Drug Dealers

On the news this weekend, I could not escape the heart-wrenching story of the children murdered in Connecticut. Most of us are parents, and no one wants to see anyone shot or killed. That's obvious.

What many people may not realize is how dangerous it is for drug dealers to do business on our block. Some of you may think a little weed is no problem. I don't smoke, but I don't mind it either. Hell, recreational marijuana is even legal now in two states and I'm sure a decade from now it will be regulated and taxed. But we all know there's more going on that reefer. When there are deals going on, there are guns. Sooner or later, some dickhead is going to rob some other dickhead and maybe one of our neighbors will get caught up in the crossfire. Maybe someone you know. Maybe someone's child.


I, for one, will be walking around with a camera.

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy, Thursday, October 25, 2012 

It's kind of a weak name - Sandy doesn't quite instill any fear. They're calling it the Storm of the Century, or Frankenstorm.
I'm still waiting for the day they start using stripper names. But, hurricanes being what they are, there may be a wee bit of wind in store for our block, so...

A Units: Please remove/tie down/secure anything in your yards that can blow away.

B Units: Please remove all chairs, BBQ's, or any other projectiles from your balconies and stow anything that can blow away.

Hurricane Sandy's projected landfall, as of October 24, 2012

Thank you.

Epiphany

It's 1:00, Tuesday morning, it's raining, and the damn garbage truck is outside collecting garbage. My previous post suggested that you not put your garbage out because of the holiday. Clearly, there is no rhyme or reason when it comes to the NYC Sanitation Department.

I don't know what to tell you.

Labor Day

This Monday is Labor Day. It is a day to celebrate the contributions of our work force. This year marks the 130th anniversary of Labor Day. (I bet you didn't know that.)



Important reminder:

There will be no garbage pick-up on Monday. Please, put what you can tomorrow night, or Thursday morning. There will be no recycling pick-up until the following Monday morning. Unless you like a bunch of rats dining on your leftovers, please stow it. Thanks.









Even more of an important reminder:    Don't wear white after Labor Day.

Peaceful

Everyone say hi to Joe.  (Joe isn't really a robot, this is an illustration from Mark A. Hicks I stole from the net; shhh.) 

Joe is the guy you call when you have a problem or a question. Are you doing the crossword and need an 8 letter word that means calm, Joe's your guy. -- Seriously, all of us strive to make this a happy place. I don't see many problems on our block, but if you do happen to have any concerns or questions, well, that's why we have Joe. Please respect the 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM hours.

Also note our brand spankin' new number 347-666-6025. Oh yeah; Joe takes over on September 1st. For the rest of August, you can still harass Celeste. She likes that.

"Are you kidding me? It's a quarter past eleven you psycho!" 

In case you haven't noticed, we have our very own American flag on our very own flag pole. That's class. I would've posted a picture of it but I'm far too lazy to get my camera and walk fifty feet to take the photograph. Look out the window, there it is. It's a thing of beauty, I tell ya.

Ding Dong

This Wednesday, we'll be ringing your doorbell to see if it needs to be fixed, so if you hear us ringing the bell and it is broken, we'll fix it.

Yes, that is the plan.

Annual Owners Meeting

A friendly reminder:

The guy with the pitch fork is having too good a time - watch him.

It's that time of year again. BBQ's, baseball and our annual owners meeting. If you have any comments, criticisms, gripes, praises (gasp) or questions, this is definitely the forum for such actions. I welcome any communique in the comments section on this blog as well, but only a couple of brave souls have taken advantage of that.

Anyway, the meeting will commence at 7:30PM on June 14, 2012 at the usual place around the corner on Amboy Road.

See you there. Leave the weaponry home.
Thank you.

Happy Memorial Day

Memorial Day: a day we honor the men and women of the armed forces who have made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom and our way of life. We thank you.

