Exactly two years ago, on April 28, 2009, I wrote an article titled Between Homes and the Kindness of Strangers. The article was written to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the creation of Between Homes (BH). The article, however, was much more than an anniversary piece. I wanted to thank all avies (and the real persons behind each of those avies) who helped create BH; their support, guidance and encouragement were invaluable – without their continuing help there would be no BH today.
This coming Sunday, May 1, will mark the third-year anniversary of BH. As it was true back in the early days, it is still true today – BH still relies on the kindness of others to continue providing a safe place for newbies and other homeless avies.
I wish to thank all of you for your help and, most importantly, for your friendship. I would not have kept up BH for as long as I have if were not for you and what each of you brings to “the plate.” I especially wish to thank those of you who help me pay for BH with your contributions of land or money to BH’s tipjar.
Merci beacoup to M. Arcabulle Odriscoll. M. Odriscoll is my SL French teacher and bike riding coach. He is getting me ready not only to one day ride L'Etape de Tour but also to be able to speak like a native Parisian once I get there. M. Odriscoll, or Arc as he is known to his friends, was one of the earliest supporter of BH, helping to recruit new people to join our group. His new job assignment (in RL) keeps Arc from spending as much time in-world as he used to spend; nevertheless Arc continues to be an important supporter of our group.
Very special “GRACIAS” go to Teressa “baby Tess” Adamski. Tess and her family help me run BH. Tess is always there for me, fixing problems as they come up, helping new residents set up home, being my eyes and ears when I am not in-world and keeping BH’s bunny population well-fed and happy.
Finally, I wish to acknowledge two very special people, whose absences from BH (and SL) make this anniversary date a bittersweet occasion. As you probably know, Yucca Gemini was BH’s the primary architect. She was responsible for creating the majority of the buildings in BH, she was also responsible for most of the beautiful landscape that graces the grounds. Yucca was (and I suppose still is) a good friend; almost a year she unexpectedly left SL. I am not sure when, or if, she will eventually return - I am hoping that she will return someday ‘cuz I really miss her.
Another avie who is also MIA is Gloeing Ember, or as I affectionately called him, “Moose.” I last saw Moose in May of last year. My first meeting with Glo, his contributions to BH and his role in my life are amply detailed throughout this blog - just do a search for Gloeing Ember, Glo, or Moose and you will see. His absence from BH has left a huge, gaping hole in my heart. Like Yucca, I do not know when, of if, Glo will ever return to SL and BH. It is true what they say, that “absence makes the heart grow fonder,” because everyday that goes by I miss him more.
This song from Jackson Browne, a singer we both enjoyed very much, is dedicated to my sweet Moose.
SKY BLUE AND BLACK – Jackson Browne (Video)
SKY BLUE AND BLACK (Lyrics)
In the calling out to one another Of the lovers up and down the strand In the sound of the waves and the cries Of the seagulls circling the sand In the fragments of the songs Carried down the wind from some radio In the murmuring of the city in the distance Ominous and low
I hear the sound of the world where we played And the far too simple beauty Of the promises we made
If you ever need holding Call my name, I’ll be there If you ever need holding And no holding back, I’ll see you through Sky blue and black
Where the touch of the lover ends And the soul of the friend begins There’s a need to be separate and a need to be one And a struggle neither wins Where you gave me the world I was in And a place I could make a stand I could never see how you doubted me When I’d let go of your hand
Yeah, and I was much younger then And I must have thought that I would know If things were going to end
And the heavens were rolling Like a wheel on a track And our sky was unfolding And it’ll never fold back Sky blue and black
And I’d have fought the world for you If I thought that you wanted me to Or put aside what was true or untrue If I’d known that’s what you needed What you needed me to do
But the moment has passed by me now To have put away my pride And just come through for you somehow
If you ever need holding Call my name, I’ll be there If you ever need holding And no holding back, I’ll see you through
You’re the color of the sky Reflected in each store-front window pane You’re the whispering and the sighing Of my tires in the rain
You’re the hidden cost and the thing that’s lost In everything I do Yeah and I’ll never stop looking for you In the sunlight and the shadows And the faces on the avenue
That’s the way love is That’s the way love is That’s the way love is Sky blue and black
In the closing scene of Tennessee Williams’ 1947 landmark play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Blanche Dubois utters these now famous lines: “Whoever you are - I’ve come to depend on the kindness of strangers.”
