Rain Sticks

Yesterday was chaotic.

Along around 10:15, Painted Rock Lady telephoned, asked "Are we meeting this morning?" (to discuss the flyers she wants).

I said, "Thursday at 11:00".

"Today is Thursday, and I’m already down here waiting for you".

"Oh crap!", said I. "Let me throw on some clothes and I’ll be right down".

It’s not unusual for me to get my days mixed up, so I accepted yesterday was Thursday and I’d somehow missed a day … Wednesday.

Arriving at the Community Room she was looking at her phone. Said, "I just checked the date and today IS Wednesday, not Thursday".

So not only did she call me down on the wrong day, it was also the wrong time; but whatever. I was there, so we worked out designs for her flyers.

While the two of us were in the room, Crafty Lady (having a momentary retrieve from her heart issues) and some of the Usual Suspects set up a table to work on Rain Sticks, which turns out to be closing off the end of a paper towel tube, inserting rice, closing off the other end of the tube, embellishing the tube and Voilà … rain sticks.

I didn’t make one, just stuck around to take photos for the seniors’ Facebook page, listen to the latest tea, which was that the last two Usual Suspects who moved away are now sorry.

Both moved to be closer to family. One is installed in a box style senior building — rows of rooms, hotel corridor set up, everyone in their own little space, walls paper thin, not the open areas to roam around like here, all of which she says is making it difficult to make friends, not to mention she’s not getting the care and closeness with family she’d expected.

The other moved out of state to be with family, and now says it was a mistake to leave the community, that she can’t get along with her daughter.

I’ve seen that happen a lot over the years I’ve lived here. Some former residents move back, others try but, for one reason or another, management won’t allow them back.

Red Light comes to mind. She was immediately regretful of moving, kept coming back to visit/involve herself in our activities, until she was told "You're no longer a resident. Not allowed to participate".

Whereupon she had a hissy fit. Made harassing telephone calls, sent harassing text messages.

I was worried she'd apply for a unit and return but, due to the harassment, she's blown any chance of returning.

Though the community and management would welcome the other two back with open arms, I doubt I’ll see either of the other two return, even if they wanted to. One is not healthy enough to handle another move, the other is in Texas; the logistics of moving back to California would be too difficult.

No way will my former Next Door Neighbor regret moving. She never liked it here and is now in a community that meets the bougie vibe she craved.

I sat with the ladies in the Community Room until their crafts were completed and they tried out their rain sticks.

Kinda reminds me of the Shake Weights that Suzanne Somers was hawking back in the day, LOL.

At any rate, the rain sticks fortunately did not work. Today, April 30th, is a sunny 81°.

Tomorrow ….

Damage Control

I usually awake around 7:00 but this morning inconveniently awoke shortly after 8:00, which had me rushing around to complete the morning ritual, get down to the community room by 10:00 to meet with Painted Rock Lady about the flyers she wants.

At 9:00, she called to say she couldn’t breathe.

That’s not unusual, as she’s in poor health, in/out of the hospital, walks around with a mobile breathing mechanism. All of which is another reason I wondered why she was getting herself involved in arranging Fun Games and teaching a class in CERT, which Mitchell commented stands for Community Emergency Response Team — like, due to her poor health, is she even capable of taking these projects on?

Ever since she’d requested the flyers, I’d been hoping she’d come to her senses, drop both ideas but nooooo. She’d been looking forward to our client meeting and, calling to say she can’t make it this morning, would be sitting on a nebulizer, asked that I rescheduled to Thursday, to which I agreed.

With this change in plans, I decided to be productive …… use the day for a run to the bank for spending cash and to Sprouts for supplies.

Today’s bank riddle: How does NASA organize a party?

Prior visit riddle that I'd not yet posted: Why could the bicycle not stand on its own?

As for damage control …… Yesterday afternoon, with nothing interesting on TV, I headed out for a stroll around the complex.

On the first loop around, nearing half a mile, totally unaware of my surroundings (not a good thing), lost in the music coming from the iPod, even though both ears were plugged with the listening device, I suddenly heard a sound that scared me to a standstill, hands immediately clutching at my heart.

Looking up, I see Ernie, whom I've not seen in months and months, appearing to be excited to see me — whooping, hollering, clapping his hands together.

He’d been sitting in the laundry room opposite side of the complex, had to have seen me when I made a hard right at a corner to loop around the grassy knoll in that area, and I assume it was the sound he’d made with clapping his hands together that had frightened me.

"You scared me", I said as he approached.

Seeing my hands still pressing at my heart, he said, "Well at least you now know you have a heart".

