A visit to the dentist and a co-op board meeting

 

My day started with a series of emails.  An applicant to purchase an apartment asked if we could interview him tomorrow.  I didn't want this.  Yes, I know it was the sale of a soon to be former board member's apartment that I was willing to slow down. But I was not willing to change our schedule at the last moment.  So, we scheduled an interview-only meeting for next week, where I expect not to have any problems with the applicant.

Next on my list was checking with the foreign birth registry for my second citizenship.  They received my paperwork last August, and I should expect for it to hit a "case worker's desk" sometime next month or the month afterwards.  Hopefully, if there are no problems, I will be a dual citizen with rights in 2 countries come this fall.  (If I'm lucky, I won't have problems with a cruise I'll be taking in the near future.) 

In my calendar, my dental appointment was scheduled for 2 pm.  But the office had it scheduled for 3 pm. So, I was glad I double checked before leaving for the appointment.  With this being said, my wallet ended up a bit more empty than planned, as I now have a "membership plan" that covers 2 cleanings and gives me 15% off of all work to be done.  Considering that I will need a crown on my next visit, I'll be saving $470 in 4 weeks on a bill that would have cost me over $3,000.  The plan almost pays for itself on my next visit.

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All of this happened before 5 pm.  Due to the shifting of the interview to next week, the co-op meeting was shifted to start at 6 pm.  And I decided to leave my video off, so I wouldn't have to change back into masculine presentation for the meeting.  One day, I'll be totally "out".  But until then, I'll preserve my Mario identity for use with the co-op meetings.

This would be the quickest board meeting we would have in years.  Due to the applicant interview being postponed AND our business with our mortgage holding bank being mostly resolved and under control (I won't say more on that), we had little to be briefed on.  So, our meeting started on schedule, and by the end of our time with our managing agent's site representative, it was less than 90 minutes later.  (Yes, we talked about non-co-op related stuff for another half hour.  But that was social chat and not business chat and not counted as part of our meeting.)

When the meeting was over, I was tired.  But I had to do some cleanup work, as the site manager was coming to my apartment in the morning to see an example of a window problem.  So, I moved some stuff into empty storage containers, moved some dresses into the closet, and made many of the small storage containers easier to access (and later prune stuff from).

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It was a busy day, and I am glad to be able to get a little sleep before being awakened early.... 

 

Another Doctor Visit, Another Prescription. Another Co-Op Board Meeting, Another Evening Dinner Delivery.

 

There was no chance that I'd spend any time as Marian for the next day or two, so I moved my license and insurance card into Mario's wallet, showered, shaved, dressed, and headed off to my doctor's office.  I always dread this, but today's visit was a little worse than usual.

Around 10:15 am, I drove to the doctor's office, and there were no parking sport near his office.  This was an omen if there ever was one.  I had to drive an extra 5 minutes before I could get a nearby spot on a side street.  Several minutes after I arrived, I was shown to one of his rooms where he took my weight, my blood pressure, and proceeded to check my liver and some glands on my throat.  Now, he wants me to get another ultrasound.  AARGH!  To make things worse, he prescribed a medicine that's going to run me another $200/month - without consulting whether I could afford it or not.  When I mentioned the outrageous GLP-1 drug price, he wanted me to spend another $500+/month on the drug, something I will not do.  Until doctors start pushing back on drug prices being charged to patients, there is no way health care prices in this country will drop.  They are at the front lines of health care, and they should be our primary advocates for what we must do to maintain our health AND to keep the overall cost of that healthcare down low enough for the average person to afford it.  (Although I will soon have another $700/month coming into my pocket, do I really want to spend it on 2 drugs?)

When I was done with the doctor, I went home to rest.  I had a co-op board meeting starting at 5:30 pm, and there would be a lot to do at the meeting.  One good thing: We should be able to sell an abandoned apartment as-is, and help deal with our financial issues.  But I knew I would be very hungry afterwards, so my plan for the evening was to use the Slice app to order Italian to go, and have some Chicken Parmigiana and Penne pasta delivered - I would be in mo mood to cook or reheat food.

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Tomorrow, I'll be heading to my tax preparer, and then back to Croton for the yearly co-op dinner.  Yes, it'll be Italian food again, but I'll order something very different from what I ordered tonight. 

    

Seeing "Short Vicki" for dinner.

Most of my readers may know that I have two women friends named Vicki.  Vicki #1 ("Tall Vicki") is a woman I've known for almost 30 years, someone who has gone through her share of "Sturm und Drang" and come out OK.  Vicki #2 ("Short Vicki") is a woman I met while I was unattached, and we developed a good friendship over the years.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get both Vickies to meet each other, as I think they will enjoying knowing others with some similar interests.

But I digress....

Vicki #2 suggested that we get together over the weekend.  However, her plans changed, and RQS and I were able to meet her for dinner in Yonkers, after a brief stop at the book store to pick up some magazines that RQS is interested in.

It was nice to finally get RQS and Vicki together, as the only time they have met was when her husband passed away. (And, that's not what I call a real meeting.)  The three of us sat down for dinner and chatted for about an hour and a half before leaving.  Hopefully, next time Vicki and her wife will be able to join RQS and I for a dinner foursome.

Later on....

One of the people from game night has been trying to sell an inherited apartment which has both deed restrictions and other complications that make the owning/selling the apartment a dubious proposition. (I would have had similar problems had my father not seen a lawyer many years ago and not put the family homestead in my brother's name and my name at that time.)  We chatted via online messages, and I expect that our voice chat will be interesting.

As you can see, life can be interesting - even when nothing much is going on.

Once, I had a nosy neighbor. Now, there's a real estate key safe on the door.

I came home recently, and saw a real estate agent's key safe on the door of the apartment below me. My former nosy neighbor has been out of the apartment for the better part of two years, and the people who were expected to buy the apartment have been gone for almost as long.   Last year, the apartment was foreclosed upon by the bank holding the mortgage. This year, the apartment was sold at auction, and is now being marketed for sale to a new owner.

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Tonight, I tried to find out the price at which the apartment sold for on October 10th.  Although this information is of public record, I have no idea of how to find this information on-line, nor do I consider this information worth paying for. So I only wonder what Fannie Mae's official acquisition price was for the apartment.

In any auction, a lien holder may wish to establish a minimum bid.  This way, if Chase were to have a $80k lien on an apartment that could sell for $100k, the minimum bid prevents a bottom feeder from winning the auction with a $40k bid.  Unfortunately, I have no idea of whether a minimum bid was established, nor do I know what the winning bid was.

Let's say that the apartment is now officially for sale.  It'll take at least 1 or 2 months to show the apartment to prospective buyers and to get an offer accepted.  Then, depending on the time of month, it will take another 3-4 weeks before the Co-Op board can interview the prospective owner.  Unlike most co-op purchases, our proprietary lease gives lenders (in case of foreclosures) an unchecked ability to sell the apartment. (The bank has a right to get its money out of the loan, and we have little ability to prevent a bad shareholder from moving in. To make it worse, as I understand things, the new owner could sublet the place from day 1, causing us even more problems.)  At the time I'm writing this entry, I figure that it will take another 2-3 months before new people move in below me.

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As much as my apartment complex had become a naturally occurring retirement community, many baby boomers are either moving to warmer climes, moving to assisted living centers, or simply dying off.  In the case of the old lady and her disabled daughter who used to live in the next doorway, it appears that they have vacated their apartment, and it too is for sale.  (There is a real estate key safe on that door as well.)  So far, asking prices for apartments in my complex have been going up.  But that's a factor of a tolerably healthy economy and the New York City suburb real estate market.  I wonder how long this will last.