Irene Came For A Visit

Sunday evening, Ron and I went to Jackalope's for dinner. I couldn't believe the surf down there! It's not often that you see the shores of Lake Erie like this. It was really awesome!




I hate to be reveling in the pounding surf after all the damage that Irene has done, but we definitely seem to have received the best that Irene had to offer. She brought to Lorain cooler temperatures and a slight breeze.

Ok, Sunday night it was a stiff breeze, but the lower temps were nice.

I wanted to take a video so you could HEAR the surf. Let me tell you, that wind was a-blowin'. I had my arm braced against a pole trying to keep the video stable. I should have thought better of panning the camera so you could see all around since the wind was really blowing and I was having a hard time standing still in that wind.





So, here is what Irene gave to Lorain. After hearing the reports of her damage, we got real lucky.

Keep The Lights Down Low

Man, oh man, if you've ever wondered why movie theaters are so dark, wonder no more. I can tell you!

When Ron and I go to a movie, I like to go to the Regal Cinemas over at Cobblestone on Abbe Road. To me, it's cleaner than the ones at Midway Mall and I think more comfortable too. I'm not so sure now just how clean any of the theaters are.

Sunday, we decided to go to an early matinee. The show was at 12:30 pm and if you're interested, we went to see The Help. As a side bar here, it wasn't all I thought it was going to be, but I thoroughly enjoyed it! Any movie that makes me cry is a good one! Ok, it doesn't take much to make me cry, but I digress. I still give the movie my thumbs up.

Anyway, we got to the theater early, just after noon. I knew that being that early we'd have a wait, but that was ok. We got our sodas and headed in to pick out our seats. I like the back row against the wall just because with my back, I can't always make it to sit through a whole movie. If I have to, I can stand up back there and not be in any one's way. This time however, walking from the bottom of the theater where you come in, all the way to the top where we like to sit, I saw WAY more than I should have.

I'm guessing that since this was the first show of the day, they were just getting ramped up. All of the overhead lights were on! I've never been in a theater when ALL of the lights were on! People, there is a reason the theaters are dimmed! O M G, what I saw is now burned into my retinas.

The kids do go through and sweep up all of the dropped popcorn and such, and pick up all of the litter between shows and such but for real, I don't think that floor has been washed in years. If it has, shame on them if that's as clean as they could get it. But, that's not my gripe. The floors can be dirty. After all, we have shoes on and I'm not going to eat off of the floor. The seats however, were another story.

I can see YEARS of stains and spills and who knows what else. I honestly thought of just standing during the movie! I want to burn my clothes now! I should have taken a picture of the seats, but I didn't think of it until just now! I kept going down the row, looking for a couple of "cleaner" seats. The next thing I knew, I was at the wall and out of seats to look at! Yes, they were all that bad.

I don't know what I expected. After all, how many butts were in these seats this week. I don't know if it would be possible to keep them any cleaner, with the traffic that goes through a movie theater. I don't know what I expected, but holy cow, this wasn't it.

I will never wear good clothes to a theater again. And, when I get home, the clothes that I did wear will go right into the laundry!

Better yet, wait until the movie comes out on cable or on Netflix or Red Box or your DVD supplier of choice. My floors and furniture, even WITH cat hair on them, was a whole lot cleaner than the theater! And that, my friends, is why the theaters keep the lights down low. Remember, you heard it here first. The less you see, the better off you are.

Just thinking of it, I need a shower again. Eww.

Now That Was A Storm

Wednesday night we had a heck of a storm roll through this area.

When I left for work on Thursday, I could see downed branches and a lot of leaf litter all around. All in all, our neighborhood wasn't hit too hard. We lost power for just long enough to mess up all of the clocks but we were otherwise unscathed.

Then, I went to work. What a mess I was driving into! Or not quite driving into as the road was actually closed do to the damage.

The property across the street from where I work is full of very tall trees. During the storm, part of one of these trees fell taking out a telephone pole across the street, a car that was driving north on the street and a telephone pole on our side of the street. Trifecta!

When I got to work, the limbs in the street were just being taken out of the road but the car that was hit was still there. It took them two days to replace the two telephone poles and restring the wires but the best part of all this is WE didn't lose power! Well, I think we lost power for a little while during the night but by the time I got to work, power, phone and internet were all up and running. I've spent a day at work before manning the phones with no power. It was NOT fun!

After I got my day started, I took a minute to go outside and take some pictures. Because I could only sneak away for a minute to take the pictures, I did the best I could. The shadows were not cooperating with me!

This one shows the telephone pole on our side of the road at the left of the picture with the broker part of the pole across the bottom of the picture.


Another view of the same pole, with the broken part on the left in the shadows. And, since you can't read it, the white looking tape going across the picture says something like "DANGER!" and something about electrical danger. Who doesn't love a good electrical danger sign?



This is the car that was hit in the road. I don't know about the driver of the car since he/she was gone by the time I got there. Just the clean up crew was there. Note the downed wires in the foreground.



I hope the driver is ok.

What scares me the most is the tree that lost the branch that caused all of this. I don't know if this was hit by lightening or if the branch just came off in the wind. But the aftermath of the broken branch left this:


There really doesn't look like there is much left to this tree. As high as this break is, there is MUCH more tree above it. That's the part that worries me! Is this gonna come down? Is this gonna come down right on my head?


Backing up a little more . . .






I don't know how tall this tree is but it looks to me like it would reach the building where I am. As a new accessory to the safety shoes I have to wear at work, I should add a hard hat to my ensemble. I am such a trend setter.

I Didn't Mean To Hurt Him!

As you can tell, I'm a fan of blogs. I have my core blogs that I read all the time and on occasion, I like to surf the blog world. That's how I find new core blogs that I want to read. I really don't remember how I found Helene's blog as her world and my world are PLANETS apart. She's a married Mom of triplets plus a bonus baby! I am a single woman with two cats. For real!

But there is something about her writing that has had me hooked for a long time. I feel like I know her and her beautiful family. While our worlds are far apart, I find common ground with her. For example, I like that she can find the humor in the chaos that is her life. It gives me hope for mine.

I like that she loves to post pictures on her blog (hello??!!), I take note of some of her money saving ideas and, I get inspiration out of a lot of her GREAT recipes! She posted a recipe lately for stuffed peppers. While stuffed peppers isn't one of my favorite things, I've been wanting to try to make them and I thought her recipe sounded great because she used Thai sweet chili sauce. I am a HUGE fan of the Thai sweet chili sauce!

