Here I go again with the mid-cycle spotting, which I’ll probably have to put up with for the next two weeks or so.

I’m also pretty sick of not shitting for a few days, then shitting 3 times to make up for each day I didn’t shit. Can’t I just shit once every day? Damn! Even that’s too much to ask for. I’ve been stuck more often lately, since hitting down around 115 pounds. The lower my weight gets, the more I get stuck. My body’s still totally rebellious against being 115 or under. If I got down to 110, I’d probably be stuck for 5 days at a time!

More snake sightings today. In fact, I got great pictures. Probably the best ever. It was that black one again, but I don’t know if it was the same one we saw yesterday. This one seemed bigger, like the very first one I saw. It was closer to 5’. It came right up to the front of the house and I shot some real close-up shots of it from the top of the front stairs. It looked right at me and poked its head along the bottom edge of the skirting, looking for a way under the house. I could see its forked tongue, too. Then it slowly journeyed towards the bedroom side of the house.

Later...

Bad news. Dan’s back. So soon? I was hoping he wouldn’t be back till October or even November, but I should’ve known better. Just as predicted, he let us know he was back the minute he pulled in by gunning his engine. I’m virtually certain he just pulled in, too. So now I gotta sit and listen to the engine-gunning 2-3 times a week, along with his music, till next Memorial Day – aaaarrrrgggghhhh! And it’s so much like bass, too. It’s a low, loud, vibrant engine that’s totally grating. Even in this house with its 6” walls and dual-paned windows, you really gotta crank the volume up on the tunes pretty loud in order to drown out its penetrating sound. I was sitting in bed reading with the retreat door shut when he came gunning in. I could hear it perfectly loud and clear too, even with the air cleaner up high. At first I thought it was the motorcycle till I realized it sounded exactly like Dan’s engine guns. I looked towards his property and for a while I didn’t see any movement, then I saw someone walking around. Tom said someone’s been checking up on the place regularly. And gunning engines in a Dan-like fashion? Well, two things will tell us if he’s back, even though I know he is; lights on in the house tonight, and an open gate. If the gate to his driveway’s open, he’s back. Tom will have to check the gate on his way to work tomorrow morning, cuz we can’t see it from the house. I know he’s back, though, those engine guns had Dan’s name written all over them, and Memorial Day through Labor Day is the typical time to be gone if you’re going anywhere for the summer.

Yes, we’re coming into a 3-day weekend that I don’t have to dread as far as assholes that are 3’ away, but I do expect to hear some music from Dan, the renters and car stereos. I just thank God I can get 3 months a year off from Dan, and I also thank God that motorcycle’s not 3’ away cuz they’re even louder than Dan’s trucks. They’re the loudest of them all and I’m thoroughly surprised God didn’t stick one of those next to me in Phoenix. What a nightmare, on top of the nightmare I was already dealing with, that would’ve been!

Later...

I thought I was done journaling for the month, but nope. I’m just bummed that Dan’s back, although there certainly could be much much worse things to be bummed about than that, and I’m the first to admit it. Last year he didn’t start with the music and engine-gunning till after we got in the house, thank God, so maybe he’ll be quiet till January, but I don’t vibe it. I think he’ll be much worse this year, and I think the renters will get more and more musical, to the tune of more boom car stereos, although that’s presently simmered down. I’ve only seen the pickup once in the last week or two and its stereo is still busted. Nonetheless, I think this will be a much noisier winter than the last one. Especially if they’re not going to be booming in the sky. I think that motorcycle, which I knew the renters could only be buying and not selling, will be a regular nuisance, too. But it’s a noisy world out there. Nothing I can do about it. On the other hand, there’s still a chance I may not even be here during the winter, in which case it’d be pretty quiet. Noise goes where I go. So much so that I’m still a bit shocked God didn’t throw a kid on us as soon as we met. I must really be a wimp who could never handle pregnancy, childbirth and rearing a kid, despite the fact that I’ve always known, for as far back as I can remember, that a kid was never meant to be. I just don’t understand why these kinds of people would want to live out here. Why live where your music can reach a half dozen to a dozen houses when you can live where it can reach hundreds? Then again, sound doesn’t travel as far in the city because there’s more built up to block the sound. Even so, what are they doing out here if they want to put on a show?

One of the renters was barbecuing just after dark, but they were quiet. I couldn’t tell which house was barbecuing. Fortunately, they’re still far enough away that I can’t make out much detail. I still can’t tell for sure which house the new renters are in and if our old ones are still there. I’m starting to think they really did move out in that U-Haul. Anyway, I’d bet Bailey on Dan blasting off this weekend, and both Bailey and Jade on the renters blasting off. For them to blast off on which was probably their first weekend here, tells me they’re likely to do it every weekend, and maybe weekdays at times, too.