HOA19
We had our annual meeting for the Home Owners Association at the Braeburn Condominiums last night, and it was much better, and far less dull, than usual, for one key reason: Regent Bakery & Café, our one ground-floor tenant in the complex that has been open for business since at least Shobhit and I moved in back in October 2007, donated catered, hot food for dinner. In years past we've had tasty treats like cookies and doughnuts; some years nothing at all; this was the first year we got a legit dinner. And: free food? I'm there!
Given the years Shobhit was living out of town (2010 - 2016), this was hardly the first time I had attended without him. But! This was the first time I attended without him while he was on the Board -- he's been serving as Secretary since running unopposed for the open seat last year. As a result, I did get singled out briefly, when Board members were introduced; "Shobbit" (as they all seem to want to call him; the correct pronunciation is closer to "Shobe-hit"; rhymes with "showbiz" but with an H in the middle and a T instead of the Z) was noted to be absent and currently in India; and Robin, the Treasurer, said, "Is his husband here?"
Shobhit had left me with a proxy voting form, but I was told once I got there that I did not need to use it, since I was there -- maybe because I noted that, although the purchase in 2007 was only in Shobhit's name, we have been married since 2013, which effectively makes me co-owner. I was still confused as to whether the proxy might actually be needed, but in the end it didn't matter: the only few things that were voted on were so simple that each measure was passed with a simple show of hands and an opportunity to vote "opposed" (which nobody did).
Anyway. Regent had provided something like five heated trays of food, two of which were vegetarian and I could eat: veggie lo mein noodles; and crispy egg rolls. So much was leftover at the end that I dished myself a second little paper bowl full and took it home to pack for today's lunch at work. Score!
One other interesting thing about the meeting: Michael, the Board president, showed three different photos of himself on the PowerPoint presentation of slides, each connected to his newfound obsession with boxing at a nearby neighborhood gym. One slide had two photos and showed how he has lost 75 lbs, which was quite striking. The other showed him in his boxing gear, and holding his quite beautiful looking cat -- I had to take a photo of it and text it to both Ivan and Shobhit in turn. He told us all about how someone had abandoned this kitty in the East building garage, and even though he's allergic to cats and he and his husband's last cat had died only a couple of years ago, he decided to adopt it. It turned out to be a purebred Norwegian Forest Cat. Ivan actually responded to this rather quickly, stating, They are gorgeous.
Other than that, the meeting was pretty standard in it increasing dullness -- well, except that Michael works for the City of Seattle and knows all the garbage, recycling and yard waste rules, and reminds us every year that if we have a pet die, the City will accept any animal under 25 lbs straight in the garbage, so long as it's double bagged. I guess that's one cheap way to have a pet funeral. (Once Shanti and Guru go, just as I did with Batty and Peng, I will likely still want to have them cremated and either keep or scatter the remains. I scattered Batty in his birth place of Olympia at Priest Point Park in 2007 (having kept them since he died in 2004); but Peng's ashes remain in a little urn on my desk shelf to this day -- he died in 2008.)
There was also extended discussion about insurance and an increase of a deductible that was slightly confusing and boring as hell, but I figured since Shobhit is actually on the Board he has all the information he truly needs about that already.
I had gotten on Skype with Shobhit in India for a bit before going over there, and the meeting was scheduled for 6:30 but did not officially start until about twenty minutes after that. It must have run on for about ninety minutes, at the end of which Regent also offered us a very tasty cake for dessert. They had also offered a full cake as one of four door prizes, but this year I did not win any of them.
So then I walked back home -- merely across the street from the church meeting room where these meetings always happen -- and spent the next ninety minutes or so watching this past weekend's episodes of Real Time with Bill Maher and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. My week this week is otherwise packed; I shall go to see movies directly after work both this evening and tomorrow evening -- somewhat annoyingly, in both cases I have to bus to the AMC in the U District because for some reason neither Captain Marvel nor the documentary Apollo 11 are playing at the AMC at downtown's Pacific Place. I plan to go back to Steamworks Thursday night; Happy Hour with Laney was postponed from last Friday to this Friday to allow for the Smith Tower with Danielle last week; Jennifer arrives for her overnight stay on Saturday. She's going to join me for the St. Patrick's Day Dash early Sunday morning. I don't have a day with no plans at all again until Monday next week.
[posted 12:15 pm]