I know Phil does not like spicy stuff. But I didn't think the Thai sweet chili sauce would be TOO hot. ;-) I've snuck some things by Phil and I was hoping this would be one of them. (Sorry, brother.)

I'm not gonna kid you. This recipe took a little work. But O M G was it worth it! I did change her recipe up a little bit but I kept the sauce exactly as she had it. I think this is one of the BEST things I've ever made. Even Ron liked my cooking last night! Go me!

We were almost done with dinner though and Phil asked if I put any "extra spices" in the dinner. I had to come clean. I admitted to a couple of extra spices! Sorry, Phil but I loved it. He said his mouth was burning. Oops. I guess I hurt Phil more than I thought!

This morning I got a text from Phil that he was at the dentist's office with an abscessed tooth and he was waiting to get it pulled. Ugh, I feel your pain, brother.

I offered my condolences to Phil for his pain today. He got his tooth pulled and then came home with a bunch of meds, some of which were happy pills. Very happy pills! Phil may have been a rabble rouser in his youth, but in my adult hood, he's been mostly a straight arrow. Seeing Phil on pain meds, seeing Phil loopy, is hysterical! He's actually smiling!! I should take pictures of Phil loopy, but that would be just wrong somehow. I'll let the poor guy heal in peace. I'll just make him a blog topic sans pictures.

The old Catholic in me feels the Catholic guilt. I'm sorry if my cooking has put you in the dentist's chair and made you part with your tooth! At least my cooking didn't make you have your stomach pumped! See? Finding the humor in the chaos of my life! Thanks, Helene!

You Ain't Never Gonna Believe This!

Dogs. ME. With dogs. For the records, I still have 10 fingers and toes!

My friend Lisa and her husband Chuck have three adult dogs and they just added two puppies to their family. Lisa had asked me if I wanted to come meet her puppies and for some reason, I really DID want to meet her puppies!

Her adult dogs are Rottweilers. I wasn't so sure about meeting the adults, but the puppies were a mix of Labrador, Poodle and Golden Retriever. I thought puppies I could deal with.

Ron had to work this morning, so I met up with Lisa and Chuck for breakfast. I got really brave and decided to follow them home to meet the puppies! They would keep the adults in the house and would let the puppies out. I stayed safe in my car with the doors locked until I was sure that the adults were not in a position to eat me!

The puppies came out and bounded around the yard like they had springs in their feet! Something about puppies and kittens, you just gotta love them! They are so happy and so full of life! I looked at the puppies and while they were a lot bigger than I imagined, I felt with Lisa and Chuck there, I'd be ok inside of the fence with the two puppies.

I not only went inside of the fence, I got down on one knee and was playing with PUPPIES! In case anyone didn't know, puppies grow up to be DOGS! We all know how I feel about DOGS! Hey, I'm working my way in slowing. First I'll tackle puppies, then I'll work my way up and through her family one dog at a time.

Since this would be hard for most people to believe, of course, we have picture proof! Here is me and Gizmo with Chuck staying close for moral support.


Then it was Opie's turn for some Ree love! Please note that my finger is IN his mouth! And, he left it attached to ME!


Then me and Lisa both enjoying some puppy love!


Then it was time to reunite the entire family. Here is the whole gang! From left to right, we have Buster, Sadie, Opie, Leeloo and Gizmo.


Yes, I had to go to the other side of the fence for this part of the visit, but c'mon, this is HUGE for me! Leeloo really wanted to "meet" me. So she jumped up onto the fence and I met her half way. I even offered her my hand for a sniff and a lick and I must have been deemed ok since I still have my hand!


Please note here that I am NOT bending down to get Leeloo's picture. She IS that big!

It was a great day. Thank you to Lisa and to Chuck for introducing me to their family and helping me find the courage to play with the puppies. One day, I'll be inside of the fence with the rest of you!

Mr. Krasienko, Tear Down This Wall

With apologies to the late President Reagan for the literary license I took on one of his famous quotes. I'm allowed though.


Thanks to Mayor Tony Krasienko, we went from this:


To this:


To this:


And we have some more before and after shots:






And thank you to my brother, Phil, for going out in the middle of this to get me some pictures!

I am really conflicted here. I am thrilled that this eye sore has come down. The job is not complete, but based on how far they came in two days, I'm sure this will be finished quickly. We basically have the hole in the ground from the basement left. That will be filled in and closed up.

This has really made me sad though. Sad that a solid house had to come to this end. Someone tried to back door this through a broken system. It is my belief (Hey Mayor Krasienko, this is NOT literary license. This is MY opinion and MY opinion only. I don't need a license for that.) that this did not go through the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund. It is MY opinion that someone wanted rid of this house for whatever reason and gave it up to Tri-C to burn. After all, who in THIS neighborhood would care.

Well to Mayor Krasienko and the members of City Council:

Thank you for taking my neighborhood and putting it through the fire. You took a house, set it on fire, then left it there until I started a fire under your asses to take care of your mess.

Thank you to my cohorts in crime, Lisa and Loraine, for picking up my fight and helping me to get this issue out there so that Mayor Tony Krasienko and the members of City Council couldn't forget about it and pretend nothing was wrong. Also, thank you to Lisa for providing my literary license and for the use of her research and pictures from her blog.

One voice matters. Had I not started to vent my frustrations on my blog due to the treatment and brush off I received from Mr. Howard Goldberg, the house would have been forgotten by everyone but those of us that have to live next to it.

So, from all of us to all of you on the 7th floor and where ever else City Council reigns, thank you. Thank you for cleaning up your mess. I may not be worth the time of my own Councilman Tim Howard, and Mayor Tony Krasienko may think I'm not worth speaking to in a professional or even civil manner, but like it or not, I AM a member of this community. And you WILL hear me, even if only on this blog.

Just Between Us

This is one of them stories that I am embarrassed to tell! So, if you'd just keep it between us, I'd appreciate it.

I know I am amusing to my neighbors. I'm not graceful, not too knowledgeable, I just seem to know enough to get myself in trouble. For example, cutting the grass. The riding mower still scares the crap out of me, so I'm sure the occasional scream that slips out of me coupled with the funny faces I'm sure I make, guarantees that I am entertaining to watch.

