Noise Pollution, the Double Standard and Ketchup Stains

For the second morning in a row we woke up at just before nine to pounding from the new plumbing business that went in right below us. Yesterday we called the landlord, the landlord called the new manager (who apparently was unobtainable, go figure) and said he would take care of it. Nine thirty rolls around, more pounding. Landlord called back later saying that they had been putting an awning up on the side of the building over their window. (Apparently their receptionists need a shady place to sit and smoke.) Ten to ten is the noise rule in this building, he said he would tell them. So this morning to be woken up at the same time by the same thing... I can't say we were very happy about it.

Lucky for Ketchup he had already today playing video games so he was not bothered (f.y.i. we asked him quite some time ago to not play in the morning because I sleep poorly and occasionally need the outlet to keep me from robbing the hubby of his precious sleep.) Want to know the best part? He's still playing. I just checked, we are in hour five. He's playing this game we just got, Thrillville, it's a sim theme park game and while it is an awesome game, it becomes quite hard to watch when the person playing does everything in such an arbitrary way. He runs around blindly simply because he didn't read the whole description of something or whatever. It's mind numbing.

I got up two hours before the hubby today. With the pounding, coughing from the living room, the phone ringing and the hubby snoring I just couldn't do it anymore. I came out into the living room (with little other options) to where you already know Ketchup was playing the XBox 360. I knew he wouldn't turn it off, he never does for me. However I expected, that when two hours later, the hubby got up, that he would immediately turn it off, as usual. This didn't happen. He saved, like usual... and then just kept playing.

The hubby and I exchanged looks. The hubby quickly learned my irritation in watching Ketchup play. Trying to help with the occasional prompt, you could hear the annoyance in the hubby's voice increasing. Again lucky for Ketchup, half deaf in the ear closest to the hubby, he probably didn't hear it.

The hubby is in the shower now, and yes Ketchup is still going, uncaring of the fact that I have been sitting here watching for the last three hours. I need a new topic.

I am going to post my Monday pictures on my other blog today, I should have already done it but what can I say, I slacked. Bar night went fairly well, though with a few less people and the bar looking as if it were closed already by ten when there was still four and a half hours on the clock. Hairy showed up with a girl, it was interesting and we're not sure what to read into it, more on him later though.

We tried to get Tall to come, but after hours of not answering his phone and not replying to texts he finally responds saying he's busy packing for Minnesota. Minnesota? What? Yeah, apparently he's going on vacation and that was the first we were hearing. We think he might of left, who knows because he didn't say anything other then just that. I wonder when he'll be back, or hell, if he's back already. Bugger.

Mondays are all I have outside this house and it's fast becoming our only social outlet so it irks me a little when our friends can't even tell us why they aren't going to be there. Sheesh. On an up note, Curly might come next Monday, which will be his second appearance. That should be cool.

Me? I'm going nuts. I did some bad math the other night. Ketchup spends roughly a hundred and forty-four hours a week creating that dip in my couch. From four in the afternoon on Wednesday till nine at night Friday. From six in the morning till nine at night on Saturday. From six in the morning on Sunday till six in the morning on Wednesday. He doesn't go anywhere. He doesn't do anything. Unless he's playing video games or eating, he can't stay awake for longer then an hour and a half and then he just lays down regardless of what's going on, who's here, whatever. During the day when it's just us, he doesn't even speak to me unless I initiate the conversation. The hubby says to consider him animalistic. I have three cats, I don't need another animal in this little apartment, especially when it hogs my couch, television and XBox.

It's gotten to the point where every time I complain to the hubby, the response is little more then "I know." Not very satisfying. Nothing is going to change. I need help.

Here's something sunny, I still haven't talked to my mom and really I have no plans to at the moment. I've been thinking of writing her a letter, even if I don't send it. I figure it would be therapeutic, and hell, even if I did send it to her, I've got nothing to lose. She doesn't have anything else held over my head and our relationship is shit anyway, it might be nice to get a few things off my chest. We'll see how that goes.

The hubby finally told Ketchup to give it a rest and instantly he shut the game off. The XBox is all nice and hot now, not something that inspires me to want to play for a few hours myself without giving it a break. I've been trying to not let Ketchup have control of the living room when he has no work obligation to sleep, but at the same time, sometimes I just don't want to sit with him for hours while we wait for the hubby to get home, so I still end up spending most of my days confined to my room. Have I mentioned before that we need to move?

