My cunning plan to largely avoid teh intertoobz over the weekend was ultimately not very helpful to my mental state.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Got word last Friday afternoon that the CA State Contractors Licensing Board will apparently be forcing us into “arbitration” with the HH-A HOA. Yay!
It also appears that their Potemkin “investigation” by a “construction industry expert” consisted of said expert simply simply writing-up the complaints lodged against us on official forms and using photos provided by one of the Board members…one of which actually tends to support JimCo’s assertions.
I’d be shocked if Mr. Expert actually visited the property
To paraphrase Andrew Breitbart, “Fuck them. War.”
As a result, I will probably have to schlep out to L.A. whenever the arbitration occurs.
Damn. Those. People. To. Hell.
While he ain’t cheap, I’m glad we have competent counsel. And cash-flow.
Can’t remember if I also shared that the horseshit over our bondis still not settled; the HOA has been given an additional 30 days to rebut our initial response to their accusations. (It was was our second response which had the “scary lawbaw” language in it. And we don’t know if this is some sort of delaying tactic by the bonding company adjuster because nobody’s telling us anything.
If I might suggest something…
see if you can find out how (or if) the “construction industry expert” and the HOA guy or members are connected. It’s been my experience that when someone just writes up someone’s complaints like that they’re often a friend, relative or have some association with the complainants. I’m not sure how you’d go about it these days -- let your lawyer sort it out as he can snoop around and schmooze in the expert’s office as well as check social media?
Anyway, just a thought. It’s delicious to watch someone go down in flames loosing their job for pulling a stunt like that, as the complaintaint looses everything and is fined on top of it. Of course, it could just be lazy incompetence, too.
Fatwa: are there any lessons learned from this ongoing bullshit regulatory/legal quagmire that will help avoid a similar situation in the future or is this just the way California is?
Happy Monday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, dv8 (and Harper!), and Sven!
Fatwa -- criminy! What a sh!t show! Glad you’ve got competent counsel. I hope he gets to rip into that “industry expert” and put on the record that the guy didn’t even do the barest minimum required of his job.
Given that JimCo has never had a problem with our bond or the Licensing Board, we’re in uncharted waters.
That said, it seems like in Los Angeles, any disputes between a property owner and a contractor are a Star Chamber where the contractor’s very like to get hosed even if they didn’t actually do anything wrong.
One was in Fresno in the early 80s centered in Coalinga. I was working too hard and fast to notice it, but my boss at the time showed me that all the pans and stuff had slid forward on the shelves.
The other was in Portland, and it shook hard enough for the headboard of the bed to smack the wall several times. I wasn’t entirely awake. I told Harper, in my sleep, that it was just our roommate upstairs having sex with some babe he picked up. I don’t remember saying that. But I’m sure I did.
Hi dv8 -- yes, I did notice. I made her cream scone recipe on Saturday, but I increased the butter to 1/2 cup and the sugar to 1/3 cup. I also made a major oops. While stirring the liquids into the dry ingredients, I noticed that I had forgotten to add the butter. I cut that into the now wet mixture as quickly as I could. The texture and taste were fine. I added dried orange-cranberries to the mix and they turned out well.
I’m glad it turned out well. That thing with the butter, it’s best if you used chilled butter and do it by hand. But the last batch I made was with melted butter--I was being lazy--and it came out fine. probably didn’t rise quite as much, but other than that it was okay.
I’m glad your scones turned out alright, Paddy. You and David alarm me with your casual and practical approach to dealing with cutting butter into pastry. It works for you! I’m always so impressed. You live on the edge.
Good night, friends. I hope you have an enjoyable day. Or at least a bearable one. I’m lookin’ at you, Fatwa. Cripes! I’ll nap just for you Sir!
Our dryer went out Saturday night (I hope it had a good time) -- it won’t heat. It’s had this problem twice before -- the coils for the gas valve solenoid go bad. I found a place online that has them and ordered a set yesterday. They should arrive Wednesday. This dryer has been a work-horse for 36 years -- I’d like to keep it around a lot longer.
Oh boy…Fat Cat Monday!!1!
My cunning plan to largely avoid teh intertoobz over the weekend was ultimately not very helpful to my mental state.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Got word last Friday afternoon that the CA State Contractors Licensing Board will apparently be forcing us into “arbitration” with the HH-A HOA. Yay!
It also appears that their Potemkin “investigation” by a “construction industry expert” consisted of said expert simply simply writing-up the complaints lodged against us on official forms and using photos provided by one of the Board members…one of which actually tends to support JimCo’s assertions.
I’d be shocked if Mr. Expert actually visited the property
To paraphrase Andrew Breitbart, “Fuck them. War.”
