The new laptop came and it’s really cool and all that, but it’s really messing up my routine while we try to configure it and all that. I’m getting way behind on both the sweeps and Netwinner. Yet Tom’s got to work today so he’s not here to help me out of the jam I got in after he left this morning. I was fine until I suddenly couldn’t do anything anymore. I thought the mouse we plugged in malfunctioned, but that wasn’t it.

I don’t want to get my hopes up what with how hell-bent God’s been about keeping me glued to cities, but Tom not only learned which parts of Sacramento are whiter than others, he discovered some rural towns with cheap housing very close to the city. The only catch is that there’s a slight elevation. Not a huge elevation like Klamath Falls, but enough of one to cause a dusting of snow in December and January. I’d hate to have to see another flake! However, if I have to take a little dusting to get some peace and space, I’ll take it. The good part is that the winter temps are still the same, so it wouldn’t be like moving to another cold climate, or one that was still kind of cold.

Today’s the day we begin pulling the plugs. Tom said that if he doesn’t get out of work in time to give notice today, he’ll drop it in writing tomorrow through their slot at the management company. Meanwhile, he’s definitely going to give official notice at work.

Tom says he’s nervous, but not scared. I’m leaning closer to being scared. He doesn’t think we’ll end up on the streets and lose everything, but that there is the chance he won’t be able to get the truck licensed down there. He explained to me that it’s very hard to register vehicles in California, so we may be forced to sell the truck and get some other junker. That’d really be going back in time! What a setback it would be to not only be in chaotic apartments but to also be without a vehicle! God would have this happen to us, too. So we’ll live like a couple of bums for who knows how long, and be God’s little bums as we are most of the time.

The things that worry me the most, though, are the money and the noise. Dealing with noise while awake is bad enough, especially when you’re trying to concentrate on something. But when it’s so extreme that you can’t even sleep and are getting sick from lack of sleep as well as the stress of knowing you’re trapped there for a year or so, that makes it all the worse. I wish I could adapt to apartment life and forget about rural or retirement living, but there’s only so much conforming I can do. We are who we are. I’d also like to think that we’ll be pleasantly surprised and that God will compensate us for the hell we went through moving up here, but He is who He is, too. And He is not on our side and He does not have our best interest at heart!

On the flip side, as much as I often wish we’d just stayed in the Phoenix house till it was paid off, then moved straight to California, skipping the mountain, the motels, the duplex, the apartments, and as much as I wish I could get stuck in a happy little rut like most people, and quit taking such chances, it’ll still be sunny, warm California! No more cold and snow! No more microscopic, tilted dump!

Despite being made of wax rather than foam, the new earplugs are a bust. At least for sleeping, they are because they don’t stay in place when I lay on that ear. I could also hear loud sounds through them, too.

Later on in my day yesterday, I was back to thinking the tea might not be a bust for the millionth time. I lost those two pounds I’d gained throughout the day which was weird. The numbers usually go up during the day, not down. I awoke at 133, so who knows what that two-pound bloat was all about. I’ll probably order more tea but will wait till I can do it from the laptop rather than this corrupted piece of shit.

I placed Stacey’s letter in a different position yesterday and the mailman took it. I’d have to wonder if something up there was trying to tell me something if he didn’t! I would probably have to take it downtown to the mailbox this morning if it hadn’t gone out. Just her getting it is enough for me, though if I could really be picky about it, I’d have her be alone when she read it. No distractions that way. That is unless the phone rang or someone came to her door. I kind of feel bad for making up stories, but since simply telling her that I was remembering her, am sorry for our past troubles, and would love to hear from her, even though she was a bitch, wouldn’t get her to contact me, I figured why not dress things up a bit and add some pizzazz to the truth? She could get the letter tomorrow, but more than likely she’ll be starting next week off with it instead.

Today my husband is half a century old! I’ve given him the code for the $15 Amazon credit I won, so he can have at least a little something.

I know most people would never say this in a million years, but I wish he were 55 and I was 65. He thinks we could buy something in a retirement community in 5 years. Well, I still don’t think we’ll ever get to “go home,” but if he’s right, and neither of us wins big in the meantime, 5 years in the mainstream, especially if most of it’s gonna be spent in an apartment, is a loooooooong time. Thank God for these new waxy earplugs. They won’t drown out snoring like they claimed online, but they will do a better job than the foam ones. Then all I’d have to worry about would be the insanely loud sounds, as well as the vibrant ones. I think today I’ll do a little test and instead of sleeping with the louder air cleaner on, I’ll just use the new plug with the sound machine or fan or both. These aren’t as loud. I want to see how well they do with the super-loud sounds like the stereos and big trucks. This will give me an idea of if I can survive all the banging that apartments bring. I’d love to be able to use the sound machine rather than the air cleaner. The sound machine doesn’t have filters that need regular vacuuming.

Tom got the money from Stephen and gave him $100. The end is truly beginning! This is the part that would scare Jessie, not that I’m not scared as well. But sometimes pulling the plug on our lifelines and various connections to a particular place is the only way to move on. Once these ties are severed, there’s no room for any more excuses or hesitations. We then have to get a new place to live and a new job or else we’ll end up homeless and starving. Of course that can still happen anyway! There’s always that risk.

I didn’t get to begin to fire up that nasty little chip called “me” in Stacey’s brain yesterday because the dumb-ass mailman, whoever he is, was not only too lazy to take her letter which I’d left out but to close our gate behind him as well. It is possible, that while he was lazy where the gate was concerned (at least there aren’t loose dogs running around everywhere like in Maricopa), he may’ve missed it. The envelope it’s in is green and so is the post the box is attached to. This same envelope was missed before, and when Tom went to get the mail that day he almost missed it, too. Today I’m going to stick my head out starting at noon and check for the mail truck every 15 minutes and personally hand it to the carrier. Stacey still may get it Saturday, but she’ll get it either way so long as she’s at the address it’s going to.

My Marley doll came and I’d never guess she was Tyler’s little sister. She’s one overpriced little cutie, even though more work goes into making a Tonner than a Barbie, and Tonners are of better quality material. ! I would’ve hated to miss out on her as there are only 499 others like her. Hope I don’t lose her either!

The bummer is that while I can’t be sure till around the 1st, I think this tea has done all it’s going to do for me. I’ve been approximately the same weight now for a week. It makes sense that if it really does attack fat it would keep going because I still have plenty of fat to attack, and I still don’t think all I lost was water, but then what’s taking so long?

Later…

Tom got up a little while ago and said he used the Amazon code to get himself an infrared thermometer that sounds way cool. You point it at something and it tells you the temperature of that particular object.

Later…

Yup, I’m definitely done losing weight. In fact, I’m up a couple of pounds. It’s weird cuz I suddenly felt a little bloated before I weighed in and found that I was up. I’ll still drink my two cups a day for another week or two, then decide if I want to quit altogether and just drink it when I’m watery, cut down to one cup or what. One thing’s for sure and that’s that I’m definitely not going to bother ordering another box tomorrow like I’d originally planned.

Here goes another one of those what-Tom-doesn’t-know-won’t-hurt-him things because I’m about to write about something I said I wouldn’t. I decided a while back that I would eventually write about this incredible “chance” occurrence since I did absolutely nothing wrong, it was just that I was going to save it for the road till my computer went to hell and left me with so much free time. Besides, I’ll probably be more focused on the scenery on the way down there anyway, so I decided to cover it now.

