First, a little background. (Don't all my posts need background?)
Casa Zen-Samoa is next to a particular building. The top half of this building is an apartment, and the bottom half is an area that used to be a pet store. Said pet store closed about six months before we moved in here; we have lived here about fifteen months. So, about two years it's been closed.
The setup is something like this:
...............................................................X
...............................................................X
..............................................Casa Z-S 1 Building
............................................................1
............................................................1
Let the X's represent a fence that goes back past the backyard, and the 1's represent our driveway. While they are pretty close together, it's still reasonably obvious that they're separate.
Unless you're Yokel 1 and Yokel 2. Said Yokels came flying into the parking lot in their redneckmobile at Mach 5 as Mr. Samoa and I were getting into our car, in our driveway. Yokel 1 comes dashing over and hollers "Are you guys open?" It took us a minute to figure out what the hell he was talking about, and then it dawned on us that he somehow had decided that, since we were within 300 feet of the property, we must be the proprietors! Never mind that 1) huh?, 2) there haven't BEEN any proprietors for two years.
Fortunately for them, they got Mr. Samoa and not me, as I don't do stupid terribly well. He said, "Oh, you mean are they open? They haven't been open for a couple years. You might want OtherPetStore, over yonder." So Yokel 1 and 2 proceeded over yonder, happy. But, do they make a habit of assuming that anyone within the vicinity of an establishment owns it? And how do you not notice, in a time period of TWO YEARS, that a business is closed? It's a mystery.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
They're baaaack
Bugpit is a university town. The students came back this weekend. In one sense, I'm glad to see them because Bugpit is sleepy when they're not here, but on the other hand, I did not miss:
*Staggering out in front of cars/crossing the street when the light is green/insert other pedestrian follies here
* Size XXL freshmen wearing size S shirts
*Needing to take my cane when I go uptown, not to walk with, but to beat my way through the throngs of people parked in the middle of the sidewalk yapping on their cell phones
I'm sure there will be more.
*Staggering out in front of cars/crossing the street when the light is green/insert other pedestrian follies here
* Size XXL freshmen wearing size S shirts
*Needing to take my cane when I go uptown, not to walk with, but to beat my way through the throngs of people parked in the middle of the sidewalk yapping on their cell phones
I'm sure there will be more.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
I knew it!
The 2008-09 Sinus Infection Season has officially kicked off at Casa Zen-Samoa. This month's edition has migrated from my sinuses and gotten into my ears and throat. So I basically have an infected head. Go doxycycline!
Is it November yet?
Because I am soooooo sick of all the talk about politics I could scream. Mercifully, the forums I mostly visit now have dedicated politics folders, but I can't figure out how to ignore a whole folder, so I still get stuck with some of it. :P
Y'see, I do not care about politics. Not one whit. I am one of those cynical souls who believes all politicians are liars anyways, so it doesn't really matter which one we elect. I am for neither of the presidential candidates. Not McCain, because he's more of the same, and not Obama, because... well, I actually think he would make a perfectly good president. For the whole fifteen minutes he would last until some KKK yahoo assassinates him. :P The likelihood of my making it to the polls is slim to none anyways, because for the last three years something work-related has always happened on Election Day to prevent me from getting there, and I expect this year to be no different. So I don't think I'll actually have to pick one. But, the nonstop political talk will persist until November either way. STFUTHXBAI!!!!
Y'see, I do not care about politics. Not one whit. I am one of those cynical souls who believes all politicians are liars anyways, so it doesn't really matter which one we elect. I am for neither of the presidential candidates. Not McCain, because he's more of the same, and not Obama, because... well, I actually think he would make a perfectly good president. For the whole fifteen minutes he would last until some KKK yahoo assassinates him. :P The likelihood of my making it to the polls is slim to none anyways, because for the last three years something work-related has always happened on Election Day to prevent me from getting there, and I expect this year to be no different. So I don't think I'll actually have to pick one. But, the nonstop political talk will persist until November either way. STFUTHXBAI!!!!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Memo to the bread people
"The sell by date is tomorrow" is NOT synonymous with "That bread is no good." Particularly when it's going to a group home where most of it's going in the freezer and what doesn't won't last until tomorrow. I think it was National Dumbass Day or something. :P
I have faced the forces of darkness.
And I have won. I have defeated them and sent them scrambling back to their pits of despair from whence they sprang.
I took Tricia to get new shoes.
