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...