It happened back in April and was one of the freakiest experiences of my life! Well, I ran into the crazy pig in cyberspace through OLS of all places! What are the chances of that?! You’d think they were awfully low, but it happened! At first I thought God was paving the way for him to get at me again, but since it’s been two months, I guess he’s not coming. I’d be lying if I said a part of me wasn’t sorry, too. Not that I could get past his weapons and his cronies and beat the shit out of him like I’d love to do, but I think I may be able to inflict enough damage before I was restrained. See, he remembers the all-too-cooperative and naïve-to-the-law Jodi. Not the one that later learned just how badly he tricked and manipulated me in every sense of the word and how he used his authority to abuse me with his power and hatred. So while I could appear calm, cool and collected and make him think I was going to go down easy a second time around, I could sneak a quick punch into that evil face before I showed him that I’d changed. And changed a lot. It might’ve been worth whatever it cost me in the end. More of me, however, is glad he didn’t show up. I think deep down I knew he wouldn’t because he had nothing tangible to get me with. With the crazy black bitch, he had the stuff I really sent, making it convenient for him to get me into the station so he could get my prints on the threats he typed up himself.

Anyway, I was going through the single-entry sweeps as usual when I entered a contest for a grand from “The O Group,” a real estate company, which has since been deleted from OLS’s database for some reason. After I entered I noticed a picture of a black guy and a white woman with the names Jerry and S O underneath it. As I stared at the picture, it slowly sunk in just who it was! My heart pounded with rage and shock and I then checked to see if they were in Phoenix. Sure enough, they were.

The part I didn’t tell Tom was the email I sent saying, “So this is what you do now that you’ve been kicked off the police force for using and abusing your authority?” Then I decided to scare him by saying that I’d see to it that he legally paid for what he did to me. If it didn’t scare him, then I’m sure it at least shocked the shit out of him! I didn’t save his message any more than I saved Stacey’s letter, but again, I know I didn’t do a damn thing wrong and he knows it too, though a part of me really did wonder if he’d either fly up here himself or sic the Klamath Falls pigs on me to at least try to scare me with threats of some kind.

With Stacey, even if she could find out where I am, I’m smarter now. I couldn’t be tricked in the same ways, so no amount of fingerprints or saliva could be used to make an innocent letter seem threatening.

Tom doesn’t think it’s him. He thinks it could be a relative, but as he pointed out, pigs aren’t allowed to have their faces shown in areas that don’t pertain to police work. Like that many pigs follow the rules anyway? If he’s right, then with only 12 Jerry Os listed in such a big city, I agree it’s got to be a relative. I remember that face, though. I swear it’s the same face. I think it is him and that he joined his family’s company after getting kicked off the force. After so many complaints, not even his own would protect him, and like I said a zillion times, I certainly couldn’t have been his and the black bitch’s only victim. They’re like rapists; they continue to victimize people throughout their lives until someone stops them.

Whether it’s him or a relative, I wonder who will be more shocked to hear from me, him or Stacey? Again, I know nothing I could send or say could change a thing, and yeah it sucks to know Stacey will just blow off my letter. I just get a kick out of knowing I’ve “resurfaced,” even if it’s in a very different way.

Such a nasty, nasty little chip!

Later…

Kim left quietly and then returned with her song, so she got to hear one of mine, too!

Why oh why is it that I suddenly can’t get Stacey off my mind??? She’s totally tempting me to map out the story idea she’s inspired.

There goes Kim again. As much as I can’t wait to get out of here, it sucks to know that where we’re going is going to be way noisier than this place on its noisiest of days, and this house is going to seem like we may as well have been on a deserted island compared to the claustrophobic feeling I’ll have in an apartment, huddled in so close to others. Apartments are so much like living in a rooming house.

Anyway, Stacey’s inspiring me to start a little “accidental reunion” sort of story, but I’ve still got the other story I’m working on. Maybe variety would still be a good thing after all, and it would be good to work on more than one story at once. It’s just not going to be very easy to concentrate in an apartment, and of course, when my computer works I like to dedicate most of my time to Netwinner. I suppose I could write while doing Netwinner, though. That’s what I usually do. Just sitting there doing Netwinner only is boring, so I usually write while I’m at it. It doesn’t slow me down much that way.

My Marley doll will be here today, so that’s good. What isn’t is that my computer’s still fucked up. Because it is, though, I have more time for other things like writing. I thought this would be a good time to write about Stacey.

I’m not usually in the habit of writing to those who despise me and who treated me like shit, but just like it was funny to send Doe and Art the postcard from PR, I thought it’d be funny to surprise Stacey with a letter, too. Yes, as strange as I know it may sound, here I am, 15 years after the fact, fantasizing about that overly serious, bossy, bitchy, back-stabbing, blond version of Kate Jackson who’s probably anything but attractive these days as is the case with most who are in their 40s.

I had to think of a creative reason for why I was writing and didn’t think it’d sound cool to say “I just felt like it.” I decided to lie instead and say that Judy, who worked at the Vista too, contacted me. I said Judy told me she’d been upset all these years for how she treated me, and that part of the reason was that I was the one and only woman she was ever attracted to and it freaked her out because she wasn’t used to those feelings.

Me and others wondered if there could’ve been a grain of truth to this, too. It’s hard to believe someone like her could’ve been attracted to me, though, mainly because I was attracted to her. You know mutual attraction’s a no-no for me (although Teddy Bear and I were attracted to each other even though we never did anything)! While some may’ve considered her average-looking overall, she had a very stylish, mature, sophisticated, classy and elegant appearance. She had to have been at least 5’ 6” and around 120-130 pounds.

Her address says it was recorded online at the site I got it from in ’04, so hopefully she’s still there. It wouldn’t surprise me if she not only has lived there for 10 years or more but will live there another 10-20 years. There was a satellite link to the house and sure enough, it’s a nice house in a beautiful neighborhood. Sure she’d get barking dogs and car stereos, but the area and the houses around there are gorgeous. It looks twice as big as the Phoenix house we had, maybe even two stories. Lots of pools in the neighborhood, unlike the neighborhood we were in.

Anyway, I said stuff like, don’t be ashamed of how you feel, don’t worry about the past as it’s done and over with, and that I was sorry for the things I said and did that I shouldn’t have. Meanwhile, Judy “asked” that I surprise her with the letter and let her know I have no hard feelings and all that. I, of course, mentioned moving to Oregon, and soon to California, among the fact that I’ve been married all these years, am doing well, winning contests, a little about my interests, etc. I mentioned no longer being in touch with Andy because of the drugs he was into.

I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see her reaction upon reading the letter and realizing who I am! At least I think I must’ve been living somewhere in her brain all these years and that she’d remember me. I even gave her my Webshots username and said I couldn’t swear to it, but I thought she might be in the background of one of the pictures taken at the Vista, just to pique her curiosity. It may worry her for a minute, too! Unlike with Doe and Art, not that I ever gave them any contact information, it would be interesting if I got a response from her, even if it was to say that it couldn’t have been “Judy” who contacted me, don’t give the person any more info, don’t contact her again, etc. But I know that on top of getting a kick out of surprising her, I won’t hear a damn thing in return, even though I said I’d love to hear from her. I enclosed my email address, but not my postal address, explaining that we’re about to move and may not be able to leave a forwarding address. I really did this on the very, very off chance she did respond! If she responded on a day when Tom got the mail instead of me, he may have a heart attack! I’m not even going to tell him about this. In this case, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. I know I said absolutely nothing that could get me in any kind of trouble whatsoever, but knowing Tom, he’d think the cops, the FBI, the CIA and the ATF were going to kick down the door any minute and throw me in jail for years!

I haven’t actually mailed the letter yet. I want to wait till I’ll be up when he comes home. That way, I can pull the letter in right before he gets in if the mail’s late that day. It’s usually here before he gets in, but not always. Stacey was big on “norms.” Therefore I’d kind of like to mail it on a Tuesday which would get it to her on Friday or Saturday when she’s more likely to have more free time. She probably works weekdays. She’s probably still managing apartments too, and still married to the same person she was married to when I knew her. Who knows how many more kids she had, though? Not too many, I hope. She probably wouldn’t abuse them physically, but she’s gotta be a hell of a strict old tyrant who would make her kids feel the same way my mother did – anxious, inadequate, intimidated, etc. And God help her if any of them are gay, especially if her hatred towards me was on account of that. I figured it was either that, my appearance, my Jewish name, or she did like me and just couldn’t deal with it. People sometimes lash out at others they’re crushing on that they wish they weren’t, or that they can’t have.