While sitting down to write the 100th post of the Between Homes (BH) blog I was sharply reminded of how much we at BH depend on the kindness of friends and strangers alike. Anniversaries are a perfect time for engaging in a bit of introspection; for looking back and for looking forward.
Between Homes: A short history
BH was born from my experiences as an SL newbie. Like every new avi, I was homeless when I first rezzed into SL. I can still remember my first visit to a newbie island; the island was full of avis, all speaking in a cacophony of languages. In fact, that first newbie island reminded me a lot of Mos Eisley Cantina in George Lucas’ "Star Wars." Like in the Cantina, there was too much noise, too many new avis, way too many “old timers” trying to take advantage of the newbies and the action was just too “funky.”
As Dorothy said in the “Wizard of Oz,” , "there is no place like home."
This is about the time when the idea to create a shelter for homeless avis was born. I wanted to create a place where newbies, as well as homeless old timers, could set as “home,” hang out, meet other nice people and just enjoy a different experience. There is usually, however, a huge gap between wanting to do something and actually doing it.
A chance meeting with Deneby Strauss helped get the ball rolling. I met Deneby one night while exploring around SL. I will not go into the details of that first meeting; suffice it to write that it involved a “rescue” and that it was Deneby, not me, who was in need of “rescuing.” Soon after that meeting, Deneby and I became good friends. During our many conversations I told Deneby all about my wanting to set up a shelter for homeless avis. Being Canadian, Deneby is naturally a good listener (Canadians are just like Americans, just more polite). He listened to my ideas and then offered his own ideas about the shelter. Deneby is a businessman in RL; he was full of good suggestions for how to set up and promote the shelter. Little by little BH went from a mere idea to an actual plan. Deneby even chose the name Between Homes – he probably did not realize that the group's initials, BH, commonly stand for Beverly Hill, a place where “being poor” probably means having to make do with a 10,000 sq. feet home, instead of a 20,000 sq. feet home.
Deneby, Yucca Gemini (whom I had previously met when she modded my first SL house), AlterEg Oh, (an early BH friend who has since found fortune and fame pursuing other endeavours) and I went about looking for land to build the shelter. In our search for land, we had two principal guidelines: (1) the land had to be inexpensive (the project had to be paid out solely from the Lindens I earned selling houses for ABC Homes and from donations to the group’s tip jar) and (2) the location had to be nice, away from crowds, strip joints, escort services and other favorite SL activities. Meetings these two requirements was not easy, so we spent a great deal of time looking for a place. Eventually, Alter told me about a small parcel of land available at Bluenose. The initial parcel at Bluenose met both our requirements, it was not too expensive and the land itself was pretty nice.
Yucca Gemini at the site of another of her projects.
After the group bought the land, Yucca went to work building our first apartments and landscaping the grounds. Back in those early days Between Homes was just a tiny 512 sq. meters parcel. We only had room for six apartments and some landscaping. Undeterred by the land's physical limitations, Yucca built and furnished six small apartments and then surrounded the apartments with beautiful landscaping. We were small, but we were well on our way to becoming what we are now.
On May 1, 2008, Between Homes officialy opened up its door to welcome new avis.
Here is a photograph, taken on May 5, 2008, soon after BH opened for "business." This was BH’s first apartment building and landscaping.
Deneby and Arcabulle Odriscoll, another close dear, friend and longtime supporter, went about looking for resources for our shelter. Deneby and Arc were in charge of “recruiting” new shelter residents. Like Deneby, Arc is also in business in RL - his business expertise and his fluency in French and English were of tremendous help to the new BH.
