Persona Non Grata

It’s been quite the week for me already, and it's only Tuesday.

First off, granddaughter sent me a cute coffee cup over the weekend, and yesterday notified me that invitations to her baby shower would be mailed next week, after which I think I got myself uninvited.

Granddaughter's pregnancy hormones are raging, causing her to dredge up so-called past incidents where Auntie (Twin 2) supposedly said something she didn't like, or did something she didn't like, hurt her feelings and now is making a big deal of spewing these so-called wrongs out, throw them in her Auntie's face. 

In phone calls and text messages, granddaughter said such hurtful disrespectful things that Twin 2 called me sobbing like a baby, not understanding what she'd done for her to be treated so poorly.

So, now you readers understand why it was I dreaded hearing from family during the holidays. Referred to family as THEM, and all I wanted for Christmas was for THEM to handle their drama without involving me.

At one point during the back and forth, granddaughter announced that Twin 2 was not going to be invited to the baby shower. My thought on that was I’m not down with it. That, after all Twin 2 has done for granddaughter over the years, if Twin 2 was out, I wasn’t going either.

I believe granddaughter thinks she is high on the totem pole, that I will choose her side because she's my granddaughter, pregnant with my great grandson. However, if it comes to a point where a choice has to be made, granddaughter is facing a rude awakening. Twin 2 is higher up because she's MY baby girl, and I don't like seeing my baby hurt. So no, I was planning to distance myself.

Consequently, I was hoping Omicron would cause a traditional shower to not be held, give me an easy out.

But noooooo.

According to the text granddaughter sent me yesterday, invites are going out next week.

I texted back, "I hope you are not going to continue to be cruel and unforgiving for whatever reason and leave Auntie out after all the good she’s done".

Granddaughter is quite the drama queen so, I’m counting on the words "cruel and unforgiving" being enough to earn me an uninvite and the title of Persona Non Grata, so I don’t have to worry about it.

We'll see.

Also yesterday, further details of that sex assault I’d blogged about a day or so ago reached my ears.

The guy was arrested, but released when it was learned he was having an ongoing sexual relationship with the victim.

Some are saying he got rough the last time, which precipitated her allegations of rape.

Others are saying she said NO the last time, he did it anyway, which precipitated her allegations of rape.

Who knows, but what surprised me was the identity of the two.

The woman involved was D, the resident I was worried about being given the kitten rescued from Next Door Neighbor’s car engine, the resident I’d suspected had harmed the puppy she’d adopted early on in the pandemic.

The man involved is the son of Handsome Man.

I’ve never seen Handsome Man’s son, no idea how old he is but I know he is nowhere near 55, had no business living here but, evidently, Handsome Man has been letting him live here surreptitiously.

I also don’t know how old D is, but I do know she’s waaaaay over 55.

How those two - a young Black man and an old White lady, ended up in a relationship is quite the mystery to me but, from what I’m hearing, "Everybody Knew".

At any rate, Handsome Man’s son was arrested, but then released due to the nature of it being an "ongoing relationship", and management kicked him off the property.

He shouldn’t have been here in the first place, but that’s on Handsome Man, which makes me wonder if he too will be asked to leave, because it used to be the resident is held responsible for the criminal acts of their visitors.

I don't know if that rule still applies, but time will tell. That is, if I see Handsome Man's unit being cleared out.

I’ve never seen Handsome Man’s son, but I know he's visited from time to time over the years because he’d also impregnated the young lady, back in 2018, who was living downstairs from his dad’s unit as caregiver to her grandma with failing eyesight.

I never found out what ever happened to that baby, but my guess was she delivered and had the baby adopted, after which she and her grandma moved to the other side of the complex.

I've not seen her or grandma in a while, so I'm assuming they moved out. Probably because the other side of the complex wasn't far enough away from Handsome Man's son.

Handsome Man's son appears to be using this complex as his hunting grounds with first a young White girl and then an old White woman, and who knows who else or what else he's done over the years while visiting his dad.

Now that I have the details, I'm wondering .... Inasmuch as I've never seen the son, have no idea what he looks like, could he possibly have been the plump little pervert that tried to trap me in the mail center back in 2017 ????

Were I to see the son, I'd know if they are one and the same, because the pervert's face and voice are STILL etched in my psyche.

Most Dangerous Place

Help, I woke up to another Monday. That’s 2 down, 50 more Mondays to go this year.

As I’d predicted, things have been molasses slow around here. My activities are limited to cooking, cleaning, crafting, working out at the Pain Cave, grocery shopping. Good news is such limited contact with others reduces my risk of contracting what’s going around — except for the fact, it appears the market is the most dangerous place to be.

