The memories we shared comfort me every day – Unknown.
We decided to attend the Lobby Chitchat Group. The lobby wasn’t that big, and there were only a few tables in the lobby. There were folks already there chatting away. We grabbed coffee and I picked one cookie and were about to sit at one of the tables. Somebody called our names from the table in the corner. They asked us to join them. We both moved to their table and thanked them for asking us to sit with them. I said thanks for inviting us to sit with them. The guy spoke and said my name is John and this is my wife, Betty. We shook hands. Betty said we know your names – Mir and Lynda.
John said – What did you think about the meeting that we attended the other day. I said it was indeed an interesting meeting. We learned a lot. It gave us an idea about how folks live in a condominium building. Betty said but you asked pointed questions and everybody liked them. Those questions were based on my ignorance about condominium living. John said that you’re being modest.
Betty said, did you get the financial statement (FS) from the consultant. I said indeed, I did. John said, what did you think about the financial situation. I said that it doesn’t look too bad. I continued, we need to keep in mind that the FS provides a snapshot of the building’s financial standing at a specific point in time, but it doesn’t tell us how those figures were generated. John said excuse my ignorance, but what does it mean. Lynda said what Mir is trying to explain how those figures were generated. For instance, we don’t know if the money spent on the maintenance of the building was based on a smart way of hiring contractors or not. John said that’s indeed a loaded question.
Betty said we are glad that you are asking the right questions, and we just hope that you find some answers to those questions. John and I have no financial background, but we would like to know why the condominium fee is increasing every year. She continued the building our friends live in is also a condominium building but their condominium fee doesn’t go up every year. I said inflation is one of the legitimate reasons for the increase but most of the time how things were managed contributes to the increase, too.
John said, let’s talk about something different. He turned around and asked me what I did for a living? I said I did as little as possible. He said you must have done more than that, Mir. Everybody laughed. John said, you both don’t look old enough to be seniors. Lynda said we are not. Mir turned 61 last April and I turned 59 last August. John
asked me, how long have I been retired? I said we are originally from Ottawa. When we went to Vegas for the holidays in 1997, I decided to retire early and live in Vegas. I was only 56 years old. John said WOW! Living in Las Vegas and driving a sleek Jaguar, you must be rich. I said – I wish.
He turned around and asked Lynda what made her settle down in Sidney? She said, I originally came from the Southside of London, which is measurably poor and away from the ocean, but I don’t know why I always wanted to live close to the ocean. We were on our way to visit Victoria and when we stopped in Sidney just for a cup of coffee, I fell in love with Sidney and the rest is history. John said, WOW!
John turned to his wife and said we don’t get to meet folks like them every day, do we? Darling. His wife said John, stop provoking them. They worked hard in their lives to enjoy life, and they have every right to do so. I said thanks to Betty. Indeed, we are immigrants who came to this country with nothing and worked hard to celebrate our success.
John turned around and asked Lynda what she did for a living? Lynda said I was a housewife and looked after our son, Adam, who is 28 years old. I joined Sorority and worked with the folks to raise funds for the needy, mainly for Cancer. Betty asked what’s Sorority? Lynda said a social sisterhood organization within the North American “Greek System”. Members bond through shared values and philanthropy. Betty said what is “Greek System”? Lynda said the North America Greek System, also known as Greek Life or Greek-Letter Organization, is a network of student organization primarily found on college campuses. But then it was introduced in the North American societies. Lynda continued; I have never been to university. I got involved when we were living in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
John turned around to me and said, you must be doing something right. How come one man working can afford to be retired early and live wherever he feels like. I said John, I didn’t do anything illegal to make money. Just worked hard to make a living and look after my family. John said, Mir I apologize if I gave you that impression. I am truly happy that you both decided to buy a place in this building, and I believe that you both are in a better position to look into doing something about the committee as well as the consultant. Lynda said, yes, we are planning to, but it’s going to take some time to get things sorted out. Simply because we don’t want to rush and end up a bigger mess. She continued – Incidentally, if you both are still curious about Mir’s background, he was in the computer field for a long time and after working for all kinds of organizations, he ended up creating a small consulting practice in Ottawa. Lynda continued – Currently, our son is managing the company in Ottawa. We got up and left the lobby.
Lynda suggested going for a walk.
When we walked around and finally sat down on our favorite bench facing the ocean, Lynda asked if do we have a plan to proceed with? Not as such a plan, but I was thinking perhaps we should try to have lunch with Joy. Lynda said, how would that help? I said just information gathering opportunity to figure her out. I continued, whether we like it or not she had been an important part of the committee, and she did whatever she thought was the right thing to do. I think the Condominium or Strata Act requires somebody from the building to head up the committee and perhaps nobody was willing to do. Furthermore, the way she responded to the consultant’s question about whether she was happy with the consultant or his services gave us the impression that she liked working with him mainly because she had no other choice. What all I am trying to say is that probably she was roped into the position, and she feels like she is doing her best. Lynda said, alright I will go see her and ask her to have lunch with us.
