brain blobs and verbal vomit

I have spent pretty much all last Sunday looking up Halloween craft ideas.  ALL DAY!  I know you were warned that Halloween is my favorite!
I was so excited to stumble upon the above idea on kluckingbear.blogspot.com.  It is the solution to one of my broken pumpkins!

I bought a bunch of those carve-able craft pumpkins years ago after Halloween on clearance.  Of course I carved them up the very next year and have loved them ever since...but there has been a tragedy this year.  One of the pumpkins with an intricate design did not store very well (of course it was my STL Cardinals one <insert sad face here>).  I didn't know what I was going to do with it but I didn't throw it away...I figured there had to be SOMETHING I could do with it.
So here we go.  I usually like to do my own thing...but this graveyard scene in on the inspiration blog is absolutely perfect...so mine is going to be really similar.

I am really excited about this since I already own the pumpkin, I know I have black glitter and paint in my craft stash, and of course there are rocks and twigs to be found out in the yard.  So it was a matter of scoping out some small skeletons or something for my graveyard.

I cut out my shape (made it more jagged) and painted the inside.
I thought I would mix a dark blue and purple together for a night sky. I painted some black trees in the background and went over with some good old Elmer's glue and added the glitter.
I also scavenged in the yard for some twigs for my trees and I painted them black and glitterfied them.  I squeezed out way too much black paint and not wanting to waste it, I got a little carried away...I made swirls and stuff all over.  I then cut 1" styrofoam to fit into the bottom of my pumpkin and covered with sheet moss.
 Below you will see that I was testing how one of those battery powered tealights looked...eh, it's okay...
But, above you will see I finally found what else was going to go inside.  Michael's had their little "Spooky Town" things 50% off.  I scored a pair of battery powered tombstones that were marked on clearance for less than 50% off and also a skeleton in his coffin...so total for that was about $7 and that is all I spent (besides time) on this project!
I fed the battery pack through the hole in the bottom and then glued down the foam and all the pieces.  Then I took a little bit of the spider webbing from my outdoor decorations and draped on all the branches.  I secured these to the foam with little pieces of wire and stuck a little spider in there (well, it is a large spider in relation to the size of everything else).
And here it is with the lights out and gravestones lit..of course now I see that I should have put the unlit one back center and then placed the lit ones on either side turned slightly inward - but my toddler could care less.  He loves it just the way it is and I got a "Yay Mommy!" with applause.

Halloween is getting close...so let me tell a little horror story.

A horror story in retail.  Everyone who has worked with the public has at least one horror story.  Here is one that happened today.

I work in a building that consists of many buildings (row houses), most of which is nearly 200 years old.  Yes.  200 years old.  Quaint old brick buildings with all sorts of creepy places including cellars and attics.  The building has a few ghosts (which I have had a few experiences with) - but this isn't the horror that I am going to speak about.

Since the building consisted of row houses, each of these homes had bathrooms.  Some of these bathrooms were removed over the years to expand the store.  Some have been converted into storage spaces.  Currently our building only has a few of these bathrooms that are in working order.  We do have a restroom in working order open for customers to use.

Can you see were this story might be going?

So we have one storage room that used to be a bathroom. Due to water issues on that end of the building, the water line to the toilet was cut.  The toilet has signs taped all over it stating "DO NOT USE"  and "NO WATER, DO NOT USE" --what do you think those signs mean?  Do they mean that if you used the toilet that it wasn't going to flush because there is no water line to the toilet?  Do you think that is what it means?  Should I mention that the door also has a sign that says "EMPLOYEES ONLY PLEASE" --should I?

Have you figured out where this story is going?

Today I was working on displays on that end of the store and was in the storage room (again I will mention this was a former bathroom with sign on the outside of the door stating "EMPLOYEES ONLY PLEASE" and the toilet inside this storage room has signs taped all over and around it stating not to use).  As I was getting some extension cords, I noticed an odor.  I thought perhaps it was coming from the cellar below and was due to all the rain we received through the night.

I was in and out of this storage room and the smell just seemed to be more noticeable.  Finally I thought "surely it isn't coming from the toilet" -- do I dare take a peek?

I took a peek. It was what I didn't want to see.

A customer who had to poop so bad that it made them unable to read and comprehend what the signs were screaming at them decided to poop in the toilet.

Poop in the toilet with no water supply.  Poop in a toilet with no water supply when there is a perfectly functioning toilet for customers to use in the store.

I don't understand how the brain of someone that does that works.  It isn't a port-o-potty. It isn't dropping down a hole in the ground.  It is just sitting there.  There is no toilet paper in there. So not only did you take a major dump but you were not able to wipe your illiterate ass.  You smelled like poop the rest of the day.

Who does this?

Yes.  I know it is still September.  I can't help it though...
HALLOWEEN IS MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!
Sure, it is a little gaudy for some...but it makes me happy - and now my toddler thinks I am amazing because he loves looking at it.

This is the 5th post about my neighbor...and I am afraid.  I am afraid she may have struck back...

