Yes, there is another leakage, and yes, I will go off

I moved down two floors in this apartment complex after the top floor place I was in started leaking from the ceiling/windows. This new place is nice -- a bit bigger in the living area, brighter, more windows, a nice entry-way hallway. On Sunday last week I started to hear a dripping sound in the entry hallway next to the kitchen and there was a small water mark in the ceiling in the hallway.

The dripping was coming from in the ceiling. I figured someone up on the floor above me must have left the sink on, or that the toilet was leaking. I called maintenance on Monday. Tuesday it was still dripping, incessantly. Fortunately the bedroom in this layout is far from the kitchen area, so I could still sleep. Wednesday I called the office again to let them know it was still going on. The puddle in the ceiling was growing bigger -- nothing dripping on to my floor, just a growing water mark. Thursday morning I saw some maintenance people going up to that floor and figured they must be finally fixing the leak.

No such luck.

Friday I noticed that the puddle in my ceiling was getting even larger and starting to go down the side of the wall. I went to talk with the people in person in the office that day. When I told home-girl the issue, she said, "Isn't that what made you move before?" Yes, my child. And, therefore, I am really not trying to deal with this issue again. Also told them that I would not be renewing my lease.

Yesterday I noticed that there was not only some mold/mildew developing on the ceiling, but also a small circle area where the ceiling was puckering in such a way that it seemed as if it might burst and start to drip onto my floor. Office was already closed since it was Saturday. Last night the dripping sound became louder. Still no drip.

Around 4:15 this morning I was awakened by even louder dripping. This time onto the carpet.

Had to get up and put a pot on the ground to catch the water. Of course, then, I could not really go back to sleep -- dripping too loud, me too angry to calm down enough to sleep.

Today, the office opens at noon. I will, again, go down there. This time, it won't be pretty. They will face the wrath of a woman who has not slept well, of a woman who is dealing with an issue that should have been resolved on Monday when I first called you and if not then, then on Thursday when those mo-fos came in to do some work on the floor above me.

I will bring one of those heifers back to the apartment to see the actual damage. I will let them view the five-foot water mark in the ceiling, the three-foot water mark on the wall, the three six-inch water marks close to the floor board, the now three-inch puckering which is incessantly dripping into my pot (another one that I will not want to use again -- there goes that whole set since I already used the other two upstairs to catch water there).

Fortunately, the lease is up in two months. Unfortunately for them, I will not pay the rest of the money since they have now twice inconvenienced me, my living area, and my sleep.

You can't mess with my sleep. You can't mess with my living area. I will get angry, bitter, and will come at you like nobody's business.

They are lucky that I don't have a lot of money, because if I did, I would surely rent a plane and let all the maintenance crew, the complex managers, and the owners do one of these moves.

Since I am not rich, the gas face will have to suffice.

I just don't understand how it works

I am all about optical illusions. I love watching magic shows and trying to figure out how the stuff they are doing is accomplished. I have not quite figured out how David Blaine does some of his tricks, but that makes him even more intriguing.

This is something that I am not sure I understand. It works every time. It seems to somehow read my mind. And everyone's that I have had try this out.

The Junk Genie.

It can guess which number and which object you are thinking of.

Try it and let me know if you can trick it.

Another really difficult thing for me to understand is why out of all the places to have the summer Olympics in 2016, Chicago is on the list. I am not saying that it is not a cool place (literally) to hang sometimes, but with the other cities in the top four -- Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid -- how is Chicago in the running against them? Think of the beauty and intrigue of the other three options, then think of the windy city of Chicago. I would prefer to go to Chicago. And I'm hoping to have some athletes of my own there at those Games, so I would prefer to travel with them to a more fabulous region of the world.

Johnny 5 is alive

There is a new movie from Disney/Pixar called Wall-E (pictured to the right).

Does anyone else see the striking resemblance to Johnny 5 from the 1986 movie Short Circuit (pictured to the left)? Isn't there some type of copy right infringement case that should be going on with these two movies?

And why would anyone, with the technology of today to create different kinds of characters, make such a simple being as Wall-E? A being that is similar to the not very hi-tech creature that was Johnny 5.

Wall-E is Johnny 5's very long lost love child with Ally Sheedy.

I'm sure the new flick does not have lines as good as the insults thrown in Short Circuit: "Your mamma was a snow blower!"

Obama's speech

In case you don't want to read the transcript I posted before, here is the video. Even better.

