H*O*T

“Holy hot as blazes” my mom would say.

I knew it was entirely too hot out when:

1. Ying peed as soon as I took him outside and he was ready to go back in immediately.

2. I drove my car to Verizon and had to pat my face with a bath towel to soak up the sweat.

3. I could see the dirt drying as I watered my plants.

4. The snow cone truck driver is MIA.

5. I sat on the toilet seat and almost slid off.

Hiding in the Pat cave,

~P.

How do you know it’s hot?

Just like riding a bike

I bought a Mongoose mountain bike back when I still lived with the man.  He pitched a fit saying I would spend $7,000 on a bike.  The used bike was $75 at the bike shop in Columbia.  I don’t buy anything new if I can help it because I’m thrifty.

I really never got around to riding the bike back then but I’m making up time for it now.  Tesla, Blaine, the neighbor kids and I love riding our bikes.  I’ve been telling Dale he needs to get a hobby for quite some time now.  Out of the blue he jumped on my 12 speed bike and scared the bejesus out of me.  Despite his paralysis on the left-hand side of his body, he was able to ride the bike with ease.

Tesla and I were very impressed, especially after he told us he hadn’t rode a bike since he was a teenager.  I said, “Honey you need to get a bike too!  That would be awesome if you rode bikes with us, ain’t Tesla?”  She chimed in, “Yes….awesome Dale!”

So Dale is looking for his bike.  That really makes me happy as it’s not only good for Dale’s health, it good for our family.  Now we need to teach his son how to ride a bike!

Exercise is great for the heart and brings a family together.

We will give Dale plenty of room while we ride….lol

~P.

 

Dumb smoking law

The smoking ban on public housing property has been enacted to law.  If you live in or are visiting someone who receives rent assistance, you must be 25 feet from the rented property to smoke.

This new law doesn’t infringe on anyone’s rights.  There is no right to smoke in a rental home, it is a privilege.  The government isn’t trying to get people on assistance to quit smoking….it is a fire hazard thing.

I get that.  It’s all over the front paper of the York Sunday News and I’m sure most people understand.  When I smoked, I found it annoying when you couldn’t smoke in a bar.  Now that I don’t smoke, it is nice not to be choked with smoke while out for the night.

Here is what I don’t get: “Smokeless tobacco still will be permitted, but electronic cigarettes will be banned.”

Spitting in a cup or on the ground is still ok (Thank God spittoons are a thing of the past) but you can’t puff on flavored water vapors that are completely harmless to everyone?  I had a professor who smoked vapors in the classroom and no one even blinked.  (I did do a double take though.)

So the harmless (it is harmless right?) smoking activity is banned as if it were the same habit that causes cancer, fire, yellow teeth, etc. and spitting is still a disgusting habit that can take place in public housing.

What kind of sense doesn’t that make?

~P.

Juvenile Killers

A hot topic in York, PA is the sentencing of juvenile killers.

Recent cases involve Zachary Witman who was 15 when he stabbed his 13-year-old brother to death outside their home in 2003.  Witman was sentenced to life in prison.

Another local case involves Jordan Wallick, 17 who gunned down James Wallmuth II in York city two years ago.  Wallick was sentenced to life in prison.

The talk is: should juvenile killers get life sentences with no chance of parole.

Should the actions of a teenagers be held against them for the rest of their lives?

I’ve become pen pals with a prisoner who shot someone when he was 16.  In 1986 Corey Hollinger shot a man during a home invasion and has been paying for his crime ever since.  I’ve never met Corey but did research about him and his brother’s case in college.  Writing to Corey on a whim really opened my eyes.  He isn’t anything like the stereotypical life sentence prisoner.  It seems to me (and many others) that two lives have been wasted.  The man who died and the man who will spend his life in prison for being an idiot at 16.

Two more lives wasted….the Witman brothers.  One is dead and the other will die in prison for snapping on his little brother.  If only there were a rewind button.  I don’t think any of these three juvenile killers really meant to take a life.  Even Wallick most likely didn’t have intentions of shooting Wallmuth.

