A Baltimore Cat in the Window

Year later

2009-08-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

Hmmm... time can go by quickly and badly sometimes. I cant really describe this past year in a blog, I think I am going to have to wait to get proper reflection.

We have moved! We are now the proud owners of a rowhouse in Sobo.... South Baltimore for anyone that doesnt know. But we thought we bought a house in "Federal Hill"... that is what the listing called it anyways.. but we got a good deal in South Baltimore and I am fine with that. What is in a brand name neighborhood anyways??

Sobo is rowdy.. there is alot more foot traffic over here... Brewers Hill was quiet and peaceful. It took years to get to know the neighbors and when we finally did, they were sad to see us go. It took us about 15 mins to get to know our neighbors here... first introduction came when i had to ask our neighbor to turn down his stereo that sits on our shared wall.

We bought a house next to the railroad tracks.. something we didnt notice until the contract was signed. Actually, it is kinda nice... the house rumbles and vibrates every couple of hours or so. The faint horn from the train gives the house some character... guess you have to like trains to feel this way but i do like the background noise the train makes from time to time.

We can walk to get sushi. That is one of my favorite features of the new house. I havent walked downtown from here but i could. We can see Ravens Stadium out our bedroom window laying in the new bed. The new foam bed was bought b/c the stairwell is too small to bring up any furniture that isnt in a box. The staduim view may not last long if the casino goes up next door. Oh, the joys of city living.

The Ravens games are going to be even more exciting this year with our streets tailgating and partying over here..... not like the game werent exciting before. I wish I didnt care so much, the pregame butterflies in the stomach and the headaches after the losses.... guess that is a price of being a real fan and the joys of winning.

Urbanite Crime Edition

2008-05-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else read that article on the horrific beating and murder of Zach Sowers? I have followed the crime since it happened and checked on the website for Zach's progress. It was such a sad story- it hit home because we live about 5+ blocks away on the south side of Eastern Avenue.

I remember when we first heard about it, I scolded my BF for walking home from the bars at night. "You never know what can happen" I told him. And I was right, unfortunately. It took a spill the beans conversation with his Dad to get him to stop walking home by himself on a weekend night. We were out at dinner and I complained to his Dad that "it scares me to death when he walks home at night by himself from the bars". His Dad got so upset and made him promise to call a cab. I know that was not a nice thing to do, but I will do what it takes to keep my loved ones safe.

What really surprised me though, about the article, was not the Zach Sowers story. But the Eric Price story. The story of one of the kids that was involved in that horrific crime. One of the biggest surprises was that he lived right up the street from us. He could have been one of the many children that I see throwing a football around or chasing each other up and down the street. He could have crossed paths with me and I would have thought nothing of it. His mother was a server at the Hippodrome, she could have waited on us when we went to see "A Christmas Carol". These kids aren't monsters, just violent children acting like monsters.

Anna Sowers doesn't want to get involved in any of the crime prevention causes, just the prosecution end of the Judicial system, and who could blame her. She has been through enough. Her life as she knew it was ripped to shreds and she did absolutely nothing to receive such a strong stroke of bad luck.

Sunday Night Blues

2008-05-04T18:05:00.001-07:00

A house around the corner is selling for $248,000, partially rehabbed. It looks to be in good condition, the first floor is really nice. When is the last time you saw a Brewer's Hill rowhouse go for $248,000 with exposed brick and new kitchen? It was spacious and nice. The prices of homes are dropping in the way that they went up. It sneaks up on you over a period of months. Homes in this area were 110 then 150 then 200 then 250 then 300 then 350! Now they are going down in the same increments. And they are at 250- maybe they will go back to 110.

That would be great considering there is only but a specific group that would want to live over here anyways. It is no place for kids, for starters. Inner city school and small living spaces in comparison to something out in the suburbs. The crime is always a problem, some months are better then others but there is always that concern that something will happen when you least expect it.

I feel a little annoyed when people say times are tough... how are they tough? Did you overspend? Laptops and cable are not necessities. Restaurants and fast foods are expensive. Gym memberships can be replaced by walks or running, eating out can be replaced with home cooking, cable TV can be downgraded or replace with books and books can be taken out at the local library for free. We live on a very small amount of money and don't have any troubles. We live in a small rental, own 10+year old vehicles, long ago paid for and rarely shop unless it is for groceries. Our food isn't expensive- I mean rice went up a $1.00 a bag.

Now, I know that there are families out there that live off of less than what we have and they struggle with kids and house payments. But I know in the group of complainers about tough times are people with gym memberships, car payments, cell phone bills, shopping debt and too much house. Those people can kiss my frugal ass.