Week before, it was that guy on the phone in the market announcing, "I just tested positive for Covid".

A few days ago, it was a skinny meth head looking guy, no mask, coughing his guts out in the market.

I first observed him when he crossed in front of me and coughed as I was exiting an isle.

He was moving too fast, had a too intent a look on his face, and came across as a little too frantic when he looked this way, that way, as he passed the isle, craning his neck, looking for whatever it was he was looking for. It was his movements that led me to believe he was tweaking on some kind of drug.

He had tweaker skin as well — dressed normal, but skin greasy, grimy, blotchy AND coughing as he went along, with no mask and not the decency to cover his mouth when he coughed.

I froze before moving forward, when I should have backed up and exited elsewhere so as to not walk through his germs but, in retrospect, as I observed him coughing/super spreading his germs throughout the entire market as he went along, there was actually no place actually free of whatever he was spewing out.

Later, when I was in the checkout line, I heard him coughing in line behind me, but with enough other people for him to make sick between us that I didn’t have to worry about his coughing on me. Nevertheless, I turned and gave him a dirty look.

He noticed, but looked puzzled with his twitchy self — like do I know her? … why she looking at me?

Just completely oblivious to bringing attention to himself because he was being disgusting.

Noticing not one but two security guards on duty, wondering why they let the guy in like that — no mask AND coughing, when I got to the cashier I said, "That guy is coughing and has no mask. I thought they weren’t letting people in without masks".

She said something to the effect about a mask mandate not actually being in place, and they can’t make people wear them.

I replied, "Okay, but he’ll be coughing directly into your face pretty soon. So, good luck".

I’m seriously looking for a small spray disinfectant, something that would fit on my wrist, shoot out disinfectant like Spider Man shoots out his web.

When someone coughs anywhere near me in the market, I’ll hold up my wrist and pew pew disinfectant spray out before I move forward.

UPDATE: Just to make certain I was not mistaken, I drove by the market after this morning's workout to take a look, make sure "masks required" was posted.

Not only that but, off to the right, not in the photo, was the same message plastered to the market's window.

Sentencing Day

It's sentencing day for the ego-driven white privilege thugs involved in the Jogger (Ahmaud Arbery) Murder Trial.

Watching Court TV this morning, I was surprised as how unemotional the three were during victim impact statements. None even hung his head in a sign of shame or regret.

The family and prosecution want to see what their egos have earned — life in prison.

Defense argued for leniency — 30 years with chance of parole.

The court now in recess, the verdict will probably be announced before I return from this morning's workout, but I too would like to see Life — in separate prisons, but I'm guessing 30 with chance of parole.

On another note, no thanks to the Tyrant — who never put out a Notice or Calendar of Events, I finally learned who the winners were in the Christmas Patio Decorating contest.

I can’t believe she pulled it off, but First Place went to Red Light District (RLD).

She won a trophy and $25 gift certificate.

Second Place went to neighbor around the corner, with the poinsettias, whom I thought would get First Place.

She must have thought so as well because, in commenting on RLD’s First Place win, she asked, "What was his (the Tyrant’s) criteria?"

My response to the idea that the Tyrant might be swift enough to have a criteria was to laugh and laugh and laugh.

At any rate, Second Place won a trophy, no gift certificate.

I can only assume Third Place also won a gift certificate, as no one to whom I spoke knew who'd even won Third Place. When I said I'd learned it was D Building, no one could even remember seeing the display. Since someone said "I walked around and saw everything" and she could not remember seeing that one (which I showed her a photo on my phone) that to me signifies it was a forgettable display.

At any rate, I’m glad this fiasco is behind us.

Hopefully, in the future, the Tyrant will knock it off, no more contests. Just stay in his office and do nothing, like always, and let us decorate because we enjoy decorating.

First Place

Second Place

Third Place

UPDATE: The Judge showed no mercy to the McMichaels, Life without possibility of parole, plus 20 years, and I'm great with that. William Bryan, the rube who was so proud of what they'd done that he posted the video that ultimately led to their arrests, got Life with possibility of parole. I'm okay with that too.

I loved what the judge said about the trio "hunting" Ahmaud and the "terror" Ahmaud must have felt when he tried to get away.

Judge got it spot on.

He Looka Like a

Anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection coming up, the news was all over it this morning.

Though it still pisses me off that those homegrown terrorists were initially treated with kid gloves, as opposed to how BLM protesters would have been and were indeed handled, it’s good to know the powers that be are making a concerted effort at uncovering the identity of those involved — hold them accountable for their actions.

