I saw her leave in her red car earlier and now a gold car’s over there that I’ve never seen before. It must’ve come in while I was listening to music. I don’t know what this means. Hopefully, it’s just her boyfriend. I hope she isn’t moving. She does get a little door-slammy at times, but that’s nothing compared to getting someone in there who blasts their stereo.

The gold car just left quietly. The guy driving looked like he would be a definite boyfriend to the lady that lives there. Most straight couples look the same, and just like her, he’s young to middle-aged and heavy.

I guess she’s staying put for another month.

Eddie, the guy that moved us, just moved as well. Tom helped him move some heavy stuff yesterday after work since he helped us and we know he’s reliable for any future favors we may need.

I’m pissed that the sweeps site still hasn’t upgraded my membership. I left them a message. Hopefully, they’ll do something about it.

I don’t know if this was a win-premonition or not, but last night I dreamt I got a package and Tom said he thought it was from Marty and Ruth. I said that that was impossible since it wasn’t even my birthday yet and they’d never sent packages before for any other occasion except for when we got married. Before I could tear into it, though, I woke up.

The rat likes to trap me here. He’s taken to sitting right behind the leg of my chair when I’m not on the floor cuddling with him. He’s been doing better the last couple of days and seems to be breathing easier.

The good news is that Tom’s going to be working Saturday. That’s $88 extra bucks! And it’s easy work without the hour-commute each way so he’ll still be able to have a life while he’s at it and not get run down.

I see the mailman across the street. Good. I’m just about 8 minutes away from a couple of movies! Good timing too, since I’ve finished my daily sweeps.

My premium membership hasn’t kicked in yet. If it doesn’t by tomorrow, I’ll email them.

I’m back to thinking next door doesn’t work. She’s just home too much to be working, so it seems.

I decided that I’m sick of being the one to have to move just because people can’t shut up, and so we’re staying here till we’re ready to leave the state no matter what. Hopefully, this isn’t something that’s just easy to say while it’s still quiet, but once all hell breaks loose next door, I’m just going to remind myself that that’s how we have to live for the rest of our lives and to quit running from one noisy place to another and settle down for a change. That’s what I’ve been wanting to do for a long time now anyway. We were just meant to be in crowded, noisy environments. I don’t know why, but it’s become more than obvious. I’m serious about buying a house in a noisy, congested, rundown section of Sacramento, too. It’s sad that it has to be this way, but it’s our only insurance, so to speak. I know that the more I hate the neighbors, the neighborhood and the house itself, the easier it will be to hang on to. I don’t want to go so far as to plop ourselves down next to freeloaders ever again, because the noise and problems they cause are truly overkill. But if we surround ourselves with Mormons or something like that where there’d be kids screaming often enough and dogs barking, we couldn’t lose the house if we tried. The freeloaders would also call for music, vandalism and God knows what other trouble, so we won’t go that far. Of course, we also can’t control fate. History could end up repeating itself where we got next to a house that was owned by an individual and ultimately ended up in the city’s hands. If we ever do get freeloadered again, we’re out of there so damn fast! I’m not going to be provoked into a reaction just to have them play the race card and take legal revenge on me all over again, not that I’d let them get me as far as they did the first time around. It’s just that we’d be forced to run and all that and we have to lay low for the rest of our lives as it is.

As I told Tom, I got to thinking about us having a washer out in the utility area, and when I realized all the creatures we’d be washing our clothes with, I was highly turned off of the idea. Therefore, I thought we should get a portable washer we could use indoors, and he liked the idea very much. Especially since he could then use the utility area for the stuff that’s jammed inside the truck, to make selling it easier. We probably won’t own a vehicle for 5-10 years, if ever again.

I finally got the sweatshirt with Scuttle’s picture on it, and it was 24 weeks ago that I won it, and 14 since I ordered it. I really thought I’d never get it. The picture’s a little small and a little low on the shirt, but it’s still nice and it was free! It’s cool to see the copyright with my name on it. Tom’s excited about it and can’t wait till it gets cold enough to wear to work so he can show it off there.

I also got the black ink cartridge he ordered for me. Sure enough, because it’s a generic one and because I’m just so cursed in this department, it didn’t print clearly the first time around. I had to charge it up twice, losing one of my nice new pieces of neon pink paper.

We did the laundry, then hung out back as we vented the place out through the bathroom fan. It’s the first time I’ve ever been in back since we’ve got the back door sealed with duct tape because of all its gaps.

After that, we went downtown and ended up walking about 3 miles. I have no soreness at all, so that’s good.

Haven’t heard much from the house across the street, but the house across the canal was blasting music yesterday afternoon.

I wish the mailman would hurry up and get here with my next round of DVDs because I can’t get online. Hopefully, it’s just a temporary problem and not a big to do. I don’t like to lose sweeping days. Plus, my premium membership should kick in any minute now.

My teeth acted up enough so that I had to take something, but it’s still been much, much better. I was taking something a few times a day, but now it’s barely a few times a week.