Remember when I said to take care of those feet?  Well, do take care of them but try some things out on your own before going to a doctor.  There are exercises you can do (which I linked to in my foot post)  and the night splint that I got from the Doctor has been very helpful.  In fact I am healing nicely and didn't require a second injection and the talks of surgery are gone.

But let me get to the bitching now...because you know that is what I was going to get around to.

See that image below?  That is the website for the company that made the night splint that my Doctor set me up with.  My night splint has the company logo on the back of it so it was quite easy to find this website.  That screen shot down there, that is the same EXACT one that I have.You will notice that one is $19.95 and if six or more are bought then the price drops to $14.95.
I am sure the doctor has bought six or more and I am positive that him being a doctor gives him a better discount than me.

Are you asking me for the reason why I am harping on this?  Well, got my bill from the Podiatrist.

There is a reason why doctors are rich and have nicer things than me.  There is also a reason why we desperately need a standardized healthcare system.

This doctor billed my insurance company $185.00.

$185.00 for something that I can buy right now for $19.95 (I checked and it is free UPS ground shipping on this item).  
My insurance company paid my doctor $94.45 for that item.
My insurance company could have bought me SIX of them for $90.
My doctor wrote off $66.94 and my patient responsibility is $23.61.  

Yes, my portion is $23.61 which is $3.66 more for this item than I would pay had I ordered it online (and let's not forget that the Dr has already been paid $94.45 so with that money he could buy six more).

Now I don't want to seem like I am naive to medical billing.  I did it for a number of years. A lot of  insurance companies pay a percentage of the allowable on all items set by Medicare or Medicaid.  Doctors can bill the insurance company any crazy number they want, but your insurance company is only going to view that allowed amount as the billable charge.  From their they will pay per the plan.  Mine pays 80% and I am left with the 20% copay which is the $23.61.

For instance, this item that I am bitching about, insurance has a set allowable for $118.06 (and I think my insurance does a percentage of Medicare allowables).  I came up with this figure by adding what insurance paid with what is my responsibility.  That "WRITE OFF" amount of $66.94 I mentioned above, yeah the Doctor wasn't writing that off out of the goodness of his heart, he was writing it off because he can't bill me for that since it is more than what the insurance allows as the price.

There are lots of other items on this bill, but it is that night splint that really freaking bothers me.  Sure the $23.61 doesn't really make a difference when you look at the fact that the total bill is $441.09 (my deductible wasn't met which is the reason for most of it).  --it is just that is the only thing that I find utterly ridiculous.  I got x-rays.  I got an injection.  Hell, he even had an ultrasound machine looking around at the muscles on my heel.  My feet were also molded for custom orthotics (that was the BIG CHUNK) which I knew going in was going to be expensive.

I am just annoyed that this is what is wrong with the system.

You may have noticed that I have not bitched about my neighbor lately...let me give you an update of the last week...

At 12:26 last Monday I heard the Great Dane barking.  I had not seen dogs for days at this house nor heard anyone check on the dogs and now it is barking?  Did they go into hibernation because of the rain from Isaac?  The lady returned in the evening to take care of the Great Dane, Chihuahua, and Fox Terrier appeared suddenly.  There was no barking during the night though which made me happy.

Tuesday when I returned home from work, the husband told me that the City had stopped by to check out her house.  I am betting this was to review my detailed complaint.  The husband said he noticed him in his vehicle when the hubs was getting the mail.  Then City man came and talked to the husband.  Asked the last time he had seen the neighbor...and that was about all the details I could squeeze out of the hubs.

I left for an evening appointment and when I got back my neighbor's truck was in her driveway!  Her blinds were pulled down on all windows and all was quiet.  Hmm...wonder if she knows that the City and Animal Control both want to talk with her...

For a week now she has continued her previous routine of leaving early and coming home late.  I have not called animal control to let them know she is home.  I have not really heard the dogs and I am not sure if they are there.

I learned Monday evening that they were.  I seen her and all FIVE of her dogs. Why am I peeking out of my window?  Because all the dogs are barking.  Here is the picture that I took while the husband said; "Really? Are you really taking a picture?"   To which I replied; "Yes.  I am documenting."

This is one of the pictures that I took.  I very crudely put arrows and numbered the dogs.  I could not get a good picture of dog #5.  That is the gray terrier one.  He was the one that I hadn't seen in forever.  I know his name, it is Oscar.  Why do I know it?  Because he must be the worst dog because that is who she yells at all the time.  In the above picture, he is on a lead and is on the other side of the dilapidated kennel.  Sure I could have cropped this image and made the picture of the dogs clearer, but I think you feel my pain more when you see the yard.  Can I point out that there is no grass?

Alright.  That is enough bitching about this for now.   I am very doubtful that it will be the last time.

This goes along the lines of Blair Witch and Trollhunter (which I could swear that I did Trollhunter as  WTF but I must have been posting on FB about it before I started this blog).  There is a group that is going to investigate and get down to the bottom of the scary conspiracy.

