Happy New Year 2022

New Year's Day 2022 we went to Hilton Head Island While it was 83 in Rincon, the fog rolled in and the beach was only 69! Still a nice day at the beach talking with people about greyhounds.

Matisse was adopted 1 year ago by us

So, what has it been like for the last year since we adopted a poor abused greyhound puppy? If you ever read the book "Marley" about the lab, the author stated "he was the worst dog ever," Matisse could give Marley a run for his money... First, it took 3 months to train him. During that time, I slept in the spare bedroom with him. The 3.5 month old was up at least twice a night. No sense in both of us losing sleep. Then, there is the chewing. this is a list of things he has chewed. I'm sure I've missed a few items. 2 pairs of Bill's reading glasses 1 pair of my prescription glasses. 3 pairs of my shoes. rolls and rolls of toilet paper..Run Matisse Run with the paper in his mouth. Remember the TP shortage? Holy cow, I thought we'd run out. napkins/paper towels on the table or counter. I I pencil ($99) about a dozen of Bill's ear plugs, all at different times. Last 1 was yesterday morning. Look out for that blue thing in the poo. Wood.. Oh, he loves wood. 2 headboards, 1 footboard. Bill's bureau and end table in the bedroom. End table in the living room. End table in spare BR. My wood bead curtain. Oh, that was so much fun, pulling the string and crunching on the wood beads until they were all over the floor. He grabbed so many of my craft things, I had to cover the whole table with a sheet, several towels and 2 x 4's to hold it all down. And, he loves to bite barefeet.. get those shoes and socks on QUICK! We still love him, though..

Matisse is almost a year old now. He is nothing like the scrawny little 19 pound puppy we adopted back in late November. He is nearly full grown with a whole bunch of TEETH.. which he loves to show you - especially by nipping. Monet is not thrilled with the little guy. That said, she does like to run with him in the back yard.

Greyhound puppy

Got a greyhound puppy mid November. He was from a bad breeder who surrendered the complete litter. Underweight and neglected. He will have a good life now with Monet. Named him Matisse.

Morning, Greyhound

People ask me what it is like to have a former racing greyhound... 5:30 AM.. Monet- Ruff.( Wake up Michele). followed by stepping on my feet, then my legs. Next, licking my face and nipping on my hair. Then stepping on my hair - how am I supposed to get up? Then. Arrrooooo. Howling! Again and again. Michele- Shut up Bitch. 7:00 A.M. Monet has had 2 walks, breakfast, several doggie biscuits, a run in the backyard (through the mud if at all possible), feet, legs and belly cleaned off after the run, drank a half quart of water, and finally a few more biscuits. Then, she is ready to take a nap. Monet- Hey, can you turn out the light before you leave? I'd like a nice nap. Michele- Bitch! I tell people, Umm. A former race dog is fun and loving and quiet.. Yeah.. right.

Criminal Subaru?

WTF? this morning I go out and there is a MF parking ticket on my car. For parking facing the wrong way. Are you shitting me? I come home yesterday after a day of Uber driving for minimum wage or less, to find the fucking neighbor's car is still parked in front of my house. it is UNREGISTERED. Oh, but let's give the Subaru a ticket for facing the wrong way. Last Monday I came home and 2 cop cars go flying by my house.. a shooting 2 blocks away.. Saturday morning at 2 am, 3 blocks in a different direction, a shooting.. but let's give a fucking ticket to the Subaru.. The other spot in front of my house, that was somebody buying drugs at the rooming house across the street. I mean, the dealer has a change over every 5-15 mins, but I didn't feel like sitting there waiting. I mean that might look suspicious. And God forbid we interfere in the dealer's ability to make a living. You know he is probably making even less money than me, what with being on call 24 hours a day. Really? yes, people get there 5 or 6 am, yelling- HEY. HEY. let me in. But let's target the Subaru- the nerve of me to face the wrong way. 11 years we have lived here. never got a ticket for parking on the street when the street sweeper came Friday on my side and Saturday across the street. this past month it got changed over to Monday and Thursday's. So, I guess these MF parking Nazi's have nothing else to do on Saturday nights but drive around neighborhoods and target honest citizens. I mean, was the Subaru really hurting anyone? Did it upset the balance of fucking nature? what about the MF parked in front of the hydrants? No ticket. Yeah. right. the Subaru is the fucking criminal here.

End of Days Part I

I tried posting this earlier but it disappeared. Not sure WTF. I have visions. Not good stuff. usually the visions suck. I've tried as hard as I can to make happy thoughts invade my psyche so that I could perhaps get some nice visions. Never effing happens. I was watching 60 minutes on Sunday, about the Artificial Intelligence, and it hit me. the future SUX. It is worse than most of us can imagine.

