I have no luck! Ubber Mad Drama!

[MTCFORUM]

So, this evening I am sitting at my computer wrapping up my day, reading e-mail, etc.

I have my police scanner on and I hear a report that sounds familiar..

Alarm Sounding, Water Flowing, Unit 156, Emerald Point, Camino Colegio Rd...

Oh, CRAP. That's my complex...
Oh, that's my building...
Oh, no, that's the unit right behind mine!

I'm considering my options, digging out my cat carrier, finding shoes when Blam! The sirens go off in my house. Till then there was no sign anything was going on, other than that report and the stattco of radio calls as units started heading this way....

The Alarm really Spooks my cat, I had to tear apart the bed to get her out. I'm urging Celia to get into warm clothes, not knowing what might be coming. It's quite a battle with the Cat. She's darty and cunning... Finally I corner her in the closet and haul her out, Finally celia is dressed, we run outside.

All the neighbors are coming out... I think I smell smoke...

Suddenly a girl comes running from around the building... she's not wearing a jacket (it is cold tonight) and is dripping wet... Like really, really wet... Like she just jumped out of a pool....

Are you ok? (she's freaked)
Is there a fire? (she's not responding just waving a phone and running around)
I'm chasing her across the parking lot....

Finally she says no, she was asleep and suddenly the water started flowing (we have sprinklers in every unit) She called the fire dept... Not sure when, I quit listening to the Scanner.. They were rolling from the auto alarm call.... They can't turn off the water remotely (uh-huh) and they are coming... She's freaked and pissed, her house is getting soaked....

It takes about 3-4 minutes more (about 8 since the alarm went off and 10 since I first had word) until we hear sirens. Feels like it has been hours... Of course, they turn into the complex and go the wrong way... We're chasing after them. They see us and reverse course, mean while about 10 police and 2 more huge fire trucks show up (I think they rolled every unit in town....)

They were on scene about 10 minutes before they finally turned off the alarms. By now there is quite a crowd around... I'm talking stocks and economy with a guy from Aglient who works across the street, Celia's chatting with the neighbors.. My cat is howling...

As I was in T-shirt and shorts, and was very, very cold, we went back inside. The poor girl who's apt it was was screaming pissed last I saw that all her stuff was ruined...

I let the cat out and she went and hid. I fixed the bed so celia could go back to sleep, and I am now sitting here wondering if I will get any rest tonight....

Reminds me of the time on my birth day when we went to Reno and the fire alarm went off at 2 AM and I was on the 14th floor... Not fun....

I hope the rest of you are having a significantly less drama filled evening....

Scott

[MTCFORUM]

Scott, I know what you went through. 3 years ago thehouse right next to ours burnt to the ground in the largest single family dwelling fire inthis town in 20 years! It began at 7:15 on a Summer's eve, and was not declaired out until 2:15 AM. We were not alllowed back into our house until midnight !! Our house suffered $31,000 damage. (It's all fixed, now).
Now that we are thinking of selling & moving, Condos & Townhouses come to mind, but we were thinging if ever there is a fire - our everything would be destroyed!! Further, if a sprinklersystem went wild, as it did in your case, it could put our place in harm's way. Personally, I still like a detached house. But as you age, the upkeep gets harder & harder. At first you don't really realize it, but then one day, it smashs 'ya right in the kisser!! Ouch!

S A N D Y <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emthup.gif" BORDER="0"> <IMG NAME="icon" SRC="http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emthdown.gif" BORDER="0"> ?????? What to do?

[MTCFORUM]

I don't think I would ever give up a single family home. There are just so many advantages... Like being able to do whatever you want.

You want a satellite dish? bolt it up. In a complex, it might not be allowed, maybe no holes, or a ban on placement or you just can't get the right direction.

Then there is the car... Can't wash it at your own place, can't work on it at at your own place... I know some of these things don't really matter to you, but if you think about the privace and privliege you would be giving up?

The maintenance like lawn mowing and stuff does start to tire you, but there are ways around it. Re landscape to remove things that need overly frequent attention. Get the neigborhood kids to do the mowing for a few bucks.

Before you decide to let it go, put the equivenent effort into looking at ways to solve the problem. A lot of the time I find myself steam rolling on a course because i have built momentum, and when I stop and think about alternatives again after planning a certian way for a while, many times I think of an easier/cheaper/better solution.

My $29.95 + 7.95 S&H....
Scott

[MTCFORUM]

Here in Florida we have large condo complexs that are detached single family houses. You have the right to plant flower gardens around the house but the condo association takes care of everything else. The houses are typically the same color (usually white) with your choice of several trim colors. The exterior and roof are the responsibility of the association and there are several different sizes and floor plans. This might be the best of both worlds for you. Remember, we're saving a place for you here in Florida Sandy. LOL!

[MTCFORUM]

We have them just like that, up here in NJ, Jack,,,,,But you CANNOT wash your car in the driveway, it's NOT allowed!!! I could not deal with that, and they'd never allow my 5 cars!!! Where to put/keep them??

S A N D Y

[MTCFORUM]

The ones I've seen have one or two car garages. We have water restrictions here but I've signed up for reclaimed water which will be piped to my house. Supposedly we can use as much of that as we want for irrigation and washing cars, etc. Some hi-rise condos have whole floors for parking with each unit having two spaces. You can rent spaces from other owners who only have one car. Condos are looking better and better to me as I approach 60.