MY NEW BLOG

well, i couldn't resist.........i went over to blogger.com and started a new blog.  this is the new location:

http://apageunturned.blogspot.com/

stop by when you can.

OLD ENTRIES/OLD FRIENDS/MEMORIES

i was trying to catch up on journal reading before the last curtain call and came across a journal that sorta stirred up something in me.  i won't mention the journal name, mostly because this person is a dear j-land friend and is very much entitled to her opinion........as am i.  the gist of the entry was that we have all survived much more devastation and turmoils than losing our journals and should not worry about it.  i agree mostly with that statement...........but...........yes, there is a but.............

i went back to my first entry which was on june 27, 2004 and started copying and pasting onto word documents in spans of one month at a time so as not to lose anything in my journal.  it wasn't very long before i started crying and got a very heavy heart.  there are comments in that very first month from people who are no longer in this world........they have passed on to a greater reward.  without j-land and my journal, i would have never met some of these people.  my life would have been much different without their comments, love, prayers, support, compassion, and advice.  i will never have another comment from those people.  if i lose my journal's contents, i will lose their words.  i will have the memories of knowing these people, but after time fades those memories, there will be little left. 

also, i started journaling at a time in my life when i needed a friend and there wasn't one in my real life to help me cope with day to day trials and tribulations.  i lost 2 homes to foreclosure and was evicted from a rental house due to circumstances beyond my control.  i became estranged with my then 17 year old daughter, and proceeded to watch her from afar live a life i would never wish for her.  i found love, then lost it, several times.  my journal captured my emotions, my soul.  i wrote poetry i have since forgotten about, all to cope with life as it was back then for me.  now that i am on higher ground emotionally and financially, i have more or less blocked out much of that past.  reading my past journal entries has brought those memories back, and even though they are not the best of memories, the events strengthened me and made me a better person.  and by reading my past entries, i find peace in my life now. 

so, even though this journaler is correct in saying more or less to not sweat the small stuff........to me, my journal isn't small stuff.  it is a record of my life.......one i have tried to forget because of the bad memories, but one that has brought me full circle to where i am today.

i will move on and continue journaling.  and someday will look back at my current entries and either smile or cry........but it will be a slice of my life..........MY LIFE..........a life that only i have lived.

and yes, i have every right to be angry with the powers that be at aol.  they didn't provide "the service" for free, or out of the goodness of their hearts.  they did it at a cost to their customers, both financially and by having so many internal problems that we all became exasperated at one point or another.  yes, i will continue on with aol.  it is like an old pair of shoes that, when new and first worn, hurt the feet and make life miserable until they are broken in.  i have become familiar with aol.  i am at a loss at where i will go from here, but i will go................and i will succeed at making a new journal at a new site.  i just hate that i will lose so many friends who will not journey down the same road as i.

I HAVE WIFI

ain't it a hoot..........i finally have a day off work, my wifi connection is good.........and i have to spend the next 24 hours trying to save 4 years of journaling because aol makes a decision without consulting the very beings that keep them in business.  ya gotta luv 'em........NOT!!

i went to magic smoke to try to figure some things out and started following their directions on backing up my journal files..........and my head exploded.  i guess you have to be a computer geek to understand any of it.  there is talk of an email going out on the 7th explaining how to transition to a new blogsite.  by the time i figure out the instructions i could have typed the last 4 years' entries by hand into another blog.  this is just so frickin' ridiculous.  i'm too old to learn new tricks....... sheesh.

i have already received some notices from readers as to where they will be going and how to keep in touch with them.  please, to keep in touch with me, keep my email addy in your files.  it hasn't changed for 7 years, so unless aol decides to completely fold, i don't see it changing.

i know it is a little early, but as soon as each of you know where you might be taking your blog, please email me with the site.  i have begun an account at yahoo 360 and will probably go either blogger.com or blogspot.com. 

i am going to go now and try to catch up on the journals i am behind on before i start copying my own 5 journals for posterity.

be blessed, each and every one of you.

