What Has Two Legs, Eight Eyes

The answer is ME ... still.

This morning’s visit to the optometrist did not go as expected.

Because I’ve never been able to adjust to the options -- that would be split lenses, bifocals, etc., you name it, I tried it, could never get comfortable with whatever, it's been three different pairs – distance, near and computer, six additional eyes.

Last time I had my eyes examined and bought glasses was when Sarah Palin was running for office and her rimless glasses caught my fancy. Costing an arm and two legs, it was a good investment as they’ve lasted all these years, are still fashionable and are being replaced only because I need a new prescription.

But for the fact I may move to Nevada, won’t have access to frame repair – and one pair did need servicing last year, I decided not to use that same optometrist, but made an appointment with optometry through my health plan provider, which has offices everywhere.

Seeing glasses on a Big Brother contestant two years ago (8/8/2015 to be exact), I snapped a photo, and kept the photo on my phone all this time.

Took a while to get around to going out for new glasses, but today was the day.

Would you believe, the provider's optometry department had those same glasses -- in the men’s section.

Pair 1 Distance

I was hoping to get down to one pair but, after discussing my activities, what worked for me in the past, what did not work in the past, it was still three pairs – except the optometrist suggested I ditch the computer glasses I’ve been using since 2007, saying the prescription on the Palin reading glasses would now be suitable as computer glasses, and just purchase a pair for near and a pair for distance.

Pair 2 Near

So it's still six additional eyes for me, but I’m okay with it.

I’m not okay with the optometrist finding signs of cataracts, even though she added it was "beginning stages, nowhere near requiring surgery, check back in two years".

Being a holistic type person, needing to know what I was dealing with so I’d know what needed to be corrected in how I care for myself, I asked, “Can cataracts be avoided?”

“No. If you live long enough, everyone gets cataracts.”

Dayum! thought I.

She was so blunt, so matter-of-fact that, after initially being stunned, I found it funny and started laughing.

Doesn’t mean I’m accepting it happens to everyone eventually, or that it will eventually happen to me because, once back at the complex, I checked my Louise Hay book and learned the root cause of cataracts is “Inability to see ahead with joy. Dark future”.

I try to stay in the moment but admit to having looked ahead and worried about my future because I’d jeopardized myself by putting the need of others ahead of my own. So it made sense the optometrist saw signs of cataracts. However, I feel assured it won’t progress any further because that windfall has given me a whole new outlook on my future. And having learned my lesson, I'm putting myself first, so that now, when I look ahead, the future looks a whole lot brighter.

Bookmarks and More

It’s been a productive few days insofar as rebuilding the most important of what I’d lost when the Vaio died.

A little behind in scrapbooking, I’d been collecting photos to be sent out for development in a folder on the computer and, fortunately, just that morning, had forwarded to Walmart for prints.

Something then told me to backup that which I’d not backed up for a while -- like the budget spreadsheet, a document tracking dates and occasions of those photos, and image enlargements of the current cross-stitch project with the areas completed marked out so I don’t get confused.

I didn’t take the time to do that backup and, later that evening, when I couldn’t open the computer, regretted not doing so when prompted to do so.

Though photos kept in files are lost, I don’t suppose it matters as I do have prints but henceforth, instead of a tracking document, I’m reverting to my mom’s method of writing on the back of prints.

There are quite a few photos waiting to be scrapbooked and, except for the 5Ks where I can identify the occasion by the bib, it’s difficult to recall specifics. That’s where the blog is coming in handy in allowing me to go back, connect photos to occasions and dates.

Inasmuch as I’m only a month into the new cross-stitch pattern, it wasn’t a whole lot of work to re-scan, enlarge, update work done, so that’s taken care of.

As far as the budget, it was only this year’s budget to-date that was lost, as last year’s had been backed up on flash. Rebuilding this year’s budget was doable but tedious, because every dollar spent is meticulously logged into my Franklin Planner on a daily basis, making it a matter of tediously looking through the planner, reentering daily data into a new spreadsheet.

I’ve even managed during the week to locate some of the blogs whose bookmarks I’d lost. These are blogs not on my reading list, but which I’d browsed up on, found interesting, and would occasionally lurk.

Is that the correct word … “lurk”, when one occasionally reads but not leave a comment?

At any rate, I’m now thinking of adding those to my reading list, instead of just bookmarking, so as to not risk losing again.

What’s the protocol on that?

