Fighting the HOA

Last night I was hoping to spend some time on my book. Then I remembered that I had to write a letter to the HOA rules committee to appeal an HOA violation.

The letter was due by close of business today. So instead of putting my writing skills to something important, I had to write a convincing letter stating why our property should be issues a variance to the fencing ordinance. (This will be the true test of how good my persuasive writing skills are.)

For the most part I don't have many complaints about our HOA. Our city is divided into two clusters of about 500 homes each. The cluster we live in has an HOA. The other cluster does not. Because of the HOA, the homes in our cluster are better maintained and have a consistent look and feel to them.

The cluster of homes without the HOA is a mess. Some yards are nice, others have sagebrush instead of grass. Some homes have wood fencing, some have vinyl and some even have chain link. Because the other cluster of homes are such a mess, the homes don't appreciate in value as fast and are harder to sell.

Until the beginning of this year, the previous company that managed the HOA wasn't very good about enforcing the rules (or so say the neighbors). And since no one was enforcing the rules, some property owners started ignoring them.

A new management company was hired in January. And they started enforcing the rules. Last month it was brought to our attention that part of our fencing was not in compliance with the rules. I called them up and was explained the exact violation. (I'll be the first to admit that part of the fence is not in compliance with the HOA guidelines.)

Since Marathon Girl and I didn't put up the fence, I immediately tried to contact the previous owner to see if she had any paperwork about the fence that she forgot to leave with us. (The previous left us with some paperwork regarding the HOA but nothing about the fence.)

All attempts at contacting the previous owner were unsuccessful.

But here's the kicker.

As I was explaining the situation to the current HOA management company, I asked if they had any paperwork that stated that the fencing had been approved. They told me that the previous management company had lost and/or misplaced two-thirds of the paperwork regarding homes in the HOA -- including any paperwork regarding our home.

So basically the HOA is enforcing rules not knowing whether or not variances were issued. Now if I had put up the fence and was stupid enough not to get written approval from the HOA that the fence was in compliance, then I'd agree to fix it. But since I didn't put up the fence and the previous management company lost all paperwork regarding the property, I asked for a variance to the rules.

Basically my argument came down to this: Since all paperwork regarding the property has been lost, they can not prove that a variance was not issued and that the lost paperwork this causes an excessive burden of proof on new property owners who are not responsible for the violation.

I'm crossing my fingers that a variance is issued but I'm not overly optimistic that we're going to win.

Small town drinking fountains

You know you live in a small town when the public drinking fountains for the city's festival is a fire hydrant. Oddly enough, I never saw anyone drink from it.

The Carnies Are Coming, The Carnies Are Coming!

Should be an interesting weekend. Our town is throwing their yearly festival and carnies have set up shop in the park across the street. The standard, overpriced rides were set up last night. There's a Tilt-a-Whirl (for the Tilt-a-Whirl Gods), Merry-Go-Round, a giant slide, a Ferris wheel that looks like it's about to fall apart, a Tea Cup ride, and something called The Cliff Hanger. There's also the standard booths where you can try to win stuffed animals or other toys.

Of course the downside of all this is that our street is going to be wall-to-wall cars and people for the next 48 hours. No real complaints about it though. It should be interested to take a walk through carnie land to see what's happening. I'm sure Aidan will like to look at all the lights come dark.

***

Is there another word for carnie? Marathon Girl and I had a discussion about it. Marathon Girl doesn't like the word and says it's demeaning. I said there wasn't another word for people who worked at a carnival. I even pointed out there was a Simpsons episode where Homer and Bart worked as and called themselves carnies -- thereby making the word acceptable.

Anyone know of any other terms?

The Grief Industry

A few minutes after 9 p.m. Monday, a red Honda traveling at a high rate of speed drove off the road. The driver overcorrected and the car skidded sideways, striking a second vehicle. The driver and the passenger of the Honda, both 16-year-old students at a nearby high school, were declared dead at the scene of the accident. The driver of the second vehicle was taken to the hospital in serious condition. The accident was the lead story on every local news broadcast. It was the main story in the newspapers. Photos of the red Honda, totaled beyond recognition, were shown over and over again.

As I read an article about the accident, what stuck with me wasn’t the sad details but that the high school sent 11 grief counselors to the school to help students cope with their loss.

Eleven grief counselors.

Make no mistake, it was a tragedy. Two sons, friends, and brothers are dead. Another seriously injured. Two families are mourning their loss. A second family is anxiously hoping their loved one will recover.

But this wasn’t Columbine. It was an auto accident most likely caused by an inexperienced driver going too fast. It’s the kind of accident that could have been prevented. Why did the school district feel the need to send 11 grief counselors to the school. Did they feel the need to talk with the entire student body?

Unfortunately sending in an army of grief counselors at the faintest hint of tragedy has become common practice. We’ve become conditioned to believe that no one can begin to move on or start to heal unless we’ve all done our due diligence with a grief counselor or therapist.

