June 2006

June 14, 2006 17:00 hrs

I've commented about this before, but it bears repeating. Being shamed in front of the community works. When we first moved here, I was surprised at some of the ads that ran in the classified section. Things like, "Do not accept checks from Joe Smith", or the Police Blotter column in which the recorded legal infractions of an entire community are printed for all to see, including your full name and home address. When I first saw these things I thought, "In Los Angeles, they (the scofflaws) would sue the paper for printing this!" Then I realized that they serve a very important service. Don't even look at it from a religious point of view (those damn sinners!), look at it this way: you sit down and read blah-blah-blah about your next door neighbor. Even though your neighbor has done nothing to harm you personally, you look at him/her/g.u. differently. Your innate tendency to trust is impacted and, until much time or a reasonable explanation passes, you look at your neighbor differently. And your neighbor knows you've seen his/her/g.u. name and crime in the paper. I don't give a rat's ass what my neighbors think of me, as long as they don't think badly of me. In the spirit of the idea of public shame making us all behave a little better, I bring you this update...

Many faithful readers (all three of you) have privately emailed me to ask if I've heard from Darryk James (affectionately known as DJ) since I never seem to write about him anymore. You same faithful readers know that DJ left us last year (right about this time) under less than stellar circumstances. He was becoming a teenager. He was becoming a male teenager. Could he possibly be any worse a teenager than I was? No. To be brutally honest, he's not that street smart nor is he that resourceful. So here's the rundown on what DJ's been up to this past year when he's been out of our care:

• Starting smoking cigarettes
• Experimented with alcohol
• Experimented with drugs
• Flunked out of the Ninth Grade
• Lied, lied, then lied some more
• Intercepted by Law Enforcement Officials at least eight times
• Ran away from Grandma's house at least once
• Attempted Suicide

These are just the things we know about. See, he hasn't been as bad as I was at all! I mention this all because of the inquiries and because there was a message from DJ on the answering machine last Friday:

Um, just calling to let you know—I might be able to visit friends—but I'm on my way out there. I'm going to be there in a couple days probably. I'm walking...'cause...I just got mad. But I'll be there in a few days and I'll see you when I get there.

Now last we heard, he was living with his father, that sterling example of dad-hood, in Colorado. Yeah, I could walk from Colorado to the east side of Kansas in two days...if someone stuck dynamite in my ass...

So here you go DJ, have nice heaping plate of public shame. Shame on you for pissing away the great life you had before your hormones kicked in. Shame on you for pissing on the two people in your life that always gave a shit about you no matter how mad they were at you. Shame on you for turning your back on the people who did everything for you that your own fucking parents refused to do. Shame on you for throwing away every good thing those people ever taught you and giving in to the bad behavior that's made you what you are today: alone, hitchhiking on a major interstate highway, not knowing what sort of sick bastard is going to offer you your next ride. I hope the police find you first...

Definition:

Gender Undetermined

June 11, 2006 21:20 hrs

Well don't I feel stupid. Wait—isn't that how my last entry started out? Yeah, Bonnie and I had plans to go to Women's Day Out in Topeka today. But I knew I also needed to call my Dad and wish him a happy Father's Day. Fortunately Dad's an early riser so I was able to call him first thing this morning and not have to worry about waking him up. Unfortunately Father's Day is not until next week...

Women's Day Out is described as "...an opportunity for women from all over Northeast Kansas to enjoy a day out to learn more about issues important to them and their families, including Health & Wellness, Education, Finances, Home Furnishings, Meal Planning, Wedding Planning and much, much, more!" Reading down the list of vendors and seminars planned for this event made me think that this event was some Kansas man's idea of what a woman's day out should be. Still, there were a couple of vendors and a seminar that I was interested in and Bonnie felt the same way so we set out for Topeka shortly before lunch. About 25 miles into our 45 mile trip I saw the CHECK GAUGES light on my dash flicker to life and then burn steady. Holy heat wave, Batman! That temperature gauge is in the red!

