That’s the word for how this week has started out ……… Ominous.
Yesterday was shake, rattle, roll with not one, not two, but three earthquakes.
Ominous.
Ain't no sunshine today. Outside is cold, dark, gloomy.
Ominous.
It’s only Tuesday, and I’m waiting for the other shoe to fall.
It wasn’t until I returned from running errands on Saturday, and kicked off my shoes, that I noticed something was wrong with the outfit I’d been out and about in that day.
Do you see it?
Hopefully my bright red lipstick detracted folks from looking down at my footwear.
These senior moments are coming more frequently. I had two such moments on Saturday. First was wearing mismatched shoes then, later that day, I found myself searching the unit for my keys, with no success. Something told me to check the front door.
Sure enough, there they were, just waiting for someone to come along, enter while I’m asleep, pillage and plunder or drive off with the Jeep or both.
I guess the lesson that day was to slow my thinking down, pay attention to what I’m doing, stay in the moment.
Linda in Kansas aka DrumMajor was interested in the recipe I used a few days ago for Mini Monkey Bread which, unlike the last time I tried to make Monkey Bread, was a success.
That last time was back in 2015, when I followed the Pioneer Woman’s recipe to take Pull Apart Monkey Bread as my dish for the Valentine’s Day Potluck.
It was an epic fail — the dish came out soggy, not cooked all the way through, so I was forced to contribute Girl Scout Cookies to the potluck instead.
Since then, with my food allergies — which have plagued me since age 18, becoming increasingly worse to where my system can now not tolerate whole wheat and high-fiber flours, Monkey Bread has been off the menu. That is, until I recently came across a recipe for Monkey Bread made with white rice flour.
I gave it a try, but instead of baking in a bundt or loaf pan, as the Frugal Farm Wife’s recipe calls for, I made Minis by baking in a cupcake pan.
Into the muffin tins I dropped teaspoons of dough, followed by drops of filling and continued layering dough/filling until dough and filling were depleted.
Soft on the inside, with pockets of filling throughout, sugary and crispy on the outside, snackalicious with a cup of coffee.
Around 5:00 today, about the time I figured Kendrick Lamar would be performing at the Superbowl, I quickly switched channels, checked in to see if it was Halftime yet.
It wasn’t, but I did see the score and it looked like the Chiefs were getting their arses kicked.
I tuned in about 45 minutes later, just in time to catch the Halftime Show, which was great — I liked the red, white, blue theme, could have done without Samuel L. Jackson, and I’m sure some of Kendrick's songs ruffled the correct feathers, not to mention the patriotic colors.
(I guess Kendrick did indeed ruffle feathers, because the pundits are saying "worst halftime ever". No, that would be Rihanna's snoozefest back in '23.)
According to the score I saw, before I went back to my regularly scheduled programs, the Chiefs were getting creamed.
Now flipping channels, seeing the game is over, and Kansas City was slaughtered, I’m wondering if Kelce would like to eat his words that it would be "pretty cool" and "a great honor" if the Orange Menace were in attendance, because it looks like the Menace brought the team bad luck, not to mention he doesn’t like what he calls "losers".
It rained all night long and, when I awoke this morning, it was still pouring down.
I came thisclose to call off getting out into it for this morning’s workout; but then remembered the market had been out of frozen salmon when I shopped the other day, and that if I wanted salmon for dinner, it was best to just go ahead, workout, market after.
Crossing the market parking lot after working out, headed inside, I heard a friendly sounding voice say, "Hey, lady".
I turned to see who was speaking and saw it was Meat Man, whom I’ve not seen in ages on the complex.
"Meat Man" being formerly Handsome Man on the blog, until he’d approached Homegirl (whom can be described as a healthy woman ……… all boobs, hips, butt), and in a sleezy tone said to her, "I like meat" — referring to all the meat on her bones.
Homegirl cursed him out for the disrespectful way he approached her, and I changed his blog name to Meat Man because, to me, he looked a lot less handsome after that faux pas.