What is the conspiracy of YELLOWBRICKROAD you ask?

*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****I WATCHED THIS SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO*****DETAILS AHEAD*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Well, the story goes that one morning in the 1940 all residents of this small New England town left EVERYTHING and walked up this winding trail into the mountains.  Most of the townspeople were found frozen to death on the path, some were mutilated.  There was a cover up and the town was repopulated. Just recently the records were declassified....queue in the curious research team that wants to get to the bottom of this conspiracy...well, get down to the bottom of it to write a book anyway...

The group is compiled and headed by Teddy (the hopeful author), Melissa (Teddy's wife), Walter (scientist and best friends of Teddy and Melissa), Erin and Daryl (brother and sister map team), Jill (intern) and Cy (I am not sure anymore what Cy does).  They think the trail starts at the the movie theater in the small town.  No one wants to help the group about this mystery..no one except the chick in the movie theater (Liz).  She tells a little story about how the Wizard of Oz movie (tie in for the movie title) was left in the projector of the abandoned town...then she says she will help if she gets to go along.  She knows were the marker is for this path which is marked "YELLOWBRICKROAD"...so it is on with the hike.

First thing they find is an old hat that seems to not have weathered in the past 70 years.  Then Liz tells some story how the people that left the town were dressed in suits and hats.  Daryl decides that the best way to keep the hat safe is to wear it.

While the hiking is going on there are two other things going on.  One is the scientist of the group interviews everyone constantly and asks really random questions while recording them on video.  I think this is to just make it weird.  The other thing going on is the running joke with the intern.  The GPS equipment is not working right so they constantly ask her where they were...Guam, Italy, Australia.  This is to show that the equipment is batty.  But still they trek on...

Wait, listen...is that weird creepy old music in the woods?  They all hear it, and yet they trek on....the music gets louder and everyone seems to get a little wiggy.  Is it lack of sleep because of the music?  Is it the weirdness of it all?

Oh nos, the map team goes to survey but Erin has a fit and tries to make Daryl take off the hat.  Daryl will not hear of it and goes wacky and kills her.  Rips her leg off.  I didn't see that one coming.   Now the whole group feels stressed.  They watched it happen and watched Daryl run off.  Camp is set up and part of the group goes off to find murderer Daryl...all the while this music keeps playing in the woods.

They find and bring him back to camp, tie him up, and are all awoken to crazy loud noises and vibrations.  What on earth is going on?  I think it is marshmallows that they stick in their ears for the noise, but the vibrations still make them fall all over the place.  They still trek on...until they see a pile of debris on the path....and what is this on the front of it?  Another Wizard of Oz reference.  The dead girl (that they left in the field by the way) is now strapped on a pole like the scarecrow with arms crossed in front and pointing both directions.
While this is disturbing, still the leader of the group and his wife climb up the debris hill so they can see what is on the other side - he has a book to write after all.  Because the noise and vibrations are still going on, everyone is falling everywhere.  Daryl gets free from his ropes and takes their vehicle (oh, I didn't mention that they have some sort of gator/4 wheeler type thing) with their supplies and leaves.  The group splits up.

If you recall from all those years watching Scooby Doo, then you know that when the group splits up, that is when the weirder crap happens.

Teddy ends up leaving his group in the middle of the night (his group is Melissa, Walter, and Jill) to go on his own.  His group doesn't look for him,  they push on to try to get home.  The other group (Liz and Cy) get high on nightshade.

on with the weird crap...

Cy goes bonkers and wants Liz to tie him up and kill him.

Jill eats all the candy (her group found candy as part of their rations) so Walter and Melissa ditch her.

Teddy is wandering around.

Daryl is driving around aimlessly with the vehicle.

Liz snaps Cy's neck and eats more nightshade.

Walter commits suicide...

While Melissa is sitting there in front of a cave dealing with the fact that her husband ditched her and her friend Walter commited suicide, a voice comes from the cave.  It is Daryl.  He tells her he is going to kill her. He is wearing the hat.  The hat is the devil I guess.

He kills Melissa.

Somehow in this Liz finds the vehicle with supplies and ends up hunting down and killing Daryl.

Who is even left?  Teddy, Liz...where is Jill? Did she die? More music.

I am confused.  Teddy somehow ends up at the movie theater and the guy yells at him to take his seat.  The freaky film starts and it is the end of the movie.  WTF?  Where is Liz?  Is Liz the evil monster?  Did I blink and miss Jill's death?  Do you think Teddy wrote the book after this?

Well, I am left with more questions.  Not that they are going to eat away at me, but still.  It felt incomplete.

If you do end up watching this, please tell me what I missed so that I have closure.

Below is the trailer.  I did not watch this before the film.  I am going to tell you that the trailer and the intro story makes it seem so much more interesting than it actually is...

That piece of furniture in the above picture, last week it was a chest of drawers.  Have you ever seen a chest of drawers or a dresser at the curb for the garbage man and it looked great except it was missing a drawer or two?  If it is well made, pick that dude up because it could be given second life!

