The sky had been clear on and off so I have got some good evening shots. But I still want the rains to clear out the air. It is supposed to hit the mid eighties this weekend. Ugh. Oh well, what do I expect so far down south?
Friday, March 30, 2012
March going out warmly
Seasons blur here but never so much as the past few months. No real winter to speak of and the few days the temperature dropped down below sixty I saw folks swaddled like it was twenty below. Completely weird. The rainy season never commenced other than a few damp weekends which means water restrictions (that are pretty much ignored) and potential for bad fires (a few so far but more on horizon). The bad side of the warmer winter is the trees and bushes think it is full spring and have dumped pollens and other allergens into the environment with little signs of slowing. Having been horrifically sick two weeks ago the additions of pollens and such have just prolonged my hacking and coughing out bits and pieces of my lungs - or so it seems.
The sky had been clear on and off so I have got some good evening shots. But I still want the rains to clear out the air. It is supposed to hit the mid eighties this weekend. Ugh. Oh well, what do I expect so far down south?
The sky had been clear on and off so I have got some good evening shots. But I still want the rains to clear out the air. It is supposed to hit the mid eighties this weekend. Ugh. Oh well, what do I expect so far down south?
Monday, March 26, 2012
Across the 'cement' pond
Some folks may recall the swimming pool in the Beverly Hillbillies television show from the 60's was called the 'cement pond'. My place is two sets of haphazardly constructed duplexes with my front door the only 'real' door to the street. Everyone else has to go through one of the two chain link gates to get into their homes. The lifeguard who lives other side of my place in a studio sized place has a variety of folks who all have keys. Enough said? He's in his late 40's living like his 20's with a joyful smile having been a lifeguard all of his adult life.
There is a swimming pool in the middle of the area and the other duplex has two unites each with one bedroom one bath. They aren't apartments but more like I said duplex homes. The folks who've rented those places have tended to be a tad off the norm.
Two and a half months ago one couple stopped paying rent because the man had lost his job of 17 years. To compound the issue the woman had been told she had thick cataracts and needed to be operated on before she could work anywhere. She grew progressively worse and I would watch her stumble around their living room to the kitchen literally by touch. Add into the mess they both drank severely and fought constantly. Not quiet little tiffs but full out screaming matches. Cops showed up regularly but they always seemed to sense the cops and shut up minutes before they pounded on the doors. Two weeks or so ago they finally left after the power was shut off twice by the electric company for non-payment and the guy kept getting out his bolt cutters and removing the wire cap the utilities company had installed over the meter after they managed to turn it back on a few times.
They didn't go 'silently' into night but kicking and screaming at each other. The man had money to drive home to Wisconsin or Michigan...somewhere cold...and he's been operating on a bum liver for over a year since he went to the ER and found out he had shut down his liver twice nearly dying. Needless to say that didn't stop him from drinking but rather seemed to fuel his anger. Hence his losing his job. The woman didn't go with him. She camped out on the bed of the other neighbor. She's a nice lady but has her own issues (remember my missing neighbor who'd checked herself into rehab last year this time? that one...yeah...and she's still drinking too). You all getting the cement pond reference now right?
Just found out last night that the gal does NOT have cataracts like she'd been told. Oh, noes...get this...(think old movies and books from the turn of century)...she's got hysterical blindness!!! Yeppers, also known as conversion disorder. I still can't believe it. She's been in rehab a week now. And she just got told this diagnosis. From what I googled I discovered it should be fully treatable. Cement pond folks ....what can I say?
There is a swimming pool in the middle of the area and the other duplex has two unites each with one bedroom one bath. They aren't apartments but more like I said duplex homes. The folks who've rented those places have tended to be a tad off the norm.
Two and a half months ago one couple stopped paying rent because the man had lost his job of 17 years. To compound the issue the woman had been told she had thick cataracts and needed to be operated on before she could work anywhere. She grew progressively worse and I would watch her stumble around their living room to the kitchen literally by touch. Add into the mess they both drank severely and fought constantly. Not quiet little tiffs but full out screaming matches. Cops showed up regularly but they always seemed to sense the cops and shut up minutes before they pounded on the doors. Two weeks or so ago they finally left after the power was shut off twice by the electric company for non-payment and the guy kept getting out his bolt cutters and removing the wire cap the utilities company had installed over the meter after they managed to turn it back on a few times.
