working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

I saw the most ridiculous thing yesterday. I saw a video on FB saying you should be tipping your landlord 10%. I'm sorry, WHAT? I first saw this notion floating around the internetz last year, but I thought it was satire about tipping culture getting out of control. But this video said that it's rude not to tip and it could lead to eviction if you don't tip. It absolutely can not. The rationale was they fix things for you. No, they fix their investment, ergo, that's on the landlord. You're essentially having people subsidizing your mortgaged property (or it might even be theirs outright) and you want a tip, too. For what? Maintaining your investment? The absolute cheek of it is truly disgusting. I think some landlords saw that condos have maintenance fees and thought they could try it on. Well, the fees come from the owners who have a vested interest in keeping their building clean, safe and attractive. They are not renting--that's the difference.

We owned a horrendous little apartment complex for about 15 years and I can assure you, nobody ever did any tipping. The reality is that most landlords aren't even the ones doing the fixing of anything. It's usually the property handyman that's doing the dirty work. A lot of properties also have a manger or super in the middle of it all. Although, sometimes the super and the handyman are one in the same. It kind of reminds me of a Friends Christmas episode where the girls gave cookies as holiday tips/gifts to everyone vs. cash. In any event, I really feel like the tipping and gifting culture is out of control.

 

[Sans Souci]

We owned a horrendous little apartment complex for about 15 years and I can assure you, nobody ever did any tipping. The reality is that most landlords aren't even the ones doing the fixing of anything. It's usually the property handyman that's doing the dirty work. A lot of properties also have a manger or super in the middle of it all. Although, sometimes the super and the handyman are one in the same. It kind of reminds me of a Friends Christmas episode where the girls gave cookies as holiday tips/gifts to everyone vs. cash. In any event, I really feel like the tipping and gifting culture is out of control.

Oh, yeah, I always tip doormen or supes. I think the people who are trying to normalize tipping your landlord are people who aren't contracting with management companies. They are doing it all themselves and I think they have realized the income is not as "passive" as they were led to believe.

You unlocked some bad memories here, not bad, but more like, WTH?

When we first moved back to the States, we rented a one bedroom unit in a condo building in Chicago. The man who owned it was French and he moved back to France, but he kept it as an investment. He was very chill and very attentive to any issue that came up. Anyway, the Holidays came around and the company who was maintaining the building was collecting money for tips for the 2 doormen who worked downstairs. This was in 2000, we tipped $100 to be split. After Christmas, a piece of paper was taped in the elevators, It was a thank you from the management company, but they put everyone's name, unit and the amount they tipped. OMG, we totally undertipped. It went from $200-$350. This floored me and I was really embarrassed. This was really tacky, IMO.

The next apartment we moved into was a 2 flat that was built in about 1910-20. The landlord lived a block away and I think this was his first time being a landlord. It was super cute and in a fun neighborhood with other young families. One of the reasons we jumped on it was bc it had central AC, which is uncommon in older buildings. One day, it was early April and it was 85 outside. My husband turned on the AC, after a few minutes, we realize the apartment is not getting cooler. My husband phoned the landlord and he told him he hadn't installed it yet.

But wait, there's more! This guy decided he wanted to renovate the basement that was directly under us and make it into another apartment. For starters, the guy he hired to do this was an alcoholic. The back door to our unit opened to an unfinished unit that was just studs and joists. My husband heard bottles clanking coming from this unfinished unit and thought it was kids or something. It was the contractor "living" there. His GF kicked him out. So he started living in that unfinished unit. Then, he started renovating the basement. He rented a small earth mover. This generated CO2 which set off the detector. I would have to open my windows in January to get it out. I could only do this for so long before they were activated again. Then I would have to dress my son, who was a toddler at the time, put him in his stroller and walk around my neighborhood. It's always fun to be outside in Chicago in January. My landlord knew this was happening, because I was going to his house to tell him. It happened so much, my husband started taking money off the rent checks and the landlord didn't say a peep. I am not even sure he got a permit to do this. I am sure he didn't, because it is illegal to make the basement into an apartment of a 2 flat in Chicago.

We left when the lease was up because I was spending so much time at my grandmother's house because of the CO2. I don't think he rented that unit out until the basement was complete. A month after we left, my brother called me and told me to turn the news on. This apartment building was being covered live, because it collapsed.