Monsieur Odriscoll at the piano.
Soon as word went out about what we were doing at BH we had no trouble at all signing up new members and filling the original apartments. It was also about this time that Deneby recruited Elron Priestman. Like Deneby, Elron is Canadian (it seems that everywhere I turn in SL, I run into Canadians – not that I am complaining); Elron owns and operates a very successuful comedy club, to donate land credits to BH. With the additional land credits donated by Elron we were able to purchase more land - BH was up and running!
It was about this time that another chance meeting turned BH’s fortunes around. One night, while looking for land I met a Canadian (what are you guys doing, taking over SL, eh?) by the name of Gloeing "Glo" Ember; actually “meeting” is not quite the right way to describe our first encounter.
While looking for land I saw out of the corner of my eye, a very handsome avi approaching me. I was not happy with the prospect that this interloper, handsome or not, might buy the land that I was looking at. So I did exactly what any reasonable, level headed SL girl would do. I rezzed a huge house that yucca had built and then I dropped it right on top of the stranger’s head. I can still remember the look on the poor guy’s face when my house literally dropped out of the sky and landed on him. Instead of cursing me out (as he had every right to do) Glo simply asked me (in a very polite way) to please remove my house from his avi. Needless to say, I was impressed.
After I “surgically” removed the house from Glo he and I spent the rest of the evening just talking. I really liked Glo but after we said good-bye that night, I was certain that I would never see him again – fortunately I was wrong. One night, while I was on-duty selling houses, he showed up again. We talked a lot that night; Glo asked me about BH and what I hoped to accomplish with the shelter. Soon after that, Glo went on a land-buying spree. When I met Glo BH owned 1536 sq. meters of land. After Glo’s shopping spree BH grew to just a little bit over 21,000 sq. meters of land spread over several different parcels at Bluenose.
Gloeing Ember, aka Moose!
Since that first night, when I tried so hard to scare him away from the land that I wanted to buy, Glo has become a very important part of my life. I’ve come to realize what a loving, wonderful, generous, and patient man Glo is. (By the way, someone else ended up buying that plot of land.)
Currently, BH owns over 21,000 sq. meters of land spread over several different parcels at Bluenose. Of that amount, over 12,700 sq. meters of land were donated by Glo. BH’s lawyer and dear close RL friend, SanPaul Held, has donated 1024 sq. meters of land. Deneby and Elron have each donated 512 sq. meters of land. My own contribution to BH is 4608 sq. meters of land.
BH's attorney, SanPaul Held, Esq.
BH’s main location covers 5632 sq. meters of land. The 15 units apartment building, the dance floor, the bar and lounge, the pond and a large pavilion are all at the main location. Other BH locations include: the Park Annex - large, open park area with a stream, a chapel and several, new rental apartments, (6064 sq. m.); the Japan Annex, complete with a Japanese house by builder Yucca Gemini (912 sq. m.); the Roses Annex, with a cottage also built by Yucca (512 sq. m.); the Northeast Campus (1536 sq. m.) and the Northwest Campus (4096 sq. m.) – these two parcels also contain future rental units; and the “new” parcel behind the apartment buildings (1024 sq. m.).
BH apartments
BH - A place for homeless avis and beloved dogs
BH - A place to gather, meet new people, have fun and even do a little dancing.
BH's pond - just be sure not to bother the fishes.
For the past 12 months we have attempted to live up to our original mission statement: to provide a place for avis to call home, hang around and meet new people. As we close on BH’s first year anniversary, we also look forward to the 12 months ahead.
Between Homes: The Future
As we look forward to the future, we want to build upon what we have already accomplished and continue to expand our operations. Accordingly, we are considering making some changes to the way that BH is operated. Our goal is to maintain a balance between BH’s original mission of providing a place for homeless avis to stay awhile and the desire to expand our services to more residents. In order to maintain that balance we are considering some of the following items:
1. Selling off the various parcels that BH owns in Bluenose and instead purchase one single, continuous parcel of land where we can set up the future BH.