Hopefully, the letter will only surprise Stacey and make her remember me for a while, maybe even a bit curious too, and won’t get her all paranoid or anything. Like I said, though, she could run to the cops with the letter every day for years; she’s got nothing she can hurt me with. I still think a response would be cool, even though I’d probably have a better chance of becoming president.

It is somewhat of a consolation to know that while I have to live with the memory of some pretty horrible people, some people like Stacey, that bitch Andi that she ganged up on me with, and the freeloaders who are no doubt still tormenting whoever they can, they have to live with me, too. I’ll forever be like a nasty chip in their brains. And I can never be deleted anymore than I can delete them!

I’ve thought about Stacey over the years every so often, and wonder whether or not she’s remembered me from time to time, too. I doubt it. But I’ve often heard it said that to seriously remember and think about someone, not just in a quick, fleeting thought, causes them to remember you as well.

Stacey, can you sense me thinking of you?

I doubt it.

The marathon turned out to be no big deal, so I stressed over nothing the last 10 days as far as my schedule was concerned. I shouldn’t have to worry about it again till he gives notice (hopefully!) on the 1st and I gotta deal with show-and-tell, then getting out of here. It was definitely rigged to lower the odds to make up for the multiplier. It was just a clever ploy to get more people to the site without losing much more money if any at all. I only played the first hour, then Tom took over when he got home, but still only accumulated 2000 points altogether, which I can usually make in a day anyway. Tom said a lot of people were playing, though, cuz it was way bogged down at times.

I’m now down to 133. My period’s just about over, though, so that could’ve been a pound of water I just kicked off, but still, to lose 9 pounds in 10 days without even trying at this day and age is truly amazing! I just don’t know how much further I’ll be able to go. We’re going to order another box before we leave. I figured it’d be better than waiting till we’re too broke to order another box down there. Hopefully, this won’t be one of the many things I’ll have to stop and start and stop and start. I’d hate to waste the money and undo what I’ve done so far, then have to start all over. This still may happen, though, depending on how bad things get because I would think I’d need the tea to keep me from gaining back whatever I end up losing once I’ve lost all I’m going to lose. I can’t believe the weight would just stay off on its own. Not at this age. I just may only need one cup a day instead of two.

My computer is still seriously fucked up. I hope the laptop gets here before the 1st when OLS is at its busiest!

My computer is still fucked up. Between that and my schedule, why do I feel like something’s trying to keep me from the Magic Multiplier Marathon? Is it just part of the Jodi’s-not-allowed-to-make-any-money rule? But I wouldn’t be making that much!

I’m still going back and forth between thinking the tea’s done all it can do for me, to thinking I just may keep losing weight after all. Right now I think I’ll keep losing very slowly.

Every now and then we all get to remembering an old friend, acquaintance, coworker, neighbor or whoever. Well, Stacey S, that confusing bitch of a manager I had to deal with at the Vista Ventana apartments 15 years ago, popped into my mind. She was tall and slender, and her shape and hairstyle reminded me of Kate Jackson, along with her mannerisms and voice. I once told her this too, and she said, “Kate Jackson, huh?” She was a blue-eyed blond, though, so she wasn’t gorgeous. But there was something about that hot-tempered bitch. I sure would deal with someone like that a hell of a lot differently these days being smarter and more mature than I was then.

I checked out of curiosity and found a Stacey S listed in Phoenix who was born in ’66. Wow, I thought she was a few years older than me. She seemed it just by the way she acted.

She was one of those whom I felt God favored. I didn’t know a damn thing about her other than that she had a daughter in the fall of ’93. Mary B, the girl with CP who lived under that bitch Andi, told me so. I wonder if having her for a mother would be much better than having mine for a mother?! Anyway, like I said, I didn’t know her, but she seemed to be one of those who had it all and could get whatever she wanted that she didn’t have. She had a good job, a nice car, a husband who could obviously perform in bed, and the choice to have or not to have kids. I’ll bet she’s always lived in fairly decent houses and came from a loving family, too. For all I know she could be divorced now and her kid could’ve died in some tragic accident, but it’s always the feeling I had about her.

To this day I still wonder what drove her to pick on me the way she did. I was reading back on the journal excerpts from when I lived there, and she really ran my nerves through the wringer and pissed me off! She butted into my business with other tenants, she accused me of shit I knew nothing about like vandalism, she said strange things suggesting that she was spying on me, she said mean things about me to Andy, trying to get him to dump me and all that, and then she refused to let me out of my lease by allowing someone to sublet my studio which would’ve made the company a little more money. She went from being downright stern and unfriendly to being quite friendly, even laughing when I’d go off on her for something.

I and others came up with many theories as to why she behaved as she did – she treated everyone like shit, she did it because she hated Jews, she did it because of my appearance, she did it because she had a secret crush on me that freaked her out and so she didn’t know how to deal with me, etc. Whatever it was, I’ll never know. Wonder if she knew, though, when she saw me on the news, that Jodi S was really Jodi O?

Later…

My laptop is on its way, and so are 6 pairs of reusable earplugs that aren’t like any of these foam earplugs I use. They’re made of wax, cotton and lanolin and should block out sounds way better. I figure if I’m not going to be allowed to ever live in peace, I may as well get something that blocks sound better than these foam plugs do. Living with earplugs of any kind is no way to have to live, but neither is the shit that goes with apartment living. I’d rather the earplugs if they’re going to give me any peace and keep me from losing my sanity altogether. Then all I’d have to worry about is vibrant sounds that I could feel. But if we can get a place on concrete and stay away from parking lots, driveways and streets, then all I’d have to worry about are non-vibrant sounds.

Thanks to God blessing me with this sleep curse, I’ll be exhausted when the marathon starts. I swear I hate Him so much for singling me out and picking on me the way He has throughout my life with the flukiest, freakiest things! Sure, there are some with lives worse than mine, but mine’s been bad enough at times. Having a guy who loves and accepts me as I am helps make up for it, but sometimes I wish I wasn’t so damn unique and eccentric. Really, there’s not a damn thing ordinary about me! Sometimes I wish I could be boringly normal and keep a schedule and drive myself to the same old boring job every day. It isn’t just one bad thing God’s allowed to happen to me, but an accumulation of a zillion things over the years.

Here we go again with the screaming pool party. So what if it’s nearly 2:00 in the morning and just 48º outside? Like everyone that’s lived there, though, they use the yard as a big old parking lot, so I might’ve been hearing people coming and going from cars, but I don’t care. I’m hanging in the bedroom and almost out of here, not that where we’re going will be any quieter.

Not that I expect to have much of a choice, but I decided it may be worth a little misery for the financial peace of mind an apartment would bring. Since Tom can sleep through any kind of noise, then it’d be pretty much just me who would have to adapt. Maybe the chaos would be worth it to know we’d never again have to worry about money, especially if I can never live where I want anyway.

He’s been prepping the yard little by little at times when she’s not sleeping. He saw her cat in the window, so I guess she took it in altogether.

Some spyware or virus or both got into my computer somehow and infected it, so now I can’t sweep. I can do the newbies and play Netwinner, but I can’t use the Shazam feature for the dailies. It’s been causing all kinds of problems and headaches like crashing, pop-ups, pages being redirected, etc. Tom first thought OLS got hacked, but there was nothing about it in the forums. We don’t have a clue what it is, where it came from, or what to do about it, but at least we’ll be ordering my new laptop soon. I hate breaking in a new computer cuz then I have to reconfigure everything, but it’ll be well worth it. Then when we’re down there, I can shut myself up in a closet when I want to sing so I can sing for my own enjoyment and not for free for the pool people or the groundskeepers mowing and blowing every day.

