Welcome to Chez Cliff!

Contractor#2 doesn’t sound right to me.  I shall christen thee "Cabinetman".  Kind of like a super hero name.

Cabinetman was introduced to me through the Real Estate Agent.  Like myself, the Agent believes in cultivating long term business relationships with people.  He and Cabinetman have been working together for over 10 years.  Every real estate project the Agent does for himself, he calls in Cabinetman.

Cabinetman is more than just cabinets.  He does entire kitchens.  What a business model that must be!  His buiness is family owned and operated.  Of course, he has workers who build everything from scratch.  Yes, I said "build" as in "customize" for each of his clients.  This point will come in handy a bit later.

Like myself, Cabinetman is an early bird.  He arrived at my house at 7:15 a.m. to perform final measurements.  He has come up with some ideas, which I’m placing at the end of this post. 

What is encouraging is that he is cutting me the deal of the century.  Not because I am a hard-nose negotiator.  He also believes in building long-term relationships.  This first one he’s doing for the same price as I could get the pre-fab stuff at home depot.  In exchange, I promised to have him do my next project.

I always keep my promises.

So here are two preliminary sketches I’ve been asked to consider.  Sketch #1 will obviously be more expensive because . . . well there’s more stuff.  Like counterspace, cabinets, etc.  Sketch #2 is cheaper, still looks nice, and leaves an open space for some kind of furniture. 

I’m seeing which one will grow on me.

Thoughts?

Sketch #1	Sketch#2

Last year’s conversation decimated me.  This year, it was different.

Manager:  Clifford, as you know the annual pay raises came through.
Clifford:  You betcha.  Where do I sign?
Manager:
And as much as I would like to have given my people more, I didn’t have the budget.  Things are tight.
Clifford:  That’s alright.  Where do I sign?
Manager:  So we were only able to give you 3% this year.  We really went to the mat for everyone this year.
Clifford:  OK.  Where do I sign?
Manager:  You don’t sign.  Just take the paper.
Clifford:  Thank you very much!

It’s hard to keep perspective when I increased my own income level and raised my networth exponentially.  The few pennies the company sprinkled on me just bounced off like bullets on Superman.

I wonder what it will be like next year?

As I’ve stated millions of times, the key to moving a house is held in the kitchen and bathroom.

Today, we start the kitchen in the front house.

Phase I consists of knocking down walls.  Over on the right, you can see a sketch I made of my "kitchen".  I use that term loosely.  The kitchen is actually broken into two rooms, for  some reason.  The first room, the bigger, I call the "before kitchen room" and then there’s the actual "kitchen".  They are, for some reason, odd sized.  Pairing them together will require some magic and a bit of trickery.

On the sketch, the blue lines are the interior walls.  The giant red X marks a wall that is coming down.  Except the one wall, which is just being shortened.  The wall on the right has a green line on it.  There’s a door there that enters the master bedroom.  That door will be removed and closed in.

Who is doing the work?  I’m hoping Contractor#1 (the handyman).  If he can start right away then the job is his.  But a condition of his employment is that he must start right away.

Contractor#2 will arrive tomorrow to take exact measurements and draw up my new kitchen.  He is building me custom cabinets for the same price as those pre-fabricated ones from Home Depot.  More information on him will be coming soon.

Don’t worry!  There will be plenty of photos.

It feels good getting stuff done.

ROAR!!

In the latest Apartment Owner’s Association News, there was a great letter written by the President.

The Governator vetoed legislation that would require landlord’s to attend "Mandatory Educational Classes".  What are the classes for?  If the landlord does not repair or fix violations on their property, endangering the lives of their residents, then the landlord must take a class.

The letter makes some valid points.  However I’m going to point out a few that he missed.

First:  If you’re a landlord and your property endangers the lives of your tenants, you deserve whatever comes to you.  Let’s put aside the civil action, that would wipe you out.  There’s the criminal action if you deliberately leave a situation whereas someone is endangered or killed.  A first year "Law and Order" viewer could get that one.

Second:  There are so many laws on the books now that state multitudes of reasons why a tenant can refuse to pay rent due to damages.  I am unsure why a class for landlord’s would be considered helpful.

The spirit of the law is in regards to those "bad landlords", the true slum lords.  I’m sure they are out there.  However more government intrusion into our lives is not the answer to solving this problem.  Once this law is written, and passed, it can be more readily tweaked down the road.

The President of AOA and myself both agree on one aspect.  If they are going to force classes onto the landlords then they should force classes onto the tenant’s as well.  "How to be a good tenant".

I know one family would definitely needs to go (here, here, here and especially here).

There are some other classes I’d like to see.

• How to treat and tip your restaurant server.
• Turning your cell phone off in theatres, restaurants, and cafes.
• You and your body odor:  What we don’t want to smell.

I am embarrassed with myself.

Last weekend, I sat down to write blog entries.  Nothing of relevance came to mind.  The bigger problem then settled on me.  I am not taking action.  I’ve become complacent, hence no entries.  I examined everything going on in my life now.  Every time, excuses were present.  None were good.

I’m waiting.

Why?

I once wrote the six people around you are your future.  I realized that someone has entered my circle.  He offers excuses; he takes no action.  I have found myself doing the same.  This is uncharacteristic.  I have leisure time; it’s boring.

Today, phones start ringing.

I take action.