And the saga continues. My neighbors (the guy and his girlfriend [the screamer]) had another fight. How did it start? The boyfriend left the room without waking up the Screamer. The fight started about 11:30pm (May 17th) with a phone call:*

*This is the conversation I heard from my room. The young lady was talking on the phone with her boyfriend. The dialog below is the young lady’s part of the conversation. Obviously, I couldn’t hear what the boyfriend was saying on the other end of the phone call.

“How could you f**king leaving without waking me?”
“I don’t care.” You left without telling me where you were going.
Don’t come back. I am locking your f**king a** out. (forget the fact that it is his room, and he pays the rent).

About 15 minutes later the boyfriend came home, and the Screamer…starts screaming. She goes on for about 10 to 15 minutes. I’m in the hall (not sure what to do), a neighbor from upstairs comes down tells me to relax “that is the way she is”. Then my other neighbor (on my floor) Mr. 40+ comes out of his room, and says the same thing, “just ignore it. While the 3 of us are in the hallway (right outside my room) the upstairs guy explains that he knows all about me. The guy (the screamers boyfriend) told him all about me. Apparently, I am the guy that will listen to the young lady screaming and think that she is getting beaten and call the police. They (the police) would listen to me and have the guy arrested.

Now that there is an audience, the screamer kicks it up a notch; she comes out of her room screaming hysterically running into the bathroom. The boyfriend is now cursing at us (the audience in the hall) to mind our f**king business. He then alternates screaming at us (the audience) to go back in our rooms and mind our f**king business and yelling at his girlfriend he has money and doesn’t need her.

Not knowing what to do, I go wash my dishes. The other hallway audience members return to their respective rooms (I think).

About 10 minutes later, the screamer comes into the kitchen calm, pleasant just a little bit nervous. She asks if I can please do her a favor. Someone had called the police.

What was the favor?

She asked me to not open the door. I told her that I couldn’t do that. She then asked me to say that I didn’t hear anything. Again, I told her I couldn’t do that. I (tried to) explain to her that the police are law enforcement officers, I am going to look pretty stupid saying I did not hear anything.

Now, if the police had come in to talk to me, I would have told them exactly what I type here (minus the dialog). As I have mentioned in previous entries, the couple (seems to me) to be incredibly immature. The look on the young lady’s face was (to me) one of a child) who got caught doing something wrong, but not knowing what to do.

Now, it is very quiet. How do I feel now? Actually, I am feeling a little pleased with myself. Although I wanted to ignore the fight (pretend that I did not hear anything), I believed that providing an audience, with make the combatants (or should I say performers) think about their next encounter. Unfortunately, I am sure there will be a next time. But I hope they will at least keep the drama to a minimum. I think the screamer was a little scared that someone called the police on the little drama that she has participated in for months. If I am not mistaken, tonight was the first time the police were called. I am hoping the couple will mature (at least a little).

Attached is a photo of the hallway, that is my room with the opened door. The couple has the room closest to the main door, and Mr. 40+ has the room in the middle.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 7:47pm

Another wasted weekend. I stayed in my pajamas (in bed) for most of the day. I was too lazy to go into the kitchen to fix breakfast, so I ate a couple of breakfast bars, and drank a vitamin health drink. My back was also hurting for most of the day. I am not sure if it is the cheap futon mattress or the rowing machine that is the cause.

In the kitchen. more dirty dishes. For someone who has said on several occasions that she does not like rats, my neighbor (the screamer) seems to enjoy leaving food for the varmints. She has also been showing off her new blender. Last night, she left the blender, the box, and the packing materials on the kitchen counter, at that time, I put those things in one of the cabinets that she uses. Today, the blender (and the box it came in) was back on the kitchen counter. Now, my neighbor has a blender to go with an electric chopper, electric mixer, and coffee maker. Wow, she is becoming quite the Betty Crocker. Next month, she will graduate high school; I wonder what new counter clutter gadget her boyfriend will buy her.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006

Endings and Beginnings. All over again. Today was the last day of my long term substitute assignment teaching a kindergarten class. For me, it was like a vacation. Usually, I am given difficult classes in the upper elementary grades because I seem to be able to minimize the wild behavior that usually takes place when a substitute teacher arrives.

For the most part, I really enjoyed having my own class. Relatively speaking, the class was a very good group of kids… Relatively speaking. Any negatives. The little ones don’t really handle being sick very well. All this past week, I’ve been cough on and sneezed on. Today, there were 5 kids out sick. One kid who seemed to be sicker than the others, chose to come to school. I think he wanted the perfect attendance awards (a pencil, a pad, and a certificate). The kid is very nice, but an incredible daydreamer. However, he is the smartest kid in the classroom – also the biggest. He is about 54 cm (over 4 ft. tall). He was also one of the kids who could not tie his shoelaces. His shoelaces were always uneven (and untied). Finally, I told him to tell his mother that he needed new shoe laces. So…she buys the smallest laces that don’t fit his big shoes. I had to tell him to ask his mother for bigger shoelaces. Finally, she bought him a good length of shoelaces, but she still did not teach him to tie his shoelaces.

