RK frantically called my sister today because one of the bank accounts had a negative balance. Clara had deposited a check earlier that hadn't cleared yet, so it was fine. Clara had told her this yesterday when she saw her in person, but RK told Clara this morning, "Oh. I didn't understand." After every single conversation, Clara and I ask her, "Do you understand?" and she shakes her head vigorously that she does.
Also, RK received a mortgage statement in the mail for the building. RK asked Clara whether she had written a check. This is absurd because we don't even have signing power for that account.
From these actions, we can deduce that:
1. RK does not only NOT understand most of the things that we tell her (which is fine) but (a) DOES NOT ASK FOR CLARIFICATION when we ask her if she DOES understand (which we ask her each time because clearly, we assume she might not understand, which is a definite possibility as evidenced by today's miscommunication) and (b) has a problem communicating with US which is pretty much out of our power because we always ask her if she understands, and if she says she does when she does not, that becomes her problem, not ours.
2. She does not understand what a mortgage statement looks like and thinks that it might be the equivalent of a check. Where has she been for not only the two years since my dad got sick but also for the past NINE years since she had married my father? She knows that little about a spouse's business? That a mortgage needs to be paid monthly?
3. She does not understand that Clara and I do not have signing power for that bank account (which she KNOWS... or at least should retain in her brain).
In conclusion, here is more evidence that it is difficult to communicate with her because (1) she does not pay attention; (2) she does not retain IMPORTANT INFORMATION (relating to money and basic facts); and (3) she fails to ask for clarification when she needs it... which is probably the biggest problem of all.
PS - Things haven't been THAT bad with her lately. So mostly, this is just frustration that some things don't change.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The house is (practically) sold
Clara and I signed the contracts on Friday (after the broker added our furniture into the selling price without telling us prior), and our lawyer is looking everything over now for the attorney review.
The buyers want to move in Thursday (yes, the 17th, the day after tomorrow), and they project that the closing will finish on Friday the 18th. We are working with our lawyer to have something settled so that we could at least have sufficient time to move stuff out of the house.
Rosa told somebody that Clara and I don't tell her anything regarding the updates to the store and building. Ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. She also told this person that she took out a second mortgage on the house. I have no idea whether or not this is true.
The buyers want to move in Thursday (yes, the 17th, the day after tomorrow), and they project that the closing will finish on Friday the 18th. We are working with our lawyer to have something settled so that we could at least have sufficient time to move stuff out of the house.
Rosa told somebody that Clara and I don't tell her anything regarding the updates to the store and building. Ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. She also told this person that she took out a second mortgage on the house. I have no idea whether or not this is true.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Dad's golf clubs
Random thing. Clara and I weeded the commercial building on Thursday (7/3) and yesterday (7/7). The town people complained that it was looking overgrown and unkempt (both true). We went by the house to inform RK and also to use the weed-cutting tool things that were in the garage.
JULY 3rd @ 10 am
We arrived at the house around 10 am to get the tools and to inform RK what we were doing. Clara updated her on some more stuff about people clearing out the junk in the store. RK asked whether we were done telling her stuff because she had to go somewhere. (Note: she was wearing a tank top and shorts [sleepwear?], no makeup, no bra. She didn't really look like she was going anywhere.)
Once we started the weeding at the store, we realized that it was going to be a much bigger project than we thought once we actually started. We called RK on her cell phone to ask what she was doing this weekend because we needed her help too if possible. RK said she had visitors coming for the weekend (which Clara said RK had mentioned to her before). Clara then asked what RK was doing on Monday morning. "Nothing, why?" Clara mentioned that we needed some help weeding the area around the store since it was a bigger job than we'd thought; could she please meet us there at 10 am on Monday morning? "Oh, I have a doctor's appointment at 10 am." (I guess she just forgot to mention that to us 30 seconds prior.)
NOTE: the weeds are a BUILDING issue, so really, RK should have been in charge of that, but waiting for her to do something is like waiting for a rock to hula.
JULY 7th @ 5 pm
After weeding the bulk and pouring Round-Up (weed killer) around the roots, Clara and I stopped by the house. While we were at the store, Kike (the deli owner) had gone to the post office to pick up his mail, and for some reason, our State Farm insurance bill was in his pile even though almost everything gets forwarded to the house. This bill is paid twice a year, once in January and once in July, so this is the first bill to be paid since the fire. Since it is building insurance, RK should pay it. (Clara is pretty much paying for everything for the cleaners out of her pocket, so I really hope the insurance covers all that.)
NOTE: Kike was at the store that day because he was there to collect four-month-old soda and beer from the remains of the deli because he plans to re-sell the beverages. I wish I were lying.
RK was at home with her sister from Delaware. (We said hi, and she said hi back and left the kitchen where the three of us were talking. Clara and I have no issues with her.) Maybe she was there to give moral support to RK at her doctor's appointment that morning. Anyhow, we give RK the State Farm bill, and she didn't understand why we had to pay it since the fire happened already. (I wish I were lying.) We told her that that is a very important bill and that it needs to be paid. I also reminded her to talk to the bank to get May 2008 and November 2007 statements for the accountant for the cleaners to be done with our final tax return (which I'd mentioned to her last week). She said okay. As usual, RK also tried to convince us to (this was all before the conversations with the broker Chris Kim on 7/8) to take whatever offer we get for the house immediately because the mortgage is a lot for her. We reiterated (like we normally do) that this is our parents' house and that we are okay with selling it but not for a bad offer. We also pointed out to her that before she kicked us out of the house, our lawyers had come up with a suggestion to make a bank account with money from all three of us to pay the mortgage together for x months, but that plan didn't happen since she kicked us out of the house. We pointed out that a higher offer is beneficial to all three of us. RK then suggested that Clara and I buy the house ourselves and then re-sell it because she doesn't want to pay the mortgage anymore. (Uh, okay. We'll buy our own parents' house.) I'm not sure if she was serious or not, but she did suggest it. We said no.
Clara had noticed that our father's Calloway golf clubs were missing from the garage. Clara asked RK where they were. RK had donated them to her church. Clara asked why she hadn't told us about this before RK donated them, and RK starts screaming (yes, screaming) at us immediately. She said she has no obligation to tell us these things and that they went to a good cause. We explained to her that WE tell her EVERYTHING that happens and that we constantly ask that she do us the same courtesy. (It's not even courtesy, it's... being co-executors of an estate.) We also reminded her that our father was an avid (to say the least) golf player and that those clubs which he collected throughout the years had a lot of sentimental value to him and therefore to us. (Clara was pretty upset.) We asked that she please tell us before she gets rid of our parents' things. She countered that everything in the house belongs to her. (I think she began screaming because she realized that it was a pretty shitty move and she was probably embarrassed or something. But then again, it's pretty hard to try to reason why she does anything, so maybe that wasn't the case.) We were speaking in calm (but bewildered) tones, so her screaming made her sound even more ridiculous.
We asked her (which we had done in the past) to please tell us before she gets rid of these things. She said to take everything right now that we wanted. We pointed out that it's a bit ridiculous to take EVERYTHING (grand piano, fancy china) because she uses some of the stuff too. We said that it's fine if she uses it, but please do not give it away before letting us know, especially since our mother bought a lot of that stuff since she designed and furnished the house herself. RK said to just take it now because she might rent the house (uh... right) and that she would have to get rid of a lot of stuff. We said that even if she knew she was renting it the next day, she could always call us THAT day she finds out, and we will get it immediately. She said okay but still looked mad that we asked her a logical question of why she'd get rid of something so sentimental. :-P
Note: RK did not know until yesterday that Clara and I no longer live together. When we asked her to call us back when we call her, she said there was no need to talk to both of us since we are always together. We said that no, we are not since we do not live together. She was surprised.
JULY 3rd @ 10 am
We arrived at the house around 10 am to get the tools and to inform RK what we were doing. Clara updated her on some more stuff about people clearing out the junk in the store. RK asked whether we were done telling her stuff because she had to go somewhere. (Note: she was wearing a tank top and shorts [sleepwear?], no makeup, no bra. She didn't really look like she was going anywhere.)
Once we started the weeding at the store, we realized that it was going to be a much bigger project than we thought once we actually started. We called RK on her cell phone to ask what she was doing this weekend because we needed her help too if possible. RK said she had visitors coming for the weekend (which Clara said RK had mentioned to her before). Clara then asked what RK was doing on Monday morning. "Nothing, why?" Clara mentioned that we needed some help weeding the area around the store since it was a bigger job than we'd thought; could she please meet us there at 10 am on Monday morning? "Oh, I have a doctor's appointment at 10 am." (I guess she just forgot to mention that to us 30 seconds prior.)
NOTE: the weeds are a BUILDING issue, so really, RK should have been in charge of that, but waiting for her to do something is like waiting for a rock to hula.
JULY 7th @ 5 pm
After weeding the bulk and pouring Round-Up (weed killer) around the roots, Clara and I stopped by the house. While we were at the store, Kike (the deli owner) had gone to the post office to pick up his mail, and for some reason, our State Farm insurance bill was in his pile even though almost everything gets forwarded to the house. This bill is paid twice a year, once in January and once in July, so this is the first bill to be paid since the fire. Since it is building insurance, RK should pay it. (Clara is pretty much paying for everything for the cleaners out of her pocket, so I really hope the insurance covers all that.)
NOTE: Kike was at the store that day because he was there to collect four-month-old soda and beer from the remains of the deli because he plans to re-sell the beverages. I wish I were lying.
RK was at home with her sister from Delaware. (We said hi, and she said hi back and left the kitchen where the three of us were talking. Clara and I have no issues with her.) Maybe she was there to give moral support to RK at her doctor's appointment that morning. Anyhow, we give RK the State Farm bill, and she didn't understand why we had to pay it since the fire happened already. (I wish I were lying.) We told her that that is a very important bill and that it needs to be paid. I also reminded her to talk to the bank to get May 2008 and November 2007 statements for the accountant for the cleaners to be done with our final tax return (which I'd mentioned to her last week). She said okay. As usual, RK also tried to convince us to (this was all before the conversations with the broker Chris Kim on 7/8) to take whatever offer we get for the house immediately because the mortgage is a lot for her. We reiterated (like we normally do) that this is our parents' house and that we are okay with selling it but not for a bad offer. We also pointed out to her that before she kicked us out of the house, our lawyers had come up with a suggestion to make a bank account with money from all three of us to pay the mortgage together for x months, but that plan didn't happen since she kicked us out of the house. We pointed out that a higher offer is beneficial to all three of us. RK then suggested that Clara and I buy the house ourselves and then re-sell it because she doesn't want to pay the mortgage anymore. (Uh, okay. We'll buy our own parents' house.) I'm not sure if she was serious or not, but she did suggest it. We said no.
Clara had noticed that our father's Calloway golf clubs were missing from the garage. Clara asked RK where they were. RK had donated them to her church. Clara asked why she hadn't told us about this before RK donated them, and RK starts screaming (yes, screaming) at us immediately. She said she has no obligation to tell us these things and that they went to a good cause. We explained to her that WE tell her EVERYTHING that happens and that we constantly ask that she do us the same courtesy. (It's not even courtesy, it's... being co-executors of an estate.) We also reminded her that our father was an avid (to say the least) golf player and that those clubs which he collected throughout the years had a lot of sentimental value to him and therefore to us. (Clara was pretty upset.) We asked that she please tell us before she gets rid of our parents' things. She countered that everything in the house belongs to her. (I think she began screaming because she realized that it was a pretty shitty move and she was probably embarrassed or something. But then again, it's pretty hard to try to reason why she does anything, so maybe that wasn't the case.) We were speaking in calm (but bewildered) tones, so her screaming made her sound even more ridiculous.
We asked her (which we had done in the past) to please tell us before she gets rid of these things. She said to take everything right now that we wanted. We pointed out that it's a bit ridiculous to take EVERYTHING (grand piano, fancy china) because she uses some of the stuff too. We said that it's fine if she uses it, but please do not give it away before letting us know, especially since our mother bought a lot of that stuff since she designed and furnished the house herself. RK said to just take it now because she might rent the house (uh... right) and that she would have to get rid of a lot of stuff. We said that even if she knew she was renting it the next day, she could always call us THAT day she finds out, and we will get it immediately. She said okay but still looked mad that we asked her a logical question of why she'd get rid of something so sentimental. :-P
Note: RK did not know until yesterday that Clara and I no longer live together. When we asked her to call us back when we call her, she said there was no need to talk to both of us since we are always together. We said that no, we are not since we do not live together. She was surprised.