2. Set up specific guidelines for assigning BH’s free apartments and for how long the apartment will be available to its occupant. Along the same lines we want to set up guidelines regarding how long “absent” residents can keep their apartment. Every week we receive four or five new requests for apartments - and the waiting list is growing longer. To accommodate the needs of all residents we need to set up residency guidelines.
3. We have already set up apartments on various parcels owned by BH. Soon we will make a formal announcement about the availability of these apartments, including rental fees and number of prims available. The idea is to make the apartments both nice and low rent.
4. We are planning to use some of the grounds as venues for concerts, parties, lectures, weddings or lectures. We have already spoken to a local (SL) musician who is interested in performing concerts at SL. Our own Elron Priestman has mentioned using SL as a venue for his comedy shows.
5. We want to work with builders and store owners to see if we can get them to set up freebie giveaways at BH. Clothing seems to be the most popular item, but furniture, skins, hair, etc., are also popular items. I have sent an IM to the owner of Alady Skins (she is a sponsor of an all-female homeless shelter) discussing the possibility of setting up a freebie dispenser.
These are some of the items that we are considering. If you have any ideas of your own, we, of course, would like to hear them.
Thank You…
No retrospective is complete without a list of “thank you” to the individuals whose kind support makes this project work.
Thank you to each and every BH member and resident. BH was created for you to use and enjoy. You make BH such a special place, without you there is no BH. So thank you.
Special thanks to individual members and residents who have gone the extra mile to help BH grow: Tetsuryu Vlodovic was among the first BH residents, his Tardis devices, his knowledge of all things related to Dr. Who and his creative imagination helped BH in its early days; Ballyhoo Flower, a dear friend and supporter, her faith in BH is remarkable and much welcomed; DavidB Ballyhoo, a charming and valiant dragon who is always at the ready to rescue a damsel in distress; Dylana Wetherby a new resident who is constantly scouting SL to bring us quality freebies or low prim goodies; Buccaneer Braveheart and Ariel Laks, BH's love birds, Buc's suggestions for this blog have proved to be excellent, the "old" cowboy's charming ways make him a welcome sight every time he rezzes at BH, his lady, Ariel is a writer who will soon (I hope) contribute some of her writings to this blog.
Tet in his furry skin.
A warm thank you goes to Matilda “Tilda” Little, Bird Thor, Lissy Tigerpaw and Teressa “Baby Tess” Adamski. Right from the very beginning all four of them have been an important part of my SL life. Tilda’s sense of humor and her wisdom have both been a major source of joy for everyone who meets her. Same is true for Bird, Lissy and Tess; they are part of what I affectionately call the Swedish “invasion.” All four of them have touched my life in a very special way.
Tilda relaxing.
Tess on her trike, being "guarded" by the two newfies.
Thanks also go to Rogers Albatros, Loke Hastings and Leo Eppenberger - they are the male side of the Swedish “invasion." Rogers is BH’s official Security Guard. Early on during its existence BH suffered a griefer attack. There have been no further attacks, but just in case, Rogers is on the lookout for unusual activity. Loke and Leo are BH’s goodwill ambassadors, they often direct visitors to the right place or hand them a notecard with additional information about BH. Loke and Leo also tell me about new visitors so that I may personally greet the newcomers.
Rogers at home.
Thanks also go to Adeel Cave. Adeel is at the top of my contacts list (it is arranged in alphabetical order you silly!); he was among the very first people that I met when I rezzed into SL. Since that time, Adeel and I have seen both bad times and good times. Even through the worst of times, Adeel’s wacky sense of humor and his endless "bad" puns have managed to bring a smile to those around him. No mention of Adeel is complete without also a mention of Cherina “Cher” Trappen. Because we are on the West Coast (or Left Coast to some), Cher and I are usually online at the same time. Our talks have been like a shining light, always guiding me.
