Thoughts on Friday Night

I live on a long street, but the top part, which is a cul de sac, is separated from the rest by a busy cross street, so we seem isolated from the rest of the residents. There are seven houses in the cul de sac, and on the weekends I am often the only person at home. All the other homes are dark and deserted, except for an occasional low lamp left on for a late return. It is rather depressing and tonight I even considered going to a local pub, however I am a little too shy to do so. Instead I have put on the television for company and have the weather channel in the background as I write this. There is a program about tropical storm Fay, back in the 1920's which caused heavy rain for 5 months. I had not heard about it before.

My handyman called today to see if I had any work, so I asked him to come over to repair the side gate which has some termite damage. Unfortunately it occupied him for more than 7
hours !! If I had known that beforehand I would have had him build a completely new one. That is the problem with not being very savvy about repairs. I also had to listen to a lecture about cleaning up my garage, since he wanted to do it. However, that is my next major project and I need to figure out what to keep and what to throw away, without any outside advice !! The painters never came back to do the things they missed, so I have begun to do it myself.

None of my neighbors are married, except for the ones at the top of the cul de sac, and I am not too sure about their relationship as she got pregnant when they first met. After the baby was born he brought her over to see me and commented "She was a mistake", which is not something you usually say after the baby is born, in my opinion. That side of the street has 3 other houses: the 2nd house from the top is a rental, with a young couple who are rarely home and keep very strange hours. When they do come in, they drive straight into the garage with their clicker, so are rarely seen. The next house has 3 middle aged men, all single. There is a lot of laughter in the evenings when they are there, encouraged by alcohol consumption, but even so I am a little envious of the camaraderie. The corner house is owned by a woman who has had a succession of abusive boyfriends. She meets them in bars and the last 3 have ended up in jail for being violent to her !!

On my side of the street, there is a duplex rented to two couples in their late 30's or early 40's. (I have written previously about the tenant in the back), but the ones in the front have a large balcony which looks very attractive, with lots of plants and patio furniture, barbecue etc. When they first moved in they used to have parties on the balcony, and it was rather fun since I could lie in bed and listen to them play the guitar and sing. Even though it often kept me awake I enjoyed it. However, the man has lost his job and the parties have come to an end. In addition the building is in foreclosure and they are not sure what is going to happen when the bank takes it over.

The only other house, besides mine, is another rental which contains a young single man in the lower studio unit and a lesbian couple in the upper unit. I will write about them another time.

I talk to all the neighbors, not regularly, but if we happen to be outside and not in a hurry. I enjoy talking to people and find them interesting.

I have become rather addicted to playing Word Whomp on pogo.com but have discovered that if I play it too much my brain won't stop. Last night I played till about 8.30, but that was apparently too late, since I woke up about midnight with words churning about in my brain and had a terrible time going back to sleep. Tonight I am being very circumspect and going to read before bed.