Follow Me

The blog has moved.

I Hate My Developer is now live on ChicagoNow.

Come on over and continue reading about my little patch of Woodlawn.

Moving Day

Yes, it's really happening.

This humble concern will soon have a new home at ChicagoNow, a Chicago Tribune media property.

Lift your jaws up off the ground.

You'll still get the same cracker jack observations, sleuthing and general rabble rousing that you've always loved, but you'll be surrounded by just a few more people.

And when I say few more I mean a lot more.

The business of moving the blog is underway. Once a few more things are in place, I expect I Hate My Developer 2.0 to go live sometime next week.

Strap yourselves in kids, this is gonna get interesting.

Evolution

An exciting change is on the horizon for I Hate My Developer. Stay tuned for the big announcement in the next few days!

The Bloggies

Ladies and gentlemen the nominations for the 2010 Bloggies opened on the first.

If you're not familiar with The Bloggies, they are the preeminent and longest running awards for bloggers.

And I want you and your friends to nominate this blog in the "Best writing of a weblog" and "Best kept secret weblog" categories.

You have to nominate two other blogs for a total of three nominations in each category so make sure that you nominate other well deserving blogs besides yours truly.

So wake the kids, tell the neighbors, send an e-mail to all of your friends to nominate I Hate My Developer.

If I make it to the finals you can look at the newbies to the blog and tell them that you've been reading since the great porch project of 2006.

60

Yes, that's the year John F. Kennedy was elected President.

And as luck would have it, it’s also the ranking my humble offerings were given by the Chicago Media Workshop’s report titled “Journalism We Want and Need.”

I’m wanted and needed? I feel very valued right about now.

You can find my blurb on page 19.

Chanting “I’m number 60!” doesn’t have the same ring as “I’m number 1!”

But sometimes you can't put a price on being wanted AND needed.

The Hood Is A Twitter

There are a few things that some people had wished I had never discovered.

I’m sure my mother never wished I had discovered boys, my developer wished I had never discovered blogging and my waist line wished I had never discovered beer.

But those pale in comparison to my latest, greatest discovery----Twitter.

While it’s new to me, technologically savvy cats have been “tweeting” (the proper term for a Twitter message) for awhile now.

For those of you who don’t know, Twitter is basically Facebook on steroids. It allows you to send a short 140 character message about what you may be doing, feeling or thinking at any given moment.

That way you can update people who subscribe to your Twitter account with what’s going on in your everyday life.

AND you can link your account to a website or blog.

For me, it’s the perfect way to transmit what’s going on in the ‘hood via text message “tweets” without going through the process of updating my blog.

‘Cause you may be surprised to find out that I don’t exactly carry my laptop around with me everywhere. Plus the added adventure of potentially dodging bullets may necessitate that I have to duck for cover.

If I do, I may potentially damage my laptop. That would be really, really bad.

But as a blogger, the upside for me is that I may “tweet” something that I see and later give you guys the full blown story by turning it into an actual post.

If you look over in the left hand margin, you will see that I’ve already started making observations about the little patch of paradise I call home.

So check into the blog to see what I’m “tweeting” about or you also have the option to subscribe to my Twitter account directly.

I’m telling you this is gonna be great.

And I Thought I Was Pissed…

Every time I turn around I continue to get love from the blogosphere.

This time it comes from a similarly themed blog named bewarethebuilder.blogspot.com.

Oooh whee----Mr. Thomas Doyle is one angry condo purchaser. He’s one pissed off brother.

And he’s my new idol.

Not only is he fighting the good fight against his developer, but his developer Bryton Development LLC and it’s principal Kevin Bryar is suing him for defamation.

Defamation----that gets me kinda hot.

Now I’ve been through Mr. Doyle’s blog and I see a great many similarities in our experiences and I feel for him

Beating your head against the wall when it comes to this condo thing ain’t no joke.

Questionable construction quality and apathetic neighbors will drive you to drink.

You went ahead and took the plunge and took part in the American Dream and threw down a chunk of money to purchase your own home.

I was shitty when I didn’t get my full condo value for my paltry $125,000.

So I get that Mr. Doyle, also know as Truth In Advertising, is beyond incensed where his $390,000 is concerned.

Personally speaking, I’d launch a full scale war if that type of cheddar was involved.

So I say to Mr. Doyle and those of you who may follow in our steps, call it like you see it----but with caution.

