One Day at a Time

Getting up and out in time to catch the 9 o’clock Tahirobics class is proving to be even more challenging than anticipated.

Up generally around 6:30 in the morning, I’m accustomed to putzing around, not seizing the day until 10:30/11:00, but I’ve been pushing myself to give up putzing, stick to the program, get out in time to work out.

I was on a roll in getting into the new routine, until last Tuesday when, pushing myself, head in the right space, I arrived at the nutrition center only to find the power was out due to "no payment".

A forgetful moment or not the money to pay the bill, who knows/not important, but I couldn’t get back into the right head space the remainder of that week. I never made it back to class, which meant I did no form of exercise the remainder of that week and over the weekend — five whole days.

By the time this past Monday rolled around, my body was begging for exercise so I was eager to get up/out, arrived in time for class.

Power was back on and may have been back on the afternoon of the day it went out, problem solved, but I didn’t ask.

Class was good. My fitness tracker logged 3,171 steps, 759 calories burned, and I had every intention of working out this morning — a Tuesday and Thursday workout schedule.

Didn’t happen.

I putzed around.

At this point, it’s very much looking like I’ll be taking it one day at a time and that somewhere along the line, realizing I'm having fun and seeing fitness results, a reboot of my schedule — seizing the day earlier rather than later may kick in …… for at least two days a week.

For now, no promises to myself, but maybe tomorrow.

In other news, there’s been some weird stuff going on around here. Starting with, a resident reporting seeing a guy walking around peering into parked cars.

I learned a long time ago, after several thefts from vehicle in other locations, never to leave anything out in the open in the car, to tempt criminal behavior, so this sighting was no surprise to me.

The cops were called, but never showed up.

Another resident reported seeing a guy in the back area of the complex, hiding behind one of the garages.

Was he waiting to grab some unsuspecting female resident out for a walk?

One good thing about this complex is that there are eyes everywhere. Much like I am privy to a lot of what goes on just by catching a glimpse through the patio window while sitting on the couch, so are there other residents always seeing. Not a lot is missed around here.

But wait …… there’s more.

One of the more vulnerable seniors reported, while out on a walk, a strange woman approached, tried to hit her.

It’s getting more and more unsafe on the property.

On Saturday, a few residents reported seeing a strange guy dancing at the end of the walkway. Later, Lu spotted a strange guy (don’t know if it’s the same guy) crawling on all fours, up the stairs like an animal sneaking up on its prey, towards the drug dealer’s unit.

Lu called the cops and this time they showed up in groves, along with an ambulance and a fire truck.

That’s a lot of resources for a guy who was probably simply high on something. He was laughing and talking with his rescuers, so whatever his situation was didn’t translate to needing all those resources to us onlookers.

While out and about on Wednesday, I spotted something interesting as I approached the corner of a building.

No mistaking what was parked around that corner.

I always get a kick out of seeing one of those na$i cars in the neighborhood and, surprisingly, the few I’ve seen show no signs of having been damaged.

There was no one in Starbucks that looked to be the driver of that infamous vehicle, so I assumed it belonged to someone in the dental office next door.

Had I the time, I'd have stuck around to see if the driver matched the vehicle.

Case of the Missing Box, Part 3

Case closed.

The good news is that no one in this complex is pathetic enough to not have let me know the box was misdelivered to their unit.

There have been neighbors pathetic enough to have kept smaller packages — makeup, tops, Creative Memory supplies, blood pressure medication and, if gifted with a whole big box, might have kept it, but not in this instance.

Manager and the Maintenance guys took a look at the photo, checked out a few gated areas, determined something that had initially crossed my mind before I noticed we did have gated doors and Ernie said he'd seen the unit I was looking for …… that the box might not have been delivered to this property.

They caught something I’d missed …… that the color of the building in the photo didn’t match the colors of this property, ergo not only did the delivery driver not deliver to my door, he didn't even deliver to this complex.

That’s a humungous delivery mistake. Delivery driver must be dyslexic.

The bad news is that I’ll never ever know where that box landed, the who so I can give that person the evil eye but, as the recipient still had the option of being decent — notifying FedEx of the mix-up, I don’t necessarily have to know who the person is for Karma to kick in.

