Cops, Hoses and Repairmen, Oh My!

Well, the title pretty much sums up my plans for today. We'll start with the cops.

When I was moving recently, there was a dramatic incident (I won't go into it, most of you already know about it anyways) that resulted in about $400 worth of gaming equipment being stolen from me. My Nintendo DS, six games and some accessories like a case and cleaning cloth, have all vanished. That DS is a vital coping mechanism for my disorder. Whenever I feel a panic attack coming on, that's the first thing I reach for. So, $400 value aside, it's really quite important to me.

Well, like a good, responsible citizen, I reported the theft to the police. I mentioned the people I suspect might know something or be somehow involved and waited to hear more. So yesterday, the police called me back! I didn't think that someone would actually take the case. Something like this would get tossed in the "sucks for you" pile in most cities. But yay for Goshen! The police have little enough to do here that they can investigate my loss!

So anyways I talked to the detective, a very nice lady we'll call Detective Pauls, and she is going to investigate further. Will she find it? Perhaps. If she does I'm totally pressing charges on the thief! If not, well c'est la vie, I suppose. But at least I tried.

Now onto the hoses and repairmen. Ever since I moved into this apartment, there's been one small detail that drives me crazy. My screen door has no latch. So an enterprising kitty, particularly Little Miss Rocket Scientist Onyx, could conceivably pull it open and have a little jaunt around the neighborhood. Since she's not yet spayed, I'm not real keen on that idea. Well today my lovely neighborhood repairman (who's name I do not know) came by and fixed it! Hooray!

Yesterday, much to my annoyance, the landscaping crew ran over my garden hose with the lawn mower! So Mr. Repairman also found a replacement for me! Yippee! The garden hose story is really kind of funny though. I'm a late sleeper, I usually go to bed late and night and sleep until noonish. Well, the landscaping crew comes through Tuesday mornings while I'm sleeping. Good thing I'm a sound sleeper or that would be highly irritating. As it is, I don't really notice them unless they're right under my window. Even then it's only the vague sort of waking up half way, rolling over and going back to sleep.

So anyways, when I got up Tuesday, I wandered into the kitchen and noted all this water spraying all over the place. This was odd because the sun was shining beautifully in the sky. Odder still, because my back yard is an odd place for a sprinkler to be. So I went out back and discovered the source of the spray was my garden hose. Bummer, huh? Thanks to my Mr. Repairman for replacing it!

Oh, the really funny thing? This morning the management sent out a notice that the landscaping crew comes on Tuesdays. It's Wednesday. Perfect timing guys!

Ah well, no biggie really. Well, from now on I'm going to end with an LOLcat I find particularly amusing. All LOLcats come from www.icanhazcheezburger.com, go check out the site - it's a hoot and a half!

<3 Elisabeth

Weirdness Follows Me...

It's true, I think weirdness follows me where ever I go. My cats are weird, my fish are weird. My friends and family, normal as they may seem on paper, are all kind of weird. Even I'M weird. Really! Of course, I like it that way. Average is hideously boring.

I got pretty used to weird when I lived at the Housing Authority. Everyone who lived there was kind of...off. I never knew quite what I would see when I walked out into the Common Area. Sometimes it was empty, sometimes there were children building "forts" out of bed sheets and chairs, sometimes there were people deep-frying random foods in the kitchen area. And sometimes there would be some real weirdness going on. Like my former neighbor Laura teaching her dog Mario to jump through a hula hoop. Or drunken Spades tournaments. Or drunken Monopoly. (It's more fun when you're drunk!) Lots of drunkenness, though it was rarely rowdy and never violent. Just silly. Which is cool.

Anyways, (I'm getting a little off topic here) when I moved into my new apartment, the complex seemed so blessedly normal that I really didn't expect weirdness to follow me here. Not any more than is usually does, anyways. Silly me.

I live on a little cul-de-sac, and I'm lucky enough that the rear of my apartment, with it's cute little patio and lovely sliding door, faces a wooded area and not the rear of someone else's apartment. I'm in a corner, so there's no one on the right side of me. However, on the left side is an elderly couple named Bill and Darlene. Before I start, let say that they're very sweet, generous people. But they're really weird.

Those of you who know me in person know that I'm rather busty. Okay, I have big boobs. (Boobs = hate, but that's another blog.) The first couple times I was at my new place, I was busy moving and carrying and bending and lifting. So I decided I didn't want to mess with a bra. Nope, I let those girls swing free in the breeze - metaphorically speaking. Well, that was when I met Darlene.

I was initially attracted by her really cute little dog, a white schnauzer named Dollie. What can I say? I'm a sucker for cute and furry. Darlene was really subtle and sly about the whole thing. She started the conversation like this: "What size bed do you have?"

Me: "Um, what?"
Darlene: "What size bed do you have? Full? Twin? Queen?"
Me: "Oh, Full. Why?"
Darlene: "Well, I have a set of full-sized sheets I'm looking to give away. They're in great condition. Also I have some second-hand clothes that look like they would fit you. I'll leave them on your doorstep if you're interested."
Me: "Oh, wow. Thank you. Sure, I'd be glad to go through whatever you're looking to give away."

