[ * January to 9 March - 2004 * ]
[ * 19 June - 16 September - 2004 * ]
** CLICK thumbnails for larger image, which open in new browser window for convenience
* M A R C H *
11 March 2004 / Thursday - WOWSERS! The roof job is finally finished, what little of it still had to be done! -- -- YES, I climbed onto the roof again to take a couple more pics.
18 March 2004 / Thursday - It snowed the last three days and we are expecting much more tonight and tomorrow! Work is slowly being done on the garages and the small yard/patio in back the apartment --
20 March 2004 / Saturday - This speaks for itself, I think --
29 March 2004 / Monday - Yawn....... not a lot really new lately -- went to the dentist last Thursday and they took impressions for my new partials; the next appointment is early next month -- took another two loads of wood to West Trenton, and still have another load or two to do -- then I can start working on the patio side of the garages, then work on the front part.
Yesterday, for the first time in about a year I decided to take a quicky trip to the flea martket, just to get out of the house -- it was cold when I started out about 10h, but the Sun came out and it really warmed up while I was there. I took a sort of slow-fast walk around -- my hip was actually killing me and I neglected to remember to take a Celebrex pill for the arthritis the night before. I got some 8x10" zip lock baggies from the same lady I always get them from to put the bears in that I sell on eBay, and stopped to see my main contact there to check on what he had. The usual stuff -- when I would actually set up and sell at the adjoining flea market in the past I would spend more time at his tables than at mine -- not that I would have sold anything on my side, anyway! Incidently, the owners of his flea market bought out the owner of the side I used to sell at, some months ago. I did not even walk around on my side. I got my pal the usual tea, and myself a large coffee -- the food place had changed management again, and they hardly had anything, not even ice! What a disappointment!
So my contact and I chatted about what we had been doing over the year -- he stopped selling on eBay, but sends stuff to some friends who sell for him -- much less work, of course. He had a van full of his usual stuff -- books and some general things -- as we talked, I kept fillng up boxes of goodies (as usual!) -- I chatted with his girl friend, Renee, via his cell phone -- she is still having problems with her X -- after about 4 hours, he started packing up and got my total figured out -- after the usual haggling and all, I got my load of new goodies for one third less than his already discounted total! I really do not know what I would have done without him all these years -- a lot of what I sell on eBay comes from him, some of it from at least 6-7 years ago, and I still have shelves and boxes filled with the stuff! My philosophy has always been, if I do not have it in my collections/library, after using and/or appreciating it/them, I could not eventually sell it/them if I wanted/had to. By time I was ready to get into the Jeep to go home, I was barely able to move my leg -- I guess that I should take the damn pill every day for a while, since I have been sort of active lately, but I dislike taking medications of any kind.
When I returned home I started counting all the goodies I got, which is the first thing I usually do to get an idea of the average cost of each item -- -- I stashed a couple boxes in the garages, and some will probably come up to the apartment, once I find space somewhere -- so the total number of individual things numbered slightly over 437 (I do not count any small general stuff in a box) -- it included books (58), auction catalogs (358 - some of which I sell, while others I use as surprise gifts to my eBay bidders who win something over $20); some books on Jewish subjects, among others; a composition decoy that is sort of cute, 3 oil paintings from about the 1940s (probably depicting street scenes from New Orleans), several signed small and large, framed and unframed color wildlife prints, and a few miscellaneous thingys -- 11 box fulls in all -- selling just one box would probably pay for the entire load, as it frequently has in the past! Do I really need more treasures? Not really -- it simply means that there will be more boxes piled up all over the place, but if one does not take advatage of positive opportunities that simply happen, they might never have the chance again -- something I learned many, many years ago! If my source would suddenly disappear from the scene, I could never obtain what I have from him all these years at the same absolutely unbelievable low prices! Other things I could get at a local country auction, which I have not been to in over a year -- but it would mean spending from about 16h until at least midnight, bored shitless, waiting for something I might be interested in to finally come up for bid -- I would be half asleep when I got home and still have to try to get it all out of the car.
* A P R I L *
10 April 2004 / Holy Saturday - to each and every reader, Bunny, the Easter Houndy -- -- wishes you a
I shall try to catch up on news later.