Just when I thought the tea was a bust for sure and nothing but a water stripper, I’m amazed by the promising prospects of its magical effects yet again. I’m jogging in place, but I’m still not dieting. Not at all. I’m still having around 2000 calories a day. I don’t know how much more I’ll lose, but if I do it’ll probably happen very slowly from here on out and in chunks. That’s why I thought I wasn’t going to go down anymore. I stood the same for nearly a week.

I’d gotten so big that I had this pocket of fat between my shoulder blades. Yesterday when I went to scratch a little itch back there, I noticed it felt like there was less of me there. I asked Tom if I was imagining it or what, but he noticed it, too. It’s an overall feeling. At first I only noticed the difference in that my thighs weren’t rubbing together as much and my arms hung looser and less snug against my sides. Now I’m feeling it everywhere and am back down to 134 pounds. So for the numbers to be going down at a time of month when they should be going up is encouraging.

Nah, they were just packing it in for the night over there. I just went to rinse my mug out and it’s dark and quiet over there.

Anyway, it’ll be interesting to see where my weight ends up after my period. I don’t think I’ll drop the 2-3 pounds I usually do because tea is still a diuretic and it’s still no doubt keeping the excess water off. I just didn’t think it could really burn fat, too! I’m not totally convinced of this stuff yet. There’s no denying the fact that you don’t “just lose” 8 pounds in this day and age without even trying, but I’d have to get down to 130 before I was fully convinced. Even if it could take me to 130, though, could it take me to 120, or 110?

July 18th will be our official moving date. The reason we’ve decided to go then and not the 1st is so that I can get a new laptop better suitable for the type of work I do. Because I open so many windows at once when sweeping, I need one with more memory and that costs a little more money. Still, as much as I win, it’s worth it. Tom did his research and said it was up to me whether or not I took the cheaper laptop and left sooner, but I decided it was worth the delay, even though I’m anxious to escape this dive and these two-inch poisonous monsters (hobo spiders)! I swear, though, nothing can keep us here past the 18th short of the check being bad, but that won’t be the case. Stephen already said that as far as he knew, the money was there, and all he needs is for Tom to go with him to the bank since he doesn’t want to carry that much cash on him. I knew we weren’t meant to get rich or that God would give me such easy access to anyone screwing us over. I could break this guy in half easily too, and I must have a good 25 pounds on him.

We also agree we’re gonna get out of here then no matter what to escape the midges which come about in early August. So it’ll be an 18-day delay, and we’ll give notice on the 1st. The 17th is when we’ll get the U-Haul and load it up, the 18th is when we’ll leave, and the 19th is when we’ll unpack the U-Haul and turn it in, whether or not we’ll have to store our stuff for a while. That’ll depend on how long it takes to find a place. It shouldn’t take us nearly as long as it did here because we’ll have some money and there are more places down there than here.

Anyway, we decided quite a while ago that a laptop would be a good thing for me to have. That way I could use it anywhere as well as on trips, though Italy’s not going to happen for a couple of years yet.

I just hope the kiddies next door don’t go too crazy for the remaining 28 days, though they haven’t since that one night.

I ordered a basic Marley doll from Denise down in Chico, so that’s at least one I won’t have to miss out on since this one’s a limited edition of just 500 pieces. She’s $63 with shipping, so she won’t set us back in any big way.

Oregon’s definitely been one big learning experience for me, despite the disastrous start we were off to here. I came to see just what an influencer I can be, and how to control it so it doesn’t become a curse that can be used against me. Hopefully, it never will again anyway! If something bad happens, though, there’s only so much control I can have over my emotions, and that, along with visualizing, is what triggers it.

I also began sweeping here and learned that while I may never strike it rich, I can still win and win big!

Another pro to the delay is, well, I hate to say it as much as I wish Tinkerbell could live forever, but I highly doubt she’d make it to mid-July which would mean we could bury her here, alongside Blondie. If we got stuck in an apartment down there, we’d have no place to put her. She’s been sleeping more and more.

We’re going to license the truck on his birthday when he can get discounts. I know it may sound funny to say this, but I wish he was turning 55 instead of 50 and that I was 65. We could move to a retirement community if we were at least 55, and since women live longer than men, it’d be nice if I were the older one. At least we shouldn’t be broke for more than 5 years because you never get extra money when you need it, and in 5 years is when we’ll get an extra couple hundred a month from his AMEX pension.

Still 135 pounds and it’s still a bust. Each thing I eat still puts a pound or two on me, too. They need to come up with something magical for the metabolism cuz that’s where it’s really at. No matter how much weight you lose, you can’t keep it off if your metabolism doesn’t work right to begin with.

Later…

I’ve eaten 3 times so far since I’ve been up and have gained 3 pounds since. This means that since I can’t lose more than 2 pounds in my sleep, I definitely won’t be down tomorrow. Oh well. Time to look at the good in remaining heavy. It makes moving bulkier items easier, it’ll help in my next fight, it keeps me from being hit on, etc.

Yup, it’s a bust. I’m up a pound. I’m not surprised since nothing else works either. So yeah, that was just water that came off, and now the fat’s going to just sit there as always. I tried to tell myself that with my period being about a week away, I couldn’t get an accurate reading, but yeah I can. Accurate enough anyway. The only thing I don’t get is that if that was only water I lost, then why isn’t the tea ridding me of the water build-up I’m getting hit with right now?

Yesterday I awoke at 135 pounds again and started to wonder if the stuff was a bust after all. But today I’m down to 134, so that’s very encouraging. 8 pounds in 4 days at this height and age with NO dieting! I just can’t believe that even if I had just 1000 calories a day I’d be down this much this fast without this tea. My metabolism is just too damn dead. Comfort may be more important to me than appearance at this age, but I just may go below the 120 pounds I originally decided I’d go to if I ever could, just out of curiosity to see how far I could go. I consider myself obese now, but at 130 I’d be just fat, 120 I’d be chunky, 110 I’d be ok, 100 I’d be skinny. I’d never go under 100, though, because then my heart races, I get kidney pain, and it hurts to stand or sit on hard surfaces.

Later…

And now I’m back to thinking it may be a bust after all. It’s going to take my hitting 130 to be positive it’s not a bust, but I’m ending my day at 137 so I can’t expect to be down some more tomorrow. On the other hand, I suppose it’s silly of me to expect to drop every single day. Drinking this tea may be more effective with a diet, which is what they recommend, but I’d need the Claritin for that due to my lack of willpower. For now, I gotta have my 2000 calories a day.

I still hate God for many obvious reasons and always will, but if I do end up losing weight, then more of my prayers have been answered than I’ve realized. They just took forever to be granted. It took a few years, but when I told God, “If you’re not going to allow me a child, then take the desire away,” it did go away. And I did pray many times for help with quitting smoking and losing weight before at least the smoking part was granted. I don’t get the 5-10 year delay, but better later than never. I’ve been asking for help with the weight for 10 years now, so maybe now He’ll help me and let this tea do a little magic while I at least try to work out consistently if I can’t cut my calories as low as I should.

Tom found a better rental site. What’s better about this one is that they’re owned more by individuals than by property management companies which we’d both prefer. The management companies can be too strict and expect you to make a ridiculous amount of money before they’ll rent to you. Furthermore, Tom found more out-of-the-way houses at this place. We couldn’t look for those before because we didn’t know where to look. This doesn’t mean we won’t still get trapped in an apartment or a duplex, because thanks to the fucking Arabs, gas is still astronomical, so we could only afford to drive so far. I wonder how people like Andy can still afford to drive?! He’s gotta be the same old pothead and waitering at one restaurant after another. And alone. I just hope he never got arrested in Arizona!

Coming up on 108,000 points.

