A Year Later in San Diego

Rain in SoCal (photo credit: Francisco Arcaut)

Yesterday, June 30, was my year anniversary of closing on my condo. I'd have to say my first year of condo ownership has been an exciting and tumultuous ride. There were highs and lows. I have learned a lot, especially since becoming the HOA Board President. Even though it is stressful to deal with repairs and owner concerns/attitudes/drama, I feel this is the best thing for me. I guess it's my way of keeping things in control. I am making sure that things are structurally sound. In the past year we have had repairs to our tile roof, the patio/door above my unit that was causing a leak and all four garden windows in the kitchens (including mine) have been re-flashed due to leaking. The rains were pretty heavy for San Diego standards this past Fall/Winter and we paid the price. Typically it doesn't rain as hard or as often, but for the past year (June 30-July 1, 2011) we received 12.65 inches of rain. I realize that doesn't sound like a lot, but for Southern California standards it is significant, but not excessive. Our average rainfall is 10.77 inches. Some years were as low as 4-6 inches since I have lived here. I remember 2004/2005 we had 20+ inches, which was extremely rare.

June 30 was also the day that I gave my notice at my previous job in Orange County. I was very unhappy living up there so I am so glad that everything happened the way it did. I started a contract job in mid-July, but received a full-time offer at the agency I work for now 2 days into my contract job. It was all meant to be. I am still standing after 1 year and hope to remain in this position for a very long time. It's time Anthony stays at a job for more than 1-2 years. It's time to really THRIVE at my career. So far, I am doing really well. My goal is to be promoted within the next 18 months. I do think it's possible. I tend to not stay around long enough to even be promoted. I enjoy my work now since I no longer have to be stuck in the tech B2B world. I get to work within health care marketing on the B2C side and also do some work within B2B in the construction industry. It's great that I am now expanding my experience within other industry verticals. For so long I was pigeon-holed within the B2B technology/software/hardware market.

Running-wise I am doing ok, but not great. I have been trying to do 4 runs a week with the longest runs around 8-9 miles. This past week I did 9.5 miles and maintained a 7:07 pace, which was decent. I have run faster runs though in training. At my peak in 2007 I was doing 15-20 mile runs around 6:55 pace. My hamstrings still ache and now my lower back is tight. I believe this is due to not sitting correctly at work and hunching over too much. I am trying to work on this and maintain proper posture. I have been able to maintain pace averages from as fast as 6:50-7:15 min/mile pace, which is typical for me. I still worry about how I would perform in a race. I am pondering doing a 5K race in a few weeks during San Diego Pride weekend. I also may do a half marathon in November. I am not ready to do a half marathon in August (America's Finest City Half Marathon). It has sold out so it makes the decision easier for me. In terms of a marathon, I may try to do the Carlsbad Marathon in January, or Long Beach Marathon in Oct. Not sure yet. My body is just not like it used to be. I'm not as resilient.

One last mention about the entire patio/door repair. Last Friday, June 24, we did a water test to make sure the door was installed correctly and that no water would get through. Well, after a few minutes of spraying at the threshold of the door, water leaked through! I couldn't fucking believe it. I was actually really sad. After 7 weeks, I thought this mess was over with. The contractor had no explanation since he wasn't here when his subcontractors installed it. Once again, showing why we should have NEVER hired this guy. He was not involved enough and on site enough to monitor the job and the careless people he hired to do it.

After about 20 min of pressure spraying we determined that the under the threshold of the door there was not enough polyurethane put in, therefore creating a gap where water could leak through. VERY BASIC STUFF! I was outraged that such a careless mistake could be made, especially knowing that was one of the EXACT SAME PROBLEM we had with the previous door. Of course there were other issues like the fact that the door was never installed correctly or flashed correctly to begin with. The other issue we determined with this door is that the area where the bottom of the door meets the threshold, water gets through. So the manufacturer had to be called and after 5 days has finally called us back and are going to come here on Tues, July 5 to fix it. I am also involving the contractor to make sure everything is done correctly. We have a 5 year warranty on the weatherproofing system.

I have already started to have the ceiling and walls repaired, finally, after 6 months of the walls and ceilings of being open. I was waiting for the patio to be complete before starting. I didn't anticipate the water test to go poorly so the work was already scheduled for the day after the test. It's ok since it doesn't rain here in the summers and I KNOW they will be plugging up the leak under the door next week. As you can see from the photo on the left, the drywall has been installed. Now the guy we hired just have to finish with the spray texture this weekend. Then I will prime and paint the area.

Condo repair status

January seems to be flying by. The weather here in San Diego has been glorious these past few weeks. After a lot of rain over the holidays, January is shaping up to be the best one yet since I have lived here. We have had highs in the 70s and with sunny skies and dry conditions. I am so grateful to live here now, especially when I see that the northeast continues to get pounded by snow and ice. I know that I would be miserable if I still lived there.