Volunteer

2008-05-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

I went to a volunteer project for work this morning. Normally these types of functions are very positive and upbeat. But the prevailing attitude of the corporate culture interfered with any positive moments. " I have been here since 6am", "I did my part", "She needs to get dirty, she didnt do anything". This negative crap follows them away from the office into the woods to a beautiful setting on the Chesapeake Bay. I mean really! Pathetic.

Anyways, it is a beautiful day and I feel good about volunteering. I need to spend more time away from the city in a more natural surrounding- it really is peaceful (well, for me and not my jaded co-workers) .

My supervisor wasn't there today- I think he was at another site. We have bonded a little bit, I cant decide what i really think of him. Sometimes I think he is a pretty cool guy but sometimes, like my earlier posts, I think he is just full of it. Maybe he is a little both. Maybe he is in a bad situation and I have seen an unflattering side of him. I know that I am not the most gracious of human beings when I am under pressure. Who knows, maybe he is just growing on me.

The horses run today- gotta check out the race at 6pm while I work on some homework. Remind me again, why do I really want my MBA?

What happened to my speech?

2008-04-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

Sloppy English. That should be the term to describe the dilect of Baltimoreans. Garbled words.

"Poh Lease"- What comes to get you when you break the law
"Wadder"- What's in the Patterson Park Pool in the summer
"Cow Knee"- Where property taxes are cut in half
"Marr"- Lady in charge of the city
"Bald E More" - Where we live
"Wad-you-do-en" - What you ask to see what is going on
"axing a fool"- when you make a fool out of yourself
"Sha-er"- gets you clean
"Man tal aty"- state of Baltimoreans mind
"Sto"- where to shop
"Dawg"- enemy to the cat
"Far"- what firefighters battle with water
"Acts somebody" - what you have to do when you are lost.......

Stress

2008-03-06T18:04:00.001-08:00

I wonder what organ is decaying inside me today due to stress. Maybe my liver, or my cardio system. I kept finding myself breathing shallow during the day because my "supervisor" was breathing down my neck. He is like a fruit fly, no matter what you do, it keeps getting in your face.

Today, I tried talking to him directly and asking him if we can start working together as a team, and I think that he went for it. But he is a smarmy bastard and could just being saying that to catch me off guard. I work for a company with a bad reputation of mismanagement and well, that doesn't happen because things are running smoothly on the inside. If it is bad from the outside, good chance it will be bad on the inside.

Anyways, I took it upon myself to eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's and watch a few episodes Sopranos' on demand. I will do anything legal to raise the serotonin level.

The Job, the job, the job

2008-03-05T16:49:00.000-08:00

Why does working have to take up so much of life? It is only going to get worse, I am afraid. I don't mean just for me, but for Americans in general. We are working harder, longer, and I don't see a reversal of that trend anytime soon. The economy is grinding to a slower pace, the price increases of all products and services are adding up, the spending is decreasing while outstanding debts increase. Americans are in debt- whether it is car payments, furniture payments, gym payments, mortgage, BGE, phone, internet! Does it end? Can we stop?

My job is stressful- bad numbers in, bad numbers out. No one wants to stop and clean up the process- just linking one dysfunction spreadsheet to another. Link to Link to Link- nothing getting updated. It wears on me like a bad headache does- I have only been there for 3 months and I am at "oh well, what can i do to make this better realistically? This is not going to change just by one person making a stink". I just ignore my instincts, and try to make it to 5pm without being asked to do anything extra. I have found that speaking up evokes severe resistance. I don't want to be the "bad guy" here- so it is better not to make waves when I am the only one that is going to be whacked in the face with a bucket of water.

Anyways, I drove down S.Kresson street today. Why? I don't know. Because I do things like that- just to see what is there. I have read about the horrors of S. Kresson street on the Southeastern crime blog and I thought that something bad and dangerous was going to happen if I drove down the street. Well, I got a few stares, but it nothing happened. Who would buy a house over there that didn't mind a little crime, or rowdy neighbors? I have read about homeowners that have bought rowhouses over there and have a terrible time with crime on that street. Well, did you drive up and down the street before you bought a home on that road?! The crime doesnt conceal itself over there!

New Job

2007-12-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Back to the rat race, I go. I start my new job as a "financial analyst", my usual title is "staff accountant". I hope I like it. I hope there will be things for me to do that are important and that people will use the information that i produce and not just generating a bunch of reports that get filed somewhere. In accounting at least i knew that journal entries are a necessity. And i have to be there at 8am. Grrrr... that is so early and it is going to be so cold outside. Okay, I am done complaining. It is time that i went back to work and get back to a normal life.

