There is a scam going around where you will receive an e-mail from the address of someone you know saying their Amazon account is having issues and would you please send a gift card on their behalf. DON’T DO IT. I was fooled because the e-mail address was correct (and from a neighbor in the building) and the story was believable but Amazon caught it and cancelled the order after speaking with me. So beware!

There will be a Board meeting Wednesday evening, March 24th, at 7:00 via Zoom. There should be an e-mail going out from the management with the link before then. [Update: an e-mail with the link went out late Monday. If you haven’t received it, please check your spam folder.]

One of the topics at the meeting will be a pair of amendments to the condo rules that are expected to be coming up for a vote at this year’s annual meeting. The more significant of the two, and one that’s been under discussion for years, is a proposed no smoking amendment which can be read here.

If you’d like to hear more about the amendments, and discuss their benefits and implementation, please consider attending Wednesday’s meeting.

Just a heads up that, despite the mild temps today, it’s supposed to drop way down tonight with significant winds and wind chills below zero. If your unit happens to be one with pipes near an exterior surface and thus vulnerable to freezing, you might want to nudge your heat up in advance of the temperature drop as a precaution.

With so many people staying home so much these days, it’s easy to stop paying attention to what’s happening weather-wise.

A questions from a resident:

Does anyone ever use any of their electric heaters, especially the large ceramic heater on the second floor of their apartments?  If so, have they ever replaced the thermostat control for it?
Thanks.

Please post any replies in the comments.

There is an online Board meeting tonight at 7:00. Cathy sent out the information Monday but I know that at least one or two of the e-mails got caught in people’s spam filters (including mine). If you’d like to attend but didn’t get the e-mail with the link, please check your spam/junk folder.

As of today, there is no right turn at the Central Street end of Market Street due to bridge work (I discovered this the hard way this morning). This closure is expected to last about five months and also affects bus routes.

Also, there’s a resident giving away a beautiful entertainment center:

Hi Neighbors, I’m selling my condo Unit 508, and I’m giving away a FREE Entertainment Center for your TV, cable box, DVD player and other devices. It’s an authentic piece of Hooker Furniture with wood paneling and glass door to display books and treasures. Includes 3 cabinet doors, pull out shelves, and 2 drawers. The dimensions are: 57″ High x 68″ Wide x 23″ Deep.
I will help you move it because I have a hand truck on wheels. This piece was given to me by the previous owner, so it’s nice to pay it forward and give it to another neighbor in the building. Please let me know if anyone is interested. FREE!
I live in Canal Place 3, so I’ll still be in the neighborhood!
Thanks, Julie Manoogian julie_manoogian@yahoo.com

First of all, the parking ban was lifted at 9:00am this morning which means any cars remaining in a city garage past 11:00am will start getting charged the usual parking rate.

Secondly, a resident is asking for advice about heat pump water heaters:

“I wanted to know if anyone in the building has installed a Heat Pump Water Heater and if they had, did they install a louvered door to their utility room.  I am looking at my options.  I found this article.“

“The article basically says that the heat pump is the way to go.  The author quotes another article written by Ian M Shapiro which says that a great place to put the heat pump is upstairs in a utility room – bingo.  It goes on to further state that if you heat your space with a heat pump, your efficiency level is further enhanced; sounds perfect.“

Never having heard of heat pump water heaters myself, I went looking for more info and found this. Any input from residents should go in the comments and would be much appreciated.

A snow emergency and parking ban has been declared beginning at 3:00 this afternoon with enforcement starting six hours later at 9:00pm. If your car is parked in our surface lot, please move it to one of the city garages before then or you risk it being towed. The new Hamilton Canal District garage over behind Canal Place 3 is free to city residents for the duration of the declared emergency; the Leo Roy Garage is NOT and you will be charged if you park there without a monthly pass.

I’m always in a quandary about donating clothes. There are the items that are in poor shape that should just go into textile recycling, and there are the ones that are in near-perfect shape that should go to people who can use them. I hate the idea of good clothing getting shredded with the bad.

Does anyone know which local places are best for which category? I’m currently looking to re-home a lot of large men’s clothes, particularly pants, some of them never-worn.

Any suggestions should go in the comments and will be much appreciated.

A resident is looking for input. Any answers should go in the comments. And thank you in advance!

• Has anyone switched out of National Grid being their primary electricity server to another company that has been advertising  a switch over?
• If you have, have you found that the switched over company been less expensive for you?
• If you haven’t, why not?
• Has anyone called the numbers supplied by the switch over company to get more info and, if so, has it been a positive experience and are you in favor of doing a switch over?