Blondie seems to be having more trouble breathing lately. It breaks my heart to see him slowly slip away like this, though the last thing I want him to do is to suffer. If being free means letting him go, then I have to let go. I have no choice anyway. Still, it’s a very sad thing.

We finally found the house next door online. It’s a 1400-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 2-bath that’s going for $150,000. Pretty pricey for this neighborhood.

I lost a bit more of my tooth. There’s not much left of it now. Just a little stub. I wish they’d all fall out! I had to take something for the pain today for the first time in about a week, and we’re still not sure it’s even my tooth that’s causing the pain.

It was way cold last night, getting down to just 25º. Some of the mountains already have snow on them. At least that had to have killed most of the spiders, though we’re still planning on bombing tomorrow while we do laundry. The rat can wait in the cab of the truck.

Both the book and the stain-remover pen were forwarded to me, but I don’t think I’ll get the sweatshirt. Especially if they sent it via UPS or FedEx because then it would’ve been returned to them.

Yesterday I had so much fun watching DVDs! We’re not mailing them back from here, though, so no one steals them. The mailbox is only about 10’ from the sidewalk and they mark their return envelopes quite clearly, so it’s obvious as to what it is. Tom mails them on his way to work.

A couple of days ago two guys drove into the big yard next door and picked up this huge ladder-like thing that had been leaning against the house. They loaded it onto a full-size pickup. I haven’t seen anyone looking at the house, though I’m sure they have been.

I have worked so incredibly little on my story since the move because of the sweeping. I guess I just figured that I’d rather spend my time on something that has the potential to pay off, though writing is fun, so I think I’ll go work on it while my chicken wings cook.

Later…

We finally got some rain. Not a heavy rain, but this is Oregon, not Florida or Arizona. So it doesn’t rain that hard here anyway.

I sit here and I look at the time and I am so, so glad I’m not at the duplex right now with the dog being tossed out back while she has one visitor after another to the tune of the TV blasting! The fat fuck of a bitch may not be leaving the dog out as much these days, but it’d still be heard from enough if we were still there.

Since she doesn’t mind noise but thinks complaining is a crime, I hope to hell whoever moved in on our side is doing nothing but complaining! Even threatening to kill the dog, if not actually doing something to it. The dog and TV’s got to drive whoever’s in there now absolutely nuts. Especially if they’re older, disabled and home all the time which is quite likely the case. And of course there’s the door-slamming from next door, too. Oh, how I don’t miss it there! I love being back in a house and I’m enjoying every minute of it till the yard next door becomes a circus.

I’m also glad I didn’t sell the rude asshole my spider plant which I just learned is not a spider plant. It’s a ponytail palm! I was exercising when I realized it was looking more palm-like in the trunk as it gets taller. Then it hit me that it could be a ponytail palm so I checked some pictures online and confirmed that it is indeed just that. It will get pretty tall, but it’s very slow-growing which explains why it took me over two years to realize it’s a type of palm tree. These originated in Mexico. It’ll take another 20 years or so to get to be 6’ tall, but I’m definitely not going to sell it. It even blooms white flowers in the summertime, but that’d take about 75 years to happen.

I just worry about losing everything after how close we came to doing just that when we first got here.

I still can’t believe his family dumped us. And I know they’d still have done that even if I’d never sent the letter giving them a piece of my mind, and even if I’d never returned the checks. At the same time, I can believe it. People are cruel.

I’m sleeping worse here than I was at the duplex, believe it or not. If it weren’t for these fucking stereos, I’d sleep better than I slept there once the dog entered the picture, but here I’m being woken up every 2-3 days. I worry that I may not be able to sleep late at night either because that’s when she’s the bangiest with her car doors. She slammed in with that guy at 11:30, then they took off a few minutes later. They just returned not too long ago, and when they do, they often take something out of the trunk which they slam pretty hard. I don’t know what it is they’re doing, and while they may not blast music or have wild dogs/kids outside our windows, they’re still so the typical rude neighbors. You wouldn’t slam your doors like that so late at night if you weren’t, since most people are asleep at those hours. Of course, once that house gets occupied on the other side, it’s going to really be a nightmare around here, so I guess we’ll be moving in March. The question is, where the hell do we go? It’s a noisy world out there and there’s no place to go where there’d be space around us unless we go to the outskirts of the city where we can’t afford to go. Not with the way gas prices are. I swear something wants me in the city! I’ve always believed that. There just doesn’t seem to be any doubt about it. If we were smart when it comes time to buy a place, we’d not only get the shittiest piece of shit we could find but the noisiest, too. That way we’ll be sure to never lose it. It’s only the good places we can’t hang on to.

Anyway, I fell asleep at 8 AM and was woken up by God knows what at 2:30. I contemplated getting up then, but was too tired. Meanwhile, every time I’d be on my way back to sleep, a stereo would go crashing by, bass pounding like someone hammering their fists on a door. There was also this quick, strange shudder that the house made too, much like a sonic boom, and I could’ve sworn I heard a dog bark, too. Perhaps the one next door where the old lady lives was out front? Or maybe someone was walking one down the sidewalk? When I finally fell back asleep an hour later, I slept till 7 PM. So where I would’ve gotten up around 4:00, my schedule’s been pushed ahead a few hours. It’s probably a good thing, though, as I have a feeling that the more I sleep at night, the better off I’ll be.