Ugh. Whatever. The hubby is leaving in a few and soon after I am going to take a nap. It's the only thing that helps the day pass quicker. Yeah, I know that sounds sad. What's sadder is I find myself more anxious for the hubby to get home at night, in part because it means we can start drinking. Yeah. Bye now.

Love in Survey Form

A survey from my doppelganger, enjoy it, I don't do many of these.


Where did you meet?
High school, Journalism class.

When did you meet?
1998, my junior year, his sophomore year.

Was it love at first sight?
For me maybe, he had a girlfriend at the time, my crush lasted a year and a half before we got together.

How old were you both?
Sixteen, I'm four months older.

When did you have your first kiss?
March 3, 2000, on the first date.

Where was your first date?
The Sadie Hawkins dance at the high school, my senior year.

How long until you met the parents?
It took a couple weeks what with school and the fact that his mom worked graveyard, though he met my mom within the first few dates.

When was it official?
On that first date, just a short time after he picked me up.


The good...

Whats your happiest memory of him?
Would you believe me if I said there were too many to list? The fact that he called me his wife before we were married is a good one.

Whats the sweetest thing he has ever done for you?
He's my rock, my confidence and I hate quoting a movie to say this, but he completes me.

Does he buy you lots of gifts?
Nah, instead of gifts we just allow ourselves the occasional splurge.

Whats your favorite thing to do together?
Be. As long as we are together.

When did you know you were falling in love?
When I knew there was no other place I'd rather be.

Who said I love you first?
He did, during a time when I needed to escape from the world, I found myself in his arms.

Is it true love?
With all my heart.

How do you know this?
Because again, there is no other place I'd rather be.


The bad...

Whats his worst habit?
Besides the typical boy things? At times he likes to scratch his tooth and it makes this squeeking noise, hehe.

What annoys you about him?
It's a good thing and a bad thing, there is not one confrontational bone in his body, which means I end up being the bitch a lot.

Has he ever hurt you badly?
We had some rough patches towards the begining.

Would he ever cheat?
No, we are under agreement that if there is even the temptation to cheat, there is something wrong with the relationship that needs to be addressed instead of resorting to things that can't be taken back.

Has he ever cheated?
Depends on your definition, it's a long story.

Do you trust him?
More then myself a lot of the time.


The ugly....

Best facial feature?
His eyes, even if they are hidden behind glasses most of the time.

Favorite part of his body?
Hands, chest (I am a fan of furry, not the prepubecent look) and back.

Hair colour?
Blond, though in the past it has temporarily been a variety of colors such as black or blue.

What does he smell of?
Soap, cooking oil and sweat. Believe it or not, it's a comforting scent.

Whats he wearing when you picture him in your head?
Black slacks, black shoes and a white chef's coat, his work attire.


Intimacy...

How do you feel when he holds you?
Safe, comfortable, at home.

How do you feel when you fall asleep and wake up in his arms?
Surprised, I wiggle a lot when I sleep so it must have taken some skill on his part to make it happen.

How does it feel when he touches you?
Normal, safe.

Does his touch give you goose bumps?
Depends on the kind of touching. :o)

Does he kiss your neck?
Of course, though I think he enjoys to be nibbled more then I do.

Your tummy?
At certain intimate times, yes.

Your forehead?
Yep, it's typically where he lines up height wise.


Deep and meaningfull...

Could you be without him?
Given the choice, no. I have never liked this question so I will put it this way, I will love him for the rest of my life, no matter if we end up on the front porch in our rocking chairs watching the great grand children play a lifetime from now or if we divorced in five years.

Do you think about him constantly when your apart?
Maybe not constantly but he is a part of me so how could I not?

How long have you been together?
Eight years, five months, twenty five days... or roughly that anyway.

Can you see a future together?
I may not know what it holds yet, but it's certainly there.

Would you like to get married?
Took care of that milestone almost six years ago.

Have children?
Definately, a minimum of two.

Where can you see your relationship in a years time?
Still going strong. In a new apartment, him with a new job and perhaps sans houseguest.

5 years time?
Hopefully with a kidlet or two running around.

Do you know there is definatly no-one better out there for you?
At this time in my life, yes.

How do you know this?
Because there is not one other person on the planet who makes me feel as whole as he does.

Are you scared he might find someone better?
Not if I keep up my end of the bargin.

Is he your best friend as well as your lover?
There has been no better friend in my life.

