Keep it Simple

Other than the three days of doable outdoor walking weather early last week, it’s been a steady climb and excessive heat warnings.

Summer just won’t let go, so I’ve been pretty much housebound, A/C running 24/7.

News did reach me about an incident in broad daylight about some random guy walking behind one of the old ladies, pushing her down, running off with her purse.

It’s unknown to me if he followed her in from outside the complex, or whether he was already inside waiting for an opportunity to victimize, but I was interested in seeing how management was going to warn residents this could happen here or if they were going to address it at all.

They kinda sorta did address it in wording on this month’s Activity Calendar, issued yesterday … "Safety Reminder: Please be aware of your surroundings and help us keep our community safe. Please keep all pedestrian gates closed at all times. Do not open the gates or provide access to anyone you do not know. If you see suspicious activity or someone attempting to enter without authorization, please contact the appropriate authorities".

I’m assuming "appropriate authorities" to mean don’t bother the office or maintenance guys, call the cops.

So, anyway, more reasons – besides the oppressive heat, to limit walking to the indoor walking pad rather than the great outdoors.

Speaking of which, manager of the indoor walking gym stocked the coffee bar with chocolate muffins yesterday, but made them healthy by adding chopped walnuts.

The resident organizers had me design/print, and they’ve already distributed and posted, flyers for this month’s Bingo Days, plus a Halloween Party on Friday, October 30.

THEN, I find included in this month’s Activity Calendar, a flyer indicating management is hosting a Halloween Costume Party, Friday, October 30.

I’m assuming the two groups will combine their efforts

As you all know by now, I love cosplay and, at the end of Halloween last year, when it seemed I kept running into people who wanted to unload their problems onto my listening ears, I came up with a great idea for this year’s costume that I kept to myself at the time.

That idea was to wear blue leggings, a blue top, walk around with a sign indicating “Psychiatric Help 5¢ … The Doctor is In” ala Peanuts character Lucy Van Pelt.

A lot has happened since last year. I am no longer pumped -- not even Skelly is bringing me the joy it once did. Besides, based on past cosplay around here, clever costumes are lost on this audience. So, if I cosplay at all, I'll keep it simple with my regular skeleton leggings or the red/white Minnie Mouse leggings and Disneyland ears.

Is My Face Red

Yesterday …… realizing I’d not received this month’s Activity Calendar, I headed for the office to pick one up, detouring by the big bin to toss trash.

Seems the car that parks near the dumpster – the one that had its windows smashed all to heck, was not out for repairs after all. Instead, the owner has replaced it/parking a little white car instead.

Not bringing the original vehicle back, now parking a different one, only deepens the mystery of why that particular car was targeted in the first place.

Kinda reminds me of when my girls were around 10-years old and we were living in an apartment in Compton. The next-door neighbor had a dispute with the landlord, decided not to pay rent.

The landlord did not serve her with eviction papers, did not take her to court. Instead, he had his "boys" sneak into the parking area one night, smash ALL the windows to her car out.

She couldn't prove landlord had anything to do with the vandalism, but we all knew their dispute was related and feeling unsafe, next-door neighbor promptly moved out.

Next time I run into the Talker, I’ll have to remember to ask what she knows about this current situation of windows smashed/different car.

So, anyway, there were two things I’d not realized before I stepped out of my unit, headed towards the office yesterday.

The first thing was that the time was 4:30 in the afternoon. The office closed at 4:00. The building was locked up tight.

The second thing I did not realize was that outside was 105◦, with a heat warning in effect.

So there I was, having trekked across the desert to a locked building.

Not wanting my suffering to have been in vain, I retreated, walked back through the gate, hung a right and a right again, headed for the mailroom to check mail.

Nothing but useless ads inside to be tossed; but something told me to stoop down look towards the back of the box.

Inside is a deep black hole built into the wall. I saw nothing.

Then something told me to stick my arm all the way to the back and feel around.

I did and touched something hard. Something that that felt like what a key to one of the parcel lockers would feel like.

