Thursday, October 19, 2006

hood update

Today I have been listening to the dog out back...the neighbour's dog was oh so tired of being left alone on the deck all the time...poor dear. He is a little genius. Now, when he has had enough time to himself on the deck, he goes down the stairs and stands in front of his owner's truck and BARKS once, really loud. The warning alarm goes woop, woop, woop. The dog BARKS again. Woop woop woop. BARK. Woop woop woop. BARK. Woop woop woop. Front door opens, dog races up the stairs and into the house. Some people might find it annoying, but I laugh out loud every time! Another crack house closed today. Here is the dilemma...er, not really a dilemma now, of course, since it's closed. The landlord, BB, is a friend and a really great landlord. As soon as he learned of the problem, he was on it. His hands were tied by the "system." He wanted the police in there. They said without "evidence," there was nothing they could do. She didn't pay the rent and still he can't kick her out? Arbitration?!? There are 20 people in there and only one name on the lease?!? What the fuck, pardon my not-so-french, but ARBITRATION?!?!!!! Yes, I understand that renters have rights...but so do property owners! Like being paid rent, like having only the leaseholder live there, like NOT having crack coming and going from your property, like not letting your well-maintained house become infested with crack-heads, fleas, full of cat shit and human grossness. He filed for arbitration LAST month and still hasn't heard back from the court system... you know what he did? He called her mother and her sister. Somehow, it came about that he actually GAVE her 500 dollars to move out...but you know what?!? A bailiff to serve her with papers? 1800.00 dollars....lost rent for the next three months waiting for arbitration plus the previous two months unpaid? 2000.00 dollars.... at the very least....getting your property back? Priceless...NOT....500.00 dollars, plus the cost of new carpetting, professional cleaners, multiple trips to the dump, aspirin for your headaches, Robaxin for your bachaches....Thank goodness he is a good landlord with high hopes for this neighbourhood. Thank you, BB! We all so totally appreciate your efforts!!!! You know, her sister was the one who vouched for her character in the first place on the rental agreement...a friend of BB's...asshat.
There was a crappy appliance repair up the road...piles of junky, rusty, non-useable appliances everywhere. A real eyesore. Tired of all the complaints by neighbours(go figure), they finally moved. Then the building was sort of cleaned up and the owners tried to rent it out...one of the renters?!? Junk collectors trying to call it a thrift store. Big sign on the street telling everyone to bring their junk...and they did...JUNK!!!! EVERYWHERE!!! Guess what? It burned!!! Ha. Sorry. Was that cruel? No one was hurt, nothing was lost but JUNK!!! And now it's all boarded up, but it looks better than ever!!!!
One of our neighbours was in an altercation...a scary and horrifying altercation. 3 guys and a girl were on his property and when he went to move them on, he was attacked...hit over the head with a block of wood, threatened with a knife and scratched and hit. Yeah, folks. Scary. He threw the main attacker of himself and disappeared into the shadows of his own backyard...called the police, of course, but even with a good description and a name, there has yet to be an arrest. It's been a hard week around here...a shift in the status quo. The pendulum is swinging again, and we must all be on our toes, with the RCMP dispatch on speed dial. Something is happening here in the hood. Hopefully we will catch it in time.
On the positive side, my very good friend is coming for the weekend. I have not seen her in some time and it will be so good to wrap her up in a big hug, drink some martinis, bitch about her old hood that she left me in.... in other words, don't expect words from me til Monday....you all enjoy yourselves, be kind to those you love and savour all the good stuff. Talk to you soon.

5 comments:

Crafty Missus said...

have fun with all your em's this weekend.
i look forward to some good gossip on monday!!

dilling said...

cara, you're so clever...did you recognize our shoes?

Biddie said...

Oh, Dilling, that really sucks!
KK's boyfriend was followed and threatened tonight after the awards ceremony, by 3 guys in their 20's. It was barely 8:30. Luckily, he went to a donut shop and found a cop. (seriously) The cop drove him home and he didn't lose his brand new i Pod.
It seems to be getting worse all over.
Hope your weekend is wonderful...

Anonymous said...

I don't know if Cara recognized the shoes (she's probably psychic), but I sure did! That and I have an inside track of the comings and goings of holey shoes. Have a blast!

Michael Colvin said...

Wow! That's a lot of stuff to be happening in one neighbourhood! I commend you and your neighbours for taking a stand and trying to get the place cleaned up. It's apathy that lets all the shit in the world creep on us. It's a shame the authorities can't be more robust in their efforts. It's the same here though. The victims get no support and the criminals almost given a pat on the back. My sister rents property out. she and her husband are always in court trying to evict and it costs them thousands everytime. I don't know why they bother.

It's about time the authorities started doing their job.