Anybody out there ever water their lawn? It's not as easy as you think! We have one of them nozzles that you jam into the ground and then it goes softly left to right, then ratchets itself back from right to left. You can set your arc as wide or narrow as you want, as long as you can figure out how to set the doo-hickey stops on it.

I don't water my lawn often, but this time of year seems to bring it out in me. I've had a green lawn most of the summer and now it's turning brown in big patches due to the heat and not enough rain. Last week, I thought I'd be nice to my grass and set up the hose. With the big yard that I have, I have to do this in zones. I figured I could at least spend a couple of hours on the worst of the brown patches.

I jammed the spike into the ground and then went and turned the water on. Just like in the movies, of course I have it backwards and there is no way to get from where I am to where it is without getting wet. No worries, I was prepared for that! I have on my shorts, a shirt and no socks or shoes. I'm as prepared as I can get!

I walk through the water, get the spike out of the ground and jam in back in after I turned it around. Then I have to watch the water go back and forth until I get that arc starting and stopping exactly where I want it. Like I said, easier said than done. But, finally, I get it. I'm soaked, but the grass is getting watered and the neighbor's car isn't. Win/win.

Now I go back into the house to eat dinner. That's when I notice that my feet are covered with grass! Yeah, I'm a fan of mulching your clippings back into your grass so there is grass clipping all over the yard, especially all over my wet feet!

I'm standing on the rug in the kitchen trying to use a paper towel to dry my feet and get all the grass off of them. Yeah, that ain't working.

Then I see that the sinks are empty. My hair brained mind figured why not just rinse my feet off in the sink??? I am good at planning. Unfortunately the execution part of my plans is usually lacking.

Have I mentioned I am NOT graceful?

I stand next to my sink. I left my left leg up and place my left foot into the dirty side of the sink. So far, so good! To be honest, I'm freakin' impressed that I could lift my leg that high! Once my foot was rinsed free of grass clippings, I realized I'm was in trouble. Um, what goes up should come down, but my foot was not cooperating. There is no way that I was going to stand on one foot, lift my left foot higher to get it up and over the sink and get it down to the floor without killing myself or at least breaking my leg.

"RON!!!"

Poor guy. Imagine his life with me! I can only imagine what goes through his head some days when he gets called to come save me once again! Being the good guy that he is, he came over, dried my foot with a paper towel and then helped me get both feet back on the floor.

Aah, thanks honey! But, "since you're standing there, please help me do the other one"! So, I lifted my right leg, got my right foot into the sink, rinsed, and Ron again dried my foot and then helped me plant both feet safely back on the floor. For real, how many people get stuck in their kitchens with one foot in their sink?

I can't make this stuff up! Some days I think I should charge admission for glimpses into my life. I can be entertaining, just ask Ron!

Update On My Car

I took my car first thing on Saturday morning to get that catalytic converter looked at.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and my book and I was prepared to sit and wait all day to have my car fixed. I walked into Monro Muffler and Brake right after they opened at 7:30 am Saturday morning.

I talked to the guy there about what happened. His first question was "do you park in tall grass?" Um, no, I don't. I'm either in the garage or in a paved parking lot. No tall grass. He said that was what the cover to the catalytic converter was for. If I wasn't parking in tall grass, I didn't need to replace the entire converter! Bonus for me!

I asked about the heat coming up through the floor and under the seat. Did I need to be worried about that? He assured me that there was a heat shield under the floor so I was covered there, too. For real, no need to throw money into my car right now. I was good to go!

So, I grabbed my still full cup of coffee and my unopened book and I was home by 8:00 am!

Two honest people in one week? First a tow truck driver and then a mechanic? Who knew? I SO got lucky this week!!

I have a catalytic converter but I have no shield around it. Just to make sure, don't get too close to me. The heat coming off of me just might not all be from hot flashes!

Scraaaaape!

Last night was not one of my best nights!

Ok, it started out great. My friend Karen and I met up after work last night for a nice dinner and gossip and catching up. The trouble came along when I started to head home.

We met up in Strongsville for dinner so I got on the turnpike to come home. I think people like the higher speed limit on the turnpike as now traffic was MUCH heavier than I can remember.

Anyway, I'm driving, probably doing 75 mph in the center lane and I hear something "funny". Sounds like metal scraping and at first I thought it was coming from the radio. I shut the radio off but I still heard it. I was next to a semi that was in the right lane so then I decided the sound came from the semi.

However, I eventually passed him up and had no one around me yet I STILL heard the sound. I made an SOS call to Ron and told him I thought I was having car trouble and I was pulling over to check it out. I tried to wait until I got to the next exit, or to a mile marker number in case I had to call for help, or at least to a pull off on the turnpike, but the metal sound was getting louder. I pulled as far off of the road as I could get, put my four-way flashers on and got out of the car. I looked all around, I didn't see one of my bumpers hanging and I saw all four tires were on the car and not flat. It all looked good to me! Yeah, so much for my expertise!

I got back in the car, told Ron it might be a false alarm and then started to mosey along the shoulder picking up some speed. I didn't make it far since as soon as I started moving, the noise was right back! Dang, something was seriously wrong! I was back out of the car and again, all around looking for what could be making that noise. After finally looking further UNDER my car, I see it. I have no idea what "it" is, but I see it. It's metal and it's hanging from about the middle of my car, just behind the front tired. Damn, this ain't good.

Still with Ron on the phone, I came to the realization that I was going to need a tow. That decided, there was nothing Ron could do, so I called the turnpike emergency number (which for the record is *990) and prayed someone would answer.

I'm not sure who monitors that number since it was hard to hear standing by the side of the road with cars and semis whizzing by you at 80 miles an hour. But, whoever answered transferred me to someone and I tried my best to tell them where I was. I've been on the turnpike a gazillion times and I obviously drive it without thinking because I had NO clue where I was.

I knew I was west bound. Ok, I HOPED I was west bound. After thinking for a minute, I remembered passing the go kart place by the Route 10 exit. I thought I couldn't be but a minute past that heading west. She asked me for more specifics. If I knew, I'd tell you! But telling her I was standing next to a white flower or next to an empty Diet Coke bottle wasn't helping her. I looked around and realized I was between two overpasses. THAT for some reason helped her.

She said she'd send help and that they'd be there in 30 to 45 minutes. When you're stuck on the side of the road and that road is the turnpike, 30 to 45 minutes is an eternity. A few minutes later, the tow truck driver called me and again tried to nail down where I was and I gave him the same information. He said he'd look for me west of the Route 10 exit and if he didn't see me, he'd call me back. I knew I was in trouble because if he didn't see me then I really had NO idea where the hell I was.