Seeing a video of one of the most wanted this morning, seeing how the heavily clothed (to hide their identity) individual was kinda walking on tippy toes at one point, I all of a sudden heard Ms. Swan in my head saying, He looka like a girl.

Some of you might remember Ms. Swan of bygone years — the kooky character on MadTV that, when asked to identify someone in detail, would always frustrate the interviewer with "He looka like a man".

Later on in this morning's broadcast, one of the speakers did indicate they were not certain of looking for a man or a woman, but I see female and a female who is probably sweating bullets, just waiting for the hammer to drop because she knows somebody knows who she is.

Hopefully, it’s just a matter of time before someone rats her out, and karma catches up with her, and all others involved.

After running errands yesterday, I popped into the market and overheard an interesting (disturbing?) conversation.

"I just tested positive for Covid. This is just between us for now" said the speaker into his phone.

Between you, whoever you’re leaving a message for and now ME, thought I, as I waited for him to clear the area, so I’d not be anywhere near when I grabbed a box of cornmeal.

The speaker was a young man, early 20’s, and was obviously leaving a message because there was no back-and-forth conversation. Just a quick message because, as those words were spoken, he became aware someone (me) had turned the corner, was behind him and had probably heard.

He quickly shut down the phone and took off out of the isle like The Flash.

Did he flee because he was embarrassed to have been heard OR because he knew he should NOT have been in the market?

I don’t know, but at least he was wearing a mask.

Help, I Woke Up

I woke up to the first Monday of the New Year with nothing blog worthy on the tip of my fingers.

With Omicron having caused 5Ks to be cancelled, a potential meditation retreat also cancelled, it’s looking like a whole lot of nothing in the coming days, weeks, months. So, if you see me not posting regularly, it’s only because I’ve nothing to say.

Over the holiday, I’d received a Christmas Card from Next Door Neighbor (NDN), Red Light District and the neighbor with no blog name that resides in the unit underneath NDN.

While, over the weekend, getting the patio cleared off, inside items placed back into storage, I took the time to look at the cards and realized the no blog name neighbor had signed her card Ms. A….., instead of just A…..

Well, la de da, thought I.

That seemed somewhat haughty to me.

She’s not a school teacher — not to say teachers are haughty. It’s just that it’s good manners for children to address teachers as Ms. This, Ms. That, Ms. the Other.

I don’t know a lot about this neighbor, so it’s possible she taught school at one point in her life, but now she works part time at the mall.

Consequently, I will continue to address her as Hey, Girl, but it’s given me an idea of a blog name for her — Ms. Neighbor.

Running into the Baker yesterday, I learned yet another resident has taken a tumble — fell in her bathroom, cracked her head on the tub.

Fortunately, no deadly serious injury — just black and blue damage to the side of her face that hit the tub and around the eye on that side.

I also learned there’s been another resident on resident sexual assault.

When I ran into my buddy Apache and he was telling me about the three long-time residents moving, he did said he'd tried to contact me on Messenger because "I had something to tell you, but can't remember what it was".

It's possible this is what he'd wanted me to know and maybe it has something to do with the three long-time residents moving. Not just because they don’t care for the Tyrant, but because they no longer feel safe.

The first time we had a sexual assault here was a year or so after I moved in. A female resident was drinking with a couple of the guy residents and you can fill in the blanks from there.

I didn’t press the Baker for details on who what when of this occurrence, other than to say, "I hope she (the victim) reported it".

"She did, but not right away, so they told her it’s he said/she said and there was nothing they can do".

I’m assuming by "they" she meant the cops, because management’s position on anything criminal is to say "Call the cops. Let them handle it".

I’ve got good instincts and had told the Baker long ago, "I don’t trust anyone around here with a penis".

So, in response to what the Baker was telling me, I reinforced what I’d previously expressed … "This is why I don’t get too friendly with the guys around here. I wouldn’t even open my door if one of them knocked".

This includes my buddy Apache and Handsome Man, both of whom can read between the lines and know not to knock on my door. That, if they want to talk to me, they’ll have to catch me outside.

The Baker carries pepper spray with her when she’s out walking.

I learned my lesson when a pervert got onto the property and tried to trap me in the mail center, manhood exposed, back in 2017. I now, never leave the unit without pepper spray in one pocket (as backup), taser in my hand and an attitude.

The attitude alone usually works but, in the case of Spider, the market's security guard, he took it as a challenge.

Fortunately, having failed at whatever it was he'd planned, the Universe has moved him out of my orbit.