Updates about the house
The real estate broker Chris Kim kept calling me today. He first called at 13:50 to tell me about an offer for $1.053 and was pressuring me to take it. He said that an appraiser would go to the house tomorrow (meaning Wednesday 7/9) to appraise it since the couple from Princeton (who made the bid) hadn't seen the house yet, but he wanted to close the deal within three weeks (when he said that these things normally take two months). He told me that he had just spoken with RK on the phone and was now contacting me since he couldn't reach Clara. (He literally called me while I was on the phone with her and she was frantically telling me how her cell phone battery was running out.) I told him that I needed to speak with my sister. Chris gave me his cell phone number, told me to call ANYTIME, and asked to please call him back right away.
My lawyer CYJ called me at 15:35 today. He had just gotten off the phone with Chris. I told him that Clara and I would call him back after we discussed all that.
I notice that there was a missed call on my phone while I away from my desk. Chris had called at 15:19 while I was out, so I listened to his message. He'd asked on the voicemail whether I'd spoken with my sister yet and that he'd spoken with CYJ. I called him back and he said that the buyer wants to wrap this up by next Friday ("in two weeks"). I asked him, didn't he say THREE weeks when I spoke to him earlier? He said no (but he definitely did). He gave me a bunch of "facts" like how it's a bad real estate market, that we should just take this offer, that we're wasting time and money by not taking the offer, etc. I said that my sister and I think that $1.053 is too low.
Chris called again at 16:15. I spoke with him for ten minutes on the phone. Basically it was a lot of back-and-forth, me saying that we weren't interested in such a low offer, him saying that we should definitely take it. At one point, he said that nobody wants to pay so much money for the house, which is why they lowered the asking price twice.
NOTE: WE WERE NEVER MADE AWARE OF THESE PRICE DECREASES.
I asked him to clarify about these price decreases, and he said that the asking price went down from $1.29 to $1.19 and $1.1 (the current price) two-and-a-half months ago and two months ago, respectively. I told him that I was hearing this information for the first time and that he could not possibly expect that I make a decision about this during the same phone call when I found out that the asking price went down twice (two months ago!). He kept asking what my counter-offer was, and I said that since the listing price has changed, I needed to speak to my sister. He told me about his successful background in real estate, but I explained that this was my parents' house that they had built, and we were not going to go for a crappy offer.
We ended the conversation with me saying that I'd consult some people first and then get back to him. He was very pushy.
He later called me again sometime while I was eating dinner (probably around 19:00). He left a message saying that the buyers were not increasing their bid but that he and their agent would take a lesser commission so that we would have $10,000 more. He asked that we call him back. (I'd listened to this message later.) He also called me again at 19:54 but did not leave a message.
After speaking with some relatives and my sister, I left him a voicemail at 22:30 to tell him that we'd speak again tomorrow. (I just wanted to touch base before the end of the day.) He has not called me back yet (but I'm guessing we'll talk tomorrow).
My lawyer CYJ called me at 15:35 today. He had just gotten off the phone with Chris. I told him that Clara and I would call him back after we discussed all that.
I notice that there was a missed call on my phone while I away from my desk. Chris had called at 15:19 while I was out, so I listened to his message. He'd asked on the voicemail whether I'd spoken with my sister yet and that he'd spoken with CYJ. I called him back and he said that the buyer wants to wrap this up by next Friday ("in two weeks"). I asked him, didn't he say THREE weeks when I spoke to him earlier? He said no (but he definitely did). He gave me a bunch of "facts" like how it's a bad real estate market, that we should just take this offer, that we're wasting time and money by not taking the offer, etc. I said that my sister and I think that $1.053 is too low.
Chris called again at 16:15. I spoke with him for ten minutes on the phone. Basically it was a lot of back-and-forth, me saying that we weren't interested in such a low offer, him saying that we should definitely take it. At one point, he said that nobody wants to pay so much money for the house, which is why they lowered the asking price twice.
NOTE: WE WERE NEVER MADE AWARE OF THESE PRICE DECREASES.
I asked him to clarify about these price decreases, and he said that the asking price went down from $1.29 to $1.19 and $1.1 (the current price) two-and-a-half months ago and two months ago, respectively. I told him that I was hearing this information for the first time and that he could not possibly expect that I make a decision about this during the same phone call when I found out that the asking price went down twice (two months ago!). He kept asking what my counter-offer was, and I said that since the listing price has changed, I needed to speak to my sister. He told me about his successful background in real estate, but I explained that this was my parents' house that they had built, and we were not going to go for a crappy offer.
We ended the conversation with me saying that I'd consult some people first and then get back to him. He was very pushy.
He later called me again sometime while I was eating dinner (probably around 19:00). He left a message saying that the buyers were not increasing their bid but that he and their agent would take a lesser commission so that we would have $10,000 more. He asked that we call him back. (I'd listened to this message later.) He also called me again at 19:54 but did not leave a message.
After speaking with some relatives and my sister, I left him a voicemail at 22:30 to tell him that we'd speak again tomorrow. (I just wanted to touch base before the end of the day.) He has not called me back yet (but I'm guessing we'll talk tomorrow).
Monday, June 23, 2008
Random updates
This past Friday (6/20), our manager called me around 10 am to ask me whether I was aware that She was at the store with some Korean guys, taking stuff out of the store. Well, I was not aware, so I called Her back shortly after I spoke with him, but of course She did not pick up Her cell phone nor did She return any of my messages. :-P Later I spoke with Clara and found out that She did indeed leave a voicemail saying that She was going to clear some stuff out. Thank goodness.
I spoke with Clara again today. Apparently, the people who were interested in buying our house is no longer interested. When Clara asked Her what was happening with the sale, She shrugged and said, "I don't know" as if She wasn't supposed to know. Clara tried to convey to Her that She was the one who was pushing to sell the house and that She needs to be on top of these things. Apparently, She just assumed that since She hadn't heard anything from Her broker, the sale was off. (I mean, that is probably true, but wouldn't a normal person check?) Then She got mad at Clara because She blamed us that we took too long to decide whether we should even sell the house, so She is losing money.
1. We agreed to sell the house when the buyers were still interested. SHE didn't keep on top of things. Not our fault.
2. SHE kicked us out of the house. (Well... kicked us out or demanded that we pay $3,000+ in rent.)
Ridiculous. Anyway, not too informative, but that is the latest update.
Moral of the story: Clara is a hard-working saint. SHE is still an idiot.
I spoke with Clara again today. Apparently, the people who were interested in buying our house is no longer interested. When Clara asked Her what was happening with the sale, She shrugged and said, "I don't know" as if She wasn't supposed to know. Clara tried to convey to Her that She was the one who was pushing to sell the house and that She needs to be on top of these things. Apparently, She just assumed that since She hadn't heard anything from Her broker, the sale was off. (I mean, that is probably true, but wouldn't a normal person check?) Then She got mad at Clara because She blamed us that we took too long to decide whether we should even sell the house, so She is losing money.
1. We agreed to sell the house when the buyers were still interested. SHE didn't keep on top of things. Not our fault.
2. SHE kicked us out of the house. (Well... kicked us out or demanded that we pay $3,000+ in rent.)
Ridiculous. Anyway, not too informative, but that is the latest update.
Moral of the story: Clara is a hard-working saint. SHE is still an idiot.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Note to self...
I haven't updated much, but just reminding myself that our manager called Clara yesterday to tell us that Rosa was at the store with some Korean guys (contractors?). She did not inform us of this and still hasn't answered Clara's voicemails. So yeah, that was 6/14. (Who knows when else she is there when our manager doesn't notice?)
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Pre-weekend update
I'm going away this weekend for Memorial Day and won't be back until Tuesday, so here is a quick update:
1. Yesterday (Tuesday the 20th), Clara went home. RK was there, and she said to Clara that she thinks that if the house gets a bid, we should just take it (in an effort to move past all this). (Hm... so it's "we" now even though it was just one person who put the house up for sale?) Our family members steadfastly believe that it is a beautiful house and that we should not take less than what it's worth. Clara and I agree. RK also mentioned that she is thinking of going back to Korea and could possibly just leave the building to me and Clara.
(I believe absolutely nothing that comes out of RK's mouth, so I refuse to react to the latter part of their conversation.)
2. Today (Wednesday the 21st), Clara received a phone call from a broker at the real estate agency that RK is using. (It's not the same guy whom we met at the open house.) Apparently, someone made a bid on our house on Monday, but RK did not tell us. The broker only called Clara because RK was not answering his phone calls. That means that when RK tried convincing Clara that we should just accept a bid yesterday (Tuesday), she already knew of an existing bid but did not tell us about it. The bid is actually lower. (The house is set at $1.29 million, but the buyers bid $1.05 million.)
Clara spoke with RK right after the conversation with the broker. RK claimed that she did not tell us about the bid because it was lower than what we (well... she) was asking, so she didn't bother mentioning it. The broker called Clara back, and the buyers bid $1.1 million but Clara and I are not interested.
(We emailed the brokers to let them know we will be out of town until Tuesday. Also, we ALL [Clara and I + our lawyers + RK + RK's lawyer] are meeting on Wednesday morning in New York, so even if we were not going away for the weekend, I would not feel comfortable AT ALL about any of these bids until we outlined exactly what was going to happen to the trust if the house were sold.)
3. A bit different: one of the customers at the cleaners (shares first name with Clemens from the Yankees, and the last name is a homophone of the sound that a train makes) keeps claiming that he is going to sue us. He claims that he contacted a lawyer and that we (Clara and I) were supposed to appear on court today. He claims that he sent paperwork from his lawyer to us and also received confirmation that we received it. Clara and I went to the post office the day after the fire (Monday 3/10) to forward correspondence to the house, and we received nothing from him or any lawyer (though we do receive bills and everything, so the forwarding works). He also said that he filed something with the Chamber of Commerce in the town where the building is located, but the Chamber of Commerce has no record of it.
Today, Clara saw him at our manager's store, and she spoke with this customer because he happened to be there. He was "nice" and told Clara that he was going to cancel the court appearance at which we were supposed to appear. (WTF?) Basically he's full of horse manure, but I just want to make note of this just in case it winds up being something later. He claimed that this court appearance was supposed to be in White Plains which makes no sense since it's a local issue. (Then again, it's imaginary.) Clara asked nicely whom this customer contacted, and he said it was the "Commissioner of Insurance" (again... WTF?). When Clara asked nicely for a name, he stuttered, "Eric." Clara asked, "Eric what?" Customer: "Eric-something, I forget his last name."
So that's a quick update of what's up. We'll be back on Tuesday to deal with all this.
1. Yesterday (Tuesday the 20th), Clara went home. RK was there, and she said to Clara that she thinks that if the house gets a bid, we should just take it (in an effort to move past all this). (Hm... so it's "we" now even though it was just one person who put the house up for sale?) Our family members steadfastly believe that it is a beautiful house and that we should not take less than what it's worth. Clara and I agree. RK also mentioned that she is thinking of going back to Korea and could possibly just leave the building to me and Clara.
(I believe absolutely nothing that comes out of RK's mouth, so I refuse to react to the latter part of their conversation.)
2. Today (Wednesday the 21st), Clara received a phone call from a broker at the real estate agency that RK is using. (It's not the same guy whom we met at the open house.) Apparently, someone made a bid on our house on Monday, but RK did not tell us. The broker only called Clara because RK was not answering his phone calls. That means that when RK tried convincing Clara that we should just accept a bid yesterday (Tuesday), she already knew of an existing bid but did not tell us about it. The bid is actually lower. (The house is set at $1.29 million, but the buyers bid $1.05 million.)
Clara spoke with RK right after the conversation with the broker. RK claimed that she did not tell us about the bid because it was lower than what we (well... she) was asking, so she didn't bother mentioning it. The broker called Clara back, and the buyers bid $1.1 million but Clara and I are not interested.