Once I hung up that phone, I was suddenly feeling more alone than I can remember feeling in a LONG time. I didn't know what to do with myself, I didn't know where to go.

I remember when I lived in Houston, it was common to hear about people getting hit on the freeways while pulled over. Also common were Good Samaritans getting killed while they were changing some one's tire. You know, as people are driving by, they are looking at what's going on at the side of the road and they end up aiming for and hitting the stopped vehicle. That's all I could think of so I was terrified to get back in my car.

I thought if I walked down the embankment from my car and a little behind it, I'd be safe. That way, if someone hit my car, they'd both miss me as momentum would carry them to my right. Unfortunately, standing in the grass I was a feast for every living creature there. I am one big bite all up and down both legs. Before bleeding to death by bug bite, I came up from the embankment and back to the shoulder of the road.

Afraid to stand behind my car for fear of someone hitting me before my car, I decided to walk about 100 feet in front of my car and stand there on the shoulder. I thought that way, if someone did hit my car, hopefully I'd have time to jump out of the way. Yeah, that's what I thought. Like I said, I haven't been THAT alone in a long long time.

Where is the safest place to be? People I've talked to have differing opinions. Finally out of fear of someone throwing something at me while driving by, I got back in my car, belted up and prepared for impact. Like I said, it was a LONG 30 to 45 minutes. Semis crossed the white line of the shoulder and passed by me with hardly more than two feet to spare. I was going to get out of the car and go back on the embankment and faced more bug bites but I was afraid of what would come out of the taller weeds behind me and drag me back into the weeds. I felt like I was in a no-win situation.

I was always a big fan of the turnpike when I traveled. Yes, you paid for it, but you got what you paid for. I got to where I was going much faster than if I traveled the local highways. In the winter, the turnpike would be plowed and maintained MUCH better than any other road. Also, the turnpike is patrolled well. As a woman traveling alone, I appreciated this point thinking if I ever broke down, it wouldn't be long before help found me.

I was wrong on that point. I was pulled over for 45 minutes from my phone call for help to the tow truck showing up. Since I called an emergency number, I guess I assumed an emergency vehicle, such as a patrol car of some denomination, would show up to make sure I was ok. I never even saw one go by. For most of that 30 to 45 minutes I was a woman standing alone on the side of the road. I guess I'm not skinny enough or have boobs big enough to warrant anyone pulling over to see if I was ok. That is a rude awakening as a human being, that with the increased traffic on the turnpike, and trust me, the traffic was CRAZY, no one would pull over.

I was never so happy to see the flashing lights from a tow truck before! My new best friend Doug with Rich's Towing & Service. Doug was very nice and didn't live up to the bad reputation of a lot of tow truck drivers. I explained my situation and Doug crawled up under the car to have a look. As I'm thinking of how I'm going to get to work the next day, Doug had diagnosed my problem and had a temporary solution for me.

I guess the cover from my catalytic converter had rusted apart and the bottom half was now dragging on the ground, hence the metal sound. Doug said he could rip off the cover so that the sound would stop and that I didn't need to be towed. He said I would be good to drive home and that sounded good to me!

Doug crawled back under the car, gave the cover a couple of pulls and off it came. I had to pay for the service call which I gladly did and even gave Doug a tip for his trouble. Hey, he could have easily towed my car and charged me a HELL of a lot more than the $50 service charge and then I'd be at the mercy of some mechanic that I don't know to fix my car. This way, my car was good to get back on the road and I will head over to get it fixed this weekend.

I know, it could have been worse. My self esteem took a hell of a shot last night and I have a whole new family of gray hairs that sprouted up from the terror of being that close to speeding death machines unprotected.

I put the piece of crap cover from my catalytic converter on my table to take some pictures for the blog. Benny had to help me take the pictures! He was the bright spot of my evening for sure. Most of my pictures came out blurry with some part of Benny running through the shot. Here is the rest of them, including one gratuitous cat shot.





Thanks to Doug for not gouging me on the tow last night. I do appreciate that.

And phht to everyone that didn't stop to see if I was ok and a bigger PHHT to the semi that crossed the white line and came WAAAY too close to hitting me.

I'll let you know how the repairs go. Hopefully I can get them done this weekend in between everything else.

Customer Service Done Right

Some people have it, some people don't.

That is very evident now that I'm living back in the north. This was one good part about living in the south. They take their customer service seriously!

Then you move back to the north and I swear, most people in Ohio have never heard of the words "customer service".

I'm not so naive to believe that the customer is always right, even when that customer is me. However, I'm the one spending my hard earned money in your establishment, so is it too much to expect you to give me your undivided attention for the 30 seconds it takes to take my money? Really, am I asking too much?

I hate going to the grocery store to have the high school cashier so busy talking to the cashier next to her or the kid bagging the groceries and doesn't even acknowledge my existence. HEY! I'm spending money here! A simple "hello" would go a far way! Heaven forbid I get a "were you able to find everything ok?" It beats the hell out of having to hear about how much she drank at the party last night or how she made out with that cute guy at the party. Yeah, like I need to hear that.

I know, I can go to the self check outs and not have to worry about being ignored by the cashiers. But, you know what? I figure that I'm spending enough money on my groceries that I shouldn't have to ring myself up and bag up my groceries to boot. You want ME to do all the work, then I should get a discount on my groceries. If I'm paying full price, I want full service.

There is one bright spot to my customer service disappointments. Did y'all ever shop at Sam's Club in Elyria?

The next time you're there, look for Margaret at the front door. Margaret is both retired and widowed, and decided that she didn't want to waste her life away at home alone. So, she got a job at Sam's Club as a greeter and greet she does! Margaret had gone through some health issues and was off of work for almost a year but Sam's Club was smart enough to bring her back to her job. She is definitely an asset to their organization.

Margaret greets everyone with a smile, a heart felt "how are you" and for some of us, one of the best hugs ever! I tell her that she is the reason I'm at Sam's Club every week, her hugs are that good! I was just there last night when I got the idea that I need to tell everyone about Margaret!

So, the next time you're at Sam's Club, look for Margaret and see what customer service is all about. She makes you feel happy about spending your money at Sam's Club. Isn't that what customer service is all about?

And Back To The World Of Bad Politics

Just an update on the world of bad politics in Lorain.