Beggin Strips from Kroger, Savannah

Chip: Does that even make sense? 1 bag of Beggin strips for $2.99. 2 bags of Begging strips, 2 for $6. Louise: I want 2. Chip: Ah, greyhound, are you paying attention? If you buy 2,it actually costs 2 cents more. Louise: Yeah, 2 that's what I want. Chip: Well, I know they are only getting 1. We will have to share the bag. Louise: Labs. they have all the answers. Just give me my Beggin strips NOW. Chip and Louise give Beggin Strips 2 Paws UP👍🐶👍

Hurricane Matthew

first, WE SURVIVED!!

Alley looked a little rough though..

Scumbags still in the hood. even a hurricane can keep them away.

Driving, still

Enjoying my driving job. Been meeting some interesting people. I picked up a guy this afternoon from the marina. he works on a yacht. Brought him to Whole foods to pick the food the captain had ordered. $365 worth of seafood. Really! First thing this morning, some chuckle head knocked down a pole down the street. our electricity was out for 4 hours. Great, just as we left to go grocery shopping. I figured it would only be like an hour or so, but after 2.5 hours and still not lights, I decided to just go out driving. Right away, I get a ping, pick up a rider named Rachel! That was funny. Turned out to be a SCAD student, and wanted me to drive her to Burger King then back. She is studying painting, acrylics. I told her about Steve's art. She thought it sounded really interesting. I didn't have any pictures, but gave her his name and told her to check it out. She said she would. Steve could have another fan..

Germans

Doing my driving gig, when I get a ping to pick up at a hotel. It is 2 guys from Germany and they want to go uptown where they left their rental car. They are driving to Florida to pick up a plane back to Germany. What to talk about to 2 German guys? How about the Steve in Germany at a bar talking about the '55 Oldsmobile story? Oh, you don't know that one? well, here goes: Steve was 18 years old, in the Army and stationed on a mountain in Germany near Czechoslovakia.. He went to a bar with some friends. Universally, guys talk about cars. So Steve talks about my '55 Olds (which in the story he told them was his). It was beautiful he says as he expounded on the old beast. A German guy at the bar said, "Ya, Gross." Steve looks at him and says, no, it was beautiful. "Ya, Gross." he says again. Steve was getting angry and pulls his arm back to punch the dude. "if you say it was gross one more time, I'm gonna punch you out." One of Steve's buds grabs his arm, "Gross means BIG in German." Oh, all the difference in the world, literally! They all laugh... The guys from Germany loved it!

Driving in Savannah on Labor Day

Driving for this service, Uber .... In case you are unfamiliar, it's an app for the phone. You need a ride, you click. I need a passenger.. I turn on my phone and open the app, and if I'm the closest driver to you, my phone beeps. I have 60 seconds to agree to take the fare. It is all done on the phone with the app and NO cash is used. At different times, demand for rides is higher and you can get more $$. So, I was excited when this morning, I turned on the phone, it said I was in the RED zone, 1.5 times the regular fare.. Whoo whoo. I get a ping. WOW. I pick up this girl. She is going to the airport. The $35 fare is now times 1.5! Poor thing looks hung over. Then she says, she missed her flight. Uh oh. She is on the phone, and suddenly she is nearly in tears. I ask her, want me to pull over? Yes. She says they want her to pay $900 to fly home today. Remember, she has already paid for her flight. this is a charge on top! OMG. But if she waits until Wednesday, only a $200 surcharge. we talk for a bit. Then, I brought her to a hotel close to the airport, showed her where to walk to eat. So, think about this. She came here with friends for a bachelorette party. They shared rooms in a downtown Savannah B&B(nice, but expensive). How come her friends didn't make sure she made her flight? She reminded me so much of Rachel. I do hope she makes it home safe...

Memorial Day 2015

For the most part it was a pretty quiet weekend.  Saturday night I heard a loud sound . Bill said, what was that?  Hmmm sounded like fireworks. Then Bill goes in the kitchen. Oh crap. He was boiling eggs on the stove and forgot about them. Yeah, it was like fireworks. Eggs all over.
Then on Monday, I saw a hooker walking in the middle of Jefferson street looking so patriotic. Wearing red spandex pants and a blue t-shirt with a flag on it.  Wonder if she was giving military or veteran discounts.  Ha ha.