Does he come first over everyone else in your life?
Yes actually, he knows me better then anyone else. He is my family.

Would you die for him?
Scary thought. If this hypothetical situation happened after we had kids, sorry, no.


On a lighter note...

Say something that only you two understand.
Splee!

Do you have nick names for each other?
Babe, baby, hun, just the usuals.

Does he make you laugh?
I wouldn't have it any other way.

Do you wrestle?
Yep, he may be stronger but I have the persistence and the skills to fight dirty (i.e. biting, tickling.)

Is he tickelish?
I love going after the bottom of his feet.

Are you?
Oh god yes.


Favorites...

Food?
Is it wise to ask a cook this question? You couldn't name much he wouldn't at least try.

Drink?
Water, cheap imitation coke, vodka cranberry, green tea

Sport?
Do video games count? I think I might actually enjoy watching sports more then he does.

Past time?
Cooking, video games, reading, driving.

Animal?
We have cats but I think he just doesn't know he's a dog person yet.

Aftershave?
The blue kind, but he stopped using it a while ago.

Clothing style?
Chef's whites for work, jean shorts and a t-shirt or plaid button up shirt with his duct taped sandles for his off hours. Though if you ask him he'd be perfectly satisfied every day for the rest of his life with black pants and shoes, a white linen shirt with a manderin collar and a black vest (as long as it wasn't one of those ones with the shiny back.) Heh.

Band?
Currently a lot of Latin music, Intoxicados and Ozomatli topping the list at the moment but always a sucker for the classic rock era such as Carlos Santana and Pink Floyd.

Music?
Um... I just answered this one, look up.


Your things....

Song?
Ha! Korn, Freak on a Leash.

DVD?
The Wall is one of his favorites.

Place to hang out?
Home.

Meal to cook together?
He does most of the cooking but if you are talking actually coexisting in the kitchen, I'd have to say cheese fondu.


Lasts...

Time you saw him?
Technically I can see him right now, he's still asleep in our room.

Kissed him?
Right before heading off to dream land last night.

Spoke to him?
Nine this morning. We woke up to pounding downstairs, coughing in the living room and the phone ringing.


When will you...

See him again?
When I turn my head away from the computer monitor?

Speak to him again?
When I finish this survey and go wake him up.

Tell him you love him again?
At the latest, when he leaves for work at 1:30.


Have you ever?

Spent the night together?
Every night for eight years.

Celebrated a holiday together?
All of them.

Made him cry?
Yes, he occasionally gets emotional when I get emotional.

Done anything spontaneous together?
Do tattoos count?

Is this love?
Without a doubt.


(Please ignore any typos! I didn't spell check!)

What's My Line?

Oh, where do I start.

Alright, we'll go with the bad stuff first, that way it doesn't seem like I am complaining the whole time. First off, my family sucks. I'm kind of at an impasse and I'm not sure as to what step to make next, let alone whether or not I should take a step in the first place. Shall I elaborate?

This is all connected to my grandma's behavior as of late and the way my mom thinks I should do. Basically not only the old family favorite motto of "grin and bare it" but even take it to the next level of pretending all as well. It's all about appearances in my family. Screw it if we don't have the closest relationship, if it at least looks close enough the ones supposedly in charge are appeased. My grandma believes we have this close knit family. Is that why I haven't talked to either of my cousins in probably over ten years?

My mom is pushing the issue of writing my grandma yet another thank you note for her less the relaxing hospitality during vacation (i.e. us running from the house ever chance we got, escape was our only option) something that I have already done in person none the less, but apparently not to anyone's satisfaction. Not only that now I am supposed to start writing monthly letters to my grandmother, something I can't say I have ever done in my lifetime. What am I supposed to tell her? We don't have enough polite bullshit to do a yearly Christmas update, so what the hell am I supposed to fluff these letters with?

"Yeah grandma, I ignored your call again today because it was five in the evening and I know how you love those martinis. Oh yeah, the weed we are getting has been pretty decent, kind of pricey but good stuff. It rained again today but then again I know how you hate hearing about that, if it's not sunny it's not worth it. I talked to ____ (Gidgit) yesterday, oh shit, now you're pissed."

Please.

All this is doing is making me resent the maternal influences in my life. My mom is concerned with my relationship with my grandma, my grandma is concerned with the relationship with my mother and all and all, I just don't think it should have to be this difficult or filled with so much resentment and spite and falsified feelings and words. What is so fucking wrong with it just being what it is?

