it's a beautiful day in this neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor

Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?

Anyone of you wonderful people looking to move? I'm looking for some new neighbors and I'd like to hand pick the best of them. I sat and watched my property value decrease last night, which may or may not be a good thing, but that's a whole other story.

I know you remember my letter to Mrs. A. If not, click here and catch up. Well the animals were uncaged again last night. Actually, they've been uncaged for the past two or three nights, but last night evil spawn child was up to his old nastiness. Hitting. And hitting a girl nonetheless. Oh yeah. Screaming in his whiney tone and then hitting another neighbor girl not once, but three times. She hit him back (hehe). But the madness didn't stop there. The fight was over who was going to drive this. That's right, a Barbie jeep. And guess who this jeep belonged to? Yup, the neighbor girl who was getting hit.

And where was Mrs. A during this outburst. She was pulling weeds in her front yard. The one time she is actually out there to witness the insanity and she does nothing. Acted as if she couldn't hear or see any of what was going on. Even when the neighbor girl told her evil spawn was hitting she just told him to sit down. That lasted all of 30 seconds when he jumped up to follow the girls into the house. Did she call him back outside? Give him a timeout? Lecture him about hitting? Of course she didn't.

But wait, there's more.

Some thirty minutes or so later all the same kids, and the same jeep, are now down at the back end of the loop we live on. In the jeep. In the middle of the road. With a pickup truck coming around the loop one way, and a minivan coming the other. And what do they do? Just sit/stand there and make the cars figure out how to get around them. Can you guess who was driving?

At that point my good neighbor was out mowing his lawn. He sees the cars, hears the kids, stops the mower and just stares down the road. Then he looks across the street at me. We both shake our heads and then have this short little conversation.

Me: "Well, I'm glad to see your daughter isn't down the street with the stoopids!"
Him: "No way!"
Me: "Yeah, cuz it's always smart for a plastic toy car to take on a pickup and minivan in the middle of the road."
Him: "When you don't have any parental guidance, what do you expect!?"

Oh, by the way, Mrs. A was still in her front yard weeding while we were yelling across the street having this conversation. She didn't even look up. I swear I think the doctor must have prescribed meds for the evil spawn, and instead of giving them to him, she's taking them herself.

But wait, there's still more.

For the past few weeks, the neighbors behind my nextdoor neighbors have decided it's okay to sit out on their patio between the hours of midnight at 2am smoking, talking, laughing, squealing and basically making too much noise. That combined with the little pug they have being chained up in the backyard barking and crying to come in at 3am has made for some not so good sleeping nights as of late.

Last night I was wiped. I actually went to bed before 10pm for the first time in weeks and was sound asleep when what do my sleepy ears hear? The noisemakers. At 1am. Normally I just shut my windows and turn on the ceiling fan to drown out the noise, but last night was so muggy there was no way I was closing myself in. So, I sat up and hollered "Shut up!"

At first they quieted down, immediately. But, of course, now I was wide awake, so I decided to get up and pee. No sooner had I gotten back into bed they're at it again, only this time louder. The exchange went something like this.

Me: "Shut up!" (more loudly this time than the first)
Them: "No! You shut up."
Me: "Some of us have to get up at 5am and don't appreciate being woken in the middle of the night."
Them: "Then shut your window."
Me: "Hell no! STFU or go inside."
Them: "Fuck you."
Me: "Whatever. Consider this your warning that I'm calling the cops."
Them: "Go ahead bitch."

With that I was more than wide awake. But they were quiet. And I assume they must have thought about it more and decided they probably didn't want the cops coming over cuz they got up, quickly put their butts out, and scrambled inside. Me? I lay down, tossed and turned for half an hour, then went downstairs to smoke a butt of my own. I think I finally fell back to sleep a little after 2am.

Won't you please?
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?

TUN (Totally Unrelated Note): Guess what today is? It's PARTY time!!! That's right, in less than 12 hours the party's starting when I pick up Stace at the airport. Woo hoo!!! I am so looking forward to having her here. Don't know what's on tap for the weekend yet, but maybe we'll make a little noise. Hehe!

TGIF!!!

brother can you spare an ice cube?