11 April 2004 / Easter Sunday
14 April 2004 / Wednesday - aside from going half crazy trying to figure out where to stash everything that is still in the place I sold, NOT finding another property that is reasonably priced in my area -- I sold way too cheapy, but simply wanted to get an albatross from around my neck and have less constantly recurring expenses which were (and still are, but at least they are less now) eating me alive! At least now I have reduced my credit card debt somewhat, which is helpful -- still have a lot to go yet -- Thom, from Philadelphia sent me some realtor links from my home town, but everything was either too small, way too expensive compared to what I sold/still have and/or did not have a garage -- George from Virginia sent me a newspaper with listings, but I did not see too much down that way -- PLUS a long distance move would be somewhat more complicated than finding something a tad closer, although a complete change of scenery would be great after all these years in this dumpy capital city -- Marion in Florida also said for me to pop down there to look around, which would be nice, but I have all these friggin cats to worry about, etc. -- and I really doubt if there would be anything the size/price I need down there -- a couple other distant pals said they would check around, but they never got back to me, which was not a total surprise -- I may have to quickly opt for getting a self-storage unit somewhere nearby until when and if I sell this place --
what I might like to find is some place that is sort of rural, but not totally isolated -- on the east coast, within a 3 state radius would be kewl (NJ - NY - PA -- taxes are apparently a lot cheaper in the last 2) -- electricity, water, phone and some kind of heating -- a couple acres would be nice, garage/s, ample space to live and a lot of room to use for storage and office/study/library space -- not needing major upgrading to be livable -- my credit is still ratty due to late payments since I retired -- the disability early retirement pension sucks, and to pay taxes, utilities and stuff, including even food, I always had to use the damn credit cards, creating a never ending vicious circle -- now at least part of the burden has been relieved -- I do not even want to know what they have been gauging me for interest every month/year on my fuckin credit cards since my retirement!
I have had a few phone calls to look at the property where I am living now, and a couple visits by theoretically interested peeps -- ALL flakes, as had been my experience last year -- a family from Mexico, seemed really interested, but kept trying to get it for a lot less than I want -- tough shit, I already virtually gave one place away (55k) and do not intend making the same mistake twice! Oh, but we'll bring you the CASH in a briefcase tomorrow -- yeah, like I heard and experienced that story last year, and wrote about it above!
Fabiola had a single female kitten on 7 April -- she appears totally hairless and seems to be doing well, thus far -- I got most of the twigs and tree trunks from the side yard and took them to West Trenton -- Antonio, the guy who left all the shit laying there was back 2 days ago asking when he can start the block wall at the end of the small patio -- I told him that after he gets the crap totally removed, we can talk about the wall -- actually, I can do the wall myself for a lot less!
The plumber was over to check out why my toilet always had water dripping in it -- I tried fixing it a couple times but it always kept dripping -- so he changed the total refill assembly for me, replacing it with the old fashioned original copper thingy that I found new at a small local hardware shop -- the original overflow pipe had broken off at the bottom -- then he looked at what I though was a simple job in the first floor bathroom in the place I sold -- that U-shaped pipe under the sink had broken off so I bought a new one, but the old fittings were also broken, so I could not attach the new thing -- he had to replace everything, from the lead pipe into the wall to the entire sink drain system, which was older than shit -- my surprise cost, slightly over $400!!
Since I removed most of the twigs and trunk sections from the patio, the spring plant growth has begun -- many lilies sprouting up -- once I get all the trash out of there I can start working on the outside of the garages and the smallish garden -- it has been cold, windy and raining almost constantly for the last week or so, and I have been somewhat depressed and sluggish for various reasons -- with NOBODY to help me, or even to offer helping me to move things, I wonder if I shall be able to get it all out by time I have to hand over the keys!
I was sort of amazed to find a Turtle Dove making a nest in the leafless tree next to this place -- I can see it from the bathroom window -- a male helped her gather the stuff she made the nest with, then he disappeared -- just like many a human male these days!
She has been patiently sitting in the nest for a few days already, changing position as the winds changes, trying to stay in the Sun during the day, breathing seemingly quickly, keeping the rain from the eggs -- I have not seen the male -- -- the pics were taken on 5 April 2004 through the closed bathroom window and also through the storm window -- I am sort of surprised that they are as relatively good as they turned out -- she seems to know I am looking at her, but since I do not appear to be a threat, she stays parked on the nest. I assume that when the eggs hatch, the male may return and help with feeding?? WHAT DEVOTION and CARING! If only some humans would have as much!
21 April 2004 / Wednesday - well the bird is still sitting in its nest -- I saw a couple eggs when I took the above pics, but she never seems to get off them since then -- how does she eat? I did find another older pic, 31 March 2004, from the other camera of the male with her during the nest building period -- -- I am now not even sure they are turtle doves. It seems like an awfully long time for the eggs to hatch -- and I have not seen the male since this pic, even at night.