 

As for the condo, I still don’t have walls in sections of living room due to the leak and the drywall that was taken out back on Dec 27. We have received one bid for a repair and replacement option that was way too expensive. Replacing it would be absolutely ridiculous, so for now we are going to go the repair route. The second vendor is supposed to send his bid in a few days. Then we can get that repair done and then put back up the drywall that was taken out. There are 3 other units that need drywall repair, so our reserves are certainly going to take a hit after all of this. 

Since I am now on the board, I proposed that every unit owner may need to pay a one-time assessment fee of $500 to $700 so we can replenish some of the reserves we are going to take out to pay for all these repairs. I am annoyed that the owners let things deteriorate so much over the years. No one thought of having routine maintenance on the roof and building. I was up on that roof myself and there were tons of leaves and other debris that were blocking drains, etc. It should be cleaned on a regular basis. It should be inspected on a regular basis. I know that the other unit owners will not want to pay an assessment, but it may be necessary. According to our HOA bylaws, we have to carry a certain balance in the reserve. We will see what happens. 

I did receive good news from the California Franchise Tax Board though. I applied for part of the $100 million that is to be allocated in tax credits to first time home buyers in California. Since I closed on my condo between May 1, 2010 and Jan 1, 2011, I qualified to receive $10,000 over the course of 3 years. I applied and received the confirmation letter that I received the credit the other week. So I will receive $3,333 as a tax return once I complete my state taxes. This money will come in handy for condo related projects (new windows, more furniture and art work), especially any assessments I may have to pay related to the roof repairs. Being a homeowner is not predictable nor easy, but I am trying to learn as much as I can as I go along.

I've even done a few Do-It-Yourself projects at home to save money. I first fixed my disposal about a month ago. It was jammed. So I went to Lowe's and bought a $7 tool that loosens the blades if anything is stuck in there. I also repaired my kitchen light that would "sometimes" turn on. This has been an issue since I moved in last July. I thought it was the bulbs at first, but I replaced them and it still had issues. Then I went to Lowe's and bought a replacement switch. The woman who happened to be in the isle and seemed like a lighting expert, told me that it may be the ballast. I had no idea what that was, but it is the electronic box that holds all the circuits, etc. They didn't have any at the store to power the size of my light, but I found one online. When I got it, I turned off the electricity, took out the old one, put in the new one and it is working fine now. I basically saved myself $150 by not calling an electrician to do this for me.

Finishing Touches and Back to the Marathon

Ok I REALLY need to update this more than every 4-5 weeks. I used to be so good about it. I will make more of a concerted effort in Oct. I promise. This month is flying by. I can't believe it's already Oct 12 today.

The condo is really coming together. I have ALL of the inside furniture I need now that includes a coffee table, TV stand and couch. I also got FLOR carpet tiles (see photo on the left) to put over the bamboo floors in a small section in front of the couch to add some pop!  I moved the coffee table in the photo to display all 8 tiles I bought.

I actually can't believe I am buying original art to put on the walls! It's so HEG! I am buying a painting from my friend and ex-roommate Mike Quernemoen. He is a graphic designer by trade, but also paints on the side. When I lived with him in 2000-2002 in Boston he really got into it, but had been doing it all his life. I love abstract images so I was thrilled that I was able to buy one of his existing paintings. He painted it again for me since someone just purchased the one I wanted. You can see his painting portfolio here. The one I am buying is titled "Midnight Harbor" and is on the right side. I will post a photo once it is up in my condo.

As for work things have been busy until this week. My health care client had a ton of mailings going out for the Annual Election Period (AEP), which began Oct 1. So now I will work on another account in addition to the health care account. I am doing competitive research for another division of the health care account we carry. It's very interesting work. I can tell I am VALUED there. It's a completely different feeling than I had at my last job.

The other night I saw "The Spirit of the Marathon" on Hulu and got all emotional. I haven't run a full marathon since June of 2007 so I am itching to do one again. I just want to do a few more and then I will officially retire from marathon running. I'll always run but I won't train so hard for long-distance stuff anymore. My hamstrings have been giving me problems since late 2007. I think it's something I will just have to live with. Now that I am turning 35 in December, in order to qualify for Boston Marathon I just need to run a 3:15:59 qualifying time at another marathon. Six of the 10 marathons I have completed have been under 3:10:00. I know myself and I know I could easily re-qualify. Since I am perfectionist I would want to do a lot better than 3:15 though, but to know that I have that extra 5 minutes is huge. If you are male and between the ages of 18-34 you need to run 3:10:59 in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon. So that extra five minutes is great.

My goal would be to run the Carlsbad Marathon on Jan 23. That roughly gives me a little over 3 months to train. I can pull out another qualifying time. If I re-qualify I would qualify for both the 2011 and 2012 Boston Marathon. I would probably wait until 2012 though. Running Boston in April seems too soon, especially after running Carlsbad. I would have to continue to train straight through the winter and into spring. Would my body be able to handle it? I have no clue. I have to take it one day at a time and see how these long runs go. Tonight I did 8.62 miles at a 6:58 pace. That isn't too bad. All I need is like a 7:22 pace for the marathon. That pace feels very easy for me.