Parts of it honestly send chills through me. Other parts are a bit contradictory. It makes me really slightly proud to see all the people behind him in that huge stadium. A much bigger support group than the 600 that showed up to hear McCain yesterday.

It's about time

Wow!! The Democratic race is finally over -- at least to everyone accept Senator Clinton who has not conceded yet.

If you didn't hear the speech Obama gave, you really missed out. But you can read here the transcript. Not as powerful as hearing him give it, but still a touching speech, still a speech that should convince everyone that change is necessary in this nation.

It is really amazing what a good speaker Senator Obama is. Seriously. Amazing. Mesmerizing. Enlightening. Really brings people to want to take part in the democratic process that so many in this nation (me included) have been deluded by for so long. He made me want to vote again. He made me think that change really is possible, not only through his words, but also by seeing other people actually give a shit again.

As he said at the end of his speech:

This was the moment — this was the time — when we came together to remake this great nation so that it may always reflect our very best selves and our highest ideals. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

I am almost proud to say I am from here.

Then I read some of his contradictions and remember how the Green Party is really more "for the people" than he is. Hopefully others will see that, too. Hopefully he will understand that that party has more strategies and ideas that are good for the people and he will adopt those ideas.

The replacement and being re-made whole

Not even a week after and I am way more at peace with all the BS. Leo and others have been trying to get me to understand how little those people cared about me for a really long time. As Michelle once told me, working there is like being in an abusive relationship. You don't realize how bad it is, that it's not supposed to be that way, that it can be better, etc. But now that I'm out and more removed, I have seen a little more of the bad than I had been seeing before.

Explain to me how I can resign on Wednesday and they can have a replacement hired the same day. How I can go to ask if I can continue working with the track team I have developed over the past five years and they have a replacement -- not one of my assistant coaches, the position wasn't even offered to any of them. That should come as a blow to them and let them know how much they are cared for.

The replacement.

I guess there were rumors of me leaving. But nothing was certain. As of Monday this week, I was still coming back in the fall. As of Tuesday morning, the same thing. What really irks me is that if they thought I was leaving, they did nothing to inquire about it to me, they did nothing to ask why I might be making such a decision, they did nothing to find out what they could do to ensure that I would not leave. I guess they just did not care. Or they wanted me out. Now they have a (fairly) newbie in my place. I wish him well. I hope they don't treat him like shit. I hope that he does not get burned out like most of the other faculty, because if he doesn't, I feel like he could make an impact.

Unfortunately, my views on the track team are mixed. I love those kids to death and want them to do well. But a small part of me wants that not to happen without me. Wants this new guy to falter a bit. Is it possible for the kids to do well but for him to fail? I'm not sure.

What's done is done. I am moving on. I think I already have a job secured. I will find out on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am going to get the rest of my shit out of that school and then be up.

On another note, well some what tied to that school, I got a new computer. Have to turn in the school's tomorrow. I got an awesome deal from the guy. He really hooked me up even beyond the educator's discount. Then a friend from grad school who works as a teacher during the year also hooked me up at the store by transferring all my shit (ALL my shit) from the school computer over to my new one. Sweet. Seriously. I suppose my second to last hit at the school. Last one will be when they don't see my curriculum still there. I wrote that shit. I take that shit with me. Sorry new guy, no offense to you, just what I have to do. I had to do it, now you do, too. Plus I will have to teach it all again at some point, so why should I start fresh then when I have already made it all.

I really feel great -- free, happy. The potential district is one that everyone seems to love working at. And it starts sooner in the morning and gets out earlier. I will basically be able to have a life. And be able to do shit after the last bell rings, because that will only be 2:16. So many more hours added to my day. And the athletic facilities are nice. Since I cannot coach at my old digs, I will coach there. I will rebuild the program just as I did before.

With that all out, I hope to never have to speak with anger of the bullshit that was my life in that place. I hope that I can speak of it calmly and as though it was another part of my life. It already seems distant, like it was some type of nightmare that I am finally awakening from. I hope to be cared for by my future employers, I hope that if not, I will recognize it sooner and not be afraid to leave if the circumstances for me or my fellow colleagues start to turn to shit.

I consider it all a huge learning experience. One that I hope all my former colleagues are learning. And I hope that the ones still in that abusive relationship survive in tact. And that they can get out of it before it ruins their spirits more than it already has.

I am thankful for all the people there who kept me sane, I am thankful for all the people close to me who helped me make good choices while there and while trying to not be there, I am thankful to all the people who have listened to me vent, blabber, and make choices about it all for the past year and especially this past week.

I have been re-made whole.