I got so tired of tying his shoelaces, I took away apart of his play time, to teach him to tie his shoelaces. And once he learned how to tie his shoelaces, what does he do? He teases another student for not knowing how to tie their shoelaces.

Anyway, I spent all day (all week actually) telling this child to cover (and/or turn) his head when he coughed or sneezed. All day, I had this kid coughing (and sneezing) on me or anyone nearby. It took every ounce of willpower to not strangle him. Now I sit here typing with a headache and a runny nose.

Other than the colds going around the classroom, I enjoyed my time there. Today was my last day. The regular teacher will return on Monday. It took me about 3 hours to pack my things, clean up the classroom, organize the work (and materials) that I used these last couple of months, and write a report (briefly outlining what I did in the classroom). I divided up the students work into piles according to curriculum topic. I labeled most of the assignments (and each pile) with post its. I then laid the piles on an unused desk. When the regular teacher walks in, she will know within a couple of minutes what was done in her absence. I will attach a photo of the end product. All in all, I left that classroom much cleaner (and organized) than I found it. I'll also attach a photo of a bulletin board display of the kindergarteners work.

I finished up about 6:30, and returned to my shoebox. Anything new in the shoe (box)? Oh, let’s see. Someone tried to set the front door (of the building) on fire, leaving the plastic window on the door slightly burnt, and the curtain with a hole the size of a grapefruit. The building manager had the door replaced. However, there is still a leak near the kitchen area.

And finally, last night, I saw a rat in the hall when I stepped out of my room. It was the first time I’d seen a rat inside. I told my neighbor (the screamer) about the rat when I walked in the building (the building manager put the door up yesterday evening without giving anyone keys (until today). My neighbor let me into the building. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

When I told my neighbor about the rat sighting, about 3 minutes later, she removes the dirty dishes that were in her room and leaves those dirty dishes on the kitchen counter (plates still containing bits and pieces of food not eaten). And how are things going for you?

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 7:22pm

Quick entry. Today was relatively nice. Nothing much to report about class, I just have another 3 days before the regular teacher returns. I managed to leave school at 3:35. My plan was to make some photo copies for school, and pick up the ingredients for baked macaroni & cheese (today was payday). I ended up spending about an hour at the copy center making copies for the next 3 days. After returning to my shoebox, I quickly changed my clothes and went to the store to pick up the ingredients for baked mac. After returning to my shoebox, I find my neighbor (the screamer) in the kitchen starting to cook. As I am putting my ingredients away (to wait yet another day), my neighbor tells me that I could share the kitchen with her (because it is everybody’s kitchen). That was very nice of her to say (and true); she is actually a very nice young lady when she isn’t screaming and hollering. Unfortunately, I am not the kind of person who can just jump into someone else’s space. At that moment she had all of her ingredients on the counter, so I took a pass. I exercised on my rowing machine for about 30 minutes. I ate about a quart of rainbow sherbet and a breakfast cereal bar, and drank a mug of hot green tea. I then fell asleep.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 7:15pm

Central Park Zoo. Today as a substitute, I had to take my (kindergarten) class to the Central Park Zoo. I was nervous, but the trip turned out to be very nice. The program was very well organized. Basically, the program divided up each class (there were two from my school) and paired the small groups with park volunteers; the job of the teacher was just to supervise. I enjoyed the trip very much! I didn’t take many photos (only about 2). Too often, schools (where I’ve done subbing) have shown a dislike for me taking photos of the students when the students are going wild. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told, “oh no, you can’t take photos of the children without parents written permission. But if it is “related to school (translation = kids not shown wild and out of control) then it is okay to take their photos. So being the stubborn person that I am, I didn’t feel like guessing what photos would be okay to take, so I did not take any (of the kids). Relatively speaking, the kids were all nicely behaved. The other teacher I was with seemed a bit more relaxed.

After we returned to school it was time for the kids to leave. A good class trip is one when the kids return right at dismissal time. Today was the first time in a long time that I was able to leave school at 3pm. Except the assistant principal’s late approval of the homework sheet, meant that the kids did not receive their homework packet at dismissal time. But being the person that I am, I stayed after to write the students’ name on the packets and distribute the homework to the kids (most of who) were in the after-school program. At this school (and most of the schools that I’ve subbed at), the school policy is to give kids homework every day.

I was out of the building at 3:33 (still an early time for me). After stopping off at copy center, I returned to my shoebox.

My plan was to do the laundry, make some bake chicken and bake macaroni & cheese. When I told the boyfriend that I was planning to make some mac and cheese, he told me that he was also planning to cook after I was finished. Stupid me, I assumed that he meant he (or his girlfriend) would come into the kitchen sometime after I was finished (or nearly finished [as in the case of previous instances]). l went to the Laundromat to get my clothes out of the dryer. I was gone no more than 4 or 5 minutes (the Laundromat is in the building next door), When I returned, both the boyfriend and his girlfriend (the screamer) were in the kitchen cooking (he frying something, she making a cake). With my chicken still in the oven, my neighbor (the screamer decides that she wants to bake a cake (no special occasion she just felt like making a cake) and wondered how long I would need the stove.

