as-sess-ment (noun)

JUST LAST NIGHT I was telling a friend about the building I live in (and how great it was--which it is) because she had expressed interest in possibly purchasing one of the condos. In the course of the conversation I told her about the two assessments I've had since I moved in (nearly 5 years ago). The first one was right after I moved in and it was for re-doing part of the sidewalk (welcome to home ownership!). The second one was last year--to re-roof the building--and it was considerable. I told my friend that I hadn't heard any rumblings about upcoming assessments and that I doubted there would be one in the near future.

Tonight when I got my mail there was an envelope from the management company. To quote my neighbor, "When you get a letter from the management company it is never good news." Inside the envelope was an assessment. Gosh! My phone call last night totally jinxed me.

I told my neighbor that it would be nice if they sent us a little postcard with flowers on it a few weeks before they mailed us the assessment just to let us know it would be arriving. Yeah, right.