After my rant about the mail carriers depositing parcel locker keys in the wrong mailbox, and residents lucking up on packages that don’t belong to them, you have a good idea where this discovery is heading.

My intention here was to post photos. Photos to show you how deep the mailbox is/how far back I had to reach into the cavern by posting a pic of how deep my arm had to reach in, and a photo of the box and its contents (the two sheets of scrapbook paper) that came out of the parcel locker; but Blogger be trippin. Won't let me post photos. And, for a split second this morning, Blogger would not let me reply to comments …… a message popped up that I needed to log into Google. So don't be surprised if my ability to reply to comments doesn't happen again, and for longer than a split second.

All in all, let me just say …… IS MY FACE RED.

The parcel locker key was there all along, pushed all the way to the back AND, it was the only key at the back of that deep dark cavern. Indicating all the other packages I’d miss had truly been misdirected and kept …… Fortunately for me, just not this shipment.

At any rate, I’m back to completing that layout.

Heading back to my unit, I ran into my next-door White-Haired Neighbor, returning from her son’s house, looking as drained from the excessive temp as I was.

She asked if I’d gotten a notice posted to my door about an Inspection this Friday.

I had …… on Tuesday, the day after I’d shampooed the carpets, which meant two or three people (the Maintenance Guys and Manager or Assistant Manager) would be dirtying up my freshly Monday-shampooed carpets on Friday.

Neighbor said she was worried about the inspection because, where she moved from, after 35 years, the manager hated her, retaliated against her because she’d reported him for animal cruelty. He would pull frequent inspections, go through her closets, open her cupboards, told her he can come in when he wants, go through whatever he wanted.

I told her not to worry. That management inspections here are a precursor to when the State and Federal inspectors come in. They just want to make sure the units are clean and everything is in working order, so they won’t get dinged by the agency inspectors.

She said she was on the County and that the County inspected where she lived before only every two years.

That surprised me … that she is on the County and, consequently, must have been placed here through the program and on the program the entire 35 years she lived at the other place.

How does someone get 35+ years of County assistance?

No judgment. I just really want to know as she seems so able-bodied, well put together, and mentally all there.

The conversation ended with my telling her that though management pre-inspects every unit, that the Federal and State inspections are random. Her unit might get inspected, might not, depends on what the agency inspectors want to do.

She said, "But I just moved in".

"Doesn’t matter", said I and told her that I had an agency inspection right after I moved in back in 2012 and did not get another agency inspection until last year. It’s all luck of the draw, and not to worry about Friday because management just wants to make sure the place is relatively clean, no hoarding, and everything works which, in the past has worked in our favor in getting management to make repairs we'd previously requested but they had been dicking around with, because they didn't want us to point the problem out to the agency inspector.

I don't know why she seemed so worried about Friday's inspection, but it makes me curious to one day get a look inside her unit.

I opened the door and showed her mine, which isn't all that fabulous. Maybe one day, she'll show me hers.

I Hope This is Personal

A bearable 86◦ this morning, I headed out to put in walking miles around the complex and saw this ……

I’m not wishing harm on anyone in hoping this is personal. I’m just hoping this doesn’t mean some kind of fresh hell for all of us that park in that area. Not some random someone walking around smashing out car windows, but rather some kind of personal animosity having to do with no one but the resident whose car was vandalized.

It did occur to me that perhaps the vandalism did not happen on our lot, but that the car’s owner was in the wrong place at the wrong time …… that this happened elsewhere. But noooooo, because there was glass on the ground, under and around the area of the window, indicating it happened here.

At any rate, fingers crossed this is a one-time thing for the vandalized car owner and for us.

Yesterday was also a bearable walking day at 89◦, but I opted to get marketing out of the way instead.

Listening to country/western station KFROG, as I drove to the branch of the market in the bad area/surrounded in bars like a prison that has the best produce because of the way the area is zoned, I burst out laughing when I heard radio host Kelli say, "It’s still hot, but Walmart is already selling Christmas decorations".

