The Urban Grind- my favorite place to hang. |
So I took last week off.
I might keep skipping journal entries if things stay slow.
Not much to talk about. I get home from work at 6-7pm and I am pretty tired. Usually I workout after work, which gives me lots of energy at the end of the day, but I have been getting up at 5:45am and hitting the gym first. I run out of steam by 8pm and don't want to do much else. This pattern doesn't make for interesting journal entries. Takes a while to build up interesting tidbits.
Anyway, here is a quick rundown of the high and lowlights for the last couple weeks.
Kitty! Gets a Record
Kitty! is in trouble with the Apartment Nazi's. Baaaaaaad Kitty!!
This apartment gets HOT. So I leave the patio door open, and since there are not a lot of bugs here, I sometimes leave the screen door open so Kitty! can wander out onto the patio to survey all that she owns.
I normally close the door up when I leave, but last Sunday I went for a bike ride and left it open. Apparently she was out there barking up a storm. The dog park is just below us, and I'm sure it was quite busy with Sunday dog walkers and she just had herself a barkfest.
On Monday and Tuesday I had two 2-minute long voicemails from the management telling me my dog was abandoned on my patio and that they weren't that type of community and yadda yadda..I don't know how she kept talking about the dog barking problem for over 2-minutes, but she did. They wanted me to call them to “discuss” the issue. I was like, “Fuck that”. What is there to discuss? So I wont leave the patio door open again. What more could be said after the 2 minute chastisement?
On Wednesday, there was a note on my door, telling me Kitty! was now on file as a troublemaker. I was thinking, “Geez, what do they want me to do? Euthanize her?”
So the apartment is now locked up tight. No open windows, cuz she hears the dogs down below. I have a couple chairs I bought for photos hoots that lay across the doorway of the patio window so she can't even look outside. I keep the windows closed also, and play music all the time. Her hearing isn't that great, and it's enough that she can't tell what's going on outside. She is pretty bored, and barking at the neighbor dogs is fun fun fun!
This apartment gets HOT. At first I thought it was my computers, but I think I am just sandwiched in between everything and the heat stays insulated. So it's a nice 65 degrees outside and I am having to run the air-conditioning inside. So much for enjoying San Diego's beautiful weather and cheaper electric bills.
Scarrrry Apartment Living
No surprise I am not liking apartment living. Used to my freedom and not having people telling me what to do. Anyone who has read my journal over the years, knows that when I find myself in an apartment, I am seldom pleased with the experience.
The apartment complex's newsletter that was delivered to my door last week. I thought it was another note about how evil Kitty! is, but no, it was the friendly neighborly complex newsletter. Oh boy.
It was a two page deal with eleven “news” pieces. The first article was how they were having a “Decorate Your Patio” (but don't make noise) contest for Halloween. The scariest patio wins. Now there are about five hung corpses out on five different patios. Hanging corpses are very In this year. How I love those dangly corpses.
But the other ten news pieces were chastising everyone about the rules. Pick up the shit from your dog. Don't leave your garbage on the ground by the dumpsters (of course the dumpsters are so full that you can't put it anywhere else), don't make noise at the pool,
and finally, there is absolutely no guest parking inside the complex.
That last one was one I didn't realize. No parking for guests. ANYWHERE? Um..ok. So they virtually demanded that I get a land phone line otherwise I wouldn't be able to buzz cars through the security gates. I figured I wouldn't have that many guests and my friends would just cell phone me. This actually works just fine, because, you guessed it, there is no parking in the complex for them. I have to go meet them outside and walk them in.
So I can't figure out why they were so adamant that I get a phone to buzz cars in. Why the heck would I want to buzz them in if they can't park anywhere? I suppose they can swoop over and pick me up. The security on the gate is laughable anyway. Why do they put these things up anyway? Five cars fly through every time it opens.
Ahhhhhhh..apartment life. How I love thee.
Violins on the Patio
Ok, one more little Apartment anecdote before I stop being so negative. We've established that the dog park is just below my apartment. Last week I was down there with Kitty! enjoying the soggy grass. There were a handful of people out on their patios setting up satellites or cooking on their gas grills. The proliferation of gas grill cooking is another good reason to leave my windows shut. The two apartments below me routinely cook on their gas grills, and my apartment becomes toxic with fumes.