We still may have to bomb. The exterior treatments only help so much. So far tonight I’ve found two small spiders and one horrifyingly large one. Who knows if they’ll reduce all that much come October when the cold really starts setting in?

Tom taped the edges of the square attic door that’s in the kitchen ceiling to seal it up better. If anything, we don’t want to be losing heat through the sides of it.

He also put up my brown shelf in the living room.

I rearranged the bedroom. I figured that if they’re going to wake me up no matter how I arrange it, I may as well arrange it in a way that’s most convenient for me. Besides, I know I have to pay for the next decade or so for the one or two times I may’ve woken the fat bitch up at the duplex.

We’re back on with Netflix so we’ll have 3 movies every few days or so to look forward to till poverty takes that away from us again. I’m sure we’ll have poor spell number 10,000,000 soon enough. As it is, they dogged us on our deposit. It’s still enough to do a $50 wholesale oil order and get a new vacuum, but they took a ridiculous $125 to clean the carpet of the old place. I can’t believe it could cost that much to clean the carpet, even in a place that big. I think they just got a little greedy. I told Tom he should demand to see a receipt and try to find out why it cost so damn much, but as usual, he doesn’t want to make waves. He should make waves, though. They work for us. We’re the ones paying them hundreds of dollars a month, so why should he hesitate to speak up? Maybe they’re not such a great company after all. I mean, we shouldn’t be paying $450 for such a tiny, tilted dump like this, house or not.

I just wish it would rain! This summer’s been way drier than last summer. Last summer we had a handful of rainy days, but it hasn’t rained but maybe a few drops since June. My skin and hair are very dry, though I attribute most of that to age and dye.

Later…

They allowed me to sleep yesterday, so that’s good.

The fish died last night. It must’ve suffered brain damage when it jumped out. I guess I’ll get another one soon.

Oddly enough there’s been no mail today and yesterday, but the first of the DVDs should be here tomorrow!

We’re bombing Sunday for sure. There was not only one other spider after I last wrote, but in less than a minute, the kitchen was jumping with spiders before Tom went to bed. There were three of them.

I was grateful to her next door a little while ago for remembering to put the trash out. We totally forgot. I guess she can put it out and we can take it in. She’s up way later than Tom, and he’s up way earlier than she is. They collect the trash real early here at 4 AM and he leaves just before 7:00. Her car remained put until I crashed yesterday at noon. She’s no early bird. She went out at 11:00 when she put the trash out and returned a half-hour later with that guy. This time they only shut their car doors and they did it in a less jolting manner. I am so glad she hasn’t done anything to force us to have to meet, though I’m not going to bother complaining when she gets replaced with trouble and when trouble moves into the house. It simply doesn’t do any good. If people cared enough in the first place to be respectful and considerate of those around them, then they wouldn’t bring in the barking dogs, the screaming kids, the loud music, etc.

Here she goes again. Yeah, I thought she may have one more trip out before turning in for the night. Where in the world could she possibly be going so late at night for just a few minutes to an hour each time around?

I just checked and the car’s still there. Maybe she was getting something out of it since no one else parks close enough to hear. The houses next door have their driveways on the other side, and they park on the other side of the houses across the street, which is something I like. It’s a weird setup, but it’s kind of like the backs of the houses across the street are what face the street.

Other than minor annoyances with the barking and music from across the street, the only major annoyances are the car stereos till the house next door sells.

Thursday they let me sleep really well, Friday a loud bang woke me up which I assume was her car door next door, and I’m not too sure about Saturday.

We’d just returned from the grocery store when I found that the fish had jumped out and onto the table. Fortunately, they do breathe air every now and then and obviously hadn’t been out long enough to die. He perked up as soon as we put him back in his bowl. I then lowered the water level.

We got our cash card, but it’s still going to be a week or so before I’m a premium OLS member (Online Sweepstakes). They only accept PayPal payments or money orders, and since we don’t currently have a PayPal account, I’ve got to mail a money order to them in Ohio.

As soon as the deposit comes, I’ll be ordering 24 1-ounce oils from Bob, and getting a bagless vacuum.

We sat down and did a budget for various things we want to save for, including the move to Sacramento, of course.

They have these new beds which I think I may like better than airbeds. At least I won’t have to worry about them leaking. They’re foam mattresses with attached memory foam pads. As long as the foam isn’t so dense that it’s too firm, it should be way comfortable. I also like how I can get a headboard with shelves to go with it. It has a raised platform you set it on, and I’ll probably get it piece by piece since the entire ensemble is something like $325. And that’s not counting a couple of sets of sheets and a comforter. Tom would like to get two twins that we could put side by side so we could have the option of sleeping together without my feeling his movements (then all we’d have to do is tape his mouth shut), but we agree it’s economically smarter to get full-size. Then later on, we can add a twin to it which would make it a king-size.

