Unless it thunders,
I hate the rain.
It is December.
It is not supposed to rain.
It should snow.
Big flakes.
Hot cocoa sipping, book reading, blanket snuggling, warm golden inside light making, pink sky turning, tree sticking, dirt covering, sound stopping SNOW!
The condemned house is owned by none other that the Smythester himself. According to the city, they sent him notices to remove the occupants and clear it out. When he didn't do so, the city had to come in and secure it.
Toby, answer your mail!
Well it seems that Santy Claus really does check the naughty/nice list and a couple of slumlords have received their Minnehaha Circuit Court coal in their stockings.
T. and B. Smythe have been hoarding the legal section of the Argus Leader lately with a string of foreclosures in both Sioux Falls and Brandon. For those unaware of the history, Toby is the slumlord that has been providing substandard low income housing to central Sioux Falls and plays a huge role in the downfall of the neighborhood. What a nice landlord he was! Not only did he provide the substandard housing, but his liquor store on 11th street also made it possible for his tenants to be able to walk short distances for accelerants for our crime problems. Did I fail to mention that T. is a schoolteacher? Oh, yes! I would definitely see some sort of conflict of interest in him teaching the young in our community as well as fueling criminal activity.
Also receiving his legal lump of coal is H. Ortiz - the silver-tongued Colombian man that left his debtors in the lurch! I don't expect to see much on Henry, for if I were him, I would head back to Colombia to his wife, where the money has probably gone as well!
Oh, slumlords, you will be sorely missed as we in the 'hood try to pick up all the pieces and put ourselves together again! Good riddance!
Yesterday I noticed that this house - one of our popular neighborhood gang locales - had been all boarded up. Last night I walked up to the door and saw that it is condemned. Unlike all the other foreclosed or condemned homes, all the first floor windows are boarded up. I feel so sorry for the gangsters put out on the street by this. What is the city thinking, throwing out the poor tatooed drug dealers? Where will they go from here? (My guess is the east side of Sioux Falls, but who knows. Perhaps further north.) What is really sad about the above photo is the little kid's bike in front. I hope there is hope for whatever child this is... Then again it could be stolen...
This "condemned" notice that was nailed to the home last night, was on the porch face down this morning. It must have been a pretty fast foreclosure and condemning, because there were people occupying it just last week. I called KELO to have my buddy Matt Bellanger look into the matter, but he is gone for the week. Kelli Grant seemed interested, so I gave her a bit of the background. Some of the info that I have on the house is probably not public. I merely suggested she may wish to call and check on the call history of this house and see if she can find out why it is now condemned - and so fast!
One of my most celebrated purchases at Zandbroz was my inspiration bracelets - akin to the "LIVESTRONG" bracelets, etc they sell at the checkstands. I purchased 3 of them: Apathy, Despair and Corporate Whore. They have since gone missing. Last evening a surprise visit to my son at work uncovered their whereabouts. He was wearing my apathy. He can maintain control of the corporate whore, but I would really like my apathy and despair back.
Merry Christmas everyone!! What a wonderful day it was!!! I really missed Renee, Becky and their bunches, but other than that it was pretty darn good. We had dinner at Eric and Mel's and they were gracious enough to have it early enough for Nick to eat before he left for work! Mel's mom got hooked on the caramel corn, and I just hope that they were able to cut her off before she was hopelessly addicted. (Honest, I don't put meth in it. It is the all the love I put in that makes it so darned addictive!)
I found a couple of recipes for dinner rolls and baked them this morning. Hopefully they were okay. I am a little shaky on my bread making skills, but it was fun to do.
Santa got me a digital scanner! I am now back baby, able to know what is going on before I see cops go by and hopefully able to help. I try!!
I actually got Christmas gifts from the boys! Their own hard earned money. That is the first time. Although it isn't the gift that mattered, it is the fact that they actually thought about me and didn't get the gifts at the gas station on the way over. They put some thought into it! Thank you boys!
Eric and Mel got me some coffee! Yum! I can always use good coffee. I think I will break out the press tonight in joyful celebration.
I am home alone right now and I love it. I need more time like this!
Before I end this blog, I need to share a blog that I must warn you isn't for the faint of stomach. The trend in blogs seems to be food recipes, especially jello ones, and some absolutely disgusting! Having been offered some tuna jello thing at dim sum one day, I realize that the foreign palette is quite different. Jello, in the American culture, is a sweet dish. The Thai, do not use gelatin but agar. Yes, agar is the substance that we used in Biology class to wipe our bacteria infested swabs on to see what we could get to grow!!! Mmmmmm! Agar is much more firm than gelatin, thus the molds (not bacteria, etc.) hold their shapes better. They also use soy for everything! So, enjoy this site!
All for now. I am going to go read my scanner manual! Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!
A
Last week I missed two lovely days of work due to this awful stomach flu. I think everyone in the house has had it now. The awful truth about the flu, is that although the initial symptoms last a mere 2 days, the stomach cramps and loss of appetite continue. I cannot say personally how long it could last, but a physician said that it can take up to 3 weeks to regain your normalcy. I have been famished, only to take 2 bites and experience complete fullness. Today, I simply don't care to eat. Water is the only thing that doesn't seem too rich.
