"Vacant" Houses in my Neighborhood

In my walks around my neighborhood (something I do several times a day), I’ve notice something. There are more than a few houses that are vacant. I don’t mean vacant in that the house is empty but vacant as classified by the city as in they are falling apart and no one lives in them anymore.
The roofs of the front porches are collapsing. The paint is pealing if there is any paint at all on the house. Windows are boarded up or broken. One had been a house converted into a church. Another one even had it’s front door open. I peeked into that one. I found a house that looked like it had been gutted (see the pictures below). In fact it looks like it was being renovated but work stopped on it. You can tell the properties are vacant by the tell tale green sticker on a door or window.

Again there are not many of these vacant houses. But all of those pictured below are in about a six to seven block radius from my house. The other thing to realize is these properties will continue to deteriorate over time. I also wondering what it must be like living next to one of these derelicts. Certainly can’t be increasing the property value.

I also wondering what is going to happen to these places. For most, the pictures only show what is on the outside. I can only imagine what the inside of the houses look like. How would you ever renovate such a place? And finally what is the city going to do with them.

2Political Podcast Episode 129

2Political Podcast Episode 129

2Political Podcast Episode 129 is now available. You can listen to it or download it from the podcast site, 2political.com. You can leave comments there as well as download or listen to any episode (you can access the five most recent episodes from the list on the right side of my blog).
his episode was recorded on the first of April (NZDT), but Arthur spent most of the next day fixing the 2Political website, which had “issues”. Oh, well.

We talk about the only real topic there is at the moment. We’re not exactly fans of the way that the current occupant of the White House has “handled” the crisis. Arthur offers some contrasts with what’s happening in New Zealand. Jason also shares one of the coping strategies in his area.
We need to work out what’s next—what will the economy look like after the pandemic is under control? What do we want it to be? Let us know what you think! Everyone's welcome to leave a comment.
Jason’s Blog
Arthur’s blog, podcasts and videos can be accessed here.

Navigating Applying for Unemployment

So I am attempting to apply for unemployment. According to the guidelines issued by DC I should be eligible because COVID19 has shut down my job.

I tried to apply on-line. Things were going rather well. I was able to answer all of the questions. I then came to a section where they were going to verify who you are by asking you a set of questions. There were five of these. Each question had four answers one of which was always none of the above. (I have listed more than four questions the reason for which will become clear shortly).
So here are some of the questions asked to verify you are actually you:

1. The square footage of your house.

2. The year your house was built.

3. Who you bought the house from. (I've only been in my house for 17 plus years so how hard would that be. I was actually able to remember the name)

4. The amount of your original mortgage.

5. The amount of you most recent refinancing and that was down to the penny.

6. A list of phone numbers that may or may not be associated with you.

7. Street names that may or may not be associated with you.

8. A list of towns where people you know might live.

I mean after all everyone should remember all of those.

There were then three more questions. Verifying who your employer was. Asking if you'd worked in any other state. Finally when you were hired and when you're last day of work was along with why you were let go.

And this is where my problems started. I was repeatedly asked those same three questions over and over. I could not advance beyond that.

So I cancelled and decided maybe I should try another browser. I had started in Firefox. I used Safari and Chrome and got the same results. I then noticed that the recommended browser to use for the site the Explorer. Nothing like being on the cutting edge of technology.

I took a breather from this for a day or so. I decided I would try and call. These were the usual results I got when I called. A message saying all lines are busy call back. A message from Verizon saying all circuits were busy try the number again. Finally the phone was answered and you got nothing.

On a lark after lunch on Tuesday I tried calling. I actually got through. There were all the usual menu options of picking the right place to direct the call. Also some preliminary questions. I was then put into the hold line.

First off the hold music was absolutely terrible. Some classical trumpet solo. Really got on my nerves.

The second thing and more important is how long I was on hold. I was on hold for four hours. Four hours. And I never spoke to anyone.
In fact I stayed on the line an hour after the office closed at 4:30. I have a funny feeling I could have stayed on hold for hours and hours probably until Wednesday morning and still not have talked to anyone.

I know these are really tough times and agencies are overwhelmed. I'm lucky that I have access to some other funds. But what if I didn't. How are people supposed to get through this? How are people expected to stay on hold for hours? What if you don't have access to a computer? (From what I read the site cannot be accessed with a smart phone.)

As always in any sort of crisis the people who need the most help and need it the quickest are going to be the last people who are going to be able to get it. And there is something terrible wrong about that.