When they finished in the kitchen, my other neighbor (40+) started cooking his dinner, The kitchen was free about 9pm. So once again it was canned soup (with the baked chicken that I had made that earlier).

Oh, my neighbor offered to share the cake she baked, it was a little over cooked, but it was good.

Tomorrow, I am going to try leaving the school between 3:30 and 4pm, so I can post this blog entry along with the last 2 or 3.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 6:58pm

For the last couple of days I’ve been subbing for a 1st grade teacher. I later found out that she was out with strepp throat. I thought that I’d seen a wild 1st grade class, but nothing compared to this class. There were about 3 or 4 wild boys in this class. What shocked me the most wasn’t the flips, or the throwing of objects across the room. What shocked me the most was the level of vulgarity that came out of a couple of the boys’ mouths. They knew every curse word in the book. One boy (after calling another boy’s mother a b***th) threatened to beat down the other boy and piss on him. I could not believe this was coming from a 6 year old boy. Did I tell the mother? No. I thought it would have been a waste of time. By now, I am becoming increasingly cynical about some parents’ parenting abilities. Anyway, I did get a chance to meet the mother a few times during dismissal time (when she came to pick up her son).

First encounter, she wanted to know everything. Even asked me to write a daily journal about anything and everything her son did.

Been there. Done That.

Second encounter, Cautiously taking the written report (at the same time keeping one eye over her shoulder to see who was listening), and quickly changing the subject.

Third encounter. “Another boy just viciously hit my son when you weren’t looking”. Which negated anything I could have said about her precious little man. I could go on, but what is the point.

Next topic.

After procrastinating all weekend (and not doing my laundry), I had to do my laundry on Monday evening. I decided to go to the small Laundromat in the building next door. As I was taking my clothes out of the dryer, a loud young lady (in a red jacket) came through the door. She briefly rambled on about returning to the old neighborhood to “see who was renting her apartment”. After I finished in the laundry, I started to walk back to my shoebox. Guess what? The same loud young lady (in the red jacket) was on the sidewalk (in front of my building) talking to some friends. In total, there were about 5 people blocking the sidewalk. The young lady (in the red jacket) had her back to me talking to her friends. As I approached the group, I said politely “excuse me”. No one moves. I said excuse me again. The young lady slowly turns around and looks at me (without moving). She looks to her left and right side as if to suggest that I should walk around. The only way I could have walked around (if I were to actually consider it) would have been to take a couple of steps back, walk into the street and around the car parked next to the sidewalk; the young lady must have realized that because she reluctantly moved to one side. To explain the interruption, I said, “I live in this building”. She said, “I don’t give a f**k where you live. I live in that building over there”. She then bursts out laughing. I was in the laundry so I know that she used to live in the building across the street. She told the laundry worker (and anyone in ear shot) that she had moved about a month ago.

I have about 2 more examples of vulgar language (and behavior) of mothers with child(ren), but I think you get the mental picture.

Attached is a photo of my building and neighborhood.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 6:58pm

Yesterday on a bit of an impulse, I bought a microwave and toaster; I got tired of cleaning my neighbors’ appliances. It was very nice that they were so comfortable with sharing their appliances, but I’d often had the nagging feeling that borrowing from them came with a price. Then again, it could just be my imagination.

Anyway, I brought a microwave and toaster after getting off the train on my way home from work. The microwave was on sale $48.76 (with tax). I passed on buying the store’s extended warranty: the microwave came with a one year warranty. I thought a small microwave would not weight much, and I would not have any trouble carrying it the 15 minute walk to my shoebox. When will I learn that few things in life are as easy as they seem.

In my shoebox, I unpacked the microwave and plugged it in. And…it didn’t work. No matter what button I pushed, no matter what I tried. More than that, the receipt had written on it, “Appliances are Not Returnable or Sold On A Trial Basis”. I don’t think I’ve ever bought something under warranty that did not work right out of the box. I thought I got shafted, but I was able to return the microwave with only a typical problem you would find in the ghetto…waiting. Before bringing the (heavy) microwave to the store, I made sure I would be able to return the microwave. I brought my receipt and I went to a manager-looking clerk. Once he saw that the microwave was purchased yesterday, he said that it would be no problem to exchange the microwave. I brought the microwave to the store, and I waited, and I waited, and I waited.

The old couple in front of me couldn’t decide on whether to buy a camcorder or not.
Other clerks would pull my clerk away for one reason or another.
The salesclerk had allergy attacks, and needed to stop about every 10 minutes for a sneezing frenzy.
The clerk had to find out what was the procedure for returns.
Customers having questions that needed answering.