I have had this chest of drawers for a good 10+ years.  I got it for free from a friend who had rescued it from a dumpster years before.  It had neat color, age, and lines...the only problem was it was missing a drawer front on one of the drawers...which I am sure is why it was in the dumpster in the first place.  They just don't make furniture like they used to.
Oh, before we get started...don't throw out those drawers. Do a google search for what do do with drawers. You can use them as interesting shadow box shelving and I even found where people were using them as a planter! Can you imagine? One page I found was selling little tables that were made with putting little legs on the drawers and glass on top! I am going to stick my drawers into the attic until I figure out what I want to do with them.

Here she is with her new shelves, I think she is looking FANTASTIC!  I gave her a quick sand on the edges of the shelves and now onto paint!
 I checked out my leftover paint stash and I thought my red was too RED and my plum was too PLUM...so logically it was time to make my own color by mixing.
 Here she is with her first coat!
 Since I am notorious for not taping off anything when I paint, it was inevitable that I would get paint where I didn't want it - but wait, that kind of looks good where the paint is staining the lighter part of the wood.  Let's try a bit more...YES!  I liked the way the wood looked with the old stain/varnish chipped off, but washing the paint color on tied it all together.  The lighter parts of the wood now carried the inside color throughout the piece!
 Once I had the color washed all over, now time for a clear coat.  I put a clear coat over the entire piece and put a second coat on the top and shelves.
And here is the front view...just have to wait for that clear coat to cure so I can ACCESSORIZE!

Well, not really.  I think as the story goes, suiciders don't go to Heaven.  But is it suicide if you drink the koolaid given to you or is it only suicide if you make the koolaid?

Heaven's Gate.  I haven't thought of that in a while.   Here it is though, right on Craigslist.  I know there are weird things on Craigslist but I have only seen and heard of stuff like this as stories...never have I stumbled across the weird.

"HEAVEN'S GATE CULT BUNK BED: Own a piece of one of the biggest mass suicides in American history. Very rare crime scene relic. One red, and one blue bed for sale. Please specify your offer on either one bed, or both. If one bed, then what color? I have the documentation to prove the authenticity of the beds. Open to any offer of a straight trade, $ or a combination of both. Make an offer, the worse I can say is no." 

After the thoughts of "whaaa?" and "seriously?" and then  "who would buy these?"...I wondered if these were THE beds how they ended up in the STL area on Craigslist.  A search on the old interwebs and I had my answers as the RFT covered this.  They actually spoke with the guy.  At that time these were listed for $1000 each.  Read the article, I was surprised how much they were selling them for on Ebay in the 90's and how much people would pay for a swatch of their clothing.  WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE BUYING THIS STUFF???
I had forgotten the details of the Heaven's Gate Cult...so I looked it up.  It is just all to wacky to even to really write about.  Wikipedia has some details on it and if you want even more, it seems you can watch the initiation videos on youtube.  I will get you started below.  I started listening to it. WACKY!  How do people get involved in stuff like this?
KOOKY!

I wrote this post on Sunday morning after flipping on the news and rolling my eyes into the back of my head. It was that Charles Jaco on Fox 2.  I have always thought he was a little too much, but ever since doing the interview that revealed the "Legitimate Rape" comment...he just seems even more so.  Like you can actually see that his head is larger...anyway, on with posting something that I wrote a few days ago. I am sure it is still relevant right?  

I have delved into writing out my thoughts and opinions on subjects that are considered "controversial" before so what the hell...POLITICS!

Politics might be the worst thing to talk about on Facebook - or is it Religion?

I am tired of hearing about abortion and I am sure you are too...so what's one more rant about it?

It is election time and that is what everyone is talking about.  Why?  There are so many other issues that are what needs to be dealt with. Why do we keep throwing up abortion?  Oh, I know why.  It makes a great controversial smoke screen. It's a "we don't really have the answers on how to fix anything so let's throw abortion into the mix.  That gets everyone riled up."

Almost everyone I know is riled up.  Riled up with disgust. Riled up with disbelief.

Why?  Because somehow in Politics it seems that common sense and learning have taken a step back, a step back into a time machine before we understood how the human body worked.

Everyone around the world has heard about Akin's comments that started a shitstorm of ignorance.  In case you missed it somehow...

"From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist."

Whaaaaa?  Legitimate rape?  Is there such a thing as illegitimate rape?  We can just shut that whole thing down?  If we have that power, why do we even need birth control?  I know a legitimate rape that wont result in pregnancy...If Akin was legitimately raped, his body would shut down and there would be no pregnancy


It seems so absurd that someone that is educated could make such a statement.  Did he not have biology in any of the schools/colleges that he attended?  Was it not a requirement?

Akin started a shit avalanche riddled with apologies and ignorance.  Everyone running for something that shared any common views as Akin has been on damage control.  But I think it is too late.

Huckabee not to be left off the rape wagon,  has argued that extraordinary people have been born out of forcible rape and gave a few examples.  I would imagine that there are more un-extraordinary people in that group if he were to take a poll.

