The Meet that Wasn’t

The 2^nd Resident/Management meeting was scheduled for 3:00 this afternoon.

Feeling in need of a nap, I really didn’t want to go but, in the off chance the incident involving Creepy Guy came up as a topic, I perked myself up with a cup of coffee and headed down to the Community Room a little before 3:00 to make sure I got a seat.

So there we all were at 3:00, with no one from management in sight to start the meeting.

At 3:05, I began thinking about heading back upstairs for that nap. Instead, I pronounced to my table mates, “I’m giving them five more minutes”.

At precisely 3:10 -- just when their five minutes were up, Nurse Ratched came in and announced the meeting was cancelled per her boss at Corporate, who was to have been in attendance.

Afraid to face us?

Possibly.

Guilty?

Also possibly as I finally accepted something about her that's been on my mind since she -- the woman from Corporate, Nurse Ratched and another woman did that inspection of all units, mine included.

The woman from Corporate was alone in my back room for some time. Later, I became aware two items had gone missing -- an American flag belt and Spa Sonic Skincare System.

You know how you doubt yourself and tear the place up looking for things that were previously in plain sight? I did that for some time until finally settling in my mind that she took the two items. And you know how it is when you think of someone and suddenly you hear from them? I believe that happens because we are all spiritually connected, so that when your mind focuses on a person, they feel it at some level and are prompted to also think of you.

I think when I settled in my mind the woman from Corporate stole from me that it touched her somehow and she knew I knew.

At any rate, what's done is done and I can't prove it, but if she forgets where she obtained the belt and happens to be wearing it on one of her visits to this property, I will be asking for it's return.

As I was heading towards the door after Nurse Ratched came in and cancelled the meeting, I overheard her say something about rescheduling to next Thursday.

“That won’t work”, said The Baker, “That’s when we’re having the Saint Patrick’s Day potluck ... corned beef and cabbage”.

Corned Beef and Cabbage?, thought I. The guacamole I’d planned to bring, because it’s green, isn’t going to work with that menu.

I’ll pass on the corned beef. Hopefully, potatoes are on the menu so I can have cabbage and potatoes.

Back in my unit, I rethought my guacamole contribution and decided on deviled eggs again. Only this time, I’ll add green food coloring to the eggs, after peeling, to dye green. I might even test out adding green food coloring to the filling.

As for the next management/resident meeting, whenever that is, I’ll pass. I’ve got better things to do with my time than fool around with these management types.

Ghost Tenants

You’re probably thinking the same thing I thought when I clicked on a New York Times article entitled “Ghost Tenants”. I thought the story was about people who lived with ghosts in haunted apartments, but turns out "ghost tenants" are people living in New York City’s public-housing units off lease – the result of the city’s affordable-housing crisis.

That gave me a word to describe the people sneak living with seniors here in the complex. I’m sure some of our ghost tenants are due to the economy, and though I personally understand, I’m really hoping we don’t end up with small children or party people or thuggish looking types in any of the two vacancies in this quad. That number soon to rise to three, as downstairs neighbor has definitely decided she’s outta here as soon as work on the new complex is done, which she describes as “soon”.

I took a look at the new complex online. It’s walking distance to my doctor, has a new public library attached to it, is near a park, a bus line, and is expected to have a lobby where people check in and everyone's goings and comings can be observed. 

Won't be any ghost tenants at this complex.

BUT … it’s elevators and hallways, which is a fine if I’m spending a day or so in a hotel, but I like to live where I can breath, not closed in with rows of units separated only by walls.

So, I’m good until I get really old and need an elevator, or need to be near the doctor’s office, or ghost tenants come in and screw up our nice quiet quad.

I passed a group of residents the other day and heard the word “move”, so I won't be at all surprised if we lose quite a few of the nicer tenants to the new location.

Elsewhere on the complex, Creepy Guy is strutting around, walking his dog, with a big stick in hand.

ROFLMAO!

Protection from women not appreciating his attention perhaps?

Though last week’s weather was good for walking, I logged in not one mile. Partly because I wasn’t in the mood and, when I was in the mood, the weather changed up on me or an errand ran interference.

I had no excuse this morning. I was in the mood, the weather was just the way I like it – a little chilly, no errands, so I logged in 2.88 miles in the area of the golf course.

Got a nice surprise when I slipped on my new walking top – the one I recently purchased for cold weather. It has a semi-glove built in to keep my hands warm.

How cool is that!

Philosophical Questions

Today marked the return of decent walking weather.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take advantage of this morning’s weather due to today also marking the six month return visit to the dentist.