Once the clerk had taken the microwave and the receipt, he became my clerk; I couldn’t just go to another clerk. Besides, the other clerk (behind the counter) seemed just as busy.

Once the clerk finally gave my return his full attention, he was told that he had to test the microwave to make sure it didn’t work. To make the exchange, the clerk had to enter data into the computer, but a previous clerk didn’t log out, so my clerk (and I) had to wait for that clerk. In total I was kept waiting for more than an hour (1 hour and 26 minutes to be exact).

Post Date Sunday, May 04, 2006 6:52pm

On the last day of my spring vacation (on the evening before I was supposed to return to work), I slipped on some water in the hallway near the kitchen. I had slipped 2 times before. The first time, I thought leaving the mops there would stop the leaks. No. The second time, I thought putting newspapers down would soak up the water. Again, no.

I don’t know who I was madder at, me for slipping again, or the landlord for his, “oh, I didn’t know there was a leak” attitude. I called him the very next morning – I was worried that I would be bothering him if I called him at night. During the phone call, the landlord told me that he would handle the water problem. Two days later the water was back on the floor.

Today, the landlord knocked on my door asking about the rent, acting like nothing happened. At that time, I was not interested in talking (or thinking about) the water on the floor. And that leads to the next problem…I got sick.

I think it was either a serious cold or a minor flu. Since I didn’t have a runny nose, I am guessing flu. I think it started on Wednesday when I returned to my shoebox, I felt chilly. At the time, I thought I was cold because there was no heat. Now, as I am typing this I don’t remember what kept me awake (sweats or chills), I just know that I could not sleep. And the next morning, I was a mess. It took every ounce of strength I had to get out of bed, and about a 10 minute break for every action I did. On the train ride, I was minutes from passing out.

Luckily for me, the two wildest boys in the class were absent on Thursday which made the day fairly decent. Although, by the end of the school day I was so weak, I had to lie on the rug in the classroom. After about a 10 or 15 minute break (and a few left over school lunch peaches), I had strength for another half hour. In my shoebox, it was another night of chills and sweats, but the next morning -- I still had the throbbing headache, but I was feeling a little better. Unfortunately for me, the two wild ones decided to show up.

Today (Saturday) I spent the whole day in bed. After a couple of days of no appetite, and no taste buds, my appetite came back. For the last few days, I was too sick to do any cleaning, and my neighbors seemed to not notice. They were their same messy selves. I had to clean the bathroom. There were footprints and clumps of long hair all over the bathroom floor. I don’t mean to be sexist, but shouldn’t a woman be cleaner than 3 men. Once I was able to relax in the bathtub, I tackled the kitchen. My neighbors seemed to have something against an empty sink – There seems to always be dirty dishes there. Aside from the sink, someone made popcorn. And yes, they managed to make a greasy mess. How does someone make a mess with popcorn (other than the trail of dropped popcorn leading out of the kitchen)? Which is worst, someone leaving a trail of popcorn, or someone too blind to see the popcorn and steps on the fallen popcorn? My neighbor has a bad habit of making pots of over-cooked starchy foods, eats it once, then leaves it for weeks (till mold starts to grow). After spending about a half an hour cleaning the stovetop (and the greasy exhaust filter), I decided that I did not want to risk messing up the stove top. Although I had a taste for fried chicken, I decided to bake the chicken. Guess what? The young lady (I am assuming) left pile of something in the oven which started smoking when the oven started to heat up. I had to turn off the oven and clean the oven before I could bake my chicken.

My taste buds have not fully returned, but they returned enough.

Post Date Sunday, May 21, 2006 6:45pm

Final tally. Well, it is the end of the day, and the end of my vacation. Well, what did I accomplish. I cleaned my room. Vacuumed the floor. Organized my clothes. Wrote up a prelimary outline of my lessons for next week. I typed up my homework sheet for the students. Went the a nearby large office supply/ copy center. I copied all of my homework assigments (while I was there, I also stapled and labeled each set for the day of the week the assignment will be given.). Made dinner (canned soup, leftover [baked chicken], wheat toast, and Tang. I cut my own hair. Showered. Cleaned the bathroom (if I don't it usually won't get done).

Sorry for the sloppy writing. It is late. and tomorrow is a work day. Oh, my neigbor didn't ask to use my computer.

The final day. Today is the last day of my vacation. Unfortunately, since I spent all vacation doing basically watching TV, I now have to spend today (a rainy day) running around like a maniac trying to get ready for tomorrow's work day.

So how much did I accomplish yesterday. Not much. After about an hour answering an e-mail, I went to the post office. I went shopping (afterwards) to buy a few cans of "no salt" canned vegetables and a few cans of a health drink that was on sale. Not really the kinds of things to buy when it is raining out.

After visiting my foster father for a little while, I returned to my shoebox. I probably could have done one or two more things on my "to do list", but since it was cold and damp outside (and just plain cold inside my shoebox), I just stayed under my blanket and watched TV.

