Here we go...

 

I have some PA equipment loaded in the car.  Not for the gig with the band this afternoon, but just in case a crowd shows up for this morning's Meet the President Q&A in the park.  I just want to be prepared.

Steph and Dan are delivering one of the Guide Dog puppies back the California today, so they won't be there.  Steph asked, "Are you nervous?"

"Well, sure.  It's the unknown.  I'm putting myself out there, and people can ask me anything about the HOA.  I have facts.  I'm willing to share my opinion.  I'm hoping it won't be confrontational, like things can get on Facebook.  I expect that people will be civil in public, but... the unknown."

Steph asked if I'd call or text to let her know how it went this morning.

And then, back home, load up more gear, and get ready to head to downtown Phoenix where The Hip Replacements will be playing this afternoon.  I'm less concerned about the unknown with that, although we have to be adaptable with the change from playing outdoors to inside.  We rehearse so we have the song arrangements down.

While the organizers have made arrangements for us to be indoors, we'll have to load-out in the rain,though.  Assuming the weather weasels are accurate with the hourly forecasts.  Yeah, this music stuff is glamorous.  ;-)

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So, how'd it all go?

Thanks for asking.  I think I was able to get through to people that "the board doesn't do business on Facebook."  I was expecting to explain how they can access any financial information on the Homeowners' Portal (and I did), but some people just weren't ready to accept that "anyone can set up a Facebook Group and have the name of our community in it.

"You should do something about that - it is misleading."  

"I can't do anything about either of these two groups because they are NOT affiliated with the HOA, the board, or the management company in ANY way."  As usual, I steered them to the Homeowners' Portal.  Interestingly enough, the husband of one of the board members was there, offering to "explain things, to help me out."  He was not trying to help me out.

There were some of the snarky Facebook people there, but no one got unpleasant.  No doubt, being face to face, with people in attendance who were being reasonable, helps.  All in all, I think I was able to answer questions with factual information.  It wasn't a bad experience.

And the music gig?  It is a LOT of work to haul all that gear: it is 4 loading situations... house to the car, car to the event, set up, play, wait around while the people putting it on used our PA for their awards ceremony and keynote speech, then tear down, load it into the car, drive home, load it back into the house.  We are not youngsters.  Time there was over 4 hours, even though we were scheduled to play for around 90 minutes.

The making music part is fun... the rest is just a lot of work.  This is the 4th time this group (or a subset of this group) has had us play; we may have to talk about timing before we commit to this in the future.

That said, the playing is good - I like these guys and we work together well.  A couple photos courtesy of Joan...

 

But, yeah, it was a long day. 

One last run-through...

 

It looks like there is a good chance of rain tomorrow afternoon, starting around 5:00.  The event we are playing for runs from 3:00 to 6:00 pm.  Our playing time is scheduled for 3:30 to 5:00, then backing the choir for a song.  Their awards presentation (they'll be using our PA) will follow that.  Even though we will be wrapped up playing shortly after 5:00, we can't start our tear-down and load out until they are done.  It is likely we'll be loading out in the rain.

We were told that the band has been moved indoors and the vendors will be cancelled; I am sorry to hear that, for the vendors' sake.  For the band, it means we can load-in lighter, since we won't need PA gear to project as far.

I loaded the set list for this gig last night; we are flexible and can change things around on the fly, but it gives us an idea of timing and order for any gear changes.  This afternoon, I'll run through the set list to make sure I'm comfortable with all the arrangements.

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The other "event" for tomorrow is the "Meet the President" question and answer get-together in our community, 9 to 10am.  This isn't anything formal, the plan is to meet in the park.  I have no idea how many people will be there, and if it will be angry homeowners because the HOA dues increase $20 starting in January, or if there will be friendly supporters.  I'm OK with however it plays out.

I scheduled this because there is a lot of mis-information, unfounded rumors, and general ugliness on Facebook between a couple different "community" groups.  My hope is to clear up the fact that "the HOA board does NOT do business on Facebook."  There is a Homeowners' Portal run by the management company that is the official conduit for information or issues with the HOA.

I expected some homeowner concern about the dues increase - people want to know how their money is being spent and on what.  I've stated this before (at every board meeting, but those are not well-attended), that every dime is accounted for.  There are expenditures we have to do, and some that homeowners have asked for.  With a budget over a half million dollars, opinions differ on how those funds are allocated.  Some have never looked at the financial reports on the Portal, but they call for "get rid of this board that is wasting our money!!"  It goes with the job.