We’re also going to do things like monthly DVD subscriptions and Webshots, but only a month of Webshots. I figured I could do just a month each year for under $3 and get all the pictures that way, rather than spend $30 a year.

I plan to take $33 a month for myself, plus half of whatever we save on the $50 a week we’ve budgeted for groceries, and mostly put it towards oils and Tonner dolls/clothes, though I could really use some new clothes for myself as well. I’d still like Season Two of Charlie’s Angels, too.

I’m just going to enjoy this extra money and the relative peace because I know it’s only temporary. Always, always just temporary.

I don’t know if it’s Mary’s prayers, my spells, the horseshoe, the bamboo plant or what, but I haven’t had to take anything for my teeth in 5 days now!

Later…

My ear started acting up, but just when I thought I’d have to wimp out and take something, it backed off.

Just when I thought Bob got my letter and would reply soon, it was returned to me. It was marked ‘refused’ and I first thought, why would he refuse it? He wouldn’t refuse it unless he went senile. But then when Tom had me peel off the barcode sticker they put on to return it, I could clearly see that they’d written ‘deceased’ underneath it.

I’m not usually a compassionate person (at least I try not to be), yet I couldn’t help but shed some tears. Tom agreed it’s a sad case. What a waste his last decade was; losing Sandy to cancer, falling in love with the wrong person, then being railroaded by the system. I wonder if the bitch that got him into prison knows he’s dead and if she’s happy. I know deep down, no matter what anyone says, that his worst crime was allowing minors to have alcohol simply because he was too nice to say no. He was just a harmless old guy. And very generous too, with the way he gave me rides and all that. He may have been your typical male in that he’d get it on with just about anyone who wanted to do so with him, but he’d never force himself on anyone.

I knew he’d never get out of prison. I just had no idea he’d last this long. I really thought he’d be shanked or something in the first year or two if he didn’t kill himself. His last letter to me was in early March and my last one to him that didn’t get returned was in late April, so he was alive at least till then. He probably died between May and the first of this month.

I wonder if he’s with Sandy, allowing her to boss him around as Art would with Doe? If he is, I’m sure he’s more than happy to jump to her every beck and call than to be in prison! At least that much is good; that he’s out of there. And he got out in time to beat another winter.

I’m not sure anymore as to what to think happens to us after death. If the soul separates from our physical bodies, then how can our soul have any conscious thoughts or feelings since our 5 basic senses are a part of our physical beings? How can the soul think or feel any sensations like cold and hot? I don’t know if I buy the reincarnation theory only because the population keeps fluctuating. If 10 people die and 5 are born, then does this mean only half of the people who died are reincarnated? And if so, what happens to the half that wasn’t reincarnated?

I just hope that if he can have any positive influence over us, he will. If anything, he’s the most likely to do so out of anyone I’ve known well enough who’s died. My grandparents would’ve been too much against me than for me since I was always so different. They were one of those who were only for those who were like them, like Doe and Art. Nana especially would be up there saying, “Tom’s not Jewish so I don’t care that he makes Jodi happy.” Nervous probably would be too jealous of Tom to do us much good, and so that leaves Bob. Good old, accepting, tolerant Bob.

He had no close relatives that I know of. The only person who was writing or seeing him, in the end, was his old landlady. No one else seemed to give a shit. I guess he’d be buried wherever Sandy is, and I think that would be either in the Greenfield area or somewhere in New York.

Again, I don’t know if things turned around for us because of him, the prayers, my spells, the lucky bamboo plant we got shortly after moving here, or the horseshoe above the front door that’s said to bring good luck so long as you don’t turn it the other way. Well, it must’ve been turned the other way or just a silly superstition for the couple that last lived here, considering that they ended up splitting. I try to keep an open mind, though God is the hardest one to be that open to. After all the shit I’ve gone through in my life, and after seeing so many people die in cases like Hurricane Katrina, it makes me wonder why he’d care about Jodi S. What’s so special about me?

I’m just going to enjoy the good times while they last because I know better than to assume they will last. All good things must come to an end, and good things do end rather quickly for us.

I couldn’t get the bamboo clipping to grow roots, but the area I snipped it from is growing back. Instead of trying to grow roots from clippings, we went down to get a bigger one that curls, but it was after 5:00 so she had closed.

Instead, I got a beta fish. He’s sitting by my computer now watching me type. He and his food were just under $5, so that wasn’t much. He’s mostly royal blue with shades of red in the tips of his fins. He seems pretty active and doesn’t just sit there at the bottom of the clear vase I’ve got him in.

We should be receiving our cash card and our deposit anytime now, and this is day 4 of no teeth pain. At least none bad enough to have to take some ibuprofen.

The only two things shadowing the enjoyment of having things go better for us after so much misery for so long is the prospect of having the house next door sell. I think the Brady bunch and their dogs will move in on November 1st.