As a result, I will probably have to schlep out to L.A. whenever the arbitration occurs.
Damn. Those. People. To. Hell.
While he ain’t cheap, I’m glad we have competent counsel. And cash-flow.
Can’t remember if I also shared that the horseshit over our bond is still not settled; the HOA has been given an additional 30 days to rebut our initial response to their accusations. (It was was our second response which had the “scary lawbaw” language in it. And we don’t know if this is some sort of delaying tactic by the bonding company adjuster because nobody’s telling us anything.
=============================
I got nuthin to add here. Just good morning, Fatwa.
Good morning beleaguered Fatwa,
If I might suggest something…
see if you can find out how (or if) the “construction industry expert” and the HOA guy or members are connected. It’s been my experience that when someone just writes up someone’s complaints like that they’re often a friend, relative or have some association with the complainants. I’m not sure how you’d go about it these days -- let your lawyer sort it out as he can snoop around and schmooze in the expert’s office as well as check social media?
Anyway, just a thought. It’s delicious to watch someone go down in flames loosing their job for pulling a stunt like that, as the complaintaint looses everything and is fined on top of it. Of course, it could just be lazy incompetence, too.
Smart!!!
I love both pictures by the way, especially the second one.
Good morning, Fatwa, Dv8, and the whole GN!
Fatwa: are there any lessons learned from this ongoing bullshit regulatory/legal quagmire that will help avoid a similar situation in the future or is this just the way California is?
Happy Monday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Fatwa, dv8 (and Harper!), and Sven!
Fatwa -- criminy! What a sh!t show! Glad you’ve got competent counsel. I hope he gets to rip into that “industry expert” and put on the record that the guy didn’t even do the barest minimum required of his job.
Drive-by:
Hi, dv8, Sven and Paddy!
Given that JimCo has never had a problem with our bond or the Licensing Board, we’re in uncharted waters.
That said, it seems like in Los Angeles, any disputes between a property owner and a contractor are a Star Chamber where the contractor’s very like to get hosed even if they didn’t actually do anything wrong.
Ffffuuuu…
Small quake just hit. Two good jolts here.
Initial reports of it as 4.1 in Moorpark.
Everything okay where you are, I trust?
I experienced two quakes that I know of.
One was in Fresno in the early 80s centered in Coalinga. I was working too hard and fast to notice it, but my boss at the time showed me that all the pans and stuff had slid forward on the shelves.
The other was in Portland, and it shook hard enough for the headboard of the bed to smack the wall several times. I wasn’t entirely awake. I told Harper, in my sleep, that it was just our roommate upstairs having sex with some babe he picked up. I don’t remember saying that. But I’m sure I did.
Yeah, just a sharep jolt, a two second pause, then a rolling motion that lasted maybe 3 seconds.
In case you didn’t notice, Harper posted a couple of her own scone recipes in the recipe forum.
Which reminds me that maybe I should make scones today or tonight.
Hi dv8 -- yes, I did notice. I made her cream scone recipe on Saturday, but I increased the butter to 1/2 cup and the sugar to 1/3 cup. I also made a major oops. While stirring the liquids into the dry ingredients, I noticed that I had forgotten to add the butter. I cut that into the now wet mixture as quickly as I could. The texture and taste were fine. I added dried orange-cranberries to the mix and they turned out well.
I’m glad it turned out well. That thing with the butter, it’s best if you used chilled butter and do it by hand. But the last batch I made was with melted butter--I was being lazy--and it came out fine. probably didn’t rise quite as much, but other than that it was okay.
I froze the butter and grated it, then stuck it back in the freezer while I prepped everything else. That’s probably why I forgot to add it in.
I guess I’m going to go see if I can make some scones.
Good morning, Sven and Paddy’O.
I’m glad your scones turned out alright, Paddy. You and David alarm me with your casual and practical approach to dealing with cutting butter into pastry. It works for you! I’m always so impressed. You live on the edge.
Good night, friends. I hope you have an enjoyable day. Or at least a bearable one. I’m lookin’ at you, Fatwa. Cripes! I’ll nap just for you Sir!
Our dryer went out Saturday night (I hope it had a good time) -- it won’t heat. It’s had this problem twice before -- the coils for the gas valve solenoid go bad. I found a place online that has them and ordered a set yesterday. They should arrive Wednesday. This dryer has been a work-horse for 36 years -- I’d like to keep it around a lot longer.
Cast my ballot today to recall Newsom and cast a vote for Elder -- I have the feeling the results aren’t going to be known for at least a week.
We watched the SpaceX launch from our backyard -- very cool! We even saw the main stage re-entry burn.
Well… goodnight everyone. Work was uneventful--my short day, just working inside for about 4 hours.