Hmmmmm????

Then not only did he wrap me in one of his bear hugs, he 2.0'd the hug with a kiss on my neck.

Hmmmmm????

I must have become desensitized to Ernie touching me, because I had no strong yes or no reaction to the kiss on the neck. It wasn't that I didn’t mind the hug or the kiss on the neck, more like I catalogued it happened and did not care.

So, anyway, I didn’t pause the walk to chat. After I said what I’d said, he said what he’d said, my heart rate returned to normal, so I moved to continue the walk; he then stepped back, moved to return to the laundry room.

I was sure Ernie was watching me through the laundry room window, as I left the area.

Second time around the complex, coming up on a little under a mile, same route (which is my usual), upon reaching that corner where I’d turned right to loop around the grassy knoll, pass by the laundry room where Ernie was, I instead looped left to bypass the area.

Ernie could still see me, but I wasn’t in hugging distance.

However, before I was out of Ernie’s line of sight, I heard someone calling my name.

It was Dream Lover.

I paused, he approached and I chatted with him just long enough to ask how he was doing, commenting that he looked like he was feeling better.

He said he was, made a joke about his situation, that I can’t recall except the word "drama" was used. Then I moved to continue heading to end the walk at my unit, he continued to wherever he was going.

It wasn’t but a few steps, when it hit me …… Drean Lover and I had been in full view of Ernie. He had to have seen me stop, Dream Lover trot on over, our brief exchange.

I empath, feel the emotions of others. So, knowing Ernie is crushing on me, knew he was probably overthinking what he'd seen, probably a little hurt, I felt bad and backtracked towards the laundry room.

Ernie hurried out to meet me before I arrived.

I quickly said, "Don’t be jealous".

Ernie did have a funny look on his face but said, "Don’t worry. I know you were just talking", hugged me again, 2.0'd my neck. After which I moved to finish the walk, he returned to the laundry room.

So, Dear Readers, that happened.

What do you make of my being concerned about Ernie’s feelings?

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't flattered at being crushed on at my age, but I don't think my actions were anything other than my not wanting to see his feelings hurt.

I long ago clocked Ernie as a sensitive soul — quick and easy to be hurt, so I was just being considerate, one human to another human.

How does NASA organize a party?

They plan it (planet).

Why could the bicycle not stand on its own?

Because it was too (two) tired.

Waste of Time

I’m not talking about yet another fake assassination attempt; though I am getting a kick out of the memes the latest desperate attempt to distract from the Epstein files, the Economy and Iran have generated.

The waste of time I’m referring to is Painted Rock Lady asking me to make flyers … One for a CERT class she wants to teach and one for Game Day Fun where we would have different games in the clubhouse. The last flyer being what kind of games residents would like to play.

I have no idea what CERT is, don’t have a problem designing flyers for her, in fact we’re having a client meeting in the Community Room tomorrow, so I can get an idea of what she (the client) has in mind, I just think she won’t find many residents interested in either.

Even attendance at bingo appears to be declining as the Usual Suspects pass away or move and none of the new residents join in.

But I’ll do the flyers, let her spin her wheels.

I may have a new neighbor on the 2nd Floor Landing soon.

After no prep work being done on the vacant unit since Next Door Neighbor moved away, I heard the sound of drills, hammering, saw a painter enter the unit on Friday, what’s left of that doormat disappeared, and today there’s a barrage of activity … someone bringing in new blinds, new carpet being installed, hammering, banging, stapling.

I doubt I’ll see a potential new resident come to view the unit. They don’t do that here.

They did when I moved in under a different management group.

I was asked what did I have in mind, to which I replied "Lots and lots of sunlight".

The Leasing Agent pulled out her clipboard with a list of units available, led me to this one first and, as soon as she opened the door, I broke out in a big smile, didn’t need to see any other unit. This one felt perfect, and remains so.

Now, folks just seem to move in. Sometimes in the dead of night, sometimes just quietly materialize.

I don’t know if this is because folks are moving in from out-of-state, designate upstairs or downstairs, and just take what’s available, as Next-Door Neighbor did or if the County needs to quickly place someone in a unit sight unseen.

As prepping the unit is now on a fast track, I’ll soon have a new neighbor to come up with a blog name for.

I hope the person likes Halloween, doesn't spook easy at my decorations.

Don’t Sh!t Where You Eat

The Activity Calendar indicated today, Kesha Tuesday, was to be "Easter Celebration, fun arts and crafts session".

There was no fun arts and crafts, but the tea was banging.