One of the properties I checked out was a really old, spacious warehouse type place near the train station, only about 5 blocks from here -- -- very large, and with a lot of potential, if anyone has a pile of money to invest in getting the large roof to stop leaking, add heat, etc. -- I think they are asking 165k for the dump -- actually I would almost, but not quite (maybe if I were 30 years younger), love to get the place, but have no way to get financing -- the agent said it would probably cost 20-30k just to get a new roof put on! At this point I have to try to stick with looking for something a lot simpler needing much less work and money -- MUCH LESS!
I took a totally unplanned trip to one of the Apple Stores south of here, and the shaggy dog story about the trip is at -> -- I upgraded my desktop to one of the newly released mid-range eMacs, got some other goodies for networking or connecting my TiBook to the new toy -- -- and finally got myself a new scanner that has slide/film capability -- I found a box of some old slides taken on a trip to New York with Evelio in September 1986 -- very poor slides, but the trials showed that the scanner does what it is supposed to do -- this is a close up of part of the slide image, showing Evelio, wearing a red short sleev shirt, at a statue to probably dedicated to Vietnam soldiers -- -- another is Evelio on one of the cruise boats taking a tour of New York harbor to see the skyline from a different perspective -- he was bubbling over with excitement, as usual -- -- what I found remarkable was the images of the Twin Towers in the background -- just 15 years later they are no longer in the view!
I had Antonio check out the roof at the place across the street -- he doiscovered that the rubber rook was cracked near the wall and at the edge of the gutter, which was causing water to leak into two bedrooms there -- -- so he repaired them with new rubber, at a cost of $450, which I really was not accountable for since the buyer bought the place as is! He is shown in the pic placing the underlayer before applying the hot rubber material. I still have not found anywhere to store the things I want to keep from that property, and time is quickly running out before I have to vacate the place!
To add to my worries, Devi, who quietly celebrated her 17th birthday on 16 April, has become very thin and apparently unable to drink or eat as hardily as she did just 2 days ago -- I have her in my study to keep her company -- she still hears me when I call her, and purrrrrrrs when I hold her, but she is all skin and bones. The young female Sphynx kitten, now about 2 weeks old seems OK, and is really cute and hairless. Why do soooooo many things always seem to pile up on me all the time?
* M A Y *
7 May 2004 / Friday - I cannot say I am feeling totally myself lately -- the following is an overview of things since my last update --
27 April 2004 - Devi continued eating and drinking water on her own, and getting into the litter box when she had to -- as she became weaker I tried to feed her with a bottle and even sort of force food on her, to no avail -- I basically had to carry her anywhere on the 26th and decided to keep her in her favorite box in my study, near where I always work -- just days before she was able to jump in by herself -- I covered her with the knit cap I always wear in the apartment to remind her that I was with her -- in the early hours of the 28th she quietly died in her sleep -- when I have a chance to look for old slides and photos of her, I do hope to do a memorial page -- it may be many weeks -- she was born on 16 April 1987 -- I am teary eyes as I write this many days after she left me
the female Sphynx kitten also died a day later
they are both now resting in the nest -- their mother did not come back, and the next day, 4 May 2004, the nest was empty and is still empty today -- bon voyage, where ever you are -- and to the mommy, have a wondeful Mother's Day!
Maybe she may be back again next year
Did I mention that I have been to the dentist a couple times over the past few weeks, and have another appointment in early June; they are slow as hell, and I screamed about it a couple times already -- I also had to see my doctor just to get refills for meds for my arthritic hip, and that was a real pain -- I made the appointment on the phone, found that he had moved again, and showed up at the stated hour over a week later -- the gal at the desk had no record of the appointment and made me another one for 10 days later! I was fuming! Since they moved they changed computers and programs and also had no clue who I was or what I had been treated for before -- it is a good thing my life did not really depend on the refill or I would have been dead weeks ago! And they call this efficiency?
I decided that looking to buy some place to serve as storage and/or a possible future home was crazy -- why go into debt again and have more worries than the lingering ones I still have -- so I fished around a couple days for one of those self storage units -- I found a new one on Lalor Street, not far from the house I used to have years ago down near the river and the ball park -- on 29 April I signed a one year lease for a 10 x 20' unit, and have been there some 6 or more times stashing what I was able to -- very much remains to be moved and the days are quickly passing -- too much rain to move anything, and two days ago I twisted my back, which usually goes away in a day or so, but I still can not stand straight!
To do the moving I started using the van again, the one I used to take to the flea market 2 years ago when I went to sell just about every week -- I had to recharge the battery, and the van was covered with crud from sitting in the back of the place in west Trenton -- curiously, the self storage place is owned by a large car wash close by and they incluide a monthly wash with the storage price -- naturally I had the Dodge van cleaned on the outside and it almost looks like its old self again!
