Tom put a piece of black foam inside the air vent that’s over the bedroom doorway to help block out light. I can’t believe the stupid Mexicans even put a vent there. You just don’t need it as large as the gap is under the doors.

He also took apart the faucet in his bath to clean the sand out of it. For the longest time, he had nothing but a little trickle of water coming out of that faucet.

We also both got to see a snake yesterday. A prairie dog was chasing it and we figured that if it was harmless to a prairie dog, then it was harmless to us. This one was nicer looking than the black one. It had light and dark markings, sort of striped-like, but again, it wasn’t a rattler. We think this one, and the black one, are king snakes. Those eat rattlers and are good to have around. It was in the wash when we got out to it with the camera and wasn’t coiled to strike. Just like with the black snake, its tail was a skinny, rattleless point. I got a picture of it, but it didn’t come out well. Its colors match the earth tones so well that it’s hard to see, and I was too far away. Next time I need to get up to within 2-3 feet of it, but by the time I did that, it’d be scared off. I didn’t even have the chance to get closer to it yesterday cuz we scared it into its hole. I could tell it knew that hole was there and that it had been there before. It definitely lives there. It moved differently than the black snake. This one moved with smooth, steady movements. It was almost graceful as if the hole itself sucked it into it. Tom brought up a good question – how does it turn around inside the hole since the hole was just big enough for its body to fit through? Maybe the hole loops around or gets wider at some point.

Later...

How stupid of me! I put a potato in the oven, set the timer, but never set the temp. So, now I have to wait for another hour.

I didn’t take any Theo yesterday and I slept fine. I’m doing one last experiment. I took the Theo when I got up today. If it keeps me up tonight, then it has to go for good. I gave the Albuterol another try, too. It seemed to help relax my lungs, along with the Theo, so we’ll see.

Tom loaded up the snake picture on his computer, opened a photo enhancer program, and improved what he could to bring it out. I noticed it was a really cool program. It really sharpens and brightens pictures up well, so I had him load it on my computer.

After we saw the snake yesterday we called Mary and told her about it. She said she’d never go looking for a snake and you could tell she’d be afraid to live out here.

Tom and I watched a new movie about a haunted house. It was a good movie without the typical ingredients. There was no sex, pregnancy or childbirth.

I saw the red pickup late in the afternoon yesterday, but the stereo is still broken. They’d probably just gotten up. Freeloaders are pretty nocturnal for the most part. I don’t think I’ve seen them before 3:00.

I got to hear the blaster that visits nearby for a couple of minutes last night at 11:30, and this time I’m pretty sure it was next door and not from somewhere straight ahead. I could also hear a dog barking and I know they have a dog. The dog was hard to hear, but I could easily make out the bass beat in my office over the AC, but if I’d had the loud box fan on, I wouldn’t have heard it. Due to the fact that I don’t hear this daily, it had to be a visitor. Remember, the parents of the kid next door are kids themselves. They can’t be more than 20-25. At that age, they’d want to leave the boy with the daughter’s mom and go out at times with friends or at least have friends visit, preferably after they went to bed. I had asked Tom if he thought they’d mind blasters and he said he thought they would. Well, obviously he was wrong, but then again, granny probably was ticked off, saying, “How dare you let your rude friends wake me and your kid up!” but you know you can’t tell a music blaster to turn their stereo down.

It’s so wrong. So very wrong. No one should have to hear a stereo from inside their house that’s at least 400’ away. In a way, I wish we could go back to the 70s, or even the 80s before these things were made. Then again, if they hadn’t been created, they’d just create something else to get society’s attention. Everyone wants to be on stage and stand out. We don’t live in a shy world. It’s scary to think what they’re gonna have in another 10-20 years. Sooner or later we’ll be able to hear the blasters at the old place all the way out here. Not that all white people are quiet, but Arizona would be a much quieter state to live in if the off-brands didn’t exist! They're mostly the ones that do shit like this. They know they’re the underdogs of society so they feel that that’s all the more reason to make a scene to get acknowledgment. I wish this was an affluent town! I’d rather live with a bunch of white snobs, cuz at least they keep their shit to themselves. They keep their music and their business to themselves and out of other people’s houses.