Does anyone have a couple of fans to spare? Even a few dozen bags of ice to throw in the tub would be great. We're burning up here! It's a scorching 94 today after hitting 90 yesterday and never dropping lower than the mid 60's last night. The best thing about today was going to work. Yep, bet you didn't see that one coming. They've got A/C, and lots of it. So much, in fact, that stepping outside every now and then for a smoke actually felt good, defrosting the bones for a few minutes. Coming home to a house with no A/C that only had the windows cracked all day since we can't give the creeps attempting to break in any help, notsomuch good.

Speaking of creeps, I'm confident that the attempted break-in of my front door was definitely someone up to no good. When we (my neighbor and I) changed the locks, we found damage on the door frame and weather stripping obviously made from a sharp object (like a screwdriver or something). Then last weekend, another neighbor from down the block came home from being away over the 4th and told us about thier dog sitter walking in to two young males in zipped up, hooded sweatshirts and sunglasses trying to break in thier backyard windows. She called the cops, but by the time they arrived the culprits were gone (of course!). I'm thinking it's time for a neighborhood watch program and a few lessons in target practice (HINT, HINT!!!).

On the lighter side of things, I finally got my hair cut today. After waking up from my mid-morning migraine nap on Monday I remembered I'd wanted to call and make an appointment. Lucky for me she had an opening this afternoon, which I gladly took. Nothing much different except all the dead ends and scragglies are now gone. Oh, and there's less to tie up off my neck on hot days like this. I just love the feel the first day of a haircut. My whole head feels lighter. No, it's not the air seeping out of my ears!

One last random thought since I've jumped around a lot here and am now hot and sweaty from doing so. I couldn't help myself from checking out my rating. Hehe! I am pleased to announce that I've hit the big time, baby!! This blog is Rated R.



My rating is based on the following:

• shit (9x)
• crap (3x)
• dead (2x)
• kill (1x)

So now that I'm done rambling about crap you could care less about, I'm gonna go crack another brewski to cool down before this shitty heat kills me dead. Peace out, bitches!

wednesday wrap-up (is there even a version anymore?)

It's been ages since I've done a Wednesday Wrap-up and since today I'm off work and I've actually had time to catch up on reading and commenting on all my favorite blogs, I thought I'd do a quick wrap-up before getting my lazy butt in gear for the festivities of the afternoon.

The Birthday Circuit - Bad, I know, but I didn't even post a birthday message to my main squeeze. Happy Birthday Kiddo!! The kiddo brought in his 7th year with a birthday bash at one of the local bowling alleys. And that was just the start to almost a week of birthday celebrating. His actual birthday (the 26th - same as Dan's) was spent dining at his favorite restaurant, The Mayan, and playing with his hot new PlayStation, courtesy of his grandparents. Then last weekend was spent attending two birthday parties for friends. I swear he's got more of a social life than me!

Break-in(g) News! - I am now the proud owner of a new set of front door locks. Thanks to my awesome neighbor who came over on Sunday to help me get the crazy thing installed, I'm resting a little bit easier now. I'll always wonder who was trying to get in, for what reason, and when, but with all my neighbors on alert, the 100+ pound furry protection system I own, and the sparkling new jewels adorning my front door I'm not worrying about it. Not too much at least.

(Not) Flying Under the Radar - My second round at The Winnebago has been educational, frustrating, enjoyable, and as of Monday, rewarding. I know I haven't really talked at all about my new job, so suffice it to say I've embarked upon a new career. The world of procurement. I've done my fair share of purchasing through all my previous careers, but this has been a new game entirely for me. One thing I vowed to myself when starting this job was to maintain a certain amount of restraint. By that I mean not get in there and give more than 100% right from the start. That was a hard decision to make for me because I'm one of those people who feels that if you're not performing the best you can, then you aren't doing what you should be doing. Last time that got me nowhere fast (unless you count heading out the door 3 months before my contract was due to expire). Anyway, I've been holding back. Attempting to fly under the radar. And obviously not doing a very good job of it either. During our biweekly staff meeting on Monday afternoon I was presented with a Customer Recognition Award. Not one but three of my customers sent beaming emails to my manager about me. Ugh! I truly hate being in the spotlight, but what I hate even more is that I can't even get myself to just do what needs to be done and stop trying to fix everything that's broken. Ah well! At least I got a teeny tiny little bonus out of it.

