The one time I can talk about a co-op board meeting

 

I could talk about going to the bank.  I could talk about the junk food I ate.  Instead, I will talk about the open shareholder meeting we had tonight.  And this is one of the few times I can talk about co-op business, as what I'm able to say tonight actually happened at tonight's meeting.

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Leaving for the board meeting at the local library, I made one mistake - running into the local pizzeria for a Chicken Parm Hero. (For those not familiar with NYC area sandwich terms, a "Hero" is an elongated sandwich roll. In other regions, it is known as a "Sub", "Hoagie" or "Wedge".)  I should have ordered pizza slices, as I was rushing to put food in my stomach before attending the board meeting.

Arriving at the local library shortly after 6, we reviewed business (which I won't recount here) for the next hour, until shareholders started to come in.  Just before 7, a woman we've been having trouble with  arrived.  The woman has serious mental issues, and probably should be institutionalized.  For the next half hour, people ambled in, but we only had 36% of the shareholder share represented.  So the meeting couldn't be official, only informational.  And then, the troublesome lady started to shout and disrupt our meeting.  She made a big deal about the contrasting color the outside walls of the laundry were painted.  She was shouting, and I ended up shouting back to her to stop shouting.  At this time, someone made sure the police were on call to remove her from the meeting.  Luckily, she left early, and her neighbors told the story of how they were being victimized by this woman on a daily basis.  (She even pushed one lady several times.)  Her neighbors had proof that this lady was harassing them, but the police have not yet done anything.  Maybe someone needs to get hurt before this sick person gets the help she needs, and gets her out of our way.

Eventually, we got to discussing the financial state of the co-op, and the need to continue with our current assessment.  (I won't go into the story of our former managing agent, our insurance, our mortgage holder, and going into special service handling.  I don't think I'm free to tell the story as I see it.)  Our shareholders didn't understand how a major bank could be treating a co-op like ours so poorly.  But then, we have a hard time understanding it too.  Although we think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for our financial problems, it's going to be a rocky road for us until the end of the year.

Hopefully, the mentally ill lady will soon be evicted, and her shares reverted back to the co-op.  Only then, will the other residents in her building (as well as nearby businesses) will be free from her tyranny.  (BTW: One of the residents victimized by this woman handed the board a complete list of all the times this woman has caused them trouble.  Too bad this resident couldn't have known about this woman before she bought her apartment.)

I knew that this would be a problem

 

No, that is not my old car.  It's been generations since America knew how to build cars with real style.  But it reminds me of how much of a relic I have become in my old age.

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Like old cars, old friendships have their costs of maintenance.  In the case of DCD, I owed him for helping me move furniture, so that my (then) new carpet could be installed.  So, I figured that I could pay him back by offering him my old car at a below market price.  And this is where the problem comes up.  DCD is not paying me the money he owes me in a timely manner.

My brother and I talked about DCD a while back, and he figured that DCD would skip out on his payments.  Although I also figured this would happen, I am not bothered too much - the old car is out of my parking spaces, and is now his responsibility.  The other day, DCD told me that he failed to get "permanent" plates put on the car because he couldn't get in for an emissions test on time.  Dollars to donuts that this is a BS excuse from him.  Instead, RQS and I both think it is because he doesn't have the money to register the car in his legal state of residence - Connecticut.  

DCD had major health problems a few years back, and maintains legal residency at his (ex) girlfriend's house.  Ideally, he should find out how to switch his legal residence to New York (where he is a de facto resident), while keeping his Obamacare/Medicaid coverage.  But he doesn't do this.  As a result, he is paying an extra tax on the value of the car so that he can legally register the car in Connecticut, not jeopardizing his official Connecticut residency. 

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Do I think I will ever get all of the money DCD owes me?  No.  He is not a responsible person.  He avoids awkward situations, as I did almost 30 years ago - before I was forced to grow up.  Right now, he doesn't have a pot to piss in, and in late middle-age, that's a very bad thing.  I'm grateful I don't have his life to live.