I don't like to complain, but

one of my neighbors isn't happy with the Elks Lodge, and she can't understand why nobody wants to listen when she tells them why.

Friday she was complaining that the staff ignores her all complaints. She has problems with her breathing and the patrons of the bar downstairs have been smoking on the street under her window.

Yesterday she was complaining about the smells coming from the kitchen. The cooking bothers her. She doesn't like the metal door in the bathroom next to her room. She doesn't like the color of the curtains.

The man in the room next door snores too loudly, and he was farting in there Sunday morning.

The doors in the lobby aren't automatic. The washing machines are too loud. The elevator is too slow. The elevator walls are too red. The people she talks to are too rude.

And today she complains that someone wouldn't answer his door when she knocked.

Another Necessary Eviction

The gentleman (and I use the term sarcastically) is to be evicted next week. A judge found in favor of Elk's Lodge, and gave him 7 days to move his belongings. He bullied other residents and two of the Elk's Lodge volunteers. He vandalised his room, and rigged the southside stairwell doors to admit a violent non-resident who then attacked a resident.

An hour after His Honor's judgement this bully was at the Poverello Center telling his friends exactly how he intends to retaliate. He purchased Shellac and means to pour it down the toilets on the 2nd and 3rd floors.

Fortunately, one of my neighbors was there and heard every word. I don't know if this means he will be escorted from the premises today, but it at least means he is on notice from the police, and should anything happen he will be the primary suspect.

911, Anyone?

A woman was assaulted on the 3rd floor last week in broad daylight. I am learning about it today. A young man living in room 315, came out of the Ladies Room, and hit her when he realized she took his picture as evidence.

She reported that he rushed her, and pushed her very hard while trying to grab her camera. She reported this to the management. A man who lives a few doors down tells me that management convinced her not to call the police. That they would take care of it.

The man who assaulted this woman still lives here. Is that how management took care of it?

An Arrest is Likely

We have a problem at the 383. There is a man living here who is a bully and a thug. He is disabling the locks on windows in the hallway so that his comrades can enter the building without walking through the front entryway so they can avoid the cameras.

They are waiting for him. They have filed eviction papers, but he intends to force a confrontation. In the meanwhile, he is behaving in a hostile manner towards some of the tenants here. He bangs on walls as he passes and he slams his door and the bathroom door whenever he enters and exits.

I am almost hoping for a confrontation. I wonder what he will do if I kick him in the nuts. I'm very good at kicking nuts. No one expects an old man to kick him in the nuts.

My shift starts soon. I'll miss any action tonight but I'm free tomorrow night. I hope the police aren't called until I can be here to watch them take him away in cuffs.

Bloody Hell

There were two drunks fighting in the hallway last night. They were bloodying each other's faces and the carpet while grunting, gurgling, and yelling profanities.

This went on for an hour before police officers broke it up. One man was taken to jail, and the other was taken to the hospital. They sprayed blood on the walls and the Ladies Room door.

I don't even know if either of them lives here or if they wandered up here from the bar on the first floor.

Fortunately for me I work nights. Last night was my night off but the excitement was enough to keep me awake. I will sleep well today and be rested for my shift.

It's foggy this morning. There is a brine on the power lines outside. It should be a quiet day.

Wakened in the dead of afternoon

Some manic young peroxide blonde woke me yesterday. I still had another hour before the alarm, but her yelling and screaming took that hour away.

She was beating on the door, begging someone named Brian to please let her in. She needed her stuff. It was on the microwave. She promised never to bother him again if he would just please let her have her stuff. She needed it bad.

It's only natural for me to wonder what she needed so badly she was willing to beat on a man's door for half an hour, screaming and begging. If she'd been beating at my door I wouldn't have opened it either.

1 dollar for one rinse.

One load of wash takes 4 quarters, and one load to dry takes 3. It sounds like a deal. But the washing machine only rinses one time. It fills once to wash, drains, spins, and then fills one time to rinse before it drains and gives a final spin.

What fool doesn't rinse the detergent out of his clothes? Detergent doesn't actually clean. It is the rinse that actually cleans by removing the grease and debris loosened by the detergent.

I must amend my budget. One load of wash takes 8 quarters. I will use the first 4 to wash and rinse. And I will use the second 4 to rinse and rinse. One wash and 3 rinses cleans my clothes.

Maybe if I spend enough time in the laundry room, I'll run into that pretty lady veteran.

The speed of caramel

The water flows from my faucet at a rate that will fill my coffee mug in less than a minute. I think my piss came out faster than this before my prostatectomy.

At least it doesn't drip, and the drain doesn't clog.

Up all night

So at midnight, a man decides to dismantle the dryer next door and bang on all the parts.

For me this is probably helpful. I will be working nights and sleeping days. But not tomorrow.