Weird Walking

I had just left for my walk when I came across a man who was standing in the alley looking across at a building. He greeted me and gestured to a cat. He said, "I'm trying to make the cat come back to where he stay at." He was worried about getting scratched. I muttered some vague remarks and kept walking.

Then, as I approached a funeral home that is a little farther up the alley, a female employee of the home who was outside smoking approached me. She got so close to me that she actually touched my elbow (while smoking in my face) to warn me that they were having a military funeral. She didn't want the guns to scare me. I appreciated the warning.

I kept walking. Another minute or two later, the guns did go off. I still jumped even though I was warned.

I kept walking. About thirty minutes later I came back through the alley. The cat guy was in the parking lot where the cat had been, sitting on the trunk of a car talking to another guy. I tried to get by without engaging, but I was unsuccessful. He told me that he knew he wouldn't catch the cat before I came back by. He then told me that he saw me jump when the guns went off. He said he knew it scared me. I admitted that it did.

I kept walking and made it back home without incident.

This is also on a nearby porch.

Unreasonable Expectations

Yesterday Lizzy was home and heard some lady scolding a little girl and thought it was related to New Bad Mom (Mandy). She heard the woman saying: "Sit on the steps with Nana. Sit down. Sit down. We're gonna have to get you a new babysitter because this isn't working out for Nana."

Last night I saw basically the same scene. Mandy was pacing around the parking lot talking on her cell phone. "Nana" was sitting on a step on a garbage bag smoking a cigarette and "Nay/Nay-Nay" was not interested in sitting beside Nana. Nay, who is apparently going to turn two next month, was more interested in running around and kept trying to go over to her mom. Nana kept saying "Nay-Nay sit by Nana. Momma's on the phone."

Today again Lizzy heard this scenario. The kid wanted to play in the dirt instead of sitting quietly on the step. Lizzy said, "In a weak moment I decided to be kind." Lizzy took down the toys we bought for her niece at Ikea and gave them to Nay to try to entertain her. Unfortunately Nana didn't want to get the toys dirty, so Lizzy was left trying to entertain Nay while Nana told her many stories. She learned that Mandy is a year younger than Lizzy, and Nay is one of four half-siblings from the dad who has 4 baby mamas who have blond hair and blue eyes. Mandy used to work at the mall but lost her job, so now she's a telemarketer six days a week. Nana loves Nay, but she gets into everything. Nana wants Nay to go to daycare. Nana used to weigh over 400 lbs, had back problems, her mom died, and her brother died. She used to be a bank teller and was in charge of the vault, but she couldn't go back to work and needs on the job training. Mandy's boyfriend is a Pizza Hut driver (which we knew from observing things) and not the baby daddy (which we observed based on the fact that Nay appears to be biracial).

Mandy and Mandy's boyfriend. He has a lot of stuff in the back of his truck.

Lizzy was getting ready to go inside when Gina came out. She had "crazy eyes." She talked about Mandy and Nana propping the door open (even though it was not propped at that time), Tamera telling on her, and she has to stay inside instead of going outside and enjoying herself because everyone keeps telling on her. She wandered off talking to herself.

The interaction ended with Lizzy getting a "stop by anytime you want" invite from Nana. I'm not sure how often she'll be taking her up on that offer.

Laundry Woes

When Lizzy took down laundry, she got accosted by NOLD and New Bad Mom Mandy. Mandy introduced herself. She said that she first saw Lizzy when she looked at the apartment, and she thought she wanted to live here because Lizzy looked cool. NOLD agreed that Lizzy is "cheerful and bubbly." Mandy came closer like she wanted to shake Lizzy's hand, but Lizzy wouldn't let her. Mandy said she is new here, doesn't know how things work, and doesn't want any problems. Someone has already called the landlord on her three times, so she wants Lizzy to knock on her door if she has any problem with her. Lizzy said okay and ended the conversation as quickly as possible. She then heard Mandy remark that she needed to check on her two year old, who was alone in the apartment.