And then Paul Ryan was asked about abortion and rape...

"The method of conception doesn't change the definition of life"

Which I am guessing means whether you were raped legitimately, illegitimately, or whatever - it doesn't matter because it is life and it is not your choice.

This shit avalanche is also bringing past comments of ignorance back up to the surface -Like this gem from 1990 by Texas Governor hopeful Clayton Williams:

"Rape is like bad weather: if it's inevitable, you might as well relax and enjoy it."

Relax and enjoy it?  Well, Frankie did just say "Relax"...that song was about anal sex.  Now the song is in my head.  May as well stick the video in so you can sing along because I am sure it is in your head too...

All of this hubbub is throwing everyone off the issues.  Before you start in, I know there are people that argue that abortion is a big issue.  IT JUST SHOULDN'T BE THE ISSUE THAT WE ARE WORRIED ABOUT.  HOW ABOUT WE FOCUS ON ISSUES THAT EFFECT THE WHOLE COUNTRY (TAXES, JOBS, HEALTHCARE, DEBT, ETC).

This comes to the question on what is life and when is the forming goo considered a person.   Do you want to know my thoughts on it?  Well, I know there is a heartbeat from the start of it all, but if it can't function outside the womb by itself...then it should be the sole decision of the "host" to decide the fate.  Everyone has their own feelings and interpretation on this issue.  It isn't a simple right or wrong, it is complicated.

There are many reasons why people turn to abortion...Rape, health issues to mother, health issues to fetus,  financial instability, etc..

Those reasons need to be decided by the person(s) involved - not some politician that doesn't even understand how a woman's body even works.

I will be honest here now, my pregnancy was unplanned (see "Disney Conspiracy" for details).  I was miserable the entire pregnancy.  I have blocked out those 9 months of misery.   Seriously, I went through the seven stages of Grief.

1. Shock and disbelief
2. denial
3. bargaining
4. guilt
5. anger
6. depression
7. acceptance and hope

Stage 6 is still with me, stage 7 really only appeared recently, and 4 pops up all the time because what is wrong with me to feel all these other feelings and am I going to screw up this kid?  Anyhow,  I cannot even BEGIN to imagine what someone would go through if they were raped and then became pregnant.  I have had a child and cannot imagine so how can these male politicians be experts on all of this?

But if abortion still remains the big issue and banned and deemed illegal, Where does it stop?  If abortion is illegal for every situation.  Will manslaughter charges be brought against women having illegal abortions?  What about miscarriages? Will that become involuntary manslaughter?

Do these politicians really think about what if their wives or daughters were raped?

Let's just have a scenario.  So Politician X has a wife and a daughter (let's say that she is 12).  Both women's baby factories are working just fine.  Oh NO!  They were legitimately raped!  Since it was inevitable, they relaxed and enjoyed it.  Oh no!  I bet relaxing and enjoying it doesn't shut down the baby factory!  Oh, now Politician X is raising a child and a grandchild that are from rapists.  I bet this wont look well with his ritzy pals at the Country Club.  So how long until tax dollars go to fund "private schools" for girls to be shipped off to while they host the rape spawn until birth?

I should probably end this post here...

So this is the third post where I talk about my neighbor.  After last week I know you are all wondering if I was able to sleep again.

The answer is YES!  It was so quiet that I could hear the crickets chirping away.

The lady that is "caring" for the pets must have seen the notice on the door after Animal Control came (did you need to review last week's post?) and returned in the evening to quietly picked up the dogs. I am not sure how she managed to do this where I didn't hear.  I am guessing that since she parks over in her driveway.

I have looked at the back yard through my bedroom window and I don't see any of the dogs.   I cannot imagine her carting away all of these dogs!  She has a van, but still...a Great Dane, a Puli, a Chihuahua, a Fox Terrier, and then some other miscellaneous Terrier in one vehicle?

I know it seems like I hate dogs.  I do not.  I love dogs and in fact most animals.  It is the people that I dislike that don't have time for their dogs.  Time to take care of them, time to train them, knowledge of the local ordinances so that they are not a nuisance. That is what I hate.

Speaking of knowledge of local ordinances...the lady on the corner (the one caring for the problem dogs) has a large black dog.  This dog is never on a leash.  When she is there working, her door is open for the dog to go in and out of.  This is a front door of a business with the door being on the sidewalk and right at the corner of the intersection.  This is not a door opened to a fenced in yard.  Sure it is a well behaved dog...but all it takes is for something to catch his eye and he is hit by a car in that intersection.  What some people don't realize is that the leash laws are to also keep pets safe, not just the people from the pets.  I can't tell you how many times I have come home to see that dog laying in my neighbor's front yard playing with garbage...yeah, because this dog's owner gives the dog wrappers and such to play with.  Um, hello idiot.  Don't you know your dog isn't playing with the wrappers?  Your dog is shredding it and eating the bits that still taste like food.  If you haven't paid for surgery to remove bound up wrappers from your dog's bowels, I am sure the time will come.

