The first day of Labor Day weekend is here. The hurricane Dorian is approaching the Florida coast, now upgraded to a category 4 storm. My brother lives in Tallahassee, sisters in GA & NC, all will suffer from this storm. I hear the storm surge will be huge on the coastal areas and the northern coast will have effects by next weekend.
Last weekend here at the apartment complex was interesting, to say the least! On Saturday, one of my resident friends who has a garden plot next to mine caught another resident stealing her tomatoes. The story goes that she saw someone in our garden area and went for a look-see. She saw him taking tomatoes from her ex-hubby's garden's tomato plants. She knew her ex hadn't given permission for anyone to take tomatoes. She watched the thief...but he saw her and exited that area, carrying a bag of tomatoes. The tomato thief walked towards other garden plots with the bag of tomatoes, hid the bag and came out. My friend went looking for the bag and found it, full of almost ripe and green tomatoes. On Monday, she reported the thief to management. We are not sure what will happen, but this thief, always out in the common area where the sitting benches are has been absent since early last week.
Sunday afternoon, I went out to pick some parsley from my garden. A resident parked his pick-up truck in the fire lane, right by the sitting benches. He turned on his radio (or CD player?) full volume, opened his doors and walked away from the truck. Two of the residents were already sitting out on the benches...but they left. Others who are fond of loud music were outside. I took a video of the scenario. I didn't mind the music, but the volume was just inconsiderate.
Monday I was outside and the group of people (listening to the loud music Sunday afternoon) asked me why I took the video of the truck parked in the fire lane with doors open. I neither denied or admitted taking a video. The confrontation made me very uncomfortable. I reported this incident to management the same day.
Later this week, the residents who had the tomatoes stolen from their gardens were accosted (this is the only way I can describe the situation, even though I was not present) by a group of residents who know the tomato thief and obstructed their way back into the building. My friend's ex stood up to them and they were allowed to pass. The next morning, the group was reported to management. I don't know what will happen.
Since the new manager came on board (early January, 2019), things have improved with the overall situation in the building. There was a group of party-goers every weekend on the third floor, they would party all night and wake other residents. The street was always parked up with cars of non-residents. Earlier this year, I noticed there were actually parking spaces on the street. Seems the new manager has taken care of that situation.
I locked myself out of my apartment in mid-August...a fine of $30.00. I wonder if this is sanctioned by HUD, who supports the low-income, senior and disabled residents. Anyone who has any information on this subject, please let me know.
A resident-friend of mine went into the hospital on Wednesday. I drove him into St. Luke's outpatient surgery Wednesday at 8 am. He was to be released on Thursday. He is still in hospital today. I have no idea what is going on with him but I will go visit him later today.
Landscaping is on hold right now. The property owner is having some reconstruction work done on her house and a steady stream of company as the summer draws to an end. I hope to return to the job next week.
BB the dog is doing pretty well this season with his Seresto collar. He doesn't have any fleas but is now starting to itch. Seems every late August and into September, he gets itchy and will lick himself into hot spots. He had a clip job on Monday and a bath on Thursday but woke me up this morning at 4:45 with his licking. I gave him a sponge bath, put him on the bed with me. He knows the rules...no licking in the bed! We will soon go to the park for a nice walk.
EEE is here in MASS & RI. Several people have contracted EEE from infected mosquitoes. MASS has had several aerial sprayings along with a lot of ground fogging in the parks and recreational areas. One local person has died from EEE. Most parks are closed before dusk now as the threat spreads into different areas. EEE is now on Cape Cod.
I am looking forward to cooler days and the end of the heat.
Thanks for reading!