They will lose ten times over.

On the other hand, I don’t know IF the box landed at all.

That photo could have been taken in delivery driver’s own back yard.

Seriously because, believe it or not, there have been instances where delivery people take photos of items supposedly delivered, then themselves turn around and cart the items off.

I've seen people posting videos, from their ring cameras, catching delivery people doing that exact same thing, and it happened to Twin 2 back in April.

What you see in the video is the Amazon delivery driver, unaware of their being a camera in that area, after dropping off a box, verifying delivery by taking a photo, picking up the box then straight up absconding with it.

I don't know what he thought he was delivering, that he'd risk his job by stealing what turned out to be cat food and yarn, but I guess those items, and whatever else he's managing to pilfer from his other deliveries, might sell well at the swap meet he's probably running on the side with his stolen loot.

Of course, Twin 2 made a complaint to Customer Service, and last I heard …… nothing. No word back, no nothing.

I don't know if she got a refund or reordered or both, but she's no pushover, so it's safe to say both.

I’m going out on a limb, taking one last stab at ordering a craft lamp ……… a Verilux which commenter Anonymous brought to my attention, rather than the Ott I'd been aiming for.

Crossing my fingers that delivery goes right this time.

Today is Pizza Tuesday. Activity Director is back from her two-week vacation.

There was no Calendar of Events issued this month, so the plan is to head to the Community Room later this morning, check out if we’re having any kind of crafts today.

BTW, the organizers decided on Wednesday, July 2, for the 4th of July BBQ.

That’s a workout day for me, but I’ll rush back to check the event out, take a few photos for the residents' facebook page.

Case of the Missing Box, Part 2

Yesterday was laundry day. So, while going back/forth to the laundry room, I walked around a bit and located six white gated doors.

I never before noticed that some of us have gated doors.

How did they get so lucky?

I want one.

At any rate, none of the doors I spotted had the tell-tell sign — that plant, but at least I now know we do have units with gated doors, the box was delivered to this complex.

Seeing Miracle Guy out and about — the resident who survived being shot on two separate occasions, knifed and fire bombed, I showed him the photo, asked if he recognized the unit.

He did not, but had a lot to say about the poor FedEx, UPS and Amazon delivery service around here.

Seeing two random residents on a walkway, I approached, asked if they recognized the unit depicted in the photo. Neither did.

By walking up on random residents, getting them involved in the hunt, I run the risk that one of these random folks actually being or knowing and warning the culprit, but that’s okay with me because fear of being found will set in, the culprit will panic, get rid of the loot, think twice about absconding with other people’s property in the future.

Speaking of fear. Isn’t it interesting that shortly after I yesterday posted about my displeasure with FedEx, the Founder of FedEx chose to leave this plane of existence.

Coincidence or did he flee to escape my ire?

Just as I was finishing up in the laundry room, Ernie — the resident we threw a surprise birthday party for a week or so ago, walked by.

Ernie is always out and about, walking his dog, so I showed that photo to Ernie who said, "I’ve seen that door (looked over his shoulder towards the opposite side of the complex to indicate somewhere over there), but I can’t remember where".

Ernie will let me know when he remembers or sees the door again on his walks.

Deciding I needed a treat to fully recover from the aggravation of all that involved the purchase and delivery of that craft lamp, I drove to Starbucks for a half-caf Americano and saw well-mannered service dogs in-training being treated to pup cups.

Heading back to the complex, passing the site across the street where that homeless encampment had been, I was expecting to see some if not all of the former occupants had returned.

Not yet. Surprisingly, the only occupant thus far is one lone tent dweller.

Waking up this morning, checking emails, I find I’ve already been issued a refund for the missing lamp.

WOW! I’m amazed that all I had to say was I didn’t get it because FedEx misdelivered.

This must happen a lot.

I hope there’s some kind of penalty attached to the FedEx driver so he’ll be more careful in the future.

Does that mean the hunt is now over?

HELL NO!

I want to find that resident, know who around here is so pathetic as to not have knocked on my door, tell me they have a misdirected package, come and get it or walk it over, as I and others here are known to do, so I’m waiting to hear back from the email I sent to Manager, asking if she or the maintenance guys recognize the unit.

