Ailana’s Journal: Part 2—2026-07-08 (Patreon)

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GROWING DAILY by Allen Geven

When Isaac and Kaylee asked me to partner with them to start First Call Property Services, I had no idea it would become a second job. I’m not complaining. It’s expanding daily.

About an hour before I got off work at the Coast Guard station, Isaac texted me an address and contact number, saying it was a faulty faucet. There were photos, and I recognized the type, so I grabbed parts on the way.

When I got to the address in the Sapphire condo tower, I called the customer. She told me to come on up.

When I arrived at the two-bedroom, two-bath unit, a woman opened the door. “Hi… I’m Evelyn. Thanks for coming.”

“I’m Allen Geven.Isaac said you called a couple of hours ago with a faucet problem.”

“Right… I turn the handle and water comes out around its base, not from the faucet. I’m no plumber, but I don’t think that’s how it's supposed to work.”

I smiled. “I think you’re right about that.”

She showed me to what she called the office bathroom. Based on that and the computer monitors on the floor, I figured she’d use the second bedroom as a workspace.

“I just moved in a couple days ago. I hadn’t tried the sink until today.”

I got started, and it seemed like she was going to come and go. She asked if I wanted some water, bottle in hand, so I accepted.

“How long have you owned First Call?”

I explained that I helped a young couple get it set up earlier in the summer and never expected I’d be taking service calls daily. I told her about my maintenance job at the Coast Guard station.

During the time it took me to fix the faucet, I came to realize she was an interesting person. I also got the idea she might need a little help settling into her new home in South Padre Island.

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She took a call in the living room, then came back and asked how long I’d been a plumber. I explained that I’d gotten licensed through the Texas State Board of Plumbing Examiners as part of my job at the Coast Guard station.

“Basically, I’m a maintenance guy with a plumbing license,” I explained. “The chief thought it would be good if I could handle faucets and drains. Honestly, some days, all I do is custodian work.”

“Do you like the variety?”

I said I do, then she volunteered to tell me, “I’m into computer systems. Never the same crisis twice!”

My guess about the faucet was right. It was just a bad cartridge, and I’d picked up the right replacement part based on the picture. We’ve noticed that a lot of the buildings around here use the same few models of things, faucets included.

She left the room again to take another call, then came back, leaned on the doorframe, and watched. I thought I’d be friendly or polite or something.

“Where’re you from?”

“I’m half Korean,” she replied.

“Oh…” That wasn’t what I meant. “I was asking where you moved from.”

“Oh,” she replied. “I moved here from Houston. I moved to Houston from Palo Alto, California, back in 2013. I was actually born in Mountain View… also in California. How about you?”

“I was born in Crown Point, Indiana, but moved around a lot while Ailana was growing up. She’s my daughter. Once her mother left, we had some tough years.”

“You have a daughter?” she replied. “Tell me more about your family. If you want to…”

“My father passed away. My mom is 88 and she lives with me. I raised Ailana by myself since she was twelve. She’s 29 now, happily married to Jason and… as the kids say, plot twist… Ailana’s half-sister…Emily Amos, showed up from Las Vegas at the end of May. Ailana and Jason are now her guardians. Texas doesn’t call it that, but that’s what most people think of.”

Evelyn nodded.“I’m doing the math on that… half-sister. That makes you her… what?”

“We decided she could call me ‘Pops’—as in, old man she knows and puts up with.”

She got it.“Oh… like… ‘Hey, Pops… you know where a girl can buy groceries without driving to Port Isabel?’”

I laughed. “Yeah, just like that. What about your family?”

She smiled. “My parents are still in Palo Alto. Same house I grew up in, actually. My father was a systems engineer in Silicon Valley, and he still restores old electronics and mentors young engineers when someone asks. My mother was born in Korea and worked in semiconductor quality systems. She’s retired now, but she stays busy with church, Korean community groups, and mentoring students. They’re proud of me being here in Texas, but California is still home for them.”

“And you’re into computers, too?” By then I was about to wrap up the faucet work.

“I connect systems that aren’t necessarily meant to connect. I design server systems, backup systems… things like that. Like the foundation on which the programs run.”

“Very technical-sounding,” I replied. “Mind if I ask why you moved here?”

She told me one of her biggest clients needed her to be closer to the day-to-day work. “They gave me a place to live and a retainer I couldn’t say no to. I got here a couple of days ago and started trying to fix their problem yesterday.”

Her phone buzzed again, and I finished the faucet repair.. I packed up my tools, stepped back into the living room and waited for her to look up from her phone.

“All done. Check it out?”

“I’ll check it later. I’m sure it’s fine.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have an invoice pad, but I can send you something electronic. Or come back tomorrow with paper. Or mail it.”

She looked out the window, then back at me. “Electronic is fine.”

“I need an email address, unless you gave it to Isaac or Kaylee already.”

She gave me her email address and I told her to look for an invoice tomorrow. “Kaylee usually sends them out before she calls it a day, but that might be late tonight.”

“No problem…” Evelyn replied. “Hey… I was serious about that grocery store question. There has to be something closer than Walmart in Port Isabel if I want to pick up a few things.”

“Sure… So the island is basically two main roads running north and south, connected by a lot of streets running east and west. On the bay side, if you go north, you’ll get to Red Snapper Street. There’s a supermarket on the corner. Blue Marlin.” I didn’t tell her that I lived three doors down from the market on that street. “Farther up, there’s a Dollar General, and even farther there’s Island Market.”

“Red Snapper…” She nodded. “Look… You’re the first person I’ve met here. Would you be bothered if I called you to ask other questions like that? I don’t know… I don’t want to end up going out for seafood and getting food poisoning. Or take a walk to look for birds and end up with my face on the side of a milk carton.”

I was kind of surprised, but I figured being nice was a good thing. “Sure… feel free. I don’t know everything, but I can ask Ailana. She gets out a lot more than I do.”

“Thanks,” she said.

I figured she was just making conversation—she seemed like the kind of person who would be friendly. We shook hands and I left.

I called Kaylee, gave her the email address, and told her how much to bill for parts. “I was in and out in less than an hour, so bill the minimum call amount.”

“Will do,” Kaylee replied. “And, do you have time to make one more stop? It’s up at Inverness.”

I told her I could do that and she sent the address. So, my long day keeps getting longer, but I feel like I’m doing good things for people who really need them, and that is a good feeling.

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