BBQ Fever - We're off to the neighbor's for a BBQ this afternoon. No. The evil spawn won't be there. They're gone on vacation and the neighborhood's been a peaceful haven ever since. This is the party crowd getting together. Last Saturday night we sat around drinking, and talking, and drinking for hours while the kids ran around the neighborhood. All without incident. What fun! And today should be more of the same. It's gonna be damned HOT but with the help of the sprinklers and a new slip-n-slide, not to mention the A/C coursing through the neighbor's house, we shouldn't have to put up with too many sweat beads in our eyes. Now I've got to get off my ass and get my fruit platter put together, dig out my chip bowls, and get this place picked up before the good times begin. I hope all of you are off enjoying some holiday fun today!

Cheers!!

what was it I was just saying?

What was that I was saying the other day? Something about not having anything to write about? Uh... yeah. You'd think I'd learn my lesson about posting stuff like that. But noooo! I had to go and open that can of worms. Didn't I?

First, thanks to all of you who not only read my whining but actually left me comments and suggestions. You gave me the warm fuzzies because frankly I figured ya'll probaby gave up on me and got tired of coming over here to see nothing new. You like me! You really like me!!

Anyway, as my life goes, whenever I lay things out on the line, like saying there was nothing worth writing about, all sorts of things just start gelling. Take yesterday for example. During my lunch break not one but two blog worthy stories came up during conversations with co-workers. I was really excited to come home, get the normal shit of the day done, and plunk myself down in front of the computer to write. Except life had other plans for me. So these two stories and using some of the suggestions from my adoring fans will have to wait for another day. Today I tell you about my Friday night adventure at home.

It started off as a typical Friday evening - leave work, drive home through the massive downpour that decided to come down right in the middle of rush hour causing traffic to back up for miles in both directions of the Interstate, pick up the kiddo, hang with him for awhile, then yak on the phone with my girl Stace. Sounds boring enough, eh? Well don't run off yet. This is where it gets good. Or bad. It all depends on how you look at it.

If I'm not roaming around the house doing laundry or cleaning up the kitchen I'm usually pacing between the garage and the living room when I'm talking on the phone. I hang outside smoking then retreat to the quiet of the living room for awhile so I don't have to listen to the teevee and play noises. Anyway, last night I was sitting on the sofa in the living room. It runs the length of the long wall and faces the wall of the front door entry with the actual front door to the left. As we're yakking about whatever something caught my eye - the trim around the front door. From my position on the sofa something looked amiss. Like the trim, or the door, was warped or something. And no I wasn't drunk. I was only on my first beer.

I stood up and walked to the door for closer inspection and as I approached I realized that the entire door frame where the chain lock is attached and draped over to the front door was pulled out from the wall. WTF? Completely off the wall. So far off the wall that the tiny little nails used to hold it up had about a quarter inch between the ends of them and the backside of the trim. At this point I interrupt whatever Stace is saying and tell her what I'm looking at. It completely baffled me because 1) my parents were just here for a week so there was always someone around the house during the entire day and night and if they'd had any mishaps with the front door they not only would have told me, but would have made sure it was fixed better than it'd been before they left to go back home, 2) we rarely ever use the front door since I park the car in the garage and we just come in through the laundry room, and 3) with a dog like my Jake, someone would have to really want in bad to go through the trouble of trying to get past him.

With no damage to the door, inside or out, and the door being double locked (deadbolt and all), and the chain still attached to both the trim and the door, it was baffling. Besides me, there are only three others who have a key to the house - my parents (previously exhonerated), my neighbor who was watching my kiddo all week before and after summer camp, and my ex (long story why, and not something I'll discuss here). So I asked WJ if they (him, the neighbor, the neighbor's kids, or any or all of the above) had tried to get into the house at all during the day while I was at work. Nope. Wasn't them. So that left only two other options. The ex, or someone who somehow got a key to my house or knows how to pick a lock AND relock the door when they're done.