Not much going on other than dealing with the usual city noise. Most of it is street noise. I get woken up almost every day by car stereos. They really make life hard. The question is, how are we going to dodge them till we can maybe get into a retirement community in a couple of decades?

Well, this is nothing compared to what’s coming. Today they officially put a sign out and the house next door is on the market. So the people I saw were the sellers and not the buyers. Either way, this so, so totally sucks! It’s going to be deafening with the barking and screaming right outside the window. Why must they always put big houses next to little houses? This way singles and couples can’t live in peace. I don’t see how the parents and dog owners themselves can stand the racket that kids and dogs make. One of the reasons I have no kids or dogs is that I don’t want to listen to them, much less have something around for us to disagree on so much of the time. So why must I listen to everyone else’s instead? It’s so frustrating watching this happen to us everywhere we go! I don’t want kids and dogs and I don’t want other people’s kids and dogs either! Yet they follow us everywhere we go as if the stereos aren’t enough to have to deal with.

Tom thinks that the soonest it could be occupied would be in 6 weeks, with 3-6 months being the longest.

We’re here now. Therefore it’ll go really fast. By November the Brady bunch and their dogs will have arrived, and as is always the case, I’ll be the one to have to deal with it. This appears to be a 4-bedroom house so I’m sure there’ll be more than just one kid over there. With my shit luck, there’ll be 4. I seem to have been cursed with them in fours a lot. They just don’t discipline them these days, you know? That seemed to have stopped in the 80s. And when I say “discipline” I don’t mean beat the shit out of them, but by God, can’t they at least teach them some simple manners and courtesy? And what is it with kids and screaming these days? They seem to love to just stand there and scream at the top of their lungs. I was a kid once myself yet I don’t get that. That was just never anything I remember finding any fun in, not that Dureen would’ve allowed me to get away with it. I wouldn’t mind them playing right outside the window like they’re going to once they move in next door, but only if they could do it in a civilized manner. It’s when they have to add the screaming to all their games that really gets old. Like I said, how can it not drive the parents batty? And all the barking, too? Most people out west don’t like to take their dogs indoors, though they do tend to take them in more up here where it’s colder than down in Arizona, so maybe I’ll get some peace at least some of the time. If we’re here next summer, though, then the dog will be left out for most of the day like the rude bitch did with her dog at the duplex.

If we were looking to buy a house here that house would be so ideal for being in the city. There’s nothing close to it. The canal wraps around one side then veers to the front, then there’s the street on the other side, and us in back. And we’re about 65’ away from the wall of their house. Only their fence comes right up to within a few feet of the wall of our house. It’d just be so ideal because dogs aren’t allowed here in this house, so all we’d hear was anything coming from across the street or across the canal. It’s a two-story house, so we could use the upstairs for storage if we wanted to.

I got a letter from Mary. She said they not only read their outgoing mail, but they also read incoming mail, too. The officers must hate reading mine then because they’re usually so long!

She also says she’s happy to hear we’re doing better (till they move in next door).

Tom heard from Meagan because she needed him as a reference as he’ll no doubt need her when we get to Sacramento. She got laid off from her teaching job but is reapplying for a new position. She’s gotta be like 6 months pregnant by now so I don’t know how easy that’ll be for her. It’s like with the age thing; it’s very easy to get away with and hard to prove. Bosses have always been turned off by pregnant women, and she’s not just a pregnant woman, she’s a pregnant lesbian. At least she has her partner and a family that gives a shit about her in the meantime.

I heard next door leave about an hour ago. All I heard was one car door. When she just returned, however, there were 3 doors in rapid succession. How many people has she got staying with her? At least I can’t hear, feel or see them! I just hope she–they–whatever, let me sleep at night when my schedule pushes further around. I’ve got the pounding of the bass waking me up as it is, along with occasional sirens. I don’t need the slamming of her doors to add to it. She seems to be out most of the day, but she comes and goes a couple of times late at night. She left at midnight last night and didn’t return for two hours. Still, she’s been heaven compared to Bev, Patty and what we’re in for on the other side.

Speaking of schedules, I’ve been accidentally holding the same one since our second day here, even if it’s the wrong one. I’ve been crashing before dawn and rising between 1 and 2 PM.

Since it’s obviously going to be a regular thing for the house across the street to blast off, I downloaded some nature sounds. I don’t like to write to music, and since I only have one sound machine that’s in the bedroom, I thought writing to rain showers and chirping birds would be better than music. Of course it won’t drown out the barking and screaming that’s coming next door, but it’ll take care of smaller sounds. Tom is going to fix the wireless headphones which I’d prefer to use when the noise levels get bad. This way I can move around the place with them.

Tom says it’s very common nowadays not to have dogs if you have little kids, but I know that if they’re going next to us they’ll have dogs. I don’t know how many or if they’ll be allowed indoors, but they’ll have at least one that’s plenty annoying enough on top of all the screaming, barbecuing and whatever else they plan on doing back there.