(possibly the last kittycaption on this journal)

aoljpictureUpload, aoljpictureUpload_1

MY PLANE HAS BEEN SHOT DOWN

as most of you know, aohell is closing j-land.  4 years of my life, as well as years and years of my internet friends' lives going down the toilet.  it was bad enough that aohell ate about half of my entries the first time around.......now they want to eat the rest.  and they claim the transition to another blog site will be easy........sorry, EASY and AOL in the same sentence denotes an oxymoron.  (emphasis on the moron)

i had already typed up a lengthy entry a couple of days ago while i had wifi service and as soon as i pushed the button to save........my wifi vanished.  but since learning the near death of j-land, i have decided not to enter that entry.  i also added a tribute to the wonderful actor and charitable contributor, paul newman, but am choosing not to put that in as well.  i will be spending most of my online time trying to save the 4 private journals i have while i await instructions on the "EASY" transition of my public journal.  i guess that means i will have to purchase additional flashdrives to hold all the stuff.  thanks aohell!!

work is same ole same ole.  everyone at everyone elses throats.  i have to go in early tomorrow (wednesday) because we are short handed.  it will be a full extra hour of pay, but here i sit at 1:50 am when i have to get up at 7:30 am.  oh well, i am off on thursday.  i will sleep in then.

gas shortages are not as horrifying here as they are in atlanta, but gas is still scarce.  if you pass a station on the way to work that HAS gas, there is no guarantee they will have any when you head home.  in fact, they usually DON'T have any in the afternoons.  you use up 2 gallons and fumes looking for somewhere to purchase 2 gallons.  no win situation.

not sure how i feel about the aig bail out either.  if we don't do it, where will the economy be in 5 years?  if we do bail them out, the taxpayer is paying for it, more than once.  but will it better our future?  i am too old to think about all this crap.  i want to retire on a lake or beach and be a happy old woman. 

i guess i better head for the bed.  7:30 am will come really early!!

oh, and to all my j-land friends, please, keep in touch some way or another.  i will more than likely transition to wherever aol goes.  but i am also going to yahoo 360.  i am going to weigh all my options and go with the best, but still want to keep in touch with all my dear friends out there.  so keep my email addy and stay in touch wherever you go to blog.

LOVE YA'LL!!

I found this quote in an email and thought it was so amazingly true, I wanted to share it with my friends in J-Land.

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.  WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also received this in another email.  Please open and enjoy.  Not only are the quotes inspiring, the photos are amazing.

Finding Joy Movie

JUST STAY

Just Stay

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside. 'Your son is here,' she said to the old man in the bed.  She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.  Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent.  He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement. The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.  All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused.  Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients.  Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying old man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night. Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse.  While she did what she had to do, he waited.  Finally, she returned.  She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her. 'Who was that man?' he asked.

The nurse was startled, 'He was your father,' she answered.

'No, he wasn't,' the Marine replied. 'I never saw him before in my life' 'Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him? 

 

''I knew right away there had been a mistake.  But I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here.  When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed.’

 

The next time someone needs you .. Just be there. Stay.

AN ENTRY WRITTEN 24 HOURS AGO

Finally, cooler weather.  It is about 64 degrees here in my town at 12:11 am, Thursday.  I just changed my air conditioner from cool to fan only, for the first time in 3-1/2 months.  The days are going to be in the low to mid 70’s, so that will be nice, too.  But I don’t look forward to cold weather.  I hate having to put on warm clothes and a jacket every time I need to go outside the house.  But that is one of the quirks of living in Georgia.

 

Since I was off work on Monday, I went to pay my rent/utility bill.  The landlord wasn’t in, nor was his secretary, so I left it with one of the front office receptionists, along with a note telling the landlord I didn’t want further inspections, as I felt they were invasive of my privacy, and to satisfy his need to know if I had “cleaned the piles of materials” from the bedroom, I had taken numerous pictures and printed them out on plain paper for his perusal.  I feel that should suffice.  I have half expected him to come by the house and leave me a nasty note.  He has become such a bully.  I have known him for many years, even having gone to church with him years ago.  He used to be such a nice man, full of good spiritedness and integrity.  He has become a totally different person.  I feel it is his many years of service as mayor of our little town.  Either that or he is becoming senile.  Or maybe both.  Sigh…

 

After he had left me the note that there were numerous cats in the neighborhood, I stopped seeing any of the wild kitties around the house.  I figured he had called the pound to pick them up.  I stopped putting food out since it wasn’t being eaten and ants and bugs were getting into it.  Then, Monday, as I went out to run errands, Gray was sitting in the driveway looking at me getting into the car.  She looked rather good, so I am assuming she is either preggers again, or has been eating somewhere else.  I fed her later in the day when I got home.  It appears both of her previous kittens are deceased.  I really hate it, too.  I am sure I am the reason for the demise of the beige one, but I don’t know what happened to the black one.  They were both rather fuzzy like their daddy (Blacky).

 

Since I cleaned the large pile of craft items out of the bedroom floor, my kitty has been having a ball playing with her toys.  She has a toy tub that has no lid, and even though I have taken out 3 of her favorites to play with, she sits over the tub, staring down into it like she is expecting another favorite to pop out for her.  She runs across the floor chasing her Rat, which is her favorite of all.  She can snag her claws in it and toss it high up in the air, and then when it falls on her, she holds it with her front paws and kicks the daylights out of it with her hind paws.  Then the chase and throw begins all over.  So I guess one good thing came out of my “clean-up” attempt.