Anyway, a guy and a girl on the top floor (fourth floor I think) are really yelling at each other. Mostly he was screaming and thrashing about like a rabid ape. Everyone looks up from their patio at the commotion. I guess he gets all monstrous, and either knocks a floor lamp over or tosses something through the window. Destroying the tacky mini-binds, and glass and bits falling down to the bottom level where the satellite installer was. The loud shattering quieted the fighters, and you could tell that broke their fight up before it escalated.
I was thinking, “What the hell am I doing here?”
So it has been a couple weeks, and the window is still not repaired, but has tape over it. As anal retentive as the management is here, they must not know that the window is broken.
Ironically, this couple, or the guy living there, is participating in the Decorate Your Patio contest. He's got severed heads with knifes stuck in them. Not normally scary, but after witnessing his temper, it really creeps me out. Although likely not the best decorated patio, I think the judges of the contest are going to miss out on the fact, that that apartment is definitely the scariest of the lot. It should win hands down.
I wonder if the judging committee will spot the broken window. Probably wasn't too smart of them to call attention to the damage.
Rain Rain, and more Rain
Geez! I was beginning to think I moved to Seattle. Weather junkies will know that we got a lot of rain the last couple weeks. I think average rainfall here is like 6-8 inches, and we got two or more over a couple day period. We also got rain the week before, so its like we got half the annual rainfall in a week or two.
My co-workers at the office stood by the windows, fascinated by the rainfall. With this place not having any discernable bad weather, this was an exciting event. I worked on photos, bored.
They sure aren't used to rain here. A lot of the street lights went out, and the rockslides began to pour mud and lose soil into the road way.
Our office got flooded with about an inch of rain water. I spent one morning this week helping to clean three rather large rooms up. It wasn't bad, and only took a couple hours, but I think there will definitely be some damage to the hard wood floors. Sucks, cuz the place was newly remodeled.
The clouds finally gave way, and this last weekend has been amazing weather. Exactly what everyone is so used to bragging about around here. Just gorgeous!
Pete's Visit
Long time reader, messageboard participant, and chatter, PeteD was in Los Angeles this last week. He knew I was in San Diego, so arranged his outbound flight back to Pittsburgh from the San Diego airport.
We got together for dinner on Thursday night. We went to Margarita Mary's for dinner, and it was a really nice time.
I tried to show him around San Diego/Hillcrest, but the rain was still coming down and it wasn't exactly a hallmark tour.
We came back and chatted for a bit. I started getting sleepy (wow..I can barely make it past 10pm these days) and cut an enjoyable meeting short. It was so cool to finally meet him after knowing him from online for so long. Super sweet guy!
It's a bonus being so close to Los Angeles. So many people come this way, that I will be more on the “beaten track” and perhaps meet more people.
As for the rain, it did clear up last weekend also. Just long enough for me to ride my bike one day. I spent Sunday exploring the Mission Park and Mission Beach area.
Mission Beach Park is ok. It looks more like a landfill that has been converted into a lake. There are lots of places for watercraft to be put into the water, and I am guessing during the warmer months, it is quite active. But the day I was there, there was not much activity.
I ran across several other cyclists and followed them for a bit, hoping they had a good route. It still was Stop and Go stuff, and very easy riding. That part of town is pretty flat and not very challenging. I road 22 miles and don't think I broke a sweat.
I did get to see Sea World, and made it down to Mission Beach proper, which IS very nice part of town to leisurely cycle through.
Still, I'm pretty bored with the cycling opportunities. Looks like I'm not going to be able to ride from my apartment. Guess I am going to have drive to a location then cycle.
The Hunger on DVD
I did add some new DVD's to my collection this week. I pre-ordered The Hunger, which is likely one of my all time favorite movies.
I enjoyed the book by Whitley Strieber, and though the two pieces vary greatly, I appreciate them both on their own as excellent bits of art.
I listened to the Director's commentary the on the second viewing. It was pretty boring stuff. The director Tony Scott and Susan Sarandon both made separate commentary tracks. Their commentary focused on the lesbian love scene and explaining the vampirism.
One of the things I liked both about the movie and the book, was they never said the word Vampire, much less the word Lesbian.