I’m at the point, in this ongoing adventure called life, when I’m beginning to wonder if certain things are worth the time and expense. Like last week, when I took that completed needlepoint project to Hobby Lobby for a frame.

I had a particular clear lightweight box-like frame in mind, but the salesman advised needlepoint needed to not be fully enclosed, that it needed to breathe; otherwise, it turned yellow.

My question to the salesman was, “How many years before it turns yellow? I’m old and need to know if I can outlive the yellowing process”.

He didn’t know how many years, so I took his advice and purchased a glass-less frame.

Driving to the dentist, I found myself thinking in those same terms about other areas of life – like the every six months visit to the dentist and the locktician every seven weeks to get new hair growth locked into my sisterlocks braids.

Is it worth the time and expense of upkeep based on how much longer I’ll be around?

When, if ever, are you too old to care?

Who knows, and I’m appropriately vain about how I look, so unless and until I get a clear message yay or nay, I guess I’ll continue to care.

Back home at the complex, I find the monthly calendar has been posted and, yet again, due to the late posting, I missed several back-to-back presentations that took place on Tuesday:

12:00 – 1:30 Wellness with Hydration of Alkaline Water presentation
2:00 – 3:00 Class: Frugal Food & Toiletries
3:00 – 4:00 Class: Budget to Win-Needs, Wants and Saving Goals

I’m guessing few residents showed up, but only because none knew.

I also see a second Resident/Management Meeting, Thursday the 10^th.

Inasmuch as last month’s first meeting was such a monumental waste of time, I’d said I’d not go to another. However, in light of the female resident being evicted, while Creepy Guy skates free, continues to stalk and annoy, I’d better go so I can ask why.

Seniors Gone Wild

Here we are in a new month and, of course, calendar of events for this month is yet to be issued. However, after last month’s fiasco, when only three people showed up for the casino trip, because the calendar had not been issued and no one knew until the day of, the Activity Director learned not to depend on the office. She made a special trip and posted sign-up sheets for a trip to the casino next week (I’ll pass), a Saint Patrick’s Day Potluck on the 15^th (I’m in) and a “free lunch” on the 29^th.

Free lunches around here usually includes some agency coming in trying to sell us something – insurance, health plan, senior transport, etc., so I’ll pass.

I went down to the Community Room today to sign up for the potluck.

Originally, my mind went to deviled eggs dyed green. However, at the price of eggs, the drama of eggs failing to peel, I signed up for guacamole (from Costco or the deli) instead. Someone has already signed up for chips but, if I can find green potato chips, that’ll be cute. I vaguely recall seeing red and green chips at Walmart upon occasion. Hopefully, this will be one of those occasions when specialty chips are available.

Older Sister was in the Community Room when I went down, so I went back upstairs, grabbed that starter needlepoint kit, went back down and got her going. So that's off my to-do list.

Elsewhere in the Community Room, conversation turned to the incident where a female resident threatened to kill Creepy Guy with a box cutter.

Turns out, the woman involved is a fairly new resident – barely here a month.

That figures. Creepy Guy always tries to snake up to the new females, and he doesn't take rejection well, usually retaliating with vulgar language. So it's safe to assume, she didn't like what he said to her, he didn't like being rejected and said or did something that caused her to become so fearful or angry that she wild-out and got herself arrested for pulling out a box cutter, threatening to kill him.

Turns out you can’t live here after threatening to murder someone.

She’s been evicted.

In fact, the blinds were closed in her unit not because she was embarrassed over being arrested and was hiding out, but because she wasn’t in her unit. She was notified, while in jail, that the law says she can’t return to the complex, that she should consider herself evicted.

All her stuff is still in the unit.

Some of the ladies who’d filed complaints about Creepy Guy, said they’d gone to the office to support the female resident, but were told, “There’s nothing we can do. It’s the law.”

I don’t get it. I get how the complex has to protect residents from threats of violence, but I don’t get how the woman is evicted and he’s still here -- even though one woman went to an attorney and had her attorney file, with the office, a formal complaint against Creepy Guy.

With that woman, Creepy Guy was told by management to not talk to her but, today, she informed me that he was still trying to intimidate her – coming up behind her, walking close, saying mean things.

It’s gotten to the point where she’s been advised to turn on her cell phone and tape when he approaches. That seems to be working in that he’ll turn around and go in a different direction when he sees her recording.

This takes me back to last week, when Creepy Guy all of a sudden began staring at me and I wondered if he was trying to intimidate me.

In this life, I've worked myself through and survived masters at the art of cruel, intimidating, evil machinations, so I hope this old fool is not so stupid or so sick in the head that he thinks he can intimidate me because, trust me, he doesn’t want a piece of this – well actually he does and is angry because he can’t get it but, at any rate, my plan for the next time was to stare back. However, I’m thinking that idea of taping will send him scurrying back to whatever hole he crawled out of.