So, anyway, as I needed to get out of the rain, head into the market, and Meat Man needed to get out of the rain and into his car to leave, in response to his "Hey, Lady", I said "Oh hey neighbor. You staying out of trouble?"
He said something in return which I couldn’t make out, and that was that.
By the time I exited the market, the rain had let up enough, to where I didn’t even have to use my umbrella, and the sun was actually trying to come out.
It’s like that around here ……… a rainstorm and then, seconds later, the rain stops, sun comes out. So, it wasn’t surprising to see residents hanging around outside the gate — smoking, chatting, when I arrived back.
One chatting, not smoking, was the famous Hubba Hubba Awooga Silver Fox, whom I also had not seen in ages.
Readers might remember him as the resident — moved in August of 2023, that the women were all gaga about.
Described to me as mixed with First Nation Indian Blood and some other blood type, wore a ponytail, which blood mixture and ponytail made him "too handsome for words" and said to be "antisocial, mean, doesn’t like people knocking on his door".
I don’t care for people knocking on my door either; so, I didn’t put much weight into someone being antisocial or mean because of wanting to be left alone; and I later learned those smears were being made because he’d pissed some of the female residents off.
How did he piss the female residents off you ask.
Well, the thirsty women around here were bothering him — vying for his attention, knocking on his door ……… showing up with cakes, cookies, meals, asking questions about where he was from, what he does, and he’d ruffled their feathers by telling them to buzz off, that "I’m sick and tired of women always chasing me".
I later saw the Silver Fox around once or twice, waved as I always do to residents, whether I know them or not.
I don’t recall his being friendly in return, but to be expected as his expectation was all us women wanted him.
He need not have worried. Seeing him up close and personal, I thought he was nice looking compared to what else we have around here, but not all Hubba Hubba Awooga and not my type.
It wasn’t until manager’s meeting in September of last year, when I was seated away from the cluster of residents — for viral safety reasons, at the back of the room, when Silver Fox walked in, sat right next to me.
He introduced himself, we chatted a bit and, when the meeting was over, he began walking, chatting with me as we headed for our units.
Conversation ended when I reached my walkway with him saying, "It was nice to meet you, Shirley. I hope to see you again" in a way where I knew he was opening a door.
I was polite, but not encouraging. I did not walk through the door.
I’ve seen him once since then. He was driving in, yelled "Hello!" as I was crossing the parking lot. I said hello in return, but kept walking, didn’t look back to encourage him.
For those who don’t know, when us ladies smile and look back, that’s a yes, a green light signaling a male to come with what he's got.
So, there he was today, outside the gate talking to Big Friendly Guy.
I parked, got out of the car, picked up my workout bag, groceries and, just that quick, he’d ended his conversation with Big Friendly guy and was on the walkway, behind where I was parked.
"Hello, Shirley" said he.
Oh ……… he’s calling me by my name, opening that door again, thought I.
I know his name but chose, once again, to not walk through the door. I replied, "Hey, neighbor".
"How are you doing?", asked he.
"I’m okay, how about yourself?"
A little too far away, I couldn’t make out what he was saying, didn’t want to prolong things, or have him walk closer, by saying I can’t hear you. So, I just listened, made out what sounded like "wha wha wha wha wha wha wha, but I’m okay with it". To which, I smiled, nodded as though I understood and that was that.
So, it really did rain men this morning ……… at least two came out of the woodwork.
From the looks outside now, you’d never know it rained all night and most of the morning, as the sun is shining and outside is drying up.
BTW: While at the market, I noticed the organic Eggland’s Best were all sold out.
I’m now kicking myself for only buying a dozen, I should have purchased two dozen because a recipe I’m trying this afternoon for Mini Monkey Bread is calling for six egg whites.
This recipe, which I'm revising to substitute rice flour for regular flour and a stevia blend for brown sugar, had just better work out ……… not waste my precious eggs.
I’d just this morning, commented on Mike’s post, about eggs being the new gold, that I’d not been able to purchase organic eggs since first of the year.
Lo and behold, I pop into the market after today’s workout for eggs and Eggland’s Best Organic are back on the shelf.
