Warped Gratitude Blog

Today I am thankful that I understand that we are responsible for our own safety.  I'm having a single-mommy money crunch moment and am scrambling to find $4,600   $5,100.  Long story short, I've been so lazy in the past 18 months, I've used the mechanic down the street for all of my car repairs.  He's only two blocks away so it's easy for me to drop the car off and walk down the street to pick it up.   Yes I'm stupid.  I should have caught on when the water pump kept going out every six months.  I'd take the car in, he'd do $500 worth of work and I'd pick my car only to have it die within a day.  The second day, it would need $1,300 worth of repairs.  I guess it takes three events for me to see a pattern. In January 2017, I had the car towed to the mechanic by my house.  The water pump went out.  Soon after the steering column needed repaired.  In May, the car was leaking coolant, I took it in and...

Today I'm thankful that I can document strange things. This is something that previously happened quite a bit in front of my home but seemed to have stopped about six months to a year ago. This may not have been about my family or my ex. I'll document it here just in case. I will not post the individual's license plate number.  Rather I will highlight and underline the numbers and letters in the order they appear just in case I wind up deceased - or if this person had the wrong house and someone else winds up hurt. Around 6: 1 5 this evening, a tall Caucasian man (perhaps 6'2" - 6' 4 ") was banging on one of the living room windows. We have 4 windows on the lower level, he chose the one nearest where I was sitting.  The window was open and I had a fan running. He was thin and lanky.  He wore a white or light blue button up shirt with v ertical blue stripes and blue jeans.  He appeared in be in his early twenties. His hair was dark. ...

Today I am thankful that the city is rid of the animal control officer who couldn't tell a German shepherd from a wolf-hybrid.   Link to Story: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/aurora-dog-capone-wolf_us_58c9977ee4b0ec9d29d84c85 The city threatened to kill the dog if it couldn't be rehomed at a wolf sanctuary (which probably would have been a death sentence in its own right) It is fortunate that the family had the funds to fight. So many families don't have money to spare.  I don't know why the animal control officer is gone. My hope is that they didn't initiate an illegal fine to be rid of her.  I'm hoping that this woman is on to better things. At least, from my point of view things seem to be getting better. Now, if only I could find the time and money to help do something about the obnoxious and unethical pit bull ban. Sigh.... I'd have hoped that lawyers would do something but I finally realize now that they profit...

Today I am thankful for the thought processes sparked by feedback. It's not uncommon for a woman like me to hear things like 'I know you don't like men right now....,' 'Some guy must've hurt you horribly...' 'It must be hard to trust a man like me...., ' or 'not all guys are out to hurt women.' Typically I hear these things when I won't date someone. Yesterday, I heard it from someone who was in a happy relationship and was trying to help me with something outside of the realm of dating. That shocked me on some level. I talk to a lot of men on a day to day level, some are mentors, some are neighbors (just not the gun-toting freaky dude next door), some are clients, others are people that I mentor. Today I met a very attractive man in a wheelchair that nearly got hit by a truck at 5:30 this morning.  He has to ride in the street because the city doesn't have ramps for the sidewalk. I app...

Today I am thankful for leaked photos showing the aftermath of Denver's pit bull ban.  These are useful for raising one's level of anger. Anger is useful when it comes to scheming,  problem-solving and engaging in sorcery. Yesterday my Code Enforcement Officer, may his God bless his soul (seriously), reminded me that I was wrong to trust the government. He's the same guy that evicted the veteran next door based upon the complaints of the gun-toting neighbor. The gun-toting neighbor would brandish his pistol when the neighbors parked in front of my house.  I asked them to park in front of my house to keep my stalker away. Mr. Anti-Gun Safety never pointed his pistol at my stalker. I think the code enforcement guy has empathy he just lacks the ability to connect with people.  That ability would probably be hazardous to his occupation. The issue is probably one of poor management, lack of investigation and/or crazy quotas.  I mean the city doesn't...

Today I am thankful for a threat from the City of Aurora to take me to court over another tree: it reminds me that a deal with the government is akin to a deal with the devil (if you believe in the devil).  There is a tree on the property line.  It was planted by the person who owned the house prior to me and the guy who used to own the house next door. I think there was something going on between these two because there was actually a secret entrance from my fence into the neighbor's backyard.  There is a little sidewalk that used to go into each property. The woman who owned my house was a single mom.  The guy next door was married and he said he was at my house all the time. Oh... Now the entire sidewalk in on my side of the neighbor's illegal fence.  Yes....my former neighbor wanted to put up a fence that was against the code.  The city told me to ignore it so I made him do it on his property. This guy started to engage in crazy home imp...

Today I am realizing that the stalking isn't quite over and that I have to relocate.  I've been getting a lot of hang-up calls on the landline.  Typically they are robocalls or calls from my ex-husband's bill collectors. There have been a few over the past couple of days that scare me. The phone will ring twice before I'll answer.  I will say "hello" and there will silence on the line before the call disconnects. I don't accept blocked calls anymore.  I can see the numbers that call. I'll call them back. When you call a robocall back, you tend to reach a non-working number. When you call a bill collecter back, you'll speak to someone on staff trying to extort information out of you. When you call back a hang-up call and get a personal answering machine that does not divulge any information, it can be a little bit scary.  When this happens several times a day, it can be unnerving. I used to get hang up calls right before I'd ...

Today I am thankful for a new lesson: I can't have dogs without an epi-pen. The other day, I had a job interview.  The job would be an immediate pay cut -but- the experience is exactly what I need if I want to be a drug and alcohol counselor. I've seen too many people die of an opioid overdose in the past eighteen months. To be incredibly open about it, the only reason I haven't worked in the field is that I don't like the government.  I don't trust the government.  I have a very hard time working in a field where most of the funding comes from the government. I found the perfect company.  It's private pay only. If I'm hired, my boss would be a libertarian. It's exciting -but- I'm still in school and can't be as flexible as it appears they'd need me to be to suit their business. I really need more experience with heroin addicts. So, I haven't decided if I want to pursue the job as a recovery coach. It gets even bette...