To start with, I wore the Lock Him Up tee to see if it would trigger our MAGA neighbor.

Walking into the room, I was met with the smell of fresh pizza and Kesha running up to me, clipboard in hand, before I’d even got to a seat, asking me to sign her attendance sheet.

I was tempted to pass on signing, pretend to be writing and not do it, but it was just the Usual Suspects in the room, not enough residents to get away with that.

Had others known Kesha would actually show up, no arts/crafts but there would be fresh pizza, others would have come.

MAGA did not attend. However, at one point, I checked mail, saw I had lots of mail and packages — because I’d not checked the box for a while, went to the car for a bag to be able to get the haul back upstairs.

Heading back to the Community Room, I heard someone call my name.

It was MAGA.

Coming up on the rear to greet me, she had to have seen the back of the tee, which depicts her Lord and Savior's August ’23 Booking Photo.

No reaction.

I made a point to stop, turn around, so she could see the Lock Him Up front.

I mentioned there was pizza in the Community Room, but she said she was on her way to take another resident to pick up medication and continued on with still no reaction to the tee.

DAMN! She’s good at holding it in.

Arriving back at the Community Room, I told Talker I’d just run into her stalker, and that MAGA had no reaction to the tee.

Talker said she too had recently tested MAGA ……… walked up to her and said something about Two Dolls not being Jesus or the Pope, and got no reaction from MAGA.

Interesting.

I don’t think MAGA has reformed. Just knows that, thanks to all that’s going on, she no longer has legs to stand on in supporting him, has wisely decided to sit down, keep her mouth shut, opinions to herself.

Checking with the ladies as to how Crafty Lady is doing with her heart issues, it’s still not good. Looks like she’s going to have an operation … something about putting a watchman in her chest to help with blood clots heading for her brain.

Lu did not attend the event, but Dream Lover did.

In chatting with him about nothing in particular, he suddenly blurted out "I'm no longer with the other".

I knew he meant he and Lu are no longer a couple.

"For now", said I.

"Forever", said he and went on to say the relationship was like a light switch … turned on and off, off and on, on and off, off and on, and that he couldn’t take it any longer.

"Which of you turned it off this time", I asked.

"She did", said he; and went on to describe a situation where she broke it off because of money, that she is a "gold digger", that he had a heart to give her, but not the money.

The straw that broke the camel's back was her wanting to celebrate his birthday by taking him to dinner; whereupon he'd said, "For someone who is always complaining about needing money" he didn't think it was a good idea, after which she telephoned and broke up with him.

At this point in his story, he kind of slumped over and seemed on the verge of tears.

He was obviously hurt/hurting.

I told him how sorry I was; that I didn’t realize Lu had meant that much to him.

He admitted that she meant a lot, that he’d given her a ring and was thinking of marriage.

GEE WILLIKERS!

DREAM LOVER WAS ACTUALLY IN LOVE !

I didn't know old people did that kinda stuff …… hearts, flowers, courting, love.

I asked how he’d handle it if she tried to lure him back.

He’s all heartbroke. Says he can’t take any more, is working hard to stay busy, move forward, and stay away from relationships period, "especially around here".

Anything can happen when you screw around where you work or live, said I. It creates problems if there’s a breakup. You still have to see the other person, deal with it when you see them with someone else. It’s why we are told, "Don’t eat where you sh!t".

That brought him out of the doldrums. Dream Lover laughed and laughed and laughed, told me of having heard that phrase before but put in different words.

"She has demons you know".

WHAT?!

"Her daughter told me she has demons".

Good Lord! I was shocked to learn Lu was a hoarder, now I’m even more shocked to learn she has demons.

"What does that mean …… how does it manifest itself?", asked I.

"I don’t know", said he. That he had never seen her when that was happening.

I guess he's lucky she broke up with him, rather than have an episode and sacrifice him to some demon.

Church Lady used to live in the unit next to Lu. Church Lady complained of bad spirits/demons being there, and got away …… relocated to the opposite side of the complex.

I wonder if what Church Lady felt was coming from Lu.

So anyway, after having been a shoulder for Dream Lover, lifting him out of his doldrums, I told him to take care of himself, said goodbye to everyone and returned to my unit with a full teacup.

I Wonder

Seeing the above meme on facebook this morning, I wondered …… Do the ones that got us into this mess really have the decency to be embarrassed …… admit that, for no good reason, they supported a man that has a history of business failures and debauchery.

I don’t think so.

My old buddy Apache comes to mind. He’s stubborn, which I sense many supporters are …… stubborn, will make excuses for the man, refuse to have been wrong.