In the workplace, emphasis is placed on political correctness in diversity. We have come to a point, where you cannot wish someone a "Merry Christmas" anymore. It has to be "Happy Holidays". Raised Catholic, I would not be offended if a person of Jewish persuasion (I don't know if it is PC to say "Jew" anymore) came up and wished me a "Happy Hanukkah". Actually, I think that would be far less offensive and perhaps complimentary as opposed to the H.H. greeting. So what is society doing? It almost seems that in the pursuance of PC, people are embarrassed to differentiate. This embarrassment is not healthy. We are not celebrating our differences, but hiding them. At work, we can't display any Christian preference, for fear of separating those that aren't. My feelings are that if you would like a crucifix in your cubie, go ahead. That is your little place in your work world, and if it gives you comfort, why not? When we have photos of our families we are not saying that we object to people without children. I really don't think dog people are offended when cat people have pictures of their animals at their desks. Why should anyone be ashamed of their religion?
I had to be out in the traffic this morning so I thought I had better stop at the store. As luck would have it, I got the second to the closest non-handicapped parking spot. That kind of luck doesn't come along much. I grabbed a basket to pick up the few things I needed and pressed on through the store. Grumpy faces broke into smiles when they looked up expecting to see another grumpy face and saw my smile. I couldn't help myself. Forever the rebel, I refuse to go with the flow and grump at other holiday shoppers. That is the valium I take shopping with me this time of year. WARNING: It is contagious. People pay it forward. At the end of my jaunt, there wasn't a cart left in the lobby or the cart corrals. I think the bulk of the crowd was behind me. Probably in a traffic jam in aisle 2.
That is it for rantings for now. I am going to trek downtown and see if I can pass out smiles there.
:)
It always begins when you wake up late. I am usually up by 5:15, reading the paper and giving Sage her rubdown. (Its a morning thing, and she has grown to understand that when I stop, it is because I found another word in the crossword) This morning, it was 6:45. Nick and Ben had showers to take and so did I. I got them roused and they took long, luxurious showers. I had to leave the door open afterwards to get the steam down so I could see into the mirror after my shower.
Apparently I stepped on a piece of glass last night, because my foot was sore. That was a great night as well!! One of the children put one of the few remaining glasses right in front of the serving dish that I took out of the cabinet. It fell into the Kitchen Aid mixing bowl and broke into pieces that bounced into the mashed potatoes and all over the floor. They have only lived here for how long and still don't know where the dishes go when they are asked to empty the dishwasher? I don't buy it. It is a ploy similar to the shrunken or discolored clothes when men attempt to do laundry, thinking we will say "Oh, just forget it, I will do the laundry forever since you can't seem to do it right!" My ex once shrunk my favorite ecru angora sweater AND put it in with the reds, leaving me with a pink sweater approximately a child's size 4. I am now a firm believer that practice makes perfect and if they can't do it right, we need to give them more practice. That'll take care of that one!!!
Back to MonDaY:
When I get to work to get the once over from the boss. "I am going to have to send you home to change," she said in her tsk, tsk way while rolling her eyes. (I have to love her maturity sometimes!!!) After she went back into the office, the rest of the group did their eye-rolling. Apparently my sweater, turtleneck and jeans were not fit to be seen by the head honcho flying in.
At least I wasn't the only one to be sent home. I am just glad I live in town. One of my coworkers who lives 20 miles out had to go home as well.
Upon my desk, I found an x-mas baggy given to me by one of my coworkers. Apparently she enjoyed my recipe for caramel corn so much that she decided to beat me to the punch this year and give it to coworkers as gifts - as is customarily my practice. That doesn't ordinarily bother me, but this day it did. I let her know in no uncertain terms that she will no longer be receiving recipes from me. This is such a tradition at work that people were actually thanking me for them. I didn't do it. (Anyway, I don't give all my secrets away. I brought the bag home and Brian said, "this isn't as good as yours". I know. :))
That was my morning.
I got a call after school and Ben is sick with the stomach flu. He has his finals this week. He is in bed now. I suppose I should be baking or cleaning or something, but I had to unload. I hope tomorrow is better.
Santa, please remember me...
As I turned onto Minnesota Ave., headed south this afternoon, this huge billowing cloud of smoke caught my attention. I nabbed Ben from work and we headed south. About 1 mile North of Harrisburg, there was a fire consuming a field and moving towards a grove of trees. We had arrived before the sheriff's department, but scurried past as not to obstruct traffic or emergency vehicles still arriving on the scene. As of 5:30, it had consumeed 10 acres. Surely the windy conditions did not help matters any. It was moving quickly with flames leaping several feet into the air at times. The photos that I got closer to the flames were not as dramatic as the view from Minnesota Ave.
It has been one hell of a weekend, week, month, etc. I am glad that school was over, but realize that it really kept me away from the drama that other people so much take for granted. I really am trying not to make any waves, but work, school, home, etc. I am offending all with any attempts that I have made to go out of my way to do otherwise. Perhaps I have reached
that lovely time of my life when I say "to hell with it" and go away for the holidays. I have this mental picture of me as an ostrich with my head in the ground and a sign hanging off my tail saying, "back off!" I have always objected to people being forced to work on the holidays when they don't want to, but have to for their job. I am a family-loving person that believes that folks should be "home for the holidays". I am, however beginning to see the benefits of travel at this time of the year. I hated it when I was in Arizona over the holidays. To wake up in the morning and remember that it was Christmas was difficult. Deck the cacti! I'm too friggin' sentimental and having grown up with white Christmases really doesn't help when I have a brown sandy one instead.
