Friday, October 11, 2024

Tit for Tat

Today, the 11th of Halloween, was a bingo day.

Not my favorite of days, as I struggle to recall how I got roped into this bingo gig in the first place.

I’m certain I didn’t volunteer but, for the life of me, can’t remember if I was asked by the Baker or my old friend Apache to take on what I’ve taken on.

I’m trying hard to accept it in stride, realize it’s only every other Friday, that taking photos, managing the Resident’s FB page, is what the Universe has given me to do, because I can, and because we are to make ourselves useful in life. Not just sit around and be a world unto ourselves, which is what I personally would like to do.

At any rate, bingo went off without a hitch this time — no strange guy coming in, acting like we were invisible, he was alone in his own living room, could do as he pleased.

I won Game 3 and chose from the prize table, something I needed but would not have purchased for myself (because I’m not fancy and have been getting by with a kitchen towel) a cute little potholder.



The room was packed, and there appeared to be no tea spilled, as all were thoroughly involved in the games.

We took a break after Game 5 and had snacks this time — the Baker made cupcakes, which were set up on the counter, but we were careful not to step foot into Manager’s precious f _ _ king kitchen.

She was in her office and probably watching us on camera to make sure we didn’t.

I don’t know if it was happenstance or whether Head Maintenance Guy (formerly Assistant Maintenance Guy) was sent in by Manager to make sure we were not in the kitchen because, just as residents lined up for cupcakes, HMG walked into the room, into the kitchen, stood behind the counter.



That’s him (top corner left photo) seemingly standing guard behind the cupcakes, or simply waiting to be offered one.

Did Manager send him to make sure we did not cross the threshold, did he come because he wanted a cupcake? Who knows.

In the good old days, whenever we had goodies — cakes, cookies, pies, even full meals when we were allowed to use the refrigerator/stove/microwave, etc., we shared with office staff just because.

Not this time.

We like HMG, offered him a cupcake, which he happily accepted and off he went.

Ordinarily, we’d have given him cupcakes to take back to Manager and whoever else was in the office at the time. Instead, we decided no cupcake for Manager.

Tit for tat.

If she wanted one, she’d have to pay for it.

Just in case she was eavesdropping on us — as she sometimes does when watching us on video, we didn’t refer to Manager by name when we were laughing and giggling about her having to pay if she wanted one. We referred to her as, "That mean woman in the office".

If indeed she was eavesdropping and the shoe fits, oh well.

Thursday, October 10, 2024

Tea on the Tenth of Halloween

Driving out of the complex yesterday, heading for that morning’s workout, I spotted Compton standing out front of the complex, talking with the smoking crew.

That’s bold, thought I, inasmuch as he’s supposed to be hiding …… management not to know he’s still living here in defiance of Manager’s edict to Ms. Neighbor, “I want your son out of here”.

Hmmmmm? Next time I run into Ms. Neighbor, I’ll have to ask how goes her war with Manager …… Is she still thinking of moving out.

I became aware of another at war with Manager when, later in the afternoon, Next Door Neighbor knocked on my door.

She’d met with Manager, asked that blinds in her bedroom be replaced; whereupon, Manager had replied, "I'll have the guys look around, see if they can find some old blinds lying about, but if you want new blinds, you'll have to pay for them".

NDN said she was dumbfounded.

I wasn’t. Manager has made it clear she's not spending a dime on upkeep from now on.

Can we say slumlord, boys and girls.

NDN said she'd replied, "I’ve lived here for 10 years. You raised my rent $500 last time, and you want me to pay for blinds that need replacing? I’m not paying for anything."

Whatever else was said caused NDN to, in her words, "I got up, Told the women (Manager and Assistant Manager), You ladies have a blessed day and a blessed life", then sashayed away.

You might be thinking that was big of NDN to leave them with a blessing, but that was not NDN's intent. She realized she was rising to the bait, decided not to stoop to their level, to instead outclass them, the theory being that to fight evil with good would be like reaping burning coals on their heads — something good will happen for her, something bad will happen to them.

At any rate, saying she is fed up, NDN is now thinking, as is Ms. Neighbor, of going the flight route, same as did Red Light and Boebert, who both moved into brand new Section 8 housing with luxury units, washers/dryers inside the units, and probably nice new not rotting away blinds.

When telling NDN how I’d searched the lease, could not find where we have to pay for upkeep, she informed me she, just last year, was given a second lease to sign, which second lease she thinks only applies to Section 8 and may include the wordings Manager’s been using to justify her position of residents footing the bill for upkeep.