 

I worked on Tuesday, and even though I had hoped for a good day, argument and confrontation free, I had a small tiff with another co-worker.  Now I have nothing against people from the north as long as they don’t badmouth those of us from the south.  She is a true yank from Rhode Island who hates living here in Georgia.  Her children live here, so that is why she doesn’t move back.  That and the fact that her husband isn’t in the best of health for moving.

 

Having mostly clerical/managerial jobs in the past, I lean toward wanting to help the assistant director when she lets me and I have the time.  I get nothing from it other than satisfaction that I have decreased her stress levels just a little.  I have been helping her make appointments for people in need of acquiring free clothing at our store.  The auditor is coming on Thursday, Friday and Monday, so the assistant director has been busy trying to get ready for the audit.  When someone calls for clothing assistance, I check her calendar and then I inform her of what spaces are available and when she gives me the approval, I make the appointment and make sure that the client has knowledge of the date and time, as well as directions to the store.

 

Someone either called or came into the store Tuesday needing clothing assistance.  The aforementioned Northern co-worker came to ask the assistant director about making an appointment for the woman.  The assistant director immediately looked at me for help, since I had been making her appointments for her.  I spoke up as to my knowledge of the last appointment I had actually made for her, and the other co-worker shushed me.  When I kept on telling her what the last appointment I had made was, she shushed me again, lost her patience and said “Excuse me, I am NOT talking to you!”  I told her I knew as much about the appointments as the assistant director since she had been letting me make them for her.  The co-worker continued to argue with me that it wasn’t any of my business and I should stay out of it.  I went inside and she continued fussing at me.  I told her she didn’t know what she was talking about, since I had been making the appointments for the assistant director to help her out in a stressful time.  Even though she finally realized I HAD been helping, she never apologized to me, but went to the assistant director and apologized to her.  I thought it was rather comical myself. 

 

Since the auditors are coming, we all have to watch our hours at work.  Usually I get anywhere from 30-36 hours a week, even though I was only promised 29 a week.  Now I only get 29.  Hopefully things will change after they leave.  I NEED MO MONEY!!!

 

Not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier entry, but I found out lately that after I am employed for a full year, I will get a pension plan, as well as one week paid vacation per year.  Wow, a part time job with full time benefits……..how cool is that?!?!?!?  My old job would never have offered me that………they never even paid me my first raise.  I guess with the benefits I get where I am now it is worth a few confrontations/arguments.

 

Remember me telling you about selling a toy box to the wrong customer last Saturday?  Well I have one better for you……….the newest employee (the one whose elevator doesn’t reach the top floor) sold the same bookshelf 2 times within an hour.  It was an honest mistake since the bookshelves are outside and cannot be seen by the cashiers.  But someone had to have removed the SOLD sign that had been placed on the bookshelves.  The same employee said she might be the reason we were $5 over Tuesday evening.  I hate being off either way, but if I have more than the register tape says, then I am ok.

 

I was able to read and comment in a few journals when I did have wifi, so hopefully I will be able to do so again soon.

 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend………I have to work Friday and Saturday……

ANOTHER DAY FROM HELL

Saturday, September 13, 2008

  

We all have had days we knew were going to be bad ones from the very start.  Today was one of mine.

 

I usually start the day by asking God to help me through the day & for me to be a shining example for Him throughout my waking hours.  For some reason, I didn’t do that this morning.  I awoke groggy, wanting to roll back over & snuggle, & go back to sleep.  I should have listened to my inner voice.  (No, not THOSE voices in my head, lol)

 

Today was going to be a busy & tiring one at work because 2 of my least favorite co-workers were working with me, as well as the newest co-worker whose elevator doesn’t go all the way to the top floor.  I felt better today than I had yesterday, but still felt like a cold was coming on, or my sinusitis was in full bloom.  I wasn’t on top of my game.  For some time now I have also had short-term memory loss.  I recently watched a TV special about how when you get less than 4 hours sleep a night, you lose short-term memory.  Today I was doomed to forget everything...I only slept 3.5 hours. 

 

The first part of the day went well.  When the newest employee came in, she showed the new community service girl what to do.  I was getting along well with the 2 employees I don’t care much for.  The new employee covered for me while I went on break, which was nice, since I usually have to BEG someone to give me a break. 