I’m still waiting for October 1/the First of Halloween but, at this rate, Valentine’s Day merchandise will be on sale before Halloween gets here.

This branch of the market I drove to is preferred, rather than the corner market, not only because produce seems fresher, but also because fun things seem to happen at the other branch. Like the young man telling me his friend said I was pretty, and the 62-year-old that called me chocolate ice cream and proposed marriage. This time it was a not bad looking slightly over middle-aged gentleman pushing his cart towards me, looking to pass on my left, head to produce as I was pushing my car out of that area. Just as he was about to pass, he said, "My God! You are so beautiful, so beautiful".

Believe you me, I was feeling nowhere near beautiful yesterday …… just so old, so tired, and so done that, though he was looking at me when he said it, I wasn’t all that sure he was actually talking about or to me. I even actually turned around as he passed to see if he was addressing someone behind me. There was no one else in the immediate area, so I can only assume the spontaneous utterance was addressed to me …… the Universe giving me the bump I needed to pull myself out of the blue funk I’ve been in off/on for months.

Still not totally convinced that I looked better than I felt, I took a selfie when I got back to the car …… the photo I’m now using as my profile pic.

My eyes …… free of eye makeup because I gave that up long ago, do not look well or happy.

Nevertheless, the bump seems to have worked …… temporarily motivated me up and out, because I pushed through this morning and logged in 1.01 miles, in 32:38 minutes at the snail slow pace of 32:15, 3,292 steps.

It’s a start. Hopefully, I can keep it up as the weather continues to cooperate by cooling down.

In other news, it’s been super quiet around here since last week’s End of Summer event. I’ve not seen nor spoken to any neighbors, so no news on the status of Hell on Wheels, Ankle Annie or the Feces Felon.

Bingo returns this Friday, after a month’s hiatus due to the organizers having to work around office hours and the Baker’s needing a break from whatever has been happening in bingo that upset her.

She had me do a sheet of Bingo Rules that includes the regular "Limit two wins until the ninth (blackout) game", adding "No arguments between players or you will be asked to leave".

That’s telling.

I wonder who was arguing, and what could they have been arguing about. It’s just bingo for God’s sake.

Also, "Keep the noise down so everyone can hear the numbers, please make sure you are listening".

That was especially aggravating when I used to attend bingo, and the main reason I stopped going. People could just not shut up, talked over the caller making it difficult to hear numbers being called AND, because they were talking instead of listening, would often interrupt the game asking "What were those last numbers you called" or "Did you call xyz?".

Lastly, "Lunch or snacks will be served after bingo for our bingo players".

I think this is because residents, not involved in bingo, would lurk around trying to time coming in just as refreshments were being served. You know, like the neighbor who just happens to stop by when dinner is being served.

I think it’s going to be hard to enforce this rule.

If I were the Baker, I’d order meal tickets that say, "Good for one meal", pass those tickets out to residents playing bingo AND, at the end of bingo, serve only those who present valid tickets.

In fact, I’m going to order said tickets, give to the Baker for bingo and other events where residents unceremoniously show up at dinner time.

One Day at a Time

Getting up and out in time to catch the 9 o’clock Tahirobics class is proving to be even more challenging than anticipated.

Up generally around 6:30 in the morning, I’m accustomed to putzing around, not seizing the day until 10:30/11:00, but I’ve been pushing myself to give up putzing, stick to the program, get out in time to work out.

I was on a roll in getting into the new routine, until last Tuesday when, pushing myself, head in the right space, I arrived at the nutrition center only to find the power was out due to "no payment".

A forgetful moment or not the money to pay the bill, who knows/not important, but I couldn’t get back into the right head space the remainder of that week. I never made it back to class, which meant I did no form of exercise the remainder of that week and over the weekend — five whole days.

By the time this past Monday rolled around, my body was begging for exercise so I was eager to get up/out, arrived in time for class.

Power was back on and may have been back on the afternoon of the day it went out, problem solved, but I didn’t ask.

Class was good. My fitness tracker logged 3,171 steps, 759 calories burned, and I had every intention of working out this morning — a Tuesday and Thursday workout schedule.