Last Monday, Mr. Goldberg called me to give me an update. Per Mr. Goldberg, bids have come in on the demolition of the burned out house across the street and one of the bids has been accepted by the City of Lorain.

The next step is that the City of Lorain will issue a purchase order then a 10 day notice will go out to the EPA or for the EPA, I forget which, and then after the 10 days the demolition can start. Hopefully in 20 to 30 days from last Monday, the house should be coming down.

Lisa did a little digging and found the minutes from the Board of Control meeting corroborating Mr. Goldberg's phone call. You can see Lisa's blog here.

I can do a whole blog on "Board of Control". And, perhaps I need to. Ridiculous that TWO people can sit down and make such decisions is ridiculous. Enough about that for now.

So, to reiterate, the house should be coming down within 30 days. Regardless of what Mr. Goldberg says and regardless what the Board of Control says, I say I'll believe it when I see it.

Good Dog, Bad Dog

Anyone that knows me, knows how I feel about dogs. I don't have anything against them personally, but seeing one usually causes me to fly into a panic attack. This is not something I can control.

Last week my world was full of dogs.

First at work of all places! Keep in mind, work is kinda out in the country. A few days before the incident I am going to tell you about, I happened to look out my window of my office and saw a very large white dog just outside of my window! He looked a bit skinny but he was still a big dog. What the heck, where did he come from? BIG dog! I was terrified for a few days getting in and out of my car, thinking that this dog might be outside.

So now to last week. I look outside and see this dog is back! Our FedEx guy is also in the parking lot. He is trying to turn the truck around in the front parking lot and this dog is all excited! The poor driver was having a heck of a time moving the truck without hitting the dog! The dog really wasn't acting vicious, just really excited about seeing someone outside.

I went to our front door in time to see Mr. FedEx getting out of his truck and the dog running towards him. Then, I don't see Mr. FedEx as he's behind our cars. I don't hear the dog growling or barking, but I now don't see either one of them! Yeah, I got kinda worried but not worried enough to go outside to check on him. Hey, I have my limits!

Suddenly, Mr. FedEx stands up brushing off his pants and he and the dog come walking up to the door. Yeah, right, like I'm going to unlock the door to Mr. FedEx AND a dog! A BIG dog! Nuhuh. I motioned to Mr. FedEx that the dog is NOT coming in, despite the fact that the dog's nose is pressed against the crack of the door.

Mr. FedEx shushed the dog back and I let him in. I explained my fear of dogs to him and then we started talking about the dog. To me, the dog looked skinny. You could see his ribs but I wouldn't call him emaciated. But I thought he was thin. Mr. FedEx agreed that the dog was thin. He called the dog a yellow lab and said the dog was extremely friendly and probably lost and hungry.

I told Mr. FedEx that I saw the dog around the week before so between us, came up with the story that the dog was probably lost all that time and scrounging for food! Hey, it sounded like a good story to me! Mr. FedEx walked out the door and I went back to my desk. All I could think was "poor hungry lost dog". Yes, me.

I went to the fridge, pulled the pepperoni out of my salad (I didn't think a dog would like raw spinach), poured some water into a cup and went back outside! Outside, where there is a loose BIG DOG!!

Lucky for me, Mr. FedEx was still there and actually, he was scrounging in his truck for something for this dog, too. Now, sit down 'cause you are NEVER gonna believe this! I FED the dog!!!

Ok, not right from my hand, but I called him over and as he got close, I dropped a few pieces of pepperoni on the ground for him. Once I was out of pepperoni, he was looking at me for more! Now was the time for panic! He actually started licking my hand and I had dog slobber ALL over my hand! But, miracle of miracles, I still had ALL of my fingers!

The dog now looked to me as his new best friend! Mr. FedEx came from his truck with a handful of dog treats. He says he carries them for the vicious dogs but this guy needed some love too. After he fed the dog some treats, we tried to get him to take some water from the cup. That took some doing but the dog finally figured it out.

As the dog was drinking, Mr. FedEx took the dog's collar and read off to me the owner's phone number. My cell was in my pocket so I called the owner and explained that her dog was at work with me.

Ok, I'm not a dog lover but I was concerned about this poor creature that I thought didn't look healthy. The owner wasn't too concerned. She actually lives a few houses down and she leaves the dog outside because he's old and some times makes a mess in the house. Ugh. My heart was breaking for this poor guy. But, she did walk over with one of her kids and picked this poor guy up.

I went back to work absolutely elated that I actually walked outside on PURPOSE knowing that a dog was out there. I thought Mr. FedEx had left so I was actually willing to go out there alone. I ended up with dog hair all over my legs from him leaning against me and a hand full of happy doggy slobber. ME!

I was on a dog high for this. I'm sure not everyone will appreciate just what it took for ME to walk up to a dog to feed and water it and pet it. ME. My hand were so close to his HUGE teeth that I ended up with dog slobber ALL over my hand. I was amazed and so proud of myself.

But . . . what goes up, must come down.

Fast forward a few measly days.

It's flea season and I get some stuff from my vet that I put on the back of their necks once a month to prevent fleas. I needed to run to the vet to pick up the next dose of the medicine. If any of you have ever been in a vet's office, you know they tend to be full of dogs! It takes everything in me to just walk in the door. That's a testament to how much I love my cats that I'm willing to walk into the vet's office for their meds!

I walk in, but I have to do it my way. Two girls are working the counter checking people in and out. The girl on the right said she could help me but to get to her, I'd have to walk in between the lady checking out with her dog and a lady sitting on the bench next to the counter with a big boxer. I looked at both dogs and told the employee that I'd wait.

The woman with the boxer could tell I was terrified and she actually moved down the bench a bit to give me more room. But, by now the other lady was done checking out so with that dog gone, I had what I felt was enough room to walk up to the counter safely.

She got me the meds, I got out my credit card. As we were finishing up, I heard the door behind me open and then I felt someone behind me and I heard a "WUF". Without even turning around, my heart started to pound out of my chest. Then I heard someone say "WOW! How much does THAT weight?" Yeah, I knew that "WUF" didn't come from a chihuahua. The owner of the beast said "oh, she only weighs 143 pounds". Really? 143 pounds for a DOG? From hearing their conversation, the dog was an English Mastiff. Here is what an English Mastiff looks like.


This is not the dog that was in the vet's office last week, this is just a picture I found on the internet. But, you get the idea of how BIG these dogs are!