So, was writing that list of things to do a waste of time? No, not really. I think that if I had not written the list (and posted it), I probably would have just stayed in my shoebox watching TV.

Today I now have to do those things in order to be ready for tomorrow. I also have see if and when my neighbor (the young screamer) will be knocking on my door to ask if she can use my computer to do her homework. All vacation she has been telling about the homework assignment that she has to do that are due on Monday morning. About an hour after I got the landline telephone turned on, she asked if she could use my computer to connect to the internet to research and complete her homework assignments. She must have forgotten that I'd mentioned (several times) that I had a limited amount of internet time (10 hours per month). At the time I had to say no (which is a word I seem to not know how to use). Why? My computer (like my room) was a mess (a lot of junk all over the place). Usually, when I don't think someone will be looking, I am disorganized. But at the same time, I like things a certain way. When someone touches something of mine, I like it returned exactly to way it was given. Of course I would do the same. Unfortunately, people rarely do. If something is messy, they will return it even messier. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

Anyway, being the kind of person who does not know how to say no, I spent about an hour or so cleaning up my computer, then offered the young lady my computer to do her homework research. At the time she said cleaning her room was more important. I just so happened to know that the library was opened Saturday and Sunday. She said that she would go on both days to do her homework. Well, yesterday (Saturday), she stayed home giggling and laughing with her boyfriend. That leaves only today. Oh, did I forget to mention that she does not have a library card; she has never been inside the local library, however, she does know where it is. Also, the computers need to be reserved before you can use one. After the way she monoplized the kitchen (with me in it) on a couple of occasions, I know it would not be a good idea to let the young lady use my computer today, especially since I also waited to the last minute to do all the things I should have done days ago.

Morning wake up. This morning my neighbor’s boyfriend returned home around 6:00am. How do I know? His girlfriend (the screamer) started screaming and crying.

“Where were you? Why didn’t you call? I was worried about you.”

I found this tirade a little annoying considering the time, also considering last night (during our marathon [shared] cooking experience) she told me that her boyfriend would be coming home very late.

After the 3 or 4 minute “crying drama”, I then had to listen to the dutiful wife prepare her “husband’s” meal (along with the 3 or 4 times she let her room door slam close as she went back and forth to the microwave in the kitchen [sobbing along the way]). And of course the morning wake up would not be complete without the “hey kitty kitty! Hey kitty kitty!”call. I don’t think my neighbor will be too angry for too long; last night she told me that her boyfriend bought her a pair of sneakers (the day before yesterday), and that he would be buying her another pair of sneakers today so that they can have identical sneakers. Enough about my neighbors (oh, how I wish that were true).

Today my plan is to do about 20 minutes on my rowing machine. Take a shower. Clean up my room. Do a preliminary outline of my lessons for next week. Do a little shopping for the few things I couldn’t get at the store in this neighborhood. Drop off some macaroni salad for my foster father. Cut my hair. And finally take a bath.

By writing my plans out, hopefully, I will be able to accomplish most of the things on my to do list.

Oh, did I forget to mention that is suppose to rain (heavily) for today and tomorrow. Perfect weather for staying in bed and watching TV.

April 21, 2006

A quickly prepared meal (that was anything but). My vacation is rapidly coming to a close. Today I did not do anything that I planned to do. After watching several hours of television (mostly court programs), I went to a photo copy center to make a few copies. I had a week and a half to do my planning, but once again, I’ve let procrastination get the better of me. I now have Saturday and Sunday to do my lesson plans for next week.

After making my copies, I went food shopping. I bought about 4 or 5 bags of groceries. I wanted to buy enough to last most of the month. Also, since my macaroni & cheese was so well received, I decided to make macaroni salad. My plan was to bake some chicken, and while the chicken was baking, I would divide up the various meats I bought and put them into single servings bags. Once frozen, I only need to defrost the single servings to cook (single servings meaning enough to last me for a couple of days). It is cheaper to buy meat in bulk (or family size), and divide it into smaller portions. By the time I finished dividing up the meat; I could then cook the rice, and make the macaroni salad, all this while the chicken was baking (anyway, that was the plan).

So, is there a point to this rambling?

The chicken was baking, the rice was making, and everything was going according to plan (that is, until my neighbor came into the kitchen). My neighbor (the screamer) came into the kitchen while I was cooking. I told her that I would be finished in a half an hour (30 minutes). She said, “oh, no rush”. But then, she starts preparing lasagna. Originally, she said that she only needed one pot to boil the pasta. I let her get the pot, but before I knew it, she was in full cooking mode. I purposefully stood and watch her hoping she would get the message. After about 10 minutes (of me , she said something to the affect of “oh, I didn’t know you were waiting for me. You should have said something”.

Although the conversation was very nice, I would have preferred to have the kitchen all to myself. I could have finished in 30 minutes. Unfortunately, sharing the kitchen added another 2 hours to the time I was planning to spend in the kitchen.