Do we leave a comment asking permission, or do we just add?

There’s one set of bookmarks I won’t be looking to recover -- a list of senior communities to look at should I find I won’t be allowed to recertify for this restricted-income complex end-of-year, because of that windfall.

Online search for an affordable area, that’s not restricted income, led me to Henderson, Nevada.

Believe it or not, until that search, I’d never heard of Henderson. Now, all of a sudden, every time I turn around, I’m hearing, seeing or being given something relative to “Henderson/Lake Mead”.

Beginning to think it a sign, I’d bookmarked several 55 and Over Communities -- some new, some under construction.

No point bothering with looking those up and re-bookmarking now, because I heard on the news the Oakland Raiders are moving from Oakland to Las Vegas.

That announcement is going to push prices up on everything in and around the Las Vegas area, to on par with what’s going on in and around this area.

Henderson still might be a fun area to live if I absolutely must move. I saw the senior communities are close enough to the Strip to be able to enjoy that activity, the University of Nevada if I want a campus to roam for Pokémon, there’s a Costco, Kaiser, Home Depo. So though I don’t want to end up paying an arm and a leg for housing, it may be worth the price.

We’ll see come October, when recertification time rolls around.

Night the Computer Died, Part 2

Feeling a little better about how the so-called “advancements” in technology have inconvenienced me – making complicated that which was previously a breeze. And I definitely have to set up an appointment with optometry for new glasses, because the writing on the keys is so tiny that I have to use a magnifying glass to delineate the newly located home key from those surrounding it.

Thinking perhaps I’d made a mistake in choice of pc’s, I went online last night, read pros and cons for others I’d considered, and came to the conclusion I’m good.

Change is not something I enjoy or normally look forward to. Consequently, it does take something drastic before I submit to change, even when it’s a good change.

Seven years was a good long run with that Sony Vaio but, truth be told, there were problems indicating it probably should have been replaced some time ago.

But that’s me. As long as there’s life in an old material thing, I don’t see the necessity of replacing it with something new.

In fact, it’s kind of prophetic that, when the cable technician was here last week about that modem, he’d remarked that my computer was slow booting up “Because it’s an older model”.

“I love this old girl, and I’m going to run her until the wheels fall off” said I.

A week later, the wheels did indeed fall off.

Now I’m a crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, erasing those words because I’ve said the same thing about the car.

I’m also feeling a little better, except for those frustrating instances my fingers head to the location they’re accustomed to finding backspace, delete, page up, page down but now find something else, because the fingers are doing better at knowing where to go without my looking down, and getting there a little faster.

Lastly, I found an online photo editor that makes it easy to crop and resize photos, even easier than the online editor I was previously using (when I had to go outside the old computer's photo editor, now no longer part of the package) – the online editor whose bookmark is forever lost inside the old computer, as are bookmarks to other sources of information and items of interest.

At any rate, now that I have access to an editor, here are the two photos captured when I found myself in front of the Inland Center.

The area is a mixture of businesses on one side of the street, homes on the other.

Can you imagine hearing/seeing, what is normally seen on the news as happening in other countries, happening in one’s own front yard?

And here’s a photo of the sleek new HP.

I’d actually intended to replace the Sony Vaio with a new Sony Vaio, but learned they are no longer in production.

I'm accepting life is full of change, but can't help but wonder whatever happened to the part which said “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” and “Don’t mess with a good thing”.

The Night the Computer Died

It all started Friday night with “your pc did not start correctly/disk error”, which led to a “diagnose your pc” to “automatic repair” to “AR could not repair”.

I could not wait for morning to come so I could head to Geek Squad for fixing.

However, when I awoke Saturday morning, practical me had taken over and, much as I loved my 7-year-old Sony Vaio, I couldn’t justify a boatload of money in repairs on an old pc, so off I go to Best Buy to purchase a new laptop.

After giving myself a headache from assimilating all the tech-speak, and realizing how far behind I’d become, i.e., keyboards are completely different now, with numbers to the right; Office separate, apart, and has to be downloaded, I settled on an HP Envy.

Leaving her with the Geeks overnight, to do everything that needed to be done so all I had to do was plug her in and go, I took possession this morning – only to realize, after driving all the way back home, getting undressed and comfortable for the day, that my wireless mouse ant stick was too big for the port.

The touch thing was driving me crazy, so I redressed and drove all the way back for a mouse.