At this point Stace suggests that I call the police. I debated on this one for two reasons. First, I hate calling the police because you always have to call the 911 number and then explain that's it's not "really" an emergency as emergencies are classified but that you really do need to talk to someone or you wouldn't have called them in the first place. I wish they had a non-emergency number for situations like this. And second, I'd already been home for like 2 hours when I'd discovered this and being that I was fine, WJ was fine, and nothing seemed to be missing from the house it seemed a little strange to get the police involved. Despite my reservations I called them. And you know what? They showed up maybe 5 minutes later. Impressive.

So now that this post has gotten way longer than I ever intended it to be, here's how the rest of it played out. The officer listened to my story, took pics, and said he was going to call my ex to see if he'd tried to get into the house for some reason. If he had, I was told I should explain the "rules" to him about entering the house univited, and if that didn't work, I should file a restraining order. Uh, yeah! If he says he didn't, it was suggested I have the locks changed and I would be assigned a case number as a victim of potential break-in.

Can you guess what happened? Here, let me give you a hint. Sometime between the two birthday parties we have to go to this weekend and all the usual laundry, house cleaning, etc. that is always on the schedule, I now have to either go to one of the big box home improvement stores to buy new locks and try to figure out how in the hell to install them, or I'll be calling a locksmith.

This really wasn't the sort of interesting blog worthy writing I was looking for, but hey. Whatever works, eh?

who knew small animals didn't enjoy being stapled together

Seems it's never a dull day in the neighborhood anymore.

One of the nuisances of living in a developing suburban neighborhood is the disturbance of the wildlife and their habitat. As they keep building around us, the animals keep coming closer, and getting tamer. These buggers are so tame they actually stare you down, daring you to try something so they can come after you.

Today, these two decide to try to wrangle with my 100 plus pound dog but decided taking the high road into the trees was a better idea.

(Click on the pictures to enlarge.)

See what I mean about staring ya down?

And if one pair of eyes boring a hole through you isn't bad enough, how about two?

After 'bout 30 minutes, they came down and regrouped...

...then tried to get on the neighbor's roof.

on a mission

Date of Mission: 05/03/07

Name of Mission: Operation No More Shit (ONMS)


Mission Goal: Return shit to offender without being seen


Background:

On Tuesday, May 2, 2007, shit was discovered on sidewalk crossing driveway of complainant's home. Previous sightings of shit in the same general locale, matching in description, were sighted on Friday, March 30.


Suspects:

Duke. The neighbor dog of the complainant.

Evidence:

Shit collected by the complainant matching in size and description to that sighted on previous complaint.








Action Required to Complete Mission Goal:


Deliver said shit to neighbor's front doorstep in the dark of night.









[Update: Mission complete. Bag deposited on hood of trunk. As of this morning, bag has fallen over and shit has fallen out onto the trunk and bumper. Mission successful.]

an open letter to my neighbor previously identified as Mrs. A

Dear Mrs. A,

When you and your family first moved into our comfortable little neighborhood, I was happy to see you had children around the same age as my son. After getting to know you a bit better during one of our neighborhood gatherings, and watching your lackadaisical parenting style, I knew it would be up to me to sit outside and monitor the kids activities. Watching your son run amok through the neighborhood without any restriction, guidance, or discipline frustrated me. But he is your son, not mine; so I didn't say a word. Hearing him screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs when he doesn't get his way, is trying to get someones attention, or otherwise just exercising his lungs makes my hairs stand on end. But again, he is your son, not mine; I didn't say a word. As summer ended and outdoor playtime came in irregular intervals due to school schedules and changes in the weather, I breathed a sigh of relief.

During our first snow "storm", when all the kids got to stay home from school, we ran into each other at the park. The kids were having a blast sledding down the hills as we stood there making small talk -- afterall, what else is there to say when you don't know someone really well and don't have a very high opinion of them in the first place. You volunteered to build a snowman with the kids and told me if there was something I needed, or wanted, to do, I should do it. So I headed back to the house for a bit. When I returned, you were nowhere to be found. That may be fine for you and your kids, but you offered to watch mine too. And you weren't watching him at all.