I attached a photo of my finished product. For dinner, I made bake chicken, yellow rice, macaroni salad, and kale. The orange drink in the photo is Tang. After I post this blog entry, I will go into the kitchen to wash my dishes.

My computer is acting up. I was not able to upload the photo. I will try again at another time.

I'm connected. I am now writing this brief blog entry from my shoebox. The telephone company rep stopped by today to turn on the phone. I now have access to the internet. I am currently using one of the free internet service providers. This company alllows 10 free hours per month access to the internet. I will probably upgrade at another time. It is late. I just wanted to briefly say hello.

April 19, 2006

Not a good morning start. While I am at the internet café, I thought that I would briefly write about my morning.

About 4 o’ clock in the morning my neighbors returned home. How did I know? They were arguing. Were they loud enough for me to hear? Yes! So, am I able to give an example of what they were shouting about at 4 in the morning? Sure!

"Those are my skittles (candy). Give them to me!"

I got so annoyed. I had to do my reminder (that other people live here) walk (to the bathroom). Once they heard me, the argument stop. My other neighbor either pretends he doesn't hear them (his room is next to theirs), or he cranks up his music to drown out the screaming and yelling. Sorry, sidetracked.

About 10 minutes later the young lady came out of her room calling out to the stray cat that she has adopted, “Hey kitty kitty!”. She turned on the hallway light which is like turning on a light in my room. Due to the crappy way my door was installed -- an inch at the top and the bottom of the door brings all that light into my room.

Later in the morning, I thought I waited enough for everyone to use the bathroom before I took my shower. However, I did not wait long enough. No sooner was I in the shower and soaped up, the water turned ice cold.

Later, my neighbor’s daughter also took the time to try and chat with me.

Her: :“So Mr. Coffee man making your morning coffee?
Me: No, it’s green tea.
Her: Oh, I love green tea! I drink green tea too. ...Is that oatmeal?
Me: Yes, would you like some?
Her: No, I already ate breakfast.

Am I becoming an old geezer for not wanting to talk to a 9 year old girl?

Leaving this blog entry now would make (I think) a good entry in terms of maintaining a consistent tone. But, if I am to be honest, I have to admit that my day (despite not doing much other than watching TV) was an okay day. I did manage to use my rowing machine and finally noticed that I am finally starting to lose some weight(which amazes me considering how much junkfood I eat [see previous blog entry that mentioned my dinner]). The weather was also very nice. After I post this entry, I will stop by the post office (to send off a long over due thank you souvenir), then I will drop off some of my macaroni & cheese for my foster father and his lady friend. His lady friend helped me with some suggestions for making the dish. The directions on the box seemed a little strange. 5 cups of milk for a half a box of macaroni.

Until next time… Oh, I almost forgot. Tomorrow the telephone company will be setting up a phone line for me in my shoe box. That means I will have internet connection at home. And since I bought the unlimited calling plan, I will probably have a certain neighbor visiting me more frequently. Lucky me.

April 18, 2006

Not much to write about. I stayed in bed (watching TV) for most of the day. I finally baked the macaroni & cheese (see the attached photo). I seemed to have had the floor to myself. Both of my neighbors were out for most of the day. It was a nice quiet day today. The weather was also very nice today. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it like I should have. I only went out to buy a cheese grater and milk for the macaroni & cheese.

My neighbor (the guy with his visiting daughter) returned around 10pm. Any problems? Again, you must be a new reader. About 5 minutes after returning, the guy went into the kitchen, and his daughter followed him into the kitchen (locking his room door). At first I really did not want to get involved, but I ended up getting involved. The guy was planning to either pick the lock, or break down the door. He was already in a bad mood because apparently his daughter at some point in the day was crawling on the floor in the subway station. No, I am not making this up. He was also annoyed that she was spending too much time chasing the stray cat (and not paying attention). Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

Since I’d been in a similar situation (I didn’t tell him that), I offered to help. I thought that since my door was so cheaply constructed, that his door would be the same. Surprised, surprise, it was not. After trying to push and pick his lock, his door did not budge. Some people have all the luck. I volunteered to call the building owner on my cell phone(my neighbor doesn't have a phone). The owner said that he would be over in a few minutes. While the guy went to wait out front, his daughter went into the kitchen to cook. When the owner arrived, the guy was nowhere to be found. The owner was pretending that he has to do an incredible search in his bag of keys. Since the guy wasn’t there, the owner seems (to me to be stalling) going on and on about how he might not have the key. I went into the kitchen to suggest to the daughter that she stand by her father’s room door to offer assistance if needed. Actually, I thought if the daughter was there, that would be enough for the owner to do his “oh, I found the key. Wow, that was lucky. Isn’t it great that the landlord has a spare key to all of the rooms.”

Would you believe the girl tells me to wait a minute (while she is seasoning the meat her father was about to cook). I don’t know why, I just got incredibly annoyed with the girl. I told her she needed to stop what she was doing and go stand next to her father’s door while the owner was trying to help her father and her. I tried to keep my tone polite, but I don’t think I was successful. About 3 or 4 minutes later, my neighbor returned. And less than a minute later, the owner did his “oh, I found the key. Man, you are one lucky dude.
What a surprised!!!