I called my mom the other day because one of my MySpace friends had posted a couple pictures of her mom, a once friend and now enemy of my mom and I wanted to let her know I had sent her the pictures so she would actually check her email. Once that topic had outlived it's usefulness to her she asked me again if I had sent grandma a thank you note. I said no, again that I already had given her one while we were there. Again, that's not good enough. I asked her when the last time she sent a damn thank you note to grandma and she said right after Christmas. I've sent several since then for various reasons. Again, that's not good enough. I was getting upset on the phone so of course my mom said she had to go. Avoidance, a good family coping mechanism.

Yesterday morning I turn on the computer to find an email from my mom. This woman apologizes the same way she gives compliments. "I'm sorry, but..." "It's good, but..." She's sorry for upsetting me, but she's right and I'm wrong. She said grandma doesn't know what she's saying. Bullshit. She knows exactly what she's saying and how she's saying it. She may be turning 80 next year but she hasn't lost her grasp on things. My mom said we have to keep her happy. She also said we owe her for helping us out when I was little. (On a side note, when I ask my mom for help, financially or other, she says no. I ask her about the help grandma gave her, she says she never asked for it. I stopped asking. I still haven't gotten help. Damn double standards)

All this is doing is making me want to separate myself from the situation. In that email from my mom she said that twenty years from now we don't want to regret now. Exactly my point. I don't remember the final time I have with my grandma to be filled with fake sentiments and repressed anger. We may not have the best relationship but I love her and I will always be thankful for her for being the other half of my life when I was little. Isn't that better then hating what we are on the fast pace to becoming? I don't want to remember this time as the moment that I pushed away from my mom either. She doesn't seem to want to better what little relationship we have, instead she'd rather focus her energy on faking the relationship we both don't have with my grandma. All she is doing is establishing the same kind of relationship she has with her own mother. One of obligation and appearances.

Gidgit sees it. She warned my mom. It fell on deaf ears. Gidgit is my rock in this situation. She gets it better then anyone else possibly could because she has known my mom and grandma for over forty years. She's seeing the pattern, even as I tumble into it unknowingly. A thousand miles away and I am feeling closer to her then to my mom who only resides five miles up the road. Gidgit is always the one to call me, but I think I may end up calling her this time.

Moving on (more because the hubby is getting restless watching me type from across the room then anything else) we still haven't heard from Li'l Mama. Oh well, I guess. Can't say I have technically seen even in the last couple weeks, funny considering we are next door neighbors.

Also, if I have to listen to Ketchup say "Ha ha, my bad" one more friggin' time, instead of fixing whatever the "bad" was, I am going to start ripping my hair out. Not only does he continue to do some of those oh so irritating things that I have mentioned here before, but he has picked up a few new questionable habits. Like putting his cologne on in the kitchen. Wow. It takes a few minutes for the cloud to disburse. Also, I gave him a nice neat little place to keep his shoes considering one of the cats occasionally likes to pee on or near shoes to prove a point, and all of a sudden he can't be bothered to put his shoes away. Their new home is right next to his spot next to the coffee table. On my carpet. Shoes reeking of grease and food. Come on. He knows this one. We said it to him again. His shoes are still there. Ugh.

On to the lighter side, the good side so to speak. Our Monday bar night went well. We had probably a dozen people there, even Tall decided to take time out of his busy schedule. We managed to snag the last two open pool tables and span across three booths with our whole group. Pretty nice turn out if you ask me. Pictures have been posted on my other blog, just so you know. After a few hours of boozing it up and a slightly too expensive meal we headed back to the apartment for the two things we couldn't find at the bar. Weed and Guitar Hero. Everyone was feeling pretty good, bowls were loaded, more drinks were made.

I appealed to a familiar side of Tall about Sassy, saying that we in fact don't hate her despite what she thinks. Sounds like some of her opinion was based on the fact that we had taken her off our MySpace top friends (something we had actually done well before their last split) she however neglected to notice that we switched up all of our friends list, removing half of the people, not just her. She's nineteen. What can I say? Tall said she'd talk to her. (Part of the purpose in this venture was because we have a pretty good hunch that the reason Tall hadn't been by is because he and Sassy had reunited, something we don't have a problem with if they are happy.)