Some people don't understand the purpose of a board for the HOA.  Some don't understand that they are a part of the HOA (it's right there in the name: Home Owners Association).  We are not some entity that sits around thinking up ways to tell people what they can't do - the Association exists to protect the home values for each member, preserve our common-owned property, and run the business of our community.

This will be the opportunity for homeowners to look at someone (little ol' me) and ask their question.  Face to face.  Hopefully, instead of making an angry post on Facebook, where they don't have all the facts.

"Why would you put yourself out like this, Jim?"  Good question.  I care about this community; this on-line bickering isn't good for the community.  We are better when we work together.  Truly, I have nothing to lose: if I can't get the truth across, or if there is general lack of interest in knowing how the board works and the money is spent, I will have a clear understanding of the direction the community wants to go.  The "bullying" that gets done on Facebook, offers no solutions and shows no interest in looking at the financial facts on the Homeowners' Portal.  I believe that is a small minority.  There is also a minority who show up for board meetings, Block Watch meetings, community meetings with our City Council members, and understand how the Portal works.  (Joan has offered to show people how to get on and use the Portal while I answer questions.)  I think the majority of people just want to live their lives, come home from work, spend time with their family, and not have to be concerned about the HOA; they expect the people they elected to the board to do their job and keep the community running.

If asked, I will explain the bidding process.  And the fact that the landscaping bids varied by over $60,000 from the highest to the lowest.  I have all the bids, and have the numbers broken down.  For most people, that stuff is boring; and why they don't want to be bothered with sitting in on a board meeting, where these decisions get made.  In front of the homeowners.  Because the financial matters of the board ARE completely transparent.  That word gets tossed around a lot.  The numbers are all there, right on the Portal.  The financial reports are presented at every board meeting.  The board meetings are open to homeowners, so they can see the process.  Yet, someone who has never attended a board meeting or looked at the Homeowners' Portal, can get on Facebook and state, as though it is fact, that "the board isn't being transparent."

We'll see how this Q&A goes.   

Can I Have Your Autograph?

 

You got recognized (as part of the Hip Replacements) by the choir group yesterday, and it's gone to your head?  No; I'm pretty grounded.  Joan and Steph keep me that way.

Today, I did have a neighbor ask for my autograph... she saw me on TV this morning.  It was on a news piece that was shot last week; just ran this morning.

An investigative reporter for the CBS affiliate here in Phoenix ran a piece a couple weeks ago regarding 3 homes near our development that were having flooding issues after the unprecedented rain last month.  They felt the issue was the development south of us that was changing how water flows off of South Mountain.  The result of that news piece: the City pointed at the County, and the County said the flood/water-flow plans that were in place were doing just what they were supposed to do.

I reached out to that reporter and let her know that debris that came down from the mountain clogged the wash built to handle water flow around our community.  She and her camera man came out, met with another board member and me, asked some questions on camera.  Shannon, the other board member, gave the reporter video that she shot when the water flooded one of the main streets in our community.  The reporter, Susan Campbell, said she would take this to the City and County and try to get more information.

Turns out, the City and County do have a plan, but apparently couldn't come up with that info when the reporter first asked about it.  There is a flood control project that is scheduled for 2028 (formulated in 2022) east of our community, and another for 2031 (just formulated) on the western side of the community.

Not the immediate resolution hoped for, but there is a plan.  I guess we can hope there isn't another one of those "once in a decade" rains in the next 6 years.

The reporter reached out to me yesterday to let me know the piece would run during the 7:00 news hour.  I thanked her for the heads-up.  About 15 minutes of shooting video, edited down to about 30 seconds of each of us talking about the situation, and other video and stills that we provided.  She got a response from the City/County, and it is good information for the 3 homeowners from her earlier piece, and for the 367 homeowners in our development.

Being human, I was relieved that I didn't look like a dufus on-camera.  And the end result: definitive information.  Just trying to do good for the community.

 

 

Second verse, same as the first...

 

If you said, "A line from the Herman's Hermits song I'm Henry the 8th (VIII),  1965," you get 15 bonus points.