(We emailed the brokers to let them know we will be out of town until Tuesday. Also, we ALL [Clara and I + our lawyers + RK + RK's lawyer] are meeting on Wednesday morning in New York, so even if we were not going away for the weekend, I would not feel comfortable AT ALL about any of these bids until we outlined exactly what was going to happen to the trust if the house were sold.)
3. A bit different: one of the customers at the cleaners (shares first name with Clemens from the Yankees, and the last name is a homophone of the sound that a train makes) keeps claiming that he is going to sue us. He claims that he contacted a lawyer and that we (Clara and I) were supposed to appear on court today. He claims that he sent paperwork from his lawyer to us and also received confirmation that we received it. Clara and I went to the post office the day after the fire (Monday 3/10) to forward correspondence to the house, and we received nothing from him or any lawyer (though we do receive bills and everything, so the forwarding works). He also said that he filed something with the Chamber of Commerce in the town where the building is located, but the Chamber of Commerce has no record of it.
Today, Clara saw him at our manager's store, and she spoke with this customer because he happened to be there. He was "nice" and told Clara that he was going to cancel the court appearance at which we were supposed to appear. (WTF?) Basically he's full of horse manure, but I just want to make note of this just in case it winds up being something later. He claimed that this court appearance was supposed to be in White Plains which makes no sense since it's a local issue. (Then again, it's imaginary.) Clara asked nicely whom this customer contacted, and he said it was the "Commissioner of Insurance" (again... WTF?). When Clara asked nicely for a name, he stuttered, "Eric." Clara asked, "Eric what?" Customer: "Eric-something, I forget his last name."
So that's a quick update of what's up. We'll be back on Tuesday to deal with all this.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
5/10/08 - More house stuff
Clara and I stopped by the house today. On our way there, we saw signs for an open house. SHE wasn't home, but the real estate guy asked us if we were there for the open house... for our own parents' house. That was wonderful.
We'd left two messages for her on voicemail earlier today to let her know that we were coming. (She did not call us back. I'm still unsure whether she checks her messages.) We called her again while at the house at 15:36; she told us she was ten minutes away and would be home right away. She arrived about half an hour later.
We asked her politely why she hadn't told us that there would be an open house today (and why she didn't tell us about the open house two Sundays ago). "Why do I need to tell you that?" she asked, not meeting our gaze. We told her that we just want to know about these things that are happening. "What... are you going to come to every open house? There's an open house tomorrow. Do you want to come to that too?" We reminded her that just like she wants to know about every meeting that happens with the business (which is totally her right... and we DO inform her of every meeting with the business), we would like to know about every single step that happens with the sale of the house (which, let me remind my audience, was a process that she started completely not only without our consent but without our knowledge).
At this point, she got upset and raised her voice (in the presence of the real estate guy... haha) and shrieked, "Do YOU want to pay the mortgage?"* to which we responded that we just want to be informed of these things (which IS our right, just as her knowing about the business is HER right). We reminded her that she put the house up for sale without telling us at all (she obviously tried to keep us in the dark since she saw Clara the day before she put up the sign... and I don't know too much about real estate, but I'm certain that you can't just walk into a real estate office and request a sign; negotiations need to be made, and contracts must be signed). She responded, "I TOLD you that I was sorry about that!" but we weren't looking for an apology. We just told her to PLEASE tell us every single time there is a new development, to which she responded that there WERE no new developments. I reminded her that she has our cell phone numbers and that she should feel free to call EVERY TIME that there is a new development. I asked her whether she needs our cell phone numbers programmed into her phone, and she said no.
At this point, she went into her room (but left the door open). Clara and I took pictures of the sign outside and our mom's baby grand piano. Then we knocked on her door (she had our back turned towards the door and was folding laundry... because I'm sure she needed something to be physically DOING to avoid having to talk to us) and told her we were leaving and reminded her to please let us know about any new developments. We asked if there were any. She curtly responded no.
(This was a total lie because we heard from some people who live around the cleaners that they saw HER outside the store a few days ago with two Korean men who were taking measurements of the store.)
We said goodbye to the real estate guy (who was pretty polite... and he was only doing his job) and left.
-----
* According to the will, it IS her responsibility to pay the mortgage. Period.
SIDE NOTE:
Although this is not entirely related, I would also like to point out the absurdity of HER putting the house on sale because she has put absolutely NO visible effort into improving the house. It was built in 1995 but has really undergone no significant improvements since then (my father redid the basement in 2003, but there haven't been any paint jobs or anything of the sort since the house was built).
Part of the front part of the roof has fallen off (which is more an aesthetic thing), which is visible in the flier that the real estate company (Realty 7) put together if you know to look for it. The deck has not been refurbished and looks definitely weathered, as does the front door which has visible splinters and has discolored over the years. There are cracks all over the house on many parts of the walls, including parts of the kitchen and many of the corners of the rooms. The room doors (which are white) need a serious paint job because you can see years of dirt all over the doors, especially near the knobs. The toilet in the basement (which hasn't been used in years but was obviously supposed to be a part of the open house since the door was open and the lights were on) hasn't been cleaned, and you can see the different "layers" of dirty water that have been there over the years.
Basically, the house is in absolutely no condition to be sold. SHE is asking just under $1.3 million, which is absurd. Even the real estate guy told me and my sister (before SHE arrived) that some of the people who have walked into the open house have commented that the house definitely needs work and even pointed out cracks in the walls to the real estate guy. The real estate guy told us, "It's not just a matter of lowering the price; there definitely need to be improvements."
(Her not realizing this -- I mean, at least scrub the insides of the toilets! -- proves her idiocy. The end.)
We'd left two messages for her on voicemail earlier today to let her know that we were coming. (She did not call us back. I'm still unsure whether she checks her messages.) We called her again while at the house at 15:36; she told us she was ten minutes away and would be home right away. She arrived about half an hour later.
We asked her politely why she hadn't told us that there would be an open house today (and why she didn't tell us about the open house two Sundays ago). "Why do I need to tell you that?" she asked, not meeting our gaze. We told her that we just want to know about these things that are happening. "What... are you going to come to every open house? There's an open house tomorrow. Do you want to come to that too?" We reminded her that just like she wants to know about every meeting that happens with the business (which is totally her right... and we DO inform her of every meeting with the business), we would like to know about every single step that happens with the sale of the house (which, let me remind my audience, was a process that she started completely not only without our consent but without our knowledge).
At this point, she got upset and raised her voice (in the presence of the real estate guy... haha) and shrieked, "Do YOU want to pay the mortgage?"* to which we responded that we just want to be informed of these things (which IS our right, just as her knowing about the business is HER right). We reminded her that she put the house up for sale without telling us at all (she obviously tried to keep us in the dark since she saw Clara the day before she put up the sign... and I don't know too much about real estate, but I'm certain that you can't just walk into a real estate office and request a sign; negotiations need to be made, and contracts must be signed). She responded, "I TOLD you that I was sorry about that!" but we weren't looking for an apology. We just told her to PLEASE tell us every single time there is a new development, to which she responded that there WERE no new developments. I reminded her that she has our cell phone numbers and that she should feel free to call EVERY TIME that there is a new development. I asked her whether she needs our cell phone numbers programmed into her phone, and she said no.
At this point, she went into her room (but left the door open). Clara and I took pictures of the sign outside and our mom's baby grand piano. Then we knocked on her door (she had our back turned towards the door and was folding laundry... because I'm sure she needed something to be physically DOING to avoid having to talk to us) and told her we were leaving and reminded her to please let us know about any new developments. We asked if there were any. She curtly responded no.
(This was a total lie because we heard from some people who live around the cleaners that they saw HER outside the store a few days ago with two Korean men who were taking measurements of the store.)
We said goodbye to the real estate guy (who was pretty polite... and he was only doing his job) and left.
-----
* According to the will, it IS her responsibility to pay the mortgage. Period.
SIDE NOTE:
Although this is not entirely related, I would also like to point out the absurdity of HER putting the house on sale because she has put absolutely NO visible effort into improving the house. It was built in 1995 but has really undergone no significant improvements since then (my father redid the basement in 2003, but there haven't been any paint jobs or anything of the sort since the house was built).
Part of the front part of the roof has fallen off (which is more an aesthetic thing), which is visible in the flier that the real estate company (Realty 7) put together if you know to look for it. The deck has not been refurbished and looks definitely weathered, as does the front door which has visible splinters and has discolored over the years. There are cracks all over the house on many parts of the walls, including parts of the kitchen and many of the corners of the rooms. The room doors (which are white) need a serious paint job because you can see years of dirt all over the doors, especially near the knobs. The toilet in the basement (which hasn't been used in years but was obviously supposed to be a part of the open house since the door was open and the lights were on) hasn't been cleaned, and you can see the different "layers" of dirty water that have been there over the years.
Basically, the house is in absolutely no condition to be sold. SHE is asking just under $1.3 million, which is absurd. Even the real estate guy told me and my sister (before SHE arrived) that some of the people who have walked into the open house have commented that the house definitely needs work and even pointed out cracks in the walls to the real estate guy. The real estate guy told us, "It's not just a matter of lowering the price; there definitely need to be improvements."
(Her not realizing this -- I mean, at least scrub the insides of the toilets! -- proves her idiocy. The end.)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Quick update... to be detailed later...
- Clara was at the house on the 22nd (two days ago, Tuesday); Rosa put the house up for sale the following day (yesterday) and didn't mention any of this to Clara while Clara was at the house... Rosa told Clara that she didn't tell Clara any of this because she "wasn't sure" even though she was obviously thinking about it
- Rosa met with someone to pump out the chemicals in the store and met with him AT the store WITHOUT telling us about this in any way when she had INSISTED to us that WE tell her everything and all meetings that happen at the store (which we do)
- Rosa also told the contractor guy to talk to our public adjusters about the price... she did NOT get a quote from HER contractor... this is a total conflict of interest because if the public adjusters tell him how much we are getting from insurance, obviously he's going to jack up the price because Rosa failed to get a price quote beforehand
- Rosa met with someone to pump out the chemicals in the store and met with him AT the store WITHOUT telling us about this in any way when she had INSISTED to us that WE tell her everything and all meetings that happen at the store (which we do)
- Rosa also told the contractor guy to talk to our public adjusters about the price... she did NOT get a quote from HER contractor... this is a total conflict of interest because if the public adjusters tell him how much we are getting from insurance, obviously he's going to jack up the price because Rosa failed to get a price quote beforehand
FOR SALE SIGN?
Clara just noticed a FOR SALE sign on the front lawn of the O.T. house and texted me. Rosa never told us about this.
MORE TO COME...
MORE TO COME...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
4/9 - Back at the house
My sister and I wanted to go back to the house to speak with Her about general stuff that's happening with the store as well as some other issues.
We updated Her on some stuff that is happening with the store and the insurance companies and the public adjusters. Clara made it very clear that meetings are slowing down (now that the initial batch of meetings have taken place; we're mostly waiting to hear back from the fire department about the fire report before we're even allowed to take anything out of the store since it's still evidence) but that Clara is still updating Her about EVERY SINGLE MEETING that takes place. SHE sounded skeptical, but we insisted that it was true (because it is), and we repeated again for the tenth time that She is completely 100% free to call the public adjusters at ANY time to ask ANY questions since She hired them too.
(We tried to make this extremely clear, and we repeated this multiple times because we really wanted to drill it into Her head since I'm pretty sure She uses not-realizing-She-can-contact-the-public-adjusters-Herself as an excuse to both not actively participate in insurance stuff and later blame us that we deliberately kept Her out of the loop because we're trying to be evil, etc. I repeated to Her several times that night to CALL THE PUBLIC ADJUSTERS THE NEXT DAY.)