I have really been unusually weird lately, possibly due to all the stress of several things -- hopefully I snap out of it before too long -- even my eBay stuff has been lagging behind my usual listings, but the sales have not been all that great lately either. I use the laptop less and less now, and like the eMac a lot -- everything now works much faster, with way fewer minor glitches than before -- and the new scanner is fabulous, so far.
Mother's Day is two days away and I still miss mine!
10 May 2004 / Monday - I spent a couple days sleeping 6 or 7 hours during normal sleeping hours and my hip still hurts, but at least I can stand upright. Thom, a long time pal from Philadelphia, my old hometown, stopped over for a few hours to help me gather together some more goodies to take to the storage thing -- -- Kathleen, the nice lady in charge, was not there -- she also manages the car wash, owned by the same peeps, a couple days a week, so I guess she was three blocks away -- so we loaded the van up to the roof twice and went to my storage area -- -- the front part of inside is largely empty as we had been piling up things in the back half first -- the table on the right and the stuff nearby is what I used to take to the flea market, and it has yet to be sorted out for eBay -- -- all those plastic bins are stuffed with bears and other collectible toys, many rare, which I shall someday have to sort through and sell, once the shop is fixed up, open and working again, if I live that long -- it was a sort of hot day and it did not make the job any more pleasant -- on the second trip I could hardly move, which was not a big surprise! On the way out, when Marge is not there, we have to punch in a code which opens the gate -- -- Back home we took three shelving units from the sold place to the apartment to make use of vertical rather than horizontal floor space, and I was able to finally see more of the hard wood floors and rugs than I had for the last couple years. We also packed the van with another large load of boxes, which I shall somehow have to get to the storage place by myself in the morning, even though my hip is killing me! Wish me luck! There is still a lot of stuff on the third floor that has to be moved to the first, somehow, and some things in the basement yet, plus a lot of art work just stached vertically on the first floor -- did I mention a couple pieces of vintage furniture that I cannot possibly move myself? -- a couple shelves have to come to the shop to be able to unpile stacks of things that are just all over the place -- once that is done, I may eventually be able reopen the shop in my spare time, or do it as I did before, by appointment only. We shall see if I live through the present ordeal before wanting to continue ever onward!
Oh, yes, today mama turtle dove was seen back in her nest after a few days absence-- no others nearby -- I shall try to get a pic, if the tree leaves allow me to and she is still there for a few more days -- is she going to lay more eggs?
Before Thom left around 22h we called out for Chinese, which I always love, and enjoyed the yummy treats. One of these days I have to visit him at his new house in Philly -- he has invited me upteen times, but I was never able to break away.
11 May 2004 / Tuesday - OK, here is a pic of the turtle dove back sitting in its nest -- -- I did take that load to the storage place, and Kathleen was there and I know you are all wondering what she looks like, so here is her photo, hard at work in her nice air conditioned office -- -- the day is very warm again, but rain is forecast for every day this week except one! -- as usual lately. Incidently, in yesterdays pics, that was Thom NOT me -- I took the pics -- DUH! I thought I would mention the fact since I already had an email from someone who asked!
18 May 2004 / Tuesday - I got yet another nice color photo last week from our fearless leader and Mrs. Fearless -- -- more formal than the first, also signed in the plate and computer dedicated -- and, once again, asking for donations to the cause, which I unfortunately do not have to spare -- if I could sell them on eBay, maybe I could at least send him a percentage of the selling price -- if anybody might bid on the things??
Thom came back last Friday to help move more stuff and reorganize the back room at the shop to stash art works -- the day was cloudy and sort of cool, so it really helped a lot. I found that the van did not have transmission fluid, so they had to put in two quarts -- it seems that if a van sits for too long, the fluid leaks out from the axels or somewhere -- good thing I checked! I also, unfortunately, had to take the van for repairs early yesterday -- a cracked windshield, a large dent in the fender and some scratches on the side -- had to get it done to take it for inspection -- I will not have it back until the end of the week, hopefully. I got the Jeep in West Trenton, and shall have to use that for moving in the meantime, meaning a lot smaller loads until then.
This morning I put 5 large bins of trash on the sidewalk from various parts of the old place, and I still probably have at least that many to fill yet -- somehow I do not think that all of what I want will be out of there in a week when I have to give the keys to the new owner! God help me, please!
