July 2023

Here are all the photos and videos from July, and below are a few notes.

July 4th Celebrations

The days around July 4th were some of the hottest on record all over the country, including here. We stayed close to home and went out to a park, barbequed, and then went over to the home of some friends from church and joined them in lighting off many fireworks, which Alex thoroughly enjoyed. We had some fireworks and sparklers leftover, which we continued lighting throughout the month for his enjoyment.

Rainy Weather

Rob: Following a dry winter and spring, July brought some heavy rain to make up for it. In one 24-hour period in the middle of the month, we got two months worth of rain, which caused some serious flooding in some pockets of the Hudson Valley. A major road near West Point got wiped out, and one person died after she was carried away in rushing water.

Landlord Adventures and Dealing with Rental Scams

Rob: We rent our house in the Binghamton area (Endwell) with basic furnishings to short-term tenants, and our last tenants were there for about a year before they moved out in mid-July. They seemed like nice people, a recently married couple with a young boy, and were generally good about paying rent, taking care of the property, and working with me on any issues that came up. But you never know what kind of state a tenant is going to leave your property in. In my experience as an AirBnB host, I saw the full gamut from no evidence that anyone was even there, to people throwing a party and leaving a car at the curb for several days. 

Anyway, these people did some moderate cleaning and left a lot of personal items behind, including toys, kitchen stuff, and a U-haul dolly. I assume it was mostly stuff they couldn't fit in their moving truck before they headed out of state, because some of it was of value. There were also some minor damages: cupboards off their hinges, a broken window (which I knew about), and water damaged bathroom vanities (which I didn't know about). I had two weeks before the next tenants moved in, which gave me time to get things in order. I took time off work and made one trip there by myself for a couple days to get started and replace the bathroom vanities . The next week I came back there with Becky and Alex (see below) for a long weekend to continue projects. At that point, Becky pointed out that it smelled like cigarette smoke (I can't smell), and so I realized the renters breached the 'no smoking' part of the rental agreement. That sucks because it is really hard to get rid of that smell, and opening the windows and spraying Zep deodorizer clearly wasn't enough. So in brief, those renters won't be getting their deposit back. Becky helped me with some of the cleaning while I worked on other repairs , yard work, and clearing out the stuff left behind by the old tenants. We also had to clear out some of our stuff that we were storing there, either selling it or taking it back with us. So that involved many trips to the hardware store, to the landfill, to the thrift store, and posting things for free or for sale on Facebook marketplace that I thought might be of value to others. After Becky and Alex left, I did a marathon final cleaning session to get things ready for the new tenants who checked in the following day while I continued doing some yard work. I hardly slept the night before due to anxiety and so I just went back to work very early that morning getting things ready.  I was beyond exhausted by the time I got home later that evening (I had to stop for a nap on the 2-hour drive back to the Hudson Valley).

The new tenants are a couple with two kids and a dog that they assure me is very mellow and well trained.  They also plan to be there for about a year while they look to purchase a home in the area. They just seem like really nice people, not too concerned about some of the house's imperfections (even the tobacco smell), and very grateful to have found the property because they are relocating from Florida.  The woman actually grew up on the same street and has family nearby.  The guy has worked in construction and they seem like pretty capable and smart people who are able to handle many things on their own, so that will be a good thing I hope. I think we'll have a good relationship.

The day after the new tenants moved in, they called me about a "weird situation." They said another family showed up expecting to move in, an older couple with a couple kids who appeared to be disabled. They put me on speakerphone to explain the situation.  This poor family said they saw the place listed on Facebook marketplace for $1100/month (I charge $2000), and they met the person who they thought was the landlord outside the property but didn't go inside.  This person had a whole story about having to suddenly move out of state. They paid him $3700 through CashApp for a deposit, first month rent, and I don't know what else. I don't know who these people talked to, but their description of the scammer matches the husband that was previously there. I felt sick for these people, and told them please report this to the police, and give them my information. If it was the previous tenant, I have their contact info, I have their old mail, I have their photo, and Zillow probably has their background check and rental application information. I haven't heard anything further about that situation, but I hope that they do report it and I am able to help. The previous tenants seemed like really nice people and I really wouldn't have suspected them of doing something like that, except that they did violate my no smoking policy...

Binghamton Staycation

Rob: Becky and Alex spent a 4-day weekend with me at our house. We tried to do some fun things while getting the house ready for the next renters, although I regret that I had to spend so much time working on the house. We set up a bed for Alex with his pillows and blankets which he happily adopted, and he didn't forget about his toybox there or the hose in the front yard that he loves to spray. Outings there included: Chuck E. Cheese, the mall and its arcade, swimming at Chenango Valley State Park and tacos at the nearby Beer Tree, Robot City Arcade, the Discovery Center, and some favorite playgrounds. Alex loved Chuck E. Cheese (we don't have one where we live), the mall as usual, and was excited to get in the water at the state park after some initial apprehension. He was in a crabby mood at the Discovery Center unfortunately, and didn't want to stay at Robot City Arcade very long because they only have old-school arcade games.  Becky and I enjoyed a few games of Frogger, Jungle Hunt, and Arkanoid, among others. It was altogether a nice change of scenery for all of us.

Speaking of the mall by our house, a few years ago it seemed about to reach its end, but some investors came in and did a major transformation on it, and now it is being modernized with some new stores and restaurants, including a flagship Dick's sporting goods store with a huge climbing wall and ice skating. The first Dick's was a tackle shop in Binghamton (which is still there), so it is really great that as they have grown, they have found ways to invest in the area by doing things like hosting a major golf tournament and saving that mall. Unfortunately, we were there a couple weeks before the opening of the new Dick's but we'll have to check it out next time we visit, because Alex loves to play on treadmills. Hopefully next time we can spend  more time relaxing and doing fun things, and not have to work on the house so much.

What Else Is New

Rob: I had to have a mole removed from my back. A little while ago they removed part of it for a biopsy, which came back 'atypical', so they had to cut out the tissue around it, which required about 8 stiches. I had no idea it would be such a gash, but overall it was fairly painless.

Alex: (Becky) Something interesting about Alex is that he is steadily improving at following directions.  He's been tuning in better, probably because he wants to know if we're telling him he gets to go somewhere fun or have a snack:)  Whatever his motivation, we'll take it:) 

Becky:  Not much new here.  Our best times lately have been finding nice beaches in the woods and getting Alex to enjoy the water with us.  This week I get to spend a little time training our short term babysitter in the basics of ABA/Autism treatment.  She is a speech language pathology student and we really hope she comes back next summer so we can continue to use her.  We're also hoping to get in some pickleball this week as we haven't given up on becoming regular pickleball players.