Today marks our 11th anniversary and 1 year in the wrong state. At least we got out of Mexico!

We plan to go out to eat when he gets off work which could be after just 8 hours since they went and hired new people. That pretty much tells me he’s not going to get much more in the way of overtime, but hopefully, if they can afford to hire new people, they can afford to give him a decent raise once he hits the 1-year marker at the end of July.

Meanwhile, Patty’s taken to blasting the shit out of her TV. It’s not as loud as Bev’s stereo was in that it can only be heard in the living room and not throughout the entire place, but even if we do have just 79 more days to go here, that’s 79 days too many to listen to that for 6 hours a day, so as soon as it starts up, and I know it’s going to be a regular habit of hers, I’m going to go over there and have a little chat with her. And while I’m at it, I’m going to see if she wants first dibs on any of the knickknacks I plan to try to sell at the yard sale we’ll have.

The dog was barking up a storm in front just now and when I looked out, I saw a young woman standing in back of the van which had its hatch open. I was hoping that for this chick to be there so early that she was helping her prepare to go on a little vacation, but I couldn’t get that lucky. If she’s going to go away anytime, it won’t be while we’re still here.

I’m going to wait and let her have her usual slew of morning company, then I’ll go over there as soon as she cranks up the TV which should be around the mid-afternoon if she follows yesterday’s pattern.

I almost wish I were on nights again so I don’t have to listen to people’s shit around here. Why, why, why is it so damn important to whatever’s up there that I hear other people’s shit??? This noise curse is never going to be broken. Every single neighbor of mine since ’92 has had something going on with them that I’ve had to deal with. Every single one of them! Why don’t I just be noisy myself? Then I can at least deserve what I get from them.

Where did this chick come from so early in the morning anyway? I can’t see well past the van, but there doesn’t appear to be any other vehicle in her driveway but hers, so did she pick this chick up? Did the chick walk here? Is she perhaps staying with her and the one who went blasting the TV?

The van is still there, but now the hatch is closed and there are no people in sight.

It’s days like yesterday that make me think that Bev was the better housemate. Look how many times I’ve had to hear the dog as opposed to Bev’s grandanimals.

Later…

Now the van is gone and the pickup is here. Right on time, too. Next comes the dog, and after I have to listen to that, the pickup will leave around 11:00.

Later…

The pickup left an hour earlier than usual and I haven’t heard the dog in back or the TV yet. She didn’t start with the TV till around 3:00, so we’ll see how the rest of the day goes.

Meanwhile, I can’t wait for him to get home so we can go out to eat! If he’s going to get a couple of extra hours, though, it would have to be today. That way I’m made to wait even longer and we end up eating with the dinner crowd. At least the restaurants here don’t seem as bad as down in Arizona as far as unruly kids go. Every other time we ate out in Arizona we had to do it to the tune of screaming kids. At least there are not as many kids up here, though all it takes is one to ruin the occasion.

Later…

Well, I talked to Patty. I asked her if she got a new TV or something and she said a friend of hers adjusted the TV set’s controls and made it bassy. We talked for a good 10 minutes or so about a variety of things and I even patted Freckles. She really is a beautiful dog. Her coat is nice and shiny and soft. She said it’s a corgi and her third service dog. Also, she agrees it’s not cool to leave dogs outside unattended and says that if she has her outside for any length of time, she’s with her. Even when she had a German Shepherd, she kept it indoors. I explained to her that in Arizona they tend to leave their dogs outside and asked her if that was customary in Sacramento. She said she wasn’t familiar with that city, but said they were strict about animals, so maybe that’ll be a good thing. Then again, “strict” may only mean no-letting-it-loose-without-a-leash and not, don’t-let-it-bark-outdoors-round-the-clock.

I told her we were going to do a swap meet or yard sale before we left in a few months to rent a house before we can move to California and that I thought she may want first dibs on some of the knickknacks I don’t want. She said she was still broke from moving in here and wouldn’t have any money for a month, but that she definitely wanted more plants. I gave her my puzzle since we only paid 75¢ for it and she said she needs things to keep busy (she was about to take a nap, supposedly from sheer boredom), and it looks like she may buy my spider plant, but not for another month or so when she has more money. So I let her know I’d catch her out back in about a month, and if she’s still interested, she can have it for $20. I doubt the pot and the plant cost me that much, so I’m making a bit of a profit, unlike most things we sell. If she talks me down to $15 or so, that’ll be okay because plants aren’t my top priority in life as opposed to dolls and smells. I’ll definitely be keeping the date palm, though. I looked in my Maricopa journal to see if this was the queen or the date, and from what I read, it’s the date. It usually gets to be 25’ - 40’. I can’t believe how much it’s grown here. I wonder if it’ll slow down in California. I doubt it. I think it was whatever evil lurked on the Maricopa land that interfered with our plants, both indoors and outdoors.

She said it took her years to adjust to this climate when she moved up from Southern Cal in ’68 and doesn’t even run her heat until it drops into the 30s. Well, I’m not about to stick around long to adjust to this shit! There’s simply nothing for us here. This is a tiny, nothing, going nowhere town. While I don’t miss Arizona, I miss how we lived in a rural area yet could get to big cities in less than a year. Still took long enough, though.

Patty’s thinking of planting some flowers in back where they cut a tree down last Sunday.

She’s also thinking of getting a house through the FHA. Those on disability or who are low-income qualify. I told her we were looking forward to an old house that we could fix up to our own liking.

I mentioned that we started watering the yard in the mornings and she said it would be good for us to rotate weekly so it doesn’t get as expensive as it would for just one person to do it. I didn’t tell her that Tom’s only watering our side.

Even she can hear next door’s doors, but only when she’s sitting out back.

Anyway, Patty may not be perfect since we do still hear the dog a few times a week and she does slam her door, but she could be worse. One thing’s for sure, though, and that’s that her place stinks like hell! I could smell the cigarette smoke wafting out the back door, and her hair looked ridiculous. She’s got roots as dark as my hair is now while the rest of it is bleached so blond that it almost looks gray.

The rat’s running around loose now. I’m keeping the roll of Rolaids Tom had by his bed up on the table. He tried to run off with the whole roll yesterday!

We’ve got what’s the biggest spider so far that I’ve seen in between the front screen and window. It’s a big fat black crab spider.