So Thursday after the lady had dropped off the rest of my neighbor's dogs and they continued to bark, I decided to fill out the online email form for my city.  See, when I called these departments they just scribbled down my complaints.  They did not take my info. They did not get to hear in full detail of my issues.  They did not get to feel my pain.  Crap, I don't think Code Enforcement even came out so they did not get to see my pain.

Whoever gets to review that will feel my pain.  In detail.  With times and dates of barking of those two days.  They now know that the lady dropped off more dogs Thursday night that barked and barked all evening.  They now have a link to pictures of the yard from April and how it was as of yesterday.

Sure the dogs are gone Friday (or so I think) and all is quiet..but my neighbor is gone during the day every day.  Those dogs are in the house and bark at any car that parks in front of her house.  They bark when I am working in the front yard.  Crap, I even had the mailman ask me "How many dogs are in there?" when they were barking at him as they do every day.  Now that I know from Animal Control that she is only allowed two unless she has approval from the neighbors, I am not going to let this go.

She is gone all day and comes home late at night.  Her dogs are let out in the late evening after being cooped up all day.  They bark out of control over the excitement of someone being home and the fact that they get to go outside.  They do this again in the morning before she leaves.  I am sure she loves her dogs, but not enough to know that she has too many in her 400 square foot house.  Yes, 400 square foot house.  This is a real - she has an apartment-sized house!   Now 400 square feet of space doesn't sound small if that is just one big open room with no furniture for the dogs to run around in.  This is not the case.  I know her house has four rooms.  A living room where I know the couch is against the window that has the big "weed tree" and across from that is a TV.  I know that there is some large piece of furniture against the front door as she does not use the front door and when people knock on her door she has to tell them "hold on" through the window and then come around from the back door.  I would imagine there are other small pieces of furniture or other things in there as well.  The kitchen is small and has appliances and a counter top. I can't imagine much space in there for the dogs.  I am clueless on her bedroom and bathroom as they are on the other side of the house.  She does have a nice large yard...but it is filled with a large kennel that is falling apart, overgrown weeds and bushes, some wooden crate thing that I am guessing is some sort of animal pen, and all sorts of other trash.  That Great Dane is not getting the exercise that it needs since it is only let out to do business in the evening and the morning.

Sure, I don't walk my dog but I know she gets plenty of exercise chasing the kid around the house and chasing squirrels (because when they are up in the tree she somehow thinks she can catch them).  My dog is only 18 pounds.  Not 120 or so crammed in a small space all day and only let out twice.  To me that seems like animal cruelty (did I mention that there are also at least two cats in that house too).

She is not off the hook. I want that yard fixed!

Guess what!  Animal Control did a follow up.  The officer knocked on my door and asked if I knew if the neighbor had come home.  I filled her in on the happenings.  She told me to contact them when my neighbor returned and they would discuss the amount of animals with her.  She was going to try and contact the lady that has the business on the corner because she knew she had her on file.  YES!  On file because they have visited her before! The husband had to remind me of this incident.  I was not home so I only received minimal details.  It was a report filed by a mailman...not the regular mailman.  I am thinking he might of had a fear of dogs so the unleashed dog on a lawn that he walks through for delivering mail...yeah, doggie thinks he wants to play.  This is the reason that there is a big sign on the window of the business that says something like "NO POSTAL DROP OFF."  Does that work?  If you want to break a rule/ordinance/law can you just post a sign so that the whistle blower will stay away?    Can criminals just post a sign that says "NO COPS" and that will protect them from being caught?

Well anyway, both Animal Control and I thought the dogs were gone.  Nope, after she left the Great Dane, Chihuahua, and the Fox Terrier came out of the basement to see what was going on.  Now I know the Fox Terrier was tethered to the dog kennel the night before.  How did he get free?   So I call Animal Control and let them know that there are still three dogs there.  I am such a good citizen.  The officer said she couldn't pick up the dogs since someone was taking care of them but she was going to contact the lady at the business to see what was going on.

It is now Monday.  I have only seen the lady come one time and she was sneaking.  She must live close because she had ridden a bike and I only knew she was there because I seen the top of  her head walk past my living room window.  So I peaked.  She was sneaking and trying to open that gate as quietly as possible.  Her attempts at being a ninja have failed.  She should have come in the dark of night if she didn't want to be seen.  She had picked up the other dogs at some point over the weekend - I think anyway, I have not seen them come outside and they have not made one noise.  My neighbor has not returned and I don't see any of the dogs.  Where is she?  It is hard to give Animal Control a call when she isn't coming back!  She better come back because I want this yard cleaned!

Friday - the Great Dane, Chihuahua, and Terrier sleeping on their gross pillows surrounded by trash.

The main character (Jason) idolizes Bruce Lee.  He visits his grave and gets lessons from him.  Yes.  Did I mention that Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the big bad Russian that he is unknowingly training to fight?

The movie starts out in a Dojo.  The main character (Jason) is in this class and the instructor is his father.  Oh no!  An organized crime syndicate comes in and starts a fight.  Jason's dad doesn't want to join them and gets his butt kicked.  Time to move to Seattle.