Then there’s our MAGA neighbor.

I don’t know what she’s thinking these days about him. I haven’t heard of any political conversations going on, so I may have to bait her, see how she reacts when his name comes up.

Easter was on Sunday, April 5. The Activity Calendar for April indicates "Easter Celebration, April 21 …… fun arts and crafts session".

That’s a lot late to celebrate Easter, and I highly doubt there will be anything other than a bag of potato chips, if that; but it gives me an opportunity to find out if Kesha is still around, plus an opportunity to bait MAGA by wearing my "Lock him up" tee shirt. See if her jaws tighten, LOL.

Speaking of MAGA, when last I spoke of her, Talker was full up with MAGA trying to get too close, be Talker’s bestie, asking too many personal questions, "interrogations" Talker describes it. Talker was going to find a "nice way" to tell MAGA she’s doing too much, making her feel uncomfortable and, if that didn’t work, "I’ll have to take it to the next level".

Yesterday, as I was going back/forth to the Laundry Room, I ran into Talker, who tells me "nice" didn’t work. That she told her becoming besties is not something that can be forced, it’s something that happens organically.

MAGA is not only not hearing it, but is also now targeting the Baker, asking pointed questions, interrogating; which prompted Talker to tell the Baker to be careful of responding to MAGA’s interrogations.

"Nice" not working, "Trying to Avoid" not working, Talker’s next move might be losing her sh!t, screaming "leave me alone!!".

Stay tuned.

Today was the first day in a while where I didn’t feel like emotional and physical crap. Maybe it was because instead of reheating last night’s leftover baked potatoes in the microwave for breakfast with an egg, I made stovetop potatoes from scratch and didn't feel sick after eating. (See Mike’s very illuminating post on reheating certain foods).

I even had enough energy to suit up in walking gear, head out for a stroll around the complex.

Coming back to life is slow going. I could only handle 1 mile, and it took me 32 minutes to do so, 14 minutes longer than my previous personal best, but it’s a start.

False Alarm

Hearing fireworks a while ago, at 7:57 pm to be exact, I got all excited.

It’s not 4th of July or any other holiday that’s celebrated with fireworks. So, there could only be one other explanation for the hoopla.

I quick fast googled ……

And got "No, Donald Trump is not dead."

I didn’t even have to use his proper name. The internet identified him from one of his many pseudonyms, LOL.

At any rate, the fireworks were a False Alarm.

How dare they get my hopes up like that, possibly cause a fire for no reason.

Save it for when it counts.

There was something on Facebook the other night asking, "If it happens while you’re asleep, do you want to be awakened?"

Funny how it was that everyone understood what the "IT" was. It's like we're all waiting, hoping, some praying for "IT".

Of course, everyone replied yes, they wanted to be awakened, so they could uncork the bubbly, dance in the street; and two responses really tickled me.

One said that, if he was in the middle of having surgery, he wanted to be awakened.

The other wanted to be awakened from a coma.

Tomatoes, Kale, Eggs, Strawberries and a Proposal

The market …… not at the corner, but a branch of the same market located further down the road, in the heart of where the homeless congregate, surrounded by quite a lot of high iron fencing — like a prison, to control access, keep the unhoused out, is fast becoming my favorite.

Why?

Not just because, due to redlining, the produce is fresher/lasts longer, but because it’s where blog worthy things have happened to me — like that young man who stopped me to say, "My friend said you’re pretty" and where today I was referred to as "Chocolate ice cream" and received a proposal of marriage.

An old guy coming into the market, as I was exiting, looked at me and said "Chocolate ice cream …… I love chocolate ice cream …… marry me" and didn’t care who heard him say it.

I began laughing, which seemed to encourage him because he turned, took a few steps to follow behind me (don’t worry; I wasn’t going to let him follow me to the car), still talking, giving me his qualifications, starting with …… "I’m 62".

Appreciating his boldness in getting straight to the chase I said, "I’m older than you" which seemed to slow his roll.

He left it at "God is good", which I took to mean I was looking good for being older than his 62, then he walked back towards the market entrance, repeating "God is Good" twice more.

Other than that, nothing’s shaking …… especially here at the complex.

Before heading out to the market, I went to detour to the mail room and then to check on the folks in the Community Room on this Kesha Tuesday, but ran into the Baker who indicated everything was closed off due to start of the exterior upgrade of the complex …… painters working on the main building and the mail room.

Baker also tells me the rooms being roped off today doesn’t matter, because Kesha hasn’t been around on a Tuesday for quite some time.

Hmmmmm????

