September 25, 2015
Dear Everyone:
This has been a week of Emergencies…
On Monday, as I was returning from some errands, the Porter, “Donald”,
came up to me to announce that “there’s been a fire, but it’s OK now.”
The Fire Department had already come and gone.
Turns out some Halloween/Harvest decorations outside one of the units
had ignited. No one knows
how, although the unit owner seems to suspect “a couple of kids” that he
sees regularly “out smoking and walking their dog.”
In any case, less than half-an-hour later, the Fire Inspector
showed up and “Donald” took us both to the Scene of the Crime.
This consisted of a lot of foam, what was left of an orange plastic
something-or-other, and some straw that had previously comprised a
couple of decorative “harvest bales of hay”.
The Fire Department had chopped out some of the siding near the
front door to make sure the fire was really-and-truly-out.
I took some pictures and the Inspector’s card.
Then I called our Property Manager, who lives in
Las Vegas, and sent all
the information to her and the rest of the Association Board.
“Mannie”, the Maintenance Guy, put out a bucket of water, just in
case, and is already started on an estimate to repair the damage.
On Tuesday, I made an emergency trip to my dentist.
My usual bi-annual checkup is next month, but I had decided not
to wait, especially since I’m going to be in
Washington, D.C. the first
week in October. In the last
few weeks a lower left molar had begun to cause some trouble.
I called Monday morning and got an opening on Tuesday.
They took an x-ray of the molar in question.
The dentist took one look at the x-ray, did a few “tapping” and
ice tests, and pronounced a referral to an
endodontist.
It looked like a
root canal.
The receptionist called the endodontist’s office; they had an opening at
4:00 that afternoon, but I already had the
Homeowner Association meeting
scheduled for 4:30. One
other Board Member had already bowed out because she would be in
Atlanta
that day and last month’s meeting had been cancelled.
And the Property Manager was flying out from
Las Vegas.
The endodontist’s office offered first thing Wednesday morning,
which I immediately accepted.
In the meantime, I was only eating soft things and only on the
right side.
Apart from the fire incident, the Homeowner Association meeting went
very smoothly, with the absent member calling on by phone while driving
to the
Atlanta airport.
Wednesday morning I arrived early at the endodontist’s office, since I
expected to have to fill out forms as a “new” patient.
Actually, I had been there before but not since 1999.
The endodontist, “Dr. Dave”, took one look at the x-ray, electronically
transmitted from the dentist’s office, and pronounced the tooth needed a
root canal. How about right
now? So Wednesday morning
was spent undergoing an emergency root canal.
Followed by a stop at the pharmacy for emergency pain relievers.
I’m taking it easy, but feeling much better now.
In the meantime…
Our ARMA Chapter’s “Roadmap to RIM* Success” hit a major pothole this
month. By last Monday, only
five people had signed up, three of whom are Board members, and
therefore expected to attend.
When I sent out a “reminder” email, one of the attendees, “Dee”
from Oakland, contacted me that she would not be able to attend, even
though she had already paid by credit card.
So I went into Eventbrite and cancelled her order, so she would get a
refund. Then I contacted the
rest of the Board, who agreed to call the whole thing off if we didn’t
get a bunch of new attendees by the time I got home from the
endodontist’s office (and pharmacy) on Wednesday.
Bear in mind that this was the meeting that had to be moved from
Walnut Creek, our usual meeting place, to
Orinda.
I put off taking the prescription-strength pain reliever until after I
had completed cancelling the event.
In the meantime, “Dee’s” management had flipped another coin and
decided that she could come after all.
I told her not to bother.
In all truth, I was actually glad I didn’t have to make nice and
speechify on Thursday night.
Not to mention dragging all the equipment, like a projector and screen,
upstairs to the meeting room in the last-minute-substitute restaurant.
I’m still eating soft things, and only on the right side, but things are
looking up, tooth-wise.
Love, as always,
Pete
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