 

Right before I went to lunch, things got really busy in the store.  I had a line of customers waiting to be checked out, as well as numerous voices calling to me asking me questions about this & that, not to mention kids running amuck in the store, screaming, playing & tearing up things.

 

A regular customer came up while I was checking someone out & asked me how much a wooden toy box was.  I told her it should be priced since another co-worker & I had discussed it earlier.  I went back to checking my customer out when the other woman returned & said it didn’t have a price on it.  I finished with my customer at the register & went to the back to ask a co-worker what the price was on the toy box.  She told me & I went back to tell the customer.  Now this is where my memory gets mushy.  I vaguely remember the customer saying “OK, I will get it then, but I am not done shopping.”  Usually, we tell the customer if they want to avoid someone else attempting to purchase the item they want, go ahead & purchase it right then, & we can either place a sold sign on it, or we can have it taken out to their vehicle.  Well, for some reason, I didn’t say that to the customer.  I guess we “assume” that if someone is a regular customer they know the routine.  Well, once again, I made the wrong assumption.  I got busy again with a line of customers & totally forgot any conversation I had had with the toy box customer. 

 

Somewhere in the maze of people in my line, a woman came up & said she wanted to get the toy chest out front.  When she said “out front”, my mind automatically thought she meant the Little Tykes toy chest that was outside earlier in the morning.  I asked her how much it was & she said $8.99.  I rang it up, she paid, I called a guy from the back to come load it into the woman’s car & suddenly out of nowhere a voice yelled, “Where are they going with my toy box?”  I turned suddenly & saw the previous customer glaring at me.  She asked if I had just sold it to that woman.  I realized then what I had done.  Stupid me.  I told her I had forgotten she wanted it & apologized to her.  That wasn’t good enough.  She began yelling at me in front of my long line of customers, telling me that I was wrong in doing that.  I stopped what I was doing, turned to face her & told her I was terribly sorry, but there was nothing I could do but ask for her forgiveness & if another one came in I would let her have it for half price, even if I had to pay the difference.  That didn’t satisfy her.  Since she hadn’t paid for it yet, I COULDN’T give her any money back.  I couldn’t let her pick out anything in the store for free.  I just kept telling her I was sorry & to please forgive me.  She yelled she would forgive me, but it just wasn’t right.  I did her wrong.  She kept on & on about it.  I told her she obviously hadn’t forgiven me, as she was still screaming at me about it. 

 

As I finished with my customer at the register, I saw a co-worker in the aisle, excused myself from the register & went to ask her to take over for me since I was so rattled by the woman screaming at me.  I was trying to explain to her what had happened, starting by saying “IT WAS MY FAULT.”   The screaming customer followed me over to the other employee & said “Here you are talking about me & spreading it all over!”  My co-worker told the woman I was only explaining to her that I had made an error, asking her to try to rectify it with the customer.  I turned & walked off, knowing my mouth was about to get the best of me.

 

I was so angry, I went into the kitchen, grabbed a piece of ice from the freezer and slung it hard against the wall.  Fortunately, no one was injured in the assault.  Without explanation, I went outside, sat down in one of the chairs, gritting my teeth, while 5 CS guys tried to ask what was wrong.  One said I looked really angry. I nodded.  Then I saw there was a Rubbermaid tub in front of my foot, so I kicked it hard. It bounced into one of the guys.  He wasn’t hurt, but I apologized. He started laughing & said no harm done.  They begged me to tell the story, so I did.  I felt better. They all started telling stories about where they worked.  I went back inside to sit a couple more minutes, hoping the other co-worker had diffused the situation & the customer was gone.  Another co-worker told me I needed to go up front & help out since there was a long line.  I went, slowly, making sure the customer was gone. Then I noticed the girl who was going to relieve me for lunch was back from her break & working the register.  I asked what happened with the customer & was told the woman left mad, saying she would never come back again.  Good riddance.  I got my purse & went to lunch.  I hadn’t planned on eating out, but needed comfort food.  Fried chicken, here I come.

 

The rest of the day went well for me. The co-worker who had diffused the situation locked her keys in the building when we closed for the day & couldn’t get into her van, her house, or even the building to retrieve her keys.  She calmly asked me for my key.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  I don’t have a set of keys, lol.  I never got a set because I am never scheduled to open.  I am the only one who lives close, so it would take anyone at least 45 minutes to get there to let her in.  She called the director……voicemail.  She called another co-worker…….answering machine.  Then she called her son, who lives 5 miles away, asking him to bring a spare key for her van.  He didn’t have one……lol.  But he came & picked her up to take her home.  We all have our forgetful moments…..