 

[Songbird76]

Good morning

Today's workout was a jump rope/upper body strength training workout.

I saw the most ridiculous thing yesterday. I saw a video on FB saying you should be tipping your landlord 10%. I'm sorry, WHAT? I first saw this notion floating around the internetz last year, but I thought it was satire about tipping culture getting out of control. But this video said that it's rude not to tip and it could lead to eviction if you don't tip. It absolutely can not. The rationale was they fix things for you. No, they fix their investment, ergo, that's on the landlord. You're essentially having people subsidizing your mortgaged property (or it might even be theirs outright) and you want a tip, too. For what? Maintaining your investment? The absolute cheek of it is truly disgusting. I think some landlords saw that condos have maintenance fees and thought they could try it on. Well, the fees come from the owners who have a vested interest in keeping their building clean, safe and attractive. They are not renting--that's the difference.

You've got to be kidding! You are already handsomely covering all their fees and taxes with your rent. Whatever landlord has convinced his tenants to pay him a tip on top of that is laughing at their gullibility. Tipping culture really is out of hand. I think they need to just get rid of it altogether.

 

[Sans Souci]

You've got to be kidding! You are already handsomely covering all their fees and taxes with your rent. Whatever landlord has convinced his tenants to pay him a tip on top of that is laughing at their gullibility. Tipping culture really is out of hand. I think they need to just get rid of it altogether.

It's so ridiculous, I bet these landlords want cash, too, so they don't have to report it. During the pandemic, I was using Instacart for my groceries. I would always tip 20%. I would look at my receipt and I would see my shopper got 19% So I emailed Instacart about it, asking them if they were skimming tips. I never got a response. Then they started this, "Show your appreciation with an additional tip." I just tipped 20%! Maybe pay them more, instead of pushing all of that burden onto the customer. I stopped using them because of their tipping nonsense. There were these additional charges, too, that the shopper never got.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Oh, yeah, I always tip doormen or supes. I think the people who are trying to normalize tipping your landlord are people who aren't contracting with management companies. They are doing it all themselves and I think they have realized the income is not as "passive" as they were led to believe.

You unlocked some bad memories here, not bad, but more like, WTH?

When we first moved back to the States, we rented a one bedroom unit in a condo building in Chicago. The man who owned it was French and he moved back to France, but he kept it as an investment. He was very chill and very attentive to any issue that came up. Anyway, the Holidays came around and the company who was maintaining the building was collecting money for tips for the 2 doormen who worked downstairs. This was in 2000, we tipped $100 to be split. After Christmas, a piece of paper was taped in the elevators, It was a thank you from the management company, but they put everyone's name, unit and the amount they tipped. OMG, we totally undertipped. It went from $200-$350. This floored me and I was really embarrassed. This was really tacky, IMO.

The next apartment we moved into was a 2 flat that was built in about 1910-20. The landlord lived a block away and I think this was his first time being a landlord. It was super cute and in a fun neighborhood with other young families. One of the reasons we jumped on it was bc it had central AC, which is uncommon in older buildings. One day, it was early April and it was 85 outside. My husband turned on the AC, after a few minutes, we realize the apartment is not getting cooler. My husband phoned the landlord and he told him he hadn't installed it yet.

But wait, there's more! This guy decided he wanted to renovate the basement that was directly under us and make it into another apartment. For starters, the guy he hired to do this was an alcoholic. The back door to our unit opened to an unfinished unit that was just studs and joists. My husband heard bottles clanking coming from this unfinished unit and thought it was kids or something. It was the contractor "living" there. His GF kicked him out. So he started living in that unfinished unit. Then, he started renovating the basement. He rented a small earth mover. This generated CO2 which set off the detector. I would have to open my windows in January to get it out. I could only do this for so long before they were activated again. Then I would have to dress my son, who was a toddler at the time, put him in his stroller and walk around my neighborhood. It's always fun to be outside in Chicago in January. My landlord knew this was happening, because I was going to his house to tell him. It happened so much, my husband started taking money off the rent checks and the landlord didn't say a peep. I am not even sure he got a permit to do this. I am sure he didn't, because it is illegal to make the basement into an apartment of a 2 flat in Chicago.

We left when the lease was up because I was spending so much time at my grandmother's house because of the CO2. I don't think he rented that unit out until the basement was complete. A month after we left, my brother called me and told me to turn the news on. This apartment building was being covered live, because it collapsed.