Didn’t happen.

I putzed around.

At this point, it’s very much looking like I’ll be taking it one day at a time and that somewhere along the line, realizing I'm having fun and seeing fitness results, a reboot of my schedule — seizing the day earlier rather than later may kick in …… for at least two days a week.

For now, no promises to myself, but maybe tomorrow.

In other news, there’s been some weird stuff going on around here. Starting with, a resident reporting seeing a guy walking around peering into parked cars.

I learned a long time ago, after several thefts from vehicle in other locations, never to leave anything out in the open in the car, to tempt criminal behavior, so this sighting was no surprise to me.

The cops were called, but never showed up.

Another resident reported seeing a guy in the back area of the complex, hiding behind one of the garages.

Was he waiting to grab some unsuspecting female resident out for a walk?

One good thing about this complex is that there are eyes everywhere. Much like I am privy to a lot of what goes on just by catching a glimpse through the patio window while sitting on the couch, so are there other residents always seeing. Not a lot is missed around here.

But wait …… there’s more.

One of the more vulnerable seniors reported, while out on a walk, a strange woman approached, tried to hit her.

It’s getting more and more unsafe on the property.

On Saturday, a few residents reported seeing a strange guy dancing at the end of the walkway. Later, Lu spotted a strange guy (don’t know if it’s the same guy) crawling on all fours, up the stairs like an animal sneaking up on its prey, towards the drug dealer’s unit.

Lu called the cops and this time they showed up in groves, along with an ambulance and a fire truck.

That’s a lot of resources for a guy who was probably simply high on something. He was laughing and talking with his rescuers, so whatever his situation was didn’t translate to needing all those resources to us onlookers.

While out and about on Wednesday, I spotted something interesting as I approached the corner of a building.

No mistaking what was parked around that corner.

I always get a kick out of seeing one of those na$i cars in the neighborhood and, surprisingly, the few I’ve seen show no signs of having been damaged.

There was no one in Starbucks that looked to be the driver of that infamous vehicle, so I assumed it belonged to someone in the dental office next door.

Had I the time, I'd have stuck around to see if the driver matched the vehicle.

Case of the Missing Box, Part 3

Case closed.

The good news is that no one in this complex is pathetic enough to not have let me know the box was misdelivered to their unit.

There have been neighbors pathetic enough to have kept smaller packages — makeup, tops, Creative Memory supplies, blood pressure medication and, if gifted with a whole big box, might have kept it, but not in this instance.

Manager and the Maintenance guys took a look at the photo, checked out a few gated areas, determined something that had initially crossed my mind before I noticed we did have gated doors and Ernie said he'd seen the unit I was looking for …… that the box might not have been delivered to this property.

They caught something I’d missed …… that the color of the building in the photo didn’t match the colors of this property, ergo not only did the delivery driver not deliver to my door, he didn't even deliver to this complex.

That’s a humungous delivery mistake. Delivery driver must be dyslexic.

The bad news is that I’ll never ever know where that box landed, the who so I can give that person the evil eye but, as the recipient still had the option of being decent — notifying FedEx of the mix-up, I don’t necessarily have to know who the person is for Karma to kick in.

They will lose ten times over.

On the other hand, I don’t know IF the box landed at all.

That photo could have been taken in delivery driver’s own back yard.

Seriously because, believe it or not, there have been instances where delivery people take photos of items supposedly delivered, then themselves turn around and cart the items off.

I've seen people posting videos, from their ring cameras, catching delivery people doing that exact same thing, and it happened to Twin 2 back in April.

What you see in the video is the Amazon delivery driver, unaware of their being a camera in that area, after dropping off a box, verifying delivery by taking a photo, picking up the box then straight up absconding with it.

I don't know what he thought he was delivering, that he'd risk his job by stealing what turned out to be cat food and yarn, but I guess those items, and whatever else he's managing to pilfer from his other deliveries, might sell well at the swap meet he's probably running on the side with his stolen loot.