Lost two more pounds and awoke at 135, even though I had at least 2000 calories yesterday. Another thing that makes me think it’s not just water is that I haven’t had any leg cramps, which a sudden loss of water can cause. My tits are also still sore, which is caused by fluid build-up. If this keeps up, I may not need the Claritin, which would only be a half-assed, quick fix anyway. The Claritin would also be a lot more money for a much smaller quantity. I still may diet a little at some point. I wouldn’t mind a little suffering if I knew it was gonna pay off. It’s when I work so hard for so little, or for nothing at all, that I don’t feel it’s worth the bother.

Yesterday ended up being my best Netwinner day yet. I jumped over 8,000 points! I hit 5,000 once, then hit 500 3 times.

It looks like we may prep this place after all because as Tom pointed out, we don’t have much to leave behind anyway, so why not dump any bulky items we don’t want when we get the truck? This way, we won’t be giving them any more ammunition to take more of our deposit than what they’ll need for the carpet cleaners, since those damn horses didn’t race us into riches. Tom’s still sure that given a few months, once we get down there, if I’d be willing to deal with a noisy place, he can get us enough money that’ll allow us to be more flexible. As I told him if I’m going to go back to Phoenix like that and really put myself out and deal with people’s shit all the time, he better make that program work or else I’ll make him work 5 jobs! He does admit that while he’s sure he can “dial it in,” he doesn’t know how long it’ll take. If I knew it wouldn’t take more than a year, then yeah, I could stand to put myself out, lose sleep, not be able to hear myself think, etc., but if it was gonna take 5-10 years, then I’d want to be choosier as to where we went if we could ever be allowed to do that in the first place.

Speaking of jobs, it’s looking like we’re heading to Sacramento after all. Yes, it’s more expensive there, but there are zillions of jobs. And if he’s so sure he can dial in the horses, I would choose Sacramento over Merced because of how many more jobs there are, then if the horses race us rich, it wouldn’t matter where we were because then it could be up to us where to take it from there.

Eddie stopped by and he and Tom chatted for a half-hour or so. He suggested he call at the end of next week so that we can join him and his wife for dinner, which we agreed to.

Later…

I jumped 3 pounds even though I’ve eaten less today, so now I’m starting to think that maybe all I lost was water after all, and yeah, maybe this tea is a bust. The one thing that’s been consistently true that they also claimed this tea would do is give me more energy. Although it has nasty side effects, the FDA has approved the first over-the-counter weight-loss pill, so maybe I’ll try that once we get moved, or just get a quick fix every now and then from the Claritin. It’s just that if I keep climbing a few pounds a year, the Claritin’s not exactly going to be a quick fix.

Up to 105,000 points!

I know Tom’s memory isn’t as great as it used to be and that we’re just friends, but shame on him for forgetting to wish me a happy 13th anniversary before leaving for work.

At least there’s some good news. Yesterday was one of those days that really helps make up for those shittier days!

Tom won us a mini-refrigerator by entering codes found under his soda caps. It was a sweep Mountain Dew is doing, so the refrigerator is green and has their logo on it. What’s cool is that it has a digital thermostat and a see-through door. It’s a cute little thing. It’s also a warmer as well as a refrigerator and can be plugged into a car lighter so you can travel with it.

I also won a $1 certificate for KFC. Definitely a place I’ll want to go when the truck’s up and running.

Lastly, I got my tea and already I’m surprised and impressed. It’s just rather ironic that I awoke yesterday at 142 pounds, and today at 137. I never lose 5 pounds in a day! I find it hard to believe it’s all water, and especially at a time of month when I shouldn’t have 5 pounds of water to lose in the first place, and when I do have water to lose I never lose more than 3 pounds of it. The more weight you have to lose, the faster you can lose it in the beginning, so I may start off dropping easily enough to the 120s, then hit a plateau. This is where the Claritin will come in to help along with the tea. The only negatives I can see so far are that it’s got caffeine and will make you hungrier as weight loss often does. I’ll try to make sure I drink it before I go to eat and that I don’t have my second cup right before bed or else I’ll be jumping up to pee for the next couple of hours!

Later…

Tom just emailed me saying he’s sorry I expected something when I got up, and that he’d planned to see if I wanted pizza when he got home. I replied letting him know that I actually didn’t expect anything other than his writing something on the memo board or a digital gift card, so the pizza comes as a nice surprise. He also wants to get me an MP3 player so that I can have a portable music station but wants me to be there to pick it out. That’d be great! We’re gonna do this when the truck’s alive.

The 25th can’t come fast enough! Netwinner is having a 12-hour Magic Multiplier Marathon to celebrate their 1st anniversary. Every spin will be a 2, 5, 10 or 25 X! I just may end up being able to get $200 worth of Walmart cards when we get down there and get my desk and dresser in one shot. Then I can work for a Victoria’s Secret card which will give me time to see where my weight’s going. I still don’t think I’ll lose very much. I’m still in my 40s. Anyway, I’m currently at 95,510 points, so I’ll have at least $100 available to me, plus a head start on my next card, even without the anniversary party. I don’t know what my schedule will be that day, but believe me, I’ll make myself be available, although Tom’s agreed to take over when he gets home from work if I’m too tired.

Later…

Just hit 5,000 for the 6th time and am now at 100,940 points! It took me just over 15,000 plays to do it. It’s hard to believe that 40 days ago I was at 40,000 points!

I’m now up to 140 pounds, and once again I’m trying to decide if it’s worth trying to do something about it before I can hopefully get a hold of the Claritin, or just let it go. Like Tom said, if people could lose weight that easily, we’d all be thin. So it’s not very encouraging to know that losing it would not only be near impossible, but if I did, it’d just come right back. Still, I want to know why others who don’t diet just don’t lose weight while I keep gaining?! I can easily see myself gaining 10-20 pounds a year if I never dieted, and I still don’t think my metabolism is normal as Tom suspects.

Brent, the owner of OLS, is apologizing for all its problems, saying things are going to be upgraded, fixed, made to shine and all that. I hope this means they’ll cut back on all the restrictive and hard work sweeps and give us more of those simple “fill and submit” forms that are open to all. I also hope the upgrade won’t foul things up along the way and that they’ll quit with the shutdowns.

I love this one chick’s motto in the forums: Freedom of speech is wonderful, right up there with the freedom not to listen.

And any decent lawyer would’ve told that sick fuck of a twist next to us in Phoenix, “You had the right not to read your mail. No one forced you at gunpoint!”

I’ve been thinking of postcard ideas. Here’s one of them: Ciao from Italy! If you’re reading this, then yes, only the good die young. Just kidding! Moved to California, made Jessie & Paula jealous, learned Italian, and here we are. Ah, to live the good life! It’s hard to believe I once lived in the slums, dirt poor. But I know you couldn’t relate to that. Rome, Venice and Florence are loads of fun! Take care and say hi to the drama queen up north.

The check has been deposited. Upon meeting Stephen, Mr. Acre, I can say that yeah, he’s definitely trustworthy. I could sense it, and like I said, God wouldn’t put a perp in such easy reach like that. You know He’s always got to protect them or make sure they have too great a hold on me for me to fight back in any way. I think the check will be good and that we’ll get the money because He also wouldn’t let us get rich either.

No pool partying yesterday that I know of, but a couple of people were sitting out front on our way back from the store, which we walked to after Stephen took us to his bank. Of course they couldn’t sit on their deck, though the deck door was wide open. Anyway, I expect a ruckus over the weekend, but if all goes well, we should be on our way out of here soon and into poverty while Doe and Art get to be worth even more. That is, while we listen to neighbors who are even noisier they get to live in peace.

Again, why did the bastard above single us out like this???

So now we have 3 steps left towards getting out of here. We have to bring the truck to life, then hope he can get a job and a place lined up for us. Since I’m sure the last two things won’t happen, it’s not only back to being God’s little bums again, but back to having roommates in an apartment building or complex. Funny how each time we’re in a house, it’s for shorter and shorter periods of time. Makes me wonder why I even bother hoping for a house with a God so hell-bent on us playing house with others. I wish I could adapt to apartment life! Think of all the money we’d save, the security we’d have!

