Now, talk about being pulled from the Gallows at the last minute. Yesterday, March 8th, 2012, my property and 36-unit condo complex was to be auctioned at 11:00 am by The Community Bank. If you have been reading, you know that I have an issue in how the bank has acted.
At 10:00 am I was jumping out of the shower dashing about readying for the moment which awaited. I was calm. After struggling these last years trying to get the bank to do what it contracted with me to do, all of the emotion has been wrung. An empty vessel cleaned of the sediment which fused in every pore of me. I was thinking, what should I wear? Put on a tie and slacks, make sure I am shaved and slicked-up--Dressing to see one's own funeral--who gets to do that in life?! I was thinking, should I take my Canon 550D and report? I know I promised. But somehow a prickly sensation was prodding me not to film the execution. I was thinking, my mom was definitely up. She is in a different time zone (literally) three hours different. Have to call her right when it is sold. Make sure she has taken the cleansing breath to push out the mounting pressure of the pain she must be feeling knowing her childhood home was about to be sold like a slave.
I had been up all night. Not tossing and turning as one would expect your last night. But I was moving. I was emptying the condo. The model. I designed the model with my great friend Larry. He is a theater designer. We worked a ton together in the 80s and 90s. So, when I took on the project and needed to design a home I called him. I said, "Larry, I need to design a condo. Lets approach it like we were designing a set for a stage play." And we did. We worked together as we have always, in concert. The ultimate design is an homage to the tag line our company proffers: "Building Homes for Generations." I was emptying, stripping, struggling with wanting to tear the whole damn place apart--if I can't have it no one can. Yet, in my head I kept hearing scripture "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord." URRRG! Piece, by piece, table, couch, chair, rug, patriots blanket, nick-knacks, all the accoutrement to make the condo invite our potential buyer to stay and never leave....packed in the back of my red Frontier. Load after load. 3:30am, 4:45am, 6:15am, 8:20am. Dark night was my help, shared with big fat shinny moon.
I picked sweat pants, black with a red stripe running down the outside of the leg and a Red Sox t-shirt, accented with a red, Red Sox hoody. Perfect. Comfort in my team logo. Shaved the mug and brushed the pearlies and was gathering my wallet, keys and the phone rang. I looked at the clock and it was 10:10 am. I recognized the number--it was a real estate broker, who just got involved in the project. He was able to bring an investor to the project. Unfortunately, but not unexpected, The Community Bank rejected the offer, like they have multiple times prior. I am beginning to wonder if there are other components driving this bus? The final objective of a real estate developer is to sell whatever property they are building. I have sold, yet they won't finance the build per our contract?
Yet, I am the one that gets foreclosed. Who the heck is writing the laws? I think we all need to pay attention to what those knuckleheads in Washington are doing. Steve, the broker, states: "the bank canceled the auction today. They rescheduled it for April 19, 2012." "Why did they do that?" "I don't know," Steve imparted. Steve and I broke into this quick discussion regarding The Community Bank's reasons. I stopped him and said, "There has been no rhyme or reason to the bank's decision making methods since I signed my loan docs in July 2008. The only thing you can count on is you can't count on their decision ever making sense." We decided to meet at the auction to see if there was some type of snafu. Hmmm, the Red Sox motif paying off.
Advertising is pretty darn effective. I found myself in the Dunkin' Donut's Drive-through ordering their new Steak & Egg breakfast sandwich. I actually like their stuff normally. I got it on an onion role with a medium coffee. I splurged and had them put sugar in it rather then my predictable sugar-substitute. Oh, man real sugar...Splendid! Pulled out of the drive-thru $5:06 lighter and headed to the site. I got there in three minutes. Just a left and a left and a straight shot down Gifford St. Love driving down Gifford. Lots of Trees, thick and lush. Huge pond just hidden 100 yards off the road. And if your inquisitive mind didn't make you stop and pull over, get out of your car and wander into the woods just a bit,you would miss the opportunity to find a most beautiful pond with miles of walking trails around it. Long Pond is a gem, and no one seems to know about it. I pulled into the condo complex and no one was there. I was still a bit early, 10:40 am. I parked in "my" space, turned on the radio. Looked for my favorite, Laura Ingram, and pulled out my Steak & Egg. I was actually eager to eat it. I was hungry of course, but the commercial caught my eye and I wanted to be led to the Steak & Egg. Still hot as I unwrapped my hopefully delicious new friend. Steamy, hot, firm...I took my first bite...small, so I could taste it fully. Taste its delicious Steak-ness. Taste its...hmmm...what is that taste? Sure ain't Steak-like. Chewying, Chewying, swallowing...??? Let me take another bite, maybe a bit bigger to get more meat. I did get a bagel and you know, lots of bread. Chomp, chew, swallow...taste? I ate it all. But, I wouldn't call it a Steak & Egg. More like Egg & Lean Meat Product. But since I hadn't eaten in over 12 hours it was super delicious.
I watched the clock in the truck glow its countdown to 11 am. Two cars drove in. One a BMW, one a Mercedes. I had seen the BMW before. They are from the auction house. I didn't know the other car. Clock glowing 10:50, 55, 56, 57,.. and then at the strike of 11:00 am a voice out of the BMW called "Auction Canceled." Tail lights white, then red, he sped off.
I stood there in the middle of the drive way. I danced. A stupid little dance. And I yelled up to the heaven's "Thank You God!" I spun around and there at the spot where the BMW had just occupied, was this man on a bike. A nice bicycle. Helmet on and the jacket he wore seemed to look just like the helmet--Geranimal-like. He waved at me and yelled if I know anything about the project. I walked over to him and told him I sure did. I was the developer. He said, "I want to buy this property from you. You interested?"
You bet I am! Tune in.. 41 1/2 days to solve this problem.
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