Neighborhood Watch

The new Activity Directors’ first craft session was scheduled for 12/6.

This month’s Activity Calendar was posted to our doors 12/7. So, I and others were no-shows.

I hope the new AD doesn’t take it personal, is aware no one knew of the session.

She should prepare herself to get used to it, because late notice happens more often than not.

It was a constant annoyance to the previous AD because, even though she had prepared the calendar for distribution well in advance, the maintenance guys got around to posting whenever the hell they felt like it.

I think the guys don’t care for posting duty, probably feel it’s below their pay grade. But if they don’t like it, they can take it up with Corporate — which would probably get them replaced with someone more amenable.

Looking at the calendar, I saw yet another holiday event — "Annual Holiday Celebration" on the 20th, 12 to 1, hosted by the new AD.

OMG! — We haven’t yet had the White Elephant Party.

I can’t imagine how much celebrating can be done in a 1-hour period, but I’ll go so I can find out. Then, hopefully, that will be the end of these back-to-back to back-to-back parties.

At last week’s bingo, someone said a car had been towed for parking not only backwards — which is against the parking rule but in someone else’s assigned parking spot.

Right away, I thought of the Ghost Tenant’s SUV but later, returning to my unit, I saw the SUV was still parked backwards in its regular spot.

Though parked backwards, it was in a visitor spot, which may have made the difference to the towing company ……… for now.

While I’m at it …… why do people park backwards?

Is it a sign of having something to hide or is it to facilitate a quick getaway should the need arise?

Also at last week’s bingo, the door opened and a woman dressed like a visiting nurse stuck her head in asking for direction to a unit in the M building.

Red Light spoke up and said, "That’s my neighbor. People came by yesterday to do a welfare check on her, but she wouldn’t open the door. Maybe she’ll open it this time."

That neighbor is the one known in the blog as the Smoker, who deteriorated since moving in due to bad luck and whiskey — First hit by a car requiring hip surgery, recovering, then breaking an arm due to a fall in her unit. Then she came down with Covid, then I heard she was struggling with Long Covid. To top it off, she smokes.

Some of you might recall that, back in May, she was threatened with eviction for smoking in her unit — this is a no smoking complex.

Though she still smokes in her unit, causing the smell of smoke to waft into units surrounding hers, she somehow has managed to avoid eviction.

I myself have not physically seen the Smoker since February 2020. That is, except for a brief sighting in August 2022.

I was locking up for the night — closing the blinds, locking the patio sliding glass door, setting up the burglar bar, and saw her out sweeping her patio with the help of an unknown person — picking up trash that she’d allowed to lay there for the last two plus years.

There’d been a patio inspection and, evidently, she got spoken to about the deplorable condition of her patio.

Because she never comes out, that anyone can see, there has been the occasional request for a welfare check — to no avail because she has declined help.

Consequently, I don’t YET know if the Smoker was receptive to the visiting nurse, let her in to assess and help her.

So, I’ve got two mysteries going on in my quad — what’s happened to the regular resident of the downstairs unit beneath Next Door Neighbor, the unit now inhabited by the Ghosts AND what’s happening with the Smoker, downstairs across the quad … is she eating, keeping herself clean or is she living in filth, smoking and drinking herself to death.