ALSO, She has been setting our mail aside for us when we do go back (although at this point I've changed the majority of my major accounts like banking and credit cards to another address), She also has set aside bills for the BUILDING (and not the business... as Her Letter states, neither my sister nor I have any business [ha] dealing with the building) for us to pay (She set this aside the last time Clara picked up the mail). We returned the bills (one for United Water, one for town taxes) to Her and explained very plainly that neither Clara nor I am responsible for paying these bills. I also added that it is IMPERATIVE that She pay the town tax bill immediately because the late fees are massive (10% I think since we were late in paying the bill most close to my dad's date of death). She asked that if these bills did not need to be paid because of the fire to which we replied that they ABSOLUTELY need to be paid anyway because it is for the property. We stressed to Her that She should talk to the public adjusters about the check for the BUILDING bank account so that She can pay this bill. I repeated to Her again that She needs to PAY THIS BILL and if She has any questions, She should contact the public adjusters HERSELF and ask them directly since She also signed a contract to hire them.
(I still think that She may be under the impression that these bills will go away because of the fire; however, since these bills are for the BUILDING, it is really no longer should be of my concern.)
Clara and I also asked Her what She plans on doing in regards to The Letter. She played dumb (or maybe She just IS dumb) and asked why we are so concerned about The Letter. I said to Her, "Are you kidding? That Letter affects our [my sister's and my] lives! How can you ask that?" Since She sent The Letter without speaking to us first and trying to work out any problems first (since She went straight to a lawyer and blindsided us with The Letter), Clara and I were concerned that She would go straight to the lawyer again and have him send us a letter demanding why we have not responded in a timely manner (although I must point to our previous attempts to schedule a meeting with all of our lawyers and her lies regarding having to meet people at church, so in that sense, She is the uncooperative one).
SHE basically kept repeating that She did not send The Letter herself and that Her lawyer did. We kept trying to drill it into Her head that when a person contacts a lawyer for representation, any contact that a lawyer makes with the opposite party is supposed to represent THAT person who hired the lawyer, i.e. HER. (That is what is so frustrating; She tries to insist that She has no idea what was IN the letter and that Her lawyer wrote the whole thing. Again, I've expressed my views about this in previous posts.)
We asked Her what She wanted to do about the things mentioned in The Letter since the fire obviously changed so many aspects of it, and She just evaded our questions. She kept asking why we needed to meet at all with lawyers, and we reminded Her that She was the one who started the whole ordeal as an "us versus you" situation by hiring Her own lawyer and having him send us The Letter. We kept asking Her what She wanted to do since things in The Letter have changed because of the fire, and She would not answer our questions directly.
(I realize that my descriptions of what happens while speaking with Her sound repetitive and lacking a point, but that is really how things happen when we speak with Her. We ask Her direct questions, and She gives us evasive answers.)
Speaking about the business was getting us nowhere, so we picked the easiest point in The Letter, i.e., Her having problems with the way my father's final tax return was prepared. We asked Her WHAT EXACTLY She did not like about the tax preparation, and She replied that She did not know, only that Her lawyer mentioned to Her that there were problems that HE saw with the tax return. (Let me state that the way the tax return was prepared has absolutely nothing to do with Clara or myself and that OUR LAWYERS prepared the return and that the three of us ALL SIGNED it in November out of our free will because we three hired them to do that job.) We reminded Her that She signed the return (and supposedly read it after our lawyers gave us ALL copies for our review) in their offices out of Her own free will, but She said that Her new lawyer mentioned that it was prepared badly. (I do not think She understands that once you sign something, it is SIGNED.)
I think that's it... my sister and I tried to stress that we want to work TOGETHER with Her to make things easier and smoother for when things are finishing up with the insurance companies. She seemed to be very keen on that idea; however, I can't necessarily rely on that just because in the past, obviously, things have seemed to be fine with Her and then She goes to a lawyer to send us threatening documents.
We said bye and I reminded Her again to CALL THE PUBLIC ADJUSTERS. I asked if She still had their contact information, and She said yes.
I think that's it for now...
We updated Her on some stuff that is happening with the store and the insurance companies and the public adjusters. Clara made it very clear that meetings are slowing down (now that the initial batch of meetings have taken place; we're mostly waiting to hear back from the fire department about the fire report before we're even allowed to take anything out of the store since it's still evidence) but that Clara is still updating Her about EVERY SINGLE MEETING that takes place. SHE sounded skeptical, but we insisted that it was true (because it is), and we repeated again for the tenth time that She is completely 100% free to call the public adjusters at ANY time to ask ANY questions since She hired them too.
(We tried to make this extremely clear, and we repeated this multiple times because we really wanted to drill it into Her head since I'm pretty sure She uses not-realizing-She-can-contact-the-public-adjusters-Herself as an excuse to both not actively participate in insurance stuff and later blame us that we deliberately kept Her out of the loop because we're trying to be evil, etc. I repeated to Her several times that night to CALL THE PUBLIC ADJUSTERS THE NEXT DAY.)
ALSO, She has been setting our mail aside for us when we do go back (although at this point I've changed the majority of my major accounts like banking and credit cards to another address), She also has set aside bills for the BUILDING (and not the business... as Her Letter states, neither my sister nor I have any business [ha] dealing with the building) for us to pay (She set this aside the last time Clara picked up the mail). We returned the bills (one for United Water, one for town taxes) to Her and explained very plainly that neither Clara nor I am responsible for paying these bills. I also added that it is IMPERATIVE that She pay the town tax bill immediately because the late fees are massive (10% I think since we were late in paying the bill most close to my dad's date of death). She asked that if these bills did not need to be paid because of the fire to which we replied that they ABSOLUTELY need to be paid anyway because it is for the property. We stressed to Her that She should talk to the public adjusters about the check for the BUILDING bank account so that She can pay this bill. I repeated to Her again that She needs to PAY THIS BILL and if She has any questions, She should contact the public adjusters HERSELF and ask them directly since She also signed a contract to hire them.
(I still think that She may be under the impression that these bills will go away because of the fire; however, since these bills are for the BUILDING, it is really no longer should be of my concern.)
Clara and I also asked Her what She plans on doing in regards to The Letter. She played dumb (or maybe She just IS dumb) and asked why we are so concerned about The Letter. I said to Her, "Are you kidding? That Letter affects our [my sister's and my] lives! How can you ask that?" Since She sent The Letter without speaking to us first and trying to work out any problems first (since She went straight to a lawyer and blindsided us with The Letter), Clara and I were concerned that She would go straight to the lawyer again and have him send us a letter demanding why we have not responded in a timely manner (although I must point to our previous attempts to schedule a meeting with all of our lawyers and her lies regarding having to meet people at church, so in that sense, She is the uncooperative one).
SHE basically kept repeating that She did not send The Letter herself and that Her lawyer did. We kept trying to drill it into Her head that when a person contacts a lawyer for representation, any contact that a lawyer makes with the opposite party is supposed to represent THAT person who hired the lawyer, i.e. HER. (That is what is so frustrating; She tries to insist that She has no idea what was IN the letter and that Her lawyer wrote the whole thing. Again, I've expressed my views about this in previous posts.)
We asked Her what She wanted to do about the things mentioned in The Letter since the fire obviously changed so many aspects of it, and She just evaded our questions. She kept asking why we needed to meet at all with lawyers, and we reminded Her that She was the one who started the whole ordeal as an "us versus you" situation by hiring Her own lawyer and having him send us The Letter. We kept asking Her what She wanted to do since things in The Letter have changed because of the fire, and She would not answer our questions directly.
(I realize that my descriptions of what happens while speaking with Her sound repetitive and lacking a point, but that is really how things happen when we speak with Her. We ask Her direct questions, and She gives us evasive answers.)
Speaking about the business was getting us nowhere, so we picked the easiest point in The Letter, i.e., Her having problems with the way my father's final tax return was prepared. We asked Her WHAT EXACTLY She did not like about the tax preparation, and She replied that She did not know, only that Her lawyer mentioned to Her that there were problems that HE saw with the tax return. (Let me state that the way the tax return was prepared has absolutely nothing to do with Clara or myself and that OUR LAWYERS prepared the return and that the three of us ALL SIGNED it in November out of our free will because we three hired them to do that job.) We reminded Her that She signed the return (and supposedly read it after our lawyers gave us ALL copies for our review) in their offices out of Her own free will, but She said that Her new lawyer mentioned that it was prepared badly. (I do not think She understands that once you sign something, it is SIGNED.)
I think that's it... my sister and I tried to stress that we want to work TOGETHER with Her to make things easier and smoother for when things are finishing up with the insurance companies. She seemed to be very keen on that idea; however, I can't necessarily rely on that just because in the past, obviously, things have seemed to be fine with Her and then She goes to a lawyer to send us threatening documents.
We said bye and I reminded Her again to CALL THE PUBLIC ADJUSTERS. I asked if She still had their contact information, and She said yes.
I think that's it for now...
Monday, April 7, 2008
Attempts to meet
My sister and I went back to the house again to pick up some more stuff and tidy up some more. We did not encounter Her the entire time. But my sister dropped off some tulips either Thursday or Friday for Her birthday sort of as a peace offering, and we saw the tulips in a vase in the living room. :-P
I called Her cell phone at one point to ask when She was coming home because we want to talk to Her in person just because it's ridiculous to be paying the lawyers for each time we meet (not that Her lawyer contacted our lawyers yet, as She promised over a week ago). But we figure we'll try to talk to Her in person and get everything out in the open just so we're not paying off all the life insurance to attorneys.
So I call Her at church, and She says that She won't be back home until very late at night. (Which is annoying because honestly... WOULDN'T A NORMAL PERSON MAKE TIME IN HER SCHEDULE FOR THIS, i.e., figuring out what to do next, instead of avoiding us?) She says that She's free tomorrow (Monday) night to talk because She'll be at home. I say fine. A little while later, I figure that I should probably attend my company softball game for morale or whatever, so I call Her to reschedule.
She picks up and says, "Anny? Can we do it on Tuesday? I'm busy tomorrow." I'm like... WERE YOU GOING TO CALL ME? Clearly She knew She was going to cancel because that's how She literally answered the phone. I kept asking, "Were you going to call us?" but She just avoids the question and pretends like She doesn't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, we schedule for Tuesday and then She agrees and then She says, "Oh wait, I have a meeting on Tuesday at church." I ask, "Can we do it WEDNESDAY?" and She says yes, and then I ask Her to please call me if She realizes She can't do it Wednesday. I ask her this about four times to make sure She understands. I THINK that maybe She understands. Then She asked me to call Her on Tuesday to remind Her. I said, "IT'S OKAY TO CALL ME IF YOU HAVE TO CANCEL."
Sigh.
Let's see what Her excuse is now...
I called Her cell phone at one point to ask when She was coming home because we want to talk to Her in person just because it's ridiculous to be paying the lawyers for each time we meet (not that Her lawyer contacted our lawyers yet, as She promised over a week ago). But we figure we'll try to talk to Her in person and get everything out in the open just so we're not paying off all the life insurance to attorneys.
So I call Her at church, and She says that She won't be back home until very late at night. (Which is annoying because honestly... WOULDN'T A NORMAL PERSON MAKE TIME IN HER SCHEDULE FOR THIS, i.e., figuring out what to do next, instead of avoiding us?) She says that She's free tomorrow (Monday) night to talk because She'll be at home. I say fine. A little while later, I figure that I should probably attend my company softball game for morale or whatever, so I call Her to reschedule.
She picks up and says, "Anny? Can we do it on Tuesday? I'm busy tomorrow." I'm like... WERE YOU GOING TO CALL ME? Clearly She knew She was going to cancel because that's how She literally answered the phone. I kept asking, "Were you going to call us?" but She just avoids the question and pretends like She doesn't know what I'm talking about. Anyway, we schedule for Tuesday and then She agrees and then She says, "Oh wait, I have a meeting on Tuesday at church." I ask, "Can we do it WEDNESDAY?" and She says yes, and then I ask Her to please call me if She realizes She can't do it Wednesday. I ask her this about four times to make sure She understands. I THINK that maybe She understands. Then She asked me to call Her on Tuesday to remind Her. I said, "IT'S OKAY TO CALL ME IF YOU HAVE TO CANCEL."
Sigh.
Let's see what Her excuse is now...
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
She wanted our mother's piano
So we've moved the bulk of our stuff out to the new apartment over the weekend, and tonight is the first night that we are sleeping here.
(Note: by moving to this apartment, we are in no way relinquishing our rights to my father's estate. Plenty of people own places where they do not reside. My uncle was worried about this, but our lawyers know, so this should not be an issue. We just wanted to get the hell out of there for our own sanity.)
