catching up

well... i guess its been a long time since i wrote anything. Ive had alot on my mind, and havent gotten around to blogging. The weather has been nice, all the locals are saying that were getting a nice indian summer here. There hasnt been much fog, so the stars over the bay at night look fantastic. Furthermore, we get killer cool sunrises too. They're much prettier than the sunsets.
Even for 6:30 am theyre pretty. And it takes alot to be pretty that early in the morning.


So, another event in the Douglas-the-bad-neighbour-saga.. we got a knock on the door fairly late in the evening the other night. Christopher and i just kind of looked at each other, knowing that late night knocking is never good. So, christopher answers the door.. and yes, its Douglas. Get this... hes holding a piece of paper, and he says "well im sure youve heard by now that im being evicted, im fighting it, and was hoping that you would sign this" he passes the paper towards Christopher, who looks at it - its hand written - and he askes "what does this word say" pointing at a scribbled word. "it says neighbour" Douglas replies. Christopher just looks at Douglas, like hes kidding, and says bluntly "no, i dont think so". He closes the door, and tells me the paper said "i would like it if douglas continued to be my neighbour." So, yeah.. we didnt sign it. I on the other hand, may have taken the paper, and signed YA RIGHT.. or.. NOT ON YOUR LIFE.. or something to that effect.

The other night, i was sleeping as most people are doing at 4:30am. Its been nice enough here to sleep with the bedroom window wide open, and i like seeing the stars as im falling asleep, so we sleep with the blinds pulled all the way up. So... im laying there (as most people do when most people are sleeping at 4:30am) when i wake up suddenly. I was kind of groggy and confused, and couldnt figure out why i woke up. Then i heard the noise. It sorta sounded like some one was creeping around under my window. I heard it a week ago or so, but couldnt see any one when i looked... as was the case this time. After scowering the back feild thing under my window, i layed back down. But, a second later i heard the noise again. i cracked it up to me being paraniod, probably just the neighbours cat catching bugs or something. So, i managed to fall back asleep, just to be woken up about 10 minutes later to dogs in the neighbourhood barking.. i laid there a second.. then heard the noise. Not the same noise.. no no no.. this was spooky.. it was almost a tearing sound. It was so strange. No grogginess this time. I woke right up, sat straight up, straining my ears to listen to the sound. But, as soon as i sat up, the bed creaked and the noise stopped. Wide eyed, i stared out the window, only to see the same wide eyed look times 4 looking back at me. Naturally, i took a picture. For those of you that cant tell, thats four raccoons climbing the tree right outside my window. They looked at me, i looked at them... Im not sure who was more shocked. They decided the tree wasnt as safe as they had originally thought, so they proceeded to climb back down. It took forever, and the sound of their claws in the bark was almost as bad as nails on a chalkboard. Needless to say, ive stopped putting bread outside the window for the birds... and i havent seen the racoons since.

starting fights (a story for cheryl)

