Friday, April 02, 2010

Back in the groove

The whole city is brimming with giddiness. Not only is it a long weekend, but we are supposed to have record breaking warmth as well. Yesterday we maxed out in the 40's but today we are destined for 70's. It is more common to have a snowstorm at this time of year than 70's. In fact this will be the earliest I've seen that kind of temp since I moved up here ten years ago. It's a given that we shall be firing up the barbeque. (Why does it always say I'm spelling that wrong?)

I had a nice ego boost this week as I finished the class for one of my groups of nurses. They surprised me with a card and my current fave wine (Ravenswood Zinfandel) to thank me for being their teacher. They were all so nice in the card but my favorite was, " I have had many English teachers in my life and you are the best I have ever had. Thank you very much! You have made it easier and fun. I hope you will be there for our next session." I was so proud that she used THREE instances of present perfect correctly.

Have you ever wondered where "scared the living daylights out of" came from? Well I did. There is no hard consensus but I did find out that "daylights" equated to "mental powers" at some time in the past. Interesting stuff for word geeks such as myself.

Not a whole lot else going on. One of our tenants has announced his leaving in July. This is actually great news. The city has really cranked up the taxes on us and they've gone up over $400 a year for the past three years in a row. We haven't been able to raise the rents as much so our whole operation just keeps costing more. (I know, welcome to life.) But now that he's leaving, we can bend the rules a bit. I mean the girl in the apartment next to his and is the same dimension pays over $100 more than he does. Technically, you are not allowed to raise rents to market value when tenants move out, but we may try anyway.

My goal is to be caught up on blogs but that beautiful weather is seducing me. Hopefully by the end of Easter. Have a great weekend y'all!

9 comments:

Rox said...

Leave it to you to concentrate on the language rather than the sentiment! She thinks you're the best, marinate in that for a moment! :o)

The weather is lovely here too. It's going to snow here in April again though. Mark my words.

GayProf said...

My students never give me wine. Bastards.

dr. mo said...

The most I've ever got from a group of students is a tequila shot (this after I had taken them out for a drink), and I think they were just hoping to get me drunk...

Jim said...

Isn't the weather great! We're having a low 20's day here. Being a teacher myself, the compliments don't come by very often.....bask in their warmth!

Rick Bettencourt said...

We're supposed to be near 80s here in New England. Give us time to dry out.

Ravenswood Zin is one of my faves too! In fact I bought a bottle for Easter.

Anonymous said...

Ah, I love most of the (red) Zinfandel wines I've had the fortunate opportunity to try. It is a great wine for certain; what makes it even more fantastic is the simple fact that your students cared enough to pay attention to what you like. Having don so, they acted upon a sense of gratitude for your diligence and compassion.

Glad you were there to positively impact these individuals!
-C

Nick UK said...

How on earth are you supposed to keep rents in line with market values if you cant raise them between tenants, it would seem the perfect time as no-one has to take on the tenancy if they think the rent is too high!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Install a new towel rack and then you may be able to justify the rent increase because of the improvement. Make a heated towel rack and raise the rent 200 dollars.
Barbecue oddly enough doesn't have a q in it, go figure. Ted

CoffeeDog said...

MMM, Zin. Try Seven Deadly Zins.