Of course, Twin 2 made a complaint to Customer Service, and last I heard …… nothing. No word back, no nothing.

I don't know if she got a refund or reordered or both, but she's no pushover, so it's safe to say both.

I’m going out on a limb, taking one last stab at ordering a craft lamp ……… a Verilux which commenter Anonymous brought to my attention, rather than the Ott I'd been aiming for.

Crossing my fingers that delivery goes right this time.

Today is Pizza Tuesday. Activity Director is back from her two-week vacation.

There was no Calendar of Events issued this month, so the plan is to head to the Community Room later this morning, check out if we’re having any kind of crafts today.

BTW, the organizers decided on Wednesday, July 2, for the 4th of July BBQ.

That’s a workout day for me, but I’ll rush back to check the event out, take a few photos for the residents' facebook page.

Case of the Missing Box, Part 2

Yesterday was laundry day. So, while going back/forth to the laundry room, I walked around a bit and located six white gated doors.

I never before noticed that some of us have gated doors.

How did they get so lucky?

I want one.

At any rate, none of the doors I spotted had the tell-tell sign — that plant, but at least I now know we do have units with gated doors, the box was delivered to this complex.

Seeing Miracle Guy out and about — the resident who survived being shot on two separate occasions, knifed and fire bombed, I showed him the photo, asked if he recognized the unit.

He did not, but had a lot to say about the poor FedEx, UPS and Amazon delivery service around here.

Seeing two random residents on a walkway, I approached, asked if they recognized the unit depicted in the photo. Neither did.

By walking up on random residents, getting them involved in the hunt, I run the risk that one of these random folks actually being or knowing and warning the culprit, but that’s okay with me because fear of being found will set in, the culprit will panic, get rid of the loot, think twice about absconding with other people’s property in the future.

Speaking of fear. Isn’t it interesting that shortly after I yesterday posted about my displeasure with FedEx, the Founder of FedEx chose to leave this plane of existence.

Coincidence or did he flee to escape my ire?

Just as I was finishing up in the laundry room, Ernie — the resident we threw a surprise birthday party for a week or so ago, walked by.

Ernie is always out and about, walking his dog, so I showed that photo to Ernie who said, "I’ve seen that door (looked over his shoulder towards the opposite side of the complex to indicate somewhere over there), but I can’t remember where".

Ernie will let me know when he remembers or sees the door again on his walks.

Deciding I needed a treat to fully recover from the aggravation of all that involved the purchase and delivery of that craft lamp, I drove to Starbucks for a half-caf Americano and saw well-mannered service dogs in-training being treated to pup cups.

Heading back to the complex, passing the site across the street where that homeless encampment had been, I was expecting to see some if not all of the former occupants had returned.

Not yet. Surprisingly, the only occupant thus far is one lone tent dweller.

Waking up this morning, checking emails, I find I’ve already been issued a refund for the missing lamp.

WOW! I’m amazed that all I had to say was I didn’t get it because FedEx misdelivered.

This must happen a lot.

I hope there’s some kind of penalty attached to the FedEx driver so he’ll be more careful in the future.

Does that mean the hunt is now over?

HELL NO!

I want to find that resident, know who around here is so pathetic as to not have knocked on my door, tell me they have a misdirected package, come and get it or walk it over, as I and others here are known to do, so I’m waiting to hear back from the email I sent to Manager, asking if she or the maintenance guys recognize the unit.

I’m not sure that, even if management recognizes the unit, they will want to get involved, let me know for fear I’d kick the offending resident’s butt, which I wouldn’t, but management doesn’t know that.

What I will do is put ‘em on blast with the grapevine, and give the person or persons the Evil Eye whenever I see them out and about.

Case of the Missing Box

I’d posted earlier in the month, that the craft lamp died. No worries thought I, it was in bad shape, being held together with electrical tape, I’ll purchase another.

Inasmuch as the popular craft stores have closed, purchasing another turned out to be not as easy as it used to be.

