 Finally
made it into Dallas on Tuesday afternoon (pix from Arbuckle along
the way) in time to hook up with one of my oil well guys there that
I'd never met in person before. Gave me directions over to Richardson
where my other CPA is and I found a cheap hotel right up the street
from the Nortel headquarters where I had spent so much time in a former
life. |
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24. Arbuckle Mountains OK.jpg |
25. Arbuckle OK seismograph was born.jpg |
 26_ Nortel in the rearview_JPG |
| Met with the CPA in the morning, again just to breathe the same air with a person I'd done business with but never actually met in person. It was good. Took off after that headed for Lubbock and was having problems keeping my doo-rag on and remembered a Harley shop I'd passed on the way in to Dallas in Denton so stopped there and got me a right fine new one! Over to Lubbock from there on 380W and called up a girl who used to work for my property manager that I'd had a fun time with last year when I signed them on and said I'd look her up next time I came into town. Good thing - she got me all set up in an Extended Stay America hotel with a handicapped smoking room! Those are hard to come by, in case you've never had to find one. Finally made it into town around 10p and got settled in and crashed. |
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Meeting most of the next Thu with my property manager, plan was to come to town and rough them up for properties not doing so well and me wanting to understand why. Seemed pretty simple to me after sitting with the guy responsible: too easy on the credit requirements, too high on the rents asked, no follow through on collecting late rent and kicking out non-payers. Geeze guys! Alison, who got me the room, invited me over to her boyfriend's place for dinner that night we proceeded to have so much fun it ended up 230a and us sitting there looking at each other wondering how in the heck we were gonna do what we were supposed to tomorrow! I couldn't make it back to the hotel but had planned on meeting with a mortgage broker for lunch but I knew that wasn't gonna happen so Alison said she'd call him and tell him I was taking the day off. Can't really remember what all I did the rest of the weekend but ended up back over there again at least once for the Lubbock Apartment Directory meeting! |
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29. Mark & Dennis & Alison.JPG |
30. Dennis & Yorkie.JPG |
31. Carol Ann Apartments.JPG |
32. Vandelia Cove.JPG |
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| We set the Lubbock
Apartment Directory up in front of us to prove it was purely a business
meeting. Looking like a no-brainer to change over management of the
properties to Alison's company but I'll know after my meetings with
the banker and current manager tomorrow. Headed to Ranger next to
visit my oil wells there then pointed toward ABQ. Interesting coincidence
that I found out Alison is gonna be in a town setting up a new office
that's directly in my path - depending on what happens tomorrow maybe
that'll be the meeting where we formalize a management agreement?!
Things that make you go hmmmmm...
Monday spent riding around with existing property manager to look at the apartments, wasn't impressed with his 'bedside manner' with the tenants, told him I'd spent a lot of time with Alison over the weekend and was thinking of changing managers, even though that's not what I had planned on when I came into town. Met with the boss and asked him what he'd do if he were me and he said do what's best, make sure I compared apples to apples and they'd try to make any transition as smooth as possible. Cool. But first I wanted to go visit my oil wells
in Ranger so headed back east (84S->380E->6S) and stayed in
Eastland for the night. A lady along the way asked where I was from
and I told her CA and she said 'too many people breathing the same
out out there'; had to agree. Also noted that lots of places I stopped
along the way people were telling me to "be careful" -
what, did I look like I had a danger sign on my forehead?! |
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