Documentation, documentation, documentation.

Let me make myself abundantly clear----make sure you can document your claims.

Oh yeah, no matter how tempted you are to call the people you write about names and offer your opinion, resist.

Well, mostly. Sometimes you have to slip in a "shifty" here and a "scumbag" there to make your point.

Yeah, I name my developer and write about Mt. Carmel but majority of my posts are based in fact and can be verified by court documents or pictures.

My posts about random neighbors and the Jenkins Boys notwithstanding.

Note: Woody + Cell phone camera = trouble. I’m a picture snappin’ broad. Don’t do anything dirty, I will put your shit on blast.

Anyhoo…

For those of you who have been reading from the beginning you’ll remember that at first I didn’t name names---it took quite a while before Mr. Knight’s name was mentioned. I didn’t even refer to Mt. Carmel by name until earlier this year.

My intent in starting my blog was two fold---As a form of therapy and to inform others of some of the pitfalls on condo home ownership.

Everything else just kinda fell into place.

But as you all know egregious acts call for egregious actions. Hence names were named.

But through it all I adhered to my number one rule---be able to prove it through documentation.

Ladies and gentlemen, avail yourself of secrets hiding in plain sight. The freedom of information act was made to uncover potential deception.

Or at the very least be able to prove a pattern of behaviors that will lend credibility to any future acqusations you may make.

Ladies and gentlemen those government links on the left side aren’t there because I needed space filler.

Hell, I think that the kids at the Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office almost know me by name.

I find most if not all of my documentation right there.

You’d be surprised what you can find in legal proceedings in the Cook county court system.

Actually, you’d be surprised at what you can find when you start leafing through bankruptcy filings at the federal building.

But I’m sure you get the point.

It’s all right in front of you. Dig through, make copies and factually post your findings. Throw in your voice and you have a blog.

Now I’m not sure how this brouhaha is gonna turn out for Mr. Doyle.

But I would think that if he can properly document past behaviors and the current situation, he may stand a chance of defeating this lawsuit.

What do I know, I’m not a lawyer (even though I know an ass load of them).

This has all of the makings of a possible 1st amendment test case.

Time will tell if I’m right.

But I’ll tell you this; I’m running down to the clerk’s office tomorrow to get the 411. I’ll be the one at the copy machine.

10,000!

The blog has finally reached the 10,000 hit mark. Whee!

Now I know that may not be earth-shattering news in the blog-o-sphere, but it's quite an achievement for a little blog that isn't about sex or celebrities.

I'm just here to keep you kids one step ahead of the game.

It also doesn't hurt that I find this little exercise extremely theraputic.

Onward and upward---to the next 10,000 hits.

Happy Birthdays

The past few days have delivered a one-two punch in terms of milestones.

I marked another year of existence last Friday and the blog turns one today.

Funny how time flies, eh?

Thumbs Up For Bloglet

Bloglet should be operational for those of you that have subscribed. Now your developer hatin' can continue uninterrupted.

Thanks for your patience.

Bloglet Drama

Apparently new posts aren't coming through when I post for those of you who have Bloglet subscriptions. I've just become aware of this issue and will work quickly to resolve the situation. I'll keep you folks posted.

Agape

Yesterday was pretty ho hum---a typical day at the corporate grindstone.

When I went into the blog to check for comments and to tweak my template I noticed a distinct jump in my counter numbers.

I was confused.

After checking my stats---you know I love watching you watch me---I discovered the reason why.

Cinnamon from Gapers Block has found my little labor of love worthy for their discriminating readership.

To say I was stunned would be an understatement.

I Hate My Developer was born mostly out of frustration and partly for my friend’s peace of mind.

People’s eyes started glazing over when I shared the latest injustice to befall our condo association. I figured that if people were so interested in what was going on with that particular slice of my life, they would logon and read.

No matter how much you like someone; there is a threshold for hearing about their problems.

Plus there are far more compelling things to discuss like the recently outed mobster Vito on The Sopranos.

I know it’s fiction and all but that kid is about to face a shit storm that makes our problems look like child’s play.

But I digress.

Welcome newbies. I hope that these posts can inform and make you a smarter consumer with respect to purchasing new construction or a rehab.

It’s also important to me to underscore the fact that you can make a difference against adversity. I know it sounds hokey and clichéd, but it’s true. Perseverance, patience and documentation are the key.

You don’t have to play the bitch unless you want to.