "Married". Its a condition where two people decide that they'll annoy each other for a number of years before one can't take it anymore and decides to give up and die. The one who held out the longest gets all their money.
Thanks again to all for the good wishes. Freaky Update #2: The real estate agent, her husband, and her assistant were here tonight packing up the stuff the owners left, placing them in boxes, and organizing them into the front room. She had a completely different attitude, ... friendly, apologetic for the situation, ... generally a nice person to be around. We laughed, joked, drank tea together, and had a pretty nice time overall. It turns out her husband is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and I volunteered for some community service work around here. I now have about half of a house and the half is in the areas I want to use. During the packing, we discovered that the owners left about 8000 prestine (and I presume valuable) baseball cards. They left some undoubtedly valuable gold and silver coins. They left all of their bank and accounting records including info on all their accounts, including how to access them. (I securred those and had them sealed up several times). They left about a dozen pairs of shoes. They left personal letters. They left their wedding photos. In essence, the only thing they didn't leave, was what I presume was the bulk of their clothes and some underwear. She wants to sell me everything in the house for $3000. I may offer her $1000 for some of the key items. I'm sure when I learn the full extent of this story its going to be pretty strange. All my best, Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Do keep us updated on this Sandy.
Jim:wtf: |
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*Starbuck puts a cork somewhere. There's a room I mean site for that and needs lots of ventilation!*
:salute: |
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Check the following link - I found a coin price guide for you. Hope it helps. http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/fmv.shtml |
Re: Back in the Playground
Thanks but I boxed them up and have them ready to get back to the owners.
It just seems strange to me that anyone rented a house that they effectively seemed to have abandoned in the middle of the night. Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
yes it does. You had every right to be offended and I give you kudos for putting the woman in her place. The owners should have had the class to move their things out without you having to say or sign anything in the first place. If they had wanted the place to stay furnished, they shouldn't have listed it as unfurnished!
This is of course just my humble opinion! |
Re: Back in the Playground
TBC,
Glad to hear you made it back safe. Good luck in all your endeavors. :salute: |
Re: Back in the Playground
Small update.
Everything in the house now belongs to me. They were here packing up yesterday morning and were gone by early afternoon. I also purchased about a thousand dollars worth of furniture from them for a couple hundred bucks. It was a small compensation from them. For most of their moving, I was at the Gasparilla Festival. I had the owner's real estate agent stay here and make sure that nothing that wasn't supposed to be touched was touched and that every item of mine remained secure and in-tact. They were stunned that I took the position that I wasn't going to inconvenience my life any more for thier problems. The real estate agent somewhat mockingly said "What do you want to go to a pirate festival for?" I thought the answer to that was pretty obvious. http://www.oldscifi.com/hold/Gasparilla2009-02.jpg All my best, Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Don't which lady I'm looking at more....the one in red or the one in gold !
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Re: Back in the Playground
See, to me, the choice was pretty obvious.
Russell |
Re: Back in the Playground
Heh heh, the one in the red seems a little more "lively". The gold one seems a little stiff ...
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