 

I was so stressed out by the time I did get home I was ready to sit down at my puter and put this entry in my journal.  No such luck.  No wifi signal.  I had one all night last night, but I had to go to bed and get up early for work today.  Sigh………………..

 

I am going to close now.  Hope everyone is well and happy and life is treating you with love and respect.

MORE HOUSEMATE STUFF AND PICS

Well, here I am again.  I wanted to tell about my crazy neighbor downstairs.  As most of you know, she has rarely spoken to me since I sent her that letter telling her how angry I was that she came into my apartment while I was asleep and took eggs out of my refrigerator.  I am not saying how I know this, but I know for a fact that she is way behind on her rent, and he ISN’T charging her late fees like he did me the one time I was 2 days late.  He has told her she must pay the full amount owed (almost $1200) by September 13th.  I don’t know her financial history, but if she is that far behind, I don’t see how she is going to come up with it.  I have a customer at work that needs a decent place to live, and I would love to have her as a housemate.  But then that would be mean of me to wish that on my current housemate.  I have been where she is financially, and could very well be again, so a part of me wants the best for her.

 

I cook every night…….ok, well almost every night.  And that causes a lot of garbage and trash.  I had several big bags of garbage I needed to get down to the garbage can, which is outside my housemate’s kitchen window, right next to where she parks her car.  Sometimes I cannot even get to the can because she parks so close to it.

 

This past Tuesday evening I was taking these bags of garbage down the 25 steps in back, around her patio, and toward the can.  Her car wasn’t in the drive, so I felt lucky.  Just as I started across the drive, I noticed her car in the street, backing up into the drive.  I stopped, watched her back in, then she stopped part way in, pulling forward again.  I thought she had seen me in her rearview mirror and was pulling up to allow me over to the garbage can.  So I started back over to the can and she began backing up again, really fast, and I jumped back and stood there holding the 4 bags of garbage, while she finished parking.  When she finally stopped the car, her door was level with where I was standing and I startled her.  She said “I didn’t see you standing there!”.  I said “yep, I know……you almost backed over me.”  She repeated she didn’t see me there as I went around the front of the car and put the garbage in the can.  Her grandson was sitting in the passenger seat and he said he didn’t see me either.  I waved and smiled at him and went on around the car and back upstairs.  Never once did I hear an apology………..sheesh!!

 

I wonder what the illustrious mayor/landlord would have to say if he knew his “other” tenant was a pot-smoking, cigarette-smoking alcoholic.  I wonder if he would be so “pleased” to have her living there.  I can prove the cigarettes and alcohol for I have seen her do both.  But I have only smelled the pot, so have no real proof.  I just hope that she doesn’t burn us both up one night.

 

There has been some excitement at work as well.  We hired a new woman a month or so ago.  She is really sweet, but has no common sense or self- confidence.  She is probably in her forties, but acts like a child.  Our director didn’t want to hire her, and now I know why.  The other employees are always making remarks about her behind her back.  I tried to sit down with her one day on break and talk to her to get to know her so that I can figure out why she is the way she is.  I heard she takes some type of medication, so it might be affecting her thought processes.  She had been there at least a month and is often seen standing in the middle of the floor in the back, staring at a hanger, or a piece of clothing, and then lays it down, picks the clothing back up and asks someone a rather silly question about it.  The director had already said he was going to let her go since she can’t seem to get the hang of things.  She began training on the register this past Tuesday, and again tomorrow (Thursday).  Everyone just knew she wasn’t going to be able to handle it, and that would be a good reason to “let her go”.  I laughed at them and told them she might just fool them and do exceptionally well on the register.  The head cashier didn’t want to train her, especially if they were just going to let her go afterwards.  Well, when I came into work today (Wednesday), I asked her how she did and she said it went rather well.  I then asked the director and another employee, and they both said she did really well………well enough to relieve me on my breaks after Thursday.  Hahahahahaha……………….told them!!!!!  I really do hope she does well………..

 

The director says he will let me come to the back and work with the community service girls who work on the clothing, getting it ready to put on the sales floor.  I sort of look forward to getting a break from the register 1 or 2 days a week.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I am going to try to upload some pictures onto my flash drive to put in my entries.  Not sure how much time I will have in the library, though.  I have to do that research on tenant/landlord law.  Then I have to cash my check, meet my previous housemate at Olive Garden for lunch, stop by my old place of employment…..the craft store……to see if they have any clearance items I cannot live without, then go to a rehabilitation center in another close city to see one of our volunteers who has cellulites and is having to have rehab for many weeks (and just lost her husband to alzheimers on august 29th) and then back to pay my rent and give my landlord his pictures and letter.  I am tired just talking about it, lol.