Six ruined lives.

Pennsylvania is re-evaluating the “life in prison with no chance of parole sentence to juvenile.”  What will happen to those who were sentenced years ago before this was determined to be unconstitutional?  Each case will have to be evaluated individually and there are 2500 prisoners in Pennsylvania sentenced to life without parole.

Corey and Zach should be at the top of the list.

~P.

 

 

grumpy neighbors

No Angel in this Witch

Around 12:30 this afternoon, my nosey neighbor’s daughter came over to my house (without the yippy white dog) and told me I was to stay away from her mother and her yard, my kids and my little dog too!  Then she said her mother helps out around the complex and I had to listen to what she says.

Next thing I know she says, “I don’t know if you came from the city……blah blah blah”  She lost all respect and attention from me at that exact moment.

We were riding our bikes, playing yard golf, water balloon fights and squirt guns.  No one speaks to the wicked witch on the end but she loves putting her nose in everyone else’s business.  I can’t believe management puts up with her drama.

Last night Angel and her husband Dave were flipping out because I used the outside faucet (there are two on the property and I was told by HER when I moved in we could use it) to put about 2.5 inches of water into a tub for the kids to fill their squirt guns. You would have thought I was trying to fill a fucking swimming pool.  Dave immediately went to get a screwdriver and took the handle off the faucet pausing long enough to call me a bitch in the front yard with the children present.  Why couldn’t they have moved away instead of just to the end of the property?  The move did not put enough distance between them and everyone else still here.

So back to the daughter this afternoon.  In the middle of her rambling, I raised my finger for her to pause, which she did.  Then I answered Tesla’s question about my squirt gun being clogged.  When my attention was back on the wicked witches daughter I said, “You don’t even know me.” and she said, “You don’t know me!”  And began again with me keeping my dog away from Angel’s dog.  Her dog flips out whenever anyone walks by.  I started repeating “Thank you, have a great day.  Thank you, have a great day.  Thank you, have a great day”….and I added a wave.

She finally realized I had dismissed her and wasn’t listening to a damn thing she said.  She huffed off.  Her mom and the maintenance man came over to the next door apartment.  That was just rented but they didn’t move in yet.  I met the new couple and they seem very nice.  They have a 12-year-old daughter.  Tesla will love that.

As Angel and the maintenance man came out of her old home, I could hear her complaining about my plants and table on the back porch.  She has also informed everyone else with kids or grand kids that they should not be riding their bikes in her yard.  We don’t rent the yard so why she is so bent out of shape is beyond me.  As old as she is, you would think she would have something more important to do then play games on her laptop while smoking cigarettes and spying on everyone.

I got a letter in the mail this afternoon.  It said it was brought to managements attention that I am not disposing of my dog’s poop in the trash can.  I rolled my eyes….I do clean up after my dog everyday.  I can’t control the stray cats I see taking a shit back there every day.  Should I scoop their poo too?  I will let management know about the kitty’s use of the backyard.

So today was interesting….at least the daughter didn’t scream in my face, “Do you know who I fucking am?”  because I would have had to say “Nope, beats me who the fuck you are.”

I was tempted to hand her my business card so she could learn all about me.  She left pretty angry because she thought I was laughing at her.  I was laughing, but not at her.  Just the city people comment.

Just her multiple levels of ignorance made crystal clear by implying we were from the city.  I’m not exactly sure what she even means since my home is clean inside and out and we don’t talk in slang.  Hell, living here is closer to a city setting then where I lived most of my life.  I am country girl 99%, but I was born in Philadelphia so that gives me 1% city girl by birth!  😉

See how much that ignorant bitch knew?

Peace, Love and grumpy neighbors,

~P.

Foam What?

Since I didn’t stay in Georgia, I decided to drive until I couldn’t drive anymore then get a room for the night.  I hadn’t eaten or showered since I left PA and I stunk bad.  Ying didn’t mind though.  One thing about traveling with a dog…at least they don’t mind if you smell and they don’t keep asking if we are there yet.  We stayed at the Blue Jay Motel…a complete dive, but I was allowed to have Ying in my room.  When I took him out in the morning I was startled by all the vultures right outside our room.  I swear they were watching us!