You want to talk about a full blown panic attack! I wanted nothing more than to jump over the counter and hide. By now the tears were flowing freely and I couldn't have stopped them if my life depended on it.

Somehow I finished up my transaction and got my wallet back in my purse and I was out the door. I really don't remember much of anything between hearing 143 pounds and walking into my house. For real, I don't remember.

In the morning, I went to look for the meds and could not find them in my purse, in my car or in my house. WTF.

I planned on calling the vet's office when they opened at 9:00 but I got busy and forgot about it. Sure enough, around 10:00, the vet's office called me and said I left the meds on the counter! She said I didn't look well, and I was out of there so quickly that she tried to catch me in the parking lot but I was GONE! She had NO idea just how gone I was!

From the highest high to the lowest low. How could I have dog slobber all over my hand one day and a few days later be in a full blown panic attack again. I really thought I was making progress last week with dogs. Now I'm back to square one.

And Back In The Real World

And, back to the real world where people are good.

Speaking of good people, let's talk about my friends Ruth and Jeff from New York! They have been my friends for more years than I want to admit. I don't think I'm old enough to have friends for that long!

Anyway, the weekend before the 4th of July, Ruth and Jeff came out for the weekend. We fit a lot of fun and a lot of catching up into a few days, let me tell you!

We had picture perfect weather that weekend. They picked the best weekend to come for a visit, the weekend of the International Festival. If you've been reading my blog for awhile, then you know I am a HUGE fan of the International Festival. The only negative thing I could say about it, is that usually the weather is lousy for the festival. Lousy as in hot and humid. I don't think we could have had a more perfect day this year as far as the weather went!

Unfortunately, I was so interested in playing tour guide to my friends that I barely took out my camera while they were here! Most of my pictures were courtesy of Ruth! Thanks for letting me use them!!

One of the stops after Pete's for breakfast and on our way to the festival was to make a stop at Lakeview Park. It was pure luck that found us there while they were having the volleyball tournament! I don't follow the volleyball circuit so I have no idea what organization was playing, but it was a lot of fun to sit down there and watch some of the activity. I've played a little volleyball in my day (never well, but I've played!) but these two man teams are amazing! There had to be 20 nets with games going on at one time. It was hard to decide which net to watch!




It was a little breezy and cooler right down on the beach, which I'm sure the volleyball players appreciated.

Then, a couple of pictures of the tourists! First, Jeff and Ron talking guys stuff. Please note they are in the rose garden, but I'm sure, talking guy stuff and NOT roses!


Then, Ruth and I, talking girl stuff!


While at the rose garden, I tried to channel Mark! I walked around, saying "WWMD". That's my "What Would Mark Do". I got a couple of what I thought are good shots, but his blog always gives me great ideas! I have a ton of stuff I want to do if ever I get caught up on my blogging!!

Anyway, here are a couple of good shots of the roses.




And since I know next to nothing about roses, I can't give you too much information about these. The only thing I can say about the next picture is that I had no idea that roses would look like this but I absolutely fell in love with this one. If it hadn't been in the rose garden, I don't know that I would have guessed it was a rose!


Ok, the bud looks like a rose but the full open flower didn't. But I absolutely loved this flower!

That's the kind of weekend we had. Good friends, good food, good conversation and just catching up. A lot of time was spent around my dining room table and even Benny got into our conversation. Ok, this is really nothing more than a gratuitous cat shot!


Hopefully, it won't be so long in between our next visit. Ruth and Jeff now have a standing reservation here for the International Festivals! You can't go wrong with that!

Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko - That's Just Wrong, Page 25

For real! There are so many things going through my head right now I just don't know where to start!

I went to my very first City Council meeting last night. I was surprised by a lot of information that I heard. I have quite a few topics I'd like to delve into here but I'll stick with just a follow up on my last post for now. Remember the burned out house on West 25th Street in Lorain? In case you forgot:


Lisa linked my previous post to her blog and she shared my indignation at the lack of information received from Howard Goldberg from City Development as to how long this eye sore was going to remain in my neighborhood.

In turn, Loraine Ritchey linked up Lisa Miller's blog and my blog. She was even nice enough to send along the links to members of City Council and the mayor! See? It's not only me that knows this is just wrong. And for that, Loraine took a lot of heat for MY blog.

Mayor Tony Krasienko called Loraine and complained to her about MY blog. Um, isn't he a mayor of the people? Am I not one of the people? Why couldn't he comment on MY blog if he had issues with MY blog? First, from Loraine's comment on my last post:

Loraine Ritchey said...

Also I just received a phone call mrom Mayor Krasienko on the subject - he explained that all fire depts attend different burns in other communities and the house will be taken down in a timely manner- he suggested calling the 7th floor with concerns..

Ok, I guess I'm an idiot, but when I read that comment, I had no idea what "calling the 7th floor" meant. Is that a restaurant? A business? Mercy Hospital on Kolbe Road in Lorain only has five floors (I called to check!) so that wasn't it. Come to find out, Mayor Tony Krasienko's office is on the 7th floor of City Hall! For real, who knew?

Then, according to Loraine Ritchey, Mayor Tony Krasienko complained to her that I should have called HIM with a problem? Really? Why didn't he contact ME that there was going to be a burn? I received a flier from Tri-C Fire Academy 12 hours or so before the burn. I heard nothing from the Mayor, Tom Brown, the Fire Chief, or anyone from the City of Lorain. The name on the flier to contact with questions or concerns was Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. That was where I started. Then he gave me a name and then that guy sent me to Mr. Goldberg. I followed what I thought was the proper chain of command.

Did I think of calling Mayor Tony Krasienko for assistance? To be honest, I did think of calling him. But, I figured since his days are numbered as the Mayor of Lorain, that he would care less about my problem. Boy, was I right on that one!

I was a City Council virgin before last night. I have never been to a City Council meeting and honestly, I had to find out where City Hall was. But, we all went: me, Ron, Phil and Lisa. As Ron and I were walking in, I heard Director of Public Service, Robert Gilchrist talking to a woman. I heard him say something about "boy, did your blog sure cause a stir". I ran up to them and asked if she was Loraine Ritchey! Who else could he have been talking about causing such a stir! So, I introduced myself to Loraine and to Mr. Gilchrist and then we walked in to City Hall.

I learned so much last night from Loraine, and I learned even more from Mayor Tony Krasienko and certain City Council members.