My poor baby’s tumor is getting bigger, but she’s still functioning well. She pretty much has free rein of the house when I’m up and Tom’s at work. She spends most of the day sleeping in his room, curled up in the comforter, going home periodically for food, drinks and potty calls. Then she takes some food back into bed with her.

I contacted the tea seller. She asked if I wanted to give it more time to arrive, or if I’d prefer a refund. I said I’d like to give it till Friday, then have her send another box rather than refund me. She said that’d be fine. Tom thinks it’ll show up, but I’m wondering if they didn’t give it to the animals next door.

Got the overnight letter. All I have to do is fill out my details and send it off via FedEx. She enclosed a letter carrier, so it won’t cost us anything.

I got the ethnic Rapunzel Barbie yesterday, but still no tea. In case I forgot to mention it, I won a $25 eBay certificate, so at least these things didn’t cost us anything. I contacted the seller, asking them to check into it. It makes me think it may work after all. See, God has this thing about me taking charge of my own body. I’d bet just about anything that as soon as we get down there, Claritin will no longer be available over the counter.

Jessie thanked me for the spa sweep link I sent and said I must be excited about moving to a new place, having a new life, and having a romantic trip to Italy. Yeah, I’m excited, but nervous as well. I still say it’ll be a lot like moving back to Phoenix. She doesn’t realize how much noisier the West is overall, and what it is to have a noise curse on you. So the loud, rude and obnoxious neighbors we’re so destined to have, plus the poverty trip, sort of dampens some of the excitement, but only some of it.

Tom says the Brandy case is still in the courts, last he heard, but either way, I’m sure the black bitch will walk.

The little kiddies next door have been surprisingly quiet. Guess God just wanted to give me a sneak preview of the chaos to come in California, although it has been a bit cooler. Once we jump back up to the 80s, I’m sure the show will go on.

The guitar only got up to $20 and the diamond to $31. People don’t want to pay shit for shit!

Later…

I’m trying to stay up as long as I can so I won’t be too tired to go to the bank tomorrow, as Tom emailed me from work to say is on for tomorrow. He wanted to talk to Mr. Acre first to make sure it was convenient for him. At least I won’t have to walk there.

What a definite, definite curse from God, this schedule thing. It’s just one more of thousands of reasons to hate Him.

It’s in the 70s again and getting noisy. I’m surprised the animals next door aren’t having a pool party, but I’m sure they will tomorrow when it’s even warmer.

The good news, as much as I still hate to travel, is that Paula said I’ve got almost 7 years to take the trip, so I’d say yes, we’re definitely going to Italy at some point. And yes, those wonderful parents God blessed me with will get a surprising postcard if they haven’t croaked yet which I doubt. They’re too evil to die in their mid-70s. It’ll be another 10-15 years before God kills them off.

When I think of how they pawned me off on so many different people and places starting at such an early age, then escalating as I got older, it really is sad that one can do that to their own kids. And sick, too. I’m sure they have no idea whatsoever how abandoning me has made me feel. They wouldn’t want to. They’d simply tell me not to look back. “Don’t look back.” That was always one of their favorite lines. I’d love to see them say that had they been in my shoes, but maybe now that their daughter has turned the tables on them and given them a taste of what it’s like to be dumped and ignored for a decade, they aren’t as quick to recite that famous motto of theirs. Well, I’ll never have money like them, I’ll never live in peace, but I’ll never again be hurt by them either!

The bad news is that Paula’s sending legal documents overnight, so I’m sure this means I’ll have to have shit notarized and all that fun stuff. Why didn’t I switch things to using his name sooner?!?! I just didn’t know I’d go winning trips like crazy!

Well, our perfect neighbors aren’t so perfect anymore. Especially since they put an inflatable pool in the yard. Yeah, we’re back to the home-all-the-time neighbors. Should I be surprised? Once I saw that they could be out playing pool all day on a weekday like they did today, I figured they’ll do it every day till we move. If anything, though, it’s good practice for when we get moved as this is nothing compared to the shit we’re going to have to deal with down there with all the music and barking. Fortunately, there are no barking dogs or screaming kids, although I have heard the faint beat of music coming from the house. It’s sometimes loud enough to make me glad I never moved my office back into the living room, but easy to drown out in the bedroom with my own music or the fan. Still, I probably shouldn’t have told Skyler we’re moving because now they no doubt figure, what the hell? They’re outa here soon anyway.

I don’t think he was coming to warn me about their party last weekend so much as coming to feel me out for what they could get away with on a regular basis. I know they partied till at least 2:30 because I looked out and saw people on the porch before I turned in that night. The AC was running that night so it drowned their voices out.

They put the pool up yesterday. I remember thinking it was weird that they’d be doing this at 9:00 at night, but they left shortly afterward, having just finished filling it up. Then this morning at 11:00, I saw a couple come out to the pool, which I thought was even weirder since it was still in the low 50s (God will surely make sure we have no more cold spells before we leave). I could hear them talking in the kitchen, but not in the bedroom. I crashed shortly afterward and was glad that they let me sleep. Not even the loud car they had parked there woke me when it left. When I got up at 8:00, Tom told me that they got a little loud at the pool for a few minutes which would’ve been annoying from the kitchen but would never have woken either of us up.

It just goes to show, though, that no, the bad-neighbor curse is not off, and no, the horseshoe won’t protect us. It’s obvious God wants to give us a little taste of what we’ll be in for down there, reminding us that we’ll be in for a real circus, but it’s ok. It’s all I’ve known for over 20 years, and I’m not going to spite myself with the cold and snow just because people can’t shut up. I just won’t worry about my own noise then. Why bother to try to keep the peace where there never was any to begin with?

I’m just sick of having to live with renters all the time! I know owners would up the chance of barking dogs and screaming kids, but this would still be better than loud music and other shit. Either way, we’ll never live in peace. That’s simply not in our cards and I accept that now only because I have no choice. There’s no getting out or getting around it. I still don’t understand why we can’t live in peace, of course, but there’s no sense in trying to achieve the impossible. Better to just go with the flow, make the best of it, and enjoy the downtimes. It should still be pretty peaceful here late at night and in the early morning hours. I just hope it doesn’t get into the 90s before we go. That’d not only make it more uncomfortable here in the bedroom, but that’d draw them outdoors more, wanting to cool off in the pool during the daytime and hang outside later into the night.

Anyway, it’s going to be pretty chaotic down there year-round whether or not we end up in a house or an apartment, so I gotta get used to it.

Later…

Thanks, God. You’re just so wonderful and I just love ya.

Yeah, we’re going from bad to worse here, and the bastard in the sky is no doubt getting a major kick out of it. I stepped out into the living room and heard a bunch of screaming. I thought they were fighting. When I stepped out front, though, I saw that they were just horsing around in the pool, but there had to be something like 8 people! They were screaming like a bunch of 5-year-olds on a hot summer day. I had to shout a few times to be heard over their screaming to ask them to quiet down. I was worried they’d wake Tom up, who really needs his sleep with all the overtime he’s been doing.

I got a chorus of “sorry,” but they just went right back to screaming like hyenas. I went to pee, then when I went back to the living room to hear what was going on, a guy was screaming by the gate. I couldn’t tell, though, if he was screaming at me for complaining (this is the West, after all) or if it was just part of their antics. These are the kinds of people who are in their own little world, completely oblivious to those around them just like the freeloaders were. I’m surprised they didn’t have every dog within a 1-mile radius going off like crazy. My not mentioning our moving probably wouldn’t have made a difference after all. So much for the friendly, considerate little gentleman that came to the door last week!

