Got a message from Paula while I was asleep. I’ll have to give her a call at a more decent hour. She’ll be up by 7 AM her time. Can’t wait to see what’s been up with her.

I slept OK, but I still woke up too soon for a while, then fell back asleep. I’m not sure at this point, whether or not I’m gonna try harder to lose weight or just let myself keep gaining. I may have no choice but to keep gaining. God gave me my lungs back, so I’m sure he’s not in a hurry to give me my body back, too.

We went to the pet store yesterday where I really lucked out. We had discussed the possibility of getting a female hamster to make babies or a female and male gerbil. Instead, I got 3 really cute mice (all ladies).

Their names are Ziggy, Shy and Cocoa.

Later...

I stopped earlier, cuz Tom got up and we got to talking.

I also just called Paula and ended up laughing my ass off, cuz just like when I called her nearly a year ago, she was waiting for the landlord to fix her heat. She never has any heat. She’s so cursed when it comes to heat and is always trying to get her heat fixed.

So in the two minutes we spoke, before the landlord beeped in, she told me that she moved a couple of times, which is typical Paula. She was also screaming at the kid, as usual. She did get the shirt I sent and the letters and still has the same PO Box. She’s in a West Springfield housing project.

She said she’ll call me back, but you never know when that’ll be.

I thought they had time limits on people on assistance now. She hasn’t worked since I met up with her in ‘89. Maybe she’s on disability, as well as welfare, cuz she is out of it in the head to a degree. She’s just so flaky.

Anyway, the mice I got are called long-haired silkies or fancy mice. Their fur really does look like shiny, shimmering silk. They are so adorable and so mellow compared to the house mouse I had and the gerbil. Gerbils and hamsters are definitely the most aggressive of them all and house mice never want to be friendly. They just want to be ignored. These mice, though, are so friendly. Just a little skittish, but they’re just babies and I just got them.

Cocoa’s the smallest and she got her name cuz she’s all brown. Shy is Shy, cuz she’s the timidest. Ziggy’s Ziggy, cuz she has a white zigzag streak across her head. Shy and Ziggy have brown and white, but mostly brown. Cocoa’s small, Shy’s average, but Ziggy’s big. I wonder if she could be pregnant.

Zig’s the friendliest of them all so far and she loves to sit on my shoulder and walk along my arm. I took some pictures, too. She tried to climb onto my nose and into my mouth, but I made sure she didn’t.

Anyway, I love the mice and am glad I found them. All I’d ever see for mice in pet shops were all white mice, which I don’t care for.

Later...

This is just too fucking weird. They’re working again next door! They come on weekends, they come on holidays. Are they gonna come on Christmas, too? And are they ever gonna finish what they’re doing? Not only are they here today on a holiday (Veteran’s Day), it’s raining out too, yet they’re sawing, banging, thumping, and doing God knows what. I guess God’s back to his not wanting me to sleep much, cuz they’re not gonna be gone till 6:00 and I’ll need to crash at 3:00 or 4:00. Tom says it seems like too much work for just fixing things that need to be fixed in general. He says it seems like they’re preparing to make a sale. Whatever. I just wish they’d finish!

Later...

I just spoke to Andy who said he got a job. I’m so happy for him. And it’s his one and only job application and interview since being fired. The restaurant is just a mile from his house. I don’t know what his hours will be yet or what days he’ll have off.

Michelle’s friend or mother, I forgot which one, will be taking the waterbed. In exchange for my giving them the waterbed, they’ll be bringing that security door in their truck when they come to pick the bed up. Our new bed should be here within 5-10 days. I hope!!! And I hope it works out, too. I mean, I know it won’t change the sex and the sterility, but I just hope we really can sleep well enough together with this new bed and sound machine.

The day I got the mice, I called my folks to tell them about it live, but Gene answered. I had an unexpected, but pleasant chat with him. He really sounds a lot like Dad. We talked about the weather and things in general and he told me mom surprised dad with a trip to Orlando. Dad had to have blood work done, which came out fine. While this was going on, Ma packed up the car and just took off with Dad later. I guess it’s two hours away.

I called Gene today too, and he said they called last night and that they were at Epcot Center and at a laser light show.

Later...

Are they ever gonna leave next door? These assholes have been here for 7 hours, so what the fuck can they be doing? There was a cement mixer here a few hours ago that was obviously filling in the patio, but they’re not done yet. I noticed something different today and that’s that someone was up on their roof. I couldn’t tell what he was doing, but is all this really over the sewers? He’s still living next door, cuz we either see the car or hear the car doors, so they’re not moving. All my “change” vibe was over was because of the work they were doing and the temporary absence of the dog. I knew the dog disappearing after just a few months was too good to be true. God would never like me enough to allow a dog to piss me off for such a short time. It’s gotta be coming back. Sooner or later these city fuckups have to finish whatever the fuck they’re doing and then, in comes the beast. Well, at least my only choice won’t be music to drown out its barking. And if it doesn’t return, which is what Tom thinks will be the case, there’s still bound to be a dog over there at some point, be it the asshole’s, or someone else’s.

Tom still wants to pick up another sound machine, but for now, he got another fan. So I can have the fan on, instead of just music, which was what I was trying to say before. The AC fan just barely wipes out the guard dogs two yards away, but it’d be useless against a dog just a few feet away. This one’s more than a fan, though, for a box fan. It’s got a grill on its front to let you control the direction of the airflow. Its blades are so skinny, too, and that’s probably why it’s not as loud as the other fan I had. Still, it makes for a good backup for when the sound machine dies.

OK, he just banged in next door, so off goes the letter to the city. Not that it’ll do any good and not that Tom will send it right away.