12/17/2023

Saturday was a straw that broke my back. Got up, took a giant smelly shit, and went back to my living space to dress in yesterday's clothes. I was just going to pick up a bagel sandwich and a buttered bagel so I didn't need to impress nor brush out my hair. Twenty minutes later I was back and heading upstairs to begin writing for the fortean website when the landlord started to address me. The toad became increasingly angrier and started shouting about how my room smelled and he could smell it all the way downstairs. Went on and on about how I hadn't changed my bedsheets, and I have a garbage can in my room, and a bucket for recycling cans and bottles. So I confronted him and fortunately I had a bottle of seltzer with me, "This is seltzer. I just drink seltzer."
Toad stuttered, "There's sugar in that!"
"No. Look at the bottle. Read the label. No sugar."
The toad capitulated but went back to saying my room smelled, etc.

I realized the toad smelled the shit I took that morning and conflated it with the state of my room. My room is cluttered but it's clean. If anything the laundry might be an issue, but I don't smell a damned thing after being out of the room (with closed windows) for more than a few hours. I maintain this toad has a grudge against me, or big guys in general.

Afterwards I texted with my old landlord who said no one ever complained about me, or smell, and that I left the room in great shape.

Couldn't concentrate but I still wrote for the fortean website. Just a single section. Then set about looking for a new place to go. Sooner than April.

a dream tinged with nightmare

There's not much I can remember except the dream involved the Pacific Ocean. In the dream I was aware the Pacific Ocean was far from placid, as its name would imply, but with rough tides and insistent surf keen on inching its way ashore. As always the ocean is a terrifying motif in my dreams but I was able to keep myself on an even keep rather than spiral into nightmares. Bits in the corner of my mind are nagging at me there's a message from the tale spun last night, but the plot thread is long gone like Hallowe'en cobwebs.

Wound up going to Lacey to look at a studio set-up in a house. It was a nice set-up with a private bath(!) along with a den. But the house seemed to be under repair, the owner is an ex-Marine (yeah, one never stops being a marine), and had to mention how he has a shitload of unregistered weapons. Plus I'd be driving 12 more miles a day than I am now for my work commute. Not to mention spending $1.50 in tolls a day for the commute.

A mixed feeling came from the fact he owned three large rottweilers. He kept warning me the dogs were tempermental with one upstairs being a man-hater. We eventually went upstairs to discuss the accomodations and I met the man-hater. While we chatted, Man-Hater got up from beside his human and jumped onto my couch. He flopped against my leg and used his muzzle to put my arm around his shoulder. If there was a mean bone in this dog's body, he sure as hell kept that card close to his chest. I was non-plussed while the ex-Marine kept going on about how the dog was testing me, seeing if I was going to pull away from contact being used as a sign of dominance. Dogs are pleasant, I can tolerate them and I earnestly believe they know I'm their friend but I'm not a dog person.

Oh weird, just had a moment of déjà vu looking at the second paragraph.

While heading back to the penthouse I spoke with my sister. She raised the possibility of me living with her father-in-law to help with expenses. I declined the first time she offered during October because it would've had me living in a winter rental in Seaside Heights, or Seaside Park, then moving again when a new place was found. I can't deal with that kind of repeated upheaval. Her father-in-law is expecting the money from selling the house, and once it's in hand then he'll acquire a house. Then I'll consider helping out and hopefully having something more permanent.

Back at the penthouse I crapped out and napped on the beanbag chair. Woke about an hour later, drove to Asbury for a night at Johnny Mac's. First I got dinner at Kimchi Mama a few blocks away from Johnny's and it was fantastic. There were little Korean tapas, complimentary Korean tea, followed by the beef dumplings and Bulgogi-Bop. The latter is Korean-style marinated beef stir-fried with vegetables served over rice and it was absolutely perfect.

Over at Johnny's I continued reading Steven D. Brewer's Better Angels — Tour de Force which continues to delight me. Nursed a Strongbow hard cider until one of the staff told me they had to remove the bar stools from the bar. I finished my cider, got a pineapple juice, acquired a pizza, then found a place to sit and write. Rather than scribbling in my spiral-bound notebook, I posted on Mastodon which was good enough for me. After one more pineapple juice, I settled my tab and headed back to the penthouse.

Reckon on Monday I'll share the new spitballing of a story here.