Spent the morning on mundane things, then took off for Little Egg Harbor for the 11:00 appointment with Kim, the realtor. She's very animated and certainly knows her business. Stayed for about 45 minutes talking over the rent/sell situation, which seems sunshiny for me (very few rentals in the whole township and same for sales in Sunrise Bay).
I then went to Susan and Walter Geldart's house (across the street from mine) and we had hugs all around. They took me to Dynasty Diner and we had such an enjoyable lunch--much talk, laughter, and reminiscing, as well as catching up on the doings of a lot of my old neighbors. Many of them, I'm afraid, aren't doing much because they're dead.
Back to Susan's, then she and I went over to the Haggerstone's across the street and had a good time catching up with Ray. As we chatted outside in the sunshine, Leslie and Dennis drove up and how good that was! They jumped out of the car car and we embraced happily, then talked for a time.
Back to Susan's and I saw Bill Galway (down-the-street neighbor, who's also a contractor and does the biannual upkeep on my house) walking his dog. I went out to greet him and we talked for a bit. I then went over to meet my tenants, Susan and Cliff.
They're actually pretty nice and we talked congenially. They were frank about their plans: to retire within the next year or so, which is the reason they want a month-to-month lease after the present one ends in February. I agreed to that and they said they'd try to give me two months, rather than one month notice. I was honest about the fact that, if my rent goes up, as it surely will, I would probably raise theirs. I looked around the house, clearly a stopover for them with items here and there ready to be packed and that's okay. Otherwise, it was spotlessly clean. I was a bit startled to see that the master bath had been painted green and the guest bath yellow. Then I remembered I had given permission for my former tenant, Eileen, to have them painted.
I was surprised when Susan and Cliff said that Bob Szabo, whom I've retained for years to turn the sprinkler system on and off was incompetent (well, he's older than I am and that's pretty damn old). I mentioned that he had lost his wife, Angela, whom I knew, and they told me he had a new girlfriend and intended to get married!
I was pleased with the interior of the house, but outside, the landscaping is in poor shape. I wish I had had time to take pictures of it and hope to get back to do so. Later, I'll ask Susan to recommend her gardener to get it shaped up. Other than that, I know the refrigerator may need to be replaced; right now, Cliff has it working with a temporary fix.
It was good to get that settled and, even more, to see my old friends. The only regret I have is that I had wanted to see Aline (who lives in the nearby community of Mystic Shores) and had called and left a message I was in town, but didn't hear back from her.
More agreeable news: I found out the Ocean Rider actually goes to Little Egg from here. What I hope to do is to contact Leslie and arrange lunch, then take it down there and back.