 

I have truly missed reading journals the last few weeks, and hope all are doing well.  I am going to really try hard to catch up on reading and commenting, even if I do have to travel to the library to do so.

 

I guess I better sign off on this entry.  I have to save it to my flash drive and upload those pics and try to get in bed before 3 am.

 

Everyone have a blessed day!!!!!!!!!!!

 

this is a pic of the landlord's section of the house.......notice the "clutter" and the bags of Christmas stuff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

these are pictures of the water damage in my spare bedroom.  eventually the ceiling will fall.........

 

 

 

this is the small bedroom on the same floor we rent.  it is full of old furniture, bedding, and just junk, all belonging to the landlord.  and he says "I" have clutter!?!?

 

 

 

 

 

yep, paying rent for a space HE is using..........doesn't seem fair, does it??

MORE DRAMA

Here I am at the library again.  I have not been able to get a wifi signal for quite some time, so am doing this entry on Word and transferring to flash drive, then to the journal.  Sigh……….

 

I have to do some research on Georgia landlord/tenant law while I am here at the library, so have to hurry and enter this.  Plus I have a ton of things to do today (Thursday) since I am off work.  But I just have to catch you up to date on the landlord and his “inspection”.

 

Originally, the landlord stated he would be back in one month to see if I had “cleared” all the “stored” items and put them into a storage unit off the premises.  Then, I got the first letter from him stating he would be back on August 28th for another inspection, instead of September 7th as he had first told me.  I made arrangements at work to be off on Thursday, the 28th, and then I get the second note.  He wouldn’t be able to do the inspection on that date, but would be back on the 29th to do the inspection.  I went to a co-worker and asked her if I could swap days with her so that I could be off on Friday for his visit.  She swapped with me.  In a way, it was a good trade, giving me Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (Labor Day) as a long weekend. 

 

I had almost everything “cleared” in all the areas by Thursday night.  But I got up at 8 am on Friday morning to recheck everything, sweep, vacuum and spruce up everything.  It was a good thing I ate breakfast, as that was the last food I had until almost 7 pm.

 

Around 10 am I sat down to watch some TV and await the illustrious landlord.  I was hungry and tired, but mostly sleepy.  Since I do own a cat and wanted to make sure she wasn’t discovered by the landlord, I tried to stay alert and listen for his knock on the door so that I could make sure she was hidden from him before he entered.  That is one reason I didn’t dare go into the kitchen for fear he would come up while I was in there and I wouldn’t be able to warn my fat cat.

 

So………..I waited.  And waited.  And waited……………………

 

Sometime around 4 pm I couldn’t hold my eyes open any more.  I had only gotten about 2 hours sleep the night before and was tired from lifting all the heavy Rubbermaid containers into the storage closet in my apartment.  I finally HAD to lay down and take a nap.  Every few minutes my subconscious would hear something and I would awaken.  No landlord, though.

 

Around 7 pm I decided the jackarse wasn’t coming.  So I went in and made some supper, in my pajama shirt and no pants…………just hoping he would show up so that I could yell at him for showing up late and without calling first and finding me in my jammies. 

 

Well, as you have already surmised, I never saw nor heard from him on that Friday.  Nor did I see or hear from him on Saturday, Sunday or Monday.  I had to go back to work on Tuesday and when I got home there was a note on my stairway railing.  He had come that day for the inspection.  WITHOUT CALLING ME!!!!!!  He just showed up and went through the spare bedroom and the kitchen.  The note said he had had the opportunity to come do the inspection and was pleased with the results he was able tosee, but that the bedroom door was locked and he would have to contact me later about gaining access to that room for an inspection.  I FRICKIN’ DON’T THINK SO!!!!!   As far as I am concerned, there will be NO FURTHER INSPECTIONS  unless “I” have a concern I must address………like the leak in the spare bedroom he still hasn’t mentioned and/or repaired.

 

I was livid when he didn’t show up or call on that Friday, and I figured he would pull something like he did on Tuesday, doing a surprise inspection.  So I went to Lowe’s and bought a new dead bolt and installed it on my bedroom door.  And I guess my woman’s intuition was right on this time.

 

I had taken pictures of the “cleared” areas after he didn’t show up with the intent to take them and a letter, stating my ire over his failure to show or call, to his mayoral office.  But even after writing the letter, I knew I could not give it to him.  It was full of anger and might have gotten me into more trouble than I could imagine.  But it felt good to get it out of my system.