It being a nice day for a Sunday drive, I took the scenic route back on an avenue I’d not driven before and found myself in front of the Inland Regional Center – location of that Terror Attack.

I took photos of the memorial, I also took a photo of the new pc, but find I have no picture manager.

I had a bookmark to a free online photo manager on the old pc but, taking advantage of a free consultation on the return trip, even the Geeks were unable to do anything with the old pc so I could at least capture bookmarks, recent documents, recent photos I’d not gotten around to backing up on a flash.

With the loss of Photo Manager, and the new keyboard significantly diminishing my typing speed --- it's hunt and peck, my enthusiasm for blogging, online since 1998, is waning.

The Day the Scale Moved

Well pleased with myself am I, for having managed to clear out three more containers during the week.

Set aside for donation are belts, tote bags, more tops, and this cool Star Trek Dr. Spock hoodie that I really wanted to keep but know in my heart I’ll never wear again.

Notice the Spock ears.

So cool.

Alas for the librarians, I’ll be creating more work for them as I found five more books – The Tao of Pooh, Feng Shui for Apartment Living, Using Feng Shui, Clear Your Clutter with Feng Shui and Feng Shui in 10 Simple Lessons. However, as I type this out, something tells me to hold onto 10 Lessons, so it’s a take back on that one.

That does it for inside, next area to tackle is the patio storage area, where I fear there might be more books – a collection of Edgar Cayce's, some Dream and Horoscope Manuals.

There’s also a container full of country western cd’s and cassette tapes.

Even though cassette tapes are passé, I already know I’m not ready to let go of anything in that container.

A notice was posted to our doors that the big deal tax credit inspection found vehicles parked on the property that did not display current registration tags. Evidently, that’s something connected to the property keeping its tax credit status, so management has been phasing folks into the office to show proof of current car registration and current car insurance.

I’m up-to-date, and today was my appointment to bring in proof.

Walking to the office through the front entrance, I saw quite a group of residents in the Community Room, stuck my head in and learned I’d failed to notice, on the calendar, that today is Arts and Crafts – scrap paper Easter Wreaths.

I stuck around and participated.

Speaking of participating, a sign-up sheet for “volunteers” was being circulated.

Surprisingly, 13 residents signed up for lunch with the Complex Manager about volunteering for an Activity Committee. None of the 13 are the two complainers, and I fear most are interested in “lunch” than actually following through with volunteering.

The individual circulating the sign-up sheet approached me, and got “Unh un, no, never no more am I volunteering”.

I was told no one showed up to proctor last Tuesday’s Pizza Day, and the event turned into “a free for all”. Consequently, Activity Director is now asking for someone to go down on “a consistent basis”.

“You get consistent first” thought I – insofar as if and when, instead of inconsistent delivery times and mixed message depending on whom, in the process, one asks.

Heading back to my unit around noon, I made a pit stop at the scale in the Game Room and, to my great delight, the scale moved.

For months and months and months -- actually all last year and this year, I’ve been stuck. And though I felt fortunate to have not gained weight, the goal was to lose, which just never happened no matter how hard I tried.

Having given up on weight loss, the focus now being to not eat anything that will cause my gut to rebel, the scale actually moved down a few pounds.

Color me excited, hopeful more weight loss is to come.

Rain Again, What?!

That nice warm summer weather was great while it lasted.

It’s hard to believe it went from being so uncomfortably hot that I was running the A/C to keep cool, to running the heater to stay warm the very next day, but so it is as it rained all night.

Not knowing what we’re in for this time around, insofar as how long and how hard it’s going to hit us, I rushed out to fill up the tank with gas, and made a stop by Trader Joe’s, just ahead of the change in weather yesterday afternoon.

I’ve been eating clean since Monday, my stomach feeling better every day I get further away from the wheat flour in those Girl Scout Cookies that set off the angry gut, and I’d gone to Trader Joe’s to add Himalayan Pink Salt Crystals to my determination to eat healthy.

Salt is salt, but the Himalayan Crystals are supposedly rich in minerals, better for the body than iodized sea salt and beneficial in strengthening bones, lowering blood pressure and detoxifying the body of toxins.

We shall see what a pinch here, a pinch there does for me.

I was shocked to see a security guard at the entrance of Trader Joe’s, especially in that upscale area of town. When I expressed to the checker how odd and out-of-place it seemed, he advised there’d been a rash of purse thefts inside the store and management was taking precautions.