Ha Ha

The robins of spring arrived this past week. it was wonderful. the yard was  full of birds and singing! Soon they will leave and fly north. I hope the snow will be gone so the birdies will have something to eat.

Hiyah- still out there..

Look, Hiyah is still out there working. Who knew? His old lady must not be giving him $$ anymore 'cause he is still out there working!

2014 Starbucks Christmas Tree

I wasn't feeling the Christmas spirit so much this year. So, I took my little tree that was formally the AOL CD-rom tree, has now morphed into the Starbucks tree. Throughout the year, I had taken dozens of different Starbucks gift cards. (No money on them!)  I ended up with just over 60. There's Valentine hearts, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Chinese New Year, Fall leaves, and bunches more. I punched holes and put ribbons through them then hung on the branches of the little tree. The topper is a picture I took of the mermaid and glued it to a Starbucks sleeve. I love it!

Predator in Savannah

Predator attacking Rachel

2 weeks ago, a large man attacked Rachel on our front porch. Luckily she didn't get really hurt and she yelled at him that we had cameras. It isn't the best picture of his face, but you can see he is a large Hispanic male. I made up wanted (Predator in our neighborhood) posters and plastered them all around.
While showing them to some guys up town, one homeless guy recognized the creep. Said he chases drunk girls around City Market.  Scary, 'cause that is where Rachel works!
The police believe they know who he is, but Rachel is not going to be the most reliable witness. She doesn't really recall his face. Let's hope they find this creep quickly.

He's cutting grass

I know people have been wondering, what has happened to Hiyah since he moved from across the street? Well, wonder no more. Here is the man himself. He has expanded his evil empire. Now he not only picks up trash and sweeps in front of the stores, he cleans windows and cuts grass. Amazing!

Hiyah's shirt reads "My feet hurt."

Rachel's newest Car

2007 VW EOS

Well, it hasn't been a great year for Rachel for cars. The 2003 Accord was stolen while she was asleep. then it was totaled. And, it was taken by a friend. I know he didn't mean to wreck it, but that didn't make it any better.

So, we took the payout and went to the Honda dealer and got the Volvo. Cash deal. $5000. All the payoff plus $1000+ from our tax refunds. She went to school and the beast didn't even make it back home 5 days later.

Back to the dealer. They took the Volvo back, gave us full credit and she got the 2011 Mazda 3. Sweet. Just 2 weeks after making the first payment, she wrecks it. Seriously? I still don't see it. The insurance company screwed us over on that one. As soon as they heard that the air bag went off, they totaled it. I'm still pissed about it.

Now, we have spent weeks looking for another car. Finally she settled on this. it is a 2007 VW EOS. It is a hard top convertible. I'm crossing my fingers on this one. It is cute. But, black with black leather interior? In Savannah? Oh boy. I told her to be sure to keep a towel on the seats or she will burn her butt on that one.

Shrubbery and flowers MIA in the 'hood

Saturday morning, Bill saw that our neighbor had her flowers stolen. Damn. What the hell? She called the police and even showed where the dirt was leading up the street, but the cops "don't investigate." WTF? More people need to set up video cameras like ours. The ones we have record pretty good, although Rachel did sneak in this morning around 5 am and didn't show up on the camera. Did get pictures of her parking the car, though. I think it needs just a bit more tweaking. That's Tweaking nor Twerking...
Yesterday morning on our way to grocery shopping, we did drive around a couple of streets to see if we could locate the purloined blooms, but had no luck.

Red flowers missing from one pot

Savannah Police- the jokes almost write themselves.

One of our tenants next door is in the Army. He had a friend visit last week- also in the Army and they were both in their uniforms. A black man in an old Toyota pickup truck stopped and asked them for money. When the soldiers said NO, the man in the truck picked up rocks (that he had in his truck) and threw them at the soldiers. Seriously.
The guys called the police............an hour later, police still hadn't shown up........they should have said the dude showed them a gun..
Yesterday, neighbor called the police. His shrubs that he had just planted had been pulled up and taken away. Several people in the neighborhood have had this happen. Someone over by Brady Street is the culprit. One neighbor actually went to the house with his wheel barrel and took his plants back! Anyways, this neighbor waited for Savannah's finest to finally show. When the officer got there, the neighbor showed the cop the trail of dirt going to Brady Street. Cop said he couldn't do anything but take a report. REALLY...

been busy

Rachel and friends on St. Pat's Day

Been busy working for the biggest jerk in the world. I have been so sick the last month. 2 weeks ago, I was running a fever and having cold chills. I also had a migraine. After working for 4 hours like that, I left and went to the VA clinic. They gave me a note to stay out of work for the rest of that day (a Wednesday) and all the next. I immediately called the boss.
When I went into work on Friday, I promptly gave him the note. An hour later, he called me into the office and wrote me up. Said it was MY JOB to stay well. RU SERIOUS?
I so HATE the job and the boss.
I have been there almost 10 months and have never stopped looking for another job. I'll kick the next SOB that tells me "the economy is improving." Bite me.