April 17, 2006

Well, it has been a while. Part of the reason for the infrequent entries is that while I am living in the Bronx, the internet café I’ve been using is located in Manhattan. I hope to change that by getting an internet connection. Originally, I refused to get a landline phone. Since I had a cell phone, I did not see the benefit of paying about 20 or 30 dollars in phone fees and taxes when I really wouldn’t be using the phone. But having an internet connection at home might be worth the cost of paying for a landline phone. So today I went to the public library to look through the phone book to find out about getting a phone. By the time I finished in the library, it was too late to call the local phone company, so I’ll do it tomorrow. Other than that, how is my adventure in the shoebox going?

Yesterday while sleeping in the afternoon (I am currently on vacation), my neighbor banged on my door to show me the visitors in the hallway. When I got to the hallway, I found about 50 or 60 winged insects crawling up the wall (another 20 or 30 were crawling all over the bathroom). I thought the insects were termites, but the building owner informed me that the insects were ants not termites. And, it was normal for ants to come out at this time of year. His suggestion? Just sweep them into the hallway with a broom and prevent them from getting into my room. He said that he would stop by later, but he never did. While I was complaining to one of my neighbors (the young lady who screams a lot), she told me a little bit about conditions in the building before I moved in (broken pipes, mice, rats etc…). The young lady was very nice. It amazes me that someone who seems so nice can cuss the way she does when she is in her room with her boyfriend. Oh, she has finally stopped calling the guy she is living with her “husband”. Although, today, the guy referred to her as his wife…strange. She also gave me a little bit of a tour around the building (and described a few of the previous tenants). I attached a few photos of my (shared) living areas.

As I typed this, I just realized that I should have taken more photos of the building, but I wasn’t thinking at the time. Mainly, I took a photo of the hot water tank. I was shocked when I saw it. Although I should not have been shocked, the size of the tank explains why the water turns cold after about 10 minutes. The tank is 40 gallons in size. That tank supplies hot water to the entire 3 floor building. On my floor there are 4 people. The young lady told me that there were 10 people on the second floor, and a family living on the 3rd floor. Oh, I almost forgot…that tank also supplies (I think) the steam for all of the radiators in the building. Maybe I should rename this blog “ the ghetto life”. Need more?



Today, I was planning to make some baked macaroni & cheese. I went into the kitchen to check the stove availability (I also included a photo of the kitchen), the young lady was already in the process of making lasagna. I told myself that she would probably be finished when I returned from shopping. I returned from shopping. No sooner was I in my shoebox, there was a knock on the door. A girl was at the door. I immediately recognized her from a photo that I’d seen. She was the daughter of my other neighbor, the 40 year old guy who asked me to write him a reference letter after meeting me a couple of times within a few weeks (check a previous blog entry). Although the girl (about 9 years old [I think]) was a very nice young girl, I was a little annoyed how casual she was with me (an adult she had never met until that moment). This situation eerily reminds me of my encounter with my foster father’s lady friend’s son’s daughter (see a previous blog entry).

Sorry, I got sidetrack. Back to the present…

When she knocked on my door, my automatic reply was come in. Am I wrong to find it strange for a 9 year old girl to knock on a stranger’s door to come in and start looking around, complimenting me on how my room was arranged. She visually examined my shelves, my table, then she left. That was it. Am I being old-fashion to be annoyed by the above visit by the 9 year old girl?

Is that all? Ha! You must be a new reader to this blog.

Moments later, I went into the kitchen to ask my neighbor (the young lady) how she prepares bake macaroni & cheese. Would you believe the 9 year old girl actual stood in between myself and the other “adult” offering her suggestions on how to make macaroni & cheese. She just butted in like she was an adult. I immediately thought about when I was that age. I would never, never have interrupted an adult conversation. I am not sure which is more upsetting, the behavior of the 9 year old girl, or my old geezerly attitude. I sound like one of those gray-haired old men complaining about the olden days. Oh well…

On my way out, the father was on the stoop waiting for his friends (I guess). Moments later, the father and his 2 or 3 friends are having a loud conversation on the stoop, and the 9 year old girl was chasing the stray cat (my other neighbor seems to have adopted) back and forth, and I was saying to myself, “so this is life in the ghetto”. There were a couple of other examples, but I drop those. I think this entry is long enough.

P.S. – So how did my baked macaroni & cheese come out? I never got to it. After neighbor #1 finished her lasagna, neighbor #2 took over the kitchen (with daughter). I got into the kitchen about 10pm, by then, I was not hungry. While I was waiting for the kitchen I ate a half a bag of Doritos, and a couple of oatmeal cookies. I’ll cook the mac and cheese tomorrow.