He actually ended up inviting her over. The pictures on my other blog prove it. In a way it was like old times. I'll admit it, I've missed her. Like I have stated before, I don't have many female friends, which is probably why I find myself reaching out to Prissy as well, even though she doesn't live here in the building anymore. Sassy even took a bong hit while she was here, which probably means the first inkling of her bad mouthing stoners and I will want to throttle her again but oh well. There's something to be said for familiarity.

A Nerf dart gun war was probably the peak of the evening. Dodging those little foam and suction cup darts in an over crowded living room was quite entertaining. Luckily I was only caught in the crossfire once and I ended up ransoming the dart to the highest bidder. The best part is when our little punk rocker friend decided to use me as a diving board in route to the hubby. Granted I could probably lift this little guy over my head and give him a twirl so it wasn't as much as an inconvenience as you could have expected, but it did make paying attention to Tall playing Guitar Hero an interesting test. Our little punk rocker friend dominated the war, confiscating guns and stashing them in strategic locations in the art of battle until it was finally time to go home.

After that we spent the rest of the evening winding down in a video chat with an XBox buddy as people whittled away along with the time. All and all it was a good evening though I kind of wonder if we will see any of these people again before next Monday. Maybe I shouldn't ask for too much but you know, I haven't necessarily been satisfied with the state of my life recently and could use an upswing in things.

For now, I had better go. I started this post over two and a half hours ago (with the occasional break for a drink, cigarette or bowl) and the hubby is getting increasingly restless with my neglect. I'll be back as soon as something or another happens, ha!

The Popular Vote

So my new blog lacks any sort of popularity. I've done post after post and sent out link after link to a select group of people and I've only gotten one hit in the past two weeks and it was from the loyal Gidgit, my mom's best friend from California, she even left me my first comment. I sent the link to her daughter, the girl who was literally my first friend and via MySpace I can tell she read the message, though she didn't respond (not that she has EVER responded to me) and she didn't click on the link. The next day she posts a MySpace bulletin asking if anyone else blogs. Yeah. That's basically how my new blog is going, which sucks because so far I am quite happy with it's content.

On the social front, Monday went well. There was only seven of us and league night pushed us off into the corner with not a single free pool table but we still managed to have fun. Hairy was the only non coworker of the hubby's to come, Tall said he would try if he was in the area, but that wasn't really the truth considering he works just a mile away and knew he got off in time to come, he just didn't. Apparently he's broke, which I wonder how that happens so easily when he lives at home with his mother, but whatever.

As for any other social interaction, with the way things have been going, it won't be happening again until next Monday. My days consist of trying not to wake Ketchup up which is a joke because this guy sleeps more then anyone I know. We woke him up at eleven after roughly eight hours sleep and by twelve thirty he was drifting off again. And now, he's going to head back to sleep and not wake up until around seven thirty, leaving me sitting in my room hoping the volume isn't too loud on my television and wishing I could be using the big screen. I'm getting really fed up with him laying down any time he feels the whim. I am getting irritated with the dip he's caused in the center of the couch. Is this what I signed up for? Ugh.

Remember me mentioning the comment followed by the rude comment that Li'l Mama posted on my MySpace? Yeah well, she deleted me from her friends list over it, funny considering the day before the hubby fixed her power for her. It's completely against me and the hubby can't deny it since she still chats to him like nothing is wrong. I sent her a message saying just for reference that we hadn't checked our comments until after the second one rolled in and by then it was rude and unnecessary. She sent a message back saying it wasn't meant to be and sorry. I can't say I'm surprised, it's actually the second time she took us off her friends list. The first time was over Tall though and six months later I had another friend request from her in my inbox. We'll see what happens this time. Because of everything, I can't say I care as much as before.

Today starts a pretty horrible stretch of hot days here and it sucks. Our air conditioner hasn't worked as well this summer as it did last and it is having terrifying effects on our electric bill. I can only cross my fingers that this is the summer's last hurrah before fading away to the bliss of fall. Bring on the rain, I need it, probably more then the plants do.

After yet another attempt, we finally got a response from the eBay seller about their screw up over our Guitar Hero 3. They refunded us the shipping cost and put the game in the mail, hopefully it will be here soon. In the meantime we had to rent it. I don't think I can honestly give this guy a positive feedback rating, he sucked and this was probably one of the worst eBay transactions we have had in our year and a half of experience. On a happy note, the game is actually really fun, friggin' hard but fun.

