Karma's a bitch

So I have some new neighbors in the the building. Two young twentysomething fellas moved into the two-bedroom apartment at the other end of the building. Seem like nice enough fellows, pleasant, quiet, seemed to have jobs...then you add beer.

About 2am last night, I heard voices below my bedroom windows. Not unusual, there are often people streaming out of the bars down the street who walk by. They usually keep on going and the noise fades. Not last night. The voices belonged to my new neighbors and their buddies. I wasn't sure why they were standing in the driveway/sidewalk so far from their apartment in the back. So I got up to see what the hell was going on, and heard one of them call for a taxi...okay, taxi time. Good luck getting a taxi this time of night.

The boys became increasingly louder as the beers kept coming, and the neighbors continued to wait with their drunken buddies for the taxi. There were f-bombs galore, rauchy talk, and that ever present YAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO that everyone LOVES to hear in the middle of the night...breaking glass as someone dropped their beer, more laughter, chat, yahoos, etc. I turned up the fan on high to drown out the noise and went back to bed, assuming the taxi would eventually show up and the neighbors would return to their apt and pass out.

Alas...something very different went down. I think I may have nodded off at one point, but was brought to wake again by a female voice...over a radio. The police had arrived. I'm not sure if one of the neighbors called them, or if they simply drove by and saw these drunken buffoons hanging about. Either way, when I got up to see what the hell was going on now, the paddy wagon was there, two cop cars, and one lone neighbor standing up asking about his buddies and where their court dates would be....hmmm. Something went down, anyone's guess, but mine is that the neighbors called in and the fellas got charged with public drunkenness, disturbing the peace, and I think I heard something about a breach of conditions not to consume alcohol....oops... karma is a bitch alright...

The cops stayed for about half an hour or so, and quiet was restored about 3:45am, just in time to get to sleep before the buses begin running by my house, all 6 routes...

Vacation Ramblings

Yeah, been on vacation. So has the sun. It finally came out briefly yesterday and then it has been mostly out today, the last day of my vacation. It rained quite a bit in the several days prior. I was able to get the patio furniture painted/repainted so happy enough about that.

I've been rather distracted in the past several weeks, and rather absent here...and I missed it. There are plenty of arrangements to be made when a parent is terminally ill. We have tackled a large portion on my time off this week, so happy enough about that too. As happy as one can be about making funeral arrangements for their parent.

I have been to the park several times, so pretty, and more flowers out each day. I'm going to the farmer's market in the morning, looking forward to that. Mother has provided me with a long list of produce, so hoping to get most of it locally fresh at the market. We shall see.

I want to go camping, but alas, no one to camp with! Everyone is either away, busy, working, or not overly fond of camping when the chance of rain is so high. Sigh...I want to go paddling too, but have not yet found anyone available to go with. I may be shoving that boat in the water this weekend if I get a chance. Right now I have other physical issues reminding me of my gender with an exquisite backache when upright...I'll have to weather that out....sigh...

I am addicted to Farm Town on crackbook Facebook. I have many crops that take a fair bit of time to manage. Yeehaw. I grow many sunflowers.

Stormy was spooked by the downstair neighbor's cat when she came up to the gate to say hello. Stormy ran like the coward he is, and hid under my desk. They allow their cats to run outdoors, which I don't with Stormy. I don't think they are spayed either. Not that it matters. Stormy is neutered. He loves the balcony and I love that he has not figured out that he can easily escape by climbing over the gate. Good. He will continue to have balcony privileges until he does figure that one out. Sadly he has not figured out how to get up and sit on a stool to look over the railing. Not that I haven't tried, but the boy is stubborn and not that bright...a good mouser though.

I have installed two hooks for my hammock to hang off on the balcony. However one of them is in a precarious piece of timber, so I may have to abandon all hope of hanging the hammock there. I am now considering a patio umbrella to shelter the sitting area, allowing me and/or my friends to go out and sit in the rain, and they can smoke. Ideally, I would love a retractable awning, but this is just an old apartment, not my house, so I am not spending that kind of money.

I think Stephen King is calling my name...I shall retire to the balcony with Just After Sunset.

My Life In Moves

I thought I might sit down and write out where I've lived. There's been a few moves...