Rachel's Car- DOA

Stolen and left in a ditch

Well, this is what is left of Rachel's second Honda Accord. It was taken without her permission while she was at a party and asleep. 2 guys took it and went for a  joyride. One drove it into a ditch. All 6 airbags went off. The insurance company still hasn't declared it a total loss yet. Really? Yes, Really...

Still hating the old job

Well, I still hate the job and I haven't won the lottery, so I still go work. It isn't getting any better there at all. The plant manager demoted the sales manager, saying "the sales manager position is not being funded this year." Wow. And the plant manager put it out in an EMAIL... Should have had the sales manager talk to us first. That was low. One of the sales guys left last week. I ran into him today. He hates that place, too. Said the plant manager is an Asshole. I have to agree.

Dec 7 2013

People ask me how the job is going.. Well, I have to say the truth, it just sucks.
First, I'm selling used auto parts. Really? Been to college for the last 4 years and that's the best I can get. Whoever says the economy is improving is flat out of their frigging minds.
Second, the sales manager. When he first hired me, seemed like a pretty cool dude being a Patriots fan and all. Then, we had an office meeting and he started f-this and f-that. Not very professional. Then he started bitching about one of the salesmen (who wasn't there). Saying how this guy was a manager in a Florida store, did something wrong, and was removed. All the stores were asked by corporate if one would take the dude as a salesman- a demotion.. Well Savannah took him and he is on salary making more than sales manager. The sales guys are supposed to be on salary for a few months and then go on 100% commission. For some reason, he is still on the salary. Dude sits there all day doing, what? His sales are only about $1000 a day while the other guys are in the $9000-12,000 range. Really?
Third, the plant manager. Because the dipshit (above) is sitting there playing games on his cell phone instead of making sales and calling body and repair shops to try to drum up business, the plant manager now has made a new mandate:

"On Friday, please leave your cell phones at home, in your vehicle or if you have the need to be contacted in an emergency, you may sit your cell phone on the top of the wall dividers between you and your neighbor so that you may take an emergency phone call.    Should this continue to be an issue (personal texting, game playing, etc.) personal cell phones will be banned unless you have special circumstances and request special consideration.

 

Also, breaks are at 15 mins @ 10:15AM, your lunch break and again 15 mins @ 2:30 PM… You may log out for 15 minutes and smoke/make your personal calls at that time/or what have you."

Well, I'm 57 goddamn years old. I don't sit there and play games on company time. I, like some of the other working sales people, use the phone for work purposes. On Wednesday, I took a picture of a part and sent it to a customer. Good thing I did, it turned out to be the wrong part. Now, I won't be able to do that. 

So, yeah, I hate my frigging job. I took $20 last night and bought lottery tickets. Won $31. Taking that and buying more tonight. Pray for me to win big so I never have to go back!

 

This ad is in a clothing magazine called Duluth Trading that caters to men. Hmmm, Ballroom Jeans... Insert your own jokes...
Gotta admit, the marketing people had a ball with this... Yes, I went there...

September 30 Been busy

Since I started work, I've been a bit  too busy to do much blogging. The newspaper yesterday had an interesting story. First some background.
 A few years ago, a guy that was fixing up a house down the street told me an interesting story. He had been witnessing drug dealing in front of the house and decided to video tape it. Then he called the police to report it. When the cop arrived, he offered the cop the videotape. The cop told him, "I don't arrest family." Wow! he was pissed and so was I. That statement really floored me. It started to make sense. When Bill or I would call the police on the drug dealing across the street, the dealers would quickly disappear just before the patrol cars arrived. They would smirk at us as they left.
Now, in the Sunday paper, it comes out. A cop on the Narco squad (CNT) would call a certain cop to tell him that a relative of his was being investigated. The certain cop, would ESCORT his drug dealing relative with a police car. Also this same cop was in trouble for intimidating an official with the Section 8 housing. He was taking money but did not have an actual tenant. When the official sent him a letter telling him to repay, he took his police car and charged at her while she was at the post office, then put his hand on his gun. He now is permanently off the list of people that are allowed to receive money for renting to Sect 8 people. That was all the punishment he got. And, yes it gets better... These 2 cops are not allowed to testify in FEDERAL court on ANY cases anymore.. Because the federal prosecutors believe they committed perjury.
So, what has become of these 2 fine officers? Well the one that was on the Narco squad, he was kicked off the squad and has been promoted. The other fine individual, he is the Crime Prevention Office of ...my precinct!

