The good news is that the handicapping is going really well. He’s now at the point where he could easily make what he makes at work in a week or more and is hopeful of being able to quit his job around the first of the year. It takes time to get to the point where it’s making enough money that it only needs a couple of hours of work a day, and in order to do that he’d need more time. Because he’s been there for over two years now, he’s eligible for two weeks of vacation. He still won’t actually bet aggressively till the 16th, but he’s able to tell without betting seriously just what he would’ve profited if he had. For now, he has to manually input the information on each horse and each track, but eventually, he can download the info and save himself tons of time. This info costs money, though, and so he doesn’t want to pay for it till he starts generating good money.

The bad news is that we may be going from noisy to very noisy just like we did at the duplex when summer hit, along with the fat bitch and her dog. Yeah, had Tom known better when he was paying the rent, he could’ve asked Pam, “So what are you going to send to run us out of this place?”

To back up a bit, Tom and I rode to Fred’s yesterday and ate at Carl’s Jr. before doing our shopping, as we normally do. This was when I informed him I had a couple of disturbing neighborhood reports to fill him in on. First I told him that the house diagonally across from us got a puppy, though amazingly, they do take it indoors. He’s already seen the thing, he said. I knew that yard would get dogged sooner or later, as I told him. I figure that once it’s a little older they’ll start leaving it out all the time. He says he doubts they’d do that before winter. Well, no dog’s been as annoying as the canal dog as of yet, and I sure hope it stays that way since no one will shoot the fucking thing any more than they’ll ban these fucking stereos!

Then I let Tom know that I saw a Century 21 SUV pick Kim up at around 1:00 on Friday and that I was afraid she was moving for real this time. I thought that maybe that’s why she rented such a cheap little dump; so she could save for a house. Or perhaps she won or inherited some money. But then he told me he’s seen that vehicle there nearly every day lately and that he thinks it’s just a friend.

Coming to visit in the middle of the afternoon on a workday? And every day? Hmmm… that’s some friend. Especially when you consider the fact that most folks with jobs don’t like to hang with those who are jobless, no matter what the reason may be.

But then come 2 PM yesterday, what I always figured would happen (I just didn’t think it’d take so long) came to pass. A pickup came and started hauling shit out. It only made two quick trips, but how much stuff can you have to move from a 200-300-square-foot place as opposed to a 1000-square-foot duplex?

When I got up at midnight I was surprised to see her car here. She left for 15 minutes at 2:30. She’s too fat to be a druggie, yet this thing never sleeps! She’s been coming and going at all kinds of hours during both the day and night that I just can’t figure out when she sleeps. Whenever the hell that is, it obviously isn’t for long at a time, unless like with Tina, she’s got a twin living there with her!

Anyway, I guess she’ll be completely moved out by today unless she’s going to take her sweet time until the 1st like Beverly did. If she’s all paid up till then, then she’s got no hurry. I’m sure management already has someone lined up and ready to move in too, by the 1st or sooner, and of course that’s got me wondering if Kim was just a fluke and if the Tom-and-Jodi-must-have-loud-rude-obnoxious-neighbors curse will once again be in effect until we can buy our way out of civilization for what will hopefully be the last time. One good neighbor isn’t enough to convince me the bad neighbor streak that ran from 1992-2005 is off for good. I’d need 2-3 good ones in a row, but hopefully we won’t have to deal with that many turnovers before we can live alone. Alone. Not in someone else’s yard or driveway, or with their dogs, kids, etc. The folks on the other side of us don’t exactly count due to the distance and layout of the place, but yes, they’d be a nightmare at just a few feet away and especially if they were attached to us because there are so many of them. We saw the older couple with the toddler on the deck coming back from shopping yesterday, but if the dog was there, one of the two cars that were present was blocking it from view.

Another thing that’ll suck once the new renter arrives is that they’ll be coming up to the house for their mail unless they too, have a PO Box somewhere.

We’ve got enough money to be able to split as soon as they get too obnoxious for us and they wake me up regularly, so it’s nice to know we won’t have to suffer with them for 4 months like we did with the bitch and her beast. I mean, when you consider the kinds of people that’d be likely to rent a place like that, most of them just ain’t good! okay, so it’s great that they can’t have dogs, can’t have a lot of people living there, can’t have TVs drive us crazy, but they can have stereos and friends with stereos. Even if they don’t have a stereo, all it takes is one visitor that does, and you know everyone has company 3-4 times a week but us. I also know that the person will be on welfare or disability and home way too much of the time.

I wish we could run them out for a change instead of it being the other way around, as I’d really like to stay put till we can get out of state, but I know better so Tom’s going to start getting The Nickel. I just can’t believe we’ll get two tolerable neighbors in a row. If we do, there’s yet another reason never to live without Lucky Bamboos and horseshoes.

Fred had a really good deal on their fragrances; a buy-one-get-one-free deal. I got a Mary Kate and Ashley duo set, plus Island Gardenia that’s absolutely gorgeous.

I also got a 6” Barbie miniature done up as Rapunzel like the regular-sized one I’ve got. The gown is almost an exact duplicate and the hair’s past her feet. It’s so cute.

Been winning DVDs, T-shirts, a large dry-erase board and a coupon for a pie. I just don’t know if they carry this brand in any of the stores around here.