1966-1972 North Bay, Ontario
1. King's Row (duplex)
2. Tackaberry Drive (3 bedroom 2-storey duplex)
3. Browning Street (bungalow)
1972-1974 Armstrong, Ontario
4. Trailer park (3 bedroom trailer)
1974-1974 Loggieville, New Brunswick
5. Trailer park (3 bedroom trailer)
1974-1978 Chatham, New Brunswick
6. Hamilton Crescent (duplex)
1978-1981 Goose Bay, Labrador
7. 500's row housing
8. 1100's row housing
9. 1100's duplex (4 bedroom)
10. 500's duplex
1981-1983 Stephenville, Newfoundland
11. White's Hotel (kitchenette suite)
12. Rose Avenue (3 bedroom bungalow)
1983-1983 Leitches Creek, Nova Scotia
13. 2 storey house (4 bedroom)
1983-1985 Goose Bay, Labrador
14. 600's duplex (3 bedroom)
15. 1100's row housing (3 bedroom)
1985 - 1985 Mississauga, Ontario
16. Whaley Drive (3 bedroom split level)
17. Burnamthorpe & Hwy 10
18. Glen Erin Drive (3 bedroom townhouse)
1985-1991 Grand Bruit, Newfoundland
19. Brook Street (3 bedroom 2 storey home)
20. Billard's Row (bungalow)
1991-1992 Enfield, Nova Scotia
21. Boyd Avenue (split-level bungalow)
1992-1997 Grand Bruit, Newfoundland
22. Billard's Row (bungalow)
1997-2002 Waterloo, Ontario
23. University Avenue (2 bedroom apartment on campus)
24. Sunnydale Place (3 bedroom townhouse)
2002-2004 Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia
25. Hiram Street (3 bedroom duplex)
2004-2005 West Bay Road, Nova Scotia
26. Riverside Road (3 bedroom bungalow)
2005-2006 Whitehorse, Yukon
27. Hot Springs Agricultural Subdivision (loft cabin)
2006-2007 Fort Resolution, Northwest Territories
28. Sas Tulu (3 bedroom trailer)
2007 - 2008 Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
29. 54th Avenue (2 bedroom apartment)
2008-2009 Canada & USA
30. Toyota Corolla
2009 - present Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
31. Millbrook Ave (2 bedroom apartment)
32. Portland Street (2 bedroom second floor house apartment)

The Good Old Hockey Game

I am the least favorite fan of hockey, but last night as the Stanley Cup finals went into the last period of the 7th game, and a local boy was leading a team to victory...how could I not watch. For the most part, I watched sporadically during the first two periods, with the sound down and the music up. In the last period though, I was hooked. I wanted to see Pittsburgh win. I didn't really care which team it was. I was excited either way as there would be someone from the east coast of Canada on the winning team. And then they won. Now, local folks have been quite divided, as we have a huge Newfoundland population of folks around here, mixed in with the Bluenosers. So it hasn't been as much about Detroit vs Pittsburgh as it was about Newfoundland vs Nova Scotia...what a riot. Not being from either province, I was happy to have either team win, as there are a lot of Canadian players.

If nothing else, it kept the young folks busy last night, and the arenas were packed to watch the game on the big screen. Good for them. As far as I know, no one got shot last night, so there's that...hooray for the good ole hockey game.

Neighborhood Stroll

I went for a short walk in the neighborhood today, and what a difference some green makes to the look of it all. Even the murder house (third photo from the top - blue house tucked away behind trees and the lampost) is under a leafy green disguise.

The property owners cleaned up some of the mess in the back yard, but then the downstairs neighbor got at it earlier today and cleared up the rest, raked up the parking lot, the yard, picked up buckets and buckets of garbage that had probably been around for years. My philosophy was, hey - fill your boots! She has energy to burn, and I don't. She also has two young children who needed a safe, clean place to play, so she made it happen. Groovy.

Hardly resembles the same place as it did this winter when the trees were bare, the snow was piled up and dirty, and there was refuse and garbage everywhere. Spring hides all manner of sins, just like a fresh blanket of snow in November. What snow doesn't do, is provide me with more privacy, which the trees have done very well.

Stormy is enjoying the balcony and the warm sun that finds him there. What he doesn't enjoy is when the birds divebomb him...heh heh...then he runs into the house like the coward he is...and fyi, the birds are small blackbirds, just a few inches tall...they will not be carrying off my 18 pound cat. However after the divebombed him, they all gather in the tree above the deck, and chatter on about it, probably laughing at this big dumb cat...