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Arrival Story

This is a copy of most of the e-mail that Mike wrote and sent to family about our arrival in Venice last Saturday:


Good Morning Everybody,



We are finally here and settled in. Had a nice uneventful trip down with only a few miles of driving through some light snow in upper NY state. We only had about 8" of snow as a result of the big Christmas weekend storm so the roads were pretty much cleared before we left.


The house we are in was a complete disaster when we arrived on Saturday. The previous tenants were a crew of construction workers who had been in the house for three months and promised the property manager that they would leave the house in spotless condition. The house was filthy to say the least. The beds were covered with piles of damp bedding, everything was covered with dust and grime, all the furniture was in disarray, used towels in the bath, four trash barrels overflowing with trash, it went on and on. Olga was almost in tears.


We spent the first few hours washing the bedding and cleaning a few surfaces so we could eat. Eventually things started to clear up, had a cleaning lady come and spend four hours working, rearranged the furniture, we also spent 3 hours the other day raking and picking up 9 large garbage bags of yard debris. We are finally starting to see the light at the end of tunnel. Even with all the hassle we really like the house and can only hope that this is a one time episode.
So, the property manager did have a good cleaner come in on Monday.  I had wiped out the closets and kitchen cupboards so we could at least unpack stuff over the weekend.   I woke up at 4 A.M. on Sunday morning feeling compelled to swab out the refrigerator so we could get some food for the day.  The kitchen was pretty much grease encrusted on exterior surfaces--all brand new appliances.  I fear for the long term health of those young workers if the grease and number of take-out containers is an indication of their typical daily diet.
Yesterday was cloudy, with thunder storms and rain in the morning.  Mike started washing the bedroom windows because he said one of his favorite things about Florida is waking up to the sunrise and the palm trees and the windows were dirty enough to obstruct his view.  Now that was a first, since I have never seen him wash a window before.  HA!  Now I've learned something new about him (isn't it amazing how you never fully, fully know another person) and will never have to do windows by myself again.
Anyway, sun is pouring in today.
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Comments

  1. LindaJanuary 7, 2011 at 11:20 AM

    Glad to hear things are looking up. I probably would have burst into tears and headed back home. It is good though to know you're sleeping with a window washer. Nice to be relieved of that duty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TaborJanuary 7, 2011 at 12:28 PM

    It is always so frustrating when you are looking forward to settling in and starting a new day and find that you have to clean months of someone else's filth. I am glad the the landlord was helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sally WesselyJanuary 7, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    How frustrating.

    ReplyDelete
  4. marciamayoJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:00 AM

    That property manager needs to be shot. At the very least, you should get something off the rent for the first month.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Arkansas PattiJanuary 8, 2011 at 8:20 AM

    I'm with marcia, you probably shouldn't even pay the first months rent. Tally up your hours and present the bill.
    How wonderful however to find your guy does windows. That makes him a positive keeper.

    ReplyDelete

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