Clara spoke with Her today and reminded Her that we are coming back this week and this weekend to get the remainder of our stuff. She said okay. She thanked us for letting Her have guests (?). Clara also made it very clear to not do anything with the piano (a beautiful black baby grand which my mother bought shortly after we moved to O.T.; I went with my mom to many piano stores so she could select the best one she wanted).
The Evil One said okay initially and then looked up and said, "But it's such a beautiful piano..." with Her voice trailing off since She is too cowardly to say anything outright because She probably wants to sell it. Clara was like, "NO. That is OUR MOTHER's piano. She bought it." (But of course we are leaving it there until we have a place for it. What person our age has the money to have an apartment that has space for a baby grand?)
I seriously do not know how anyone could argue to keep such a valuable heirloom that is so not that person's right to keep. What does She want next? Maybe She can dig up my mother's coffin and pick off all the jewelry off my mother's fingers.
Boo.
(Note: by moving to this apartment, we are in no way relinquishing our rights to my father's estate. Plenty of people own places where they do not reside. My uncle was worried about this, but our lawyers know, so this should not be an issue. We just wanted to get the hell out of there for our own sanity.)
Clara spoke with Her today and reminded Her that we are coming back this week and this weekend to get the remainder of our stuff. She said okay. She thanked us for letting Her have guests (?). Clara also made it very clear to not do anything with the piano (a beautiful black baby grand which my mother bought shortly after we moved to O.T.; I went with my mom to many piano stores so she could select the best one she wanted).
The Evil One said okay initially and then looked up and said, "But it's such a beautiful piano..." with Her voice trailing off since She is too cowardly to say anything outright because She probably wants to sell it. Clara was like, "NO. That is OUR MOTHER's piano. She bought it." (But of course we are leaving it there until we have a place for it. What person our age has the money to have an apartment that has space for a baby grand?)
I seriously do not know how anyone could argue to keep such a valuable heirloom that is so not that person's right to keep. What does She want next? Maybe She can dig up my mother's coffin and pick off all the jewelry off my mother's fingers.
Boo.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Stop pretending you're not the Bride of Satan
Her relatives are here. It's one middle-aged couple, their late-20's or early-30's daughter, her husband, and their child. They seem pretty nice, and I can't blame them for the sins of their (distant... or whatever) relative.
They pulled into our driveway shortly after we got home. We said hi briefly and went upstairs. (I mean, we're not going to be rude but I'm not going to start talking about how baseball season [or whatever] is going either.) Also, when we arrived in the house at the same time as Her guests, She looked over at us, SMILED, and said "hi"... what a fake! I heard the middle-aged woman exclaim how big the house is and how nice that is for HER. (Yuck. I doubt She told them that it's Her dead husband's dead first wife's house.) She had prepared food, and Her relatives asked why "the girls" (us) weren't eating. She calls us down to eat (which obviously hasn't happened in... forever), we decline, and we hear Her make an excuse about how we are so American and that we don't like Korean food.
Later, they are eating dessert, and She calls down, "Anny! Clara! Eat cake and een-sah (say hi, pay respect, etc)!" That seriously pissed me off because she was telling us to een-sah as if we were being rude and doing something wrong. Clara replied, "Rosa. We are PACKING. Because you told us to leave the house." She looked flustered because... there really was no way to argue that.
Idiot. I hope Her relatives know that She is a two-faced bitch.
They pulled into our driveway shortly after we got home. We said hi briefly and went upstairs. (I mean, we're not going to be rude but I'm not going to start talking about how baseball season [or whatever] is going either.) Also, when we arrived in the house at the same time as Her guests, She looked over at us, SMILED, and said "hi"... what a fake! I heard the middle-aged woman exclaim how big the house is and how nice that is for HER. (Yuck. I doubt She told them that it's Her dead husband's dead first wife's house.) She had prepared food, and Her relatives asked why "the girls" (us) weren't eating. She calls us down to eat (which obviously hasn't happened in... forever), we decline, and we hear Her make an excuse about how we are so American and that we don't like Korean food.
Later, they are eating dessert, and She calls down, "Anny! Clara! Eat cake and een-sah (say hi, pay respect, etc)!" That seriously pissed me off because she was telling us to een-sah as if we were being rude and doing something wrong. Clara replied, "Rosa. We are PACKING. Because you told us to leave the house." She looked flustered because... there really was no way to argue that.
Idiot. I hope Her relatives know that She is a two-faced bitch.
More grievances
Oh yeah. I forgot.
Yesterday, when She saw Clara and me packing, She told Clara, "You guys don't really have to move." Which is... absurd... because (1) Her lawyer sent us a letter demanding to know why we HAVEN'T yet moved (not that that's our reason for moving) and that (2) it just proves that She was trying to bluff her way into getting easy rent from us instead of getting gross tenants. (But we're honestly thrilled to move anyway. Just annoyed that we actually have to transport our stuff.)
Also. She thinks we are a cleaning service. Mostly we are trying to get our precious parents' stuff out of the house so it doesn't rot without the presence of our protection (kind of like Petunia Evans's blood protection for Harry Potter only until he stops calling Privet Drive his home)... we aren't trying to clean up the house for Her. She asked Clara to clean out my dad's office.
F---. You.
On the funny side, She apparently did not realize that my dad saved all my mom's stuff and just stored it in the storage area (that She apparently never visits). HA.
Yesterday, when She saw Clara and me packing, She told Clara, "You guys don't really have to move." Which is... absurd... because (1) Her lawyer sent us a letter demanding to know why we HAVEN'T yet moved (not that that's our reason for moving) and that (2) it just proves that She was trying to bluff her way into getting easy rent from us instead of getting gross tenants. (But we're honestly thrilled to move anyway. Just annoyed that we actually have to transport our stuff.)
Also. She thinks we are a cleaning service. Mostly we are trying to get our precious parents' stuff out of the house so it doesn't rot without the presence of our protection (kind of like Petunia Evans's blood protection for Harry Potter only until he stops calling Privet Drive his home)... we aren't trying to clean up the house for Her. She asked Clara to clean out my dad's office.
F---. You.
On the funny side, She apparently did not realize that my dad saved all my mom's stuff and just stored it in the storage area (that She apparently never visits). HA.
Annoying
Today, my sister and She went through some stuff in the kitchen to clearly determine which stuff is our mother's and which stuff was bought post-Her marriage. (Notice that I didn't say "Her stuff"... because my mother worked and contributed to the business and therefore earned household money while She only spends it without actually working.)
Ridiculous thing #1: She told my sister, "Don't take the [Cutco] knives. Your dad bought those for me." I used to work (like everyone else) at Vector (for like a month... just enough time to get my dad and some other relatives to feel sorry for me and make a purchase). If anything, my dad bought those for ME... to make me feel like I was good at my first "real" job (gag), the way parents buy Girl Scout cookies to help their daughters win more badges. I can't believe that She would argue that he bought them for Her. Granted, I'm not going to argue for a few knives (which was actually very excellent quality), but Clara didn't even bring up the topic; SHE did because She wants to get anything worth anything in value for Herself. Anyway, Clara pointed it out that my dad bought them because of me, but She replied that our dad didn't tell us (daughters) everything and that there was a lot we didn't know. GAG! Yeah, right.
Ridiculous thing #2: She told my sister that She wanted the treadmill. Uh... the treadmill that my dad bought because I went on a crazy exercise binge in 2002? The treadmill that only I in the household ever used? Neither She nor my dad ever... EVER used the treadmill. Again, Clara did not bring up the treadmill... She brought it up first to ensure that we 'understood' that or something. (Why would we ask about it? Who our age has room for a treadmill in their apartment?) She probably only wants it so She can sell it because She's greedy.
Ridiculous thing #3: She told my sister that once the insurance stuff was done, She wanted the store computers back in the house. My sister tried to explain, "They're not JUST yours. They're all of ours. They're 1/3 for each of us. We'll discuss it when it's done." Then She kept arguing (without listening) that She wanted them back. This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE because Her own reasoning for NOT CONTRIBUTING to the insurance process is that She does not know how to use the computers, but She just wants anything of value. (Repeat... IF THE SEWING MACHINES GO MISSING, SHE PROBABLY TOOK THEM.)
She is so ridiculous. I'm going to vomit now.
Ridiculous thing #1: She told my sister, "Don't take the [Cutco] knives. Your dad bought those for me." I used to work (like everyone else) at Vector (for like a month... just enough time to get my dad and some other relatives to feel sorry for me and make a purchase). If anything, my dad bought those for ME... to make me feel like I was good at my first "real" job (gag), the way parents buy Girl Scout cookies to help their daughters win more badges. I can't believe that She would argue that he bought them for Her. Granted, I'm not going to argue for a few knives (which was actually very excellent quality), but Clara didn't even bring up the topic; SHE did because She wants to get anything worth anything in value for Herself. Anyway, Clara pointed it out that my dad bought them because of me, but She replied that our dad didn't tell us (daughters) everything and that there was a lot we didn't know. GAG! Yeah, right.
Ridiculous thing #2: She told my sister that She wanted the treadmill. Uh... the treadmill that my dad bought because I went on a crazy exercise binge in 2002? The treadmill that only I in the household ever used? Neither She nor my dad ever... EVER used the treadmill. Again, Clara did not bring up the treadmill... She brought it up first to ensure that we 'understood' that or something. (Why would we ask about it? Who our age has room for a treadmill in their apartment?) She probably only wants it so She can sell it because She's greedy.
Ridiculous thing #3: She told my sister that once the insurance stuff was done, She wanted the store computers back in the house. My sister tried to explain, "They're not JUST yours. They're all of ours. They're 1/3 for each of us. We'll discuss it when it's done." Then She kept arguing (without listening) that She wanted them back. This makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE because Her own reasoning for NOT CONTRIBUTING to the insurance process is that She does not know how to use the computers, but She just wants anything of value. (Repeat... IF THE SEWING MACHINES GO MISSING, SHE PROBABLY TOOK THEM.)
She is so ridiculous. I'm going to vomit now.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
She is still an idiot
Today, Clara was talking to HER about our moving out. At some point, SHE said, "Oh, well you know, you guys don't really have to move out."
Idiot. She probably realizes now that we're not bluffing and that we're actually moving out, and she might have to fend for herself.
Also, Clara asked her about seven times (literally) about whether SHE wants Clara to hook up the karaoke machine upstairs, and she said, "What?" like seven times.
Idiot.
Idiot. She probably realizes now that we're not bluffing and that we're actually moving out, and she might have to fend for herself.
Also, Clara asked her about seven times (literally) about whether SHE wants Clara to hook up the karaoke machine upstairs, and she said, "What?" like seven times.
Idiot.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Liar liar, pants on fire
Clara went to R.O.S.A. this morning because she wanted to ask her something about the last tax return for the building. Then, Clara asked her why she was at home and not at her supposed church meeting. Flustered, R.O.S.A. responded that she canceled the meeting because she and her church people "got everything done last night." Then apparently she kept elaborating and also made it seem like the meeting was just canceled.
Changing of details? Flustering? I SMELL A LIAR!
(Sheesh, if you're going to lie, at least leave the house for two hours in the morning to pretend like you had something to do. She can't even keep her lies straight.)
It bugs me because she doesn't even have the gall to admit that she's scared of committing to a meeting. Not even a DECISION... a MEETING.
Furthermore, she told Clara that she is having some relatives over our house this weekend whom she hasn't seen in 30 years. They don't know about Dad or the fire, so she wants to tell them in person.
PROBLEMS WITH THIS SCENARIO:
1. If you haven't seen them in 30 years, why are they visiting now?
2. If they are your relatives, how could they not know about YOUR HUSBAND'S DEATH FROM A YEAR AGO? Wouldn't other relatives have told them?
The most logical thing that comes to mind is that these relatives maybe want to see what R.O.S.A. has inherited although since they supposedly don't know about Dad's death... it just seems really fishy, and none of these details add up.