I’m not sure that, even if management recognizes the unit, they will want to get involved, let me know for fear I’d kick the offending resident’s butt, which I wouldn’t, but management doesn’t know that.

What I will do is put ‘em on blast with the grapevine, and give the person or persons the Evil Eye whenever I see them out and about.

Case of the Missing Box

I’d posted earlier in the month, that the craft lamp died. No worries thought I, it was in bad shape, being held together with electrical tape, I’ll purchase another.

Inasmuch as the popular craft stores have closed, purchasing another turned out to be not as easy as it used to be.

Fortunately, though in-store is no longer available, those craft stores still maintain an online presence, so I ordered a replacement, received a delivery date only to, a week later, receive an email that the order was cancelled.

In investigating who cancelled and why, it was a cryptic "manufacturer issue".

Assuming it was a problem with that particular style lamp, I ordered a different style from the same craft store, received a delivery date, then once again received an email the order was cancelled, money refunded.

Hmmmm? I wondered if these cancellations had something to do with the lamps being made in China and the tariffs.

Whatever the reason, it was getting annoying. Like, why are you still offering the product, going through the steps if you can’t deliver. Remove the item from the website.

Done with that particular source, I ordered from a different craft store.

Lo and behold, it was the same thing ……… received a delivery date, followed by an email the order was cancelled, money refunded.

Getting the message that the craft stores are advertising items they cannot provide, I looked to the "knit for Jesus" homophobic, racist, anti-semitic place but they at least had removed craft lamps from their site, as did the big box stores I looked to, even the blacklisted Walmart and Target I was reduced to breaking rank and looking to.

Googling craft lamps in general, I found a business offering a few used and new. I ordered new, received a delivery date, and held my breath.

Yet another cancellation did not come. Instead, I received notification the item was on its way, to be delivered by FedEx last Tuesday.

Tuesday didn’t happen, but I wasn’t worried, delays happen, and patiently waited for delivery.

I never ever entertained the thought that a box as large as I was expecting might have been misdelivered. That is until yesterday, when I received a survey to rate how satisfied I was with the delivery.

Delivery? What delivery? I never got a delivery.

I rated zero, the reason as having never received the package and asked for a refund.

That set off emails instructing me to look for the package in the neighborhood and contact FedEx.

On the Fed Ex site I found a photo that indicated the box was delivered on Tuesday, 2:01 pm to a door that not only doesn’t look like my door, but doesn’t look like a door in this complex.

On the off chance we do have a door here that looks like the above, I opened the Case of the Missing Box by text messaging the Usual Suspects, asking if they recognized the door. They didn’t, but said they’d look for it when out and about.

I also emailed Manager asking if we have a unit with a screen door.

Manager won’t see the email until tomorrow, so I won’t get an answer until then but, in the interim, I’ve already resigned myself to never seeing that craft lamp ……… that, if we do have a unit here that looks like that, the box has been opened by now, the contents sold or given away, the resident of that unit, in spite of the photo, absolutely denying ever receiving.

If we do have that door in the complex, even if the craft lamp is now gone, I’d still like to know who the resident is so I can give them the evil eye when I see them out and about, let them know I know what kind of human you are, make them feel uncomfortable.

Inasmuch as it was so difficult to find a place that could actually fulfill the order in the first place, delivery people can’t get it right, and we have asshole neighbors around here that, when deliveries go wrong, take advantage and keep the items (it’s happened before to me and others; and it’s happened a lot) I’ll not even try to order another. I’ll manage with sunlight coming through the patio window and the sun lamp.

Happy Belated Mother’s Day

Logging into the laptop this morning, the first thing flashing across the screen was "Egg prices are plummeting".

I'd not describe it as "Plummeting", when I just yesterday noticed an 18-count carton of organic eggs dropped a lousy $1.00 — from $13.99 to $12.99, but it’s a start.

Mother’s Day has come and gone — my 58th, and it was awright.

I received the obligatory texts from the usual suspects — Twin 1, Twin 2, Granddaughter.