 

Another thing that I thought was rather funny……I had the rent money, in cash, waiting on him on that Friday.  He would have had the money that day had he shown up or at least called and cancelled the appointment.  I could have taken it up to his office.  Instead, with the holiday weekend, he didn’t get it until Tuesday, the 2nd, which ironically, is the day he showed up at the apartment.  I waited with baited breath for him to dare charge me a $50 late fee after he didn’t show up.  But, alas, he didn’t charge me one.

 

I have since calmed down a bit (even though the retelling of the story has got the hair on the back of my neck standing at attention) and have rewritten the note to him.  I have included the pictures I printed off the computer of the areas of concern, all having the time/date stamp on them so that he will know they are legitimate.  The note simply states that since he failed to keep the appointment he insisted on making, and I lost a day of work, I felt it was in both of our best interests to not make another appointment for an inspection, but instead I was including pictures of the areas he was concerned about.  I hope that will put an end to this nonsense……….but knowing him, and my luck, it probably won’t.

 

He also mentioned in one of his numerous notes that there were cats in the neighborhood and he didn’t allow animals in the house.  Actually, this is the very first timein the 2-1/4 years I have lived here that HE has actually stated that to me in any fashion.  I was never told by the man who I actually rented the place from that cats were not allowed.  I think that the landlord did “something” about the cats, as I have not seen any around in almost a week.  Gray was still coming around and eating, letting me pet her and even pick her up until I got that note from him.  I haven’t seen her kitten (the black/white one) in almost 2 weeks.  I think she might even be preggers again.  Sigh…………I guess he had the pound put out traps for the local cats.

 

I have lots more to tell, but not sure that one entry will do, so I will close this one and start another.

 

Bye for now……

REMEMBER TO CANCEL YOUR CREDIT CARDS BEFORE YOU DIE

Remember to cancel your credit cards before you die

This is so priceless, and so, so easy to see happening, customer service being what it is today.

A lady died this past January, and Citibank billed her for February and March for their annual service charges on her credit card, and added late fees and interest on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00 when she died, but now somewhere around $60.00. A family member placed a call to Citibank.

Here is the exchange:

Family Member: 'I am calling to tell you she died back in January.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member : 'Maybe, you should turn it over to collections.'

Citibank : 'Since it is two months past due, it already has been.'

Family Member : 'So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?'

Citibank : 'Either report her account to frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

Family Member : 'Do you think God will be mad at her?'

Citibank: 'Excuse me?'

Family Member : 'Did you just get what I was telling you - the part about her being dead?'

Citibank : 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'


Supervisor gets on the phone:

Family Member : 'I'm calling to tell you, she died back in January with a $0 balance.'

Citibank : 'The account was never closed and late fees and charges still apply.'

Family Member : 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?'

Citibank : (Stammer) 'Are you her lawyer?'

Family Member : 'No, I'm her great nephew.' (Lawyer info was given)

Citibank: 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

Family Member 'Sure.' (Fax number was given )


After they get the fax:

Citibank : 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

Family Member : 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. She won't care.'

Citibank: 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.' (What is wrong with these people?!?)

Family Member : 'Would you like her new billing address?'

Citibank : 'That might help.'

Family Member : '    Odessa   Memorial   Cemetery, Highway 129, Plot Number 69.'

Citibank : 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

Family Member : 'What do you do with dead people on your planet???

GOPHER HOLE

Just when you think it is safe to stick your head out of the gopher hole, here comes a dang lawnmower………………(think about it, you will get it).

 

I was fortunate enough to get an appointment with the free clinic I go to for today, Thursday.  I made the appointment a couple of weeks ago and was able to get off work early enough today to make the appointment.  Of course, I have needed to go anyway, since I am diabetic and hypertensive, but I have also been having a few problems with my health of late.  I won’t go into my problems, but once I got to the clinic, I realized that I wasn’t as bad off as I thought I was.

 

I was early for my appointment, as usual, since I don’t like being late for anything.  There were only a handful of people in the waiting area, and it was nice and cool and quiet.  As soon as the volunteer doctors arrived, they started calling people back.  One lady had gone back as soon as the head nurse came in and hadn’t come back yet.  When she did come out of the room, she sat down in the waiting area, opened her cell phone, made a call and said “Honey, I am still at the doctor’s office.  I am going to have to start taking the ________ (some medication I didn’t know) again.  I am no longer in remission.  Ok, I love you too.”  I don’t know if she meant cancer, but whatever it is that she had has returned, and it appeared to devastate her.  She started tearing up and a woman across from her said “I’m so sorry.  My heart goes out to you.”  Then she got up and gave the crying woman a hug.  (I have a story to tell about the woman who hugged her that I will tell a little later in this entry.)

 

The woman sat and cried a little then went outside and walked around by herself.  I said a prayer for her and her family.  I felt it was the best thing I could do at that moment.