Last week we enjoyed a couple days of gorgeous weather. Who wouldn't want to be outside on days like that? When WJ saw many of the neighborhood kids playing in your front yard, I encouraged him to join them hoping that your obnoxious brat of a son would have grown up and mellowed out a bit. WJ was excited to share his new football and took it across the street to play. You probably didn't see me sitting in my garage enjoying the sunny day, but I saw, and heard, you.

Your first mistake was telling my kid that nobody wanted to play football because they were playing freeze tag. How the hell do you know what they want to play? Obviously you were wrong since everyone except for the quiet child of Mrs. C wanted to play. But he wasn't playing freeze tag either -- just laying on the grass watching all the kids play, as usual. So he got up, and went inside.

Within the first five minutes of play I'd heard enough of your whiney offspring to push me into the next millenium. In case you haven't told him, you might start with "The world doesn't revolve around you and no one wants to hear your big ass mouth, so shut it!" The rest of the kids seemed to be having a great time tossing the football around. Even you seemed to be having fun. What happened next I can't believe any mature, intelligent adult would do.

After sending the evil spawn in to check on the "I'm going to isolate myself from the group" child, he apparently didn't come out of the house fast enough to suit you. So you went in to see what they were up to and to try to coax them to come back outside to play. Finally a smart move on your part. What wasn't so smart was to take my kid's new football with you despite him calling after you asking you to give it to him. Last time I checked, you weren't deaf. But maybe you've shoved the earplugs so far in your ears from having to listen to the ear deafening volume pouring out of your spawn that you couldn't hear the pleas from my son for the return is HIS new football.

As you lingered inside, my son still calling through the screen door for his ball, the girls (being girlish at times) ran off and left WJ standing alone in your front yard. Without his football. I'd seen more than enough at this point and called for him to get his ball, even if it meant walking into your house and ripping it out of your hands, and to come home. After ringing the doorbell at least 3 times, and persistently calling you through the screen door, you finally managed to return what was never rightfully yours to take away. It's no wonder your children act like maniacs. With parenting skills as half-assed as yours, I'm surprised they haven't killed each other yet.

I am writing to inform you that my son WILL NOT be playing with your animals any longer. NEVER again take my son's toys while you work out issues created from inaction on your part. And, in case you're wondering -- when you get that sense that someone's watching -- it's me.

Sincerely,

Your "unsocial" neighbor

when the shit hits the fan, or the sidewalk in this case

First, I just want to say thanks to all of you (those who commented and those who contacted me privately) for your support yesterday! I am much better today though still jobless and have jumped back on the search trail applying to a whopping 7 job listings today. Yay me! I also emailed the hiring manager to see if I can get any info on why I was passed over, and my friend who knows her is contacting her as well. If I get any insight, I'll be sure to let you know.

In the meantime, let's talk shit. Really. I'm talking big shit. The size of road apples shit. Shit coming from the Rottweiler that lives two doors down from me. The same seriously mean ass dog that gets out of his yard, comes into my front yard, and has the audacity to growl at me as if I have no business being out in front of my own home.

But let's get back to the shit.

The other day I saw the freaky teenager who shares the house with the aforementioned and the Rottweiler stroll past the house on the way back to theirs. This is the same freak that used to come into my garage and steal my cigarettes until I staked out the garage one afternoon armed with my camera as he and his equally freaky friend tried their little rip off one too many times. Yeah. Nice neighbors, huh? Again I digress.

So the kid and dog pass the house. A short time later I go outside and what do I see gracing the sidewalk between my next door neighbor and I? Dog shit. By the way, this is the same neighbor that the Rottweiler broke through the fence and went into their yard terrifying the non-English speaking female of the house and making her little drop kick dog pee the floor in utter fear.

Are you seeing a pattern here?

Back to the shit. That's really what this is all about.

These things are truly the size of road apples, so there's no mistaking whose dog they came out of. And there's absolutely NO WAY if you're out walking that monster you could NOT notice him dropping them. I mean really. What gets me is this is not the first, or second, or even third time this has happened. It happens, in fact, on a regular basis. And, frankly, I'm sick of it.