So now Jason is the typical new kid in town and he knows a little Karate.  Oh no, he has a run in with some bullies.  Time to brush up on the Karate skills at the local Dojo...oh nos, the bully goes to class there and the instructor makes a spectacle of him - wait, is this Karate Kid?  No, Karate Kid came out a few years before this...so they borrowed some ideas...

Anyway, Jason keeps getting into fights with the bullies which then gets him into trouble with his dad.  His dad doesn't want him to fight.  Like bullies jumping him was his choice. So Jason does what any rational person does and with the help of his friend R.J. he moves all of his training garb to a vacant house where he can train with the ghost of Bruce Lee.  I think my favorite part of this movie is when "Sensei Lee" speaks, it is just like the over-dubbed movies.  The mouth moves and the words don't match.  Once Jason reaches the level that the ghost wants, it is time to walk back into the bright light and Jason is on his own.  Let's watch a montage of training...

Nope, nothing weird about any of that...nothing weird at all...

Jason does really well training with a ghost.  So much so that when his dad is attacked yet again by thugs, Jason is able to step in and take care of business.  Yay, dad likes fighting now!

Of course there is a girl involved but I wont get into that part of the story since it sort of seemed like an afterthought.

Anyhow, remember those bad guys from L.A.?  Well, they come to Seattle to fight.  Here is where we get to hear Van Damme's superb Russian accent...oh, you say it sounds like his regular accent?  That's because that is all he can do. Why they didn't re-write that portion of the script make him "The Muscles from Brussles?"  That would have made more sense.  I bet you can't guess who saves the day... that's right, our hero Jason.

Sure I could have gotten into more details but the movie isn't worth it.  If you want to see it I have attached a link for the whole movie ripped from VHS.  Yes, there were links for it in better quality - but this movie was meant for VHS.

I retreat and surrender.

I worked on this post throughout the day yesterday.  Not because it was an all day project, but because...well, you will see.  Stuff kept happening and changing.  I hope when this is complete that I am not the one that looks like the moron of the story (get it?  sometimes there is a moral to the story and sometimes there is just a moron in the story). 

This is probably where I should tell you that I will refer to everyone by the color that I used for blocking them out.  My FB friends might wonder why- well, this blog is public and viewed by people all over the world.  I have been trying to keep specific details out of it because you just never know.  Anyway, you can tell I am green and left my picture...do you recognize it? It is my fresco from this blog post. 

As you go along you will wonder how I was able to capture all of these screen grabs (which you might have to click on to view larger) on an ever changing post - This is where I will tell you that my husband is always making fun of the amount of browser tabs that I have open (I usually open up notifications in their own tab).  This time it paid off so you guys wont miss one bit of crazy!  Sure this is not the craziest thing I have seen on FB but it was bizarre.  See if you can imagine her arguing with voices in her head...ON TO THE POST!

So minding my own business trolling on Faceborg when I ran across this post from Pink...



Pink is my sister.  I know Pink's daughter. She pretty much talks nonstop.  NONSTOP.  In fact, I think she was walking around talking while in the womb.

So as I read this I am snickering to myself because I am thinking "duh, did you think she would be quiet for one moment?"

But then others comment.  Black has ticked me off a little with her comment.  So of course I asked a question and then received answers.  I did ask for it right?



Black (all motherly and not Pink's mom BTW) decides to scold  Pink  for her comment.  "Think about what you just said.

As I said above, that ticked me off as I am close to Pink  and I know that Pink  RARELY gets one second to herself.  I am not exaggerating.  BARELY ONE SECOND TO HERSELF.  Between working full-time plus being a wonderful mother to her two children and being a wonderful wife and etc. -yeah, I could go on and on about how selfless and how great that I think Pink  is...so yeah, I am a little defensive on her being scolded. I know how little she plays games.  Crap, she barely posts things on FB (I just checked to be sure.  Yep, maybe twice a week and even then mostly it is pictures or movies of the kids).

You can see that Black did NOT like to be questioned on her scolding and that while she didn't "plan to make a big commentary" as she states in the first response, she does.

She starts with "Not saying that at all" -but I kind of disagree the way Black goes on about it.  In your head you have imaged that this game is hours of investment per day rather than maybe two minutes.  I played this game right after the post.  I was kind of disappointed in the fact that it only lasted a minute and now I have to wait until  Pink  has time to play her round which I bet will be Monday on the car ride home.  Games like this are great for busy people that are competitive but just don't have time for serious gaming in their life.  I love games.  I play the serious ones after my child has went to sleep in case you are wondering.

Pink did not necessarily say she was "annoyed" at her child as Black stated twice.  She just made a comment.  A comment to share with all of her other mommy friends that do not have a minute to themselves.   Black's children are grown.  Black doesn't have time for games...but as you will see from this blog post, she does play games.  She plays the "I know what I am talking about, no one else in the world does, and I will have the last word" game.  I already have her figured out.  Anyway, back to Pink .