They didn't go 'silently' into night but kicking and screaming at each other. The man had money to drive home to Wisconsin or Michigan...somewhere cold...and he's been operating on a bum liver for over a year since he went to the ER and found out he had shut down his liver twice nearly dying. Needless to say that didn't stop him from drinking but rather seemed to fuel his anger. Hence his losing his job. The woman didn't go with him. She camped out on the bed of the other neighbor. She's a nice lady but has her own issues (remember my missing neighbor who'd checked herself into rehab last year this time? that one...yeah...and she's still drinking too). You all getting the cement pond reference now right?
Just found out last night that the gal does NOT have cataracts like she'd been told. Oh, noes...get this...(think old movies and books from the turn of century)...she's got hysterical blindness!!! Yeppers, also known as conversion disorder. I still can't believe it. She's been in rehab a week now. And she just got told this diagnosis. From what I googled I discovered it should be fully treatable. Cement pond folks ....what can I say?
Thursday, March 22, 2012
And I think my job is hazardous
This was shot by one of my supervisors in the fields of KY/TN area. Yes, this is near one of the cell towers. Think about seeing THAT sign when you are meandering around in the backwoods. *gulp* Shades of Indiana Jones.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Mid March Madness
When I lived in Detroit my coworkers had March Madness playoff bets. I remember actually winning one through sheer dumb luck. I don't follow basketball. Hell, who am I kidding, I rarely follow any sports. Somehow watching millionaires and near millionaires act like babies and pitch fits for unnoticeable wrongs doesn't do it for me.
Talking with one of my writer friends yesterday he confessed apathy towards much of life and I got that. Later talking with another writer he said he has an interview scheduled with Chris Bosch of the Heat. He wanted to do something other than a puff piece about basketball and all the faldarah. Together he and I concluded that we wanted to know how someone could travel so much and yet still work up a passion for a game they'd played all their lives.
He wants to ask how an athlete keeps his head in the game and stays true to self and goals in life. The two conversations were in a way similar in intentions. Writers tend to ask questions of others trying to create a mental conversation with past and parts of our thought processes. I am not so sure how that interview is going to work out if the man is unable to explain what drives him to go throw himself around a court while people cheer and jeer.
Talking with one of my writer friends yesterday he confessed apathy towards much of life and I got that. Later talking with another writer he said he has an interview scheduled with Chris Bosch of the Heat. He wanted to do something other than a puff piece about basketball and all the faldarah. Together he and I concluded that we wanted to know how someone could travel so much and yet still work up a passion for a game they'd played all their lives.
He wants to ask how an athlete keeps his head in the game and stays true to self and goals in life. The two conversations were in a way similar in intentions. Writers tend to ask questions of others trying to create a mental conversation with past and parts of our thought processes. I am not so sure how that interview is going to work out if the man is unable to explain what drives him to go throw himself around a court while people cheer and jeer.
Friday, March 9, 2012
Spinning along
Yes, I've been quiet.
Yes, I've been working too much.
Yes, I still write bits and drabbles and snap things that catch my interest.
Yes, I've been working too much.
Yes, I still write bits and drabbles and snap things that catch my interest.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Life's little ironies
So after my babble about the Internet and going back to good old fashioned letter writing I went home to write my cupcake story. I opened up the laptop, dusted off the screen (with a computer wipe not like my hand) and hit the start button. To my shock my puter reached out and touched an unsecure WiFi. Naturally I ran my virus protections and put on plastic latex..oh wait...I mean....ooops....suddenly it connected! I got to catch up with family and friends who happened to be awake and near the computer for a hour or so. I uploaded/downloaded (pasted on the stupid page) some pictures from recent forays into humanity. And the best part was I got to write the recipe story and didn't have to retype the recipes but was able to snag them from my email and drop and write.
So mocking the net can be helpful! I don't know if I'll be around later online but at least I got a glimpse of a few missing folks. And some who not only have my phone number but my email also!!!
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