My check!

2007-11-06T22:05:00.000-08:00

The Baltimore City Finance department sent me a check for reimbursement of my bogus parking ticket! I am so pleased, I wasnt sure that this day would come.

$367.00 was refunded to me- after I fought an abandoned vehicle ticket on my own car (used daily). I was told NOT to pay the ticket because I would never get my money back by the girl at the Finance department but it took 2 years to get a court date and they had a "flag" on my car and I couldnt get my registration renewed. So a $152.00 ticket turned into a $367.00 bill and I never thought that I would get it back.

But, 3 months after the court date and my "not guilty" verdict- a nice little surprise was in my mailbox. Oh, I cherish the little victories in life!

Computer meltdown and short bangs

2007-10-22T12:44:00.000-07:00

I decided that my computer needed a "clean install". Okay, I am no techie. But my computer was running so slow and I had tried everything. Deleting temp internet files daily. Scanning for viruses. Using multiple spyware removers. Using Regicure software to "clean the registry". I tried a clean boot, taking off unused programs off the startup disk and unistalling unnecessary programs from the control panel. I even did a repair install. I tried everything.

So, I just did it. I printed out two seperate but different, sets of instructions of how to do a clean installation of Windows XP and crossed my fingers.

First, you have to delete the partitions that are on your hard drive. What I am assuming that I did was remove all software from my computer. What you have left is unformated space. Than you have to reboot from the XP disk by changing the boot order to "boot from disk" instead of boot from hard drive. Then you follow a list of instructions, and I had about 30 error messages pop up in the process. I finally got windows back up and running on the computer after a few hours when I realized that my Dell computer need all of the drivers to be reinstalled.

That is when cut my bangs.

See, I had a new haircut, a couple of "swooping" bangs, like the movie stars according to my hair dresser.. but they were poking me in the eye when I am getting frustrated with the computer. So, in the heat of the moment, out came the scissors and SNIP! I have the bangs of a first grader. I hate them. They stick out when I wake up in the morning. They feather to the side, half way throughout the day. They hate me, I hate them.

And the computer has been reset. We downloaded (okay, not "we", my boyfriend, a law student at UB downloaded the drivers at school the other night) the drivers and although the computer does not have anything on it besides windows and comcast internet- it is fast. Super fast. The screen is a little distorted due to the fact that we can seem to get the monitor driver on the computer, we still have the default monitor, but everything is working great. So the hair cutting was for nothing. Just a momentary freak out over nothing. And I have a constant reminder of it when I feel my furry little bangs on my forehead.

Driving- lets make it safer to drive.....

2007-10-16T20:58:00.000-07:00

I know that I have an unpopular opinion about driving. But I dont care, if we all took more care driving, less people will die in car accidents. That is a huge deal. So little can be given up in order to receive so much, in my opinion.

For one- no eating, applying make-up, texting, talking on the phone, reading, computing while driving. Period. You are operating a large piece of deadly machinery at rapid speed. Not the time to apply mascra, or text your friend about what you are wearing to the party tonight. Those things are not important while you are driving. Driving is important.

No speeding. Okay, you are not supposed to speed but a $1,000 ticket for 10 miles an hour or more, will deter speeding. Double the fine for out of state speeders. Dont come into Maryland and speed on our roads.

Drinking and driving will cause you to loose your license for one year and 6 months in jail. No pass, no PBJ, no fancy lawyers can save you. If you drink and drive, you will have a mandatory mininum of 6 months in jail on work release.

Teenagers will not drive at 16. (Come on now, that is crazy, how stupid are we at 16!!!) They can have a learners permit at 15 and 1/2 and then they must log in a certain amount of hours of driving with parents, verified by parents by a signed form, until they can apply for their drivers license at 18 or at high school graduation. Teenagers do not have the maturity needed to drive a vehicle and the school bus can get them to the one place they need to go. Do you know how many accident this will prevent? Insurance will go down.

This are just some of my ideas. Maryland could be the place where driving is the least dangerous in the country if we go for these high standards. I think that we would be giving up so little and gaining so much in return.

The Wire

2007-10-13T22:08:00.000-07:00

We just re-watched the entire first season of The Wire, now that it is on Comcast's Hbo on Demand. Dee, WeeBey, Avon, Stringer, Poot, Bodey, are all still in running the towers and the low rises. It has been awhile since I have seen season one- after seeing season four, in which the real young kids are the focus, you can see how they probably started out. I wonder if the characters are as interesting and textured as they are depicted in the show. Probably not. But maybe a few of them are. There might be a Bunk in the police department or a Omar out on the streets. I have known some characters in my lifetime, that is fo sho. :)

Baltimore Parking Tickets Stink

2007-10-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

I am still waiting in the mail for my refund of $386 from the Department of Finance of Baltimore City. Gee, even the judge told me not to hold my breath. His exact words were "allegedly, you will be receiving a check from the department of finance. Allegedly." Whatever that means!

