The hood

A little less than a year ago, Hurricane Gustav came through here and took a good portion of the roof off the carport. Well, yesterday, the complex finally paid to get it repaired.

Sad part is, this is a downgrade...at least I seem to think so. I mean, this thing hangs off about 5 ft off the front and doesn't come to the fence on the other side. WTF?!?

Chalk this up to another "brilliant" decision by the homeowner's association. They cut down the trees a few months ago, saying they weren't necessary. Now, when high winds and everything are involved, I can understand cutting the branches back and all, that isn't the issue. My problem with that is, they add to the atmosphere around here, keep a little bit of a breeze flowing in the courtyard (not to mention keeps it from getting too hot). These petty people that live here, though, don't seem to get that, or at least they didn't until recently when we've gone most of the month without rain, and have had to have the air conditioners running on full blast because it's too hot.

What geniuses there are, huh?

Let's just cut them all down, why don't we

When I moved out here, one of the things that drew me to this complex was the scenery in the courtyard. Well, since moving in, they have cut down or removed almost all of the trees and bushes and there really is no courtyard anymore, just a sidewalk with a patio at one end and gate at the other.

I'll grant them some removal due to Gustav damage and precautions, but the bushes didn't do anything and the trees provided shade and made it pleasant to actually hang out in the courtyard. It as really noticeable in the fall when the hurricane came through, knocked the power out and everyone was looking for someplace cool.

Today, they back to cutting. Go fig, right? However, I found out why they've been cutting. The original plan was to cut the branches back for insurance reasons. That makes sense. However, over the summer, there was a change in the power infrastructure of the homeowners association and the woman that now is in charge of the finances and such hates trees and plants. Since she's in charge of hiring these men to cut things down, she decided to tell them to get rid of them. UGH! There is a meeting Friday to discuss this, however. There is no need to make all of us suffer just because she dislikes all things arboreal.

Did I mention that the previous treasure was in charge of the grounds, but took money out to pay himself and his..er...mate(and outside partners). He got what was coming to him, though as a month after that was uncovered the parish (counties for the non-Louisiana readers...lol) came and seized control and evicted him. It's now waiting to be auctioned off. Talk about karma!