I liked that the movie/book never called the main character, Mirriam a vampire. She was more of a parasitic race of humans that evolved alongside regular humans. Her species were very slow in reproduction, and she was searching for that one perfect persons to live eternity with. Be it man or woman, she tried to find individuals who could tolerate her blood and extend their life span to match her own. Her blood could keep them young and help stave off her lonliness. Susan Sarandon plays a doctor named Sarah that is studying longevity, sleeping, blood and aging.
Miriam sees in Sarah someone who might take to the blood transfusion well, but also might know enough about blood and longevity to actually make the transfusion stick. By giving Sarah the gift of longer life, Sarah might be able to study or find a way for the transfusion to work permanently, and Miriam would never be lonely again.
No mention of vampires. No crosses or garlic. No fear of night time. No lesbian action. Just someone looking for eternal love.
But the commentary was filled with the Vampire word and also focused on the lesbian action. Though, I have to say, Susan Sarandon seems to have “gotten” that the scenes she was playing wasn't lesbian, but Love scenes. Susan Sarandon is one cool ass chick.
Movie Night - The Cell
I have also been doing a Wednesday Movie Night with some guys that I met online. Joey invited me over to his place a couple nights. We've been watching scary movies for the month of October.
This last week we went to Mike's house instead. Mike is a great guy and verrrrrry sexy. He's recently bought an old house that he is in the middle of gutting and rebuilding. His bedroom and bathroom are finally done, and the living area is also almost finished, but the kitchen has a bit of a ways to go. Not quite ready for prime time play, but I think Mike was wanting to show off the hard work he has been putting into the house.
I went over early to help out with the audio equipment that wasn't set up, and also help out with the preparations.
Kitty! came with me, and she got along fine with his dog Sleeper. Kitty! did get into Sleeper's food, and got a little ass whooping. Which I think she kinda needed. She's so nosey.
We watched The Cell, and it was as bad as the first time I saw it. Still it was fun to watch and make fun of. The special effects are cool, but already seem dated. And J-lo's acting….P.U.!
Party Party Party
I really got lucky with the assistant that I have. He is very friendly, and seems to know everyone and always has a full social calendar.
He has invited me to several parties and also over to Hamburger Mary's on Sunday nights. He has an awesome group of stable friends, and I feel lucky to have landed in their zone.
This Friday we went to a party that benefited Head Start. I had a great time, and also saw some amazing real estate. (and forgot my camera!)
I really want to stay here in San Diego, but this house market is really making the decision to stay tough. Visiting these “big” houses (about 1800 square feet) that are actually small to me, and costing over $600,000 is outrageous. The market could be a deal breaker.
But I will figure something out.
The Center's Gala
I met a really nice guy at gym named Sam. We seem to have the same workout schedule. Actually, there are only about a dozen guys working out in the morning. Most of them have trainers, so they are all on hourly schedules.
I finish up my workout about the same time, so it's cool cuz I actually get to meet and talk to the guys there. Everyone kind of knows each other.
Sam took me to dinner and showed me around downtown San Diego. We had dinner with his friend named Margarita. I've since had lunch and coffee with here a couple times, and I really dig her. She's got lots of great energy. We're planning on doing some photos.
Anyway, Sam's got a partner named Rich, who is the chair for The Center- San Diego's Gay, Lesbian, Transgender thang.
Every year the Center has a big black tie Gala, which raises the bulk of the funds for the Center.
Sam invited me to come sit at their table. As Rich ends up working most of the night, he wanted someone to hang with and I wanted to go out and meet people, so it worked out well. A perfect opportunity to mingle.
I had to have Bill send me my tux from Austin. I did have to go buy some shoes and a new bow tie that are missing, but still a lot cheaper than renting.
Before we went over to the Gala, we stopped at a fellow chair person's house for cocktails. The party was at this amazing house over looking Mission Valley. After a brief visit, we headed on over to the party.
The Gala was well attended; the food was great, and the company charming.
I got to meet mayoral elect Donna Frye too. Well, I shook her hand anyway. Pictured above is Robert, Rich, Donna, and the “not so sure I want to be in your journal” Sam.
After dinner, they had a live band and everyone got up and danced.
Overall, I think the event was lots of fun and very well executed. They likely raised about $300,000 bucks, which was well over what they projected. I very cool evening, and I can't believe I landed smack dab in the middle of the movers and shakers of the community.
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