Special thanks to Rachel Brimm. Rachel too was one of BH’s early residents. She has been a mentor and guide to countless new BH residents. Rachel's special talent in decorating using low-prim furniture has been a welcome asset to new members. Like me, Rachel suffers from occasional bouts of insomnia, so we two can stay up late talking about “stuff.”
Rachel, right before Halloween.
BH would not be where it is now without the help of residents from the “frozen tundra” or as us “southerners” call it: Canada. Canada is the land of Jim Carrey, Bill Shatner, Alex Trebek and Shania Twain (and the land that brought us Trivial Pursuit and the Four Seasons Hotel); Canada is also the land of Deneby Strauss. As previously mentioned, it was Deneby who helped me put together the plans for BH and it was Deneby who, through his early support, gave me the push I needed to get BH going. Thank you, eh!
No thank-you list can be complete without a mentioning Mickey Geest. As you probably remember, Mickey was my boss at ABC Homes. He taught me many valuable SL skills, like how to properly rezz a house (is not as easy as it looks), how to use a borders tool to size up a parcel and how to properly install TP devices in a home or building (I can’t even tell you how many avis I have accidentally orbited with an improperly installed TP button - sorry guys!). Mickey also taught me a few “choice” phrases that will come in handy if I ever find myself accosted on the streets of Amsterdam. Of course, I returned the favor by teaching Mickey the difference between an “inexpensive” home and a “cheap” one. Mickey’s biggest contribution to BH is the fact that when I wanted to quit SL for good (I was a very silly avi back in those days) Mickey offered me the job at ABC Homes and he did everything possible to keep me from leaving SL. Dank je!
Mickey in the Navy (isn't there a song by the Village People about being in the Navy).
On the subject of learning foreign languages, I have been blessed by meeting Arcabulle “Arc” Odriscoll, my French tutor. I met Arc at about the same time that I met Tilda. Both were introduced to me by an old friend – that chance introduction turned out to be quite serendipitous. In the time since I met him, Arc has been a true friend, a sounding board and a complete gentleman. Arc often contributes articles for the BH blog and he posts long comments to many of my own articles. In typical French fashion, Arc is a devoted follower of Jerry Lewis who, I am told, is considered to be quite a genius in France and more famous than even Charles DeGaulle. (OK, OK, I am kidding about the Jerry Lewis part.) Like me, Arc is a devoted cyclist, I look forward to watching this year’s Tour de France – with Arc’s commentaries as guides the Tour will be that much more fun to watch. Merci beaucoup M. Odriscoll.
I often receive IMs letting me know how beautiful our apartments are, or how well landscaped the grounds are (you should have all seen our last winter wonderland). Every time I hear someone praising our shelter I am reminded of the one person responsible for giving “physical” form to BH: Yucca Gemini. When I asked Mickey for a builder to mod my house, he introduced me to Yucca. I must confess that our initial meeting was not very auspicious. I am a talker (who would have guessed?) and Yucca is naturally quiet, especially when she is busy building. The first time I met Yucca I kept talking and Yucca kept ignoring me. I was not too happy until someone pointed out to me that Yucca was merely trying to save me money by working instead of chatting away. I am glad that Yucca decided to look past my chatterbox personality. Since that time Yucca and I have become inseparable friends. Yucca is more than the builder who built my private residence, more than the builder who gave me the gift of the Roses Cottage and more than the builder responsible for all of BH. Yucca has been a mentor, teaching me about Buddhism and about life itself. Yucca has been the one person willing to hold a mirror in front of me so that I can see myself for who I really am. Of course, Yucca can also be stubborn, obstinate and set on her ways, but then again, so am I – two stubborn “chicks” arguing over the relative merits of Heineken beer over Grolsch beer. Maybe that is the reason why we will always be friends. ¡Gracias Yucca!