The tree is up, but the decorations are not. The caramel corn is made, but the other recipes are neglected. Perhaps next weekend. Or not.
Sage has simply had it....
Happy Holidays! Joy to the world. What a day. Crabby from the get-go. Then one thing after another. Nick got mad at me for taking the garbage out, after having asked over and over again yesterday. So, get it done. My main goal. He got mad at me and said that he wouldn't have been mad if I would just asked. (Again? What is the magic number of asking times?) Jess is mad at the world. She is mad because her dad is finally following through with his punishing her. She has 7 Fs and he won't let her have a friend over until her grades improve. But that isn't her fault, it is his. She is just like her mother. I have to keep reassuring him that he is doing a good job and stick to his guns and have to shut up when inevitably he doesn't.
Which brings me to: To tree, or not to tree; That is the question. I have removed nearly every breakable from her sight and/or reach. This because of all my things that have been broken in the house whenever she gets mad at her dad. I am not a part of this. She is not my child, nor my step child. She is a child that lives here because her dad does and can't afford to move out on his own. Earlier this year, we separated finances when we became "disengaged". It was great. My bank account is looking so much better now. Brian was always wanting a cell phone for himself and for his daughter. So...he needed to learn... He bought the cell phones and she surprised him with a nice $1000+ phone bill after the first 3 weeks. He wouldn't stop hitting fast food joints and convenience stores in which he was wracking up $50+ per week. Since then, he has had to borrow money from the bank. It is his turn to buy the groceries, and I saw his account, and I know it won't be happening. Neither will I buy them. So, the cabinets will be cleaned out of all the soups and the freezer of all the vegetables.
This is starting out to be such a fun weekend. I should call Bee. She will sip her cognac and I my wine. We can laugh together if nothing else.
I would like to thank Cagle.com for providing me with updates on the best political cartoons. I couldn't help myself with this one.
As the holiday season progresses and I get more disenchanted, I think about a word that I learned in abnormal psyche. I never knew the word existed!!! Anhedonia. The opposite of hedonia, or hedonism. I think about my affection for the macabre and wonder...I think about my need to first get this done then I'll have fun...Well, the "this" list grows and the fun seldom happens...
So, I try to define fun. "Fun" is elusive. If I think I am having "fun" the shock hits me and the "fun" seems to fade. I can overanalyze happy. I think about something my father said about "cruising Broadway" in Yankton when I was a teen. He summed it up by saying that it was a bunch of kids driving around in circles. What is the purpose? Listen to the deflation... What about the amusement park? You stand in line for so long for a ride that lasts but a few minutes. Fun, maybe, if you don't puke, but worth it?? I guess the same could be said for sex. Except for the puking part.
So, anyway, how does anhedonia apply to Christmas? There is all the build up and then you find out that half your family won't even be there. Your kids are teens and don't believe in Santa nor do they have those cute squeaky voices of awe when they come downstairs and see the magic. But then again, you get to see your family. It is never enough. Those wonderful short glimpses of time that you spend together are so cherished and rare...and gone in a flash. Anhedonia.
Santa, I want fun for Christmas. Guilt-free, family-filled, squeaky-little-voice fun. I will leave out cookies and milk- and perhaps my famous caramel corn- and a big spot under the tree. I have been good.
Here is an update on Thursday evening's activity. Nothing too much new today for reporting in the neighborhood.
Who knows what it was about this time. Once again, sirens. This time an officer bolting out of his vehicle running and stopping with his gun drawn on the subject. The subject kept running. Perhaps it is was the cold weather, the overweight cop and the winded stoned subject, but after the initial weapon draw, the rest was in slow motion. The subject still running. The officer still chasing. Both in s l o w m o t i o n.
Nick said that the subject they caught was a stoner that comes into Walgreens all the time. (For munchies?) I spoke with an officer and found out they were still searching for another subject. I got on the phone and called the neighborhood into action. Nancy down the street slowly said she should lock her doors. (Should I call her every evening? She should regardless.) Richard further down said that he would keep an eye out and that I should be careful because I could be a target. Note to self: start turning down the media. must lower profile. do the limbo...
NOT speaking of which, I sent a letter to the editor of the Argus regarding their editorial, Plan to Help Neighborhood Needs Fixing of its Own. They stated that the city is throwing these poor low income housing people into the streets by their plans to "redevelop" the area. (Why is gentrification-an otherwise beautiful word-getting such a negative connotation?)
Okay, first of all, the properties the city is speaking of are the run down ones. Most of the housing in the problem area is single-family dwellings converted into multiple units shared by the tenants and their multiple friends and family members. (I think we are getting into exponents now) Initially, I believe that these conversions were allowed to happen in the depression era when homeless people created a market for those with larger houses that needed money. After prosperity returned, the owners could sell these "apartment houses" and buy another single family home or rent out the bottom floor as well. Over time, the practice was grandfathered and not monitored.
