Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Check out the Maintenance Work done today!



Yesterday I had a chat with Marion Dunning who assures me that Housing is hot on the heels of the two-bit thug who punched holes in our hallways. Well she didn't say "two-bit thug" but everyone else who has seen his work has! She also assured me that the holes would be fixed. As you can see, she was true to her word - work has started on fixing the damage. Floors 1, 2 and 3 at the elevator have all been fixed so far.

The first picture above is of the wall at door 4 on the 2nd Floor - Before and After. The Before is thanks to a low life vandal and the After is thanks to our Maintenance men who fixed it earlier today. The second is at the 4th Door Entrance at the elevator. The hole on the 3rd Floor is also mended. Nice job, Fellows!

Claude put the swing on its runner so everyone who has ventured out these past few lovely days, have been able to sit on the swing. And Joan has been working on the back yard in spite of her foot which has been operated on recently. Several of the seniors have been trying to keep ahead of the garbage and the north wind which keeps blowing garbage this way. A special thanks you to Madelaine and to Frank who have been very diligently working at it, though there have been several others working at it too.

Speaking of garbage, 1975 Russell appears to have new owners and that corner of the world has been all cleaned up. It is quite nice to walk along the sidewalk near there. Here is hoping they try to keep ahead of the garbage there - That wind will surely bring it here if they don't.

Not much else today though I do not want to sign off without mentioning that Dorothy is back from the hospital and Hazel is almost back to where she was before she broke her hip. Well, she is not exactly racing in the halls but she sure is getting out and about again.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Wow! Ain't this weather great??

Wow! Ain't this weather great??

Well the worst part of the clean up around the building has been done. There are a few spots where cars are parked still to be picked up and a few other places where there is still snow to melt and loosen it's grip on the rubbish but mostly, it is looking pretty decent.

And if you did not help, well there is always next year. :o)

In the meantime, Thanks are due to the following people who I only know by first name.
Madelaine
Vivian
Frank
These three picked up where ever they could. And they picked up one hell of a lot!
A special thank you to Claude who did all the heavy lifting for me (I can't get the bags into the garbage bin so he has heaved them all over for me.)
But others have done their share too in other ways. High on this list is the gal in Apt 136 - she and her family did an absolutely wonderful job on the area in front of her apartment. It is downright pristine! Rita, Frank and Pat and the young man in the apt beside them always keep their little corner of the world tidy. And someone on the north side of the courtyard did a lot of work over there. Unfortunately, I don't know who that was but if you do, tell him for us, Thanks.

Also, the swing at Door #3 was off it's runner and we could not get it back. Someone, bigger and stronger than me or the others who cleaned up, however did get it back and working. I do not know who you are but a huge Thank you from all those who love to use that swing!

If you are young and/or healthier than we are, it is not the easiest job for people who are older to do this work. All manner of conditions such as osteoporosis and arthritis and herniated spinal discs among other things makes it slow going. So maybe you could help out by trying to throw your trash in a bin instead of on the ground.

Now if someone at Ottawa Housing could come up with a rake or two and that fancy little machine that vacuums up leaves, it could be perfect in no time. Also, a small garbage bin with a chain to hold it in place for the Door #3 garden area would be very nice. Marcel took the one he had there when he left but it is missed a lot!

And if anyone is strong enough to get those two cushions in front of door 1 over to the garbage, that would really be appreciated. Don't laugh! I know they are not very heavy. The strength is needed to pull them away from the ground on which they are solidly frozen!

Biting the Hand that Feeds!

Ottawa Housing may not in fact feed any of us but they do make it possible for us to live quite comfortably in neat little apartments for a good deal less money than the private sector allows. When you show your thanks for that opportunity by punching holes in the walls as was done this past week, well you just prove that you are not very well house trained, you do not appreciate that your other option might be being out on the street - In short, you are biting the hand that feeds you. And you are proving to the world that you are not too bright. For those that punched all those holes in the wall - No one at 2100 thinks you are very swift. In fact 'stupid idiot' is the term I keep hearing about you. Wow! Now there is a legacy to leave behind! Duh!!!

Edit to Housing: The big hole at door #4 should appear on those camera tapes!

It's about those Intercoms!

Some of us still do not have working Intercoms!

If 'stupid and lazy" are the words used for the hole punchers, 'selfish, lazy, and incompetent' are the words being used to describe the person unknown at Housing who is not doing anything to solve this long term problem. How about someone over there with a little authority, getting on to the person delegated to get this fixed and get him/her to fix it!!!