Good on management, but color me shocked and glad I always wear a fanny pack.

After hearing about the thefts, knowing the area was no longer all that safe, instead of turning on the cellphone to hunt Pokémon while walking back to the car, I kept the phone off and paid attention to my surroundings.

I did see a young man and young woman sitting in their car, looking out-of-place and with the car parked backwards for a quick get away. I also saw that some poor soul was having a very bad day.

How does something like that happen?

At any rate, there were no incidents while I was inside the store or on the lot, and looking online later to see if the purse thefts had been reported in the local paper, I learned this preying on the elderly has been happening at Trader Joe’s all over, in other states even.

The world is so crazy now, which is probably why the weather is following suit -- out picturing this crazy collective consciousness.

Spring Cleaning on Steroids

Friday’s Ice Cream Social turned out okay, and the ice cream caused no more gut problems than I was already experiencing.

No surprise that neither of the two complainers showed up for the event. This would be next door neighbor and Loud Mouth, who complained so long and so loud about the lack of activities.

Watching a few episodes of Hoarders during the week inspired me spend Saturday, Sunday, Monday and today going through stuff I wasn’t able to let go of last time I minimized. Things like a container of electronics, where I found several car chargers and adapters -- I don’t even know how I ended up with so many, but which are now set aside to head to a donation center, along with a selfie stick I could never figured out and, consequently, bought one easier to operate.

Something like 36 books were dropped off at the library yesterday, 25 of which were health and diet related cookbooks, some from the 60’s/70 -- like Adele Davis Eat Right to Keep Fit, Diet for a Small Planet, The Pritikin Program, Ayurvedic Books, Macrobiotics, Raw, Edgar Cayce Recipe Guide, etc, all the way up to the more recent – Fork Over Knives, Skinny Beoch, Skinny Beoch in the Kitch.

You name it, I had it, tried it, learned from it, moved on to the latest health craze unable to let go of the old, but which all of a sudden I realized were no longer of value to me because my stomach problems require I go in a different direction, so I was at last able to let go.

The librarians are probably upset with me because the library was closed, so I dropped the books into the book return slot, creating a lot of extra work for the ladies.

Next on my list is to go through a container of Infinite Way Study Materials, shoes, clothes, and then there is a mountain of t-shirts.

For like forever, I’ve been planning to make a quilt out of the many t-shirts I’ve collected over the years at various races. Thinking I should probably donate them, but would regret doing so later down the road, I purchased a T-Shirt Transformation Ruler so I could declutter the container by transforming the shirts into easy-to-store squares.

So that’s what I’ve been up to last few days, plus there was a mountain of paperwork to fill out, documents to obtain, in order to claim that windfall.

I got a kick out of the plan administrator asking me for my Employee I.D. Number.

“Lady”, said I, “I left that job 19 years ago. I have no idea what my I.D. Number was. This whole thing is a surprise, a pleasant surprise, but nonetheless a complete surprise.”

I’ve often pondered the bible verse, “I will restore the years the locusts have stolen”. I knew what “the locusts” meant in my life but, after so many lottery ticket fails, wondered about the restore portion … until now. Having retired 6-1/2 years ago, it's like getting to retire twice.

I'd still enjoy a massive lottery win -- for the purpose of making life easier for family members.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day

Since the recent DNA test shows 9% Scandinavian, instead of the Irish I’d been led to believe, I’m not as excited about this day of green bagels and green beer as I've been in the past.

We’re having an ice cream sundae social this afternoon, which I should probably skip, but inasmuch as I’ve been eating healthy, yet having stomach troubles every single day this week anyway, I figure what the heck … a sundae can’t make it any worse than it already is.

At least I hope not.

I got a kick out of a little birdie saying I should attend yesterday’s meeting and report back because inquiring minds want to know.

I did attend and, planning to stay detached from the proceedings, not get involved in the fray, took a Woman’s Day crossword puzzle to work on if I found myself rising to the madness.

I did work the puzzle, it did distract, but the meeting was quite civilized. No one complained about the high cable bills. The Community Room television came up, the outcome being we will have service again soon.

The big deal tax credit inspection turned up areas of erosion caused by the heavy rains. Consequently, there is to be another big deal inspection next year to ensure repairs are made and no other issues have come up.

Another highlight is that something the seniors have been asking to have reinstated since Nurse Ratched took it away has finally been approved -- a Bazaar/Rummage Sale.