When they were inspecting these units, the sheriff's dept. assisted in removing in some up to 30 people that were not on the lease for a single unit. The toilets and sinks were plugged and they were using the back alley as a bathroom. Filth galore.
With the exception of our prosperous drug houses, the tenants are transient. They tend to live in a unit until they are evicted. I have seen it cycle many times. You can surely count the months from occupation to eviction and they are about the same every time. One landlord-couple graciously took me into an apartment where the people had just ditched without paying rent. They left a mess. They left so many things that you would think a person would grab at least on the way out. They left a beautiful couch, a bed, lamps, cough medicine, shoes, clothes, vegetable oil. I asked the landlords if they were sure the tenants were gone, and they said that this is what they are left with all the time. She looked over at him and said, now we can rent it as a furnished apartment. I guess despite the mess they had, they were making the best of it...
I asked them if I could give their names to the press for an interview and they declined. They are an older couple. They rented properties for years. They were the old kind of landlord that cared about the properties and their tenants. They sold their properties to a Columbian man who moved up here and began his history in the rental property business. He fixed up some of the properties quite nicely - in fact, the one that he showed me was redone with ceramic tile throughout!! It was gorgeous! But it seemed that this man wasn't up to the task. He could fix them out nicely, but rented to friends and others who said they could pay him later. No problem. They wouldn't pay. They left. He lost. He lost every property he purchased. But, the loss doesn't end there.
This older couple who sold him the properties purchases some land down south and had a beautiful house. (It was 100 degrees out when I was talking to them and they were working like folks half their age) Tears welled up in their eyes as they said they had to come out of retirement to once again go back to work on these properties. I think they sold them to the Columbian contract for deed. They had reclaimed all but two of the original properties when I spoke with them and were still to go to court for the rest. They were supposed to retire and live a better life, just taking care of their disabled daughter and enjoying their peace. Instead, these properties came back at them with a vengeance and they are starting all over again. They didn't know if they were going to have to sell their retirement property or not. I was in tears when I was done speaking with them, but am a better person for having done so.
Cindy, and old friend of mine, and her husband, purchased an older multi-family house in the neighborhood. I was looking up slumlord information and was surprised to see that she was the owner of this one. I called her after I overcame my shock and asked her about it. She said that she purchased the property from this Columbian guy who made so so many promises. She liked older homes and had dreams of renting 3 or 4 of the units while fixing up 1 or 2 of the others. Unfortunately, she and her husband were in for the ride of their life. They both work full time and spent so much time over at the property fixing things the tenants broke. She went into one unit where a tenant complained that he had a broken window. He was standing there ordering her to fix the broken one while his kid was beating on another one. She told him he would have to have his kid stop breaking them first. They battled tenants in court and ended up losing if not the case, by the legal costs. Some tenants play games with the system. Finally they ended up giving the house back to the bank.
BTW, anyone who wants to buy any of the gorgeous houses in this area that were rentals, I will tip you off that if they are for sale, they are most likely foreclosed on and available for a song. It would be a good investment as long as we are committed to a positive change here - I am.
Off to bed. It's late. I have to put my soapbox away and brush my teeth.
Rumor has it, if it isn't perfect this year, there is another one next year. Don't let the stress eat you alive.
Smiles,
A
I hear the weather hitting the window in a sickening way. It is that wet, tinny sound of freezing rain. The precurser of harried mornings prying the ice from the car in an attempt to get the door open. Ew!!! I am not looking forward to the trip to work tomorrow. It would be the first true inclement weather that we have had to drive in yet this year. I fear the amatuers will be out and the rest of us maneuvering around them. Thank goodness I only have to travel within the city. Sometimes, however, that merely means more obstacles... Sigh... I can only hope that the power lines won't be compromised. But, that is nature... Mother nature lets us know that she is still in charge and our insignificant little lives are at her mercy. Now we will have to play by her rules.
My morning began well. I was happy to wake up to a strong cup of coffee and a little debate brewing on the blog. That is great!! I finally put together all my work and created a paper that I am supposed to be typing at this moment. I will have it done by 7:00 - I have determined - so I can spend the rest of the evening studying for one of the two tests I have this week. It sure gets busy at the end of the semester. More and more I find myself creating a stack of the things that I would really love to do, had I the time. At the top of the stack is the book, "Denial and Deception: An Insider's View of the CIA" by Melissa Boyle Mahle. I must say, so far she is quite a bland writer, but I hope it picks up speed soon. It didn't make it too difficult to put down. The behind the scenes facts are quite interesting. The garland is piled up in the corner and the wreath is on the wall. Perhaps it will be like the year before last when I just don't care and tell the children to decorate. That works fine, until my OCD gets the best of me and I am undecorating and redecorating. The lights are mostly up, in a harried attempt to beat the weather to the punch. If that is all that will be up - so be it!! I have them on embarrassingly so they won't get stolen. If that doesn't sound funny, listen to Loren McManus's police report.
A white Crown Victoria (actually a former SFPD car) sped past the house late this afternoon. It was one that had driven by on several occasions, vibrating the windows with its heavy bass. (The usual suspects) Shortly after, a black-and-white sped past with lights and siren. He was only a few car lengths behind. Hearing more sirens that stopped close by, we investigated. The above photo is the result of this high speed chase. The white car (with "DIAL 911 blaring through the paint), attempted to turn the corner and apparently met with more police cars. It ran into a gold van parked in front of the antique store, that apparently ran into the Aztec in front, before running up the curb of the little mall on 18th and Minnesota. They cuffed the guy (a very tall african-american male) and put him in the car right away. The SFPD SUV with the drug-sniffing dog came after this photo was taken. However, they instead employed a flat-bed truck, that I am assuming they will use to transport the vehicle downtown for inspection. Stay tuned to the news or Loren McManus' complete update to follow.
Shaking dog face
Waking up this morning, before the coffee set in, I was channel surfing and found a most interesting debate on Book TV (CSPAN2). The National Press Club had a forum to discuss Google's desire to scan books onto the internet.
An author, David Robbins, stated that he felt that it was infringing on both his copyright as well as his profits, as people would be more apt to pull it up on the internet, than go purchase his book.
The library director from Harvard, discussed equitable information. Currently, if you would like to find a book, for one, you must have access to a database that stores information on that book. Then, if you would like more than a description and a few lines from the book, you would need to find a library that has the book. One of our disadvantages here in Sioux Falls and South Dakota as a whole, is the Siouxland Libraries' limited selection. If, as the director said, the Harvard Library in its entirety would be scanned by Google, this would give South Dakota an equitable advantage. Otherwise, a number of these publications could only be obtained by traveling to Harvard in Cambridge, Massachussets and only if you were a visiting scholar. (By the way, I do, in fact, recommend traveling there anyway...)
Another advantage the director stated would be the digital preservation of these literary works. Harvard is committed to doing so, and would be given digital copies of them.
However, when asked, the director stated that Harvard would be paid for its use of the contents of the library for the scanning...
If these works are available only to people in the general geographical area, then why not? They are free to the public in the libraries there. I cannot express enough my frustration, traveling from library to library, only to find out that they a)don't have the item and don't have access to any library that has the publications for an interlibrary loan or photocopy of the excerpt I am requesting; b)have access to interlibrary loan the material, but won't because that is a service provided ONLY to their tuition-paying students-even though I am an alumni of that college (Great community service and information sharing AUGIE!!); and c) have access to the abstract on their database, but are not subscribed to the publication, so I would have to pay for the use of it if only to find out the information that I would like has been skewed in the abstract to appear that it is of major context in the text itself, but is not.
Finally, I think it would be of great advantage to the authors, as a potential author myself, to have one's name out there in the "WORLD WIDE WEB" to promote my works. I don't fancy myself reading an entire book on this digital screen - it would ruin my eyeballs!!! I would likely BUY the book if it looked interesting enough!!! I understand that Google intends to have a button on the page indicating libraries by distance from your zip code where you could obtain the material. I would hope as well, knowing that 99% of the books that I desire are NOT in the Siouxland Library collection, that they would also have Amazon, Barnes & Noble as well as other book sellers where I could obtain the book, listed as purchase options. Win Google, Win bookseller, Win publisher, Win author, Win consumer...
Any thoughts???
Okay, what is wrong with me? I love to spend the holidays with my family. There is too little time to spend with them all. Conversations scattered room to room. Good food...hot coffee...cool dialogue and love oozing all around. I always seem to go back to work and listen to all the fights and drama that adorned everyone else's holiday, thankful that ours have never been that way.
I think one Thanksgiving after Mel came into the family, she thought that I was criticizing her silk pie. In fact, I was complimenting it... I had recently had a piece of silk pie from Perkins and I didn't know why they labelled it "Silk" when it was in fact grainy. After I had a piece of her scrumptious pie, I noted that now I know why it is called silk pie, because hers was silky. She went outside, upset, thinking I had put down her pie. I hope we got this cleared up and she is more comfortable with our family, knowing that it is all love and we are not the feuding holiday types. Absolutely the opposite!!! She is a great sis-in-law that fits well in our nutty brood! (That is a compliment, Mel:) but you may not want to fit in with the likes of us!!)
I posted a few new links. Two of them are from JibJab and I hope all enjoy!!! Big Box Mart is an ode to the Walmart culture, and 2-0-5 sings the "praises" of our great leader...NO SARCASM INTENDED THERE, W!!!! I love JibJab and can't wait for their next project!!!
I give up. I need a break. I am so stressed out. What a weekend!! Where to start?? Just here I guess. Thursday a.m. or was it Friday, got an e-mail from my dad about my mom. She has Graves Disease and her eyeball is protruding. I called in the morning and found out that she is trying to get in to Mayo to get the surgery to get the eye back to normal. For one thing, although the invention of e-mail is wonderful, I still prefer in person or by phone for this sort of thing. I was supposed to be working on my paper and didn't think it would be a problem, but Ben had his friends over Saturday so they could get up at the blessed crack of dawn to go get the Nintendo Wii. I know how long he has been looking forward to this, but for heaven's sakes, the rest of us have lives, too. So, no one got any sleep that night - they were too excited and kept playing video games and shouting. They didn't leave until 5 last night. I went to bed early, too tired to study and ending up choking on my stomach acid and having to sleep sitting up. This morning I had to go to work early because I had to take time off for my root canal that I had at 11:00 and was looking forward to more than going to work. It went well, despite the fact that I am some freak and have an extra nerve and the tooth broke when he took the clamp off after the root canal. But, hey, that's par for the course today. Then had to go to Ben's Oral Interp Open House, even though he isn't in Oral Interp anymore, we have to help raise dinero for the others. While there, my 17 year-old took off for god-knows-where-but-not-home and I haven't seen him since. He needs to go to bed early because he is having ACL surgery tomorrow. Now I am home and the stereo is blaring, also par for the course when I want to try to get my thoughts together and chill out. I think I will now find out the true benefits of Darvocet... Good night...
Okay. It has been bothering me for eons!! I recall the day that I found out that Midcontinent was getting The Travel Channel!!! I got excited as I dreamt of days of leisure watching them explore the world. What a let down!!!! We might as well call it The Poker Channel or the Vegas Channel!!! I am sure that Vegas is glorious for some people - particularly the type sitting in their ripped up Barcoloungers in their trailers wearing their wife-beaters and slugging back a few Old Mil's. To me, I have not seen much yet to convince me that Vegas is no more than well-lit cultural toilet. (Oooooooh.....Shiny!) And poker???!!!! Pul-leeeeez!!! Like that is travelling!!! Oh, sure, they go to differnet places around the world and sit INSIDE playing poker!!!! Where is the travel??? If you wake up early and turn it to The Travel Channel, you will more than likely find infomercials. After the infomercials have finished, they do have a couple of shows on about travel, before they switch to the poker, Vegas thing!!!!
So, after getting the needed funding, I fully intend to create my own Channel and perhaps call it "The Travel Channel - No, Seriously". We will travel to real places far away. Places where the financially strapped intellectual, or culture-seeking-geographically-challenged individual would like to see. We will also have shows like, "Where Not to Go" and "The Impatient Traveler". I thought "The Impatient Traveler" would be fun to see for those folks that hate waiting in lines and travelling the most travelled spots. Perhaps we could even offer tips on what to do while waiting in line and how to handle the screaming baby situation. "Where Not to Go" would be fun as well!!! There are places where the service, despite the reputation, sucks! I would also have shows that would follow a historical traveler like Hemingway or Ben Franklin...or perhaps one that would trace the steps of a common citizen centuries ago. That would be interesting!!! Best of all, "The Crabby Traveler" - would be a show where the host would over-analyze "happy" or "fun" and rip it apart in Disneyland or Seaworld or Vegas (Ooooooh.....Shiny!).
Do I have any potential viewers???
Ben, where did the years go? My baby is now 16. I called him Sweet Benjaboo but was recently informed that it is fine to continue doing so - but not around his friends!!! So, I sneak it in here and there, but truth be told, this taller-than-me "little mister" just isn't resembling a little boy any more. Honestly, I may be a couple years older, but he has grown up fast. It seems that the older they get the faster it goes, and then true to cliche, you wonder what happened to your child.
Today I indulged myself with a visit to Zandbroz!!! I enjoy that store so much. They have something for everyone!!
The floor squeaks as you walk through and although the food/coffee scents greet you at the door, there is still a hint of musty yesteryear drifting down from the tin ceiling tiles. My favorites are the journals, cards, Freud items, containers. (Why do I like containers so much? They hold things, yes, but nothing is so wonderful as a new container!! Why? A satin covered box, an intricately carved wooden one, a clear plastic square box, a glass jar... These are all awesome! I want them all!!! Zandbroz has them!!!) They have really expanded their line of magnetic poetry!! I bought a Magnetic Poetry stand and the Creative package!!! I also bought a fake alligator-skin sketchbook. Perhaps I will begin sketching soon. I enjoy all their coffee and tea accessories!!! They have a huge collection of french presses!
Wierdest of all...I bought a grotesque Christmas card. It has the most gruesome looking elf pushing a cart full of coal for the "Naughty Boys and Girls". This would fit with my Pin Cushion Queen figure and the rest of the Burton collection:
life isn't easy
for the pin cushion queen,
when she sits on her throne
pins push through her spleen
Gotta love it!
When I was a child, walking wide-eyed through shopping malls knowing that I couldn't get anything except, at best, some of Dad's chocolate stars (but not Mom's JuJu B's!!!) I would fantasize about being locked in the mall overnight!!! -or if there were some huge disaster and we had to live confined in there!!! I thought about the fun I would have!!! Anyway, I got off the subject there! Zandbroz is now the store I would love to be locked in overnight or for a long time!!!! Good coffee...good ice cream...many, many pens and journals (with so many different textures!!!) and a choice collection of cool books. Oh, and a bathroom!
Yes, I had a pretty good day!
My little brother has aged one more year. I think he is catching up to me. When I got married, he was sitting on the side of the hill moping. I was so worried about him. Today, he is all grown up with a wife and chillin grabbing at his pantleg. He smiles more and we certainly appreciate each other more. I am glad that he is still here in Sioux Falls with me. But, I still miss him. Happy Birthday Bro!!