The price of $9.99 is reasonable, and worth it to settle my stomach, as it suddenly occurred to me, after an entire month of Cage Free eggs, as Organic was not available, this might be why my gut has been giving me issues for an entire month.
Cage Free Eggs come from chickens not kept in cages, probably fed things my gut is allergic to, while Organic Eggs comes from chickens kept not in cages and fed organic feed.
And trust me …… my stomach knows when I’ve eaten something with an ingredient or substance that it’s allergic to, as a gut episode soon follows.
So, anyway, since today seemed to be from my mouth to God’s ears …… desires are being granted, let me say I’m still looking for that multi-million-dollar bingo win.
Detouring through the mailroom on my way back to my unit, I ran into the Baker.
She looked worried.
Asking if the bingo thing had calmed down, she said "No". That Red Light is still upset because the Baker won’t tell her who it was that made the complaint that got her kicked out of bingo.
Baker said, "I can’t tell her. I don’t want to cause trouble for someone else, so now her son is calling".
"OH! HE’S DANGEROUS", said I.
"Yes, I know", said she.
I didn’t ask how she found out the son is dangerous, but I found out when Red Light and Talker had that falling out that I mentioned in my February 1 post — the falling out that prompted Red Light’s first meltdown on Facebook.
The son had gotten involved, told Talker "I’ll throw you in the pool, put my foot on your neck, hold you down until you drown".
That seemed extreme, a little too Dexter Morgan, so Talker and I branded the son as dangerous to be thinking that way, talking that way.
I subsequently researched him online, to see if he was wanted for anything, but could find no info about him …… nothing at all.
So now, the son is on a mission to find out, for his mom, who it was that made the complaint.
Baker said the son is calling and harassing others his mom suspects of being the one …… residents not initially named in her Facebook meltdown.
I don’t answer my phone for numbers I don’t recognize. So, I checked my call list to see if any of the numbers I ignored looked like they could have come from the son.
Didn’t find anything other than out of state so, evidently, I’m not on Dexter’s and Ma Barker’s list.
Inasmuch as the son is considered dangerous, I asked Baker what she was going to do.
"One of my son-in-laws is a Deputy Sheriff. He’s going to look into what’s the best course to follow".
I'd like to see the look on Red Light's and her son's face when the cops show up.
I repeat …… all this over bingo.
I was wondering why it was that, when I popped into the market after this morning’s workout, I didn’t recognize not a single worker. No baggers were on site and none of the cashiers I’m accustomed to seeing were working.
Except for the manager, the store was staffed by strangers.
It wasn’t until this afternoon, after Judge Judy and before I could change channels to avoid the news, that I saw the announcement of A Day Without Immigrants.
Ooooooh, everyone took off in solidarity, thought I.
With all this DEI stuff taking the joy out of it, I myself am not celebrating Black History Month. I’ve also closed my Target and Walmart accounts.
And let me take this moment to apologize to my Canadian friends for what the Orange Menace is doing insofar as using tariffs to harass your country.
I’m a little upset that Canada, not to mention Mexico and China are capitulating, entering into discussions with the Orange Menace to iron out a deal.
My astrological sign is Capricorn the Goat — stubborn, resistant. I’d rather do without than give in to a bully, and I can’t be the only one who’d be willing to do so. So, if you all want to say "stuff it" to the bully, refuse to deal with him, with us, we will find a way to live without what goods you provide if it hurts the Orange Menace.
So, while Rome is burning, Red Light — oblivious to the fact there are bigger issues than her hurt feelings, continues her campaign of …… I don’t know what her campaign is. What’s her end goal for posting what she posted?
Does she want us to feel so sorry for her that we give in and invite her back?
Ain’t gonna happen.
Is it she just wants to cause as much damage as she thinks she can to others?
There’s an old proverb, "He who digs a pit for others falls in himself".
The only damage being done is to herself.
Her posts have become a joke, a laughing matter due to the childish way she expresses herself.
She hasn’t posted anything new; however, she has been making telephone calls.