I feel bad for my twins. They always want to take me somewhere to eat, do something fun, buy me something, but my worsening gut issues precluded my going anywhere to eat, there’s no place I wanted to go, nothing I wanted to do, nothing I needed. All of which made a not fun Mother’s Day for my girls, as I was content doing laundry and housework.

I had the Laundry Room all to myself, the flowers in the area around the Laundry Room were in full bloom for Mother’s Day, so I enjoyed the peaceful setting.

Talker walked by, saw me doing laundry, came in to give me a Mother’s Day hug and a side of tea.

There’s a new woman in Dream Lover’s life, but it’s not what you think.

Evidently, Dream Lover has a new neighbor — a woman who has taken a dislike to him and demonstrates her dislike by, instead of taking her trash to the dumpster, tosses it in front of DL’s door.

That’s pretty extreme.

Of course, DL went to Manager over it, got the usual "I'll talk to her", but it's unclear as to whether Manager actually did, because the woman has tossed trash at his door more than once OR if the woman was spoken to and, not caring what Manager had to say, continues to trash DL's area.

I’ll have to see who this new neighbor is, determine if management has done it again …… brought in a resident who is not well in the head, or if DL made his usual play …… "I’m looking for a nice woman to spend time with" and she did not appreciate it. Is tossing her trash as if to say to DL that she can see through him and he’s trash.

This scares me a little about who we’ll next get in our quad, when TinTin’s vacant unit is leased out. I’m hoping our good Chi in the quad will attract someone nice, but you never know.

The Activity Calendar indicated, instead of today being Pizza Tuesday, it's a late celebration of Mother’s Day …… "Social: Mother’s Day Luncheon. Celebrate Mother’s Day with a community luncheon full of fun, connection and appreciation for all the amazing moms, grandmothers, Aunts, Sisters, Friends, mentors, etc."

I guess Great Grandmothers fall into the "etc" category, LOL.

I wasn’t planning on attending because I can’t eat whatever is being served; besides, I had an appointment with my Primary at the Main Medical Center — the first time I’ve been able to actually meet with my doctor, face to face, since 2019; and accomplished only because that RN I’d two-weeks ago interacted with by phone, when my BP recorded 173, sent a message to the doctor’s care team that she should see me. Otherwise, it would have taken three months to get an appointment.

I’m actually surprised my doctor hasn’t retired yet, as she’s about my age, maybe a few years younger.

She looks great though, hasn’t aged much — probably because her culture is one that the women do keep their beauty as they age. The men, not so much.

At any rate, she joked about watching her patients age with her, adjusted my BP medication, had her nurse give me a tetanus shot, ordered Lab work — which I’ll take care of later this week, or next week, at a different facility, because the Lab Section at the Main Medical Center was way too peopley for me.

On the way to the Med Center, the dash cam captured a woman, on the far side of middle-age, in handcuffs.

That's her white car blocking the lane.

Mother's Day only two days ago, and mom or grandma is in cuffs.

I’ve never in my life been handcuffed, not even for roleplay fun when I was married to the cop, and could not imagine what an older lady could have done to be removed from her car, in traffic, and handcuffed.

Pizza Tuesday

The meeting with Manager went okay; that is after she first tried to convince me the problem was at my bank …… "the bank paid with a card, rather than your account, you should contact the bank".

That was too ridiculous to even consider.

When she failed to convince me of that, she then offered to give me the telephone number of that third party vendor so I could work it out with them.

You push us into signing up for this crap, but then you want to wash your hands when there’s a problem with the crap you pushed on us?

Nope. I don't think so.

She yesterday indicated she’d find the problem, work me through the system, so that’s what we did.

It took half an hour — with my opening up my Rent Café account on her computer, her searching, finding where it had been set to card, removed and reset to bank account.

Setting to card might have been my mistake, but maybe not, because Manager tells me I’m not the only one to get charged $29.14 — could have been a glitch in the system that sent it to cards.

Manager said one resident stormed into her office highly irate. When Manager gave her the same spiel she tried to give me, "I told her to contact her bank or the third party", it further infuriated the resident. She yelled, screamed, stormed out, according to Manager.