Not Blue Jays

On my way home from Georgia, I made a detour in Virginia to check out the Natural Bridge. I quickly realized the entire town is centered round this bridge.  There was a Natural Bridge zoo, cave, haunted wax museum, café, hotel, etc.  By far, the best Natural Bridge spin-off was the trailer park.

I wanted a picture of this Natural Bridge so I followed the signs to the location.  There was a purple minivan in the parking lot that caught my eye.  Every step I took toward it, the van seemed to shimmer in a different color.  The paint job was awesome….who the hell paints a minivan like this?!

Soccer Mom Minivan

I didn’t see the Natural Bridge of Virginia because they wanted $17 just to walk through the door.  Oh well, I saw the billboard of the Natural Bridge and let’s not forget the trailer park.  There were other things on display from the wax museum so I snapped pictures and was on my way.

Creepy

Creepier

Creepiest

My trusty GPS directed me towards the main highway.  I was on a back road about two miles from the highway when out of the corner of my eye I spotted a sign off to my left.  “Foamhenge” I hit the brakes recognizing the name on the sign.  My Religions professor, Christa Shusko, had told me about this foam replica of the Stonehenge located in England but I had no idea where it was located.  I couldn’t pass this up so I turned around and drove up the dirt road.  The further I drove the worse the road became.  There were huge ruts crisscrossing the “road” and I hesitated to keep driving.  I didn’t want to rip the bottom of my car apart after she had so faithfully got me to Georgia.

I parked along the woods so Ying would have some shade.  There just doesn’t seem to be as many trees down south.  I was still shaking my head, amazed I stumbled across Foamhenge by luck.  I even giggled thinking my Prof would be jealous…I saw the Georgia Guidestones and Foamhenge!

Looks like the real deal from a distance….okay maybe not.

I didn’t stay at Foamhenge more than half an hour.  My Facebook status announced I had jumped on a plane with Ying and flown to England.  From a distance, Foamhenge was convincing.  Once I was closer I could see how the weather had worn the foam rocks down.  Pieces of metal, rebar I suppose, were sticking out the top of the rocks.  A couple of the stones had been vandalized but not anything serious.  The foam replica of Stonehenge was very cool.  Not spiritually moving, but cool.  I didn’t realize there was a theory about Merlin moving the huge stones with magic.  I think that sounds more believable than the human theory.

Baaaahahahaha!

Wizard Merlin

Merlin moving the rocks

Maybe Merlin was an alien wizard….he would have loved the minivan and vultures.

~P.

Rat in bed

Don’t move

You don’t get to have the beginning of the day feeling more than once.

Unless you just got up from a nap.  Oh wait, that counts….for dumbasses.

 

The sleepy bathroom walk, in the dark with only one eye kind-of focused.

Take my seat, praying it is there and I don’t plunge into the chilly toitie water.

I rest my head on my hands and began to pee, drifting into the first stage of sleep easily.

Head becomes heavy and my arms join in…R.E.M. sleep is calling me.  A tilt forward toward the linen closet door and I jerked back slightly, realizing my head was in immediate danger.  Finished up with the usual tp routine and walked back to bed.

Noting the rat curled up at the foot of my bed, I crawled back in and added an additional 1.5 hours to my sleep time.

Now that counts.

~P.

 

don’t squirt me…I need therapy

Summer is here and the heat brings out the crazies.  The craziest of crazies seem to be trying to out do each other.  Cannibals, zombies, murder and more….tell me these aren’t bad signs.

The day of the summer writer….