What can I do? I've conjured up ideas of collecting the shit, brown baggin' it, and setting it in front of their door as I light it up for their enjoyment. I've pictured what it would be like to place the shit under their car tires so when they drive out they run over it, spreading it all over their car and driveway. But, in all honesty, I refuse to go pick up someone elses dog shit. Lord knows I've got enough of my own dog shit in the backyard that needs to be picked up.

So, what's left? What would you do in this situation?

I'm truly fed up with this shit!

maybe it's just me

We live in your typical middle-income subdivision located in your typical mid-sized town. The houses are on decent sized lots - not large, sprawling acres, but not one of those postage sized lots where you feel like you can literally reach out your window and shake the neighbor's hand as he reaches out his. Most of the houses on our street are occupied by the "home owner", with a few renters thrown into the mix. Basically, a middle-America neighborhood.

After five years of living here, and several neighbors selling and/or moving, I've fought through a divorce, trying to find work, losing my job, and now trying to find work again to keep this house. I like my house, but that's not it. I like my neighbors even more. And to think of having to move to another place, starting over, not really knowing what to expect from the neighborhood or the neighbors is not appealing in the slighest.

There are two families I would consider friends. People I talk to on a regular basis. People I invite over, get together with during the holidays, and get invited to BBQ's and dinners at their house. And then there's the few that I chat with in passing but still know to a certain degree. All in all, it's a comfortable place to live.

Due to the climate where we live (read as rainy, rainy, rainy) there is little chance for seeing or socializing with the neighbors during the winter months as there is during the spring and summer when we're all outside taking care of our yards, washing cars, playing with the kids, etc. Except for maybe snow days when everyone seems to come out to marvel at (or bitch about) the white stuff.

So why am I spending all this time telling you about my neighborhood? I'll tell you. But first I have to give you a little more background on a couple of the neighbors.

At the beginning of last summer, one of our rental properties got new tenents. For purposes of identifying the different families we'll call them Family A, my next door neighbors will be Family B, and the second set of tenents to move in later in the summer will be Family C. So, B likes to entertain - especially during the summer months. Lots of BBQs, beer, food, beer, poker, and beer. She also makes this very wicked peach punch. And I do mean wicked! Anyway, shortly after A moved into the neighborhood, B was having the 'regular crowd' over for the usual party and decided to invite A. Family A is quite a bit younger (as in fifteen or twenty years younger) than the rest of the 'regulars' and wife of Family A took quite a fancy to the peach punch. So much, in fact, that she virtually drank the entire punch bowl full except for maybe a few small sips from unsuspecting others who'd never tried it before. Needless to say, A has not been invited back to anymore parties.

Then, towards the end of the summer along came Family C. Family C and Family A hit it off immediately despite the age difference and hang out together frequently and have their own parties that none of the 'regulars' are invited to. Not that we care really. Or cared. Until yesterday.

Wife of Family C works at one of the local drug stores, so I see her there more often than in the neighborhood. Yesterday, just as I was finishing up checking out she came back in off break. We started chatting and she asked if I'd met the "new" neighbors (these are the ones that moved in across the street after the ones who were having "random" attempted break-ins moved out). I told her I hadn't and she said, "Well, that's because you're so unsocial." HUH?? Then she laughed and said she hadn't either but wife of Family A had. We continued shooting the shit for a little while longer, then I left. But I can't help but think about what she said. Am I really unsocial?

Like I said, I have a few select neighbors that I get together with. Then there's the friends I chat with online and on the phone because they live in different states than I do. And I do have a small group of local friends that I not only hang out with online and on the phone, but also IRL. Granted I don't have a huge group of friends that I do things with on a regular basis IRL, but does that really make me unsocial? If because I don't want to hang out with a bunch of twenty-somethings whose husbands are in the military makes me unsocial, then I guess I am.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think I'm unsocial. Do you?

how the hell is it Monday already?

What did I do all weekend that I didn't even have time to blog? The answer is nothing. Nothing at all. Well, not really nothing. But that's neither here nor there. Here it is. Monday. The start of a new week. My "to do" list is getting longer so I thought I'd better at least pop on here and say "hey" before I wake up and it's Friday already.