Wish I knew who this Resident is, and I won’t be surprised if others come forward, as Manager said some didn't pay rent.

Did they not pay rent OR did they sign up for Rent Café and are caught in the glitch …… it didn't go through?

That nearly happened to me …… when I checked my account May 2, saw nothing withdrawn May 1 for Rent Café, I went into the portal, manually pushed buttons to make it go through.

There's the possibility others don't yet know, haven't checked their account.

Manager seemed unusually pleased with herself, when she said rent was considered late on the 5th, and some didn't pay. She actually shrugged her shoulders, and had a smurk on her face.

As to yelling, screaming …… you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I got Manager to solve the problem, and she did it willingly, nicely, after we got past the blame game.

Before leaving Manager’s office, I made one more pitch for return of the Rent Drop Box.

Manager says she was just as surprised as we were when the order came down from Corporate to get rid of the box. Evidently, there’d been a thieving incident at one of the other properties that was "really bad" involving a rent box being broken into to steal cash and someone being hurt.

"There’s no cash in the drop box", said I.

"Criminals don’t know that and besides, they want checks to whitewash, fill in, steal people’s identities. It’s a safety and security issue, for the protection of residents and us (office staff)".

Whatever.

That done, I popped into the Community Room as I’d seen "Mother’s Day Crafts" on the calendar.

Folks were just lining up for pizzas, so learning it would be half an hour before crafts began, I left, came back at the appointed time.

I’d barely sat down when I became aware the Other Wheelchair Lady was going off about someone she "couldn’t stand". I didn’t focus on what or who she was complaining about, but as she went on and on and on and on, it began to amuse me.

I started laughing, looked up from what I was doing, and she said, "I’m talking about you-know-who …… Manager".

So, just as I had experienced a session with Manager showing her good side, here Other Wheelchair Lady is bashing her to high hell.

I thought, Is this the one that yelled at Manager over Rent Café?.

I asked, "Are you pissed off about the Rent Café fee?"

"No", said she. It was something about an event I’d not attended. Manager made the residents line up outside while the room was being prepped. When the door was opened, Manager stood by the door as residents entered and "Didn’t say anything to any of us, no hello, no nothing as we passed by. And then, when she finds out we don’t like her, she starts crying".

Oh well.

Today’s Mother's Day craft was using modge podge to glue tiny little delicate flowers and greenery to glass vases/jars/photo frames.

Made by Greedy Grabby

Made by Hell on Wheels

Made by Jo, New Resident

Made by Me

Made by Talker
used too much glue but will dry clear

While we crafted, Name Dropper popped in to tell her friends in the room that she’s packing, her last day here is coming up.

"You’re moving?" asked I.

She answered in the affirmative.

"Where to …… back to Palm Springs?".

"No, Arizona".

"What’s in Arizona?".

She skillfully changed the subject, didn’t answer.

Hmmmmm?

Name Dropper lasted one year here, and it must have been a hard year, because she looks terrible. Aged considerably.

I’m guessing the loneliness and the drinking.

After returning to my unit, I got online, saw a reader — SoCalFifi, had commented to yesterday’s post …… "According to Mr. Google 'California Civil Code § 1947.3: prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to pay rent only by electronic means.' Maybe corporate needs to be reminded".

Holy Crapola! I took a look at the Code, saw it read "a landlord or a landlord's agent shall allow a tenant to pay rent and deposit of security by at least one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic funds transfer".

Technically speaking, the fact that the office is still allowing residents to walk their payments into the office, might be considered the one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic transfer. On the other hand, if the end goal is electronic funds transfer … Rent Café for all — like only electronic at Scary Mary's complex, the code says they can’t do that. They have to give us another option.

I began planning how I could surreptitiously get this information to Manager and Corporate — send copies of the code, making sure to leave no fingerprints, change my handwriting on the envelope, leave no DNA by licking the stamp, drive to a post office out of the area to drop the envelopes off.

But then I thought "screw it" and sent an email to Manager that Corporate will see.