April 2, 2006

Well, I finally did it! It took much longer than I thought it would. What? I finally made onigiri (rice balls). In a previous entry, I’d mentioned that I went to a Japanese food store here in New York. I bought Japanese rice and onigiri seasoning. I will attach a photo of my finished work. The directions were written in Japanese, so I had to do some guessing. It turns out, that 1 cup of rice only makes about 3 rice balls. I’ll take one rice ball with me to school each day. It will be good (I hope) to not have run to the corner junk food store, when I want a snack (or lunch) during my work day. Sorry, it is late, so I have to keep this entry short. I had a 4 day weekend! Since Thursday and Friday were teacher professional development there were no students in schools, so no need for a substitute teacher. I was happy to have those two days, but I know when payday comes, I won’t be happy. I will have lost 2 days pay. Also, the week after next is the start of spring vacation, so I will be out of work (vacation!?!) for about a week and a half. Since I’ve returned to the US, I noticed that there are more vacations.

Well, it is late. Until next time…

Test Results. Well, I just checked my (unofficial) test results for the New York State Teaching Examination.

The Minimum Passing Score was 220 for the whole test (as well as for the individual parts). There were 8 parts of the test (including a short essay response question).

So, how did I do?


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I Passed!!!

My (unoffical) score is 241. Again, the minimum passing score is 220. My score was low, but considering that I had not studied, I should not be complaining.

So now, all of the requirements have been met. My application for a New York State Teaching license has been mailed off. Tomorrow and Friday are teacher work days, but the students won't be in school. Since the kids won't be in school, I won't be in school. I have a four-day weekend starting tomorrow. Now, I am happy to have a four-day weekend, but when payday arrives, I won't be happy because I am losing 2 days of pay.

It is getting late. I am going to end this entry now. Since I am tired, I am just going to order some Chinese Take Out (my celebration dinner).

March 26, 2006
She’s Baaack!!! Well, it didn’t last long. My sreaming neighbor has returned. Although, I should be honest, she did not scream today.

I am still in a bit of shock. This young lady made that big hysterical scene (about the broken cell phone), left with about 2 or 3 large trash bags (full of clothes), and I think at least two boxes. And she returns a day later. She returned about 12 midnight (bags and boxes). Strange! The loving couple is back to playing husband and wife. Enough about them.

This weekend was my clean my shoebox weekend. Yesterday, was rearranging the furniture. I got tired of reaching over the TV to open the window. Today was organized the mess day. I only got halfway through. I had to stop because tomorrow is workday.

Oh, tomorrow is also the day I get my Teaching Exam test results. Actually, if I had internet connection, I probably could have check the results sooner.

Until tomorrow…

March 23, 2006

Stress. Stress. Stress, and more stress. Quick entry. Today, I started a new substitute assignment at a previous school. About midday, I realized that I’d left my keys (locked) in my shoebox of a home. I thought that it would not be difficult to just go to a lock shop and have someone open the door. After work, I went to the lock shop. First, I was told that they would not open the door without the lease holder of the building present. I was also told that it would cost me about $85 dollars to have the door opened. The shop worker seemed a little bit unconcerned that I was locked out. He just kept saying that he really did not have time to do anything especially at that time (about 5:20pm) because “his guys were about to go home. The place closed at 6pm. Since my apartment contact guy (the guy I pay the rent to) would take about 20 minutes to reach the apartment building, the lock shop guy just got annoyed and said that he could not help me.

I decided to go to my shoebox and see if I could open the door (without doing a lot of damage). My plan was to ring the doorbell for my floor and have one of my neighbors let me in the building. Since the apartments seemed so sloppily put together, I thought I might be able to figure a way to open the door.

Long story short. Once in the building, it took me all of 3 seconds to open my (locked) room door with my Metro train card.

So, was that the end my stress? Come on, where have you been?

About 2 hours later, my floor neighbors (the bickering couple) started playing loudly with cell phones (laughing and talking loudly)…then the guy breaks the young lady’s cell phone. She flips!!! She was screaming and hollering!!! She was crying hysterically. You would have thought that the guy had murdered a child. After a couple of minutes, I can’t take any more. I knock on their door asking if everything is okay. The guy was annoyed that I knocked on his door and told me to mind my business. I stood in the hallway not sure what to do. I listened to the guy offer to give the young lady his cell phone. He tells her to just take out her information SIMS phone card and put it into his phone. She says no, his phone is a piece of sh*t, and continues to scream (and cry). She knocks over something big threatening to break everything of his. Finally, he tells her to pack her sh*t and get the f**k out of his house. He leaves the building. And the young lady… continues her sreaming hollering hysterical tantrum. Again, she knocks over something big. It sounded like she was trying to break anything that wasn’t nailed down. A few minutes later, she manages to call on another cell phone (or was it the boyfriend’s phone) a friend to complain about what had just happened. She said that she would move to Brooklyn to live with a cousin. I would like to say that the young lady actually seems to be very nice, just very immature at times…like now.

Later the guy returns. He seems to be helping the young lady pack. Is she really leaving? Only time will tell.