See, I received an "Abandoned Vehicle" ticket for parking my little Integra in the public lot behind my house. There are no signs, no restrictions on parking in the lots over in Brewer's Hill. But, because my neighbors were not happy with the fact that I made it home from work before they did, and took the spot that is closest to both of our houses, they called the Baltimore Parking Authority on me. Well, someone called, and I have my money on my neighbors that glare at me from time to time.

So a parking attendant came out, put a $152.00 ticket on my car, during a SNOW storm, and when I didn't move my car during the 48 hour period that the ticket was on the dash, she gave me the ticket. I didn't see the ticket because it was a little wet piece of paper under 3 inches of snow.

So.... I called the court house when I petitioned the court for a date, and they told me to call the Department of Finance, to see if I should pay the ticket or just wait until my court date to resolve it. The girl on the phone told me that if I paid the ticket, my case would be closed, so do not pay the ticket. And fines started accruing. And accruing. Until they had a flag on my vehicle and I could not get my registration renewed. So, I paid the $386 that had accrued.

Then I got a notice that I missed my court date! What?! I never got a notice! So I called the court, and they said I could ask for another court date, but that nothing was guaranteed. They asked me why I had not called sooner! Like it was my fault for not checking on the status of the ticket sooner. So, I went down to District Court 1, in Curtis Bay and filled out a petition. Then I heard nothing. No reply. A month later, I went down there again, and filled out a second petition. A few weeks later, I received a "petition granted" form and a promise that a court date would be soon. Then a few days later, I received a "petition denied" from my second petition! I again, called the court, and they said that I would get a court date most likely. Most likely?

A court date did arrive in the mail. About 8 months later for a date 4 months later. I still didn't know if I was going to get my money back from the city, because I was told not to pay it.....
Court was scheduled for this past summer, and the judge was kind. I sat there for hours, I was one of the last called for trial, listening to people with parking tickets for vehicles that were stolen or sold. Others had parking tickets because of bad neighbors, like myself. Other people had parking tickets because of broken meters and missing tags, etc. When it came my turn, I just told him about the weather, the neighbors, the soaking wet ticket and he pronounced me "not guilty!" Man, I know that it is a small victory, but it felt good.

So here I am... waiting for me check... trying not to hold my breath like the judge said....

The Baltimore Cat

2007-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:00

I can't name my blog Baltimore Cat without actually giving homage to the meow-meow that is the inspiration for the name. This is my kitty- she is friendly and sweet. I like to believe that she is the most popular cat on our block. She loves to hang out in the front window and watch the neighbors get into their cars. When it is nice outside, I open the windows and she perches on the sill and greets everyone that walks by.

Our little social butterfly....

2007-07-07T22:30:00.000-07:00

I wonder where we are going to go next. It has to be someplace interesting. Other planets do not have the life that we have that we know of. If we think about our world in terms of atoms, chemicals, clay, water, minerals, our planet is rich in life and history. We have animals, insects, plants and humans running around together in on a surface that changes from pole to pole.

2007-07-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hanging out over in Highlandtown. well, they call it Brewer's Hill but ask anyone who has been here more than 5 years and they will tell you that "Foster avenue is Highlandtown, hon." welcome to Baltimore.

My neighbors on our block have finally become friendly with us. They didn't acknowledge our existence when we moved here in 2004 until this year, i guess we are a pleasant alternative to the group of wild kids that were squatting in a rowhome on Fagley last winter. Maybe they just take awhile to warm up to newcomers. I guess if i lived in this city my whole life i might be the same way. Maybe.

2007-01-27T19:09:00.000-08:00

Costa Rica was my first trip out of the country, the adventure was exhilarating. I landed into San Jose by myself and cabbed it to the Pacific coast were i met my girlfriend from elementary school. She was standing in the middle of Jaco, waiting for me to arrive. We then took this plane ride over the ocean, and this was the first time i laid eyes on the Pacific.

Living with a cat and a man.

2006-03-12T16:29:00.000-08:00

Living with cat and a man. Sometimes it is hard to choose which to cuddle with, sometimes it is not.

I think more often than not, it depends on their moods not mine as to the cuddling.

This is my post

2005-07-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

This is my post. Please leave a message

~it doesnt have to be interesting or groundbreaking. Just a thought from someone who likes my blog would be nice.