"Thanks for your help this morning with Rent Café. I appreciate that removal of the rent drop box is for reasons of safety and security, but I’m wondering if this falls under a Civil Code which was just brought to my attention …… California Code, Civil Code - CIV § 1947.3, which indicates a landlord or a landlord's agent shall allow a tenant to pay rent and deposit of security by at least one form of payment that is neither cash nor electronic funds transfer. This might be something Corporate might want to look into and reconsider removing drop boxes. Thanks!"

Manager will see it first thing tomorrow morning, then we lay low and wait.

I’ll also make sure others are aware of this code.

Thanks again, SoCalFifi.

Nope

Hearing a second outage is on the horizon, it’s been challenging to decide what food products to bring back in, especially almond milk and eggs that I sorely need.

Then, I remembered that in the past, when I’d go to family eating events, I would use a Portable Electric Cooler Bag to transport meals I cooked for myself.

If When the refrigerator goes out again, the bag will be perfect to keep eggs and milk and other food items cold, so I pulled it out of storage.

Thing is, the bag needs a source of power so, after much searching, I found a portable solar generator that I can pick up in a day or two — plenty of time before spoilage sets in if power goes out today.

So that worked out, plan for today was to head to Sprouts for supplies. However, when I got in the car, saw how strong the wind was, it was NOPE ……… I’m not getting on the freeway, drive out of the area scared out of my wits the wind will blow the car over or a truck will fall on me — like the terror I felt last time I braved the wind.

I pivoted, drove to the corner market, settled for store brand products.

Pulling into the lot, ready to park, I saw this happen ………

My bad. I saw it coming and should have honked to get their attention, but didn't think fast enough.

It appears to have been just a tap.

The old lady’s car wasn’t damaged, and though I didn’t see any damage to young blood’s car, you know how young men are about their vehicles. He saw damage.

At any rate, it was all very civil as they exchanged insurance information and didn’t feel the need to involve me as a witness, which might be a mistake on the old lady's part.

Both were equally at fault and, if young blood wants to make an insurance issue out of it, a witness would have been helpful. Especially a witness with a drive cam.

In the last post, I’d replied to Mistress Maddie’s comment about candles, saying that I wanted to add the Luigi Mangione candle to my collection.

"Is there one?", Mistress asked.

There are literally dozens being offered online, from sellers I'm not familiar with. However, I've found a seller that’s done right by me in the past. The seller offers two Luigi's ……

Tempted to order both, because of that million dollar smile, I opted for the first one.

Fish Story

Yesterday was Bingo Friday with the usual suspects.

The Community Room was decked out, by management, for the Holiday …… maybe in lieu of a tree this year, as I've seen none; but it's still early.

No way did Manager set this up. It's probably the work of the young Assistant Manager.

We were joined at bingo by one of the newer residents ─ the guy I’d had to school on etiquette …… told how rude he was being when he walked into the Community Room while we were in the middle of bingo, sat down in the big chair, opened his phone and began viewing some kind of program, open mic, no headphones. That guy.

The Baker said she talked him into joining us.

He looked reluctant to be there, so I’m not sure he enjoyed bingo; but time will tell if he shows up again.

Also talked by the Baker into joining us was Little Linda — a weird little resident who has been living here since long before I arrived on the complex.

The Baker really needs to stop with all this kumbaya crap, trying to bring everyone in the complex together as one big bingo family.

So, anyway, Little Linda jives very well with residents of lesser character, but doesn’t jive well with those of us who don’t fall into that category.

She quite literally turns her nose up at those of us not of her tribe, walks right by us without looking at or speaking to.

Consequently, when one of the regulars saw Little Linda taking a seat, she made a stinky face, looked at me, nodded her head in the direction of Little Linda, as if to say look look look at whose joining us.

Little Linda sat at the table behind me with people she’s friendly with — Di, Name Dropper and Hell on Wheels, and I caught her too many times sneaking glances at me.

Seeing me up close, watching me take photos, help winners at the prize table, the women at her table being friendly with me probably piqued her interest, but she blew her shot to get to know me many years ago when she rebuffed a friendly gesture made by me and has since given me the not of her tribe treatment.

Two can play that game, so catching her glances out the corner of my eyes, I in return refused to acknowledge her glances, did not look at or attempt to speak to her.

