Not an easy day

The neighbors were surprisingly quiet last night.  While I heard the kids on the trampoline, they didn't kick the ball into my house. 

"[mumble] moved the soccer goal" said the oldest, during one of their recent parties.  I think their dad is tired of replacing the fence every year - the kids really abuse it, break boards off the fence, etc.  Not to mention the abuse to the side of my house, which is partially the property line. 

At one point the father accused me of damaging the fence.  Said my rosebush was shoving boards off the fence.  [snerk]  Not quite.  

He got a massive attitude at me one night.  He had a habit of leaving a generator in the back of his truck bed.  One night, several years ago, I heard a lot of loud thumping against the side of my house.  "That's rude" I thought "Throwing out your trash at this hour", and I went back to sleep.  The next day he asked if I had "heard anything" and I told him.  He demanded to know what time it had happened.  I told him I didn't know, it was the middle of the night, I thought it was you.  He was really upset at me, acting as if my telling him the time of the theft would get him his generator back.  Moral: don't leave expensive equipment in your truck bed! 

Never, ever, buy a zero property line house.  People don't have the same standards of taking care of your property as they would their own, and they tend to see it as "just a wall" and not a house, much less the wall of a bedroom where people live and sleep. 

I didn't get enough sleep so no shower, no God time.  My hair looked OK, just kind of frizzy and limp.  Of course, I should call this the shower rule, I had virtually every high ranking manager in my area today! 

They had a mandatory meeting and some kind of Veteran's Day thing.  I was pretty unhappy to see Ron's abuser - the guy who ran over him, walking around and eating his sack lunch, in our area. 

He was asked to please stay away from us, but I guess the big screen TV in our area trumps my peace of mind.  [/sarcasm] 

I could go to a really bitter place.  Yes, I have forgiven him, many, many times.  I reforgave him today.  Yes, I pray for him every day.  I know it had to happen - thousands of Bibles have been handed out as a result of him running over Ron. 

I reminded myself of that as I battled fantasies of beating him with a pipe.  "I don't want to kill him" I told the other vendors.  "I just want to make him wish he were dead!"  Then I repented, and reminded myself "Thousands of Bibles, Thousands of Bibles".  I did the whole "God put your love in my heart" thing also.  I made a point of not looking anywhere near the seating area. 

Happily his break was over pretty quick.  I could see him clearly because we only had a few people at the time.  I really didn't want him watching us stock. 

I guess I'll expect him from now on.  I really hate it when he pops out at us, ruining a perfectly nice day and reminding me of some of the worst times in my life.

Head injuries vastly aggravate drinking problems, so I can lay a lot of that his feet, as well.  

I stocked food, got a delivery, stocked the 3 snacks, and helped Ron with sodas and the bottled vendor.  I managed to rearrange the stockroom and offload some merchandise from a cart, vacating it for our stocking inventory.  We were both pretty happy about that. 

Ron mashed up some cardboard in the dumpster, and found some discarded food items.  We were kidding about Ron eating out of the dumpster.  I laughed like a hyena. 

They called the assembly - everyone in the cafeteria.  I went in the stockroom to avoid you know who, again.  They were making speeches about some sort of investigation when we left. 

We did not have an easy ride home.  For a guy who claims to have worked at the plant, in the past, he sure couldn't find us.  I have been told when I'm standing at our spot waving, I can be seen for quite a ways.  Apparently he didn't.  He decided to drive the wrong way into the mail truck (semis) exit.  He found us eventually. 

Unlike many drivers, he didn't complain about all the changes from the expansion.  He just acted as if they'd always been there.  [shrug]  Anyway, we got home walking and talking and that's all that matters. 

The neighbors were gone when we got home, and they'd left their gate open.  I decided to check out the side of our house and discovered a lot of chips in the paint.  Like I said, those kids are pretty brutal. 

I still fail to understand why a family that has chosen to have 6 kids (and counting) bought a 3 bedroom home on a small lot (not even a tenth of an acre).  They all drive.  Why not buy 5 acres and a double wide?  They could even get a separate bunk unit if they continue to add children. 

Anyway, I had exposed siding, and I had to cover it.  If water gets in there it will rot down in no time and cost us a lot of money.  And, I have seen, the parents don't keep the kids away from that wall when the siding is damaged.  They have just let the kids continue to damage the siding.  I had to have some pretty serious repairs due to a HOLE in the siding, back in 2012. 

I got Ron in the house and hunted up my bucket of paint.  I found that, my paint key, and took a while but I found a brush. 

I headed over, shaking the can of paint, because I didn't have a stir stick.  I covered every problem area I could find, and repainted some areas.  It looks patchy, but I don't care.  The problem area is about 64 square feet. 

The side of the house is covered in some kind of mud.  I don't have a hose to spray that all off, wait for it to dry, and then paint the whole wall (although I do have that planned).  Two, I got very little sleep last night.  Third, I wanted to make it obvious I "had" to come and fix it.  It should hold for a while at least.  I will continue to monitor. 

I did look for the soccer goal and I didn't see it anywhere near my property line.  It must be on the other side of the house.  Good.  That will really limit the abuse.  They just have the trampoline, a chair (I assume they use that to get on and off the trampoline) and a length of rope.  I wasn't sure what that was about and frankly I didn't care.  I just wanted to make sure the wall of my house was OK. 

I came back, stomping on the lid of the paint can to secure it.  I washed the brush and put the key on top of the paint can.  I will most likely need to use the house paint before any other. 

Feeling rather stretched - and really, typing this out, it wasn't an easy day, I ate some pizza and took my medication.  I figured I needed all the help I could get. 

I took a nap and awoke after having nightmares about the neighbor kids destroying the side of my house.  [sigh] 

My life isn't bad.  I know that.  Ron and I often remark on the simple joys of running water.  Some people have to walk miles each way for running water.  We turn a knob. 

I got up, did my God time, and came here. 

I will continue to seek the happy place where I could care less, whenever I see the guy who ran over Ron.  Right now I still go to pain and homicidal urges.