What I don’t get is how they could be out there swimming in the 50s. It got up to the 70s earlier, but now it’s back down into the 50s and dropping fast. And who knows how many of them are flying on drugs? They’re obviously going to spend more time in the pool than indoors, so no, the late-night time hours won’t be peaceful. I guess the best I can hope for is some peace between 3 AM - 9 AM. Maybe 4 AM - 8 AM?

This is definitely a sign of the evil that’s to come down there, but hey, I’m still going!

Later…

Well, I’ll be damned! They may’ve actually packed it in for the night, though that’s what I thought before, so we’ll see. I won’t bother complaining again cuz I know it wouldn’t do any good. We’ll either get the hell out of here on his birthday or contact their rental company if it looks like we’re gonna be stuck here throughout the summer. I know I should just deal with it, though, because this is what we’re going to have to live with for the rest of our lives. These people won’t shut up till the fall.

A part of me wished my stereo were in the living room and Tom weren’t home, so I could at least make them listen to my music if they were going to carry on like that, but that would’ve only got them going with their own car/house stereos like crazy. That’s what immature 20-year-olds do. I was once young myself.

I called and got Carrie’s machine early this morning, and sent an email tonight, wondering why no one’s contacted me yet with more information on the trip. I’d really like to know how long I have to take it.

In some rather shocking celebrity news, they actually canned an actor for making gay slurs! What’s even more surprising was that it was a black guy. Shouldn’t a black person of all people know better?

Another shocker is that hotel heiress Paris Hilton got sent to jail. Then again, should it be that much of a shocker? She’s white and female. She was charged with reckless driving as was black singer Brandy. Brandy killed someone yet walked.

With all the whining and crying Paris and her mother have done you’d think she got years instead of days. As sucky as I know jail can be, it’s kind of hard to feel sorry for her. This bitch has millions and a life most people can only dream of. We haven’t even had the simple luxury of a washer and dryer in 3 years. That judge better watch his ass, though. Not just because of fans supporting her, but because unlike my folks ever would or could, Paris’ folks are going to see her sentence as a life sentence for something she didn’t really do. I know I wouldn’t want to be the object of someone’s wrath and hatred who had that kind of money!

Well, it never snowed which is good, but it’s been cold. It’s been in the 50s but is to be in the 60s today and 70s tomorrow. Good, then maybe I can take off this robe for good!

I got my $25 eBay gift certificate sooner than expected, so I went and ordered an ethnic Barbie and 100 bags of that Chinese Wulong tea. Celebrities get paid to say anything, so I doubt it’ll be magical. Again, the FDA hasn’t approved it as a proven weight-loss substance, but it may help me help myself, along with diet and exercise. We’ll find out soon.

Tinkerbell’s sleeping in the closet right now. She loves to nap in there, perhaps because she’s closer to me that way and it’s darker in there.

Carrie, the woman who called and sent the email, got my message. She’s going to have a woman named Paula contact me. She said she’d be able to answer my questions better. Carrie wanted to verify my number and that I wanted the prize, even though she’d still have Paula email me since I’m easier to reach that way. I told her I wanted the prize, but in truth, if they tell us we only have a few months to use it, we can’t do it. I think they’ll give us a year, though. Jessie, who said I was so lucky, said I should use it. We will if time and money permit it, even though I still hate traveling. Funny how often I end up doing the things I swear I’ll never do again! Jessie said she’s been trying to win a trip to Disney World which her husband hates and won’t spend the money on. I sent her a link for a spa sweep I’d never enter, seeing that it’s in Lenox, MA, but being so close to her, she might want to enter. She said she passed up a chance to go to London/Paris years ago and regrets it.

Speaking of Jessie, I wonder why she’s so secretive. Does she just not have the time to answer my questions, or does she not read them? She still hasn’t told me the name of her daughter, her husband’s name, what he does, etc. Her messages are always short and sweet and only in response to something I tell her. I wonder why? I know it’s definitely her and not someone pretending to be her.

I found out exactly where in Italy the trip is. It’s to Rome, Venice and Florence, which Tom was glad to learn. He says he thinks he’d like Rome with all the artifacts they have that are thousands of years old. I don’t know much about Florence, but Venice ought to be cool with the way they travel on canals rather than streets. I don’t suppose they’d have many car stereo problems there!

Italy’s nearly 6000 miles away from here, whereas Ponce, Puerto Rico, the furthest we went on the cruise trip, is 3625. The European countries are so small, like the size of your average US state. It seems the closest countries are Portugal, Spain, France, Austria, Croatia and Romania. I can’t quite say Germany judging by the satellite map I looked at, but it’s sort of close. I didn’t like how Iraq is the same distance from Italy as the distance between Massachusetts and Nebraska, but the ocean between Italy and those assholes should keep us safe. I just can’t believe they’d have sweeps to go to Israel with all the shit that’s going on over there.

I finally found the link where they posted the winners and found it strange that they listed me as being from Oretech, Oregon, but as Tom said, OIT is here, so maybe that’s why.

For $80 I’ll probably get this Italian language-learning software I’ve been wanting. I don’t expect to get as good as I am with Spanish, but learning the basics would be cool.

We listed the autographed guitar earlier which already has a bid. But they didn’t make the $100 reserve. The diamond has a few spies watching it.

The weather’s back to being your typical shitty Klamath Falls weather, and it may even snow tonight! Getting that evil snow in June is all wrong! It’s keeping things quieter, though, except for the dog across the street on the corner. That one’s usually not bad either. It must be all the traffic in next door’s driveway which is directly across from this dog. Again, I’m just so glad that driveway is on the other side of the house!

Mr. Acre’s going to deposit the check next week when I can be there to show my ID and all that fun stuff. Then if all goes well with bringing the truck to life, we could be splitting around his birthday.

Another grand prize win and this one tops my 5-thousand-dollar Caribbean cruise! This one’s an 8-day trip for two to Italy, valued at 7 grand!!! This time around, and quite unlike with the cruise, they’re going to pay for the airfare, hotel accommodations and rail passes. I just don’t know if we can make it for a few reasons. For one, we have to pay taxes next year on the cruise as it is, and to have to pay taxes on this too, may kill us. I also don’t know if he could get the time off, seeing that he’ll be at a brand new job, and assuming that I’ll have a year to take the trip like most trips give you. We already have passports, and there wouldn’t be any need for paying port taxes, since it’s not a cruise, but I don’t know if we’d have extra money for food and souvenirs. I wonder if we’d fly 1st class or regular coach and if the hotel would be really fancy or just your basic hotel?

I don’t know what’s got me laughing harder, the fact that this is an accidental win, or the postcard I’d send the good old folks in Florida. I was just telling Tom how funny it would be to send them a card each time I win a trip.” Well, the thought of sending them a card from Italy in the same year is rather hilarious! Then when they ask each other later on if anyone’s heard from me they can say, “No, but I’m sure we will the next time she wins a trip.” I’m hoping that’ll be a walk-on role in Hawaii or some exotic place like that. Then I can send a card saying, “Sorry I’ve been too busy to catch you by phone, but you can catch me on whatever TV channel and time.” Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!

Here’s the funny part. I not only swore I’d never travel again because of how rough the cruise was, even though it did have its fun moments, but when Tom brought in the mail today I made a comment about it being all junk and not getting any win-notices or surprise wins. Tom then said, “Guess this means you’re in for another big one.”

My reply to that was, “God, I hope not! I just want to get moved. I don’t want to deal with the hassles of affidavits and stuff like that, and I’ve set things up to try to ensure that this doesn’t happen, as long as it’s not for a million bucks.”

Then Jewelry Television, which often has sweeps, ran a 10-day, daily-entry sweep. A 3-star premium Escape to Italy sweep. The grand prize was the trip, but I was actually aiming for the 2nd or 3rd prizes, which were very expensive pieces of jewelry I would’ve sold on eBay (we listed the diamond for 7 days as of yesterday and set a reserve of $300. It has 28 views so far and one bid, but they haven’t hit the reserve). But as a psychic, especially an influencer, I win too damn much and hit the grand prize by accident! It was a random drawing. So in just 10 clicks, I may’ve sent us off to Italy since it’s non-transferable and not redeemable for cash.