This afternoon, a cyber friend from the AOL Apple Computer message board came by after work -- Miles was somewhat amazed at the quantity of things I have all over the place -- -- the antique clocks, a massive at least 40 year old Indonesian mask-like sculpture that was hanging on the stairway wall on the third floor at the entrance to Evelio's sculpture studio (in the place across the street I sold -- you can see the property in the above pic, with the ancient COAL ad still visible on the side wall) -- -- he managed to get the mask down, somehow -- -- It was a work of art that greatly fascinated Evelio, but was too large to hang or display anywhere else (YES, it is for sale). Miles loves works by Dali, as do I -- it was way too hot inside the house, and I started dripping with sweat and getting out of breath, so we were not able to really do much moving from upstairs to the first floor. It was super kewl to once again meet someone known only from online posts -- he recently bought a house across the river in Yardley, Pennsylvania, which he is currently remodelling -- I shall have to get out to see his place once things settle down for me here. I love that area. It sort of reminds me of West Trenton, along the river road.
Oh, and that Turtle Dove is still sitting in her nest -- I do not see her leave -- more chicks on the way?
26 May 2004 / Wednesday - It has been one nightmare after another this last week or so! Well, the van was done late Monday afternoon, two days ago -- I took the Jeep to West Trenton and called a cab to get to the repair shop -- it took them a freekin 40 minutes to finally get there to pick me up! -- then I had to take the van (a 94 Dodge, with about 12k miles on it -- rarely used, bought new) to a local reinspection station because it was not inspected in 3 years and could not legally operate on the streets or highways -- it was supposed to be finished early this morning, and then I planned to go to the bank and post office, and to take my electric stove top to a repair shop because the largest burner does not work simply because some flimsy ceramic wire bracket seems to have fried to dust! It turns out that they called me after 16h that the inspection was done, but they did not have a chance to change the oil and check the transmission fluid -- the owner picked me up at the apartment -- after returning to his garage, I paid him and I then rushed to the bank (it was closed!), the post office was closed, the appliance repair place was closed, and the gas station that put the transmission fluid in a few days before was about to close -- the level was low again, but they did not have that kind of fluid left and I would have to bring it back to West Trenton tomorrow -- the owner's son also noticed that it was leaking transmission fluid, which caused smoke from the under side of the freekin van because it was dripping onto the exhaust pipe or something, and suggested that I take it to the gas station further down the road (where I usually get my gas because on Mondays they have it a couple cents cheaper than everybody else), where they might have the correct fluid. OK, I am getting dizzy already! I drove over to the other gas station -- the repair bay was just closing, but Tom, the manager, suggested that I leave it there and he would take me to pick up my Jeep at Bernar's, nearby -- OK, so I now have the jeep again -- it is beginning to look link some weird kind of a musical vehicle game or something! I have had to sit in the apartment anxiously waiting for all these peeps to call me that work was done, and could not do a shittin thing across the street -- with one exception -- Monday, early morning, I spent 3 hours filling up another 5 trash bins of stuff, plus some loose things, for trash day yesterday morning -- I was amazed that they took it all! The neighbors and passersby did take some few things that seemed interesting, as usual.
Then comes the double door Diebold safe moving trauma -- I cleared out a space for it inside the garages against a wall weeks ago-- for weeks I had been calling a couple safe mover peeps -- they either never got back to me, or said they would come over to check out what has to be done, and never showed up -- one said his partner had the flu -- another's mother was in some hospital emergency room! Let me tell you a little about the safe -- it is about 5 feet tall, and yes, it is heavy, has some shelves, a compartment with door, and a legal size file drawer inside -- Evelio and I got it from a warehouse that closed at least 20 years ago -- we lifted the doors off to make it lighter, got a truck with a lift gate, rolled it on, up went the lift and the safe was rolled into the truck interior, I drove it to the house across the street, the safe came down from the truck on the lift gate, we rolled it down the cement alley way through the kitchen door and in to the adjoining room, placing it against the wall -- the doors went back on, and it lived happily ever after -- easy as hell! It only has to be moved across the God damn street. One really hunky guy with tattoos came over two days ago (the one whose mom was supposedly in the hospital last week) and started yapping about how difficult it would be to move, all kinds of theoretical crap that have to be taken into account and piles of pure bullshit! I told him how two guys half his size and definitely not in the physical shape he was obviously in did it without a hitch. He said he could not do it, but suggested I call somebody else. The same day another guy finally got back to me -- he would be over that afternoon to check it out -- he actually arrived and did not make it sound more difficult than it was and said he might be over Thursday or Friday to move the thing -- I called him today to make sure I fit into his schedule and he said he would be here tomorrow afternoon some time -- so tomorrow I have to somehow get the van in West Trenton (if it is a minor repair and is finished -- and they will also change the oil and refill the transmission fluid, etc.), take the Jeep back to Bernar's back yard, go back to the garage to get the van, get to the bank and post office, take the stove top panel to the repair shop, then just sit and wait for the safe mover -- another day shot to hell!