There is so much corruption here. It sucks.

Rachel's Friends got Robbed

21 year old FELON Antwon Housey

 Rachel's boyfriend (Christian) was helping some friends move early in the morning on Thursday, when a man came up to him and asked him if he knew where a particular street was. He did not but took out his I-phone to look up the address. It did not exist. (Clue #1, man walking up to you at 2 am. Clue #2, asking for an address that does not exist). Being someone who needs a lot of beauty sleep, Christian got a ride back to his apartment and went to bed. The others continued working loading the U-haul.
The guy came back at 4 am, with a few ...friends(felons)... Held them up at gunpoint, took all their phones, forced them into the back of the U-haul and locked them in.
It took them a while to use a hammer and trash the roof and they finally got out and called the police.
The detectives knew who the thieves were.. Amazing... You think? And then the felons, being all that, left the SMART phone on... you guessed it. Police were able to track the phone and the arrests were made.
Most of the stolen items were recovered, but I guess not the money..
So the charges are Armed Robbery and Kidnapping, except for Antwon- he get Felon with a gun... What do you think they will get? 1 or 2 years? Savannah Courts lets people get away with murder and out in 5.

I'm betting the VICTIM in Chief (Obama) isn't going to be saying "Oh, these boys could be my sons, if I had one." And what is up with these 2 not wearing shirts?

29 year old Adam Brantly

Corey Baker will be 18 in about a week

the job

I started work on Monday. Working at a junk yard- LKQ in Savannah. Not hard, but a lot to learn about mechanical parts and what is and is not included when you buy used parts.

Today we had a massive rain storm. The thunder and lightning were incredible. We lost phones and electricity for a short time then it kept flickering. The rain was coming down so hard it was going sideways. Then we had a break and I took off for lunch. But just before I got back, the sky opened up AGAIN. Damn. I had my raincoat and umbrella but my feet and legs got drenched.

Then when I was ready to leave, there was a massive puddle to deal with. Not happy....

Big puddle

As for Rachel, she left for college at Georgia Southern University last Monday. I helped her move in. Over the weekend, her boyfriend stayed with her for a few days. Guess the roommates were OK with that. The knucklehead held Rachel's car key for her... At some point the metal part separated from the plastic fob... He lost the metal part. The car wouldn't start. I had a metal key made and drove it to Statesboro on Saturday night. She drove to Savannah yesterday with the fob taped to the key. It was Christian's birthday and she wanted to surprise him.  Well, this morning she tried to leave to go back to school, and the stupid car would not start. WTF?
Had to have it towed to the Honda dealer and it took more than an hour to re-key (program)the computerized key. Damn HONDA.

Interesting week

Louise and her swollen leg

A lot of stuff happened this week. On Monday, I took my 2 finals. Did very well.
Tuesday night there was 3 shootings in Savannah. One is not far from where Rachel's boyfriend lives. That happened at 9:30 and one guy was injured. Then 5 minutes later, another shooting happened about 5 minutes away from the other shooting. 2 were killed in that one. Then another 10 minutes later, a shooting 2 blocks from our house, at 34th and MLK, another guy was injured. Police still aren't saying if they are all related but it is kinda coincidental that they all happened so close together.

We thought we were going to lose Louise. She couldn't walk and she was crying. It was very nerve wracking.  Bill and I took turns staying up all night with her. In the morning, we could see her right rear leg was swollen more than twice its normal size. It actually looks more like a normal dog leg! Greyhounds legs are usually so skinny. So, we took her to the vet. He thinks she got bit by something since it is only one leg. She is on 4x her pain meds that she takes for arthritis. Plus, she had a fever so she is on antibiotics. She is doing better now but the leg is still swollen.

Rachel's boyfriend. What can I say there... Hmm. Dumb ass. Thursday it rained like hell- 3 inches in about 30 minutes. He sees a puddle. What does he do? You guessed it. He drives through it. Or almost... See him standing on the trunk of his car!

Help Me

Sunday July 21 what happened?

Found out what happened from the guy (Neil) that lives in the brick house at the intersection where that accident occurred. A cop ran the red light- NO lights, NO siren. Forced a civilian who had the right-of-way into the pole. THAT didn't make the news!