I don’t imagine it will be a huge moneymaker like in the past, when it was publicized in the newspaper and people came from all over. It will just be us, so not worth my trying to sell items I’ve recently set aside for donation.

The new Community Manager’s not lying to us, working with us rather than against us, as Nurse Ratched did in coming up with creative reasons why everything had to be “no”, is probably why the meeting was so copacetic.

So, if the meeting was so civilized, so copacetic, why was I distracting myself working on a crossword puzzle you ask? Well that’s because two of the seniors were annoying. The two just babbled on and on and on about things that did not matter, even complaining about things they didn’t realize had long since been resolved. So, to keep from becoming irked out of my detachment and screaming, I worked on the puzzle during those times they needlessly babbled on.

The two are known for putting on a performance, making their opinions heard about how things should be done, and you should see their body movements while doing so -- shoulders strutting, looking very pleased with themselves; but it’s all smoke and mirrors, just a whole lot of complaining just to be complaining.

For instance, it was particularly irksome when the two -- next door neighbor and the other woman, let’s call her Loud Mouth, began complaining about the lack of activities.

True, we do have few BUT next door neighbor rarely attends the few we do have and Loud Mouth never ever attends. So it bothered me those two, of all people, were the ones to complain so long and so loudly about the lack of activities.

To top it off, the Community Manager, and not for the first time, suggested we do not have to rely on the Activity Director, who spreads her time between seven other senior communities. That we can establish our own Activity Committee.

Loud Mouth was all for it, interjecting it’s what we originally had before Nurse Ratched brought Activity Directors on board, and that she (Loud Mouth) had been on the committee. Next Door Neighbor was also in agreement, as it’s something she’s been suggesting for a while.

Actually, the whole room became electric at the idea. BUT, when the Community Manager asked for volunteers, saying she would set up a date for them to have lunch with her and work out a plan, Loud Mouth and next door neighbor suddenly became silent.

It was very telling that all you heard was dead silence in the room which had been so electric with excitement second earlier.

People complaining just to be complaining, not wanting to get involved in resolution.

Speaking of volunteers, I sat with The Baker who said the woman who took my place at Pizza Tuesday was “not happy at having to do it”. That delivery didn’t happen until 11:00 and that everyone “just wooshed in”.

“Do you think she’ll do it again?” asked I.

“I don’t think so”.

Oh well.

So Far So Okay

No problem connecting to the Internet since the technician changed the modem and wall wires, and I’m pretty much caught up with sleep lost because of Spring Forward, Full Moon and the Earthquake.

While waiting to let the technician into the gate that day, I became a captive audience for the resident in the upstairs unit across the quad – the woman who refers to herself as Cranky Neighbor.

She’s been maintaining a low profile since last capturing me in conversation, which low profile I attributed to her probably being depressed. She's got that look about her -- walking head down, frowning, deep in thought, looking perpetually disturbed about something.

Some people go through a period of adjustment when they move in. Next door neighbor was seriously depressed for a long time, but has since adjusted and now seems happy as a clam. The new neighbor downstairs continues to be invisible, so I don't know what's up with that.

I myself had no adjustment period. I came in feeling like I’d died and gone to heaven, until Nurse Ratched became Community Manager and turned the complex into a torture chamber. Now that she’s gone, because Corporate Office is now so cheap, it will never be the heaven it once was again, but I’m content.

At any rate, Cranky Neighbor is still complaining saying she likes her unit, but is seriously thinking about moving back to Henderson, Nevada, because, “I don’t know where anything is in the area, and I’m too old to make new friends”.

I don’t get it. She has a car, laptop, cellphone. She can research anything her heart desires, get directions to and, unlike a lot of the less fortunate neighbors, can get to the destination on her own.

We don’t have a lot of activities, but she hasn’t shown up for not one of the few activities we do have, so how are you going to meet new people, make friends if you don’t participate?

She was just getting into complaining that the son who’d moved her in is getting married, and her not caring for the woman as another reason to move because, as she says she told her son “You’ve got two kids. She’s got two. You won’t need me anymore”, when I was thankfully rescued by the technician showing up.

Earlier that same day, I’d run into the woman who’d agreed to replace me at Pizza Tuesday.

“How’d it go?” asked I.

“It was CRAZY”.

“What time did you get there?”

“9:00”

“What time was delivery?”

