Late Nights with Kevin

My name is Kevin Perkins, and I work for Shannon | Waltchack Investment Real Estate.  I started with SWIRE in mid-July and am responsible for property management tenant relations.  A couple weeks into my career, my boss, Andrew Patterson, decided it was time to put my cell number on our 24-hour emergency line.   He stated at the time that we might get called twice a year.

Now, I’m no stranger to working late nights, but after only one month of work, the line has been called at least five times; three of which, required my presence and undivided attention after midnight.  I had always thought my days of working past 1 AM would stop after I got my degree, but it would appear that the principals at SWIRE have other plans for me…

On one of the occasions, I found myself mopping up a leak coming from the A/C coil until two o’clock to keep the water from raining on our downstairs tenants.  Another night was spent trying to understand why none of the sinks or commodes worked in a medical office building.  It took several hours of work, a new regulator, a new outdoor underground shut off valve, and two giant holes dug into the parking lot, to figure out that the problem was inside with a valve that a construction crew had turned 15 degrees too far.  The final instance involved me ankle deep in water until four in the morning with a plumber and the fire department trying to shut off the water to a completely flooded suite.

My time at SWIRE has both given me great stories, and has taught me how to deal with real world problems.  When I get home, I reflect on the day (and sometimes previous night) and find that I didn’t go the extra mile to try and impress my boss, I did it for my tenants.  The tenants who know that when they have an issue, they can depend on me.  I am the relief of their stresses, the antidote to their ills, and the solution to their problems.

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