*   *   *

One idea we've been kicking around the Board was to erect a flag pole on Francine Court behind the mail boxes in the center area. We had hoped to complete this project by Memorial Day, but more pressing matters took precedence, namely the emergency cement repair and the dreaded dryer vents. Now we're hoping to have it completed for July Fourth. I've priced a 25 foot fiberglass pole at $250, a good quality flag at $50, and a solar-powered light designed for flag poles at $100.  $400, plus shipping and installation seems like a minimal investment to honor our country and show our pride.

Many of us are veterans and most of us have veterans in the family. All of us are Americans. It seems like a no-brainer to me but we'd still like to hear from you.

What are your thoughts?

Garbage

Garbage

When it comes to holiday weekends, we always get the short stack because our normal pick-up day in Monday. Sometimes the regular garbage is picked up on Tuesday, sometimes it sits there until Thursday.

Garbage

I wish I had a schedule, or even a clue as to when our garbage gets picked up on holidays, but there's no rhyme or reason when it comes to our wonderful Sanitation Department. All we can do is the best we can. Putting a recyclable bag out on say, Thursday night, when you know there won't be a pick-up until the weekend (or probably, the following weekend) is not doing out best.

Let's do our best. Let's keep the block clean.

Keys

We need a copy of your outside key.

 Most have you have complied and given a member of the board a copy of your key already. Thank you. You will not be inconvenienced by any mysterious lock-changing that will commence next month because you are smart.

The rest of you will be seeing notices taped to your front door reminding you to kindly provide a copy of your key.

We don't need tuning keys for your guitar.

We don't want an all-expense paid trip to the Florida keys, at least, not until hurricane season is over.

That's a cool sat image, right?

We don't need any old keyboards from your computer.

Alicia Keys

Yeah, I wish.













If by chance you don't want your Minimoog, I'll take that. (I used to own an original Minimoog in the early 80's)

But really, all we want is your front door key. We will give it back to you after we copy it. I promise. It'll save us the hassle and expense of hiring a locksmith to switch out your lock, and it'll save you a trip to the hardware store to make copies of the single key you'll receive in return.

  

Be Schmart

Most of you understand the benefits of basic fire prevention. Most of you care about your neighbors. Excellent.

Some of you may have missed the memo. The dryer vents need to be cleaned. A clean dryer vent is a happy dryer vent. If you don't want to witness your home burning to the ground, why take the chance with something as silly as a dirty, dusty and dangerous dryer vent. This service, for the time being, is at no additional cost to you so take advantage of that now. Be smart.

Not complying may be catastrophic. At the very least, ignoring the notices being placed on your front door is a bit dopey, not to mention inconsiderate to your neighbors. Eventually, you - or your landlord, will be charged for this mandatory service, even if the police department assists us in doing what is necessary for the well-being of our community.

Don't you agree? Awesome.

Feces Pieces

You don't have to pick up after your dog, you can hire this chick to do it for you.

Just don't leave it there.

Thank you.

Welcome

As you can see, we're on the 'net! The purpose of this blog is to keep everyone informed of what's what and for better communication, which is essential for a great community. The members of the Board volunteer their time to better our neighborhood in numerous ways. We're all in this together. We encourage you to leave a comment, ask a question, voice a complaint, or just say hi. We have created a Twitter account so you can get follow us there as well. From there you can get crucial data sent directly to your phone. @FrancineCourt

As you may have noticed, work has begun on some of the sidewalks, driveways and aprons. This is necessary to ensure our safety, and a recent inspection dictated that we commence the reconstruction and repairs immediately.

For fire safety reasons, the Board has hired a firm to clean the dryer vents of all units, regardless of whether you have a dryer or not. Work will begin this Saturday, April 14th, and will continue until Monday, April 23rd. Pick a day convenient to you and let any Board member know, and we'll hook you up for free. It's good for you, it's good for everyone.

Yes, this is an 'On the Net' pun. Deal with it.

The annual Owners meeting will be held on June 14th at 7:30 PM at the usual place on Amboy Road around the corner.

-- Charlie