“11:00”

“That’s too bad. It’s supposed to be 10:00.”

“It was 11:00 and everybody just bombarded.”

“Lol. You’re supposed to take control. Did they sign?”

“Everybody signed.”

“Did you have fun?”

A very long pause as she considered her answer.

“It was crazy.”

I guess that means no.

I didn’t ask if she was doing it next Tuesday, because I’m out of it now, and whether she’ll continue is between her and the Activity Director.

This afternoon is the Residents/Management’s meeting. I almost don’t want to go, because it’s likely to get ugly because of the high cable bills and Corporate’s unwillingness to provide service in the Community Room. It’s not the Community Manager’s fault, but she’s likely to take the heat.

Whether I go or not is up to chance. Sometimes I miss events because I’ve fallen asleep. So if not napping, I’ll brace myself and head down.

Ghost in the Equipment

Thank goodness I signed off on Pizza Tuesday last week and didn’t have to go down to the Community Room this morning, because I only got about three hours sleep last night.

Wide awake until around 3:30 A.M., I blamed it on the combination of Spring Forward, Full Moon, and the 3.6 earthquake, which shook the crap out of the building and me at 10:07 last night.

Online at the time of the quake, one Facebook friend reported shelves falling down.

Inasmuch as the problem with the modem, which caused me to be offline all day Sunday and half day Monday, was no longer an issue, I’d cancelled this morning’s appointment with the technician some time after midnight.

Big mistake!

Huge mistake!

I awoke at 7:00 this morning to find the lights on the modem once again out.

It was inconceivable to me that the modem could go off, on, off again at random.

I deduced something mysterious was amiss.

Question is ….. was it mystical or should I be suspicious?

After all, KellyAnn did advise us to beware our electronics.

But seriously, the rescheduled technician due to arrive between 4:00 and 5:00, I found myself watching the modem to see if it was a glitch of the lights going on only at a particular time of day, but they never came back on.

The technician arrived 4:00 sharp, pronounced the modem an older model, put in a newer modem; pronounced the wires in the wall old, probably from 20 years ago when the building was built, put in new wall wires and pronounced me good to go at 4:21.

I'm back online. Modem lights are blinking, but I'm holding my breath/crossing my fingers for what awaits me tomorrow morning.

Offline

Woke up yesterday to no internet service.

Customer service was unable to restart remotely, so I filled the time with household chores, needlepoint and, as the television was working just fine, catching up on recorded programs.

It would have been all over had the television also been inoperable. I would have booked a hotel room near the beach because, though I can live a day or two or three without internet service, the noise from the television is like background music to my existence. Sadly, I literally cannot live without it.

Today was to be more of the same, as I had a dental appointment and could not be home for a technician to check out the modem, thus had scheduled the appointment for tomorrow.

Visits to the dentist are not something I look forward to, I also don’t mind so much because I have a good rapport with the hygienist and the dental office is next door to Souplantation, where I always stop after for lunch.

Arriving back at the complex, I noticed lights back to blinking on the modem.

Could it be?

Sure enough, I logged onto the computer and found I’m mysteriously back online.

Cable companies recently undergoing some sort of merger/shakeup, instructing us to Keep Calm, I’m hoping this offline/online isn’t going to be a regular occurrence, especially since the recent merger/shakeup, along with the complex no longer providing bundled basic cable for its residents, has upped my bill to double what it previously was.

I’m not the only one, and fortunately I've been able to comfortably fit the bill doubling into my budget even before the windfall. So though I think we're being taken advantage of, it's no problem for me. However, it's causing a hardship for the seniors already struggling to afford medication and food. One resident's bill went from $71 to $175.

Residents now being charged for basic cable, and now no cable television in the Community Room – because Corporate doesn’t want to pay for it, I expect this coming Thursday’s Resident/Management meeting to be a contentious affair.

Heard and Seen

I’ve a new neighbor already.

Hearing the door open/close and voices coming from the unit underneath me – the one vacated about two weeks ago, I assumed it was a cleaning crew. However, the door opening/closing and voices late at night, I became fairly certain our quad was full up with residents again.

Then, standing on the porch chit chatting with the next door neighbor yesterday, we caught a quick glimpse of a woman going in with groceries. Neighbor yelled out a greeting to her, did not get a response so, though I’ve not seen a moving van, I am now fully certain our quad is full up with residents again.

