Lock & Leaks

We had been asking the co-op to fix this lock and door frame since before we moved into this unit in October, 2010. It finally became so bad that we couldn't even lock our door, so I wrote the co-op again and said that it was urgent. A few hours later a locksmith came by and assessed the situation. He couldn't understand why the unit had been rented out like this - that the lock was completely useless. He confirmed that the door had once been kicked in and pointed out a section of plastering beside the frame. He installed a large metal plate and secured the lock in other ways. The frame, however, should be replaced by a maintenance repair man. The next morning two workmen rang our doorbell. When I answered the door, they said they were there because of a 'leak'. I was taken aback a bit and said that we had two leaks - a deluge of water which had poured out of our upper bathroom fan, now reduced to a trickle and large cracks in our basement floor which were water stained. I proceeded to show them the basement floor. The workman took photos with his cell phone and noted water staining on the lower basement wall, the large open cracks, efflorescence and the mounding in the middle of the floor. He stated that the problem was coming from underneath the floor slab. A few days later I met a member who said that his neighbour had had a basement floor leak, was waiting for workmen to show up, but they never did. When I told him about workmen coming to our unit to assess a 'leak', we figured that they had juxtaposed our unit numbers and came to our unit instead. Will the co-op bury this workman's observations in our unit? Maybe I should have taken photos of the workman taking photos of our basement. Still, the situation has a ring of humour to it.

Shambles!

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2012/troubleforrent/


TransGlobe has a terrible reputation. They bought our shopping centre and ran it into the ground. The townhouse profiled in this Marketplace segment is next to the mall. The City of Ottawa received more complaints about this project in one year than for any other development. Last year TransGlobe blamed the deficiencies on the property management company, changed management companies and started anew. Unfortunately, as we can see from this Marketplace story, not too much is new.

Memories

Machine Sewn - Hand Appliqued - Hand Quilted

This is a snapshot of a quilt I started for my daughter in 1992, which I finally finished this Christmas. This prompted me to take a one-day quilting course a few weeks ago. I have just completed a Batik quilt top, have sewn the backing and soon I will baste it together for another 'grand' project. I am leaning towards hand quilting this quilt, as the experience is very satisfying, soothing and tactile. There is, however, a quiet discontent about not practising what I learned in my course - to machine quilt it. My mind is telling me that I could only do this if I had one of those spiffy computerized, programmable dream machines. Is my heart trying to tell me something else?

My F1 Code

In the Queue

We have a problem with our stove - the oven does not have a consistent temperature throughout the baking cycle, nor is the buzzer accurate. The buzzer will sound indicating that the oven is at 350º, but it's not - it's only at 175º. The higher you go, the worse it gets. Also, when decreasing temperature, we can't rely on the stove's buzzer to let us know if the thermostat is at the right temperature. We use our own thermometer to check the oven temperature because of many inadequately meals.

On December 7, 2011 after our All Members Meeting, I had a chat with a member who used to live in our unit. She stated to me that she was never able to cook French Fries in this oven. She is now on the Board of Directors. The next day I emailed the office and stated that I'd contact the City if the co-op didn't fix our oven. Aside from the fact that it's the co-op's responsibility to provide us with a reliable oven, it is even more important due to the fact that my husband has diminished eyesight and relies on the buzzer to tell him what the oven temperature is. That morning an appliance technician, who was repairing other appliances in the co-op, came by to check our oven.

The repairman stated that there is a discrepancy between what the timer says and what the temperature actually is. He stated that in more expensive models one can adjust this discrepancy. Our stove, however, is a basic model and would require a new board. He didn't know if the co-op would approve same.

The Property Manager emailed me and said that she had spoken to the technician and that he had said that there was nothing wrong with our stove. I told her what the technician had told us and she said that it wasn't true - that he had said if he put in a new board, the same thing would happen. (Pray tell then - why would someone put in a new board?) Then the Property Manager emailed me to say that she had been informed that we use two oven thermometers. She asked for the model number of the thermometers and where we placed them in the oven. I replied that they were Accutemp thermometers bought at Canadian Tire and that this whole interrogation was absolutely ridiculous and asked that this matter be brought to the Board of Directors. The Property Manager must have been miffed by my accuracy about the oven thermometers as she did not reply to my email.

That night we experienced an F1 code on the oven read out and then the temperature dropped drastically. We cleared the read out and reset the oven. The F1 code denotes a problem with the control board.

Prior to the technician's visit, another repairman had tested our stove, confirmed that the thermostat was not working properly and wrote it up in his report. I asked the Property Manager to look up his report.

As far as our other outstanding work orders go, the Property Manager stated that we'd be in the queue like everyone else. I wrote back that it was nice to know, but that we have been in the queue for over a year.

Punishing!

The Experiment

One of our external Directors decided to leave her post. We don't know when it happened, as our Property Manager did not tell us at our All Member's Meeting. If it happened around the same time as our other external Director decided to become our paid Property Manager, who was looking after the fort? The 3 resident Board members take direction from the external Board Members; they are not decision makers. Does this mean that the Property Manager has been directing all the affairs of the Co-op? If so, for how long?

It seemed so crystal clear when the Co-op voted for these external people to serve on our Board of Directors. They were 'experts' who were parachuted in to save our Co-op from bankruptcy. They knew what they were doing; they were financial wizards with lots of experience in how Co-ops should work. They were going to take action, bring our Co-op up to standards, secure financing and within 3 years the Co-op would right itself.

Well, we're almost into the 3-year time frame. One of the external Directors resigned after the first year. The Office Co-ordinator parted ways with the Co-op, the maintenance man as well and our external Board members are no more. There was an indication at the meeting that an external Board member was being recruited; whether that materialized or not, we don't know. What we do know is that all the muster and bravado which came with these 3 external Board members, have dissipated without a trace, as if it had never happened in the first place. What about the 'accountability' and 'transparency' that we were promised? Nowhere to be seen or heard.

The concrete plan which was sold to us does not appear to be working. Did the Co-op movement really know what they were doing in the first place?

Hangin'Ten

I've been a tad busy these days, but I will return tomorrow.

Coming in the New Year?