A notice arrives in the mail. They’re converting some nearby bungalows into condos. That’s more than enough reason for me to go sticking my nose into someone else’s business. I trek up the hill and locate the site ..four bungalows ..all vintage 1920’s. I knock on one door. Timothy answers, he just moved here from Maryland ..and he’s subletting from someone who is subletting from someone else. He says he’s going to hang around and see if he can get ‘right of first refusal’ when they go condo. I knock on the next door ..and a surfer answers who looks just like Jeff Spicoli from the movie ‘Fast Times ..’ He says it doesn’t matter to him ..he’ll be in Hawaii long before anything ever happens “But, dude ..thanks for the heads-up.” He invites me in for some ‘herbage’ and a chat. He’s a carpenter and says that these places are going to need major remodeling ..a lot of them are in original condition. “But hey ..” he goes “they don’t build ‘em like this anymore ..look ’roundcha’ dude ..arched doorways ..corniced finishings ..even got glass door knobs.” Now we’re going: this has got to be a plot ..they’re trying to fool the planning commission .. first they call it a ‘conversion’ .. then they get as far as they can before they demolish it ..and the city makes them stop and wait for the proper permits. “Happens all the time” he says “..biggest game in town ..sometimes they’re almost through before going to the commission and saying ‘hey look, there was mold ..we had to tear the place down.’” I trek back home feeling like I got to the bottom of something. What ..I’m not sure. Hopefully this’ll make more sense to me when I read it tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment