Inspection Time

Today, the SD Housing Commission made their yearly visit.

When you have subsidized housing, this is just one of the 'little' intrusions you have to learn to accept.

One of the problems with the yearly inspections? They don't know why they are doing it; I don't know why they are doing it. They don't want to be doing it; I don't want them to do it. However, there is a THICK multi-paged form they have to fill out, or your rent will not continue to be subsidized.

For me, it's just another of the time consuming life sustaining items in my life. (Being poor takes so very much time!)

You do get notice of this annual visit 30 & 7 days prior. You do not get a time, however. So if you want to be around when your home is invaded by a stranger, you have to plan to be there all day.

You also have NO idea who the person is going to be; I've never had the same person twice. And worse yet, you have no idea what the person's attitude is going to be, or what their particular items of interest might be.

This year, the guy did not check one thing; not the fire alarm, a faucet, the heater, nadda. It turned out though that he WAS a member of the 'SMOKING' Police. He told me I needed to wash the walls with a mop. When I told him I was not able to do that (sitting right there in front of him in a wheelchair), he said that I'd have to pay someone to do it.

I've lived here 6 years. The walls ARE dirty, but from living, not graffiti or something. Any one's walls would be dirty after 6 yrs.

But then he said, "And after you have the walls washed, it would be wise not to smoke in here."

I took a deep breath, so as not to lose my temper, then kindly told him that this was my HOME, and that I could do anything here that was legal.

He signed the papers, gave me my copy (which I couldn't read at all, he hadn't pressed hard enough), and left.

I tore up the papers and put them at the bottom of the trash can, to line it, looked at the smoke alarm wondering if it was still functional, and went about my day.

Poor equals the bottom of the bureaucracy...

Horton Plaza

Being as I had 'layover' time between appointments, I got to spend some time downtown at Horton Plaza this afternoon. One of my favorite places.

I went to the ATM, I splurged on a large Mocha from Starbucks, I got a new cell from the Cingular Store (my very old one had stopped working). And lastly, I picked up a few groceries from the big Ralph's across the street.

I window shopped. At a fancy jewelry shop window, I picked out a 'tennis bracelet' I liked, only $1900, on sale! At Cingular, I picked out the cell I'd REALLY like, a Palm Trio. I cruised an upscale deli, picking out the meats and cheesed I'd LIKE to order to take home.

But most of all I engaged in my usual pastime, I people watched. And at Horton Plaza there is never a lack of people. Rich or poor, others, like me, find it an enjoyable place to hang. And because it is right downtown, there are always many tourists from the convention center, the nearby hotels, or a cruise ship docked at the bottom of Broadway.

I saw local homeless, pushing their carts, getting a cheap fast food meal, and the well to do eating at the very upscale restaurants. I heard people speaking in many languages (primarily Dutch, I think). And I even was able to give directions to a woman who said she'd just arrived here from Louisiana!

I left, after spending several hours there, for my second appointment of the afternoon, having spent too much money, of course, money I hadn't planned on spending. But feeling entertained, and having had a wholely worthwhile experience.

Do click on the 'title' above, it will whisk you away to Horton Plaza...

Wet & Wild Weather

Suddenly, the night was bright with lightning and the thunder was a constant boom!!! We'd had some scattered showers during the afternoon, but not a hint of this!

It seemed, somewhere around 1AM last night that a storm just sat overhead for about half an hour. The lightning was almost constant. The thunder rolled, growled, and banged. There was almost NO time between the lightning and the thunder.

The poor cats went nuts; Lucy & Ethel came off the foot of my bed where they'd been sleeping, with the first flashes of lightning, like a firecracker had been set off under them. Then they ran in separate direction, both literally running around in circles. They've never seen thunder and lightning.

I got in my wheelchair and then I shut all the blinds and opened a closet door for them, which they immediately took advantage of, and where they hid out for the rest of the night.

Then I went outside! I do love the rain and storms, perhaps because they happen so seldom. But unlike on other occasions, I stayed under the upstairs overhang. With that lightning seeming to strike all around, I was very aware that I was sitting on top of 140lbs of metal!!! Nor did I see any neighbors out checking out the storm as is usually the case, no one was even out on patios. Either it was too late at night, or the storm was just too bad.

I didn't stay out long, it was just too wet and wild. By 2:15 AM I was back in my warm bed, monitoring the rare storm from there, sans cats!

Mike

My grandson, Michael, stopped by unannounced this afternoon. Haven't seen him in weeks, though he only lives 2 miles away.

He's gotten so big, at 17, he's larger than most men. And genetics? Now that he's approaching adulthood, he's an amazing blend of his mom, (therefore his grandfather), and his dad. I could just sit and look at him...

He's in school part-time, working part-time, getting along with his Mom, (he says), and has a girl; all's well with the world...

More adventures with grass!

I was finally ready to try again.

I went to the pet store, paid OVER $3 for a small package of 'Kitty Grass' seed. Planted some in two different pots, on different week-ends, so I'd have a 'rotating' crop.

Felt very smug about it all. This time I would NOT bring the containers inside. When the grass got tall enough, I'd 'mow' it with a pair of scissors, and present it to the cats!

And after a couple of weeks of watering and turning pots towards the sun, that's exactly what I did.

Still feeling smug and good about providing what my cats needed, I 'clipped' the top of one planter of grass of about 3 inches of growth. I bought in into the apartment and placed it in the middle of the living room floor on a piece of paper as I was expecting a great deal of chewing and rolling.

Lucy and Ethel, who'd been watching this entire procedure with great interest, immediately went over to the paper to check out the grass. They slowly approached the grass in the middle of the paper. They sniffed it with delicate black noses.

Then, Ethel just turned and walked away!!! While Lucy tried to cover the grass with first the paper, then the carpet!

Not giving up, I took the grass off the paper and put it on the bottom of one of their scratchers, thinking they'd notice it later.

Yea, right!

But the Cat Grass Project hasn't come to an end; obviously, I must just not have the right kind of seed. Now I'm seeking Catnip seed. Sigh...

Bronchitis!

Jeeze. Bronchitis. Again. This is the 3rd bout of it I've had since I had the flu last year.

This time they gave me a different antibiotic, hope it's fast acting and finally gets this bug!

Luckily it hasn't disrupted my sleep much, because I can put the head of my hospital bed up, and sleep pretty well with a minimum of coughing.

It has affected my ability to work, play with the cats, go to the store, etc. It seems I can't win for losing. But then at least I don't live in a hurricane prone area, have not been flooded out!

I am concerned that the antibiotic, cough syrup, will worsen the nausea from the Byetta - time will tell...

Thoughts on LIving

Someone told me today, that he'd quit smoking years ago when a close friend had died of lung cancer. Of course, I sympathized...

Later I got to thinking about that statement. When I was in my 30's, a really good friend's husband died in a car accident. I didn't quit driving.

What if everyone who used a cell phone

for more than three minutes every day, developed brain cancer and died?

Wouldn't this change the world in a matter of years? The very poor do not have cell phones, the poor have them and try not to use them. These would be the people who would take charge of the 'new' configuration...

An Amazing Man

I met an amazing man today. He was returning home from an art class, and asked me what a 'billboard' add meant, explaining that English was his second language.

I explained it to him, including the subtle humor and connotations. Then we got to chatting. He was 90 years old! (Didn't look a day over 70! LOL). He'd been born in Hawaii, moved to Japan at age six, then at some later time, back to Hawaii. He explained that although he'd learned English as a child, he just didn't have an 'ear' for it.

There he was, at 90, on a warm summer early evening, with a 12 pack box of beer under his arm, (he said he allowed himself one each evening) waiting to get the bus home, after attending an art class!

He was pleasant, happy, intelligent, and friendly. It was a pleasure spending some time talking with him. You don't too often meet people like that. Like I said, an amazing man.