Step Into My Frustration

A little bit of history before I explain. We rent our home. It is in a complex of rental townhouses. Management and maintenance have always had a bit to be desired. However, this situation suits our needs for the time being. The kids have their own bedrooms, it's not my parent's house, there's a garage, we're in town and grounds keeping including snow removal is included.

Imagine my surprise when we received a form letter explaining that wintertime snow removal services would no longer be continued. (Actually, some of my surprise stemmed from the fact that we had been given adequate notice, but I digress.) This is a disappointment. Having year-round grounds keeping services included in the rental agreement was a deciding factor for us. It makes the cost, compared to the other options, worth it. Not that we are unable to shovel our driveway, in fact, the kids and I quite often will shovel our driveway as well as the neighbour's.

The reason we were given was that the cost of upkeep has risen and so that we continue (?!) to receive value for our rental monies (!?!?) this cost cutting measure would be taken. I guess the regular rental increases haven't been keeping up with the expected expenses. Curious.

So would someone please explain to me why, why, why, were the contracted groundskeepers here yesterday with leaf blowers. Yes, leaf blowers. For an entire morning, leafs were blown around the property to collect in the communal green. Then, for some reason, it was necessary to then mow the leaves. I would say that they mowed the grass, but since the grass has not been growing these last few weeks, I think that would be inaccurate.

Today, all evidence of this prudent and economical use of our monies is gone. The wind has continued to send leaves to the ground. The green is leaf strewn as are the front yards and back yards. Am I surprised? No. Just more convinced that the people running this place are lacking. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it seems kind of frivolous if management is trying to be economical.