Also, R.O.S.A. agreed to us that we could take whatever is "ours" and our mother's, aka our furniture in our room (duh, our parents bought it for us) and Mom's stuff (notably dishware). In the will, my dad technically gave her all the furnishings but R.O.S.A. has told us repeatedly in the past that we could have everything since it is all our parents' and she doesn't want it. (Although I think things have changed since she wants to supposedly rent the house out.) So I think she will probably keep most of the furniture (although she agreed we'd give some of our furniture to our cousins on our dad's side), but we are definitely taking our mom's stuff (most of which doesn't get used now anyway since it's fancy dishware and everything). And obviously, anything in our rooms is our stuff anyway, and we've been working adults for awhile now and buying most of our things anyway.
Oh yes, and our lawyers are annoyed that she is uncooperative. Our Korean lawyer said that as of yesterday he had not hear from HER lawyer. Annoying.
More to come.
Changing of details? Flustering? I SMELL A LIAR!
(Sheesh, if you're going to lie, at least leave the house for two hours in the morning to pretend like you had something to do. She can't even keep her lies straight.)
It bugs me because she doesn't even have the gall to admit that she's scared of committing to a meeting. Not even a DECISION... a MEETING.
Furthermore, she told Clara that she is having some relatives over our house this weekend whom she hasn't seen in 30 years. They don't know about Dad or the fire, so she wants to tell them in person.
PROBLEMS WITH THIS SCENARIO:
1. If you haven't seen them in 30 years, why are they visiting now?
2. If they are your relatives, how could they not know about YOUR HUSBAND'S DEATH FROM A YEAR AGO? Wouldn't other relatives have told them?
The most logical thing that comes to mind is that these relatives maybe want to see what R.O.S.A. has inherited although since they supposedly don't know about Dad's death... it just seems really fishy, and none of these details add up.
Also, R.O.S.A. agreed to us that we could take whatever is "ours" and our mother's, aka our furniture in our room (duh, our parents bought it for us) and Mom's stuff (notably dishware). In the will, my dad technically gave her all the furnishings but R.O.S.A. has told us repeatedly in the past that we could have everything since it is all our parents' and she doesn't want it. (Although I think things have changed since she wants to supposedly rent the house out.) So I think she will probably keep most of the furniture (although she agreed we'd give some of our furniture to our cousins on our dad's side), but we are definitely taking our mom's stuff (most of which doesn't get used now anyway since it's fancy dishware and everything). And obviously, anything in our rooms is our stuff anyway, and we've been working adults for awhile now and buying most of our things anyway.
Oh yes, and our lawyers are annoyed that she is uncooperative. Our Korean lawyer said that as of yesterday he had not hear from HER lawyer. Annoying.
More to come.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Idiot is an idiot
My sister and I (and our lawyers) are trying to schedule a meeting with Idiot and her lawyer. In the past, Idiot has always said to us to just let her know whenever there is a meeting about anything and that she'd be there. (Considering that she does no work and that she disappears from time to time from the house in what I suspect are attempts to pretend that she IS doing something useful with her life, I see no reason why she should be unable to make any meeting.)
After speaking with our lawyers, my sister and I suggested a meeting on Friday. When I mentioned it to Idiot last night, she agreed and then came back to me five minutes later claiming that she had to be at church. (Be at church at 8:30 am on a Friday morning...? Don't people at church work too?) This is pretty fishy because she is always at home at that time. I don't doubt that she spends a lot of time at church but certainly not at 8:30 am. I suspect that she probably didn't want to agree to a meeting... which makes no sense to me because it's in all of our best interests to finish up everything as quickly as possible. (Plus, it just racks up more and more legal fees if we prolong this.) But in the end, she told me that she'd have a sure answer for me tomorrow (aka today).
Tonight, I ask her about whether she'd be able to make the meeting. (Of course I had to approach her. She never approaches us for anything which is ridiculous. Would we just live in this limbo if we never approached her, ever?) She said that she had spoken with HER lawyer and that her lawyer was "going to talk" with our (Korean) lawyer and that I should then talk to my lawyer. (This conversation was all very calm except there was bafflement on my part, as usual when speaking with Idiot.) I asked her why she couldn't just tell me right now (when I was in front of her) whether or not she could make the meeting (and of course bring her lawyer) instead of going back and forth with our lawyers. As usual, she evaded my question and just said that "eventually" we'd have a meeting. I said yes, but if we were eventually going to have a meeting, why couldn't we have one right away because even if our lawyers just speak, the three of us would eventually have to talk together anyway. She again did not answer my question and just stated that our lawyers would talk.
I asked her straight out whether she agreed that it was in everybody's best interest to be done with everything as soon as possible. She agreed and said, "That is my hope." But her actions speak otherwise.
I suspect that she is afraid that if we settle this as soon as possible (before everything with the insurance companies is finished), she is afraid that SHE will have to take on the responsibilities instead of leaning on my sister to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING). Clara has asked her on several occasions to do some inane tasks (because she wants to just feel as though Idiot is participating SOMEHOW even in the tiniest degree) but she has not done them. Idiot uses the excuse of not knowing how to use the computer system (which only strengthens our side that she has almost no participation with the business itself if she does not know how to use the computer system while minimally educated migrant workers are proficient). She also allowed my sister to thank her for highlighting certain customer names from a thick pile of tickets (of the remaining inventory) without telling my sister that she did not actually look at it or do anything. When my sister confronted her about it later that night, Idiot said that she had had no time to look at it and that her eyes (again, the EYES... she drives EVERYWHERE) were bothering her. My sister said that she had no problem with that (since it is true that my sister took it back one day later) but that she does not understand why Idiot allowed my sister to thank her repeatedly for the one task that my sister asked her to complete.
Obnoxious.
If Idiot prolongs this whole legal process and racks up extra legal fees on OUR side, she better compensate. (Yeah, right.)
After speaking with our lawyers, my sister and I suggested a meeting on Friday. When I mentioned it to Idiot last night, she agreed and then came back to me five minutes later claiming that she had to be at church. (Be at church at 8:30 am on a Friday morning...? Don't people at church work too?) This is pretty fishy because she is always at home at that time. I don't doubt that she spends a lot of time at church but certainly not at 8:30 am. I suspect that she probably didn't want to agree to a meeting... which makes no sense to me because it's in all of our best interests to finish up everything as quickly as possible. (Plus, it just racks up more and more legal fees if we prolong this.) But in the end, she told me that she'd have a sure answer for me tomorrow (aka today).
Tonight, I ask her about whether she'd be able to make the meeting. (Of course I had to approach her. She never approaches us for anything which is ridiculous. Would we just live in this limbo if we never approached her, ever?) She said that she had spoken with HER lawyer and that her lawyer was "going to talk" with our (Korean) lawyer and that I should then talk to my lawyer. (This conversation was all very calm except there was bafflement on my part, as usual when speaking with Idiot.) I asked her why she couldn't just tell me right now (when I was in front of her) whether or not she could make the meeting (and of course bring her lawyer) instead of going back and forth with our lawyers. As usual, she evaded my question and just said that "eventually" we'd have a meeting. I said yes, but if we were eventually going to have a meeting, why couldn't we have one right away because even if our lawyers just speak, the three of us would eventually have to talk together anyway. She again did not answer my question and just stated that our lawyers would talk.
I asked her straight out whether she agreed that it was in everybody's best interest to be done with everything as soon as possible. She agreed and said, "That is my hope." But her actions speak otherwise.
I suspect that she is afraid that if we settle this as soon as possible (before everything with the insurance companies is finished), she is afraid that SHE will have to take on the responsibilities instead of leaning on my sister to do everything (and I mean EVERYTHING). Clara has asked her on several occasions to do some inane tasks (because she wants to just feel as though Idiot is participating SOMEHOW even in the tiniest degree) but she has not done them. Idiot uses the excuse of not knowing how to use the computer system (which only strengthens our side that she has almost no participation with the business itself if she does not know how to use the computer system while minimally educated migrant workers are proficient). She also allowed my sister to thank her for highlighting certain customer names from a thick pile of tickets (of the remaining inventory) without telling my sister that she did not actually look at it or do anything. When my sister confronted her about it later that night, Idiot said that she had had no time to look at it and that her eyes (again, the EYES... she drives EVERYWHERE) were bothering her. My sister said that she had no problem with that (since it is true that my sister took it back one day later) but that she does not understand why Idiot allowed my sister to thank her repeatedly for the one task that my sister asked her to complete.
Obnoxious.
If Idiot prolongs this whole legal process and racks up extra legal fees on OUR side, she better compensate. (Yeah, right.)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
3/18/08 - More insurance
Clara met with Business Adjuster and New CNA Insurance Guy. (They replaced the old one because he didn't have as much experience with a cleaners.) Clara got one of the checks from State Farm and deposited it.
Last night, Clara gave a list of the inventory that we still have in stock to Rosa and asked her to highlight items six months from the day of the fire. She'd previously told Clara that she'd help out in ways that don't involve the computer (since she doesn't know how to operate the computer that undocumented laborers with a rudimentary knowledge of English and an elementary school education know how to use), so Clara asked her to highlight those items. This morning when Clara asked for the list back, Rosa gave it back to her but hadn't marked up the packet at all.
:-P
Clara would've said something but had to go.
Last night, Clara gave a list of the inventory that we still have in stock to Rosa and asked her to highlight items six months from the day of the fire. She'd previously told Clara that she'd help out in ways that don't involve the computer (since she doesn't know how to operate the computer that undocumented laborers with a rudimentary knowledge of English and an elementary school education know how to use), so Clara asked her to highlight those items. This morning when Clara asked for the list back, Rosa gave it back to her but hadn't marked up the packet at all.
:-P
Clara would've said something but had to go.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
3/13/08 - Inventory
9:30 - Meeting with Inventory Guy from our adjusters. (Hope that's legit... having them send over an inventory guy.) Omar was there and very helpful with knowing every nook and cranny of the store and all the supplies. (Inventory Guy was pretty funny.)
Also, one of our parents' best friends was there. I'd called him the night before because I'd figure he want to know.
Also, Rosa had called some guy from National Cleaners Association. No idea why. On the night of the fire when she arrived at home, she'd mentioned that she should call NCA. I seriously have no idea why. Even though she's a member, I highly doubt that this guy is going to help us for nothing. Why would he? He's not getting paid, and people don't do things for free. (Anyway, I saw him and he left. He might've taken a look around inside which is hard because it's dark and I don't think people are supposed to be there anyway.)
We talked to her later that night about compensation for the workers. She mentioned that she didn't have any money. (Maybe she spent that $300K she received in life insurance from my dad's death. The same $300K she was going to use to buy out our shares a week ago!) But she said she would... probably to get us to not bug her (even though we assumed she wouldn't contribute). We were definitely not going to pressure her to do it because we don't want another letter from her quacky lawyer. But we tried to explain that it's the "right" thing to do for the people who worked their tails off to provide us with OUR nice lifestyle.
She also mentioned to us that she wanted the sewing machines from the store (even the ones set aside). She told us not to throw them away because she wanted to keep them. We tried to explain to her that they were property of the BUSINESS and not ours personally to take. She said she wanted them. We told he that we couldn't even take them because the inventory people are not done with their work yet.
But I'm putting it out there in case the sewing machines go missing later that SHE THINKS THAT THE SEWING MACHINES ARE THERE FOR HER TO CLAIM. So in case they go missing later... I want to put it on record that she said on the 13th day of March that she wanted to take the sewing machines EVEN THOUGH THEY BELONG TO THE BUSINESS.
The end.
Also, one of our parents' best friends was there. I'd called him the night before because I'd figure he want to know.
Also, Rosa had called some guy from National Cleaners Association. No idea why. On the night of the fire when she arrived at home, she'd mentioned that she should call NCA. I seriously have no idea why. Even though she's a member, I highly doubt that this guy is going to help us for nothing. Why would he? He's not getting paid, and people don't do things for free. (Anyway, I saw him and he left. He might've taken a look around inside which is hard because it's dark and I don't think people are supposed to be there anyway.)
We talked to her later that night about compensation for the workers. She mentioned that she didn't have any money. (Maybe she spent that $300K she received in life insurance from my dad's death. The same $300K she was going to use to buy out our shares a week ago!) But she said she would... probably to get us to not bug her (even though we assumed she wouldn't contribute). We were definitely not going to pressure her to do it because we don't want another letter from her quacky lawyer. But we tried to explain that it's the "right" thing to do for the people who worked their tails off to provide us with OUR nice lifestyle.