This is really gross. I have my sister-in-law to thank, in a way, for my discovery of this. She had a link to a site showing a Barbie dog doing his duty. This was on the same page, apparently also of interest to similar types of peoople. Enjoy! I know my dad will love it!!!
Well, another tumultuous weekend. I certainly can't wait until the election is over. I can't wait until the week is over. I need time without children...They are with their dad next weekend. Hopefully I can get my paper completed. Hopefully I can find more material.
Looks like we eliminated the dealers on the corner. It was the first weekend after the first of the month and no activity. Either they are gone or they went back to Chi-town for refills. I think they are renting their vehicles instead of driving them here. I think it would be worth checking out. It would be quite beneficial to have some sort of indicator on the plate or on the car indicating that it is a rental. Winter is here and I am not outside as much gathering plate numbers.
A girl at work has her sister staying with her after hearing gunshots close to her window on the west side of town. It is strange that all the gunfire happens over there and this is supposed to be the dangerous neighborhood.
Last night I spoke with B. We came up with a new word (new, that is, if nobody else has come up with it). The word is "blink" Blink is a blog link. I am going to post her blink soon.
We have so many controversial discussions. I could never speak with anyone on the topics that I discuss with her. Last night it was about open marriage. She thinks I am a prude and I think she is naive. We agree to disagree. I was pondering all of our topics of discussion today...
One came up of a boyfriend that she dated in the '80's. His name was Hal Kosiba. She said that he was really paranoid and didn't like her walking alone through the ISU campus. He got her a tazer gun. I don't believe that those were readily available or widely used at that time. She googled him and found out that he died in 1999. She said that he was working on his doctorate at the time she dated him and also spent time in DC as well as Germany, Russia, etc. I asked her if he was a spy and she laughed and told me that my imagination was overly active... I did some research and decided that he was in fact a spy. That is my opinion, since of course, they don't list espionage on a person's public information. When I talked to her again, reiterating my research, she felt it could explain why she was introduced to several foreign officials that visited him and why he slept with a gun under his pillow and answered the door with a gun behind his back. Hmmm.... But really, I still don't think that she believes it.
Another topic of discussion we don't agree on is pornography. The question is basically, Pornography: Good, bad or neutral. I think that it objectifies and victimizes women and she says that she thinks that it is only a natural harmless fantasy thing for men.
What a week! "Cut!"
"Okay, maid, you get the house clean before my OCD personality disorder explodes!
"Stuntmom get in here and take care of the kids while I watch Bill Maher in peace tonight! It should be a good one with that self-rightous evangelist making the news!"
If only...
I can't wait until this election is over. I don't watch much tv, but when I do, the last thing I want to see is another political ad! I'll bet the mail carriers can't wait either. They must be tired of the pounds and pounds of political propaganda that they deliver to our door only for us to toss away. Why don't we just skip the step in the middle and have a mail truck go to the recycling plant?! This is ridiculous.
Where do I start this week? I had an abnormal psyche test over mood and eating disorders. I never knew that infants as young as 3 months have been found to have depression and eating disorders. Very interesting. Each page I turn in the book I wonder why the courts in custody cases don't consider the psychological well-being of children. Perhaps this is further apparent to me thanks to my Crimonology class that delves into criminal behavior. BTW, I am learning that crime is directly related to concentrations of people in certain areas. Therefore housing projects are not a solution to a housing problem, but also directly related to the cause of it and criminal behavior around it. After all these studies, they still fence the bad in. Now the news states that St. Louis is the most dangerous city. I recall going there as children and seeing how pristine the "Gateway to the Midwest" was. When I was there a few years ago they had complete neighborhoods fenced in and condemned. I couldn't believe it. It was as if they gave up, accepted it and enclosed the problem. Nice... (Escape From New Yorkish)
My Criminology teacher keeps wishing me luck with the neighborhood and states that once crime and blight set in, it is nearly impossible to turn it around. We have too many beautiful old homes to do that!!! (Note to self, contact Sorenson at City Hall) We really need to get going on the neighborhood association before folks start bailing.
The most recent drug house appears to have settled down. Last weekend only one transaction seen. Also, another busted and in the news with the dealers trying to flush down the evidence. It must have clogged the toilet, because he had his arm down there trying to get it down before the police nabbed him. All for naught. I wonder how many sewer rats are using? (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)
The tooth dragon came and left me needing a root canal and crown. Fun! They can't get me in until the 27th, so this should be fun. Why don't they install a tooth-breaking division at Weight Watchers? It works. Even with Tylenol 3!!
Nick had his first accident on Monday. He was lucky. He rear-ended some guy on 41st street. Thank goodness Nick's vehicle had all the damage. They didn't report it to the police so Nick's insurance won't go up. This led to a discussion of "driving like your dad". Nick knows his dad follows too closely. Ben said his dad drives safely, so I informed him that he won't be getting his license until he changes his mind on that one. Nick agreed.
Anyway, Wednesday Nick ran out of gas dropping Ben off at Lincoln. He would have only been late had he not decided to go home and lounge through the morning. I told him that I was clipping his wings, and (why don't they think before they open their mouths?) he replied, "It's not like that's the first time I ever skipped!". So, I told him I was only going to ground him for 2 weeks but now he is grounded indefinitely. I am expecting him to be one well-behaved child for awhile.
