2003-02-01 - 10:30 p.m.
No post tonight. Just a moment of silence for the Space Shuttle crew.
2003-01-31 - 10:03 p.m.
I haven't done the The Friday Five in such a long time! So here you go:
1. As a child, who was your favorite superhero/heroine? Why?
Speed Racer, of course! I come from a very car oriented family (to give you an idea, my 65 year old Dad drives a Corvette!) So naturally, Speed Racer was my hero!
2. What was one thing you always wanted as a child but never got?
I wanted perfect knees!! I was born with bad knees...bad, bad!!! I had to have many surgeries when I was young to correct them.
3. What's the furthest from home you've been?
The furthest I've been is London. My love and I went there for New Year's on the first year that we were together. It was fabulous!
4. What's one thing you've always wanted to learn but haven't yet?
Spanish! I keep taking those online courses, but I can't seem to stay motivated enough to actually learn anything! I really want to, though....in L.A. sooooo many people speak Spanish......almost every day I find I'm in a situation where I need to communicate with someone who doesn't speak English.
5. What are your plans for the weekend?
Tomorrow, I'm going to the Vintage Fashion Expo in Santa Monica....and try not to buy anything! Then, I hope to wash my car....it is down right filthy.
2003-01-30 - 11:06 p.m.
So Illusionaire asks, "How did you get into property management at such a young age?" (warning....this might be a long story.....but I'll try to keep it as short as possible!)
Well.....way back in the 1980's, in Seattle, it was becoming sort of cool and trendy to rent a warehouse space....convert it into a living space.....and call it an artist studio or loft. There were movies at that time that made it seem glamorous....and I'd met a few people who had actually done it. Since I was just about to graduate from highschool....and desperate to move out on my own....I though this would be the way to go. Plus it was much cheaper (in those days) to rent warehouse space than to rent an apartment.
So I started reading all the classifieds...looking for something, anything. I had never looked for an apartment before....much less a warehouse....I didn't know what I was doing. But then I got very very lucky. And because I was 17....I was fearless.....so I jumped right in. I found a 14,000 square foot warehouse for rent at an unbeliveably cheap price.
It was just raw, open space....but I figured that if I divided it up into several spaces, I could rent them out and make a profit. (Mind you, I had know idea what I was getting into....I was 17!) I had $1200....just enough to put down the first months rent (see, I told you it was cheap!!).....then I had 30 days to make it happen. And it happened! Miraculously, within that 30 days, I found renters who were willing to build walls and collectively put in a shower! It was an amazing group effort. I was very very lucky!
Then, a year later, the building across the street became available, and I rented another 21,000 square feet. At this point, I became not so lucky. I finally learned the meaning of "Property Management"! I had all sorts of bad luck, bad tenants, bad plumbing.....I learned a lot! Eventually, I got everything sorted out....but only after becoming extremely good friends with the fire department, the building department, the housing authority, the department of land use, etc, etc. It was no picnic. There were many tears shed and many, many hard times. But I was able to pull it together and make a good living at it. All in all, I had 36 tenants.
Then....after I had been there seven years, the owner of the buildings realized that he could make a lot more money if he got rid of me. (Of course he had no idea the work I was doing to keep everything running smoothly!) So after much negotiation and heartbreak.....I sold my business to him and moved into the building in Astoria (which I had bought a year earlier). I heard that after I left the buildings in Seattle....the tenants started leaving....and now one of the buildings has been demolished.....the other lies vacant.
That's really it in a nutshell....if I gave you the long version, you would see that it's a really long and convoluted story! But you don't want to hear all the gooey underside.....it would take me years to write all that!!
OK....goodnight everyone!!
comments??? (3 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2003-01-30 - 4:50 p.m.
Hmmmmmm.......
comments??? (1 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2003-01-28 - 11:07 p.m.
So that article about my shop in Astoria finally came out....yay! I wouldn't have known about it (since I'm in Los Angeles right now) but I was on the phone to the utility company up there.....and the woman said "hey....I know you! there's an article in the paper about you today!!" Wow....my fifteen minutes of fame! Anyway....you should click on over and check it out (I don't know how long that link will last). The guy did a pretty good job...but I do wish I could go in and edit it a little....just to fluff it up a teeny bit!!
Too bad I'm not in Astoria right now.....to bask in my new found fame! *wink*
comments??? (2 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2003-01-28 - 1:01 a.m.
All of a sudden I'm sucked in on this Blogwhore thing! I've just stumbled across it....and found this interesting blog (Lizvang.com).....with a post talking about someone in the witness protection program!?! You must go and check it out!.....Plus one of the judges in this event is the fabulous Jadedju!
I don't completely have any of the details of this thing....in fact, I know nothing! But there is some good surfing material here....just go on in and look around....that's what I'm doing!
comments??? (2 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2003-01-27 - 11:48 p.m.
I am obsessed with sheets. I have been know to spend enormous amounts of money on bedding.....even if it means going without things...like new clothes or wood for the fire! To me, there are few things better than climbing into a freshly made bed....with the fluffiest of pillows and the softest of fine sheets!
I think this obsession began when I realized that I am an insomniac....I seemed to lack the ability to sleep! At first, I started buying expensive sheets thinking that maybe it would help me sleep....and over time I've realized that if you're going to be awake tossing and turning all night....it's much more enjoyable to do that on good sheets! It hasn't helped me sleep any better....but now I'm addicted.
So goodnight everyone.....I'm going to go crawl into bed. Oh! Did I mention that I got new sheets today?!
comments??? (2 so far...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Of course, you know, all of this is copy right protected. None of this information may be reproduced without my permission.