From Mayor Tony Krasienko's reelection bid website, he listed his seven priorities, # 5 (or # 2, depending on how you count!) was to engage citizens to help make our city stronger. Really?

Is that why he took a pot shot at me during the City Council meeting last night? Is THAT how you engage citizens?

The subject of the burned out houses was brought up by Councilman Silecky and then Councilwoman Molnar added to it. (*As a side note here, yes that is plural. Houses. Please see Lisa's blog with pictures of the other house!) Then, it was Mayor Tony Krasienko's turn to have his say. Mayor Tony Krasienko said that all this was brought about because someone took "literary license and took all this out of context and made this into something it's not." Really?? Really??? That was a real professional comment!

Let's see, "literary license". I may not be an English major, but my understanding of literary license is to embellish facts or make facts up to support a story. In other words, lie. PLEASE, Mayor Tony Krasienko, tell me where I lied. What part is not the truth?

Mayor Tony Krasienko, if you read my previous post, and I know you did, my concern and anger had NOTHING to do with the house being burned. From my previous post:

I waited to see what would now happen to this house. And waited. And waited. I waited 30 days which I felt was a reasonable time to wait.

From there, I stated:

I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/10/11 at 2:32 pm requesting he call me back with what the plans are to tear down this house.

The "him" I was referring to here was Mr. Goldberg. I am not going to re-post my entire blog here but I assure you that no where in my post did I complain that the house on West 25th Street in Lorain OH was burned. My concern was and has been that no one would or could tell me when this eye sore will be torn down!

Go ahead, Mayor Tony Krasienko, reread that last post. I'll wait. If you need help with the big words, try dictionary.com. My concern was and is when is this house being torn down?

Ok, so Mayor Tony Krasienko got his pot shot in to me. Literary license. What irritated me the most was the fact that I was not given an opportunity to respond to Mayor Tony Krasienko!

After that, Fire Chief Tom Brown fell on the sword and I'm assuming tried to take one for the team. He claimed that if Council or anyone should be mad at someone, they should be mad at him. It was Chief Brown that spearheaded the controlled burns in Lorain.

I don't know if I can commend him for throwing himself up like that, but I still say he's taking the blame for the wrong problem! I don't CARE about the burn. WHEN is the house coming down?

After the meeting, I was invited into an office with Council-At-Large Dan Given and Howard Goldberg! I'm not sure who thought this was a good idea but there we were. We shook hands around and I started with the literary license B.S. I explained my definition to Mr. Given and Mr. Goldberg and asked Mr. Goldberg point blank to tell me where I lied. I asked him where I got it wrong. Mr. Goldberg chose not to answer the question. That was a common theme for the night.

Then, Councilman Given explained that in a City Council meeting, it is not permitted for the public to get up and speak. I was erroneously placated by that statement until I found out later that if I was invited to speak by a Council member, that would have been acceptable! There were quite a few council people that knew I was there and why I was there. But, I feel that since Chief Brown fell on his sword, they figured this issue was over. After all, who can be mad at the fire department? The firemen are ALWAYS the hero.

I guess Councilman Given finally realized that I'm not a violent person and he excused himself from the office leaving me and Mr. Goldberg in there alone. For real, this guy likes to hear himself talk. It doesn't matter about what, but I dare you to get a word in edgewise! I know I should have walked out too, but I figured I'd stay for the show!

In that short span of time (it felt like hours but I'm guessing it was about 10 minutes) I heard that he went to Israel, I got to listen to him stammer while he read a long email on his phone (all the while telling me to just wait a second), I heard how arsenic is "indigenous in our soil" (I'm not going to touch that one!), I heard him talk about blaming Columbus or blaming Washington. Yeah, way to stay on topic, Mr. Goldberg.

Again, why someone thought it was a good idea to put the two of us in a room together is beyond me. After all, it is because of Mr. Goldberg that the entire City Council and Mayor Tony Krasienko got their collective panties in a wad. Had Mr. Goldberg talked to me like a human being instead of getting defensive after my three phone calls, and actually just answered my question, or at least told me he'd look into it and get back to me, then none of this would have happened. None of it. Good people skills there, Mr. Goldberg.

There were so many inconsistencies coming from Mr. Goldberg from the day of our phone call to last night that I'd be here all night tonight listing them. But one that struck me as funny was that during our phone call, Mr. Goldberg ASSURED me that he'd call me as soon as the funds were released and the bidding process was going to get started. If that was the truth, or in other words, not a lie, then why did he again ask for my phone number last night so that he could call me when the funds were released? Just asking.

Thanks to Loraine Ritchey for so eloquently explaining literary license to us all.

So, there you go. Literary license. By the way, Mayor Tony Krasienko, I looked at the City of Lorain's website. I couldn't find any link or information as to where I could go in City Hall to get a literary license! Since I couldn't find it on your website, I had to go out and find my own. Thanks to Lisa for the license!!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

In the beginning, it was all fun and games. I had a neighborhood full of firemen! For most women, that is exciting!


Now, however, we're back to reality and the buzz of firemen in firetrucks has worn off. Let's go back to the beginning of the story here.

We received a flier at home from Cuyahoga Community College that their live burn training was going to be conducted at the empty house across the street. The training was on May 6th, 9th and 10th. They warned of smoke in the neighborhood and advised everyone to keep their doors and windows closed.

My first thought was why was CUYAHOGA Community College coming to LORAIN that is in LORAIN County to burn down houses for their training. For real, like Cuyahoga County doesn't have any run down or empty houses of their own to burn down? Fine. Whatever.

It was fun for the three days to see all of these anxious young people, in full turn out gear, meeting up at the house at 7:00 in the morning! Too bad all of the fun stuff happened after I had to leave for work.

After the first day of training, here is what we had.



Now they are finished with their three days of training and here is what we are left with.




Hey, I am all about education and I realize that firefighters need to learn somewhere. I still don't understand why Cuyahoga Community College is coming to Lorain County to wreak their havoc though. I'm guessing someone is benefiting greatly financially. But, that is just my guess. I can tell you, it's NOT me.

I waited to see what would now happen to this house. And waited. And waited. I waited 30 days which I felt was a reasonable time to wait.

I started with a phone call to Ted Huffman, the Commander of Tri-C Fire Training Academy. Mr. Huffman was very pleasant, gave me some information like that this demolition is covered by federal grant money under the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund. That made me start to feel a little better since I couldn't imagine where Lorain was supposed to be coming up with the cash to tear this down now.