Most apartments here don't have doormen or longstanding maintenance people. It has to be really swanky to have a doorman, but I think it's also because this is an area that had enough land to build "out" vs. "up." Whenever something went wrong, you never knew who would be fixing things.

Your AC issue reminds me of my first apartment in Houston. They checked on my AC multiple times when it just wasn't cooling off in there. It turns out that the amenities disclosures weren't completely factual. They listed air conditioning, but neglected to mention that it wasn't standard central air. It wasn't until the third maintenance guy came out that I was informed that they had swamp coolers for these apartments, which can't usually create more than a 20-degree difference and often struggle greatly in extreme heat and humidity. I don't think it ever dropped below 85 inside midday over the summer. I fled as soon as my lease was up.

The posting of the tips is really shameful. It makes me wonder if they'd list 0 if someone opted not to tip or forgot.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning-

Today was a leg day. It was tough. I am glad it's over.

I think Callie has realized she has a good thing here. lol. My husband found my dog's old bed and brought it up for her. Now she comes to the door to come in and lie down on it. I wouldn't care, but she needs to be watched. Every time I have tried to put Frontline, she freaks out. Between that and her incontinence, I want her to stay in the kitchen where it's easy to clean up after her. She has tried to go upstairs and I do not want her shedding fleas and their eggs onto the carpet. I would like to go back to morning and evening visits. I have to mop after every visit and it's a pain in the butt to mop your floor 4-5x/day. I also had to stop letting her bump her face against mine. I was getting rashes on my face, so I guess I am still allergic to cats. This morning, she went on her hind legs to try to bump her face against mine and it scared me. I wasn't sure what she was trying to do and it freaked me out.

 

[Sans Souci]

Most apartments here don't have doormen or longstanding maintenance people. It has to be really swanky to have a doorman, but I think it's also because this is an area that had enough land to build "out" vs. "up." Whenever something went wrong, you never knew who would be fixing things.

Your AC issue reminds me of my first apartment in Houston. They checked on my AC multiple times when it just wasn't cooling off in there. It turns out that the amenities disclosures weren't completely factual. They listed air conditioning, but neglected to mention that it wasn't standard central air. It wasn't until the third maintenance guy came out that I was informed that they had swamp coolers for these apartments, which can't usually create more than a 20-degree difference and often struggle greatly in extreme heat and humidity. I don't think it ever dropped below 85 inside midday over the summer. I fled as soon as my lease was up.

The posting of the tips is really shameful. It makes me wonder if they'd list 0 if someone opted not to tip or forgot.

I have to wonder who was the brain trust who thought using a swamp cooler is Houston was a good idea. I have only seen them in very dry places like AZ. But I am guessing it was done to cut costs, since they are cheaper to run. But that had to have been awful.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning.

Today's workout was a kettlebell, as was Saturday's workout. Today's w/o was spicy, but not as brutal and dread-inducing as some of the ones I did last week.

I'm getting out for a walk today, too. The weather is too beautiful not be outside.

The cat is mad at me. I went to pet her yesterday and I had a mug of coffee with me. I put the mug down next to me and I started petting her. She went over to the mug, sniffed it and sprinted away. Then she gave me a dirty look before leaving. It was kind of cute and funny, but she has been "tolerating" me for food since that happened. Oops. I wasn't trying to prank her, I just didn't think of putting my mug on the counter before interacting with her. I am sure she will get over it. TBH, I could use a little break from cleaning up after her visits.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning

Checking in with a circuit workout that had way too many burpees in it.

I am slowly getting all of my annual exams lined up. My doctor's office sent me a Cologuard test, unsolicited. I read the instructions. OMG, I'd rather have the colonoscopy. Nasty. I keep seeing articles and YouTube videos about young adults being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. When we went to see the cherry blossoms, they had all of these small, blue flags on the lawn on the Mall. There were so many of them. It was for colorectal cancer awareness. Each flag represented a person who died of colorectal cancer who was under 40. I also saw a YouTube video of a woman who was diagnosed with it at age 34. What prompted me to make an appointment with my doctor for an order was she was someone who ate well, ran marathons and looked after herself. I sometimes think I overestimate the protective benefit of being active and eating healthily. I know they are protective, but obviously not 100%. So, I think the universe was trying to tell me to get my act together and make appointments.

