This morning the township building department got back to me, very promptly. They're good guys, had a meeting as soon as they received my plea for help, I mean email. They assured me that I was not in error, no permit needed for capping the dryer vent, and, this is the good bit, they'll tell our HOA manager so. They've got her number!
So, Boud and Building Department 1, HOA 0.
This is a good thing for other reasons, too, because now that she knows, if the situation arises in other units, she won't panic. She is very much under legal pressure, from state and township, to keep hundreds of units in compliance, loads of issues, loads of owners, and I wouldn't want her job.
So we live to fight another day!
Today's the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, a huge day in the Catholic calendar, especially in France, where even nonbelievers mark it as a holiday.
I was living in Brittany one August, attended Mass on the fifteenth, and at the Elevation of the Host, a sacred and usually dead silent moment, I jumped a foot when there was a burst of music from Breton bagpipes!
Led by a cute ginger I had a crush on, but that's another story. I eventually married another ginger, Scottish Handsome Partner, so Breton Jean-Yves was a kind of test run, it turned out.
Misfits day, and I have plans.
Avocado oil, ready to make mayo, for a shrimp salad among other things. Tomatoes for sandwiches and that baked dish with eggs and cheese. Apples for midmorning snack. Parsley just because.
It's a small haul because the glackity woman ordering forgot bread and eggs. Already in for next week.
Meanwhile, lunch, sardines, tomatoes, miso tofu, parsley, black pepper, kosher salt, as good as it gets.
Happy day, everyone, I hope you triumph over whatever bureaucracy you're dealing with, and there's always something.
Lotus for POTUS!
At the moment, I’m not battling with any bureaucracy. Someone ought to have a talk with glackity woman!
ReplyDeleteSave the thought for the next battle. GW is hopeless sometimes.
DeleteA test run is never a bad idea! I married a ginger, also. Mediterranean meets Eastern European, or as he points out, Bohemian. You have another healthy Misfits order.
ReplyDeleteGingers and misfits rule.
DeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteIt does the heart good to be a winner. The backup support is a bonus.
Yes, it doesn't hurt to have good relations with the town hall.
DeleteWell done, Boud and Bldg Dept. You always have your ducks in a row; I'm amazed the HOA dreamed of taking you on.
ReplyDeleteIt's always fascinating when you drop tidbits of your past life into your posts. I'd have jumped out of my skin too, at a blast of bagpipes in the middle of ecclesiastical silence.
I'm sure you've had a word (or two) with the glackity woman :-)
Chris from Boise
I think poor T. the manager is probably sorry she started up.
DeleteThose past tidbits suddenly turn up when there's a memory trigger, I'm glad they're interesting.
ReplyDeleteI had leftovers for lunch- fish, and mango slaw with sliced almonds. Pretty darn good.
Mango slaw? I need to know more. Also what fish?
DeleteThere was a recipe in the NYT's for mango slaw but I didn't really follow it. Regular slaw cabbage and carrots are the base. Then chopped mango, lime juice, a little rice vinegar, salt and pepper, green onions, toasted sliced almonds. I think I also added a little olive oil and honey. Oh! And a little taste of tamari.
DeleteThe fish was cobia which I swear, is like eating steak. Not in flavor. It has a very mild buttery flavor but it is THICK.
Thank you! This sounds ambitious.
DeleteI like gingers. They are good, outstanding quality.
ReplyDeleteAny step in combating bureaucracy is a step in the right direction, favoring us all.
Yes, it's the good fight! And gingers are okay by me.
DeleteCongrats on your HOA victory!
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, this victory is for all of us, as Duta said.
DeleteI marvel at what you make from the ingredients. So very imaginative and healthy too
ReplyDeleteWhen you have time and interest, it's easier to be inventive. I'm very glad I can tolerate spices, though.
DeleteYes, I imagine the HOA's managerial job is a nightmare but that's not to say that there shouldn't be a more streamlined process to make it easier for all.
ReplyDeleteIt would help if they didn't lose records and ask for the same documents over and over. This mgt is one of the better ones we've had, they don't foul up this way usually.
DeleteHOA is nothing I ever, ever, ever want to be a part of. That said, I get that HOA's work for some folks. Love that for them. Great job by the way. Boud I, HOA uptight lady, zip.
ReplyDeleteBeing of Irish descent, with a gaggle of ginger cousins, I hoped for a ginger child. To my husband's relief, it did not happen.
ReplyDeleteI would freak out at hearing bagpipes in France, or become a little confused at least.
ReplyDeleteI expected at least one of my offspring or my offsprings' offspring, to be ginger - so far, and into greats now, none.Lots of blondes, though.
ReplyDeleteLots of reasons to remember that feast day, Boud! Glad it worked out with the HOA.
ReplyDeleteSo ... wrt the HOA, does it mean that you own your house but not the land? I read that somewhere, but maybe the info is inaccurate.
ReplyDeleteWith an HOA, you own the entire interior of your house and some exterior area, such as the balcony or patio. Exterior otherwise and all the land, are owned jointly by all owners.
DeleteYou have your own home insurance, and cover your share, via dues, of massive association insurance coverage. Dues pay for exterior maintenance, paving, garbage, snow removal, landscaping, pool, playground, tennis courts, and various other joint costs. The board contracts for services and the management we hire executes their decisions. Also keeps track of compliance of state and local bylaws.
Parsley is always a good "just because." I eat it on a lot of things that people wouldn't normally put parsley on!
ReplyDeleteI never consider it just decorative. If there's parsley with the fish, I also eat the parsley.
ReplyDeleteAll the houses I've bought have been old in old neighborhoods so no HOAs for which I am glad. I would chafe at all the control and all the things they would not allow.
ReplyDeleteLike, what things don't they allow? Most of my annoyance is from overzealous safety issues. I can't think of anything I wanted to do that I couldn't.
Deletein Houston some of them restrict what color you can paint your house, what plants you can have in your yard, what structures you can have, all kinds of things. I remember I read about one family that built a playhouse on stilts, sort of a tree house with no tree, in their fenced backyard for their kids that could be seen from the street and the HOA made them take it down.
DeleteI've never heard of this kind of thing. I guess they must vary. Interesting. You'd need a more freeform HOA, more like ours.
DeleteWhat Ellen describes is how Idaho HOAs operate, and why we stay far away from them. Yours sounds much saner.
DeleteChris from Boise
You and Ellen explain people's horror of HOAs! They're nothing like that in my 30+ years of simultaneous experience with two of them.
DeleteOnce a board member went around trying to bully people out of planting flowers outside our fences.
A group of us went to the next board meeting and set her straight, citing NJ law among other stupid ideas she had. That was the end of those shenanigans. In fact three of us offered to show anyone who wanted to learn, what to grow successfully and offered cuttings! We really choked them with kindness and they shaped up dramatically.
I reminded them of the (Texas, as it happens) precedent allowing board members to be sued jointly and severally. It came as a severe shock that they could be sued as individuals, without the protection of the board and the HOA deep pockets. I had guessed the bully thought she could always claim board protection. Nope. Nothing like putting a little fear into a bully.
I only had two incidents where board members got out over their skis in all these years. You just can't do this in NJ!
You've reminded me: I have a tin of sardines in my handbag. Are Breton bagpipes the same as Scottish?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if I should ask how come there's a tin of sardines in your handbag. Emergency rations? Breton pipes are more medieval sounding than Scottish ones, harsher, wonderful sound.
Delete