It was time to make my fellow sweepers jealous yet again by changing what my biggest prize won so far is on my OLS profile! Most people haven’t won bigger than a couple of hundred bucks worth or even less. Ah, and I might get a brand new money spell-casting kit too, for just $20 when we get a new horseshoe to keep the freeloaders away! Trips and other objects are nice, but cold hard cash is better. I’m going to perform a ritual that looks promising. I can get it with the $25 I just won from an eBay sweep that’s to be deposited in our PayPal account soon.

So anyway, Tom had just gone into bed and I was still finishing up with the day’s newbie sweeps when he came walking back into the room, cell in one hand, smile on his face, telling me I won a trip to Italy.

At first I was shaking my head and muttering, “Oh, no. Oh, no. No, no, no, no. I didn’t mean to get the trip, I meant to get the jewelry. I didn’t want the damn trip. You know I hate traveling!” And to think of how many people would kill to win this! Me, I try not to win and I win. I enter for zillions of trips to places like Mexico and Hawaii, which would be more worth the hassle to me, yet I never win those. Meanwhile, they have many fewer trips to Italy, but hey, no problem!

Tom and I were cracking up over the thought of making them jealous at work when he tells them of this latest win. If they get all jealous over guitars and Visa cards as they do, a trip like this will surely kill them! And then they can get pissed as well as jealous when he tells them it was just an accident! Hee, hee!

Too bad I couldn’t give it to Jessie if we can’t make it, but I don’t know how she’d feel about taking a trip like this. She seems like the type that likes to stay put, but see what I mean about not being able to settle down? It just ain’t in our cards! Guess it just goes with our liberal personalities. I read a report saying that one’s personality often reflects their political views. Those who like order and structure and who are religious tend to be more conservative, whereas those who are creative and like to take chances tend to be liberal. Well, I’ll never be conservative or religious, but yes, Tom and I are both daredevils who would quickly grow restless with the same old, same old going on in our lives. I’d still gladly take the modest, peaceful house to stay in for at least a decade or so while we were running around to different countries, and at least a little extra money to go with it too, if we can never strike it rich.

I asked Tom if he’d want to go to Italy, and he said that if it was free, why not? But we can’t automatically assume we can make it till we find out more details. The lady who called also sent an email that I missed by mistake since that box gets hundreds of messages a day. But big wins will make attempts to contact you in more than just one way and won’t give up anytime too soon either. When I found the email, I asked for more information, so we’ll see what they say.

It’d be quite a flight if we did make it. It’s practically halfway around the world! The last time we just flew across the US. This time we’d have to fly across the US, across the Atlantic, across Spain, across France, then the Mediterranean. Italy is a peninsula that protrudes into the Mediterranean. Damn, I wish parents would discipline their kids like they used to before the 80s and teach them some basic manners! Flying’s now nothing but non-stop screaming kids all the way. I could hear it over the headphones. At least they fly at 650 MPH, almost supersonic, as opposed to the old speed of 450 MPH. Although, when we’re flying over the Mediterranean they may speed up. If I’m going to win us a couple of trips a year, we may as well invest in some decent noise-canceling headphones to drown out all the screaming, and definitely get new luggage. The luggage we’ve got is almost as old as I am! At least we wouldn’t have to worry about coming home to frozen, busted pipes next time around! We may not even have to hop on a train for half a day just to get to a real airport. Whether or not we go is basically going to come down to time and money. If we do I’m sure I’d have many a moment where I’ll wish I could say my life was as dull as Jessie says hers is. The cruise, like with many things in life, was rough while it was going on, but afterward, it was cool to be able to say I did it.

Due to knowing Spanish as well as I do, I can understand some Italian, being as closely related to Spanish as it is. They tend to have English speakers in touristy areas, though. It’ll be weird knowing 3 languages and a bit of French and going to a place where none of the languages I know are used. But it’s true that if you know Spanish, you should understand a lot of Italian and Portuguese since so many of the words are either the same or very similar. Either way, I do intend to learn Italian, Japanese and Hawaiian someday! When you have no concept of money, and numbers make absolutely no sense at all to you, you can do that! I should’ve gotten this Italian-learning software I wanted a while back. I couldn’t carry on a conversation in just a few months, but that’s all it should take to master the basics for reading menus and things like that. I’ve seen Italian web pages before and could understand every 1 in 5 words or so.

As sad as it is, this would be a good time to be preparing for a trip if we could afford the time and costs since my Tinkerbell won’t last much longer. My baby’s already losing her energy. Those damn tumors grow so fast! I hated to leave her those 10 days we were cruising last January, and I promised never to leave her again and I won’t!

Anyway, if we go I guess we’d transfer to an Italian plane somewhere in the east since each country has its own airlines. I know you can’t fly straight through to Jamaica, for example. You have to switch to Air Jamaica. You should see Aloha and Hawaiian Airlines. Their planes are gorgeous.

I’d faint if I won the trip to Israel I stupidly entered! Hey, sweeping gets addictive. I can’t help myself most of the time. I may be from a Jewish family, but I only know a few Hebrew words, and Israel wouldn’t exactly be a very safe place to be with all the fighting going on there. Those damn Arabs just can’t leave anyone alone, can they?

I’d literally scream if I won a trip to Alaska or some other cold place while trying to hit a runner-up prize. That’s the very shit I’ve been trying to escape for 3 years now. I’m sure Tom would find it hilarious as hell.

I never would’ve believed it had someone told me back when I was all alone and lonely in the projects with no life that I’d one day live in and visit all these different states/countries! If I can get to the Caribbean and Italy in just two years of sweeping, who knows what states and countries I could be off and running to in the upcoming years?!

I hope they won’t pester me with radio and magazine interviews, but they probably will. I’m going to keep secret the fact that I’m a “professional contest enterer,” as some folks put it since a lot of people aren’t too thrilled with the idea of some of us spending a few hours each day making hundreds of entries each day, not paying much attention to what we’re entering. They would prefer a winner who sought to win this specific contest, not someone who sits down at their computer each day and says, “What can I win today?” On the other hand, they know there are registered sweepers out there and guess what? We’re not going away!

It’s funny cuz just this morning I told Tom I was concentrating on Netwinner more and more and less on OLS, knowing that I’d get something for sure for doing the work of racking up points by playing their game (it’s the best site ever!) and jokingly added, “Well, in light of my schedule problem and the fact that I’ll probably never get my disability checks back, at least your wife’s 99% worthless instead of 100% worthless! But hey, if he can supply the money for the rent and bills while I supply the vacations on top of my other wins, why not?! In a sense, he’s been more right about the sweeps than I’ve been. True, I placed an overall win spell that I wouldn’t know how to call off if I had to, but he said I would one day win bigger than the cruise and I wasn’t so sure. But I did! I hope he’s right when he says I’ll win a vehicle someday, but I hope most of all that he’s right about the handicapping program eventually generating a few hundred bucks a day once he works on it some more. But as of yet, I can’t see that happening any more than I can see Publisher’s Clearing House showing up this Sunday to tell me I’ve won 10 million dollars.

Still no date set yet for moving to California. We still don’t even know exactly where in California we’re going, let alone if we’ll make it to Italy! Right now we’ll just concentrate on getting to California before we worry about Italy, as funny as that sounds. Mr. Acre’s going to call his bank to see if I need to do anything special. That and the truck will determine when we’re getting out of here.

The warm weather turned cool and wet.

I dyed my hair a deep dark black. Leaving the dye on for 45 minutes instead of 20 made a huge difference in locking in the color. It sure would fit in in Italy!