Don’t know if the lack of response was because she didn’t hear the greeting, but she clearly saw us and, had it been me, I’d have waived and introduced myself. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt in that sometimes people are so damaged by how it was where they’re moving from that it takes time to realize we’re safe and friendly here.

At any rate, filling the vacancy was amazingly fast. We must have a waiting list again.

Noise doesn’t bother me, but I try to be considerate of those who are bothered. Sounds from that unit into mine travels -- I could hear a former tenant’s snoring, so I’m sure the reverse is true of my sounds being heard. Consequently, I try to keep the sound down on the television when I turn it on too early in the morning, run it all day into late at night.

It doesn’t matter to me whether or not she becomes friendly, I just hope she isn’t a complainer.

Speaking of too early in the morning … with nothing major on my mind and no pull on my time – now that Pizza Tuesday is off my plate and I’m no longer expecting a message from granddaughter at any time asking for assistance in running an errand, I was looking forward to a deep long undisturbed sleep, but heard the cellphone beep twice with a message.

Deep in sleep on the first beep, I heard it but didn’t fully awaken. However, the second beep brought me fully awake at 5:15 -- which IS late for me, but not as late as I'd hoped to sleep this morning.

It was some dumb “look at this” video from the resident who’d agreed to do the next Pizza Tuesday, and it wasn’t her first time sending me crap. I don’t know if it’s because she doesn’t know how to post to Facebook without sending to friends via messenger or if she’s overly friending me because I’m close to Apache and now that they’re recently a couple if it’s a situation of keep your friends close and those you feel too close to your man closer.

At any rate, I decided to solve the messenger situation by blocking her and unfollowing him. I unfollowed him not because of her but because he’s all of a sudden posting pro-trump. Apache is entitled to his opinion, but the postings led to disappointment in him, followed by losing respect for him, so bye boy.

Why am I no longer expecting a message from granddaughter at any time asking for assistance in running an errand you ask.

Her being gifted with a car freed me up quite a bit then, last weekend, she relocated back to Long Beach for purpose of completing her degree to become a History teacher. The bulk of her friends and family are in that area, so hopefully she'll count on them as her support network.

There is actually now nothing holding me in place and, with that extra income due to kick in shortly, for the first time in my life I am totally free to have, go, be, do. Except, I’m 73 years old and now don’t want to have, go, be, do a bloody thing.

Age may be nothing but a number, but it definitely is a limitation.

Guilt Trip

That big deal inspection – something to do with tax credits, was a two-day affair.

Day 1 was devoted to outside -- groups being walked around by Complex Management, looking at landscaping, paint, checking things attached to buildings for stability.

Day 2 (yesterday) was looking at the inside of individual units for condition of carpet, paint, plumbing, fixtures, blinds, smoke detectors, etc.

The notice we received indicated units would be selected at “random”.

Nothing to do with us residents, I’m sure. More to keep management honest by not allowing management to show well-maintained units, hide those units management elected not to keep repairs up on.

It’s too bad this big deal inspection didn’t happen last summer when I had termites streaming into the unit and couldn’t get that mean Nurse Ratched to call termite control.

Now that Nurse Ratched is out-of-the-picture, I don’t think management has anything to worry about. I’d be very surprised if they did not pass the inspection with flying colors.

Not knowing if my unit would be one of the “random”, but hoping it would be so I could lay a subliminal guilt trip on the woman from Corporate who stole my favorite belt during a previous inspection, I posed the replacement belt on the counter by the front door where her eyes couldn’t miss it coming into the unit and exiting the unit.

It looks identical to the pilfered belt, but you know how it is with the loss of a treasured object, this one just doesn’t feel the same.

I’d like to see the belt thief feel guilty enough to mysteriously re-appear the original belt outside my door. In return, she’d find this duplicate mysteriously appear on her car – a trade.

Not likely to happen, especially since the inspection is over and my unit was not one of the random, but I can dream.

Nothing else on tap for us seniors remainder of the week, actually nothing on tap remainder of the month except for the St Patrick's Day Ice Cream social on the 17th and, of course, Pizza Tuesday will go on.

Feeling a little guilty myself for not being able to handle the Activity Director's failure to follow through and management's mixed messages, I asked around and found them a replacement for next Tuesday -- one of the only two residents I've allowed to facebook friend me. It occurs to me that next door neighbor might also be willing to take a turn, so I'll ask her and then I'll be completely guilt free and done with it.