And to make things even more interesting, I have a much larger safe in Bernar's garage in West Trenton that will eventually have to be moved beside the one I mentioned above, and placed beside it in the garage! Hypothetically, not a problem, as the same guy who said he would be here tomorrow said he could do that one in a snap -- incidentally, he seems to know Donald, the neighborhood Godfather!
I sent the key for the place across the street to the new owners -- one called me yesterday and said he got the key and my letter, and that they would be here on Saturday (maybe Friday) to start working on the place -- that means that I have nominally 2 days to get the rest of my goodies out of there, which I can obviously not do at this point! He is going to be pissed, and I am going to be screwed royally -- maybe I can just have a heart attack or something before they get here and not have to worry about anything any more.
Oh, yes, the Turtle Dove disappeared from its nest when the street sweeper thing came by two days ago for the first time in 3 weeks! It is scheduled to sweep twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays -- no eggs or anything left in the nest.
27 May 2004 / Thursday - A couple pics to keep you busy -- -- the small side patio with many lilies, half of which I dug up because they were just growing wild; took them to West Trenton, maybe Bernar will want to plant them somewhere -- last week I won some small Metasequoias on eBay -- I planted them when it got light out this morning -- -- hopefully at least two of the four will survive -- you can see the ones I planted in West Trenton -- yesterday they put a couple of those old-style street lights across the street -- -- once they get the sidewalks done and the street repaved, the area should start to look sort of nice, I guess, finally! I then went over and took the things out of the safe -- -- hoping that the mover actually shows up this afternoon -- you will notice that it was made by the same company that has churned out the infamous Diebold touch screen voting machines that are buggy as hell -- Evi and I picked it up in Philadelphia many years ago -- I already mentioned, above, what it is like inside -- -- in this shot I had removed two metal drawers and the adjoining large drawer for file folders, which is beside the door that locks on the upper right. That shiny metal thingy sticking out from the left lower edge of the photo is part of a large very heavy table -- the top is sitting against the wall in the entry way -- both things were brought over from West Trenton by Bernar some 4-5 years ago -- he promised he would help me set it up -- they are still exactly where he dropped them all those years ago! Why was I always so blessed with so-called friends, with few exceptions, who always seem to have their own totally personal agenda? He did not even ask me once if I needed help with the move! I did not sleep all night, again -- I cannot wait to see what surprises today will bring!
29 May 2004 / Saturday - Well, there is good news and there is bad news -- I finally took some shots of the bamboo jungle in the sort of large garden behind the old place -- as you can see they are growing above the second floor roof , which must be some 30 feet high-- -- this is the side entrance alleyway -- -- and this is what it looks like from the back patio -- some of the stems are more than an inch thick -- -- they simply spread over the last 20 years or so from a couple plants that I put in the back of the garden, taken from another place I had near the new baseball park near the river in south Trenton, and filled up every place they could find! Little did I know that they are soooooo invasive -- very nice ornamental plants, but they have to be contained somehow.
Well, Albert, the safe mover showed up on Thursday about noon with a friend of his -- the only tool they used was a long strong wood pole/handle with a smallish heavy metal sort of wedge thingy bolted to the bottom -- I think he called it a dicky -- they used the wedge to position the safe when they had to and simply rolled the thing through the two rooms, out the kitchen door, through the side alley way and to the front of the house -- while they were doing this I went to the garage and opened the left of the three doors, and by that time they were already at the curb across the street -- in a flash they had it rolled to the garage and positioned it along the left wall, as planned -- the entire process probably took 20 minutes -- less time than it took Evelio and I to do it. When they saw the bamboo jungle behind the place they said it looked like Viet Nam, where they both served in the military!
It took until 16h for the garage to call me that the van was done -- they had to replace a section of metal tube on the transmission fluid line which was rusted or something -- they also changed the oil and replaced the oil filter -- Then Tom followed me (in Jeep) in the van to Bernie's to leave the Jeep there, I brought him back to the rapair shop in the van -- then back to the apartment.