Fortunately, though in-store is no longer available, those craft stores still maintain an online presence, so I ordered a replacement, received a delivery date only to, a week later, receive an email that the order was cancelled.

In investigating who cancelled and why, it was a cryptic "manufacturer issue".

Assuming it was a problem with that particular style lamp, I ordered a different style from the same craft store, received a delivery date, then once again received an email the order was cancelled, money refunded.

Hmmmm? I wondered if these cancellations had something to do with the lamps being made in China and the tariffs.

Whatever the reason, it was getting annoying. Like, why are you still offering the product, going through the steps if you can’t deliver. Remove the item from the website.

Done with that particular source, I ordered from a different craft store.

Lo and behold, it was the same thing ……… received a delivery date, followed by an email the order was cancelled, money refunded.

Getting the message that the craft stores are advertising items they cannot provide, I looked to the "knit for Jesus" homophobic, racist, anti-semitic place but they at least had removed craft lamps from their site, as did the big box stores I looked to, even the blacklisted Walmart and Target I was reduced to breaking rank and looking to.

Googling craft lamps in general, I found a business offering a few used and new. I ordered new, received a delivery date, and held my breath.

Yet another cancellation did not come. Instead, I received notification the item was on its way, to be delivered by FedEx last Tuesday.

Tuesday didn’t happen, but I wasn’t worried, delays happen, and patiently waited for delivery.

I never ever entertained the thought that a box as large as I was expecting might have been misdelivered. That is until yesterday, when I received a survey to rate how satisfied I was with the delivery.

Delivery? What delivery? I never got a delivery.

I rated zero, the reason as having never received the package and asked for a refund.

That set off emails instructing me to look for the package in the neighborhood and contact FedEx.

On the Fed Ex site I found a photo that indicated the box was delivered on Tuesday, 2:01 pm to a door that not only doesn’t look like my door, but doesn’t look like a door in this complex.

On the off chance we do have a door here that looks like the above, I opened the Case of the Missing Box by text messaging the Usual Suspects, asking if they recognized the door. They didn’t, but said they’d look for it when out and about.

I also emailed Manager asking if we have a unit with a screen door.

Manager won’t see the email until tomorrow, so I won’t get an answer until then but, in the interim, I’ve already resigned myself to never seeing that craft lamp ……… that, if we do have a unit here that looks like that, the box has been opened by now, the contents sold or given away, the resident of that unit, in spite of the photo, absolutely denying ever receiving.

If we do have that door in the complex, even if the craft lamp is now gone, I’d still like to know who the resident is so I can give them the evil eye when I see them out and about, let them know I know what kind of human you are, make them feel uncomfortable.

Inasmuch as it was so difficult to find a place that could actually fulfill the order in the first place, delivery people can’t get it right, and we have asshole neighbors around here that, when deliveries go wrong, take advantage and keep the items (it’s happened before to me and others; and it’s happened a lot) I’ll not even try to order another. I’ll manage with sunlight coming through the patio window and the sun lamp.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

Logging into the laptop this morning, the first thing flashing across the screen was "Egg prices are plummeting".

I'd not describe it as "Plummeting", when I just yesterday noticed an 18-count carton of organic eggs dropped a lousy $1.00 — from $13.99 to $12.99, but it’s a start.

Mother’s Day has come and gone — my 58th, and it was awright.

I received the obligatory texts from the usual suspects — Twin 1, Twin 2, Granddaughter.

I feel bad for my twins. They always want to take me somewhere to eat, do something fun, buy me something, but my worsening gut issues precluded my going anywhere to eat, there’s no place I wanted to go, nothing I wanted to do, nothing I needed. All of which made a not fun Mother’s Day for my girls, as I was content doing laundry and housework.

I had the Laundry Room all to myself, the flowers in the area around the Laundry Room were in full bloom for Mother’s Day, so I enjoyed the peaceful setting.

Talker walked by, saw me doing laundry, came in to give me a Mother’s Day hug and a side of tea.

There’s a new woman in Dream Lover’s life, but it’s not what you think.