So, anyway, looks like I was wrong with waking up thinking I had nothing on the tip of my fingers blog worthy when out came another fall, another rape.

The Adventure Continues

One glass of cheap champagne, and I was in bed, continuing to binge watch YOU on my phone, but so falling asleep that I shut the phone down at 10:00 and it was lights out for this party girl.

I vaguely recall hearing fireworks, or gun shots, indicating the year changing from 2021 to 2022 but, thanks to the champagne, it was a momentary awareness and I went right back into REM state.

After Trainer said, "Let’s take a selfie to commemorate last training session of the year" a lot happened yesterday.

I think I discovered the secret of how to look skinny in a photo.

Hide half my body behind another person and strike a pose. LOL.

Once back at the complex, first happening was we had a 3.5 earthquake. Only I didn’t realize it was a quake.

I thought it was Next Door Neighbor either having something heavy hauled up the stairs or down the stairs and, being nosey, took a look outside, but saw nothing.

Shortly after, I saw the Archeologist had posted about an earthquake.

Then, not able to get the idea out of my head that I was to go to Walmart for some unknown reason, and realizing I’d forgotten to pick up bubble wrap for decorations I’d planned to put back into storage today, I googled Walmart hours, learned they were open until 11:00 that night.

I set the DVR to record Judge Judy and headed out before it got dark … before I started in on that champagne/binge watching and hightailed it over to Walmart.

Once reaching the parking lot, I said to myself Okay, I’m here. What am I supposed to see? Who am I supposed to run into?

Nothing happened, saw and interacted with no one … except the guy at the door who checked my receipt for bubble wrap and electrical tape.

He quipped, "I’d like to take your bubble wrap, wrap some of these people in it, toss them out the door".

Okay, Dexter, thought I.

Arriving back at the complex, I saw someone had done something hilarious to the gate's card reader.

Googly Eye added

That was pretty funny, but I didn’t think, the opportunity to capture a pic, was the reason I’d had to go to Walmart, be outside at that particular time.

But then, in the driver side mirror, I saw a figure approaching the car.

It was my old buddy Apache!

He was in the process of helping a long-time resident move, saw me pulling into the driveway.

He looked good — well rested now that he’s not filled with anger and frustration at the Tyrant, having to deal with being harassed (for years) because he spoke up for the seniors.

Now keep in mind, Apache not only does not live here, he's not allowed (by the office) to even be on the property.

I've heard he meets friends from here down the street, they take the bus to the Casino, but he doesn't visit them in their unit.

He was on the property this day only because he knew no one was around to enforce his not being here.

So, keeping in mind Apache no longer lives here, is not allowed on the property, he's not finished with tormenting the Tyrant. He restarted the resident's facebook page — which Tyrant can now do nothing about, and Apache knows more than I do about what’s going on.

For instance, that Big Linda took a fall and broke her back.

I didn't know that, but Yipes!

These falls.

So Deadly.

So Scary.

Apache didn’t know if the fall happened here or elsewhere, whether Big Linda was recuperating in her unit with help, or if she’d been placed in a facility.

I also didn't know that three long-time residents are moving out — one of which was the resident he was here helping to move.

With a waiting list, the Tyrant won’t have a problem getting new tenants in, but it evidently was a blow, and not a good look for him, that three long timers have all given notice at the same time.

It prompted the Tyrant to say to the lady Apache was helping, "I don’t know what I did, but I’m sorry".

Yeah, sure, you (the Tyrant) don’t know why long-time residents are moving, you cheap, incompetent, no response arse.

Evidently, the Tyrant tried to make some sort of amends, win friends, influence people, by giving gifts to a group in the Community Room at a bingo session.

The gift was a bag of Doritos and a Candy Bar which, I'm told, instead of winning friends just further pissed the group off as to how they feel about his cheap incompetent arse.

If I know him, the Doritos and Candy Bar were left over from his home's Halloween giveaway.

Asking Apache if he’d heard about the Patio Contest and had any information on winners. He didn’t know who 1st and 2nd place were but, would you believe he, who doesn't live here, knew who'd won 3rd Place.

It was a patio I’d mentioned as having seen when taking the long way out of the complex, but never in my wildest dreams imagined it would actually place.

Will be interesting to see, once the announcement comes out ... IF the announcement comes out, what other residents, with patios I was sure were more likely to rank than this one, have to say.

So, anyway, talk about being in the right place at the right time.

Isn’t it interesting that had I not been outside at a time I’m never outside, but was there only because I kept hearing that weird guy saying "Walmart", I’d have missed that reconnecting with Apache, get the tea on what’s going on here.

Coincidence?

I think not.