So, borrowing a phrase from Chag, here's some stuff only I care about. (If you haven't read Cynical Dad yet, go now and check it out. Seriously. This can wait until you come back as it truly is stuff only I care about.)

Work Watch
Going into the second week of waiting to hear whether I'll get a call back from state agency for a second interview. I have to tell you. Waiting sucks. I can't possibly imagine why I wouldn't get a call back on this one, but hell. I've thought that way before and been slammed. Also counting the days till the end of open filing for the spot at corporate computer giant. Again, assuming they aren't just fishing, or that someone internally doesn't jump on this one, I can't imagine why I wouldn't at the very least get a call. Again though. We wait. Oh, and one more thing to wait for, but this one is worth it. Finally got my UI claim restarted and should be getting a check this week. We'll see.

Get Out the Party Hats
No. For those of you who really know me, this isn't another pity party. Sheesh! Give me some credit. Today is WJ's un-birthday party at school. Yeah. The shitter about having a summer birthday. And being that his half birthday was right in the middle of Christmas vacation, here we are on some random Monday in January celebrating his un-birthday at school. What this means for me is I have to make banana muffins. Yes, you read right, banana muffins. My kid doesn't like cake, or cupcakes. He likes homemade banana muffins. Whatever. I'll do it. He'll be happy. Enough said. Hey! Speaking of party hats, have you looked at the counter lately? We're in the eighties now. 86 days! Woohoo!!

Quarter Million Dollar Tenements
With all the supposedly perceived potential break-ins across the street, neighbors have officially vacated. The "for rent" sign went up this weekend. This could go either way. Though previous neighbors were nice enough, some of the shit that was going on over there (or supposedly going on over there) during the past few months is now over. Done. Gone. This is a good thing. Problem is who might move in. It sucks having rentals around the neighborhood. You'd think with the cost of the homes in this area (yes, I've seen a recent valuation thanks to someone not taking into account that a personal follow-up might happen) the rentals wouldn't stay rentals for long. First, the owners could sell and run in this area. Not as quickly as a few months ago, but still. And, second, if you're going to pay that much in rent, why the hell don't you just go out and buy a house. At least then you have something of your own.

Okay, that's it for this morning's stuff only I care about. Time to get this week rolling. Happy Monday ya'll!

day of complete insanity

School closed. AGAIN. Only one in the entire district and surrounding districts. What crap! Public school is looking more and more appealing.

Another possible house break in. Same house. Same black from head to toe clad thugs. Thankfully they're moving so hopefully they'll take their thugs with them.

Interview is done. Now the wait starts to hear if I get a call back for round two - maybe to be done next week, or possibly the week after. They "hope" to have a decision made by the end of the month.

Also got a call from the contract place for an opening back up at computer company I worked at last year. Resume submitted, so we'll see if there's an interview to follow.

So that's my day. Now that the insanity is done it's time to de-stress and grab a cold one.

damn storm isn't even here yet and already the crooks are out

Apparently some people are either very stupid or very selfish. Feeling entitled even.

I headed up to bed around 10:20pm after watching the weather. Another big storm is on the way - this one supposedly bringing snow and another cold front. By 10:45pm it was clear I wasn't going to fall to sleep any time soon, so I got back up and came down to putz on the computer. At midnight I was finally ready for sleep, stopped out in the garage for a quick smoke (yes, I know I need to quit, so no lectures please!), and when I walked in the house the phone was ringing.

WTH?

Turned out to be my neighbor across the street.

Around the time I got back out of bed, he heard what sounded like footsteps on his roof and quiet talking over his garage. While sneaking around the house investigating he spotted two people in his back yard - one male, one female - dressed from head to toe in all black. He called the cops. Of course by the time they arrived, the crooks were gone.

After the last winter storm neighbor went out and bought a generator. With two small children at home he didn't want to be stuck without power again. He was storing the generator on the back patio. Probably not the best place to store it, but with both gates padlocked I guess he figured no one would be able to get to it.

Obviously the crooks don't want to be without power again either.

Needless to say, it was a long night.