(I know I am not a young adult, but if they are being dx'd with cancer so young, then it can definitely happen to me with the increased risk of my age.)

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Good morning

Checking in with a circuit workout that had way too many burpees in it.

I am slowly getting all of my annual exams lined up. My doctor's office sent me a Cologuard test, unsolicited. I read the instructions. OMG, I'd rather have the colonoscopy. Nasty. I keep seeing articles and YouTube videos about young adults being diagnosed with colorectal cancer. When we went to see the cherry blossoms, they had all of these small, blue flags on the lawn on the Mall. There were so many of them. It was for colorectal cancer awareness. Each flag represented a person who died of colorectal cancer who was under 40. I also saw a YouTube video of a woman who was diagnosed with it at age 34. What prompted me to make an appointment with my doctor for an order was she was someone who ate well, ran marathons and looked after herself. I sometimes think I overestimate the protective benefit of being active and eating healthily. I know they are protective, but obviously not 100%. So, I think the universe was trying to tell me to get my act together and make appointments.

(I know I am not a young adult, but if they are being dx'd with cancer so young, then it can definitely happen to me with the increased risk of my age.)

Have you ever had a colonoscopy before? Or done the Cologuard before? If you haven't you might want to go the colonoscopy route. I think it provides a better baseline since it is actually looking inside. Also check with your insurance about Cologuard if you go that way. I have heard of some people the weren't covered by insurance by some issues the cologuard found, something about how it was coded and by testing it with the cologuard test made it a pre-existing condition. My dr told me that there were supposed to be some laws passed soon about that and coverage but I don't know if those have passed. I won't lie, the stuff you have to drink pre-colonoscopy isn't fun (have lots of water handy).

 

[Sans Souci]

Have you ever had a colonoscopy before? Or done the Cologuard before? If you haven't you might want to go the colonoscopy route. I think it provides a better baseline since it is actually looking inside. Also check with your insurance about Cologuard if you go that way. I have heard of some people the weren't covered by insurance by some issues the cologuard found, something about how it was coded and by testing it with the cologuard test made it a pre-existing condition. My dr told me that there were supposed to be some laws passed soon about that and coverage but I don't know if those have passed. I won't lie, the stuff you have to drink pre-colonoscopy isn't fun (have lots of water handy).

No, I haven't had either. I don't think this is the same as a cologuard test, so I think it's even less accurate. I think it's a FIT test. My husband and I have the same primary care doc and he told my husband there are a lot of false positives with cologuard and it's not so great at catching polyps. I read that, too, about getting a positive on one of the non-invasive tests and then having a pre-existing condition if it comes back positive. So, I'm not messing around and I'm just going to suck it up. My husband's doc didn't give him Go Lytely. He told him to drink lemon lime gatorade, water, and mega doses of Miralax. He was able to have chicken broth, too. I am going to have him to do it. I am concerned about being hungry and I am concerned about saying something stupid when I am coming out of anesthesia.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning

I did a leg workout with my barbell. It wasn't as tough as I thought it was going to be, but I still feel like I was challenged.

Callie is still being weird. She is acting scared of me and everyone else in the house. I don't know what happened. She was coming in the house last weekend and taking 2-3 hour naps on my dog's old bed. She was ok with us carrying on with our usual activities. I even dropped a skillet and she looked up, then put her head back down. My husband ordered her a kitty condo with covered places to sit on it, so she would feel safe. I don't know if it was the coffee thing or she had a bad encounter with a human on her travels, but she is very frightened of us. It's such a 180, because she would come into eat, then make her way over to me for attention. She was clearly very comfortable. I would pet her and she would close her eyes, purr, knead her paws. I'm just going to go back to putting her food outdoors again. I'm just a bit bummed out, because I liked spending time with her.

 

[Songbird76]

Good morning

I did a leg workout with my barbell. It wasn't as tough as I thought it was going to be, but I still feel like I was challenged.