Before I put all of you into a deep sleep with this thank-you-fest, allow me to indulge in one final GRACIAS. You have already “met” Glo when I wrote about how I dropped a house on his head. By now he is probably a tad upset with me for making such a big fuzz over him – well, “tough cookies buster!” If I wrote a thousand blog posts thanking Glo for all he has done for BH in general and for me in particular, I would still be approximately nine hundred and ninety-nine posts short of expressing my full thanks to my beloved "Moose." It has been my experience in life that gifts usually come with strings attached to them – not always, but often enough to make me leery.
Glo's gifts to BH, and to me, come with no strings attached. Glo once told me, "Deb, BH was your idea, I am only too happy to help you - whatever you decide to do is OK with me." He has been true to his word.
Glo, thank you for your faith in my visison and most of all, thank you for your faith in me.
This Friday is the official one-year anniversary of BH's opening. A lot has happened since Yucca put up that first, tiny apartment building. We hope that a lot more will happen in the future.
To help celebrate we are planning a party. Stay tuned for details.
In my early SL days I worked selling homes for a company called ABC Homes. Back in those days my supervisor was a Belgian boy named Mickey Geest I needed to make Lindens (well, I still do) and the two “traditional” way for a girl to make money in SL just held no appeal for me. So when Mickey offered me a job selling homes, I accepted his offer before he had time to change his mind.
Like most SL residents, Mickey has an interesting story. He was born in SL on December 1, 2006. He was fortunate enough to meet a nice lady from the USA, Marty McKenna. Marty taught Mickey the essential skills to surviving in SL. Like most newbies, Mickey made money by camping. But camping had one more benefit: it allowed the sociably-adept Mickey to meet and make many friends.
Mickey’s personality is perfectly suited for sales and very soon he was in working for Home Sweet Home, which was in those days one of the leading home selling companies in SL. His team manager, Chrysantha Lafleur taught Mickey a great deal about selling houses; she also taught him a great deal about building issues-solving.
Mickey fluently speaks five languages: Dutch/Flemish, French, German, English and Spanish. (I am fluent in English and Spanish and except for minor glitches, such as calling something “cheap” when he meant “inexpensive,” Mickey’s English and Spanish are very good indeed.) Mickey’s language skills, and his natural ability to connect with people, were real assets in his new SL sales career.
After almost eight months selling for Home Sweet Home, Mickey spoke to the owner of the place where he begun camping when he joined SL. The owner, Ami Lang was looking to enlarge her business presence in SL. Ami asked Mickey if he was interested in becoming the sales manager for her new ABC Home Sales company. Mickey was charged with creating a sales staff for ABC Homes. So, in addition to selling homes, Mickey set out to recruit and train new sales reps for ABC Home sales. Mickey is very passionate about meeting, and helping new people so in a very short time he had assembled a highly trained sales staff (myself included.)
NOTE: BH’s very own talented and prolific builder, yucca Gemini, built some of the best homes sold by ABC Homes. See yucca’s story at ABC Homes here: yucca.
Unfortunately, however, in SL as in RL sooner or later all good things must come to an end. Eventually Mickey spoke to Ami about his desire to start his own home sales company. Ami agreed and soon AP Homes was born!
The company’s full name, AP Homes = A Perfect Home for you, was suggested by Skye Joubert, another well-known SL business woman. Soon, Mickey assembled a staff of creative and talented builders. In addition to yucca Gemini, AP Homes was joined by builders Aarushi Sakai and Lollypop Schumann.
Together with his talented builders and help from a group of good friends such as Barbie Cannned, Meisha Verstandig and Skye Joubert Mickey was soon able to build AP Homes into a major presence in the ever-changing SL home sales business.
