Hello Everyone,

August 2019

It's been over 3 years since I have posted any material.

Today I begin with a trilogy based off a challenge someone gave me.

Enjoy the read

~g

September 02, 2011

AndMore...Yup, there's more. Irene, I despise you.

I haven't written an AndMore in a while, if you thought nothing has been going on...think again.  I just haven't had the time.

Irene
I now despise that name.  If you are reading this and your name is Irene, get off my blog (only kidding...sort of).  That lunatic bitch wind along with a sewerage issue backlogged my sister and mom's house.  Displacing them since the storm.

Imagine spending a couple of days cleaning shit water.  On occasion you were saved and could smell urine instead.  Everything in the basement which was filled with over 4 feet of sludge water had to be thrown out.  Refrigerator, stove, washing machine, dryer, etc.  But me being me there was something to entertain me., their neighbors.

Neighbor one - is an elderly woman whose daughter visited prior to Irene and was stuck there.  She is a nurse and spent the whole weekend in her scrubs, nailing, taping, bricking (I KID YOU NOT) and sand piling the house down.  She removed pictures from the wall, I mean she acted as though they were moving out.  All to no avail - they got 4 feet of sludge water too.  The irony is she wore for the clean up, scrubs, elbow length rubber gloves, face mask and boots.  She had to open the basement door (one of those slant ones) from the inside and walk across the basement through that sludge in scrubs.  HELLO?????

Neighbor two - not to be outdone with the damages, she got about 1/2 foot of water on one side of the basement, her house is on a slant - I guess her basement is too.?.  She bitched like she got 10 feet and if anyone tried to make light of it she was ready to rumble.  She sat outside for hours griping.

Neighbor three - they call him grizzly, I haven't seen him I can only guess why.  He chose this time of disaster to point out to his neighbor (#two) that her gutter is not structured right, therefore when it rains it creates a puddle that leads to his basement.  I guess that's his way of finding how to get someone to pay for his 3 feet of water damage.

Neighbor four - he works for the Post Office, he looks a hundred, his wife looks in her early fifties and they have teenage kids.  The hunched manner in which he walks makes me wonder if it's the weight of realizing he had kids too late and he is too tired.  He built a WALL around his yard; a fucking wall that blocks out my sisters side of the yard from his.  The fence is a bright white monstrosity.  This wall did not keep the water out, but his house being on the highest ground only gave him about a foot of sludge water.  He's not complaining too loudly...the government owns his ass.

I decided to start a little petition for my sister and her community.  The city is back peddling on the sewerage issue hoping home owners will go to FEMA for a low interest loan on something they should have fixed prior to any storm.  While the DPW manager walked behind us we began to ring bells and take names much to his chagrin.

Some of these neighbors have lived along side one another for more then 20 years.  They know pretty much a lot about each other but they don't know one another.  I found that interesting to say the least.  They were most eager to sign the petition. Honeslty...they should have done this years ago.

I have never been a type of neighbor to want or need to meet my neighbors.  But this event and all that came after made me think...Why not?  It takes a community to build one and it takes a community to protect one.

Could we have gotten to a point where we alienate ourselves and thus it gives towns, politicians and others the confidence to screw the public?  I think so.  Actually, I believe so.  But on another note, it was really nice to meet these strange and yet funny characters, most of which were most eager to chat.

Since then I walk around my own neighborhood and speak to people.  At first they are reluctant or even suspicious (than again I pretty much can intimidate a shadow).  Once we get on to talking it's quite lovely.  I have been invited into homes and had tea or refreshment.  I can say that I belong to a community and not just living in one.

Are you part of your community?  Do you prefer to talk about your neighbors or with?  In a disaster can you count on them, can they count on you?  If you had to clean shit out of your home...would they lend a hand, would you?

I may despise Irene but I appreciate the awakening within she has given me.

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