Tricia, like a lot of people with disabilities, likes things to remain ExactlyTheSameForever. More reasonably, she prefers to wear shoes that are appropriate to her adult age. Unfortunately, her feet are small and she wears childrens' sizes. :P Do you see where all this is going?
So, we began at Smiley Face Hell. Everything was too narrow to go over her ankle widget. By "everything" I mean "the two pairs in the store that don't look like Tinkerbell threw up all over them." Then, onto Dumbass Jock Sports Store. ("We need this in a 4.5 or 5." [looks] "All we have is a 6." "Um, that's not going to work." "Could she wear a 7?" I wish I was making the above exchange up. ) Oh, and did I mention we only had $30 to work with? So $60 shoes are not going to cut it?
Finally, we went to Chain Store that Changes Its Name Like Monthly (CSTCINLM, or CST for short). We dug and dug and dug through the piles of shoes. (Oh, for the full effect picture an amount of dramatics to make Sarah Bernhardt look like a rank amateur, coming from Tricia.) Finally, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a pair of plain gray sneakers, from the clearance rack. In size 5 wide. More than sufficient to go over the widget. I showed them to Tricia, she pointed at them and said firmly, "Yes." Tried them on her, they slipped over the widget like they were made to do it. Oh, and they were $22! I nearly wept for joy.
On the way out, Tricia said, "I'm happy now!" I said, "So am I, Tricia. So am I." Was I ever!
I took Tricia to get new shoes.
Tricia, like a lot of people with disabilities, likes things to remain ExactlyTheSameForever. More reasonably, she prefers to wear shoes that are appropriate to her adult age. Unfortunately, her feet are small and she wears childrens' sizes. :P Do you see where all this is going?
So, we began at Smiley Face Hell. Everything was too narrow to go over her ankle widget. By "everything" I mean "the two pairs in the store that don't look like Tinkerbell threw up all over them." Then, onto Dumbass Jock Sports Store. ("We need this in a 4.5 or 5." [looks] "All we have is a 6." "Um, that's not going to work." "Could she wear a 7?" I wish I was making the above exchange up. ) Oh, and did I mention we only had $30 to work with? So $60 shoes are not going to cut it?
Finally, we went to Chain Store that Changes Its Name Like Monthly (CSTCINLM, or CST for short). We dug and dug and dug through the piles of shoes. (Oh, for the full effect picture an amount of dramatics to make Sarah Bernhardt look like a rank amateur, coming from Tricia.) Finally, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a pair of plain gray sneakers, from the clearance rack. In size 5 wide. More than sufficient to go over the widget. I showed them to Tricia, she pointed at them and said firmly, "Yes." Tried them on her, they slipped over the widget like they were made to do it. Oh, and they were $22! I nearly wept for joy.
On the way out, Tricia said, "I'm happy now!" I said, "So am I, Tricia. So am I." Was I ever!
Monday, September 1, 2008
Happy September
And happy Labor Day. It's been a busy few days.
Yesterday, went to Stacey's recital at her church. Mr. Samoa and I being a Presbyterian and lapsed Orthodox Lutheran (Catholic lite) respectively, we were a bit at sea with the Baptist thing but we had fun. Mr. Samoa hadn't gotten to meet Stacey before, so that was cool.
Today, went to the Renaissance Faire with a resident. We had a good time; she liked the jugglers. But the thing that surprised me- she was afraid of the Renaissance garb at first. She hadn't seen it before! And she's 40! It's really amazing the stuff people miss out on just by being mentally disabled. People think they won't like it and they do. They have a term for it in MRDD theory, it's called "poverty of experience". Basically, they "only like" certain things because no one ever thinks to have them try new ones. All the more reason for everyone to try new things!
Yesterday, went to Stacey's recital at her church. Mr. Samoa and I being a Presbyterian and lapsed Orthodox Lutheran (Catholic lite) respectively, we were a bit at sea with the Baptist thing but we had fun. Mr. Samoa hadn't gotten to meet Stacey before, so that was cool.
Today, went to the Renaissance Faire with a resident. We had a good time; she liked the jugglers. But the thing that surprised me- she was afraid of the Renaissance garb at first. She hadn't seen it before! And she's 40! It's really amazing the stuff people miss out on just by being mentally disabled. People think they won't like it and they do. They have a term for it in MRDD theory, it's called "poverty of experience". Basically, they "only like" certain things because no one ever thinks to have them try new ones. All the more reason for everyone to try new things!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)