Now Mickey, his German-born wife, Lysa Chaffe, and their daughter, MilyChaffeGeest Vaher enjoy the rewards that come to a person who treats each customer as an individual and is dedicated to by providing superb customer service.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I began my selling career at ABC Homes. Over time, however, Mickey and I became great friends. I met Mickey’s wife, Lysa, at ABC and soon she and I also became great friends – I was the maid of honor at their wedding and now I am the proud godmother of their daughter, Mily.
It gives me great pleasure to be a witness to Mickey’s and Lysa’s growing success. AP Homes is proof that with the right combination of builders and sales staff plus an enduring commitment to customer service, a business will proper and grow – even in these tough economic times.
And now, a pictorial tour of AP Homes.
If you want to know more about AP Homes send Mickey an IM, he will be happy to answer all your questions.
Between Homes is a collaborative, team effort. It takes the work, dedication and generosity of many individuals to make a project like BH succeed. Today I will introduce you to one of those hardworking, dedicated persons; BH Officer Yucca Gemini.
Yucca is BH’s Master Builder and Architect. Every building, every design feature, every tree and even every blade of grass at BH were put there by Yucca. Many of you have probably already met Yucca. Odds are that when you first meet Yucca she is probably busy putting up buildings, terraforming or creating a new water feature. When Yucca is busy working she may not even notice that you are there; that is how much she concentrates on getting her creations just right. In past occasions I have stood right next to Yucca talking to her and receiving no reply, only to realize that she was not ignoring me, she was just building!
I first met Yucca when I was a relative newbie at SL. I wanted some custom work done on a house—stairs removed, floor and doors added. I previously had a bad experience with a builder who had charged me an arm and a leg to remove a wall and add a door. So when I asked Yucca how much the work would cost I was prepared to be price-shocked. I was price-shocked, but in a very, very nice way. The price that Yucca quoted me was way below what I had expected to pay based upon my previous experience. Anyone can give a low price-quote, the real question is: how well can they do the job and how quickly can they do it.
In these two areas Yucca’s performance exceeded even my wildest expectations. The work was done fast, the work was done to the highest standards and the price was right. On top of all of that, Yucca turned out to be a delightful person to work with. I couldn’t be happier with Yucca and with her work. After all the work was done I turned Yucca and, to paraphrase the lines spoken by Rick Blaine to Capt. Louis Renault at the end of Casablanca I said to her: Yucca, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And in every possible aspect it has been a beautiful friendship.
A few weeks later, when I began selling houses at ABC Homes, Yucca’s houses, including the Japan House, the Celtic Manor and the Swiss Chalet, were among the best selling models. Week in and week out, customers kept snapping up the houses that Yucca built. Yucca’s houses are not only beautifully detailed (the Japan house especially is a gorgeous example of Japanese architecture) but are also very low prims.
But Yucca is more than just a talented designer and builder; she is also deeply dedicated to helping people. I still remember one particular time when I was having problems closing a particular sale to a very particular customer. Yucca went out of her way to modify the bungalow that the customer wanted to buy. Yucca wanted me to make the sale, but most importantly she wanted the customer to be happy with her new house. Today that customer, Eve Compton, is a very good friend. (Eve is also the owner of an SL mall. Stop by and take a look at Eve’s mall, Endeavour Cove )
Yucca continues to devote her efforts to helping others enjoy their SL experience. Yucca has not charged even a single Linden for all the work she has done at BH and for all the materials she has used in construction. You can see the same attention to detail in the apartments that Yucca has built at BH as in the houses that she made for sale at ABC Homes. Few builders in SL can match Yucca’s buildings for their detail and low prim construction.
In addition to building houses for sale, Yucca has built several Sims, ranging from simple and peaceful island settings, to very detailed Gorean cities. Her work is well known and highly sought out.
I am fortunate to have Yucca as my dear friend. BH is fortunate to have Yucca as its Master Builder. SL is fortunate to have people like Yucca as one of its in-world residents.
Please take the time to say “hi!” to Yucca and thank her for her work. When you are finally ready to move out of BH and buy your first house, go see Yucca and ask her to show you her houses.
