I had a little scare at 11:00 this morning when there was a knock at the door while I was at the computer. They not only knocked long, loud, and as persistently as a cop, they knocked on all 3 doors! Naturally, in light of all I’ve been through, I thought the freeloaders were up to no good again. Remembering how I feared they’d pull something before or after the end of the probation, I thought, oh no! They were probably taken by as much surprise as I was to learn my probation would end early, so that leaves after the fact to fuck with me.

I did catch a glimpse of the person at one point. It was a middle-aged white guy who was carrying a water bottle in one hand. He had a fairly new and large dark red pickup with a built-in tool compartment.

I called and left Tom a message about it. He’s pretty sure it was a handyman based on my description and said that he was probably persistent if he had a job to do in the area because if he was late or unable to find the site the job was at, that’s money he loses.

When I asked why he’d carry a water bottle, pig or not, Tom said that’s what they usually do out in rural areas, especially when it’s so hot.

I hope this was all it was about. I don’t have any bad vibes and I haven’t had any warning dreams, though I do have dreams of being locked up again from time to time. I just assumed this was natural after all the times I was locked up in various kinds of places. In fact, these dreams, along with dreams of my parents, will probably haunt me for the rest of my life. It’s just that while undercover pigs may be corrupt, they’re not stupid. A guy in jeans and a T-shirt sporting a water bottle and that type of vehicle would make a damn good cover. Nonetheless, if it is connected to any enemies, they’ll be back and I’ll be waiting.

I doubt they were looking for potential houses to break into since this would be a hell of a risky place to do it. Not because there are lots of neighbors close by as potential witnesses, but because everyone has guns out here, and if the owners happen to come home, you can’t exactly make a quick getaway in the way that you could in the city.

We’re thinking of getting a regular phone again, but without the extras, so we can have a phone that’s reliable and just use one of the cells.

I might’ve forgotten to mention this, but Mary asked me what I’d do if I were raped by another woman. I don’t know what inspired her to ask this. I mean, I don’t know if something happened to either her or José or what. I asked, but I won’t count on an answer. In fact, I’m cutting down my questions to those I write to because asking questions that never get answered gets old. Anyway, I told her that on a not-so-serious note, if it were a young Kate, Gloria, Linda or Palma, I’d ever so gladly let them do it! On a serious note, I probably wouldn’t report it for two reasons. For one, I wouldn’t trust the shit system. First the pigs make it out like it’s the victim’s fault, then the courts rape the victim all over again, and if the perp did do any time, it’d be for 5 minutes, then they’d get out and rape again. Secondly, I know God would protect my rapist and keep them from any form of punishment be it for 5 minutes or 100 years. I really, really believe that; about God protecting my perps. It’s not something I just say out of exasperation. I know this to be a fact from 37 years of experience and there’d be no point in trying to tell myself otherwise.

It looks like I’ll be getting another one of the divas (Gone Platinum) this weekend. I can get her for less than the December Barbie and that’s including shipping! That is unless someone buys her before then.

I wish I could talk myself out of mannequins and big porcelain dolls and into collecting just Barbies since they’re so much cheaper, but there are really only a few more Barbies that I really like, so I think I’m going to get those, then go back to saving up for the better, more expensive dolls even if it takes me forever.

eBay may not be the best place for getting a mannequin, but it sure is when it comes to Barbies. I guess that’s because there are so many of them and they’re so popular. Not the birthstones, though. The average birthstone Barbie is in the 30s, base pay. Why pay that when you can walk into a Walmart and get one for $25?

Later…

Just as I figured it would be, this has been one active monsoon season. It’s been raining nearly every day! It’s coming down really hard right now.

My cartridges came on time and intact, but no doll yet. I think it’ll come tomorrow or the next day. I’ll probably get one this weekend too, and then September will be the start of our new budget till someone cuts out our extra spending money completely.

We decided to hold off on getting a dog till the rats die, then we’ll get smaller rats that don’t roam around loose like these jumbos do. Of course, as excited as I am about having a dog, that doesn’t mean I’m in a hurry for these rats to go belly-up too soon, either.

I did some online research for my book. Love in Disguise was set in the desert, Julie & Jill was near the beach, so I thought the woods would be nice for this one, Sacrifices, though I didn’t want a place that got cold and snowy which I hate. After investigating, I settled in on the small town of Ukiah, an hour north of Sacramento. I’m not going to bother with chapters or dates this time around.

It occurred to me that I never wrote a brief summary of Julie & Jill. Well, Jill’s this hot-headed Italian with a serious personality and Julie’s a flaky nut, though she’s not stupid. They meet when Julie goes for an exam in a clinic where Jill works as a nurse. They’re instantly attracted to each other, and that evening Jill picks Julie up when she spots her walking along the street. They have dinner and end up hitting it off, though Jill’s reluctant at first, not used to characters like Julie.

Then Julie’s crazy neighbor dies and she’s charged with her murder since the two never got along. Julie then pins the blame on the boyfriend whom she framed while Jill learns that Julie’s mother tried to kill her for insurance money and her father committed suicide.

Julie’s soon freed and the boyfriend is charged, then when Jill snoops into Julie’s journal and learns she’s the real killer, Julie shoots Jill before she can have a chance to react either way.