They’re back looking at the house again. They haven’t brought their dog(s) yet, but the lady brought a guy and some other woman to check it out with her and her kids. Probably checking to make sure the fence has no gaps in it that the dog could get through (we gotta start getting next to unfenced yards). Yup, they’re definitely moving in soon, and I’m sure they’ll never do a damn thing in front when they do. It’ll always have to be in back so I’ll have to hear it.

What’s weird is that there’s no back door. The back door is on the side of the house, sort of facing the street.

Later…

The new owners next door weren’t here for long. They haven’t officially begun moving in yet. The house is probably in escrow. I’m enjoying every minute I’ve got left without dogs barking just outside this window. Instead, I hear the faint beat of the music the house across the street blares every night.

The pigs were watching us just last week when we were downtown due to how they’ve been ticketing jaywalkers like crazy around here lately. A pig pulled to the side of the road half a block from where we stood waiting for the signal saying it was ok to cross an intersection. Some guy pulled up behind the squad car, got out, apparently asked the pig for directions, then took off. As soon as the pig saw that we waited till it was legal to cross, it took off, too.

Meanwhile, I doubt my blasting music could lead to trouble and I think Tom’s just being his usual paranoid self, but I’m not about to take chances either. I’ll use the headphones at all times when I want the music really loud. After all, I never thought that the message I left on the scum’s machine back east that Tammy was married to would lead me straight into a 3-year nightmare. Ever since then I’ve quit defending others. Remember, I left the message because I was pissed off at Bill’s abuse of Lisa. I knew I’d never get in trouble for that alone, but the point is, too many times I have defended others just to find them the least bit grateful in the end. That chick Tammy Williams that I knew when I lived on Oswego St. in Springfield would bitch about how horribly her alcoholic mother would treat her, yet when I let the drunk have it over the phone one day, Tammy called to tell me she wanted to come destroy me for it. Of all the lies my sister has told me, I know her telling me about Bill’s abuse was 100% true. I saw the aggression for myself. I never saw him actually strike anyone, but I could see that he had it in him to do so. He was very negative, very insensitive, and just a plain old asshole. Yet when little sis went to defend big sis, big sis threatened little sis with legal action. If I’d have had any idea she still loved him enough to defend him as she did, let alone make trouble for me, I never would’ve stuck up for her the way I did in my letters/calls. Never again will I defend anyone that isn’t Tom! It’s like all the women on my side of the family are not only aggressive themselves, but they’re attracted to aggressive men. Art may be considered rather mellow, but still, he’s aggressive compared to Tom. Tom would never beat his kids if he had any, or slap his wife. I only saw Art slap Doe once, but I heard/saw plenty of attacks on Larry and Tammy, and there were a few on me as well till I was able to fight back.

Damn his mother to hell! Oh, how I want to kill her so badly for ceasing to care about her own son!!! I want to smash it, mash it, bash it and trash it!

After today’s walk to the grocery store for a few items we forgot, I saw that the old lady on the other side of us does have a dog. It appears to be very old and timid, but hasn’t been a problem, thanks to the chick that lives between us. Her place blocks any sound that may come from the old lady’s yard. I thought there had to be a dog there. Almost no house is dogless. Dogs and houses simply go hand in hand.

Tom sprayed the exterior of the house, so hopefully it will cut down the spiders and even the midges, too. However, with the colder weather coming on, that should help, too.

I still haven’t worked on my story. I have a little over an hour before I can sweep, so perhaps I’ll at least read what I last wrote so I have it fresh in mind where I left off.

That’s the fourth time I’ve heard next door come and go, and there are always two or more doors. I wish she wouldn’t get so door-slammy, but things could be worse and I’m sure they will be soon enough.

I was hoping, as foolish as it may be, that the house next door would remain empty at least till the spring, but I have a feeling it’s going to be sold soon, and there goes my peace at least on the left side of the house. I saw a woman with an eight-year-old boy as well as a toddler check the place out. She had a white SUV. The other woman I saw had “real estate agent” written all over her. First they went inside, then they came out, mom put her two-legged animals in the SUV, then she gazed into the backyard with the agent. Lastly, they checked out some papers together before they took off. I say it’ll be occupied by October, or November at the latest. I always did think Tom’s theory made no sense anyway. He thought an older person owned it who was in a nursing home with hopes of returning to it one day, but why would you remove all your furniture if you thought you may return? Tom said he’s seen people checking it out before, but he assumed it was just family checking up on it to make sure there’d been no damage or anything. I’m sure God’s busy right now picking out the biggest, loudest dog to move in there, and once again, I’ll be the one to have to deal with it, along with the screaming kids and whatever else they do back there.

The place has already gotten noisier as it is. Someone across the street has taken to blasting music from their house in the evenings, and although it doesn’t take much to drown out with my own music or a fan, it is a bit annoying. One shouldn’t have to hear someone else’s music, faintly or not.

Tom had to wear a special shirt today to work because they were doing a tour, I guess.

We walked to the bank he cashes his check at, then to the pizza place. After that, we hit Safeway for our biggest grocery shopping spree in months. It cost us nearly $100, though we did get a lot of non-edibles.