Halloween came and I had my test. It only took me around 15 minutes to do. When I got home, both boys were gone and the lights were all off. They aren't getting this trust thing. I think I will bring my point home this weekend. They can clean the house and do outside chores.
I think tonight will be busy in the 'hood. On the way home, I encountered a vehicle pulled over - probably a DUI by angle of the car when it was pulled over - and there was a fire at a rental property down the street. I also noticed "18" in adhesive numbers on a metal pole on the corner of 14th and Summit. I suppose more of the 18th Street Gang's work. Did I mention that I need to get going on the N.A. (Neighborhood Association)? I think that I will call some folks that have volunteered to do anything to help and see if I can't rev up their noggins on this.
I had better work on my Histrionic Personality Disorder paper due in 17 days. I wish we had a decent library here. Which reminds me... The last time we went to the library we saw a creepy guy walking around with this shoulder-length hair in his face - no, not like you had it when your mother told you to get your hair out of your face, but more like Cousin It's 'do. I know I must have looked really freaked out. When he walked by he said something to the effect of "Leave the hair alone, assholes". I hate going there. I might go to Augie's library, since I still have my ID from '85 and see if I can't locate some info there. At least I don't think I will gag on the collective b.o. there.
Well, so much for thinking that with the change of seasons, comes the decrease in neighborhood crime. I really don't have time for this now. I have a test in Criminology next week but this wasn't how I had planned on studying.
Contrary to the title of this post, this is not the same gang. This is the 18th Street Gang. According to the police, this is a rival of the Gangster Disciples that tagged the same retaining wall this summer. They are a Hispanic gang that have tagged the areas from Minnesota Ave to Western, and as far south as the 2100 block of South Duluth, to who knows how far north. Funny that when I was speaking to an officer about this on Thursday evening, our new drug house had some activity and I believe it may have been "caught on tape" by the patrol car and the officers followed the people. It seems to me that they are not residing at this apartment building, but dealing drugs out of it. DCI is on it as are the local patrols. Stay tuned as the plot thickens.
By the way, my commitment to the 'hood is such that I missed most of Grey's Anatomy. The one show I watch now that I don't have my Bill Maher to turn to.
TaTa
So hard to believe. I forgot my sister's birthday. Reba is 21 today ( As of 10/17, that is). Right? I remember the day she was born. Renee, Eric and I awoke to find no parents. Mom was giving birth in Waukegan. Becky ended up with meningitis and stayed in the hospital too long. I held her when she got home and never wanted to stop. We almost lost her so many times. I still wish she were here. I miss her immensely. My baby sister is all grown up! I still want to hold her. She will always be my baby sister.
A few weeks ago Mirabel told me about her son. He had a rash and was running around screaming in pain. She took him to the doctor and the doctor diagnosed him with Herpes Zoster, otherwise known as Shingles. I thought this was odd. This usually manifests in older people. Last week, Jennifer said that her daughter seemed to have a bug bite that was growing and getting more sore. She didn't take her daughter to the doctor because like all kids, her daughter had a tendency to scratch them until eventually they would scab over and go away. Friday she took her daughter in because her daughter was crying that it hurt so much and it had gotten so much redder. Diagnosis: Shingles. Her doctor said that was the third case of Shingles in children that he had seen in the last week. I went on the CDC website to see if there was any information about it. Although Chicken Pox is a reportable virus, Shingles is not. The CDC didn't have any news about unusual outbreaks of Shingles. So, I contacted Jaine Andrews at KELO. She does the Healthbeat feature on the news. She also felt this was unusual and is checking into it. Hopefully she will find some answers. This seems very odd that we are having a sudden outbreak of Shingles in children. Both children have had the Chicken Pox. Unfortunately, until further research comes up with better treatments or preventions these children will probably be dealing with this for the rest of their lives.
When I was around 8 or nine, we were lucky enough to live on a wooded acreage on Cedar Lake Road in Lake Villa, Illinois. I don't think that I was the normal type of kid. My sister Renee and brother Eric were more active and got a long so much better. They played and watched TV and shared many more of the same interests. I was a kid that loved to read and learn things and, even at that age, wanted to know what made people tick. I was so sensitive and couldn't understand why other people weren't. Renee would throw my stuffed animals and I would cry because she was hurting them. To me, everything and everyone had feelings. I took it upon myself to try to make everyone happy or at least not cause any problems.
We didn't have friends out there on Cedar Lake Road. Our closest neighbor was the Sons of Norway resort and we knew better to go over there. Life at the house was often tumultuous. Even at my age, I felt deeply the tension around me. I wandered around the "yard" and liked to go out into the trees and create my own world. Sometimes in the fall, I would take the fallen leaves and arrange them into "walls" of a house. I would lay down in my "room" and look up at the trees. The wind would blow lightly and the top of the trees swayed and whispered reassurances to me. I would sigh and feel safe. Maybe that is why I like the Northwoods so much.
Okay, so I have put this off forever because I am a busy mother of two teenage boys, working full-time, going to school part-time, Neighborhood Watch Coordinator, mother of 3 demanding dogs, stepmother of one angry teenage girl and roommate to her father. Other than that I don't have a whole lot going on.