That’s interesting. Means Manager was lying when she said, "We're not doing leases any longer", but I still doubt the lease has that specific wording about who is responsible for repairs/upkeep inside the units. More likely, a blurb that Manager is interpreting to suit her purpose to save money …… but for whom …… Where’s the money going? And I now have a question for the next Community Meeting …… if residents pay for lightbulbs, blinds and whatever else is replaced in the unit, do they get to take what they've paid for with them when they leave?

It may be time for an independent auditing firm to come in.

That’s what happened when that mean Nurse Ratched was in charge — auditors came in, found she’d been embezzling.

Her boss at Corporate (that we suspected she was sleeping with because he always took her side, protected her, never moved on complaints) arrived on the premises, walked into her office, boxed up her belongings, escorted her out of the office into the waiting arms of police.

I'm guessing he finally took action because his own job was then on the line because of her.

I don’t think Nurse Ratched ever did any time — restitution maybe, because the scandal would have been an embarrassment for Corporate, but at least she was outta here, and things were golden, until this current Manager came on the scene and began turning the complex into an episode of American Horror Story.

Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets away with their shiz forever, so this too shall pass.

Backing up a bit to the power outage …… None of the businesses in the strip mall took a hit during the outage because Trainer spent the night in his studio, kept an eye out for Liquor Store owner’s business (no need for both to sleep over), with his bulldog for extra security.

He left his car parked out front, so criminals would know someone was in the studio, as did the owner of the little market at the far end …… spent the night, left the truck parked out front to warn criminals "don't even think about it".

I’ve not bothered to check it out for myself, but Trainer tells me that the Zumba studio in the strip mall on the other corner had its windows broken out, is all boarded up now.

I can’t image what anyone would be looking for inside that business, as it’s a Nutrition Bar — juices, smoothies, coffee, tea, vitamins, supplements, with a side of Zumba on Fridays.

Walking into the studio yesterday, I saw Trainer had acquired a new toy — a body opponent bag.

Some guy drove up, told Trainer, he was getting rid of the bag, asked if Trainer wanted it.

Trainer went out to the truck, took a look, asked how much (they generally sell for $600 new), but the guy said, "Honestly, I don’t have room for it. I just want to get rid of it" and gave it to Trainer for free.

I know what you’re thinking, Trainer himself toyed with the idea he was being set up, but took a chance the guy is legit, accepted the gift.

That’s what I’ve done with equipment, sometimes expensive equipment, I no longer need or have run out of space for in the past (a bicycle, skates, a treadmill, vintage Schwinn Airdyne stationary bike, boxing bag, etc., and I'm currently in the process of asking around if anyone wants to take the new climber off my hands).

At any rate, I had to have a little fun with Trainer’s anatomically incorrect opponent man.



Hopefully, there’s not a real body hidden inside.

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Ninth of Halloween Pumpkins

Whatdayathink about my newest pumpkin?



Remind you of anyone in particular?

Maybe a close up, showing a forked tongue will give you a better idea of who pumpkin head might look like.



Forked tongue not just because pumpkinhead is a liar, speaks out of both sides of his mouth, but because pumpkinhead is surely a disciple of Lucifer, Satan possessed, and I picture those disciples being signified by forked tongues.

The finished pumpkin is not as gruesome as I would have liked, but pumpkinhead's usual everyday countenance is gruesome enough.

Twenty six days until I can hopefully breathe again, toss pumpkinhead into the trash, bust out a bottle of champagne.

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Fifth of Halloween Outage

Today got off to a rough start.

The maintenance power outage that was postponed a few weeks ago, because of all the fires in the area and triple digit heat, was rescheduled for 9:00 pm last night.

We’re once again experiencing triple digit heat, the line fire is amazingly only 79% contained — still not the opportune time for a power outage, but I figured it would be cooler at night, I could manage without a fan or A/C until power was restored at 4 am this morning.

Except ………… when I awoke up at 6 am, power had not been restored; and, as the weather began edging to the estimated 102° predicted for today, the heat in my unit became unbearable, as the power company extended the end first to 5 am (it was already 6, so obviously that estimate had passed), then to 8 am, then 9 am, then 10.

By that time, I couldn't breathe, felt faint and worse of all, the makeup was melting from my face, so I evacuated the premises.

Outside was a lot more manageable than inside. So, I sat in the car, got a nice cross breeze by opening the windows, and there I meditated and then watched a few more episodes of Bridgerton on the cell phone.

The next alert indicated power would be restored at 12 noon.

Of course, I didn’t believe it, continued living in the car until, at 12:08, I received the power restored alert.

Those few hours I was inconvenienced gave me a deeper understanding of what people who have lost power for weeks/months, due to varying disasters, go through.

It wasn’t fun.

Can’t have been too much fun for Trainer and Liquor Store Owner either because, when the power went out at 9 pm last night, the area was in total darkness. I mean pitch black. No lights, no electronics working ……… that included security cameras.