The current paint on the exterior looks fine to me, not in need of a paint upgrade, but what do I know other than Management seems to spend a boatload of money on the outside, penny pinches on upgrading or making repairs to the inside, and spend practically nothing on events.

Their priorities are F’d up.

But for the Baker hosting Easter Luncheon, there would have been nothing for the seniors, because Management did absolutely nothing for Easter. Not even the usual bag of potato chips.

So, anyway, in conversation with the Baker, I asked about Dream Lover and, sure enough, he and Lu are fighting again …… have broken up.

She said she can’t keep up with which one is mad at the other and for what reason as it happens so often, LOL, only that they are currently not a couple; but instead of chasing someone else’s tail this time around, Dream Lover got a job …… two actually.

He works at the hospital in Loma Linda, escorting people around and volunteers at one of the senior centers in Fontana.

She said she’s booked Dream Lover to man the grill at the Memorial Day BBQ by which time, if he hasn’t hooked up with someone else, he and Lu will probably be on again.

Management doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to prep the vacant unit across from me. I’ve not seen anyone come in to clean, paint, new carpet.

However, that tacky doormat is gone; but only because I couldn’t take it any longer, grabbed the red cover on my way to the trash bin last Friday, left the doormat that was beneath the red cover in place, tossed the cover in with the trash.

Easter Luncheon

After saying I had no plans to attend yesterday’s luncheon, I went; but only because the Baker called that morning, said "I don’t know if you’re coming down for the luncheon, but someone wants to say hello".

I assumed (correctly) it was her great granddaughter, whom I’ve watched grow into an accomplished young lady over the years, coming to give me a hug because of that thing I can’t allow myself to think or talk about.

This is she back in 2013 at our Cookie Decorating event.

This is she in 2019, scrambling eggs for the Community Breakfast.

This is she now, getting ready to graduate high school, already college bound …… accepted into a prestigious Baptist University, focus on the aeronautics program (plans to be a commercial pilot because she was told she’s too small to pilot for the military).

She’s packed quite a few accomplishments into her back pocket. Just to name a few …… in 2024 she got her pilot’s license, driver’s license in 2025 (she was certified to fly planes before she learned to drive a car), played violin in the high school band, was on the cheer squad, has travelled to England; and, backtracking to cars, she drives a BMW, which I assume is a graduation present.

When I graduated high school, I got a bus schedule. Not a pass, just the schedule.

I hadn’t planned to stay any longer than it took to receive the hug, but the Baker announced an Easter Egg Hunt.

Several residents brought their grandchildren to the luncheon, plus we had the Baker’s great granddaughter, teen great grandson and a teen friend of the two.

Believe it or not, young and old got excited at the idea of hunting for candy filled plastic eggs.

I myself began looking under my chair, then decided just to watch/take photos for the residents' FB page.

There were no eggs under tables/chairs; Instead, plastic eggs had been hidden in the Community Room blinds ……

Hidden along the corridor to the Game Room behind planters, inside the pamphlet holder, on the top edge of picture frames.

That's MAGA

Inside the Game/Library/Computer Room.

On the outside patio in corners, in planters.

One adult found an egg on the patio inside the BBQ grill.

It was a fun thing to watch, after which I headed back to my unit.

The Baker looked exhausted, told me "I have to slow down" as the responsibility of hosting bingo and events is wearing her down. Then, in the next breath, said she’s planning a Memorial Day BBQ.

She had a team to help her but, with team members moving/passing away, it's basically she, Talker, their family members doing the work.

Crafty Lady was a member of the team, but the Baker tells me "She’s very ill". Something about having her heart shocked to get it on rhythm, a medical device that I recall the Baker said was now not IN her chest, but ON her chest to monitor heart rhythm, and it’s not going well.

Nurse Linda in Kansas: You can probably tell me more about what that device might be. I want to say defibrillator, but I’m not sure I’m remembering what I was told correctly.

Painted Rock Lady, not in the best of shape her own self, has helped the Baker with things and MAGA, still on her campaign to redeem herself, has stepped in to help, as have others, including Dream Lover, because they know the Baker loves doing this.

So, even if it eventually kills her, the Baker will drag her worn body around to provide the seniors with bingo and events.

Speaking of Dream Lover, I haven’t seen him in weeks. I’ve seen Lu plenty, but no Dream Lover.

Is he hospitalized …… away on vacation …… found another sweetheart …… or has he once again tired of Lu's constant touching/rubbing and is taking a little break?

My inquiring mind wants to know, so I may have to pop into Kesha Tuesday to get the tea.