Also, it has been called in several times but there is still a problem for many of us to get in using our fobs at door #3.

Elevators

Those licenses are still out of date only more so today!

Tenant's Bulletin Board
Someone is still taking our notices down. Please tell the cleaning staff or whoever is doing to please cease and desist!

Finally, Welcome back home, Dorothy

Everyone is very glad to hear you are feeling better and are looking forward to seeing you at Bingo, if not before!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Sad news

Our Tenant Association President, Dorothy, is in the hospital. I know that the Bingo crowd got a card out to her. Those who didn't get their names on the card can send your personal get well wishes - She is in the Ottawa General. I do not think she is having visitors yet so if you had planned on visiting, you might be well advised to call first or ask someone on the committee before going over there and possibly finding out you can't get in to see her. You could always ask her son to give her your best wishes too.

Not So Sad News

Hazel is home from the General after three fun filled weeks - trust Hazel to turn a broken hip into a plus!! She came home with lots of good stories about her stay, the room mates she had there and her new exercise program. The General should maybe pay her for all the good publicity the medical staff have gotten from her. :o) You can see her walking around the building or being wheel chaired to Bingo. She is doing very well and will be kicking butt at bingo again every chance she gets! But lets not make this a revolving door for tenants from 2100 - Please!! I mean, when Dorothy comes home, lets not have anyone from here take her place at the Ottawa General.

Not Much Other News

It's been a long weekend, so nothing that was not working last week is any better today. If any of the broken items - Intercoms, doors, mailboxes etc is a problem for you, call Maintenance - 613- 731-1182. Tell them! The more calls they get, the faster they seem to get things fixed.

It's been a pretty quiet Easter weekend. Hope yours was a good one! If you need an excuse to go out and enjoy that lovely sun we have today, take a bag and pick up a little garbage. Some of the seniors have been getting a bit of it picked up every day so it is nowhere near as bad as it was but we sure could use some younger help.

Some one has put the swing at door three out where we can sit on it again. If you smoke, please use the ashtrays there - not the ground. Marcel is not here anymore to pick up after everyone - gotta pick up after yourselves now. So lets show a little pride and think before we discard junk and butts. The garbage thingy is not out back anymore. If you see anyone from Housing, ask if we can get one out there.

I am reasonably sure that the Bingo and the Saturday Breakfast are still on while Dorothy is away but check the wall for flyers - Royden puts them up near the elevators.


Catch you next time!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009



Elevators and Intercoms

It's about those Intercoms. I thought they were working but apparently they are not! What I want to know is this - Is there anyone out there who is competent at fixing the things they are hired to fix? And is it too difficult to write a notice for us that something is not fixed and its being worked on?? It has been bloody months that we have been trying to get these intercoms working. And by 'we' I mean the tenants at 2100.

It has been months, not days or even weeks - but months. Delivery people do not know that when they think they are ringing us, the intercom does not work. Friends and relatives coming to visit do not know the Intercoms do not work. Even getting an ambulance in here is quite a trick sometimes because the Intercoms and Elevators have been down more than they are up.

Bad enough they do not get fixed. Worse that we may not know they are not working so we can warn people to call first so we can meet them. But writing a notice is too much like work apparently for anyone to do. And the worst is that someone at Housing, who has no trouble picking up the pay cheque the taxpayer writes her every month, behaves like she is a class above every one here. Here's a heads up. Class is not determined by your pay cheque or your job title. It is determined by your behaviour. And being a bully and being spiteful shows no class at all. And taking money to do a job and not doing it is a form of fraud.

So the question is - When in blazes is someone going to get off their duff and manage this building so that we have elevators and Intercoms that can be relied on? Some of us have been working hard to get tenants to treat the building with some respect and not go around destroying things. Is it too much to ask that Housing and/or its representative get off their little judgmental horse and do the job they were hired to do.

Elevator License

One more thing that was just brought to my attention - the license for the elevator at door 4 is out of date, again not by a few days but by months.

Door 3

I did not check it today but as of last night the fobs do not work to open door 3. I have called that in so, is anyone going to fix it? If it is going to take months to fix, how about a note saying that much so we at least know it is still not working.


It's not all negative :o)

Some things here are definitely improving. The above however, are not among the improvements.