You sang the second verse to a song, Jim?  Well, I sang a bunch of second verses today, but this was more about the gig we have coming up Saturday afternoon - The Hip Replacements are back at Banner Health for another show for the Dementia/Alzheimer's group.

If the weather allows (a 50% chance of rain on Saturday is predicted as of right now), they are planning for about 30 vendors on hand.  We are supposed to be playing outside, but the contingency plan is to move indoors for the band, but they will have to cancel the vendors.

One of the things we were asked to do: accompany a choir group of VIPs on a song; the song they picked: John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads.  None of us have played it before, but we assured the organizer that, with over 200 years of musician experience between us, we'll be able to handle this coordinated effort.  Today, Mark, Ron, and I went to one of their rehearsals about a mile away from where we were rehearsing at Ron's house.

We walked into the room where they were rehearsing, and... "It's the Hip Replacements!"  I guess we are pretty well-known with this group.  We spoke with the young lady who was directing the choir about the layout of the song as they do it: verse, chorus, verse, bridge, verse, chorus, outro.  "OK, we got it," I told her... "Although, when we do this song, we like to put a kick-ass guitar solo in the middle and about a 5 minute drum solo."

"OMG - that would be awesome!"  I had to tell her it was a joke: a ripping guitar solo and a drum solo wouldn't really work well with this folk-pop John Denver song.

Instead, I said, "Let's run through it."

"You're ready?"

"Yep, that's why we brought a guitar.  On Saturday, we'll be backing you with two guitars, bass, and percussion."

With the chart on Mark's iPad, we played along with them like we've been doing it for years.  They were pleased - we thanked them, said, "We'll see you Saturday," and headed out to get a quick slice of pizza before going back to Ron's for rehearsal for the rest of the afternoon.  Podge joined us around 1:30 and we went right to work.

I really enjoy playing with these guys - everybody contributes, any suggested arrangements/songs are given consideration, and we decide together how we want any particular song to go.  With Mark on lead guitar, Podge on bass, Ron on percussion, guitar, and mandolin, and me on rhythm guitar, the sound is full, and we have 3 or 4 part harmony on most songs.

Here's a promo piece...

 

If the Rain Comes...

 

... they run and hide their heads.

If you said, "The first line from the song Rain by The Beatles, 1966; released as the B-side of Paperback Writer," you get 15 bonus points.

Of course, I'm talking about the rain gutters that were installed yesterday.  One of the young men doing the work said, "The sealant I'm putting in should have 24 hours to dry."

I said, "You know it's going to rain here before that."

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Let's hope it holds off."  So, there's a plan.

I woke up at 4:25 this morning to the sound of rain outside.  "Well, almost 12 hours," I thought to myself.  I went back to bed for an hour, but didn't get back to sleep.  After getting Murphy his breakfast, I went out in the dark to see how things were working with the rain gutters... OK, with what I could see.

We have music rehearsal today for a gig on Saturday.  We'll be at Ron's house, which is in the downtown Phoenix area.  The hourly forecasts show the heaviest rain in that area over the noon hour.  Timing.  I am not a fan of loading-in in the rain.  We also will be going to where a women's choir is rehearsing, because we agreed to back them on one song this Saturday (they asked, we try to oblige).

For anyone keeping track, Saturday is the day for my Meet the President get-together at 9:00 am, then the gig for Banner Health in the afternoon.  Chance of rain on Saturday is 50%.  Yes, we're playing outside.  I'll bring a 10'x10' pop-up kiosk, but that won't help if it is windy.  I find myself saying, "We'll see how that plays out," a lot these days.

 

The predicted accumulation totals for now into Saturday...

Phoenix averages over 300 days of sunshine per year, which accounts for over 85% of daylight hours.  Alas, this is proving out to be a rainy week here in the Valley of the Sun.

 

Body Cam...

 

This is a test.  In an actual emergency, you would be instructed on where to tune for information.  How many of us remember that all-in-one emergency shelter: the school desk?  It could be used to protect you from a tornado, or even possible nuclear bombs.  Well, that's what we used to believe.

We know better now.  A tornado could be filled with sharks (10 bonus points if you said: "Sharknado"), and a shark can obviously get at you under your desk.

I may have digressed again.  Joan suggested that I might want to wear a body camera for this Meet the President get-together on Saturday - some way to keep track of what questions are being asked and a record of my answers to the questions.  Probably a good idea.