I’m guessing she knows that though I harbor no ill will towards her, I’m not the kind of person to play this nonsensical game, so there have been no calls to my phone looking for sympathy or venting her anger.
Baker said she stopped answering her phone when Red Light called, gave up trying to talk sense into her, so Red Light called and called and called and called until Baker had to block her.
Talker said she’d really like to talk to Red Light, tell her to think about what she’s doing, get her to calm down, but doesn’t feel now is the right time when Red Light is being so volatile. So, Talker also doesn’t answer when Red Light calls, but isn’t being bombarded like the Baker was.
I’ve no idea what Manager is going to do, but I bet Red Light’s behavior is going to set a precedent; that when we next have one of her meetings, she’ll tell us that once a resident moves out, it's "not okay" or safe for us to allow them back on the property to visit or engage in any of our activities.
Inasmuch as I don’t plan to hang out with the usual suspects at bingo, or any of the events listed on this month’s Activity Calendar, I doubt I’ll have anything more to report on the subject, unless someone catches me outside and fills me in.
Speaking of this month’s Activity Calendar ………… You might recall that, because we lost access to the calendar when it became only accessible through Rent Café, the Activity Director snuck a copy to Baker, who passed around to us.
Color me surprised when I found this month’s calendar in my email.
It came directly from Manager.
Has she seen the light and given up on Rent Café or did she just want to be in control of the calendar?
That’s why Manager and Red Light could never get along ……… both wanted control.
I’ve also learned that’s what irked the usual suspects about Red Light. Only one actively complained about and campaigned against her, but it’s being said more than one felt annoyed, because she was coming to bingo not as a visitor, but as though she was still running things.
And that’s the tea.
Logging into Facebook this morning, to update the month on the resident’s page from January to February and, whoa Nelly, there was Red Light with one of her cryptic memes which I recognized as the beginning of a meltdown.
If this indeed is heading for a meltdown, it would be her 2nd very public meltdown, thought I. The first was in March of 2023.
This is what Red Light does. It’s her passive aggressive way of trying to manipulate people into feeling sorry for her. Like, "Hey look at what’s happening. I’m a victim here".
Only this time, as Red Light transitioned into the meltdown I'd expected was coming, she went from cryptic memes to full on naming names.
I don't know who this Blair person is — no one living here insofar as I know; but, by naming "Beatrice", Red Light is pointing directly at the Baker, "Grace" the Other Wheelchair Lady and "Mari" the complex Manager.
I'm not sure who "Another Person" is but, surprisingly, she doesn't name Talker and thankfully kept my MF name out her MF mouth (see what I did there).
Seems like the Baker, stuck between that rock and hard place as to whether to stand by her friend Red Light or acquiesce to the resident that didn't want Red Light around, made the difficult decision that what the resident wanted took precedence.
Under the circumstances of Red Light no longer being a resident, I don't see that the Baker had any other choice, before the complaining resident took the complaint to Manager, but Red Light is obviously seeing it differently.
That last sentence was a nice try at throwing shade and doubt on the Baker, trying to cause the Baker to consider someone doesn't like her either.
If Manager learns of Red Light's postings, her name included (and she will learn because someone will snitch to her), there's going to be heck to pay. Manager will probably get Red Light's FB account shut down, may even shut down the Resident's page, as Red Light posted all that not only to her personal Facebook page but also to the Resident's page, just to make sure it was seen by multiple persons.
I have it that, though Red Light's new place in Yucaipa is nice, luxurious, near a great shopping center, restaurants, etc., with only 35 units and so much to do in the area, no one wants to do bingo or set up any kind of activity, get involved with neighbors. Seems, she gained a lot when she moved out March of last year, but she also lost a lot — the sense of community she seems to need.
If she was reaching the point of loneliness and boredom to where she wanted to move back here, she's blown that possibility and, since she's burning bridges, she now has no friends just to stop by and visit.
So, anyway, if anyone is looking for me today, you'll find me eating popcorn, watching Facebook to see what Red Light will post next.