Sitting on the back porch jamming to Ozzy Osbourne’s “Blizzard of Oz” and it is a beautiful day.  Tesla has mastered the art of riding her bike and is thrilled by all the neighbor kids hanging out with their bicycles.  She is waiting for her best friend and cousin to come over and join them.  They have a stockpile of water guns and can’t wait for the war to begin.  I’ve already warned them not to squirt me because my arm hurts and I go to therapy.  Both statements are true though they have nothing to do with me getting wet by the squirt guns.  It just sounded like a good medical reason at that split second when asked, “Can we squirt you?”  This summer vacation from school is the best ever for me.

I think about my mom and how summer was back in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  Life was good and our little gang that hung out on Bluebird Lane had the world by the ass, we just didn’t know it.  My brother Joe and I were close in age and spent most of our time together.  The neighborhood kids consisted of boys, which was annoying at first, but later kept things very interesting.

Mom was always home with us kidlings.  Joe and I rode our bikes everywhere.  There is no doubt in my mind my well-developed calf muscles are from days and days of riding my bike.  Living in the country had its perks.  The neighbors all knew each other and their children got along better than one could expect.

If the weather was nice, we were outside.  We rode our bikes on the road without wearing a helmet.  We swam in the Conewago Creek and Pinchot Lake without contracting any diseases that we were aware of.  When very thirsty and had no other options, I drank that creek water and survived.

Listening to Meatloaf “Bat out of Hell” now…takes me back to the late 80’s.  I heard about Meatloaf from a friend and co-worker named Melody.  Everyone called her Mel and she had a super cool last name: Devine.  That must have been interesting growing up as Melody Devine.  I don’t think she even sings.

Life is so screwy.  Hit or miss.  Ups and downs.  Excitement and disappointment.  My eight days with Tesla are flying by at lightning speed.  I know I will miss her more than she misses me when she returns to her dad.  She is kept busy there and that is a good thing.  I’m surprised how little John and Tesla have been in contact.  She shows little interest in calling but I offer to dial (or just dial it) for her.  In the past three days he has answered the phone once.  That conversation with Tesla lasted a few seconds ending with, “I’ll call you right back.”  Which never happened.  She didn’t even bother to let a message last night…pushing the End Call button and stating “He can call me.”  Which he hasn’t.

Maybe this is reverse psychology on his part.  If I don’t call or answer her calls, she will miss me and want to come back.  He has taken this route in the past, not with Tesla, but with me.  It’s all part of John being John.  The downside to this type of approach could be the realization that no one misses you.

Ouch,

~P.

I’m going to swim with the sharks

I want to address my bucket list.  Everyone knows what a bucket list is by now.  So here’s my list, crossing off what I’ve done.

  1. Get saved.
  2. Get married.
  3. Have a son.
  4. Have a daughter.
  5. Own a house.
  6. Buy and pay off a new car. 
  7. Own a Harley.
  8. Get my eyes fixed
  9. Ride the craziest amusement ride I can find.
  10. Skydive.
  11. Graduate from college.
  12. Go to the Georgia Guidestones.
  13. Write a non-fiction book.
  14. Swim with and feed sharks.
  15. Go see Mount Rushmore.

Now I’ve been working on this list for most of my life and I did accomplish many of my goals.  I would like to get the last five in before the world ends.

It could be a challenge.

~P.

Update~~~Saw the Guidestones on 6/20/2012  http://girlboxer1970.com/2012/06/22/stonpilgrimage/

Two Fake Friends

Isn’t it funny the moment you realize someone you thought was your friend isn’t?

Not funny as in: that was a great joke…..hahaha

But funny as in: that was a kick in my ass I didn’t foresee.

 

Fake Friend #1

Female

Former Co-worker

Fucked around on her fiance (now her hubby)

I should have known when I was being used as an alibi so she could fuck around, that I was not a friend.

 

Fake Friend #2

Male

Former High School friend

Wanted to fuck around on his wife.

I should have known when he tried to stick his tongue in my mouth, that I was not a friend.

 

Fake friends need not apply.

With friends like these two, who needs enemies?

I have enough enemies.

 

I find it ironic that these two people who were once such close friends, now avoid me because of their own secrets.   Never once have I mentioned or even hinted about their secrets in my blog.

Until now.

~P.