I was wrong in saying I’d never again be woken up by the dog. I awoke having to pee just before 5:00. It wasn’t till around 6:00 before I finally fell back asleep. About 15 minutes later, I thought I heard a knocking sound of some kind. Then 15 minutes after that as I was dozing off again, hoping to sleep till the alarm went off at 7:00, the dog barked. By the time I jumped up to look out the window, the rude bitch had pulled the beast in. It didn’t matter. I was furious! I fired up my computer and have been blasting her out ever since, only just now turning it off till the fucking thing starts up again, just to give my own ears a break. Or ear, I should say. I was sure to slam cabinets, too.

An hour and a half later, the red pickup came. While it was here, I could hear the dog barking inside the back door wanting to be let out. It dashed out once the door was opened and barked some more, and again they pulled it in rather fast.

The red pickup took off an hour later. I thought that was fast and wondered if they were tired of my music, and hoped the bitch would soon follow. Instead, however, the bitch simply turned the van around to the tune of the dog barking at the front door and backed it up and the red pickup was back a few minutes later. I was hoping the bitch and beast would get the hell out for the day, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the pickup left an hour later and the bitch put out her sun tea I wish Tom was here to piss in. Right before noon and right as I expected, I saw the dog sitting on the steps. I figured it would be there for hours, unless, perhaps, the sound of me opening the back door made her nervous. Well, it seems like it just might’ve done just that because the dog disappeared shortly afterward. Maybe, just maybe, it’s finally hit her that she’s really pushing it with the dog, and sooner or later someone’s going to kill it. Believe me, I wanted so badly to take the honor of doing so myself! And of beating the snot out of her, too!

I just heard a weird noise from over there, but can’t say what it was.

She still hasn’t gotten her shit off the line or put everything back on her patio. It’s a “presence” thing, no doubt, that she wants to rub into me and feel like she’s reinforcing. And also no doubt, I won’t be allowed to go to bed earlier tonight. It’s watering day, so I’m sure they’ll be out there from around 5 or 6 till 7 or 8.

Yesterday the fucking bitch was gone for 5 hours. During one of the barking fits, I opened the door to yell at it. It scurried over to its patio. It knew I was pissed, alright! I was surprised they didn’t hang out in the evening, but it wasn’t very hot. Anyway, she pulled in as I was out watching Tom load some stuff into the truck from the garage. Sure enough, she shut her blinds as soon as she got inside.

Since we’ll be out of here Saturday morning, it is so, so nice to know that I only have a day and a half left of her shit to deal with! Then it’s on to new shit, and believe me, I already know 4 things about our new neighbor. 1. She’s on disability and always home. 2. She has tons of company. 3. She’s crazy. 4. She’s a rude bitch who’ll come off as kind and considerate when she forces us to have to meet when she gets on our nerves with the noise, be it from her own car stereo or those of her visitors. What we really have to worry about (besides dogs ending up in the big yard on the other side) is some lazy freeloader moving in there. A small place wouldn’t stop them from having tons of company. Those things are like Houdini in that they can easily cram themselves into tight spots with no problem at all. A young guy, be it a college student or not, could also be trouble.

I pulled the foil out of the window by mom and daughter and God knows who else that’s over there, and deflated my exercise ball after working out, as tired as I am. I hope I’m well-rested enough for tomorrow’s cleaning spree, and then on Saturday for the move. All I’m doing tomorrow, though, is the bathroom and kitchen sink. I’ll be vacuuming on Saturday when most of the shit is out of here. I’ll be making sure she knows it, too! The oven’s clean and the freezer will defrost itself when we turn it off before we leave. I just hope there’s no problem with him getting the keys tomorrow and with Eddie on Saturday! It’s good to know Steve’s on backup for Monday, but I don’t want two extra days of dealing with this place! I want Tom to ring her doorbell so badly before he leaves! No, I want him to ring it earlier. Like when he gets up at 4:00.

I bet the bitch got evicted from wherever she came from. She moved in here with patio furniture, a grill, and shit like that. This tells me she came from either a house or another duplex. Why would you move from a house to a duplex or from one duplex to another in the same town? She never mentioned having noisy neighbors, but she obviously must not mind noise that much with a dog as loud as she’s got.

The good news of the day (yes there is good news, I’m happy to say), is that Tom emailed me from his cell phone to tell me he was working overtime and to ask what I wanted at the store that he plans to stop at on his way home. I was so happy to hear about the overtime! So happy! I didn’t expect it so soon and didn’t know if they were all talk at work about that or what. He had told me a few days ago that he was hopeful of getting overtime first, then a raise as high as $9 an hour. He’s at $7.60 now. That’d be quite a turnaround as cursed as we’ve been financially! Continuing to make what he does now would greatly decrease our chances of getting out of this state next year. Well, I’m a pessimist, so I don’t want to get my hopes up too high anyway. Especially about the raise, even though the company itself is doing way, way better financially. They just got some huge orders and the boss’ father who recently died was loaded, from what I hear. It’s a family-owned business, and these two sisters had a falling out that could benefit Tom greatly. I guess one quit because of all the money their father left. The other, who still wanted to make a go of the business, got so pissed off that she changed the locks, swearing that her sister would never work there again.

If he could make a couple of hundred bucks extra a month, that’d help us tremendously!

Guess I’ll sign off before visitor #2 arrives. I haven’t been able to concentrate on my story, letters or anything but sweeping. It’s been dead quiet over there since the pickup left. Not even the drone of the TV can be heard, so she’s probably under the headphones, figuring I’d be blasting her out all day. Well, just as soon as the fucking 4-legged beast goes off, which could be any minute now, I’ll be right back at it!

The shithead just left and it looks like she either took the dog with her or left it inside.

Later…

Well, the dog’s out there now. I don’t know if she did leave it out after all or if she came back, parked in the garage, then threw it out. I think she’s still gone. Again, that’s bold. Really, really bold. You’re not only opening yourself up to complaints, but you’re risking your dog’s safety sticking it where your very pissed-off neighbor can get to it.