Big White is AWESOME! A Story... Bubba, Slavitca, Sladja and Miki.

Croatian names. Well maybe Bubba just means grandmother; and Slavitca may not be spelt correctly; and Sladja...? Not sure about either the pronunciation nor the spelling (no, I agree, not an auspicious introduction), but I may as well include Miki, maybe Miljeko is/was his full name.

Croatian names, a Croatian family living in Bosnia; during the collapse of Yugoslavia; living in Tuzla, well, a few clicks from the Tuzla airport anyway.

There were other members of the family, Juro - Bubba's husband, but we never saw him much and a daughter, long dead, killed by... Well it doesn't matter how, she and Juro are not part of the story.

I met Bubba et al in early 1995, I, a civilian contractor with the United Nations, was provided local billeting with two other guys - Yam Yam and Dickie Greenwood. Three of us shared this quite large house; Bubba and the four other family members, shared not much more than a garage. Both Yam Yam and Dickie are dead now, I told you about Yam Yam before. Dickie? Ex-Army like Yam Yam and I, but probably destined to die young - he had a minor stroke at 25; and when I met him he was overweight, not obese but big enough, he smoked and managed to avoid exercise... Heart gave out eventually, probably 10 years ago now. Great guy tho, both were actually.

So, the story.
Yam Yam was away, maybe leave and just Dickie and I were home, in the living room, probably not doing much. Well there was not much to do, no internet, mobile phones, computers were just becoming ubiquitous but they did not do much - solitaire and minecraft were the advanced games of the day. Communication? Letters, hand written - pen and paper, no spell chek, (it is intentional) no instant send/receive, there was a phone, of course; it didn't work. There was a TV but limited programming; think one channel, working maybe a couple hours every few days with picture quality so poor that you could barely make it out... And in Serbo-Croat. We had a video tape player, a couple of movies and... we had one series of Blackadder, Blackadder Goes Forth. Awesome!

We watched Blackadder a lot. A lot!

Anyway, despite being Croatian, Miki was seconded to the Bosnian Army, they were kind of peaceful at this point. Miki was not front line but was a radio operator - Remf, you army guys will know. He was not safe safe, but relatively, if you know what I mean. The Bosnians were using the local Croatians as additional 'labor' not quite conscripted more volunteered... 'Freely volunteer for this and we won't volunteer you for the more dangerous stuff.'

This went on for some time, it was not ideal but probably the best of a bad situation.

Lets help!

We started hearing rumours, a new Bosnian General was in control. A new Bosnian General decided protecting Croatian 'volunteers' was not a good way of protecting Bosnian front line soldiers. All the Croatians 'volunteers' were no longer volunteers, they were going to the front line. Miki decided 'living' was a better idea and deserted. AWOL, punishable by firing squad... If, you get caught.

It was a few nights later, Dickie and I were probably watching said Blackadder, it was late, maybe 11:30pm, I was likely heading for bed soon. Dickie spent more time with our adopted family and k
new something was going on, "Wait a bit" he suggested, eventually Bubba came in, Bubba came in all agitated "Ohhh, Dickie, pwroblem, pwroblem... Miki, pwroblem" She was very very Balkan in her pronunciation, well she would be. Long story short, Miki was back, being hunted and needing to get to somewhere to join a Croatian squadron, somewhere across a front line... Can Dickie and I help?

Adventurers...

UN vehicles were given almost free reign, almost free access everywhere. It was not unusual to be stopped at checkpoints but, would usually get through - beer was a popular bribe. Dickie and I had our own UN vehicle... We could help, it could be dangerous, smuggling a deserter destined for the firing squad was not part of the UN mandate, can you say 'International Incident'? But what else can you do? Besides we were young and... let's say 'adventurous', it sounds more romantic than dumb.

We got in the vehicle - Toyota Landcruiser, Dickie driving, me shotgun, Slavitca back seat... Nothing was stopping Slavitca coming with us; her husband, she may never see him again, she was coming. We waited on the drive. Remember this was war torn Bosnia, even if there were streetlights there was no electricity. It was after midnight... dark... silent. We waited.

Suddenly Miki was there, out of nowhere, no noise, nothing, from nowhere Miki was in the vehicle, with a big grin on his face. A big grin - Miki was 'adventurous' too, I guess. And so we were off. Kind of, Miki got himself onto the floor in the space between the seats, and then off.

We didn't know where we were heading but Slavitca did. After about 20 minutes we came to the roadblock, the front line, the temporary delineation between us and them. We couldn't stop, not with our cargo. We drove straight towards them, they were waving their weapons for us to stop, we were smiling and waving back... we drove straight through, and sped off - lots of running behind us, lots of yelling... They didn't shoot. I guess making the call to shoot at a UN vehicle needs higher level
authorization - waking the Commander? Takes more time than us speeding away.

We were through, Miki was safe. We got to the drop-off point, some farm I think. Slavitca said her teary farewell and we headed back.

