Another wasted weekend. I am going to try to keep this entry short. Today I spent most of the day in bed (fighting yet another cold). I finally got out of bed around 3pm. My plan was to clean up my shoebox, but I ended up cleaning everyplace but my shoebox. There have been several burnt out light bulbs in the common areas. Once again, I tried the “if they don’t care, then I don’t care”. The problem, they don’t (seem) to care, but I do. My neighbors don’t seem to have any problem with living in a pigsty. Last Monday, I wrote a note and taped it to the jar of spaghetti sauce that was thrown in the trash. I left the jar (with the attached note next to the trash, would you believe that jar (with the note still attached) is still sitting there. I will attach a photo.

What did the note say? Basically, it asked that sauces and beer be poured in the toilet. My neighbor(s) have a bad habit of dumping anything and everything into the trash, (sauces, half drunken beer bottles [with the beer still in it], whole pizza boxes, etc…).

Anyway, when I finally came out of my room, I noticed the newspaper that I’d put down last night was wetter – I slipped on some water last night. There was cat crap on the floor. The bathroom had strands of long hair all over the place, and dirty foot prints all over the bathtub.

At first I was only going to clean up the cat crap. Since there was some cat crap on the wet newspaper, I picked up the wet paper only to discover the newsprint was all over the floor. But before I could clean up the newsprint stains, I had to sweep the floors. I ended up mopping the hall, the bathroom, and the kitchen. I got tired of living in the dark, so I replaced all of the light bulbs. Once the light above the gas range was on, I could clearly see all of the greasy build-up that was covering the range that I’d just cleaned last week only to have the Screamer cover it the very next morning in grease.

After doing my imitation of a house-keeping maid, I was too tired to clean my own room. I was also a little annoyed that within 10 minutes of cleaning the kitchen, the Screamer was in it cooking for her and her boyfriend. There is now a pot and a few dishes in the sink.

Other than living with slobs, how have conditions been with the immature couple since the big argument? I have say things have been relatively….less noisy. I don’t expect the “less noisy” condition to last for very long, but I’ll enjoy it while I can. Now if only those living around me would turn down their “music”. It is strange for me to be living in a place where people seem to be trying to “out play” their music. While I was cleaning there must have been at least 3 different stereos playing at the same time, each one at full volume.

Also, now that the weather is getting warmer, I noticed that the locals are out later and later, and getting louder and louder.

Instead of trying to back post blog entries for the past week, I am just going to summarize my week.

Remember my very good work day on Friday. I knew that I would have to pay for it and I did.

Monday, May 22, 2006

I was assigned a special ed class (4/5 grade bridge class) for kids with behavioral and/or emotional problems. There were about 12 students on the registrar, but only about half showed up. Lucky me? Hardly. Even with the 3 other adults in the room, the group was still a hand full. I was like an on guard sentinel, I couldn’t turn my back for a minute. I had to stay on my feet, because anything would set some of these kids off. The frightening part, was that there did not seem to me to be a major difference between this class and other classes I’ve had.

So, having 3 adults must have made things much easier. Yea right.

One of the paras (teaching assistant) was pro-active like me, she did not wait for trouble to kick into high gear before doing (or saying something). The other para (although very nice), was more laid back, she did not get involved as much. One thing that did annoy me was her bringing in another child “to watch” until lunch time. I had enough difficulty with the regular kids from this class. The kid that she was supposed to be watching, was almost just as disruptive as any of the other regulars. I spent more time correcting that kid’s behavior than the para that brought him in. What about the third adult? I think her job was to suck up air and complain about the kids behavior. She came in, plopped down in a seat, didn’t move until my back was turn, then she disappeared for most of the morning, only to return to say that she was leaving.

Returning to my shoebox, I was too tired to row. I was also annoyed that the cooktop range that I’d spent a bit of time scrubbing clean the previous day was now covered in grease.

Tuesday
I had the special ed class again. This time the woman who was of no help did not come in, however, about 2 or 3 of the boys who were absent yesterday came today. Results. The class was wilder than yesterday. Did I really need to type that?

Finally at 9:40, the wild ones broke free. I managed to get the group up to the science room. Once there, one ran, and two followed. While most of the students were in the science room (that was my preparation period), I was trying to plan out the rest of the day. It was at this time, one of the paras came in the room to complain about working with that group. This was the para that was actually working and very helpful with keep the group from going wild. She decided that she would take one student to the computer lab. She reasoned that taking that one kid away would keep the others calmer; she said that he was kind of an instigator. True, but he was not the worst of the bunch.

Now, the only thing on my mind was how I would survive this day. It turned out I got lucky. The runners were kept out of the classroom. One was sent home (the one I was told could not be controlled by his parents). With the runners out, the class was actually calm…relatively speaking. I was also pleased that the other para stepped up to the plate (she was more involved than she was yesterday.

Wednesday. I went on a job interview for a counselor at a summer day camp. I am someone who needs to be working during the summer or I will do nothing but stay home eating and sleeping.

By the end of the week, I was fighting yet another cold. Sorry, it is getting late, so I am cutting this short.