Evidently, Dream Lover has a new neighbor — a woman who has taken a dislike to him and demonstrates her dislike by, instead of taking her trash to the dumpster, tosses it in front of DL’s door.

That’s pretty extreme.

Of course, DL went to Manager over it, got the usual "I'll talk to her", but it's unclear as to whether Manager actually did, because the woman has tossed trash at his door more than once OR if the woman was spoken to and, not caring what Manager had to say, continues to trash DL's area.

I’ll have to see who this new neighbor is, determine if management has done it again …… brought in a resident who is not well in the head, or if DL made his usual play …… "I’m looking for a nice woman to spend time with" and she did not appreciate it. Is tossing her trash as if to say to DL that she can see through him and he’s trash.

This scares me a little about who we’ll next get in our quad, when TinTin’s vacant unit is leased out. I’m hoping our good Chi in the quad will attract someone nice, but you never know.

The Activity Calendar indicated, instead of today being Pizza Tuesday, it's a late celebration of Mother’s Day …… "Social: Mother’s Day Luncheon. Celebrate Mother’s Day with a community luncheon full of fun, connection and appreciation for all the amazing moms, grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters, Friends, mentors, etc."

I guess Great Grandmothers fall into the "etc" category, LOL.

I wasn’t planning on attending because I can’t eat whatever is being served; besides, I had an appointment with my Primary at the Main Medical Center — the first time I’ve been able to actually meet with my doctor, face to face, since 2019; and accomplished only because that RN I’d two-weeks ago interacted with by phone, when my BP recorded 173, sent a message to the doctor’s care team that she should see me. Otherwise, it would have taken three months to get an appointment.

I’m actually surprised my doctor hasn’t retired yet, as she’s about my age, maybe a few years younger.

She looks great though, hasn’t aged much — probably because her culture is one that the women do keep their beauty as they age. The men, not so much.

At any rate, she joked about watching her patients age with her, adjusted my BP medication, had her nurse give me a tetanus shot, ordered Lab work — which I’ll take care of later this week, or next week, at a different facility, because the Lab Section at the Main Medical Center was way too peopley for me.

On the way to the Med Center, the dash cam captured a woman, on the far side of middle-age, in handcuffs.

That's her white car blocking the lane.

Mother's Day only two days ago, and mom or grandma is in cuffs.

I’ve never in my life been handcuffed, not even for roleplay fun when I was married to the cop, and could not imagine what an older lady could have done to be removed from her car, in traffic, and handcuffed.

Pizza Tuesday

The meeting with Manager went okay; that is after she first tried to convince me the problem was at my bank …… "the bank paid with a card, rather than your account, you should contact the bank".

That was too ridiculous to even consider.

When she failed to convince me of that, she then offered to give me the telephone number of that third party vendor so I could work it out with them.

You push us into signing up for this crap, but then you want to wash your hands when there’s a problem with the crap you pushed on us?

Nope. I don't think so.

She yesterday indicated she’d find the problem, work me through the system, so that’s what we did.

It took half an hour — with my opening up my Rent Café account on her computer, her searching, finding where it had been set to card, removed and reset to bank account.

Setting to card might have been my mistake, but maybe not, because Manager tells me I’m not the only one to get charged $29.14 — could have been a glitch in the system that sent it to cards.

Manager said one resident stormed into her office highly irate. When Manager gave her the same spiel she tried to give me, "I told her to contact her bank or the third party", it further infuriated the resident. She yelled, screamed, stormed out, according to Manager.

Wish I knew who this Resident is, and I won’t be surprised if others come forward, as Manager said some didn't pay rent.

Did they not pay rent OR did they sign up for Rent Café and are caught in the glitch …… it didn't go through?

That nearly happened to me …… when I checked my account May 2, saw nothing withdrawn May 1 for Rent Café, I went into the portal, manually pushed buttons to make it go through.

There's the possibility others don't yet know, haven't checked their account.

Manager seemed unusually pleased with herself, when she said rent was considered late on the 5th, and some didn't pay. She actually shrugged her shoulders, and had a smurk on her face.