Since I have several cameras that I shoot video of motorcycle and scooter rides, or van outings, or music videos, I have options.  The Insta360 Go3s I have has a pendant that you wear around your neck that the camera sticks to magnetically.  It is really designed to be used with the small camera portion of the Go3s, but that will only record for about 30 minutes.  With that camera in the action pod, it will record up to 2 hours.

I put that camera on the pendant and gave it a shot.  Here's Joan looking at me from across the kitchen counter...

 It does a decent job of the video and audio.  I walked around outside with it on for further testing...

 

That is Murphy checking me out through the door.  This camera will certainly work for this purpose.  I have two other DJI cameras that will allow me to attach a wireless microphone, which will provide much better audio.  So, more options.  I will narrow it down to the best tool for the job.

"Do you really think you need a body cam for this meeting, Jim?"  Well, not for the same purpose as a police body cam.  But, having video during a board meeting has been important to determine what was really being said on more than one occasion.  With this being just little ol' me fielding homeowner questions, I won't have time to take notes; a video will allow accurate follow-up on anything I might not have the answer to on the spot.

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We had two appointments at the house today: the first one was with the pest control company; we were told "between 8 and 10am.  The guy was there at 9:00 and was right on it.  Friendly and professional.  The second was with the rain gutter installation folks; we were told "between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm"... they showed up at 3:22.

Oh, you're probably going to say, "Hey, that was pretty close."  It has been a stormy day in much of the Phoenix Valley today - as in: rain, hail, and wind warnings in the Goodyear and Avondale area (less than 14 miles from us.  The weather here at the house has been: a bit of rain between 6:30 and 7:00 am, and no precip the rest of the day.  Mostly sunny, a bit of breeze.  Not the 60mph winds they were getting in Avondale.

Why the weather report, Jim?  Thanks for asking.  This company is located in the middle of where it is storming.  IF they were waiting to see if the weather was going to break, they were burning daylight here at our house.  By 1:00, I suggested we give them a call to "exchange information."  That was vetoed.  At 3:05, the party doing the veto gave the company a call... "Yes, they are still coming.  Let me check their location... the crew is about 8 minutes away from you."  Good that they keep track.

So, time counts.  It is sunny here right now.  Looking at the clouds over the mountains, that could change at any time.  Sure would be nice if they could get this done before the rain hits again.  But, they're here now.  One of us really wanted these rain gutters, so I just want these guys to do a good job to keep that person happy.

The follow-up: the guys doing the install were young, 23 and 25.  They seemed plenty efficient, although I did have to get up on the ladder and point out an issue.  They understood, did what was asked, and everyone was happy.  That was the goal.

The work got completed without being rained on.  Some of the sealant they use is supposed to dry for 24 hours... that may not play out.  Joan is happy with the look, I am happy with the install.

 

Up On The Roof...

 

If you said, "Up on the Roof most commonly refers to the hit 1962 song by The Drifters, written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, which became a major hit in 1963," you get 20 bonus points.

If you said, "Jim, you do know that falls are the most common cause of injuries for people over 70, don't you?  You weren't up on the roof, were you?" you get 50 bonus points for your concern.  And, no - I wasn't up on the roof... I was up on a ladder, near the roof...

 But, there is nothing bonus point worthy for up near the roof.  ;-)  There was a security light/camera in that location, and it needed to be taken down.

Why?  We have rain gutters scheduled to be installed tomorrow, and that light would have been in the way.  There is a 55% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow.  Will they install rain gutters in the rain?  Probably not.  Will they install rain gutters in a thunderstorm?  Not if they have any functioning brain cells.  So, it may not happen as scheduled.  We can be flexible.

We'll see how that plays out, but we are ready for them if/when they show up.

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More HOA stuff to deal with during the late morning and afternoon.  People don't know that some of what gets done has nothing to do with CC&Rs and financial stuff.  This would be considered more potentially giving a homeowner some help when they are having a tough situation.

Joan also quizzed me on questions that people might ask at Saturday's Meet the President get-together... to see if I am up on all the different topics.  I appreciate her time; I think she learned that I do have a handle on what's going on.  She helped me organize paperwork, so I can have info easily at hand for any specific budget and financial questions.  I am hoping Steph will have time in the next few days for another Q&A session.

And, yes, Murphy got several walks in today.  He did not have to go up on a ladder.  But, he could.