Anyone who knows Pink's daughter (Cyan in the above thread) can picture just how this game went.  Pink is holding her phone to play a round of a game that takes maybe one minute at the most (and then it is over until your opponent makes their turn which could be hours, days, or weeks).  While Pink  is doing this, Cyan is in her face "mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom mom..."  

Black sure did get lengthy in her commentary and made sure to note twice that it was not Pink  that was the problem.  Not sure why Black had to even comment on this to Pink if she knew indeed that Pink was not the problem.  Black apparently has others in "this age group" that play games and are inattentive to their kids.  I wonder if she scolds them all or has even contacted the proper authorities if she feels there is neglect.

Yes Black, there are parents that are inattentive for all sorts of reasons and some are because they are playing games.  I have not seen a story in quite some time on this subject...but I know that there are and have always been accidental deaths and accidents that are also the result of parents that do not play games or facebook.  I remember a story a few years back where there was a couple -they were professional (the father was a Dr.) and due to their inattentiveness, the baby was forgotten in the hot car.  That story did not have a happy ending nor did it have anything to do with FB or gaming.

While I was stewing a bit on the not "big commentary" -  I started to look up statistics and stories regarding this.  Yes, I like to make statements based on facts.  Crazy right?

I could not find any statistics at all regarding death and accidents due to parents playing games or facebook.  What I did find was  an article on the CDC website about death rates from accidental injury being down 30%.

I didn't even get to reply to this string because Black deleted all of her comments.  I felt kind of pissed that my fact finding spree was going to waste...but Black did leave a new comment...

"Seriously is THAT what I said?  Nevermind..."  Yes.  Yes you did "seriously" say "THAT" but you deleted it all.

"Wow" was all I could say.  Wow to all of her comments and then her deleting them.  Black had opened a door really wide, then shut and locked it.  I was able to slip my statistic comment under the door.

BUT..

Black doesn't need statistics and fact to form her opinion.  She knows because she has "witnessed" it all.  Why are images of book burnings popping up in my head?

Listen  Black - if there are deaths caused because of Facebook/gaming and Facebook/gaming ceased to exist, there would still be accidents and deaths.

Why?  Because there have been accidents and deaths before Facebook and gaming. Yes kids.  There was a time before Facebook and gaming and people had babies.  These people weren't surgically attached to the children until they reached adulthood.  These parents did other things and accidents happened.  Every parent needs to escape for a few minutes just simply for sanity's sake.  Of course now I picture it being the early 80's and a mother telling her child to "shush, mommy is watching her stories" while the floor console TV has on the daytime soaps...and these are the days of our lives...

Has anyone noticed that every single thing you buy has some sort of warning on it?  It is because somehow someone was hurt in some way.  The world was a more dangerous place before we figured out what exactly was dangerous -well, in some respects anyway.  I am thinking along the lines of all the baby cribs, play pens, and etc of yesteryear that do not meet the safety requirements of today.

Seriously though Black, deaf ears?  Really?  I was never allowed to really debate the subject so that you could see my opinions to know that if "deaf ears" meant feeling differently than you then yes, my ears are deaf. (On a side note- I know how  Black feels about other things, so in regards to  Black my ears are the deafest!) It is easy to have the last word when you slam the door.  I wasn't planning on commenting anymore but I did feel that this bear enjoyed to be poked and was in fact begging for it.  Besides, the deaf ears thing annoyed me so I poked the bear.  I didn't care, I was already blowing off steam writing this blog.

POKE.  Oh nos,  Black is angry and this has been eating away at her all day...


Good Lord indeed.

Should I step in and correct her?  Her statement of  "You didn't like my opinion so I deleted it" is not entirely correct.  While it is true that did not care for her ranty original opinions, she deleted them all before I could respond therefore she did not know that I did not like them.  As I am the only one that has posted anything after she started in, I am pretty sure the "deaf ears" was at me...oh, unless it was at Pink who has not responded.  Hey Black, do you know why Pink has not responded?  She is spending time with her family this weekend.

But then there is that last word.  It was meant to poke me.  I am supposed to respond to that.  It is what  Black wants.  I will not comment on FB but "Chill?"
Chill?  CHILL?!  CHILL!!!  I will not Chill.  Even though that "Chill" really annoys me, I will not comment. This was Black's game all along.  Maybe  Black is mad that Pink has not commented.  I am not commenting.  I will not let Black have her way.  I know Black probably will get annoyed.

Oh, and Black is annoyed.


Black has now deleted all of her comments.  So I look like a moron since my comments do not make sense. Well, Pink and Yellow know the story.  Poor Yellow.  She got a front row ticket to on the crazy train.

Should I delete my comments?  Should I post an image of all of the posts in this thread so everyone knows I am not talking to myself?  Should I post a link to this blog in that thread?

Nah, I will let it go...but I know Pink will love reading this.

The MORAL of the story  - think twice, post once...because posting/deleting/posting/deleting makes you look like a whackido.
The MORON of the story - please say it isn't me.