As to yelling, screaming …… you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I got Manager to solve the problem, and she did it willingly, nicely, after we got past the blame game.

Before leaving Manager’s office, I made one more pitch for return of the Rent Drop Box.

Manager says she was just as surprised as we were when the order came down from Corporate to get rid of the box. Evidently, there’d been a thieving incident at one of the other properties that was "really bad" involving a rent box being broken into to steal cash and someone being hurt.

"There’s no cash in the drop box", said I.

"Criminals don’t know that and besides, they want checks to whitewash, fill in, steal people’s identities. It’s a safety and security issue, for the protection of residents and us (office staff)".

Whatever.

That done, I popped into the Community Room as I’d seen "Mother’s Day Crafts" on the calendar.

Folks were just lining up for pizzas, so learning it would be half an hour before crafts began, I left, came back at the appointed time.

I’d barely sat down when I became aware the Other Wheelchair Lady was going off about someone she "couldn’t stand". I didn’t focus on what or who she was complaining about, but as she went on and on and on and on, it began to amuse me.

I started laughing, looked up from what I was doing, and she said, "I’m talking about you-know-who …… Manager".

So, just as I had experienced a session with Manager showing her good side, here Other Wheelchair Lady is bashing her to high hell.

I thought, Is this the one that yelled at Manager over Rent Café?.

I asked, "Are you pissed off about the Rent Café fee?"

"No", said she. It was something about an event I’d not attended. Manager made the residents line up outside while the room was being prepped. When the door was opened, Manager stood by the door as residents entered and "Didn’t say anything to any of us, no hello, no nothing as we passed by. And then, when she finds out we don’t like her, she starts crying".

Oh well.

Today’s Mother's Day craft was using modge podge to glue tiny little delicate flowers and greenery to glass vases/jars/photo frames.

Made by Greedy Grabby

Made by Hell on Wheels

Made by Jo, New Resident

Made by Me

Made by Talker
used too much glue but will dry clear

While we crafted, Name Dropper popped in to tell her friends in the room that she’s packing, her last day here is coming up.

"You’re moving?" asked I.

She answered in the affirmative.

"Where to …… back to Palm Springs?".

"No, Arizona".

"What’s in Arizona?".

She skillfully changed the subject, didn’t answer.

Hmmmmm?

Name Dropper lasted one year here, and it must have been a hard year, because she looks terrible. Aged considerably.

I’m guessing the loneliness and the drinking.

After returning to my unit, I got online, saw a reader — SoCalFifi, had commented to yesterday’s post …… "According to Mr. Google 'California Civil Code § 1947.3: prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to pay rent only by electronic means.' Maybe corporate needs to be reminded".

Holy Crapola! I took a look at the Code, saw it read "a landlord or a landlord's agent shall allow a tenant to pay rent and deposit of security by at least one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic funds transfer".

Technically speaking, the fact that the office is still allowing residents to walk their payments into the office, might be considered the one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic transfer. On the other hand, if the end goal is electronic funds transfer … Rent Café for all — like only electronic at Scary Mary's complex, the code says they can’t do that. They have to give us another option.

I began planning how I could surreptitiously get this information to Manager and Corporate — send copies of the code, making sure to leave no fingerprints, change my handwriting on the envelope, leave no DNA by licking the stamp, drive to a post office out of the area to drop the envelopes off.

But then I thought "screw it" and sent an email to Manager that Corporate will see.

"Thanks for your help this morning with Rent Café. I appreciate that removal of the rent drop box is for reasons of safety and security, but I’m wondering if this falls under a Civil Code which was just brought to my attention …… California Code, Civil Code - CIV § 1947.3, which indicates a landlord or a landlord's agent shall allow a tenant to pay rent and deposit of security by at least one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic funds transfer. This might be something Corporate might want to look into and reconsider removing drop boxes. Thanks!"

Manager will see it first thing tomorrow morning, then we lay low and wait.

I’ll also make sure others are aware of this code.

Thanks again, SoCalFifi.