She also mentioned to us that she wanted the sewing machines from the store (even the ones set aside). She told us not to throw them away because she wanted to keep them. We tried to explain to her that they were property of the BUSINESS and not ours personally to take. She said she wanted them. We told he that we couldn't even take them because the inventory people are not done with their work yet.
But I'm putting it out there in case the sewing machines go missing later that SHE THINKS THAT THE SEWING MACHINES ARE THERE FOR HER TO CLAIM. So in case they go missing later... I want to put it on record that she said on the 13th day of March that she wanted to take the sewing machines EVEN THOUGH THEY BELONG TO THE BUSINESS.
The end.
3/12/08 - Meeting for the BUSINESS
11:30 - Meeting with L.G. of F&L (same adjusting company) and a rep from CNA, our insurance company for the business. (Rosa asks me if we have separate insurance for building and business. I say yes.)
CNA Guy asks us a lot of questions. Omar is able to help us with many of the answers since he's been at the store longer. At one point, the five of us (CNA, Adjuster, Rosa, Clara, me) are standing in a circle as L.G. and CNA read aloud the different categories of insurance we have (policies that cover machinery, clothing, personal possessions, etc.) and after about 20 minutes of going down the list, Rosa asks aloud, "What kind of insurance do we have?" to which L.G. somewhat impatiently replies, "We just went over this."
Also, the fire investigators were there that day. There was a yellow sign posted on the deli that said "EVIDENCE" and instructed people not to touch anything. The fire investigator gave us a copy of the police report from Sunday. It listed me as the landlord, Omar as the manager, Kike as the deli owner, and some guy I didn't know as a witness (who was probably there before I got to the scene). Omar nicely went to the main street to make copies for us.
When he got back, and we looked at it, everything seemed to be okay. CNA (who admitted he didn't have much experience in dry cleaning, something that Adjuster had casually mentioned to us), Adjuster, and we all say goodbye. Adjuster reminds us that the Inventory Guy from her company (uh, is this okay?) is going to come tomorrow to write everything down.
As we leave, we notice that Omar's car is right by Rosa's car on the side of the building. We dismiss it, figuring that if it's anything important, Omar will tell us.
Sure enough, later he calls us to just let us know that Rosa privately freaked out that I was listed as the landlord. She is worried that the check will be made out to MY name (does she not know how things work in life?) and thinks I'm trying to ruin her life or something when in reality she is trying to ruin mine. Omar explained it was only my name because I was there that night. (I mean, that's not even like that official!)
Oh yeah... note... police report noted that Kike did not call 911 and that he tried to take out the fire himself. Because he's an idiot.
I also bought a fire extinguisher that night for the house. Woo.
CNA Guy asks us a lot of questions. Omar is able to help us with many of the answers since he's been at the store longer. At one point, the five of us (CNA, Adjuster, Rosa, Clara, me) are standing in a circle as L.G. and CNA read aloud the different categories of insurance we have (policies that cover machinery, clothing, personal possessions, etc.) and after about 20 minutes of going down the list, Rosa asks aloud, "What kind of insurance do we have?" to which L.G. somewhat impatiently replies, "We just went over this."
Also, the fire investigators were there that day. There was a yellow sign posted on the deli that said "EVIDENCE" and instructed people not to touch anything. The fire investigator gave us a copy of the police report from Sunday. It listed me as the landlord, Omar as the manager, Kike as the deli owner, and some guy I didn't know as a witness (who was probably there before I got to the scene). Omar nicely went to the main street to make copies for us.
When he got back, and we looked at it, everything seemed to be okay. CNA (who admitted he didn't have much experience in dry cleaning, something that Adjuster had casually mentioned to us), Adjuster, and we all say goodbye. Adjuster reminds us that the Inventory Guy from her company (uh, is this okay?) is going to come tomorrow to write everything down.
As we leave, we notice that Omar's car is right by Rosa's car on the side of the building. We dismiss it, figuring that if it's anything important, Omar will tell us.
Sure enough, later he calls us to just let us know that Rosa privately freaked out that I was listed as the landlord. She is worried that the check will be made out to MY name (does she not know how things work in life?) and thinks I'm trying to ruin her life or something when in reality she is trying to ruin mine. Omar explained it was only my name because I was there that night. (I mean, that's not even like that official!)
Oh yeah... note... police report noted that Kike did not call 911 and that he tried to take out the fire himself. Because he's an idiot.
I also bought a fire extinguisher that night for the house. Woo.
3/11/08 - Meeting for the BUILDING
8:30 - Meet with J.F. in the morning in front of store. State Farm is scheduled to be there at 9:30. Rosa is there too.
Our dad's brother's wife sends over her brother (which we didn't know was happening) to "help" us since he works at a cleaners. He makes some suggestions like setting up a drop-off trailer in the store parking lot to keep the clientele. (We doubt this will work since the town would probably prohibit this; also, the whole point of having a plant instead of a drop-off is for customers to know that all the cleaning is done on the premises.) Rosa is very excited about this idea (to keep the customers) and offers to do it herself without thinking logically of the issues. (Would the town permit this? How much would it cost to keep this running? Would customers even come?)
He also suggests to salvage as much clothing as possible to clean the smoke smell out. (Even though Omar once worked at a cleaners where the fire was next-door and didn't even touch their actual store, and the smoke smell wouldn't come out.) We don't want to spend money cleaning and re-cleaning smoky clothing if we're just going to wind up paying a dissatisfied customer anyway.
When State Farm comes, J.F. arranges for us to receive a $10K advance in a check to use for our building mortgage. Apparently it's coming soon.
Rosa leaves. (She'd told us yesterday that she was supposed to have a meeting with her eye doctor the previous day because of her supposed bad eye condition which prevents her from working -- though apparently not driving.)
11:00 - National Waste Clean comes to drop off containers so we can take the chemicals and fill them. (They don't pump it out themselves; they only come to pick it up.)
OTHER THINGS:
(1) As per request of State Farm, we go to the office to drop off a copy of the latest mortgage statement. Our rep is going to send it to the State Farm adjuster.
(2) We deposit Saturday's money in the bank.
(3) We go to the post office to forward our store mail to a new address.
Our dad's brother's wife sends over her brother (which we didn't know was happening) to "help" us since he works at a cleaners. He makes some suggestions like setting up a drop-off trailer in the store parking lot to keep the clientele. (We doubt this will work since the town would probably prohibit this; also, the whole point of having a plant instead of a drop-off is for customers to know that all the cleaning is done on the premises.) Rosa is very excited about this idea (to keep the customers) and offers to do it herself without thinking logically of the issues. (Would the town permit this? How much would it cost to keep this running? Would customers even come?)
He also suggests to salvage as much clothing as possible to clean the smoke smell out. (Even though Omar once worked at a cleaners where the fire was next-door and didn't even touch their actual store, and the smoke smell wouldn't come out.) We don't want to spend money cleaning and re-cleaning smoky clothing if we're just going to wind up paying a dissatisfied customer anyway.
When State Farm comes, J.F. arranges for us to receive a $10K advance in a check to use for our building mortgage. Apparently it's coming soon.
Rosa leaves. (She'd told us yesterday that she was supposed to have a meeting with her eye doctor the previous day because of her supposed bad eye condition which prevents her from working -- though apparently not driving.)
11:00 - National Waste Clean comes to drop off containers so we can take the chemicals and fill them. (They don't pump it out themselves; they only come to pick it up.)
OTHER THINGS:
(1) As per request of State Farm, we go to the office to drop off a copy of the latest mortgage statement. Our rep is going to send it to the State Farm adjuster.
(2) We deposit Saturday's money in the bank.
(3) We go to the post office to forward our store mail to a new address.
Friday, March 14, 2008
3/10/08 - Immediate fire aftermath
Clara and I ("we") notify our insurance companies while on the road (I am driving; Clara is calling). (We have two separate insurance companies; one handles the business and the other handles the actual building.)
At 9:30, we arrive at the store (which is all boarded). Public adjusters everywhere. ROSA ASKS ME IF WE HAVE STORE INSURANCE BECAUSE SHE IS A DUMBASS AND IS SO FAR REMOVED FROM WORKING IN ANY CAPACITY AT THE STORE THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING AS GENERAL AS THAT. I say yes.
Three sets of our aunts/uncles are there (Nam, Kim, Hallelujah Man and his wife). Lots of customers milling around: some express sympathy and tell us to forget about their clothes; others demand to know when they will be reimbursed because their clothing is so top-quality. We spend a lot of time fighting off public adjusters all morning.
We talk to our rep (M.L.) at the State Farm office on Fifth Ave. Can't remember what we talked about since mostly we were trying to get away from public adjusters. We did however get the name of the lawyer who assisted my dad with buying the property in the late 1990's. (Of course we weren't involved in that or knew anything about the details.) We called her (L.S.) and she suggested a specific public adjuster company (F&L). The rep tells us that a State Farm adjuster will call us before 16:00 and he'd call us to confirm that someone did call.
The Nams leave; the Kims and Hallelujah people take me, Clara, and Rosa out to lunch. At the end of lunch, Rosa cries, and I have to control my laughter because she sucks. On the drive back to the store, she wails to my uncles, "WHY is this happening? How can this happen to the girls? First they lose their mom, then their dad, and now this!" and I WANT TO PUNCH THE STUPIDITY OUT OF HER FOR DARING TO MENTION MY MOTHER OR EVEN MY FATHER WHEN SHE IS TRYING TO PRETEND SHE CARES ABOUT OUR WELL-BEING WHEN SHE IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER MY FATHER'S ESTATE THAT HE BUILT UP WITH MY MOM!
Rosa leaves shortly after my aunts and uncles leave. Omar, Clara, and I stand in front of the store for like two hours just staring. Singh joins us. Clara and I get a phone call from the State Farm adjuster (D.G.) to meet the next day at 9:30. ML calls us to confirm that the adjuster called, and he suggests not having a public adjuster there because public adjusters suck out all our money. We say bye to Omar and Singh, confirm with ML in person about the appointment tomorrow, and talk to the FD in person to make sure we can call them tomorrow to let the State Farm people inside. We leave Pelham around 16:30 (?) and later go to our aunt's store in NJ to talk about stuff. We get a phone call (we'd been getting phone calls all day from public adjusters, news reporters, clients who heard about the fire and somehow got our numbers) from a lady who supposedly used F&L and she just RAVED about them... even though I was aware that she could've just been somebody's mother there. But we call F&L and make an appointment to meet with the guy at 19:30 back at the store.
We meet JF (the F in F&L) and his colleague M). We sign an agreement to use them and agree to meet with them the following morning at 8:30 (since State Farm will be there at 9:30).
Dinner at our aunt's.
At 9:30, we arrive at the store (which is all boarded). Public adjusters everywhere. ROSA ASKS ME IF WE HAVE STORE INSURANCE BECAUSE SHE IS A DUMBASS AND IS SO FAR REMOVED FROM WORKING IN ANY CAPACITY AT THE STORE THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW SOMETHING AS GENERAL AS THAT. I say yes.
Three sets of our aunts/uncles are there (Nam, Kim, Hallelujah Man and his wife). Lots of customers milling around: some express sympathy and tell us to forget about their clothes; others demand to know when they will be reimbursed because their clothing is so top-quality. We spend a lot of time fighting off public adjusters all morning.
We talk to our rep (M.L.) at the State Farm office on Fifth Ave. Can't remember what we talked about since mostly we were trying to get away from public adjusters. We did however get the name of the lawyer who assisted my dad with buying the property in the late 1990's. (Of course we weren't involved in that or knew anything about the details.) We called her (L.S.) and she suggested a specific public adjuster company (F&L). The rep tells us that a State Farm adjuster will call us before 16:00 and he'd call us to confirm that someone did call.
