Today’s been one of those fun days where I’m happy to be alive and bursting with energy, both physically and mentally. A stark contrast to last night’s poverty dreams, but I’m glad I’m only impoverished in my dreams and not in real life. 

“We have a beautiful home in a beautiful park, we just bought a Caddy, and we have thousands in savings, so why do I still have these dreams?” I asked Tom. 

“Because that’s what’s on your mind these days,” he said. 

He’s probably right, too. That’s just good old PTSD for you. When life isn’t actually beating me up, I worry that it will once again do just that someday. As Tom reminded me, though, nothing will be ok forever for one day we will get old or sick and we’re going to die. 

I don’t remember both dreams, but in one we were so broke we could barely afford food. I struggled to make the food last and wouldn’t eat unless I was desperate. We had 3 cats, too. Normally we didn’t let them outdoors, but we were so broke that when they went to the door begging to be let out, we let them out in hopes that they’d find their own food so we didn’t have to buy them any. 

Anyway, I got up at 10am and walked around the block a few times. Then we went to Raley’s to pick up a few things. He didn’t go shopping today like he usually does because he forgot his wallet, LOL. The last thing he wanted to do was deal with Walmart later on in the day, so he’ll go early tomorrow morning before I get up. 

Riding in the Caddy is always an adventure. The stereo sounds divine and it’s cool watching the digital compass in the rearview mirror tell us what direction we’re facing. I suppose most cars have that these days, though. 

Same for the backup warning. In back on the roof are these 3 lights that light up the closer you get to something you’re backing up to. I forget the distance, but the first light lights up when you’re about 5’, then the second when you’re closer, then the third turns red and flashes really fast when you’re just a few inches away from something. 

We copied some of my songs and pics onto my new smartphone and then downloaded a running app for it. Runtastic, it’s called. I’m just not sure the armband you slip it in will be very comfortable. It’s a bit big for my pants pocket, though, and my running skirt/shorts don’t have pockets. Technology is fun and useful, but such a bitch at times, too. I almost wish for the days when things were simple. 

Tom was going to do the 30-day ab challenge with me but won’t be able to do it cuz as he learned, his upper ab muscle is “broken.” If you’ve ever been pregnant or super fat, the ab muscles split, and while it wouldn’t harm anything to do things like crunches and sit-ups, it makes it worse so it looks funny. There are other exercises Tom’s going to be doing. 

Besides broken muscles, something’s determined to hex my jewelry lately. First my ankle bracelet broke, and now one of my toe rings is broken, too. Maybe I shouldn’t get such cheap stuff. 

There’s a house for sale here for 125k! The economy must be improving, but there are also some really super nice and spacious homes in this park. 

Tom has to stop by the office to get the gate clicker reprogrammed cuz apparently they changed the code. They do that periodically to give us a little extra security. Even though this isn’t Sun City, it would be easy to think we’re all loaded here, though I suppose some might be. Even I feel loaded compared to how we lived a few years ago. 

Tom’s on Amazon picking out his birthday present with the money I made online over the last month. It feels good to have worked for the money so he can pick out what he wants, even though I know my love would be enough of a present for him. 

Later… 

If anyone has a problem with the bitchfest I’m about to unleash, too bad! I need to vent. Badly. 

As I mentioned before, I noticed a few days ago a huge jump in loud car stereos, most of which are outside the park. Today there were at least 3 that were definitely inside the park. No doubt about it. An hour ago I heard the loudest one ever. It was horrible… thump, thump, thump… just like we were back in Phoenix or Oregon all over again. Like a giant fist pounding the walls of our house. Worse is that it didn’t just drive by, it was sitting somewhere. Whoever it was has to live here (unless they were guests that were leaving), because the gates were locked at the time. 

Hell, I can’t even go a half-hour without hearing one of these things! What the fuck’s going on all of a sudden and why does every single fucking place I ever move to get progressively noisier? A few places, like a couple of projects I once lived in, were always rocking, but I see a definite pattern that’s hard to deny even if they ARE a common problem from what I read online. They’re fucking everywhere. So much so I was shocked when Andy said he never hears them where he lives. Makes me wonder if that’s one of the rare areas where they’re illegal. 

Other than where he lives, nobody does shit about them anywhere. Judges have thrown out requests to limit them and it’s like the stereo blaster’s rights are protected. There is no such thing as disturbing the peace when it’s car stereos. A few places will ticket you, but the blasters are perfectly willing to pay the measly 30-dollar fine. Why? Because they’re desperate to get your attention and they already spent hundreds for the damn system in the first place. So what’s a lousy 30 bucks? The whole point of it is to be heard. Makes them feel in control and like they’re controlling you, cuz in a sense, when they penetrate your walls with their music, that’s exactly what they’re doing; they’re forcing you to listen to them. Sadly, there are that many people out there so insecure and hell-bent on control that they’ll spend 100s of dollars to gain some of that “power” they’re so lacking. Even an article I read that mentioned possibly getting fined said, “Still ‘not scared of the police?’” Well, you might want to be of potential thieves, they also said. After all, you’re basically announcing it every time you come and go, thus enabling one to easily learn when the best time is to steal the fucking thing, but people often think they’re invincible. Where I worry all the time about bad things happening, everyone else hasn’t a care or a fear in the world until the shit actually does hit their little fans. 

But is noise really a common problem that most people have to deal with, or is it rather extreme with me? I don’t know if I’m right in assuming there’s a “noise curse” of sorts on me or if there really are that many loud, rude, obnoxious, inconsiderate assholes out there. After all, Andy does hear enough other shit at his place. I don’t hear barking and brats here, but I wonder if that too, is just a matter of time. Landscapers and home improvement noise in the daytime, stereos at night… if you can’t get any peace in a 55+ park, where CAN you get it? Tammy's in a low-income place in the mainstream and it’s quiet there. I’m in a retirement community and I’m now not only hearing things in the daytime – especially weekdays – but now I’m hearing shit at night, too!  

I hate to admit it, but Jesse’s place was quieter in some ways. 99% of the noise there was him and his mutts. Otherwise, it was WAY quieter. But we could never afford the type of land Jesse’s got that’s situated in such a hilly spot that blocks them so well. 

It’s sad because I used to be able to count on at least the nights being quiet here, but now I don’t even have that much. Maybe it’ll back off in the winter, but I have a feeling it’s only going to get worse overall. When has a place ever gotten quieter? It just doesn’t usually work that way. Noise levels go up, not down. 

I’m guessing the park recently started allowing them in as they did motorcycles a while back, and why not? They’re just as loud. Like Tom said, even though Andy and I think senior living should be about peace and quiet, it’s mostly about being with people your own age. So I doubt anyone will complain or that it’d do them any good if they did. *sighs* Just gotta live with it like in Oregon, even if it’s incredibly distracting and annoying. Plus, that’s one more thing that could wake me up and I gotta wonder what they’re going to allow in here next - dogs to be left outdoors 24/7? Kids to move in? They bitch about a couple of cats on the loose, but it’s ok to disturb the peace all you want??? WTF? This world is beyond twisted. I have a greater risk of getting fined and even jailed for writing that I hate Arabs because they’re violent animals than I ever could have of blasting a car stereo at all hours of the day and night. Great world we live in, huh?