Of course, Di and Name Dropper being seated together was a mistake. The fact that Little Linda and Hell on Wheels were seated with them didn’t deter the two from getting in trouble. The two were quite literally yelled at, several times …… for talking.

One of the organizers would yell "HEY!" to quiet the two down so the Caller could hear the game winner verify the win by calling out their winning numbers.

Being yelled at didn’t bother them, not one bit. They seemed to enjoy it — looked at each other, giggle like naughty school children.

Paranormal John: You’ll be interested to know Hell on Wheels, who’d missed a few sessions, was escorted in by a caregiver I’d not seen before …… a male.

I guess she’s traumatized all the females the agency provided, so they are seeing if she’ll be less awful being cared for by a male caregiver.

And get this John, she now has 4 caregivers. They work in shifts.

Two are from an agency, two are relatives ─ one of which is her daughter, who comes on Sundays, cooks and leaves meals for the week.

All caregivers, relatives and agency people, are paid caregivers.

Once again, I didn’t win any of the 10 games, but I walked away with a poinsettia plant that, based on past experiences with poinsettias, I haven't a clue as how to keep alive.

A gift from the organizers as thanks for designing and printing bingo flyers, taking photos, managing the website.

The day before, while heading into the Laundry Room, I was approached by a fairly new resident who was upset, said "I don’t even want to live here anymore" because her unit had been burglarized …… several times.

She said her electronics disappeared during the burglaries, then her clothes and now, "I’ve got nothing left".

I suggested it might be the homeless a new resident who has been using her unit as a hostel — sneaking homeless people in at night, allowing to shower, spend the night …… for money we suspect.

We suspect for money because late one night there was a commotion outside TinTin’s unit. I was asleep, didn't hear it, but the noise woke up Next Door Neighbor, who tells me it was a couple, that looked homeless, banging on TinTin's door yelling, "Let us in, we paid, let us in".

There’s been no more of that from TinTin since that late night commotion outed her activities, but it did alert us to this side business some residents have going on.

And yes …… Next Door Neighbor reported TinTin’s commotion to management and a resident or residents in the quad, where this hostel is currently operating, reported to management.

So, when this resident was telling me about having been burglarized more than once, I suggested it might be the homeless being let in by the resident in her quad.

She said no, that it was a male resident around the corner. "He’s on drugs and he’s always walking over here and watching me".

Asking if the office knew of the burglaries, she said yes but the office told her they can’t do anything.

That didn’t surprise me, because that’s what they do in the office about everything …… nothing.

So then I ask, "Have you reported this to the police?", whereupon she hemmed and hawed, averted my eyes, managed not to answer the question.

My spidey sense went up.

I asked, “How are they getting into your unit?”.

It was well this, well that, hemmimg hawing again with no answer.

I left it with, "You’d better make a police report before they come in and kill you in your sleep" and walked away thinking I’d better get this story verified.

"She has problems, is not well", I’m told.

She’s told this story of being burglarized to several people and each time blames a different resident as the culprit.

Furthermore, her neighbors have security cameras ─ that’s how they know about the resident sneaking in homeless people at night.

Those security cameras are not showing anyone going into her unit, other than herself and her relatives.

So, the general consensus is that if …… as in IF this story of missing electronics/clothing is even true, it’s probably one of her own relatives.

And that’s the tea.

P.S. I learned the Thanksgiving Luncheon was not El Pollo chicken. Instead it was individual personal sized boxes of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). They served the residents box lunches for Thanksgiving. Can't wait to see what management comes up with for the Christmas Party.

I may have to call off that morning's workout, go to the event, see for myself.

Fifth of Halloween Outage

Today got off to a rough start.

The maintenance power outage that was postponed a few weeks ago, because of all the fires in the area and triple digit heat, was rescheduled for 9:00 pm last night.

We’re once again experiencing triple digit heat, the line fire is amazingly only 79% contained — still not the opportune time for a power outage, but I figured it would be cooler at night, I could manage without a fan or A/C until power was restored at 4 am this morning.

Except ………… when I awoke up at 6 am, power had not been restored; and, as the weather began edging to the estimated 102° predicted for today, the heat in my unit became unbearable, as the power company extended the end first to 5 am (it was already 6, so obviously that estimate had passed), then to 8 am, then 9 am, then 10.

