I’m typing this entry on my new office chair. Oh, how nice it is to be on wheels again and to be able to swivel and lower the level of the seat! The only catch is that I’m facing downhill, so I sort of slump forward. Maybe when Tom gets over his cold he can help me rearrange the room.

I don’t understand why I can’t prevent Tom from colds like I can myself. It’s coming up on 9 years now since I’ve had a cold.

The bed came yesterday. Although I don’t regret getting it, it’s not quite as comfortable as the airbed and doesn’t distribute body weight as evenly as air and waterbeds do, but it’s still a fine bed and certainly more comfortable than most beds. It’s heavy too, so perhaps it won’t slip so easily when it’s on a platform. I sort of wish it were a bit lower-density foam, but that’s the kind that breaks down too fast like the foam that ran around and between the airbags of the bed we had in Arizona. This bed has a 20-year warranty. I wouldn’t mind sleeping on it till I’m 60 if we don’t lose it before then (what I mean by that is that we’re either moving up in life to stay, or we’ll continue to build ourselves up just to get kicked down over and over again). The memory foam which is attached to the regular foam part (it’s 6” in all), doesn’t seem to work well, probably because it’s too thin. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it was all regular foam, but it sure beats RV or jail mattresses! It’ll just be all the better and complete once I have the platform and headboard/shelves.

The rats are doing well. Tinkerbell still doesn’t climb up my leg, but she climbs down now. We never had a rat this jealous before in our lives! She is one spoiled little attention-lover! Coco still won’t let me pick her up without squealing, but she’s started coming out of the cage. She hops in and out and goes back and forth. Meanwhile, Tinkerbell just loves me. She perks her ears up and comes running when I call her or go near the cage.

Tom made me an appointment to get my ear cleaned, but I won’t be able to get in for a few weeks, the day after my birthday. I just hope this doctor knows what he’s doing and can cure the pressure and popping I’ve had for so long now! Then God can give me some whole new long-term problem.

Now that I’ve got glasses to help me see fine things, I’ve been able to sew easier. I beheaded both Falling Star and Murganah because their bodies were poorly put together. Very disproportionate and unstable. Their heads, however, make nice figurines. Actually, Falling Star ends just below the collarbone and Murganah ends just below the boobs. Meanwhile, I adjusted Murganah’s clothes to fit the Tonners. Did a damn good job if I do say so myself. I made a jumpsuit out of Murganah’s pants and took in the skirt and blouse.

I received a large paperback from The Human Kindness Foundation that Mary told me about. It’s not very interesting, but I might be able to trade or sell it. It’s basically geared toward helping prisoners do an easier time.

I got letters from Paula and Mary.

Paula thanked me for the CDs and incense. She had surgery on her toe. They put a pin in it, I guess, and she’s been in pain.

She’s also seeing a 55-year-old bus driver who’s a Puerto Rican. I guess he’s separated right now. She says his age doesn’t matter so long as he knows how to work it. This girl has a man’s appetite for sex as Tom has a woman’s appetite. Then again, Tom has no appetite. I hate to say it, but I’m glad. I simply have no desire for sex anymore than he does.

Because it had been a while, I figured Mary would hit me for a favor soon enough, and she did. Her brother recently married a woman from Thailand and now they’re getting divorced because she only married him to stay in the country. Well, because he’s so down and out about it she wanted me to send him the Misfits shirt we never got and enclosed 10 stamps to do it with. Again she jumped the gun, so again she loses since I can’t send her stamps back. I explained to her that the shirt we got had nothing to do with the Misfits and only had the company’s name and logo that was running the sweep, and not to ever assume I’d give up my wins. It was nice of her to send the stamps, but rude to assume I’d just give up a win like that. Again I suggested she wait till I gave her an answer to her requests, but hey, that’s just more stamps for me. From now on, though, forget about bragging about my wins to her! Not if she’s only going to expect me to send them to those she knows who are having a rough time in life.

Mary also reminded me that the media’s full of shit and explained the real reason Monster is in the funny farm. It isn’t because he’s incompetent, as I always suspected, but because he nearly succeeded in killing himself and the jail doesn’t want to be held responsible should he succeed the next time around. She says, however, that no matter what happens, they can’t keep her in there for more than 3 more years. I almost dread the day she’s released. What kind of a pest will she be then?

I just can’t believe her at times! How can someone be so generous and so rude at the same time? She’s too generous. Therefore, she wants others to do her generosity for her when she can’t. I just don’t understand her. She says she can’t ask for help with her problems yet she has no problem asking people for things and to do this and to do that. What’s the difference?

I can’t believe she hasn’t moved yet next door, but it is winter and people don’t move as much during the winter. I just don’t want to lose her if the worst she’s going to do is annoy me every so often. She doesn’t annoy me nearly as much as they did with their damn doors at the duplex. If we were suddenly attached to her, though, all that would change. It’s a Western thing, I guess since people out west just don’t seem to make good neighbors for the most part. Put her adjacent to us and I’m sure she’d be anything but kind and considerate. I’ve had way more neighbors in the west than I had in the east, yet only a few of the eastern neighbors were bad while only a few western ones were good.