Monday Morning This and That

 If a man harbors any sort of fear, it percolates through all thinking, damages his personality and makes him a landlord to a ghost. 

Lloyd Douglas

Good morning.  It's a rainy one here in Brooklyn. Talk about rain. My goodness. The rain and win woke me about 4:30 am. Heard a loud crash and something blowing in the wind. 40 mph gusts out there and heavy, heavy rain.   And wind?  Non-stop.  Not a day fit for man or beast. 

No way am I going out in this. Had my bag all packed for arts and crafts, but that will just have to wait until next week. It's a wait at 2 bus stops with no shelter and then a fairly long walk to the class. Forget about my fingers locking when I hold an umbrella. Arthritis.  Aging hasn't been so easy on me, perhaps because I never really kept myself in tiptop shape until symptoms set in, but I don't let it stop me from doing the things I enjoy.  Life is to be lived, and after working 50 years, I am definitely living it. In this weather. though,  you can't even open an umbrella if you tried.  Wind would blow it right out of your hand.

I have been going through it lately.  Been very stressed.  After 5 years I suddenly developed a mouse issue, and I am petrified of them...to the point of it being a true phobia.  I couldn't eat or sleep, and when I did sleep, I slept in my clothes with the television and light on (hubby drives a cab all night).  I kept hearing them surrounding me even though they weren't there, and the worst was when I would walk into the kitchen and one would scoot across the floor.  Tears would flow and my body shook so badly that I just wanted to run away.  And worst of it was, I couldn't seem to get any help.  I told the super and he said he thought the problem was to be taken care of by the tenants.  Building management told me to talk to the super.  I was using peppermint oil and it seemed to be keeping them at bay, but hubby, with his emphysema, couldn't breathe.  

So I spent over $100 on air tight containers for all our foods, even my spices, $25 on an electric trap, $24 on Rodent Be Gone spray, $30 on the pure peppermint oil, I purchased the poison, but hated to use it as much as I wanted it gone.  The last straw was when we discovered they had crawled through the vents of our microwave and destroyed it.  Hubby had to go out and spend $159 on a new one.  I called and DEMANDED help, and the next day the super came in and used a foam spray to seal all the holes.  Haven't heard or seen any in two days now.  Hoping that starvation drove them away and the seals will keep them from returning.  Needless to say, no matter what, I will never feel the same here again.  

We have been looking to move anyway.  Once the large building goes up next door it will block all light and air from entering my apartment.  I will  be living in 24 hours of night time.  So we have been putting applications for affordable housing. Not easy to get here in Brooklyn, but if I don't try, I will have 0 chance of finding something.

 The brown would is the distance from my kitchen window.  That's how close it is.  Now imaging an 8 story building going up right there. 

Another view of it.  The white building is the front part of my building.  The building will actually be built about one foot from my bedroom window.  Sorry, but I can't live like that.  

So, that's a few of the negatives that have been going in my life lately.  It never gets dull.