Later Lizzy needed to go put the laundry in the dryer, she told me to listen if she was gone for more than five minutes, so I could save her if she got sucked into another conversation. I obliged. I opened the door five minutes later, and I heard nothing. When Lizzy came back, I learned that I listened too late...NOLD had intercepted her on the way to the laundry room and taken Lizzy into her apartment. NOLD wanted to talk to Lizzy about Mandy. First, she said that Mandy's mom is really nice, but she's really sick. (This random bit did not connect to the remainder of the content.) Then she talked about how Mandy is trying to "change things." She has been propping open the back door because she doesn't like the locks on the outer doors. NOLD is going to call the landlord tomorrow because she wants the locks to stay on the doors. NOLD also complained that Mandy opened the laundry room window. She told Mandy that she had better close it because there is a reason why it is nailed shut...because people were stealing electricity from it when it was open.

NOLD said that she did not call the landlord (yet) because she keeps to her own business (WHAT A JOKE!). She knew it couldn't be "the college girls upstairs" (us) because we keep to ourselves. She knew it couldn't be Amy because Amy's crazy (we agree). Thus, she does not  know who it could be. What a mystery!

NOLD also wanted Lizzy to know that she is having surgery for cancer on the 9th and been going to the doctor frequently. As Lizzy was leaving, NOLD remarked that she liked the smell of the dryer sheets. Lizzy said they are just Bounce. NOLD said she will have to get some.

Our plan when Lizzy goes to get the laundry is for me to text her every 1 minute, so she will always have an excuse to leave any possible conversation.

Drama Mommas

Setting: Our apartment.
Time: About 20 minutes ago.
Who: Originally just Lizzy and I. Then Crackhead Gina came on the scene.

Lizzy made an awesome dinner, and we were loving it when there was a knock on the door. It was Crackhead Gina who apparently stopped by to share her feelings with Lizzy. She appeared to be very high on something. She could barely stand and had trouble stringing words together to make sentences. Below is what she shared, as best Lizzy can remember it. I have retained as much of the original wording as possible. It is essentially a free association about her conflict with NOLD. Here's the monologue she provided:

NOLD told New Bad Mom to stay away from Gina because Gina does and sells drugs, which Gina denies. Gina found out because she was sitting on the steps trying to get it together, and New Bad Mom told her about it. Gina doesn't understand why NOLD doesn't stay out of her business. NOLD always sticks her head out when she hears Gina, and her face is all twisted up. NOLD also opens the front door and pretends to be the mailman several times per day to tease Gina. Then NOLD and Tamera (Dog Lady) call each other and laugh. They also stole her Publisher's Clearinghouse, and she was the winner. She wants her stamps back now because she was sending entries for one and a half years. She's going to be moving soon, within the next month or two. She was trying to wait to get a car, but now she can't wait. It's too much for Gina to ride the bus. She has a car service, and it costs her $86 even though she doesn't go that far. She doesn't understand why NOLD is playing these kid games, making fun of her and laughing. NOLD also goes into her house and moves her stuff because she has a key from the previous owner. She wants the landlord to change the locks and they won't do it. She heard the little girls of New Bad Mom screaming and hollering today, and she went right up and gave them some balloons, so they could stop hollering. We also need to be careful of NOLD. Gina wants to go ahead and let them have it because she's moving.

Here's as close to the truth as we know:

NOLD probably did warn New Bad Mom about Gina because Gina is definitely on drugs. If she's selling, she's not very good at it because she doesn't have any money. NOLD does appear to relish in her conflict with Gina, but we seriously doubt that she pretends to be the mailman or steals any mail from Gina. We further doubt that NOLD even has a key to Gina's apartment. Lizzy reminded me that Gina also accused the maintenance man of entering her apartment and ejaculating on her bed during an earlier incident. We also doubt that Gina will be moving anytime soon. We are afraid of any world where she is behind the wheel of a car. The little girls were extremely loud today, and I support giving them balloons if that will shut them up. Lizzy also said that she believes NOLD will probably share her side of the story soon. That just more reason for me to hide.

Delivery Diversion

Now we all have to take special measures to avoid having Amy steal any additional packages.





This is our note. (I cut off our names at the end.) We have our packages sent to a friends' house to avoid problems.



This note was located on the outer front door by "Dog Woman." She wanted her package delivered to NOLD. Normal Guy and Normal Girl apparently have their packages sent to NOLD's apartment too. NOLD also offered to accept our packages, but we do not want more involvement with her.

I hope to someday live in a location where our packages can be delivered without fear.