We got this really cool battery-operated thing that emits a puff of fragrance every few seconds from a small bottle of oil. The puff is hard to see. It’s almost like a faint mist. I’ve got it in the bathroom.

Tom fixed his bike when we got back and opened the gas heater. We never found any dead mice, but we vacuumed the droppings and dust and found that the blower wasn’t broken at all. It’s just not supposed to come on till it reaches a certain temperature.

Today was cool and windy, setting all the wind chimes on a frenzy. Tomorrow’s only supposed to be in the high 50s. I guess it’s going to rain. Still, it’s sad to know that summer ended nearly as fast as it began and that it won’t be warm again till June.

Things are still going well. The only annoyance around here, besides the stereos, is this dog across the canal. It’s left out 24/7 with a whole lot to bark at, given the position it’s in. We’ve seen it on our walks. It’s huge and loud. Way more so than the bitch’s dog back at the duplex.

The spells on my tooth worked for two days, but today it’s back to being bad. I’m going to step up the spells and hope for the best.

I researched my bamboo plant online. It’s actually called a Lucky bamboo plant that’s said to bring good fortune. We’ll see. Meanwhile, I clipped a trimming off of the leafy part and put it in water. Hopefully, it will sprout roots that will grow a new cane, as they call the stalk.

She just came in next door. At first I was surprised not to be able to feel each other’s movements, considering that the back porch sort of extends out and wraps around her place, but it’s not actually connected to either structure, so that’s why we wouldn’t have to feel it if she brought any wild kids over.

I sort of wish they’d come out with a hydraulic jack and give the left side of this place a boost, but tilted houses are the least of our concerns.

Something woke me up for a second this morning, but I don’t know what it was. I didn’t think it was a stereo. I just have to face the fact that I’m not going to sleep well no matter where I go. It’s just not meant to be. Every 2-3 days I’m sure I’ll be woken up. Especially being this close to the street.

I still haven’t started back up on my story because I’ve been really working on the unlimited sweeps where they allow multiple entries.

I put spells both on Blondie and my tooth which had gotten really bad, and just like that, he’s suddenly got more energy, and the pain in my tooth is gone. Coincidence?

I blew up my ball now that I have room for it in the bedroom corner. I make it a point to bounce on days when I don’t go out walking.

Someone’s out now popping firecrackers. Why they’d do it on a cool dark evening, beats me. People just have to make noise and get attention, you know? I’m still enjoying the place, though, till it gets as unbearable as the duplex got to be over the last few months.

I swear this little bamboo plant has already grown a couple of inches.

Tom lit the pilot on the gas stove the other day for in the early mornings. However, it started stinking and smoking, and so judging by the turds he found, he thinks there was a dead mouse in it. So he’s got to pry it out sometime soon. That may explain why the blower on the thing doesn’t work; because the mouse chewed the wire.

Hurricane Katrina killed thousands of people in Louisiana, and that’s just fine with me seeing that 99% of the causalities are blacks.

I had the strangest win dream that made no sense because it didn’t even have to do with the sweeps. It was a coupon I got in a box of cupcakes for a free bird, which I’d never get, at a local pet shop.

True to my dream premonition, I did win again! I just didn’t expect to hear about it so soon. The sweep ended on the last day of August, the winners were drawn on Saturday and notified on Sunday. It was another book I won, but this book just may be a good one. It’s a stalker-type book. Tom says the title, Courting Danger, sounds like me. The notification, which had all the winners’ names, said to email them once we received our prizes. This sweep started when I started sweeping at the beginning of May, so it more than likely snagged a Shasta entry. I just hope it gets forwarded without any trouble. It was a weekly, 1½-star random-draw sweep with no trivia or strategy involved.

Again she filled the trash bin. I guess she just bought something else that was rather large, though how the hell you can fit much in a 300-square-foot place is beyond me. I hope she doesn’t continue to do this, though this is nothing compared to the shit we’ve had to deal with from other neighbors. If we have to, we can always bag stuff up and place it alongside the bin.

I’m so glad we’re not at the duplex this Labor Day weekend! Sometimes they wouldn’t do anything on holidays, but in the warmer weather they got to be rather unpredictable, so I’m glad we’re not there to have to deal with whatever barbecue parties and chaos may erupt there.

Been so busy sweeping that I haven’t had much time for writing. I haven’t even worked on my book for about a week before the move.

The neighbor continues to come and go at odd hours but isn’t home nearly as much as Bev and Pat were. She seems to load/unload things a lot, too. At least she hasn’t been a problem in any way.

A loud siren passed by as I was waking up. Tom said there were 3 or 4 really loud stereos earlier that I slept through. As he says, it’s pretty much going to sleep to them and being close to waking up that may be the only real hassle (just so long as we never get one of those pulling up next to the house).