I Resigned

Immediately after this morning’s Pizza Tuesday, I turned in my resignation.

On my way to the Community Room, around 9:45, I saw the maintenance guys and the Community Manager running around like chickens with their heads cut off. There were a lot of Corporate types on the property, including the woman who stole my favorite belt during an inspection.

Seeing all the activity, I became fairly certain the guys wouldn’t be able to handle delivery this morning, but pressed on to the Community Room just in case, with a stop by the Assistant Manager’s Office to ask if she could pull up the sign-in sheet I usually get from the manager.

She could not, but gave me a blank sheet to use as sign-in.

Some of the residents were already seated in the Community Room, awaiting delivery when I arrived and, as others arrived, the question being asked of me was, “Are there going to be pizzas today?”

“I don’t know. I’m not sure”, says I.

After about 30 minutes, I called Activity Director and advised that, due to the inspection, I did not think the guys would be picking up and making delivery.

She assured me they would.

I asked if she could confirm that with the Manager.

She said she would.

Shortly after that, one of the maintenance guys walked through the Community Room. I asked him if there was to be a delivery this morning.

He assured me there would be.

Seeing that the Community Manager was back in her office, surrounded by the belt thief and other Corporate types, I interrupted just long enough to ask for a proper sign-in sheet.

“I’m sorry. There isn’t going to be a delivery today because of the inspection”, said she.

“Okay”, said I but walked away confused, prompting me to respond to those asking, “I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’m getting mixed answers, but I’ll sit here until 11:30 just to be sure”.

I never did hear back from Activity Director.

Along about 11:00, the Community Manager runs out of her office, over to me with a proper sign-in sheet saying, “A resident volunteered to pick up the pizzas”.

Pizzas arrived shortly after 11:30, everyone was happy – except for the woman who says she’s taking for others and walks away with pizzas and bowls of chicken and other items by the dozen. She wasn’t happy because, not knowing if there was to be a delivery, she’d returned to her unit. By the time she learned delivery had been made, other residents had an opportunity to partake ahead of her, little was left, and she was lucky to have gotten a pizza for herself.

There were however six bags of bread sticks.

She walked away with four.

At any rate, as soon as I got back to my unit, I texted Activity Director that the chaos, confusion, mixed messages as to whether or not there’d be a delivery was more than I could handle. That I quit.

Though it had a factor in my being done, I didn’t mention her failure to follow through on that notice to residents as to why sign in.

Her response to my resignation was to thank me for the help and that “Unfortunately, today was a very busy day with inspection.”

No sh*t Sherlock!

Did I not tell her THAT in the first place and ask her to confirm?

At any rate, I’m done. My time is my own again.

Good luck finding another sucker.

Paid the Price

Last few days have been spent paying the price for indiscriminate eating.

I’m thinking it wasn’t so much the sugar, as it was the wheat in those Girl Scout cookies that sent me over the cliff.

So over the cliff that I wasn’t sure I’d be sufficiently recovered to police Pizza Tuesday tomorrow but yesterday, though still queasy, stomach pains had subsided a bit, I was off the couch, back to indoor biking, and this morning’s breakfast stayed down, so I think I’m over the worst of it.

Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson … no more products with a wheat ingredient!

We’re having some big deal inspection tomorrow, so I’m still not sure I’ll be needed for Pizza Tuesday, even though Activity Director called to verify if I would do it.

There’s still a bit of disconnect between what the office puts out in the Monthly Calendar and what the Activity Director puts on her calendar, so it may be a situation of her not knowing about the inspection.

I tell you one thing though – it’s beginning to urk me that Activity Director has yet to follow through on a notice to residents as to why the sign-in sheet. It’s the principal of my keeping my commitment to her, she not keeping hers to me.

If I’ve not seen anything by next Tuesday, I’ll be telling her I’ll finish out the month, and then she’ll have to find someone else.

On another topic -- current events actually, is a photo which popped up on facebook this morning that will either make you laugh or angry, depending once again on which side of the fence you stand.

Though it made me laugh. Surprisingly, as I was later thinking over its implication of the Orange Guy's level of paranoia, I actually began feeling sorry for him. I feel sorry for anyone and everyone who doesn't understand the most basic spiritual principal -- cast the bread and in many days it will return to you. In other words, you create your own reality. It's not someone else causing your difficulties, it's not the Universe punishing you. It's whatever you cast upon the water, your own stuff coming back to you.