I started gathering things together in the basement and third floor of the old place, and took a couple van loads to the shop. Unfortunately my hip was killing me whenever I did stuff on the third floor, so I could not do a whole lot and had to crawl into bed to rest a few hours. I got up in the early hours of Friday morning and did some more packing and bringing what little I could to the downstairs front room for removal, then the hip pain again! I rested, then went back around 22h, did some more, and when I was leaving with another load after midnight, an apparently local kid in his early 20s I never saw before, Clayton or whatever his name was, asked if I could use some help -- GAWD, an obvious druggie, and I should allow him into the place to help me? At this point I was desperate and could barely move, so after a few minutes talking to him I said yes! He helped move some stuff from the second floor, and we moved three van loads to the shop, which is now almost spaceless! He said he would be back at 7h -- I stayed awake the rest of the night, packed some stuff to take to the post office, which I had not done in over a week, and waited and waited -- at 10h I decided to go to the West Trenton post office, and when I got back I got another load out of the old place but was barely awake, almost unable to walk, and finally crawled into bed, getting up at 15h --
Now comes the slight glitch -- when I went over to the old place I discovered that the locks had been changed, front and kitchen doors! Holy shit, my 20 day automatic extension was not up until next Wednesday, 3 June -- so I called Luis, who said that Jose came and changed the freekin locks -- so I called Jose and left a message -- he finally got back to me after an hour and I asked him why he did not ring my bell or call me on the phone to tell me he was there and leave me a key so I could get things done over the weekend -- he did not see the Jeep! DUH! And his cell phone was not working?? He said my 20 days was up at midnight this morning, which is obviously NOT the case (40 days was up on 5 May -- 20 day extension not counting weekends/holidays = Wednesday 3 June! Monday is a holiday), and that he realizes that I have some stuff in there yet and that I can watch to see when his workers arrive next week and get what I can out -- DUH #2 -- with workers in there just grabbing stuff to stick in a dumpster or whatever, and the narrow stairways, it really makes it easy for me to hobble around trying to load things in the van! He did not seem brain dead, before! At this point the bell rings and Miles showed up to give me a hand, which he, of course, could not do at this point! This sucks royally -- I cannot contact my property lawyer to make them give me a key because it is a holiday weekend and they obviously will not be available until after Tuesday. I do not intend to write more about this crap in my YES -- I am totally sick and tired of the whole convoluted thing already -- I shall do what I can to get the couple van loads of stuff out, probably without help from anybody, as basically has been the case up to now. I simply cannot do more. I have to begin working on the garages, and somehow, later, get a lot of art work, furniture and stuff from Bernie's in West Trenton before he gets a bug up his ass. As my Mom always used to say, Life is a bitch! I usually try to be just a tad more positive, though -- which does not always help too much, no matter how positive I am.
Oh, incidently, that Turtle Dove has not returned.
* J U N E *
1 June 2004 / Tuesday - I HAVE NOT SLEPT IN 2 DAYS --yesterday, Memorial Day, was a holiday -- the day before, I contacted Thom and Scott to see if they could get here to do one last removal of things from across the street -- Thom arrived about noon and left to catch the 23:45 train back to Philly; he did not plan on staying so long because he had to get up early today, and the busses do not run after midnight -- Scott and his friend, Jeff also helped out for a while. We made two trips to the self storage area, and filled the van up twice -- the last time just before Thom left, everything stayed in the van -- I was way too tired and my hip was barely working at that point.
I had to make some tough choices -- all of Evelio's molds and original busts were in the basement, as well as boxes of vintage lamp parts, a couple chandeliers and the crystal lamp ornaments for them-- a lot of tools and nails and things -- two fishing poles; I could never find anybody to take me fishing, anyway -- a couple tables on the first floor -- all of the nice long lace curtains -- metal shelving, the vintage oak type-setter's table and a file cabinet on the third floor -- the nice horny mounted deer head -- and a couple rugs -- I just do not have room to put them! Over the last few weeks I sort of went though things, simply trashing a lot of stuff that I did not think was important enough to keep, but there are a lot of things in boxes that I shall eventually have to sort through and probably trash a lot of it, if I live that long!
I stayed up after Thom left (oh, yes, we had some chicken rice I made 2 days ago and it was yummy; he even said he liked it!) Then I processed the first Kardas Award for Internet Creativity for 2004, changed the web pages, and contacted the 19th winner since 1998.
At daybreak, more or less 05h, I brought the van to the front of this place and took half of what was in it and just piled it downstairs, then went back across the street and loaded what was left in the front room downstairs that I wanted -- two file cabinets remain, and hopefully I can get them out today or whenever, somehow. I am really beat and tired, and now my back hurts, as well as my hip -- but, that is to be expected, I suppose. I put a thing of trash out (I want it empty for this place -- I left 2 for them), locked the front door across the street, then put the metal plate over the cellar doors in the back alley, took the old cast iron Singer sewing machine base out the alley (I shall hopefully eventually paint it black and put a marble top on it to use as a table), then put the chain and lock on the gate, dragged the Singer base to the garage and am now updating these things. I probably still have to stay awake because I have a dentist appointment at 10h, to finally, hopefully, try out the new dentures -- after how many months with no fangs?