The guys figured the lack of security cameras and total darkness would be an opportune time for the bad guys to return for another break-in, so they slept in their businesses.

I’ll find out, at Monday’s workout, how they enjoyed sleeping over, and how disruptive it was that the 4 am restoration time was not met.

On another note, my bloody Halloween workout tee arrived.


No sleeves, and the stretchy cotton/polyester blend is perfect for this weather.

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Third of Halloween

Running on empty.

Plan for today was to get up early, run errands, return to the complex by 11:00 to attend Boebert’s going away party. However, after binge watching episodes of Bridgerton until 3 o’clock this morning, trying to get out early enough to get back in time, after only 4 hours of sleep, that plan fell apart.

No matter, as I wasn’t all that keen on attending the going away party.

Making the better use of my time and what little energy I did have, I finally made it out of the area to Sprouts and See’s, where I loaded up on enough of my special medication to get me through all the bullshiz leading up to the election and the never-ending family drama.


Sanctuary


We finally got this month’s Activity Calendar posted to our doors today.

There’s another Community Meeting on Friday the 18th, 11:00, same time as my workout. So no thanks because, based on the last meet, it’s not worth missing a workout.

I’ll depend on the grapevine to cue me in on what now is "Not okay".

Also on the calendar, is a blurb, "Reminder per your lease agreement residents are responsible for light bulbs and other resident related damages".

No. 1, there must be a new lease going around, because I can find no mention of that in mine.

No. 2, I seem to recall that, just last month, when Compton’s mom got into that argument with manager — about manager wanting Compton gone, and mom questioned manager about the rent increases, asking what’s in the lease about the increases; Manager had said, "We don’t have leases here anymore".

Me thinks manager is just making up crap as she goes along, but I asked Google about the legality of it and got double talk.

"Yes, property management can charge for light bulb replacement if the lease states that the tenant is responsible for replacing the bulbs" (I don’t see where it says so in my lease).

But then, on the other hand Google says ……

"In general, the tenant is responsible for replacing light bulbs in the unit or in appliances that belong to them (we don’t own the fixture or the appliances). The landlord is usually responsible for replacing bulbs if they are the ones who do the work" (what does that mean? It’s double talk).

At any rate, there's more important things to obsess over than manager’s making shiz up as she goes along …… a money grab but, when my renewal comes up in a few weeks, I’ll take my lease agreement down with me, ask to be shown where it says we’re responsible for light bulbs.

Also, on the calendar is a Harvest Festival ………… "Join us for a spooktacular Day, Tuesday October 29, 11am – 3pm, Halloween Costume Contest".

Y’all know how I enjoy dressing up cosplay style, but this event is reading like another fool me, like the decorating designer apples thing, because of the day’s full schedule.


So, which is it? Are we having a festival and costume contest from 11 to 3, or is it all this other crap until 12:30 and then, 12:30 to 1:30, the Halloween Spooktacular Event/DIY Dessert?

This management group's incompetence is soooooo tiresome.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Second of Halloween

Seems I had a senior moment and forgot to post Skelly in that last post, so here he is relaxing on the patio in what is once again extreme heat.


It’s a good thing Skelly has no skin, or he’d be getting one heck of a sunburn.

When I was out and about after Monday’s workout, I found myself behind a car that had the coolest license plate.


If you’re a fan of Starwars, you’ll crack the code right away.

You know how they say, "When someone tells you who they are, believe them"? Well, this driver is saying loud and clear who he or she is, what he or she is about, and it’s not about caring how anyone else feels.



The saying is even on the license plate.



In the Market parking lot, I ran into another one of those cybertrucks.

They're getting to be popular in this area, which Trainer tells me is because there's a Tesla plant/warehouse nearby.

Who knew?


Returning to the complex, who did I see heading to his car but UNC, the man who moved into the cursed across the quad upstairs corner unit.

We exchanged hello's, to which I added, "I haven’t seen you for so long that I thought you were gone".

Not exactly true. I didn’t think he was gone, I thought he was a goner, had fallen prey to the curse of that unit.

"I’ve got no place to go", said he.

That sounded sad, and he looked sad when he said it.

I commiserated, without knowing what I was specifically comisserating about, by saying "I hear ya. I can’t afford to live anywhere else, so here I stay".

He looked surprised, interested, when I said that, which kinda tells me he's not happy living here but, like me (though I'm not unhappy), is restricted by finances.

That was all there was to the conversation, as he got into his car to drive away, and I began removing items from mine.

The good thing is UNC looked physically okay, as though he’s beating the curse.

I'll keep an eye out for possibly changes, because perhaps the bad energy is attacking him emotionally ..... making him sad.