I can't really think of much else to say at the moment but hey, I have to retreat to my room anyway, the typing could keep Ketchup awake. (If only you could see my eye twitching as I type that.) My life is pretty boring at the moment anyway, I spend most of my time talking about what is going on with other people that you couldn't possibly know and barely understand. Pfft. I'll see ya later blog, that is if I don't melt from the heat, bye!

Icing on the Cake

Yesterday the car wouldn't start, the hubby had to walk to and from work. At least it's only a mile... past construction and freeway onramps.

Looks like it's the starter, according to the hubby and Ketchup. Hairy (our friendly neighborhood car guy) said he might look at it in a couple days if he can, helpful. It's an expensive roadblock, perfect timing, yay for us.

Today was payday, too bad that with no car the hubby couldn't get to the bank to cash his check. Should be interesting when we start running out of stuff like weed, alcohol, food.

I guess no one said it was easy.

More of the Same

As I sit here, Ketchup is chugging bottled water (our emergency stash instead of drinking the free filtered stuff we got) and working through his third hour playing video games (luckily I was napping through most of it.) I'm debating going back in my room because it's less then entertaining to watch him play.

After over a week and a half, our Guitar Hero 3 finally came. You'd think I would be happy about it. Not only did it take them four days after I bought it to send it out standard instead of expedited as I paid for, when it finally arrived in ripped paper packaging, the box contained the guitar but not the game. This makes it much harder to play as you may be aware. I sent them a message, let's see what happens.

I've been avoiding MySpace the past few days. Li'l Mama sent me a comment asking me our last name, and then another comment later saying "what's the deal?" because I didn't respond to the first one. For one, I didn't realize the world would end for me not having responded in a timely matter to her inane question, I had barely noticed the first one before the second one appeared. Second, I am pretty sure the only reason she needs my last name is because she apparently she can't walk the fifteen feet from her door to my door to hand us an invitation to her kid's first birthday, she needs to waste the stamp and mail it. Okay, a couple things about that. First birthday's are for the parents, not the kid, so I really don't have much interest in appeasing her or the need to go out and find a gift she would deem acceptable for her daughter. Also, I have the feeling we are eventually going to have to enlighten Li'l Mama to the fact that no, we really aren't friends anymore, she essentially ruined that for all of us a long time ago so her attempts at niceties are rarely met with anything but a wary and distrustful sigh. Not even a thank you from her the other day when the hubby had to fix her power. I have no interest in being her friend only when convenient to her.

I finally remembered to take the camera down to the bar on Monday. I posted a bunch of pictures on my other blog, so enjoy that dear doppelganger. No one has visited my new blog since last week, so sad as my effort goes to waste. Oh well, maybe some day someone will gain an enough of an interest to browse my eventually ignored archives.

Hey look, Ketchup just started his fourth hour of video games. His double standard is starting to get to me. He'll play forever, not caring how irritated or indisposed I am, but as soon as the hubby walks in, he'll turn off the XBox. Same thing with weed. I'll come out into the living room in the morning and he will sit and smoke a bowl to himself as I sit there. The hubby gets up and suddenly he'll pass the pipe. The worst part is I don't think he realizes he is doing it so how do you call him on it? Ugh. I can't wait to have a room to shove him into. Also, it would be nice if someone enlightened me to his work schedule. Everyone (him and the hubby) seem to think it doesn't matter to me anymore or something, because now I don't seem to find out until the day before what is actually happening. I didn't find out until this morning that Ketchup didn't work tonight. My little dependable half hours of freedom are dwindling due to a constantly changing schedule and not only I am the only one it seems to make a difference to, I am the only one being kept out of the loop about it. Nice, huh?

I'm going back in my room. It's slightly less irritating.

Lord of the Land

We've lived in this building for about seven years now. We devoted our time and effort to it before we were even being compensated for it. We spent a year with the title of "manager" doing all maintenance and policing duties, everything short of collecting rent. We were "let go" (a polite way of saying fired) for the sake of bringing in a professional management company to take over such duties. Because of this our bills went up roughly a hundred and fifty dollars a month. This was well over six months ago. No management company. No management.

The other day we wake up to a note on our door from one of the neighbors. This woman hasn't even lived here a year. No one really knows her or talks to her. She is one of the parking issues, taking up two of our six spots for six apartments. She is rarely ever here. She just wanted to let us know that she is the new manager and will be collecting rent on the first.

It would have been nice to hear it from the landlord, the man I have known since I was ten, but hey, whatever, the whole thing is a slap in the face anyway.

I need a drink.