So, I should have seen it coming judging by that unusual conversation. Not that I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth. It's no secret that I'm dirt poor here, people. It's hard for me to buy new clothes, so I'm always glad to go through people's cast offs for stuff that will fit. Darlene was true to her word. The next morning there were two garbage bags on my front porch. One contained a pretty bed set with a comforter, bed skirt, pillow shams and matching curtains. It wasn't something I would have necessarily chosen for myself, but it's really pretty and I like it all the same.

In the other bag were some nice shirts and comfy sweats, plus some granny shirts and a flannel nightie with a zip up the front that I'm going to take to Goodwill. Also there were about 20 bras, all in pristine condition. All way too small for me. Hinting much, Darlene?

Okay, that's weird. But the weirdness doesn't stop there. We have assigned parking places here, and mine is right next to Bill and Darlene's, which makes sense since we're next door neighbors. On the other side of their spot are a whole bunch of guest spots. On the other side of mine is a couple more assigned spots.

So, one day about a week after I officially moved in, Darlene rings my door bell. Now earlier that day I'd been out running errands, and I'd had a car full of stuff to carry in when I got home. So my parking wasn't 100% perfect. No, as Darlene pointed out, my driver's side tire was right on the line. She requested that I park at least a foot inside the line, to make it easier for them.

I mentally rolled my eyes and agreed. She and I chatted a few minutes more, and Darlene mentioned that they were going away for the weekend. (This was right before Easter.) So I figured I'd just keep her request in mind and make sure I park better next time.

Darlene leaves and I went back to what I was doing (farting around on the computer, to be honest). About half an hour later the doorbell rings again. This time it's Darlene's husband, Bill. He requested that I move my car so that he could back their car in and load it up for their trip. With a sigh I agreed and grabbed my keys and shoes. Once I stepped outside, I gaped in shock.

Every guest space from their space to the dumpster, about six in all, was empty. They had more than enough room to back up. But they had to back up in THEIR spot.

But, what could I do? I shook my head and laughed about it, moved my car and went back home. A week later, they came home and I ran into Darlene on the way to the mailbox. She thanked me for my apparently improved parking.

See what I mean? Weirdness follows me where ever I go!

Ah well, at least it gives me something to laugh about!

<3 Elisabeth

Furniture!

Well as you know, I recently moved into a new apartment. I cannot express how much I love this new place. With it's large rooms, wide windows and cute little patio in the back, there is very little not to love about this place. My "back yard" looks out onto the back side of a Chinese restaurant and a Ford dealership, but there's a lot of trees and scrub brush between me and them. So in the summer when the trees fill out, I'll be able to pretend they're not even there! Little bunnies and birds are always hopping around near the patio and the cats go nuts watching them. It's just such an incredibly pleasant, peaceful place.

My old apartment, tiny, dingy, with it's single window that looked out on the parking lot, was also located by one of the entrances to the Common Area. Since you need a key to get into the building and people were always locking themselves out, my window got banged on daily - scaring the shit out of me each time. Of course, the only logical place for my bed was right beneath that window, so people would even wake me up wanting in. And not just my neighbors. Strangers. Friends and family of my neighbors. Even the police once.

But here, at my beautiful new apartment nobody bothers me. Nobody scares the shit out of me by banging on the windows. No, if they want me they ring the doorbell like a civilized human being. No need to worry about people locking themselves out of the building here, my apartment has a private entrance! Yes, the new apartment has equaled love for me pretty much from the start.

Except for one minor detail. I had no furniture.

I USED to have furniture, before my eviction and subsequent move into the Housing Authority. But three years, a bankruptcy in the family and the loss of the family home has resulted in Elisabeth having only what furniture she could cram into that tiny space.

Needless to say, it doesn't do much to fill up the wide open spaces of the new place.

Thank God for my Dad! He's been super awesome finding me furniture, mostly secondhand stuff (not that I care), that looks great in my place.

When I moved in here, I had a bed, a recliner, a broken dining room chair and an old school desk. Mom added a TV stand, a couple of much-needed bookshelves and a dining room table (with no chairs). So I called Mr. Furniture himself, my Dad, in desperation.

Dad initially added a computer desk, then took down a list of what I needed and wanted. So yesterday he came back with a truck full of goodies! He got me a BEAUTIFUL living room set, it's a sunny yellow plaid with pale green and off-white accent. Both the chair and the couch are in pristine condition and only a year old. The funny thing is he'd sold both to some lady a year ago and she came back to him recently telling him that she was embarrassed to have people in her house cause the furniture looked so bad. I don't know what's wrong with it, it looks perfect to me. *shrug*

Dad also brought me a pretty vanity and matching nightstand for my bedroom. They're painted white and the hardware (the knobs for ye unwashed masses who know not of what I speak) are almost clear with just a hint of pink to them. They look great with the rosy bed spread and bed skirt that was very kindly gifted to me by my rather unusual new neighbors. (more about them some other time).

Dad also surprised me by bringing me a brand new vacuum cleaner. Something I had repeatedly insisted to him that I didn't really need, but secretly wanted. It was a wonderful gift, and I promptly spent an hour or so testing it out. Boy does it suck! (okay, bad joke I know, but I couldn't resist!)

So now, when people come to visit me, there's someplace for them to sit! My furniture wish list grows ever shorter - now all I really want is some dining room chairs and a washer and dryer!

Well, that's it for today folks! I have to go do some tidying, I'm having Grandma and Aunt Susan over tonight for movies and pizza. Should be fun!

<3