The checkpoint this time was not letting us through, but that was okay. We were UN staff, and Slavitca, well she could make up a story - it would be all good. We stopped, wound down the windows, we smiled handed over our ID's...

Or Dickie handed over his, me, I stopped smiling, yours truly had forgot his ID... Now, I don't look completely caucasian, people used to think I was part South American, or Moorish, or Spanish... Or Muslim... It's Chinese, I am a quarter Chinese - dad's side, but that is another story. Anyhow... No ID, looking like I do, Croatian woman in the vehicle... that had just 'ran' a checkpoint (they were a bit cranky about this) and on the lookout for deserters...? An interesting situation, they wanted us to go with them, they presented a compelling argument - guns; good enough for us.

We were driven to a distant house, put into a room and we waited.

Obviously we got away, or I would not be writing this; and the release was a bit of an anti-climax. Before Yugoslavia collapsed everyone lived in relative peace, Bosnians, Croatians, Serbs etc. Same villages, towns, friends, schools...

The Commander came to find out who was 'running' through his checkpoint, travelling after curfew without ID, and who was ruining his precious sleep. The Commander walked in the room. The Commander... had gone to school with Slavitca. A smile, a glass of slivovitz all round(the local hooch) a ride back to the checkpoint and a wave goodbye.

When I was in the British Army, you went to jail if you lost your ID. I should have known better eh.

And full circle? What happened to Bubba et al? This is not Hollywood, I don't know. I left late 1996, I do not know their proper names or remember their surname. Miki did reappear regularly before I left, I guess once he was in the Croatian Army, it superseded the Bosnian desertion thing.

Sólido Properties, does less adventurous stuff now (I don't know better, wifey does tho) does not drink Slivovitz (have you tried it? Its' disgusting) tries to write a blog about life at Big White, but sometimes can't think of stuff; so I tell other stories... Manages, owns, and maintains seasonal property... and after the 'adventurous' seasonal staff leave, clean up after their 'adventures'. If you are looking for property management, have actually got to this point, and are thinking "you know, I could use the type of person, that drives around war torn Bosnia in the middle of the night, running checkpoints without ID... whilst smuggling a deserter across front lines..." If that is what you are thinking then you are my type of 'adventurer'. Send me an email. Or visit the Facebook page.

Oh... and if you want to read the Yam Yam story... click.

Big White is AWESOME! Checking out and coming back next season.

Pretty good season eh? The best snow ever! Ever! Yes, double emphasis. Well the best I have seen and I arrived in 2000. 

See you next season...

So seasonal staff, you have been here for the season and now you are getting ready to move on to the next part of your journey. Coachella for many - I heard a number of around 600 heading down from Big White, is this true? Big White should have their own (recruitment) tent down there... 'Sponsored by Telus'.

But you have to move out of your place... and it is a mess... and you have far more belongings than when you arrived... and there is that stain on the carpet... and that tear in the leather sofa... (yes Jess).

Remember when you arrived? They were (Sólido Properties places anyway) clean, yes maybe they had wear and tear but they were clean.

So... tips.

Damage.
Firstly talk to your landlord, show him the damage - a picture is fine, apologize and present a solution. Work with your landlord to find an inexpensive fix.

Damage to Furniture?
It can be a problem but, you can mitigate that problem. The furniture is likely to be a few years old, so it is not reasonable for a landlord to demand a brand new state of the art, bells and whistles coffee table from Country Treehouse costing $1800 because you broke his 20 year old, stained, scratched, wobbly one. But be proactive...

• Take ownership - yes we broke this.
• If it can be fixed-
• Find someone to repair it.
• Have the work done.
• If it cannot be repaired find a replacement - Castanet is great.
• Get the replacement brought up and put in place.
• Take a picture, tell your landlord, show him the replacement.
• Apologize and ask what he/she would like done with the old item.

If you reduce the landlords work load, he/she is less likely to be angry, and if they do get cranky... it will be for less time, or should be.

Drywall.
Usually can be fixed relatively easy by someone who has the tools and materials, it is a little time consuming but can be managed. The most important thing is matching paint - your landlord is likely to have colour codes or original paint laying around. Find and organize someone to do the work - check the Big White Facebook page, there are drywallers on the mountain offering their services.

Stained or filthy Carpets.
I find the best companies are the restoration ones - Total Restoration are on the mountain. Figure on $150 - $300 for a carpet clean.

Wood Flooring Damage...
Ouch. But own it, try and find a repair option, regardless you are probably looking at $200 - $300 cost.

Damaged Cabinets.
Most are easy to fix, again inform your landlord and present a solution.

General Cleaning.
Make your landlord's job easy.

• Strip the sheets, wash, dry, fold and leave on the bed.
• Empty fridge completely, clean all shelves thoroughly.
• Empty all cupboards, wipe down surfaces, replace cupboard items neat and tidy.
• Stove - interior, run a self-clean cycle, wipe down residue.
• Wash and fold all towels.
• Wood floors - sweep and mop.
• Tiling - sweep and mop.
• Bathrooms - clean, clean, clean! Somebody did it before you arrived, you are doing it or paying someone. Your choice.
• Baseboards will be dusty wipe them.
• Light switches will be greasy/dirty, wipe them.
• Walls will be gull of hand prints, wipe them.