By that time, I couldn't breathe, felt faint and worse of all, the makeup was melting from my face, so I evacuated the premises.

Outside was a lot more manageable than inside. So, I sat in the car, got a nice cross breeze by opening the windows, and there I meditated and then watched a few more episodes of Bridgerton on the cell phone.

The next alert indicated power would be restored at 12 noon.

Of course, I didn’t believe it, continued living in the car until, at 12:08, I received the power restored alert.

Those few hours I was inconvenienced gave me a deeper understanding of what people who have lost power for weeks/months, due to varying disasters, go through.

It wasn’t fun.

Can’t have been too much fun for Trainer and Liquor Store Owner either because, when the power went out at 9 pm last night, the area was in total darkness. I mean pitch black. No lights, no electronics working ……… that included security cameras.

The guys figured the lack of security cameras and total darkness would be an opportune time for the bad guys to return for another break-in, so they slept in their businesses.

I’ll find out, at Monday’s workout, how they enjoyed sleeping over, and how disruptive it was that the 4 am restoration time was not met.

On another note, my bloody Halloween workout tee arrived.

No sleeves, and the stretchy cotton/polyester blend is perfect for this weather.

Fall Luncheon Social

The new Activity Director is a very pretty lady — I’m guessing mid to late 30’s, who comes across as sweet, anxious to do a good job, but please tell me what does yesterday’s session, "Ethics in the Workplace and Fall Luncheon Social" have to do with us seniors.

The Fall Luncheon Social part, yes.

Ethics in the Workplace, huh? We don’t work, we’re retirees.

Discovering around 12:15 that this month’s activity calendar had been posted to our doors, seeing the above-titled session scheduled for 12:30, I quickly thew something on, went down to check the spread out, grab a few photos for our residents’ facebook page.

The workplace ethics was a handout — read at one’s leisure.

It was a very poor showing. Only six residents in attendance.

Usually, the mention of food motivates residents to head to the Community Room. This poor showing may be because not many realized the calendar had been posted to their door, or they’d not yet read it to see mention of a luncheon, or residents simply didn’t care to attend.

I stayed just long enough to say hi, listen to my friend Jenne complain about the lack of activities, our Boebert character moan how much she misses Red Light (for that same reason — lack of activities) grab a photo of the six and the food offerings — sub sandwiches, deli fried chicken, potato salad, Hostess cupcakes, to post to our facebook page, then headed back to my unit.

As for the lack of activities, my last post mentioned that activities pretty much ended when resident Red Light moved out of the complex — purportedly because she couldn’t get along with Manager and had a maintenance issue in her unit she said, "I can’t live with it", so no surprised the usual suspects are complaining about the lack of activities.

I replied to Jenne's complaint with something to the effect that what little management does for us is better than nothing and assuming that, since Red Light was no longer a thorn in Manager’s side, the lock was now off the refrigerator — because part of the reason for the lock was Manager making it difficult for Red Light to host food events for us, I replied to Boebert’s complaints with, "Well, at least the lock is off the refrigerator now".

"Take another look" said Boebert (so named that in the blog because she was disruptive ……… talked during bingo).

I took another look and gasp — though all the notes telling us to not even think about using the refrigerator to store food and drinks for our own initiated events, because management was taking it over for their lunches …… the notes were gone, but the locks remain.

Whatever.

Property owners of the strip mall came through for the liquor store guy.

When I arrived for Monday’s workout, there was a noticeable change to front of the business.

Yep! The Property Owners got the memo and, sometime over the weekend, set up bollards.

This will prevent the bad guys from backing a truck into the storefront — mangling the metal security gate, shattering the floor-to-ceiling window; but now Trainer has to worry the determined bad guys will go back to old school break-ins ……… manually rip through the window, bars and walls of the Pain Cave to get to the liquor store yet and still.

After the last time the bad guys broke into his studio, Trainer upgraded his security system. So, hopefully, the system will do its job of notifying him before damage is done, so he can take action, because he says, if hit again, he cannot recover, cannot financially come back from another break-in.