The Nams leave; the Kims and Hallelujah people take me, Clara, and Rosa out to lunch. At the end of lunch, Rosa cries, and I have to control my laughter because she sucks. On the drive back to the store, she wails to my uncles, "WHY is this happening? How can this happen to the girls? First they lose their mom, then their dad, and now this!" and I WANT TO PUNCH THE STUPIDITY OUT OF HER FOR DARING TO MENTION MY MOTHER OR EVEN MY FATHER WHEN SHE IS TRYING TO PRETEND SHE CARES ABOUT OUR WELL-BEING WHEN SHE IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER MY FATHER'S ESTATE THAT HE BUILT UP WITH MY MOM!
Rosa leaves shortly after my aunts and uncles leave. Omar, Clara, and I stand in front of the store for like two hours just staring. Singh joins us. Clara and I get a phone call from the State Farm adjuster (D.G.) to meet the next day at 9:30. ML calls us to confirm that the adjuster called, and he suggests not having a public adjuster there because public adjusters suck out all our money. We say bye to Omar and Singh, confirm with ML in person about the appointment tomorrow, and talk to the FD in person to make sure we can call them tomorrow to let the State Farm people inside. We leave Pelham around 16:30 (?) and later go to our aunt's store in NJ to talk about stuff. We get a phone call (we'd been getting phone calls all day from public adjusters, news reporters, clients who heard about the fire and somehow got our numbers) from a lady who supposedly used F&L and she just RAVED about them... even though I was aware that she could've just been somebody's mother there. But we call F&L and make an appointment to meet with the guy at 19:30 back at the store.
We meet JF (the F in F&L) and his colleague M). We sign an agreement to use them and agree to meet with them the following morning at 8:30 (since State Farm will be there at 9:30).
Dinner at our aunt's.
3/9/08 - THE FIRE
18:30 - The fire evidently starts in Kike's office
18:45 - Omar calls me to inform me of the fire and will let me know how bad it is and whether Clara and I need to be there
18:50 - Omar tells us to get there immediately; he's on his way too
18:55 - Omar tells us that everything (deli and cleaners) is destroyed
19:20 - Clara and I arrive; lots of fire trucks everywhere; we don't see any fire since it's mostly smoke by now but there's still a lot of it and there are fire people from Pelham, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon (three-alarm fire)
-----
Omar's family, Clara, and I stayed until about 11. Once we got there, Clara left two messages for Rosa on her cell phone (which was probably turned off because she was probably at church) saying that there was a fire at the store and that she should get here right away. We answer some questions that PD and FD people ask us, including some questions about Kike as a tenant. I tell them about the difficulties of getting rent (how he still owes me $1,000 and how next month's rent was due the following day, March 10) and how he showed me a Con Ed bill the week prior for the amount of more than $9,000. (Omar mentioned that Kike owed the guy who did his surveillance cameras at least $30,000.)
When we got there, we didn't see Kike at all. Apparently he'd gone to the hospital right before we arrived. Originally I heard that he was there for smoke inhalation, but later I heard that he was there for shock (or something). Apparently he exited his store and collapsed. (Still not sure about the veracity of what I'd heard, but he was definitely in the hospital and the police did question him.)
Omar, Clara, and I were mostly waiting there for the guy from the boarding company (Cipco) to come board up the storefront (since it was made of glass) and the roof since it was destroyed. (Someone from the PD gave me the Cipco contact information; he drove to Pelham from Long Island.) At this point, the building is still pretty much standing except someone from the FD said that the steel rods were melted (?) and that apparently means that the roof might collapse. The Cipco guy arrived and he had to wait a bit for the FD to give him safety permission to board it all up.
At 22:30, Rosa calls my cell phone since Clara's phone is off. I don't think she understood Clara's messages, so I tell her that there was a fire that started in the deli and that the store is all destroyed. She says in broken English, "What's WRONG with it?" (I have no idea what she means.) Then she hangs up.
After talking to the Cipco guy and the PD, we all leave around 23:00. When Clara and I arrive home about 45 minutes later, Rosa is not home but the lights are on. Ashley's mom calls me at 0:15 because Rosa had just called HER from the store to tell her about the fire. (We must've just missed Rosa at the store.) Rosa arrives at home a bit after 1:00.
Also tonight, Con Ed comes to cut off service to the building (electric and gas).
-----
CHANGE IN PURPOSE OF THE BLOG
Since I obviously have no more rent to collect from that IDIOT, this is mostly being used now to record all the stuff that I'm too lazy to write out by hand so I have a place to remember what I did in the days and weeks after the fire...
Also, on the evening of 2/28, Rosa handed me a paper copy of the letter from her attorney. I think she did that because Clara and I had made no mention of the letter to her (because we wanted to speak to our lawyers first) even though we'd possessed an electronic copy since two weeks before that. The following evening, Clara asked her about the letter (while I was out), and Rosa claimed that she'd never read the letter.
(NO, I am not joking.)
Random rant: If Rosa did not actually read the letter (which is entirely possible since she is a complete idiot), it is ridiculous that anyone would hire an attorney to write a threatening letter to somebody with YOUR name attached and not read the actual letter. But if Rosa DID read the letter and is just lying about it (which is entirely possible since she is a complete idiot), she is a total coward and has no dignity to own up to the fact that she is trying to take over my dad's estate. Either way... she is a complete idiot.
18:45 - Omar calls me to inform me of the fire and will let me know how bad it is and whether Clara and I need to be there
18:50 - Omar tells us to get there immediately; he's on his way too
18:55 - Omar tells us that everything (deli and cleaners) is destroyed
19:20 - Clara and I arrive; lots of fire trucks everywhere; we don't see any fire since it's mostly smoke by now but there's still a lot of it and there are fire people from Pelham, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon (three-alarm fire)
-----
Omar's family, Clara, and I stayed until about 11. Once we got there, Clara left two messages for Rosa on her cell phone (which was probably turned off because she was probably at church) saying that there was a fire at the store and that she should get here right away. We answer some questions that PD and FD people ask us, including some questions about Kike as a tenant. I tell them about the difficulties of getting rent (how he still owes me $1,000 and how next month's rent was due the following day, March 10) and how he showed me a Con Ed bill the week prior for the amount of more than $9,000. (Omar mentioned that Kike owed the guy who did his surveillance cameras at least $30,000.)
When we got there, we didn't see Kike at all. Apparently he'd gone to the hospital right before we arrived. Originally I heard that he was there for smoke inhalation, but later I heard that he was there for shock (or something). Apparently he exited his store and collapsed. (Still not sure about the veracity of what I'd heard, but he was definitely in the hospital and the police did question him.)
Omar, Clara, and I were mostly waiting there for the guy from the boarding company (Cipco) to come board up the storefront (since it was made of glass) and the roof since it was destroyed. (Someone from the PD gave me the Cipco contact information; he drove to Pelham from Long Island.) At this point, the building is still pretty much standing except someone from the FD said that the steel rods were melted (?) and that apparently means that the roof might collapse. The Cipco guy arrived and he had to wait a bit for the FD to give him safety permission to board it all up.
At 22:30, Rosa calls my cell phone since Clara's phone is off. I don't think she understood Clara's messages, so I tell her that there was a fire that started in the deli and that the store is all destroyed. She says in broken English, "What's WRONG with it?" (I have no idea what she means.) Then she hangs up.
After talking to the Cipco guy and the PD, we all leave around 23:00. When Clara and I arrive home about 45 minutes later, Rosa is not home but the lights are on. Ashley's mom calls me at 0:15 because Rosa had just called HER from the store to tell her about the fire. (We must've just missed Rosa at the store.) Rosa arrives at home a bit after 1:00.
Also tonight, Con Ed comes to cut off service to the building (electric and gas).
-----
CHANGE IN PURPOSE OF THE BLOG
Since I obviously have no more rent to collect from that IDIOT, this is mostly being used now to record all the stuff that I'm too lazy to write out by hand so I have a place to remember what I did in the days and weeks after the fire...
Also, on the evening of 2/28, Rosa handed me a paper copy of the letter from her attorney. I think she did that because Clara and I had made no mention of the letter to her (because we wanted to speak to our lawyers first) even though we'd possessed an electronic copy since two weeks before that. The following evening, Clara asked her about the letter (while I was out), and Rosa claimed that she'd never read the letter.
(NO, I am not joking.)
Random rant: If Rosa did not actually read the letter (which is entirely possible since she is a complete idiot), it is ridiculous that anyone would hire an attorney to write a threatening letter to somebody with YOUR name attached and not read the actual letter. But if Rosa DID read the letter and is just lying about it (which is entirely possible since she is a complete idiot), she is a total coward and has no dignity to own up to the fact that she is trying to take over my dad's estate. Either way... she is a complete idiot.
BIG UPDATE
2/11/08 - Gave $1,000 cash to Rosa for "food" for Dad's memorial (at her insistence)
2/13/08 - Kike said maybe $2K by Saturday (2/16)
2/13/08 - Received Rosa's threatening letter from her lawyer via email from our lawyer
2/16/08 - Didn't bother asking Kike about the rent
2/18/08 - Kike said no money yet and expressed his wish that Felix (co-owner who isn't at the deli day-to-day) take over the entire store since he's making no money
2/20/08 - Kike said $2,000 cash tomorrow
2/21/08 - Kike gave Clara $2,000 in cash (still $2,078.13 left)
2/25/08 - Kike said $2,080 "by end of month"
3/1/08 - $80 from Kike ($2,000 left); he said he'd give us the rest by "early next week"
3/4/08 - Kike said the rest of the money tomorrow
3/5/08 - $1,000 cash from Kike ($1,000 left)
3/7/08 - Kike said he'd give us $1,000 "next week"
3/9/08 - BIG FUCKING FIRE THAT STARTED IN KIKE'S OFFICE WHEN THE CLEANERS WAS CLOSED... HE DIDN'T EVEN CALL 911!
2/13/08 - Kike said maybe $2K by Saturday (2/16)
2/13/08 - Received Rosa's threatening letter from her lawyer via email from our lawyer
2/16/08 - Didn't bother asking Kike about the rent
2/18/08 - Kike said no money yet and expressed his wish that Felix (co-owner who isn't at the deli day-to-day) take over the entire store since he's making no money
2/20/08 - Kike said $2,000 cash tomorrow
2/21/08 - Kike gave Clara $2,000 in cash (still $2,078.13 left)
2/25/08 - Kike said $2,080 "by end of month"
3/1/08 - $80 from Kike ($2,000 left); he said he'd give us the rest by "early next week"
3/4/08 - Kike said the rest of the money tomorrow
3/5/08 - $1,000 cash from Kike ($1,000 left)
3/7/08 - Kike said he'd give us $1,000 "next week"
3/9/08 - BIG FUCKING FIRE THAT STARTED IN KIKE'S OFFICE WHEN THE CLEANERS WAS CLOSED... HE DIDN'T EVEN CALL 911!
Friday, February 1, 2008
2/1/08 - Rent PAID
13:00 - Tenant's future son-in-law gave me check for full amount. Rent due again in nine days!
Monday, January 28, 2008
1/28/08 - Latest lies from Tenant
1/05/08 - $200 paid in cash (December 2007 rent)
1/10/08 - JANUARY RENT DUE
1/12/08 - $1,000 paid in cash (DECEMBER 2007 COMPLETED)
1/19/08 (Sat.) - Tenant said he'd give it to me the following week
1/21/08 - Tenant said he'd let me know "tomorrow" how much and when he'd be able to give me the rent
1/23/08 - Said "maybe" he'd give it to me sometime this week
1/25/08 (Fri.) - Said his future son-in-law would give it to me "next week"
1/28/08 - Said he'd give it to me on Friday (FEBRUARY)
1/10/08 - JANUARY RENT DUE
1/12/08 - $1,000 paid in cash (DECEMBER 2007 COMPLETED)
1/19/08 (Sat.) - Tenant said he'd give it to me the following week
1/21/08 - Tenant said he'd let me know "tomorrow" how much and when he'd be able to give me the rent
1/23/08 - Said "maybe" he'd give it to me sometime this week
1/25/08 (Fri.) - Said his future son-in-law would give it to me "next week"
1/28/08 - Said he'd give it to me on Friday (FEBRUARY)
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
1/2/08 - Rent update
Spoke with Tenant. He "had issues" with Con Edison and the lottery guy. Doesn't know when he'll have the money for me. Apparently knows that rent is due again on the 10th.
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