 

I cannot imagine what that moment must have been like for her.  I am sure she has already been through hell and back, and just gets the news she has to take another trip to hell.  If anyone out there in j-land would like to say a prayer for an anonymous woman in the state of Georgia who may or may not be a Christian, please do so.  I believe in the power of prayer, and in miracles.  Thank you.

 

Now, about the woman who hugged this woman who was crying.  She came into the clinic after I did and was a little loud when she spoke to the nurse at the reception desk.  She came over and sat down and I spoke to her, making a short comment about something she had said, and we laughed together.  She got up again and went to the desk and asked the nurse something else and kept bothering her with something the nurse had already said she couldn’t help her with, that she should talk to the doctor about it when she went back.

 

The woman came back and sat down and was talking about how wonderful these people were and how they had saved her life.  Well, this is true.  The concept is great.  And yes, it costs mostly nothing to be seen by a doctor and/or get treatment.  But sometimes the best-laid plans go awry.  I have had numerous problems with the “non-medical” staff that has sometimes caused me medical problems.  Remember when they didn’t order my meds and I was out for several weeks and having panic attacks?  That was an error made by the staff that could have had some serious medical repercussions.  When I mentioned how they often didn’t call you back when they say they will, or call you when you have meds waiting to be picked up, the woman went ballistic on me.  I was trying to explain how, though it IS mostly a volunteer staff and there are different volunteers tending to your case on different days, and errors are made, any organization needs some strict guidelines that guarantee a modicum of responsibility and attention to detail.  Especially when someone’s life or health depends on it.  Even volunteers should be responsible and do things correctly, or they shouldn’t volunteer. 

 

Anywho………..she said that these people were wonderful, and they couldn’t help errors being made and they were doing the best they could.  I mentioned that in Canada they had organized medicine and it seemed to work (even though some Canadians may disagree) and this woman said “well then maybe you should move to Canada, if you don’t mind me saying that”.  Then she said that she didn’t appreciate the way I was talking and was very uncomfortable having that conversation.  I just got up and walked out of the room to the porch and sat down and prayed for my anger and for that woman’s attitude.  When I came back in, another lady said she thought they called me when I went outside.  I asked, and they said they hadn’t.

 

When I came back from seeing the nurse (you have to be triaged before seeing the doctor) the weird woman was talking loudly and kidding around with another woman who sat down beside her, and was hanging all over her and joking with her, asking her her name and shaking her hand.  I more or less took it as a “floor show” just for me.  I could see her in my peripheral vision sneaking peeks at me from time to time to see how I was reacting.  I just ignored her and eventually a husband and wife sitting near me struck up a conversation about good ole southern home cooking and eventually the weirdo went back to be seen by the nurse.  I was then called to see the doctor and didn’t have to face her again.

 

I went in with my concerns and this very attractive young African-American doctor sat down and patiently explained what I possibly had and what he was going to do to try to fix it.  He wrote me orders for several blood tests and I have to go to the Health Dept. for a, um, well, um, pap smear.  I hate doing that, lol.  But it has been many many years since I have done so, and my best friend is the head nurse at the Health Dept., so maybe she can help me cope with it.  The clinic doesn’t refer you and pay for Health Dept. visits anymore, so I have to come up with the money to get the pap done.  The other lab work for my diabetes, cholesterol and other blood tests will be paid for by the clinic.  If the pap smear comes back abnormal, then the clinic will refer me to a GYN for free. 

 

Sooooooooooooooo, my friends, it appears the lawnmower has cut off my head………

 

As for the little white kitten, it hasn’t made an appearance with its sibling and mother, so I can only assume the worst.  I feel badly still, but, as Sybil said, I didn’t have much of a choice. 

 

I cannot believe I have had wifi service for the last 2 days.  Of course, now that I have said that, it will die on me and I will not be able to put this entry into my journal….. I know, I am a pessimist, lol.

 

I would also like to let each of you know that I have been visiting journals and even commenting in some of them in older entries.  Not sure if all alerts went out, but I have been lurking out there, reading your innermost secrets, lol.  With all this mess with the landlord and working, I haven’t had much energy to comment after I read the entry. 

 

I have also joined my local Freecycle.com and it fills my inbox with emails that I have to peruse and respond to or delete.  When I went to bed last night I had 18 emails left.  When I came home tonight and got online, I had 191.  So that is a lot of reading in itself.

 

I will close this entry now, as I am not seeing the screen too well.  Not sure if it is my sugar levels messing with my eyes, or I am just tired. Either way, GOOD NIGHT MY FRIENDS.