Lynda said, what do you think about Carol, the accountant? I said, we need to determine:
- Under what circumstances the previous cleaner left and whether there was anybody else other than her granddaughter, available to replace the cleaner; and
- Whether or not her son-in-law is good at what he is hired for here in our building.
Lynda asked how we would do that? I said – there are ways to do that, but we need to wait until we deal with Joy. On that note, we decided to go home and do something else instead of worrying about the committee.
I was in the process of looking into something online, Lynda walked into the room and said, guess what? I told her to lay it on me. She said, Joy was very pleasant to me, and I ended up spending a few minutes with her, which I never expected. Plus, she offered me a cup of tea. She asked me if I was born in London and told me that her mother was a war bride. I never brought up the committee with her. I asked her if she would be interested in having lunch with us and I even asked her favorite restaurant. So, we are having lunch with Joy tomorrow in her favorite restaurant, and she said she would be pleased to bring us up to date about the whole episode of the committee she is presiding over.
The next day when we got to the restaurant, Joy was already there and she was in a cheery mood. She said almost three years ago when the committee needed a president, she volunteered. She said she knew that she may not be the best president but there was nobody else gracious enough to volunteer. She learned a lot since then, but she still feels inadequate to do the job and the consultant has been a definite help for her.
Before we started digging into the details with Joy, we decided to order our meals.
I felt terrible about what I had said concerning Joy. She seemed to be just a normal person who wanted to help the owners living in the building but had no intentions to invest their time or energy to protect their investment in the property.
Our meals were served and before we asked any questions to Joy, we started our meals.
Lynda asked Joy how much money they have in the bank. She said maybe around $10,000, but Carol must know the correct figure.
Lynda asked what the reasons were for increasing monthly condominium fees almost every year. She said normally I don’t get involved with budgeting as I don’t have anything to offer in that area. Typically, Carol works with the consultant in preparing budget and once they are comfortable with the figures on the budget sheet, they present it to me, and I communicate it to the owners.
To answer your question, about the increasing cost of maintenance, it could very well be the building is getting old like anything else and every year we need to spend more money to maintain it. She continued; the consultant told me that it is not uncommon. He should know better as he works with some other buildings in Sidney, and his company has a solid reputation in Sidney. While what you said is correct, it could be other reasons, too. She said if there are any, I am not aware of them. I said, perhaps another reason could be the way the building is being managed. There are ways cost could be controlled. I am not saying that the consultant is not doing that, but there are always more ways to minimize the cost which could be time consuming, and I am not sure if the consultant has that kind of time. She said, you may be right.
I asked Joy if she knew why so much money was being spent on an account called “Gas” and what’s the use of gas in the building was when we got the electricity. She said I admit it could be confusing, but would you believe that we use gas for our fireplaces, not electricity. Answer to the other part of your question is the owners abuse the use of gas in their condos, knowing the fact they don’t pay for it. Most of them leave fireplaces on in the winters while they are in their beds. I said it was unbelievable. Lynda said, how come you didn’t get them to understand the impact on the monthly maintenance fees? She said we told them again and again but it never sank. Yet, they never stop complaining about the increase in monthly maintenance costs. I said, we totally sympathize with you and the committee, but my question is did, you ever attempt to find any way to replace the gas system in the building with electricity? She said I don’t think that is possible. Every condo building in Sidney has the same problem, and nobody on the committee or the consultant ever brought up that as an alternative.
Lynda asked Joy if they as a committee do anything for the owners to go out on a regular basis for a meal or entertainment? Joy said a long time ago when she was on the committee as a member, not as a president, the president had arranged a couple of outings for the owners. Lynda asked if the owners liked it. Joy said, yes, they did.
Joy said, while I appreciate your interest in the building, my question to you is, would you be interested in getting involved and serving on the committee to get things sorted out? Lynda said I am thinking about that, but I am not sure what the reaction of the rest of the members on the committee would be. Joy said don’t worry about that, I will take care of it. She continued, as a matter of fact, I think you should take over from me. I jumped in the conversation and said there’s no need for you to give up your position as Lynda may need your help. She said in that case, I will stay on the committee as a member to help you out. Believe me, it will be a good thing for me as well as for the committee. She said you two seem to know what you’re talking about, and I am sure Mir will be at your disposal to help you out. Lynda looked at me, and I said it makes sense to me, but it’s entirely up to Lynda. Lynda said, if I said, yes, where can we go from here? Joy said, Leave it with me. I would call an emergency meeting right away to elect a president and if you give me your resume, I will attach it to my request for a meeting. I said I will provide you with Lynda’s resume this afternoon and we left the restaurant.
Joy gave me her email address to forward Lynda’s resume.