Mr. Huffman gave me the name and number to his second in charge, Dan Waitkus. My apologies to Mr. Waitkus because I did not write down his title so I will not attempt to guess at what it was. I will tell you that Mr. Waitkus was very pleasant and a wealth of information.

According to Mr. Waitkus, Lorain goes into the agreement with Tri-C then Tri-C takes on the financial responsibility of having the environmental study done on the property. This needs to be done prior to the burning but regardless of the burning, it would need done prior to the demolition of the house. I thought this house looked to be in pretty good shape so I am really surprised that it was slated for demolition. C'mon now, there are a ton of properties that are in MUCH worse shape that this one was. Mr. Waitkus agreed that the property was in very good shape and was also surprised that they got to burn this one.

So, there is a cost saving for the city of Lorain, not to have to pay for the environmental study on the properties. Then, the rest of the demolition would be covered by the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, which Mr. Waitkus thought Lorain already had the money for. Moving up the food chain, he gave me the name and number for Howard Goldberg with the Community Development department for the City of Lorain.

I will try to stick to the facts and leave out any personal thoughts or feelings on this guy.

I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/10/11 at 2:32 pm requesting he call me back with what the plans are to tear down this house.

I called and left him a detailed voice mail on 6/14/11 at 3:03 pm again requesting a call back with what the plans are to tear down this house.

I called and left him yet another detailed voice mail on 6/22/11 at 1:40 pm and this message he finally responded to.

Mr. Goldberg stated that my first two calls were not returned since I never left him my phone number. Really? I make calls for a living and I have a vested interest in hearing from you, so you don't think I would leave my phone number? Whatever.

Mr. Goldberg then stated that he does not have the funds from the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund, nor does he know when the government will be release the funds.

I asked him for the name of whom I should call to find out WHEN these funds will be released. Things kinda got a little nasty here. According to Mr. Goldberg, "there is no need to call any one". I asked him if I could quote him on that and he gave his permission.

No need to call anyone, huh?

So much for sticking to the facts, now I am going to get into the emotional he said/she said portion of this blog.

Mr. Goldberg told me that once the funds were released, then there would be three or four phases of bidding out the jobs to get the demolition done. So much for having the funds to do this. We started talking about WHY Lorain would allow Tri-C to come to MY neighborhood and do this - there had to be SOME financial settlement to SOME one to make this happen. Mr. Goldberg actually thought I would believe him when he said that there was NO money changing hands and actually Lorain was in the hole with this whole situation.

I brought up the fact that Tri-C was footing the bill for the environmental studies so right there was SOME financial gain for the city of Lorain. He at first claimed to not know anything about that, and then when I wouldn't let it drop, finally conceded that he would have to look into if THAT environmental study is good enough for the city to use before the actual demolition.

Mr. Goldberg was NOT happy to have to talk to me and answer my questions, even though he admitted that it was my RIGHT as a tax paying citizen to ask these questions and try to get some answers. Even if he thinks that the buck stops with him and that I do not need to call any one else to get this eye sore out of my neighborhood, I don't want to let it drop here. Mr. Goldberg told me that the demolition would happen but he wouldn't give me a date since if they missed that date, then I wouldn't be happy with that. So, I asked him for a ball park - 2012? 2013? He didn't see the humor in that but added that he thought this would be done by the end of 2011. I'll believe it when I see it.

All I can say is I don't believe many people do something for nothing. Especially a cash poor city like Lorain, out of the goodness of their hearts, to take on an additional financial burden so that Tri-C could train their students. Yeah, and I bet the Henderson-Loftin Bridge is for sale, too.

Granted this house was empty for awhile, but it looked to be in good shape. Why have it slated for demolition and used for burn training? Someone somewhere got something for this. I'm not saying that Mr. Goldberg profited from this personally, but I can't imagine that someone didn't profit on this. Otherwise, there was NO reason for Tri-C to come this far just to mess up my neighborhood more than it is already.

So, where do I go from here? Since Mr. Goldberg feels there is no need to call anyone else, perhaps we can all call him for updates on when the government is releasing the funds for the demolition of this eye sore.

Howard Goldberg, 440-204-2063 and the house address is 522 West 25th Street, Lorain.

And they wonder why people are leaving Lorain.

Construction Update

First let me address Smith Paving. While I was pissed about the ungodly hour for construction, that WAS the only day they started so early. The rest of the week the noise has started about 7:30 am. I cannot complain about that. Besides, this road was a mess and REALLY needed repaired. I am trying to be patient but c'mon, I am not a nice person at 6:40 in the morning! Thanks to Lisa and Loraine for letting me know about the person to contact about the noise ordinance. Now, if anyone knows who to contact about the butt crack ordinance, I'd appreciate that! Oof.

Now, on to an update!

Part of my tree lawn is littered with little flags. I am all about flags but with bifocals, I had to get up close to see what they said!


Gas lines, cool. I realize they are under there but some how pointing them out just kinda freaked me out. I see there is a new line in the tree lawn. Mike says the line has always been there, but they might have just made it more visible. Ok, that made sense.


I wish they'd work on my water line. I've hit that with the damn mower more times than I can count! I'll have to get pictures of it since it really looks beat up. It couldn't all be from my bad mowing, but I sure put my marks on it! But, I digress.

This must be the old line which was about 20 feet or so to the south of the new line.


And, a new line a couple of feet or so away from the one above.


I am not a good visualizer. That's why I needed help placing the furniture in my house! That's why there are still very few pictures on my walls. I can't visualize how I want something or how it should be. I could NEVER build a house from scratch! Too many decisions! So, we are all torn up and I'm sure there is a reason for it all, but I just can't picture in my mind's eye how good it will look when it's done.



Who ever knew exactly what it looked like under the road? This is really kind of fascinating.


So there ya go. An update on our paving project. I'll keep taking pictures so we can watch this progress. I have no idea when this is supposed to be finished. Hey, I'm just a home owner. I've found out recently that being a home owner means nothing! I am not kept informed on ANYthing. I guess it's all on a need-to-know basis and I obviously don't need to know.

I had read that this reconstruction project was on the plate for this year, but the Friday they started, it was a surprise to all of us. You'd think they'd notify the home owners or the neighbors or something that their world is about to be messed up.

So, maybe Smith Paving is off of my shit list, but don't think I've run out of things to bitch about. The next post will fill you in on all of that! Stay tuned!