Fake Day

Got a late start on what a facebook friend calls “Fake Day”. The late start was due to sleepus interruptus — I woke up at 2:00 a.m. and wasn’t able to get back to sleep until around 5:00.

It appears that can of worms I was afraid of did get opened and disturbing information crawled out the can and into my head, at that meet up with niece.

When niece originally found me on facebook, she’d said the times she’d spent with me were the happiest of her childhood. I didn’t know what that meant and, her being so young at the time, thought she was just being nice in saying so. After hearing what her life was like after her mom removed her from me until the time she grew up to where she became independent of her mom, I now know what she meant. Its dealing with what I now know, meditating, trying to understand/rationalize disturbing information from a spiritual angle, that’s waking me up at night.

Eventually, I’ll work myself through and return to a place of peace but, out of bed at 9:00 this morning, fake day didn’t really get started until 11:30, when I headed down to drop the rent check at the office, with a detour through the Community Room.

The place was abuzz.

Word is, there’d been police activity over the weekend involving Creepy Guy and a female resident.

Of course, the general consensus is that Creepy Guy once again said or did something inappropriate to a female resident. The female was so angered that she threatened to kill Creepy Guy.

Creepy Guy called the police and asked them to “Arrest this woman”.

They did – arrest her that is.

Why?

Especially since he has such a bad reputation?

Well, No. 1, the police don’t know about his reputation and No. 2, the female resident wasn’t smart. She was actually holding the box cutter she'd threatened to kill him with in her hand when the police arrived.

I suggested we take up a collection, pay her bail, take her out and buy her a drink, but learned she’s been released and is in her unit with the blinds drawn.

Will be interesting to see what, if anything, management does about yet another incident involving Creepy Guy.

Elsewhere on the complex, the Assistant Manager appears to be going the way everyone else goes who works with Nurse Ratched, which is one of two ways – 1) maintain your integrity and quit or 2) go against your own conscious, become spineless, afraid of displeasing Nurse Ratched, so wracked with guilt for succumbing and hating yourself for what you're doing that you make yourself sick. Assistant Manager chose the latter, has consequently been ill and out-of-office for over a month.

It amazes me that people don’t see what occurs in their daily living as the activity of Cause and Effect, when it appears so obvious.

What’s on tap for the remainder of fake day?

I recorded The Oscars last night, as there’s no way I could sit through three hours of all that yada yada yada. So this afternoon, I’ll be fast forwarding through to catch the highlights, make a batch of carrot-cashew soup for quick lunches during the week, and put in some work on my new needlepoint project.

Feeling stressed because of what’s in my head, from that overnight visit to LA, I’m craving Ben and Jerry Cherry Garcia ice cream today. This being a fake day, therefore not real, not actually happening, maybe I'll go off plan, indulge myself and consider it fake ice cream.

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

·         Horrendous drive to Los Angeles in insane traffic — 3 hours

·         Gas to hotel — ¼ tank

·         Cab Fare to event, because LA traffic so heavy and so bizarre unwilling to chance further driving in area — $15.00 (No return fare, as caught a ride)

·         Return to hotel — 1:30 a.m.

·         Asleep by — 2:00 a.m.

·         Awake — 6:00 a.m. to shower and hit the road to beat the heavy bizarre LA traffic

·         Hotel Charge, including water, market packaged food product, overnight parking, room tax — $215.55

·         On the road headed home — 7:00 a.m.

·         Gas back to complex — ¼ tank

·         Spending time with favorite niece as an adult AND getting to know one of youngest brother’s daughters all grown up— PRICELESS

Favorite Niece all grown up

Niece by youngest brother

The hotel room was warm, comfortable with great chi -- feng shui speaking.

You’ll see a glimpse of the couch and bed in mirror over the sink. That’s because everything, except the bathroom, was designed to be part of the main room … including the sink, closet, chester drawer.

Interesting layout, and took me a minute to get use to because, when headed to wash my hands, I kept passing the sink and opening the bathroom door.

I messed up at arriving to the event in a timely manner, 8:00 pm. I'd forgotten to factor in bpt, i.e., Black People Time. Which meant 8:00 pm in reality, was actually 8:00 bpt, which translates to folks showing up around 9:00/9:30.

And so it was, but music at the club was good, old school, and the crowd was friendly, just out for a good time, so I was fine on my own.

One young blood made my day by walking up to me saying, "Hey mama. You're a cutie, you are."

I smile every time I think about it.

On tap for today?

Sleep.