September 2, 2016
Dear Everyone:
One of the advantages of serving on the
Homeowner
Association (HOA) Board is that you hear about all the things that
are going on in the neighborhood.
Like when
raccoons are sneaking into the area via the
storm drains; and how
the drains were screened to block out autumn leaves and oh-by-the-way no
more raccoons. Or when the
porter, who cleans up around the community suddenly “took vacation” and
a replacement will be there in a couple of days.
One of the disadvantages of serving on the Homeowner Association (HOA)
Board is that you hear about all the things that are going on in the
neighborhood. Such as the
woman in Building Four who sends an angry email to our Property Manager
almost every week because the landscaping company workers keep blowing
leaves under her patio fence.
(I’ve spared you the shouting in capital letters and multiple
exclamation points.) Her
latest salvo is a threat to “reduce” her HOA Dues payment by $30 per
month. To be discussed at
the next HOA meeting.
And when the trees were trimmed, I got an unhappy message from our
newest Board member, “Phoebe” that the tree trimming workers had “left a
mess” in front of her unit and her back was SO BAD that she couldn’t
possibly sweep it all up herself.
When that happened, I grabbed the broom from my patio and
sauntered on over to her place.
Sure enough, there was a slight deposit of
sawdust on the walkway.
It only took me a couple of minutes to sweep it away, but
“Phoebe” heard me and came out to exclaim that she didn’t mean for ME to
do the work and wasn’t I just the most wonderful person in the whole
wide world. Then she
“borrowed” the broom and proceeded to sweep her next-door neighbor’s
front area. So much for the
bad back. And we made a
tentative date to see a movie the following week.
So that’s two homeowners who are not happy with the fact that leaves,
and other things, get onto their patios.
Seriously, people, the patio is outdoors.
You have to expect a certain amount of dust, leaves and so on.
In my own case, the “problem” is spent birdseed, which is strictly my
own fault, for putting out birdseed in the first place.
Never mind that it’s mostly the
mourning doves who like to shovel
the feed out of the feeder onto the floor.
They’re only following instinct.
Nevertheless, lots of chaff and stuff to be swept up every couple
of days. And yes, the leaves
and wood chips do get in from under the fence.
Wouldn’t it be nice if I could just blow them back out again?
So I did some research and found out that the local Big Orange Warehouse
Hardware Supply Chain store had a little, bitty
blower in stock for less
than $35. Plus, another
$9.99 for an electrical cord because the blower, for some unknown
reason, runs on electricity, but doesn’t come with a cord.
Huh? That was a first
for me.
Once I got it home, of course, I couldn’t wait to try it out.
Plugged it in to the outdoor outlet and turned it on.
WHOOSH!!! Birdseed
and leaves going everywhere.
In the interests of full disclosure, there is a small learning curve
involved.
The blower has two speeds:
Whoosh! and the aforementioned WHOOSH!!!
After a few minutes of practice, use the lower speed to “nudge”
everything towards the fence, hopefully without blowing it all up into
the air. Once it’s close to
the fence, let her rip!
The result: A surprisingly
clean patio floor in very little time.
Added bonus: All those
little bits of stuff that get down into the track that holds the sliding
glass door in place cleaned out in no time with very little bending.
And as for the cobwebs.
What cobwebs? No more
cobwebs around here anymore.
I can’t wait to show it to “Phoebe”.
Have tiny leaf-blower, will travel.
Up to 25 feet, that being the length of the cord that I bought.
Love, as always,
Pete
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