We walked to that shop with the bamboo stalk I’ve always liked that I first saw when we first got to Oregon. For just $1.50, I got a 6” one. All you do is put it in water. You never plant it in potting soil. I plan to get a taller one that curls, along with a pretty vase for it, just as soon as we have more money. It was a really cute store and I was glad it was open. It’s an Asian store. The lady who owns it sells 100-packs of incense for $5.50. Not bad, considering how Jan’s 100-packs are $10. She also sells 15 sticks for a buck, rather than a dime a stick.

When we got back, Tom neatly arranged the outside stuff in back and covered it with a tarp. Then he hosed down the front patio and killed two huge spiders that were there. They were average for Arizona but big for Oregon. We’ve been getting tons of spiders in here, but his hosing off the webs seems to have helped so far. He’s going to get something to treat the outside walls with, as well as something to kill the wasp’s nest on the side of the house. It had gotten to be Maricopa-creepy in here with at least half a dozen spiders, some rather large, each night. Tonight, however, I have yet to see one. Even the midges have failed to make a pest of themselves.

I had a rather disgusting experience last night when I was in the kitchen and felt something crunch down under my heel. At first I thought it was something the rat dragged out, then I thought it might be a beetle or even a cockroach, but when I turned on the overhead light, I could see that it was a giant spider. It was gross! I can still feel that thing crushing under my heel.

Speaking of the rat, he seems to really have lost his energy. He still comes out to cuddle and explore, but not nearly as much as before we moved. He was always at the door begging to be let out. Now he spends most of his time sleeping. I worry that the beginning of the end has arrived for him, as sad as it is, but he is also at that age where they start slowing down.

Tom untangled the pink butterfly wind chime that was left here, and then we hung up 6 of my 8 chimes. Tomorrow after he’s hosed the back, I’ll hang the last two in back. I like to separate the one that sounds the prettiest, as well as the most unique which is my wooden bamboo stick one so that they stand out.

I look forward to doing things such as Webshots, Blockbuster, sweeps memberships and oil orders. I also look forward to getting a small dining table, a washer/dryer, a new brush for the vacuum, and things like that. I still hope to get season two of Charlie’s Angels and maybe a basic Tonner doll.

Well, today I received my first wake-up call thanks to a super loud stereo. I was due to get up right around that time anyway, but I didn’t need the help. It’s just life in the city for you.

Our mail started arriving here yesterday. What’s weird is that there have only been two items forwarded. I thought we’d be bombarded with junk mail alone. One piece of mail was a 24-hour notice-to-enter letter from Pam to show the place to a prospective renter on the 29th. It was postmarked on the 25th, so why we didn’t get it the next day, the last day we were to get mail there, is beyond me. Guess the fat bitch didn’t get a buddy in there after all. Wouldn’t it be funny if Pam went to show the place to the tune of the TV blasting and the dog barking!

Speaking of barking, we actually hear more of that here, but because they’re not literally right outside the window, it’s tolerable. It won’t be once the yard next door gets occupied, though, and it’s not their side yard. It’s their backyard. I could tell this when we walked by it yesterday when we went to get groceries. That would make sense by the direction of the roof slants, too. Why do we always have to be right by someone’s backyard? At least the house itself is about 100’ from us.

A chicken ran down the road as we were walking yesterday. Somebody around here doesn’t do a good job of containing their animals.

Tom went to pay the rent today and asked if next door was moving, saying that I was paranoid she’d move because she’s a good neighbor, which is true. Pam said, however, that she was in earlier today to pay her rent. See, I again had thought she was moving because the handyman pulled in yesterday, then pulled right back out, suggesting he was waiting to work on her place after she was gone. She had some guy stay with her last night. I heard their voices in the driveway late last night and saw them load a bike into her trunk before they took off. Today I saw her pull in by herself and take the bike out of the car, then she took off again. She definitely comes and goes at odd times, and she doesn’t go to bed early either.

My ear, or tooth, and we still think it’s the tooth, has been driving me batty lately. I’m hoping it’s the beginning of the end and that the pain will go away soon as the tooth dies and then breaks up.

Tom got two dressers yesterday and some old computers. The dressers are rather nice. There’s a short dark one that he’s using and I’m using the tall white one. It’s got 6 drawers. Once I got the drawers loaded and the tables set up in the living room, I saw that I really did have enough space after all. If I still had the dolls I’ve sold or given away, then no way would I be able to set them all up. The moldings and cabinet tops really saved me as far as space goes. I have Barbies, other dolls and knickknacks up there. I still can’t believe that a 1-bedroom duplex could be bigger than a 2-bedroom house! This is the smallest house I’ve ever seen. It’s not much bigger than the studio I had in Phoenix. Except for the bathroom, though, I guess we don’t need any more shelves. I’d like a washer which I see us getting in December. I’d also like a small table for the kitchen, office chairs for the both of us, a new brush for the vacuum, and a larger raised airbed.

The worst thing about this place is the bugs! At least the place isn’t haunted.

I sit here and I wonder – is California our next stop? Or will we get run out and around the city a few more times first? Will we be here in March? I have no idea. I tried to get a vision of the next place we’ll be in, but I saw nothing.

Tom will be working overtime next week. He did a little overtime this week, too.