Left over food - get rid of it, nobody wants your half bottle of ketchup. If it is unopened, take it with you, give to your friends moving to Kelowna, or to the food bank. Unless of course it is beer, you can leave the beer.

Draws full of junk... get rid.

Garbage - every season I take literally hundreds of garbage bags to the waste transfer station, it is time consuming, it is gross, it is a pain. I charge my tenants, your landlord will charge you.

Stuff you cannot fit in your bags...

Remember when you left home for the first time? Went to university or travelling, or living with a bestie, boyfriend/girlfriend. Remember how you left all your stuff in your room and when you broke up and came home... how you came back to your room and everything looked familiar (well, except clean, tidy and put away), remember how your first bike was still in the garage, your skateboard, roller-blades, surf-board... all those forgotten clothes...? Yes? How nice was that eh?

This is not your mum's house - take your crap with you. We don't want your worn out canvas shoes that stink like a cat died behind the sofa. We don't want those broken ski poles you were gonna use for a Go-Pro that you never bought. We don't want the old ripped ski pants, we don't want the de-laminated snowboard/ski. We don't want the old gloves, helmet, useless scratched goggles, bong made from a plastic bottle, seven single socks... hell, I don't even want pairs. I don't want underwear, I don't want that crappy St. Paddy's day costume covered in Guinness or even the Halloween/New Year/Aussie Day ones covered in your regurgitated lunch. I don't...? Yes, surprisingly it is true, I don't want any of that crap.

What do I want? Nothing, I want the place to look like you were never there... cos if it doesn't... I have to get my #1 to make it so. Star Trek reference dated me eh?

Is this how you found... left it?

The Day you leave.
Protect yourself, there are landlord horror stories...

• Get your landlord to inspect the place on the day you leave.
• Get him to confirm the damage deposit return process - in writing.
• Make sure you understand what is likely to come out of the damage deposit.
• Cleaning including carpets?
• Damage - will he keep all of it for a tiny ding in the drywall? This is wrong.
• Unpaid utilities? Remember, these may take a while for the bill to arrive.
• Fines for noise.
• Breach of contract.
• If your landlord cannot inspect the day you leave, take pictures as the very last thing you do.
• Get a date when he will inspect.
• Send him/her copies of the pictures proving the condition it was left in.
• Confirm how the deposit will be returned.
• If there are multiple people, make sure all are aware of how deposit is returned.
• My company uses email, if your landlord is the same, ensure everyone has provided their email to the landlord.

References.

Sure, you can have a reference...

Moving to a bright, new, shiny place... need a reference? Ask your landlord, he/she will probably give you one... Of course if you feel an accurate reference would ruin your chances of ever finding accommodation again... you can still ask, your landlord would be happy to offer his/her opinion on your character...

Which leads to - Coming Back Next Season... dunno why I added capitals.

Where will you live?
Popular requests I get are...

• Village.
• Own Room.
• Hot tub.
• Deck.
• Really really really cheap, cos I'm nice... er no I don't have references... well my last landlord was an ass... my friends kept coming over making all the noise... well, yeah, I still have friends...

How much...?

Cheap...?

If your landlord can rent a place for $3k per month... why would he rent it to you for $1k?

Or... would you pay $2k, when your landlord only asked for $1500... why not, he is a nice landlord? 

Didn't think so, be realistic.

• Village - everyone wants village, expect to pay a premium.
• Own room - if it sleeps two, you will pay for two.
• Hot tub - better chance in Happy Valley.
• Deck - hmmm, maybe, but again better chance in HV.

When should you start looking? This season I had 22 properties, five are already gone for next. The earlier you start, the easier it will be. Starting October? Ha! No. And don't contact me now, forget about it for four months and then ask 'is that place still available?' Yes, I was just holding it for you, I know I had four hundred other enquiries, but you seemed so nice and responsive... Ha! Gone.

I can manage my EMOTIONS!

Good Ideas.

• Find people with whom you want to live.
• Not noisy,
• Clean and tidy.
• Respectful of the property and neighbours
• Can manage their emotions...
• Contact the landlord early.
• Have your ducks in order (it's a metaphor)
• Get your references ready.
• Have your deposit ready.

So, there you have it, simple eh?

Beer...? Oh, okay...

Sólido Properties owns, manages, operates numerous properties targeting long term, seasonal and staff accommodation at Big White Ski Resort. We also (reluctantly) clean, repair damage, take junk to Value Village, empty fridges and cupboards, shampoo carpets... listen to endless excuses (they don't work, I have kids), fix beds/tables/drywall and even writes a blog to try and manage tenant expectations... but that does not work leading to drinking beer... and why I don't mind you leaving it...

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