People of Rochester - Jen

Jen is Rob's neighbor. She lives in a second-floor apartment next door to Rob, and while I was chatting with Rob, Jen occasionally came out on her balcony-porch and tossed pieces of metal down on the ground in front of the house. Later she joined us in Rob's yard, with her dog, Suki.

When I asked what the metal work on the ground was, she said she's doing some renovating, which involves tearing out parts of her ceiling and walls. She's had no experience with this kind of work and she's teaching herself as she moves forward. I asked if she's learning how to remodel by watching YouTube videos, and she said no, not yet. I got the impression she's making it up as she goes along.

What would she be doing if not the current renovation project? She said she likes to garden, but right now the renovation has priority. At one point, Jen asked me if I knew how much it would cost to rent a Bobcat. She was considering building a half-underground greenhouse.

Does she get bored? She said she's an introvert, and can always find things to do.

She generally likes to "re-home" things she finds, which other people have discarded. For example, while I was talking to her, she noticed what she thought was an Ikea chair across the street, which a neighbor had put out on the curb, and she went to fetch the discarded chair. The chair had a wooden frame that appeared to be in good shape. Jen discarded the cushion that was attached to the chair frame and rescued the frame. She plans to leave the frame outside for a week or so, and then refinish it.