I'd noticed last week on my way into work it seemed to be running on the hot side (my commute to work is a grand total of 11.5 five miles so it should not even have a chance to break a sweat on such a short drive) and one day the check gauges light tried to flicker into existence, but the thermostat must have opened and the temperature began to drop back down. No such luck today. It actually made it into the red zone and it wasn't going to come unstuck soon enough for me. We pulled over at Maple Hill and let it cool down. There are no fluids leaking and no hoses are broken. The fan on the radiator turns round and round, just like it's supposed to. But the fluid in the coolant overflow tank is a nasty shade of rust and it doesn't smell too good either. Must be the thermostat. To my knowledge it's never been replaced and I think the last time the cooling system was flushed & filled was when we moved from California climate to Kansas climate. We decide not to chance it all the way to Topeka and return home.

At Paxico it's a little hot again so we stop to maybe have lunch at the Electric Cat and do a little antique shopping while it cools down again. The Electric Cat is no more. Tears are shed. We knew the owner wanted to retire, we were just hoping someone else would pick up the gauntlet and keep the Cat meowing. But our favorite store, Paxico Antiques, is open and we spend a good time browsing the selection. Miss Vicky has re-arranged the store so it's a whole new experience for us.

Back at Bonnie's she's got a second set of wheels to loan me so we head into Manhattan where I leave the Jimmy at the repair shop with the intent of stopping by on my way to work tomorrow so I can discuss what I know to be wrong with the vehicle and arrange repairs. We lunch at Whiskey Creek and hit Wally World where I spend more money than I'd planned, but that's par for the course. So we never did make it to Women's Day Out, but I think we had our own day and it wasn't so bad. Next year we'll try again.

Remember back in April when I said I had a garden project to put stepping stones between the walkway and the hose bib out front? Well I finally got that project done last weekend. Yeah, I'm pathetic when it comes to finishing some projects, but not as bad as some I know that never finish what they start...you know who you are... I'm pleased to say that it came out very nice and I'm quite happy with the finished product. The stones are hand made by a local horticultural company and they are very. very heavy. I was dreading having to maneuver them into place as I left very little clearance between the house and the edgers since I didn't want huge seams between all the stone work. After dropping the first one in place and then having a dickens of a time moving it just a bit to line it up, I got the brilliant idea to cut two lengths of rope and tie them around the stones so I could use the rope as "handles". Once positioned, the rope was untied and easily slid out from underneath the stones by virtue of the layer of sand I'd laid for leveling. About a month ago I'd had a dream that I'd used this method and I remembered the dream after I struggled with the first stone. Boom, boom, boom; the other five stones were easily toted into place and positioned in a snap. It was so easy that Bonnie and I may end up doing the very same thing around her poured concrete patio to make it a bit larger. It was so easy, I can think of two other places to put more stepping stones and I don't dread the thought of doing it!

On the bird front, the Barn Swallow's nest on the east side of the house fell down this year. I didn't think it had been constructed in all that secure a place and apparently the swallows agreed since they rebuilt it dead center of the attic vent frame instead of hanging off the corner. I also discovered a nest in one of the new Arborvitae's that we planted last year so I don't feel so bad about making Mrs. Cardinal abandon her nest this year. We also found a Robin's nest in one of the oak trees but built on such a flimsy branch that all the eggs fell out the first good wind storm we had.

Of course nature tries immediately to claim my stepping stone project. If you click over to Random Photos you'll find pictures of the toad that moved into the sand in the one wide sand joint that's between the west stepping stone and the angled cement front walk. I'd noticed a depression in the sand one day and filled it back in. The next day the sand had a really messy texture and a funny color to it. Well, the funny color was Mr. Toad. He left shortly after I recorded his image for posterity and I took advantage of his absence to place a perfectly shaped rock in the triangular joint he wanted to call home.

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