I see the mail box who's door was hanging by a thread has been fixed. Thanks to Florence for that one. I did not check the others on the list but I am assuming that, barring a tenant/landlord dispute over the broken boxes, they were fixed. Tenants who break their own mail boxes need to grow up and stop doing that sort of juvenile thing. Public Housing is here to help lower income people; not to be baby sitters to people who behave like they were never house trained.

Almost finally, a very special thank you to Vivian who helped me clean up that little triangle of City land that folks facing Russell Road look out on. Viv and I are not kids and we both use walkers so some help would not be refused from younger and stronger folks. If you are a tenant here at 2100, this is your home and cleaning it up is to your benefit. Or you can leave it looking like a slum or watch the seniors clean it up. Housing has proposed a Spring clean up with a BBQ but could we not get some of the really bad litter picked up before then? Maybe on the next reasonably warm day?

And finally, I know you will all be happy to hear that Hazel is home again and doing very well.
Welcome home. Hazel!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

It's Been Fairly Quiet Around Here












New Intercoms

The new Intercoms are in and working. Tenants and their guests will notice a few little, perhaps disconcerting, differences. The old Intercoms made a noise when you punched in the ring code and then you could hear them ring. These do not do that. So you might warn your visitors that they are ringing even though they do not hear them ringing.

Tenant's Bulletin Board

The board you see pictured above is the tenant's Board. For those of you new to the building, it is located to the left of the coke machine at door 3 and the mail room. Permission to put it up was given to tenants way back when this was a Seniors Residence. You can put up notices for things you are selling or looking for, services you know other tenants might be interested in, coupons you do not want but others may use and etc.

Someone keeps removing other people's notices and coupons. If it is a tenant - Please grow up. If it is housing staff, please keep your hands off. For Housing Staff who think they are working for an Institution and can arbitrarily decide what we may or may not put on that board, This is not an Institution. It is a housing project. This is a free country still and that is OUR board! Someone suggested I write the Premier and tell him to tell his relatives to keep away from our bulletin board. Unfortunately, I do not know who is related to whom or who that person might be. So if you work for Housing and YOU know who that is, please straighten that person out. And fear not. I do not write the Premier. I get far better results from writing the press. :o) But seriously, if this nasty little rumour has any truth to it, would someone at Housing please do something about it. And if it is someone from here, would those handy dandy little cameras record it and if so can we find out who it is that way??

Spring Clean Up

Winter has left us with a lot of trash lying around outside. Florence has spoken to some one who will bring us bags and gloves etc. If we get a few good men and women working at it, we should be able to get it tidied up in a few hours. So give it some thought and let me know if you want to help.

Keys

Your keys are more important than anything you own. They help keep everything you own safe. If you lose them, whoever finds them can access your apartment and take whatever they want. They can also steal your mail. And worse yet, you can see you have mail but you cannot get your hands on it. So handle them with care. You do not want to end up breaking into your own mail box to get your mail like a number of people here have done. And if you read your lease, YOU are responsible for anything you break - that includes the door to your mail box. And from a strictly aesthetic viewpoint, seeing a bunch of broken mailboxes is not particularly pleasing - it makes it look like we live in DogPatch or Slum Valley.

Speaking of people who leave the building looking like Slum Valley, someone spilt a bag or a pan of veggies in the elevator at door 2 last week. To you I must ask, "What happened to your last slave?" For crying out loud, have a little teeny bit of class and clean up after yourself if you drop something, break something or have an accident of some sort.

Update on Hazel

Hazel is still in the Ottawa General. Frothing at the bit to get out and about. They have moved her to Rehab where they have her doing exercises to strengthen her leg - this is good. Anyone who knows Hazel knows she is not really very good at sitting about doing nothing all day. If I understand her doctor correctly - her biggest problem is wanting to run before she has relearned how to walk. She spends time visiting with friends and relatives and planning where and how she will sit at Bingo. She sure misses you fellow Bingo- holics. LOL

Not much else but

Don't forget the Saturday Breakfast in the lounge at 2100 Russell Road. It's open until 11:30 Saturday morning.

And Sunday Bingo - also in the lounge. Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.. Everyone is welcome.

If you have to get junk mail, it might as well be junk mail you might want to try out. I have tried all manner of shampoos, a peanut butter substitute called Sun Butter which is actually pretty good, a free Gillette razor, a gadget to put those huge rolls of toilet paper on so that you can still get the paper off the roll without dislocating your shoulder and lots of other goodies.

Free Canada samples

Other junk mail I actually welcome are coupons I can actually use like for laundry detergents or dog food. And I get them here

Save.com

Till next time...........