Friends and family members of the 16-year-old boys are going to be sad over the coming days, weeks, and months. With some the sadness might linger on for years. And, yes, there may be one or two that need professional help. But most will not. The vast majority of those who loved and knew them will move on with their lives.

Most people – teenagers included – have the ability to adequately cope with death of friend of loved one without professional help. Those most likely to take up the services of the 11 grief counselors those who 1) weren’t that close to the boys who died and 2) already have some type of emotional problem. Rather than sending grief counselors to the school (since when has it become the business of schools to provide grief counseling anyway?) the school should have seen how students were dealing with the death of the boys weeks or months later. Those that appeared to still be having emotional issues should have been referred back to their parents and let them decide how best handle the situation.

***

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    • Site and Garden Update

    Just posted: A brief profile and contact form to the website. Now my email address will be forever safe from spam bots. (Knock on wood.) Look for more writings to be posted later this week. ***

    Chicago Jo wanted to know what happened to the garden. The good news is that the plants managed to survive just about everything that's thrown at them. They made it through the frost OK and managed to avoid any serious damage from the marble-sized hail storm Monday morning. Our biggest concern right now is the rain. With a storm coming in about every other day (very unusual for Utah) our plants are trying to grow in mud. I'm going to refer to this garden as Miracle Garden because if any sort of crop is produced, it's going to be a miracle.

    When Walking is Running

    Last week Marathon Girl finally had to stop running. After making it to week 20 of her pregnancy, running four plus miles every day was becoming too difficult. So this weekend when she asked if I wanted to go on a walk with her, I agreed. I pictured a nice walk through the neighborhood where we'd push Aidan in the stroller and talk and enjoy the wild flowers that are in full bloom.

    I forgot who I was walking with.

    For Marathon Girl a "walk" is something akin to a slow jog.

    We ended up "walking" four miles at a 10 minute per mile pace. By the time it was over, I was sweating and realized I had a pretty decent workout.

    Marathon Girl? She didn't even look tired. Her hair didn't even look out of place. You wouldn't have known she just went on some kind of power walk.

    Over 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she doesn't look very pregnant. There was an neighborhood party this weekend and most of the women about died when they learned how far along she was. And I have to admit she looks great.

    Maybe one of these days she'll become pregnant enough that I can keep up with her.

    It's a...

    It's offical. Baby #2 is going to be a boy. Marathon Girl and I are thrilled.

    Some pieces don't fit

    Just posted: Midnight Girl I've been working hard on Chapter 5. The last few days have been spent working on a scene that now, when I read it in context, not sure it has a place in a book. Rather than just trashing it, I decided to post it. Don't necessarily need any feedback on it but I know there are several who have wanted a peek at the book. So check it out.

    Episode III: Another Case of George Lucas Syndrome

    Well the cool company I work for gave everyone the last few hours of work off to go see the latest Star Wars movie. They rented out a nearby theatre so we all tropped down there to see it. The good news about the movie is that it's a lot better than Episode I or II which were sorely disappointing. The bad news is that it still suffers from "George Lucas" syndrome. For those who are unfamiliar with George Lucas syndrome, it affects movie makers who like to make big special effects movies and throw the plot and dialgo in as an afterthought.

    (BTW: If you haven't seen the movie yet and want to be surprised you may want to stop reading.)

    Though I bought Anakin's reason for joining the dark side of the force, it seemed to happen way too fast. One's transformation from good to evil (or vice versa) doesn't happen in an instant. It takes time. Sure, Anakin's been leaning toward the dark side for awhile but the fact that he gets all sad about killing someone then suddenly decides that the dark side of the force thing is rather cool I'll go and kill thousands more. It was too easy. Too quick.

    Then Lucas depicts Jedis being killed by a handful Storm Troopers. But during all the other movies, we see Jedis defending themselves against overwhelming odds and for the most part coming out OK. Suddenly two or three storm troopers can take one out in about five seconds. What happened to this force that Jedis are supposed to have?

    Then every scene Anikan has with Padme is laughable. The dialogue is wooden and stiff. Everything they'd talk to each other I wanted to say "Married people don't talk to each other like that." No one talks to each other like that except when the writer (Lucas) is trying too hard come up with dialoged that tugs at our emotions instead of letting our care about the characters do that.

    I'm not trying to come off as a Star Wars nerd here. My complaint is that Lucas has a tendency to create visually compelling movies while doing the minimal amount of work needed to create a believable (or consistent) plot, compelling dialog, or let the audience really care about characters.

    Episode III? Better than Episode I or II. Visually stunning. Too bad the dialogue and plot were weak. If those elements were stronger, Lucas would have hit a home run. Stick to visual effects George. Let someone else write the movie.

    Star Wars Episode III: 2 1/2 stars (out of 4)