Callie is still being weird. She is acting scared of me and everyone else in the house. I don't know what happened. She was coming in the house last weekend and taking 2-3 hour naps on my dog's old bed. She was ok with us carrying on with our usual activities. I even dropped a skillet and she looked up, then put her head back down. My husband ordered her a kitty condo with covered places to sit on it, so she would feel safe. I don't know if it was the coffee thing or she had a bad encounter with a human on her travels, but she is very frightened of us. It's such a 180, because she would come into eat, then make her way over to me for attention. She was clearly very comfortable. I would pet her and she would close her eyes, purr, knead her paws. I'm just going to go back to putting her food outdoors again. I'm just a bit bummed out, because I liked spending time with her.

Just give her time and I'm sure she'll warm up to you again. Is there a thing with cats and coffee? I've never heard of a cat reacting to coffee that way. But there must be a reason.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Have you ever had a colonoscopy before? Or done the Cologuard before? If you haven't you might want to go the colonoscopy route. I think it provides a better baseline since it is actually looking inside. Also check with your insurance about Cologuard if you go that way. I have heard of some people the weren't covered by insurance by some issues the cologuard found, something about how it was coded and by testing it with the cologuard test made it a pre-existing condition. My dr told me that there were supposed to be some laws passed soon about that and coverage but I don't know if those have passed. I won't lie, the stuff you have to drink pre-colonoscopy isn't fun (have lots of water handy).

I recently did Cologuard and DH did a traditional Colonoscopy last year. My insurance actually covered Cologuard better than the Colonoscopy, but I would agree that the latter is considered the best assessment method for these things.

 

[Sans Souci]

Just give her time and I'm sure she'll warm up to you again. Is there a thing with cats and coffee? I've never heard of a cat reacting to coffee that way. But there must be a reason.

I don't know if she found the smell unpleasant or if she felt the heat coming off it and it scared her? She seems back to normal today, though.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I did an aqua bag workout today. Even though I change the water weekly, I noticed there is mold growing in it. I'm going to put some vinegar in when I change the water tomorrow, so hopefully that will kill it.

The cat seems back to normal. She came in last night and ate, came over to me for some petting, then took a 2 hour nap on my dog's old bed. I went to bed while she was sleeping and my husband and son had to wake her up. They said she really didn't want to leave. She wanted to eat, so they fed her. When she was done, she tried to go back to the bed, but my son stopped her. I am going to try to assemble her kitty condo later. I hope it goes smoothly.

 

[Sans Souci]

Happy Friday!

I did a full body kettlebell workout. It was OK, I was hoping for something a little sweatier.

I haven't put the kitty condo together yet. I saw a bunch of pieces and screws when I opened the box, so I put off assembling it until today when I can do it in the day light and organize the pieces as indicated in the directions. I have just brewed a cup of coffee and now I am off to attack it. Wish me luck. It came with IKEA-type directions.

 

[Sans Souci]

Happy 420!

I woke up and I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to do. Nothing appealed to me, so I went out for a long walk instead. It was beautiful outside; a mild, sunny day with flowers and leaves appearing everywhere.

I finished the kitty condo yesterday. It took me two hours, I think it was because it was just me. The instructions said it would take 2 people and 1 hour. There were some parts I could have used someone to hold something steady for me, but I was able to do it myself. It just took a little longer. I put treats on all of the levels, so she's been on the lower parts. She hasn't gone up to the higher levels yet. I was surprised it took 2 hours, because it felt like one hour.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning-

I did a leg workout this AM. I switched to a different instructor. I had been doing workouts with the same instructor since the beginning of Jan, so my muscles were getting worked out the same way for nearly 4 months. I did a YouTube video this AM and I felt the burn immediately. I wasn't even lifting particularly heavy weights.

It's Sunday, so I really don't have much going on. It's chilly, too. I might light a fire later and sit outside with a drink.

 

[Sans Souci]

Happy Earth Day!

Just checking in with a 40 min kettlebell workout I found on YouTube.

I can't wait for my son's Lent to be over. He has lost so much weight and he didn't need to lose any weight. His face looks gaunt and his shorts are hanging off of his waist. His problem is he doesn't like the food that is typically eaten for Greek Orthodox Lent and the ones he does like are labor-intensive. He takes over the kitchen to make these meals and he makes a mess. Plus, we are trying to cook our dinners at the same time, so we are in each other's way and he is using things I also need to use. I can't wait until he goes back to his old meals. It was usually a couple of pieces of fish in the oven and some steamed vegetables. Right now, he is basically living on peanut butter for fat, rice and shellfish. I would die if I had to eat like that for an extended period of time.