I assume that one of the new owners will call me and ask how I got in and scream about whatever, if and when he shows up today -- I am not even going to answer the phone. Sorry, dude, there is no way I could have done what I did with workmen running up and down the stairs. Curiously, when I talked to him about the changed locks, he went on and on about a lot of things, among which he knows I am old, that I cannot get around as well as I used to (hey, I am handicapped, not simply unable to get around like before because I am old!), that they played by my rules and now that he is the owner I just have to play be his, etc. etc. -- well, he should have read my rules slightly more thoroughly. I basically was able to accomplish more or less what I had to, with or without his help. I have not put a thing on eBay in over a week, and a lot fewer than usual over the last 5-7 weeks because I have been dedicating myself to the big move. He has had time to work at his job, come all the way down here from the New York area just to change freekin locks without advising me -- and have a baby -- but then again he is not old or handicapped! Slightly overweight, perhaps.
If I make it to the dentist, when I get back I shall probably just crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day -- and maybe, just maybe, get a batch of stuff to list on ebay!
8 June 2004 / Tuesday - Primary election day in New Jersey -- what a crock! You will not believe some of this stuff!
18 June 2004 / Friday -- long time no see! I think I may have figured out the mystery of the missing Turtle Dove -- for the first time ever I saw a squirrel on the garage roof, and then on the tree the bird was nesting in -- I wonder why squirrels are now frequenting this neighborhood? I do not think they do drugs -- do they?
I did get to the dentist twice since my last update, and yes, the new dentures are done, and yes I do have them where they are supposed to be -- in my beak -- the Chinese dentist they assigned me to at the dental insurance assembly line center (Eastern Dental) I have always gonew to does not have a clue, and I am guessing that these are the first dentures he ever worked on! I now have more teeth in both jaws than I probably have had in over 40 years, but they do not align properly after waiting for over 3 months!
Bernar went to New England for 4 days and I was assigned to take care of his dog in West Trenton while he was away -- he mentioned the trip to me about 12 hours before he was to leave -- remember, this is the same old pal who never once asked me if I needed help in my recent move , and he knew about it right after the contract was signed, some months ago -- he is supposed to return this evening. I stayed several hours each time, slept on the sofa a couple hours with the two Sphynx cats beside me, which they loved -- he keeps them alone in the cold basement, with little or no attention. I also watched TV on my old 34" TV that is still there waiting for me to take, sitting on top of a wrought iron Singer sewing machine base with a marble top, also mine, also waiting for me to find room for and take it -- if and when I ever get the rest of my things out of that place, he will have a lot of empty spaces! Curiously, Patty, a gal we met years ago who used to work for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, also showed up each day I was there -- I think she is supposed to clean and tidy up -- she seems clueless, but sociable -- plus, she likes cats and has a female from the original Sphynx litter -- it is way over weight.
Oh, yes, and the last time he used his digital Sony Mavica camera, which was at least a year or 2 ago on a trip he took to Hawaii, the sliding panel from the floppy disk fell off and got stuck inside the camera and would not come out -- he finally gave it to me to see if I could fix it for him just before he left -- I somehow removed the thin Verbatim plastic slider, and the camera works perfectly now.
Jose and Luis, the new owners of 322, have called me twice in the last 3 weeks saying that one of them would be at the house to let me in to get things -- they left Luis's cell phone number to call, which I did not do because he would have been in his car and it is illegal to use a cell phone while driving in this state. Anyway, I went across the street at least a dozen times during that interval and never found anybody home -- and the neighbors said they never saw anybody go in and out, so I have no idea what kind of game they are playing. Then yesterday, apparently in the late evening, somebody must have been inside the house because there were a lot of things piled at the sidewalk for trash pick up, which was this morning -- I took a nice square Victorian table and stashed it in the garage. Incidently, on my last trip inside, on the 1st, I left them the key to the lock on the chain of the alley entrance, in an envelope and put it with a small note in the mail slot. After my return from West Trenton today I called Jose and left a message on his machine -- did whoever was there find the key I left? -- that I could have had most of what is left thrown out already over these three weeks -- and that I was there many times but never found anyone home. Oh, well, I tried!
It has been hot and muggy this last week. I did not mention it before, at least I do not think I did -- I discovered that 4 of my main web sites won The Golden Web Award over the last 2 years -- I checked on their web site after I received one confirmation notice about 2 weeks ago -- I am happy!
Countdown to Father's Day
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