So.. theres one thing that im good at, and thats starting a good fight. Unfortunetly today, i started a fight, unbeknownst to me. A fight really isnt fun unless both parties are awear its happening. Otherwise, one side may be too in shock to be able to act accordingly as was the case today. This fine afternoon, i was taking a cab home from a long day at the doctors. OK.. wait. Lemme start at the begining. I had to go to the doctor today, its far enough away that i have to take a cab to get there (and back). The base sits at the top of the hill that i now live on the other side on, and the doctor's office is way on the bottom of the other side. So, when ever we need to go via cab into monterey, we just cut through the base (like i needed to do today). You just have to have base ID which me and christopher both have. Its NEVER a problem, the cabbies never really seem to mind -- they do however have to pop the trunk and their hoods to show they aint packing a car bomb -- but no biggie right? OK so, I go to the doctor, take a cab through base --which like always isnt a problem. The doctor's appointment is for an MRI for my knees which as some of you know have been bothering me on and off for just over a year now. So any way, i was under the impression that an mri was like some new age technology that would be speedy and .. all new-age-technology-like. WRONG. Its this huge bulky LOUD machine that takes FOREVER to take a series of pictures. I have no idea how many the thing actually takes but i was in there for like an hour and a half. The actual picture taking (and sitting perfectly still) lasted for about an hour. Not my idea of a good time. So, after this wonderful way to spend my afternoon, I walk to the place where cabs wait for fares, but there isnt any, so i call one. I give the dispatcher my location, and my destination which is right out side the back gates of the base. To cut through base, its like a 5 minute drive.. straight up the hill, in the main gate to the base, and right out the back and your at my place, or... you can go all the way around the base, down a road like robson street, with traffic galore, and tons of one way and "you cant turn here" streets - which takes about 15 minutes. So, when the cab gets there i say what i always do when i get in. I give em my address, and then let them know i have an ID that gets me through base, so id like to cut through. Often the cabbies ask if you can cut through, sometimes they dont... i figure they hope they get the more expensive go around fare. So ive learned just to let em know right away you got ID and you want the cheap direct route, no funny business. OK.. so i get in.. say my speal.. then ask the guy how his day has been, you know polite cabbie chit chat. He barks out back to me "it was fine until you asked to cut through the base" He was so rude about it i thought he may be kidding, then i thought maybe i was in one of those candid camera cars so i looked around, but no camera. He immediately launches into this lecture about how weird it is for me to ask to cut through base, and that no one makes requests like that. I politely said that as i dont have a car, and i live right on the other side of base, that i frequently take cabs through the base, and not one cabbie has said a word about it. All of this takes place in about 2 blocks. He was still ranting when i said, "look if its that much of a problem for you to go through base, just let me out here, ill call another cab".. i wasnt rude, though i should have been.. i really was just totally in shock about the whole thing. So he says to me that letting me out is a good idea, but he wants me to pay the 3.00$ - and let me tell ya, he wasnt asking nicely. I said "look, your the one with the problem here, im not paying you cause you dont want to take me where i want to go." He promptly pulled over, and said abruptly "get out" so i did. I was good too. I didnt slam the door, i didnt yell.. i didnt really say much. I got out my cell and called the cab company... and got the dispatcher on the line. Before i could tell him what had happened, he said to me that a replacement cab was on its way. He didnt appologise, he didnt even hear me out. THATS when i got mad. I was furious. And just at that second the cabbie that kicked me to the curb drove by, and thats when i gave him the finger. Unfortunetly, it was rush hour at a busy intersection, and im sure 4 other drivers thought i was giving them the finger.. but ohwell. I felt better about the whole thing.

who needs rooster fights -- lets bet on fish

OK ok ok.. so i havent blogged in forever. And im left wondering, is my life so boring that i have absolutely NOTHING to report to those who care enough to read my blog? Surely I have something that is happening in my life that is worth relaying. For the last week, or two even, ive thought this through, and the only answer i have is... god my life is boring. Boring is good though, its calm and lacking in crisis. So.. i can deal with that. Seriously though, I have finally have something worth blogging about -- there are 2 new members to my family. Blog -- meet Mortimer and Demitrius the 3rd... Demitrius & Mortimer-- meet my blog.
As some of you fish experts out there may know, these are called Bettas which are also known as fighting fish. You cant put 2 of em in the same tank, cause theyll kill each other. I didnt really believe that, no you sickos i didnt put em in the same tank to find out... but.. i didnt believe it cause they really dont do anything. These fish are Lazy (note the capital L). Seriously, they dont do a thing, and often i catch them napping on their plants... too lazy to swim even. So, i put their tanks really close together to see if i could get some action out of these two.. and sure enough if they didnt puff up all their fins and what not, and start slamming into the sides of their tanks to try to get to one another. So, now once every few days, i do that to ensure theyre getting their proper excercise (and im getting my proper entertainment). Anyway, i think that there is some market potential for this. I mean, think about all the cash those illegal rooster fights bring in... and you have to spend so much to feed and care for roosters. So, just think, there would be some serious gain in cash just by the small overhead there is in caring for these fuckers. Betta fighting could have some serious economic potential.

Betta fish: $4.00
Betta bowl: $5.00
Betta food: $2.00
Betta carnage: Priceless...