Mini-rants

I apologize for the near-stream-of-consciousness style of this piece. I'll admit it may be difficult to follow in some places, but that's kinda how my brain works sometimes.

I have a problem with one of my new neighbors. They moved in across the street about a month ago, kept to themselves pretty much, up until this last week. I walk my dogs in the big vacant lot adjacent to their house, but don't let my dogs go onto their yard. I've been walking the dogs there since I moved in six months ago because I was told that the owner of the lot is deceased, and the previous tenants next door didn't complain. Then three days ago the woman comes out to ask that I don't let my dogs shit in their yard, they don't like cleaning it up and watching their step while mowing. Ok, not a problem, since I'm not walking my dogs in their yard, right? Not quite. Apparently they think their yard includes some periphery around it, because they caused a fuss yesterday about the smell of the dog shit coming into their house when they leave the windows open. And accusing me of letting my dogs shit in the yard because there's a pile right off their back porch. I don't know how they've got dog shit in their back yard but it sure as fuck ain't my dogs doing that. They were doing fine asking that I get my dogs to shit at the back of the vacant lot, until they said their landlord told them that he owns all three lots on that side of the street, the vacant lots on both sides of their house! I told them I had heard differently, the lot I was using had reverted to the estate of a dead man, but they insisted, even saying that the man would mow that lot just to deny me the use of it. I finished walking my dogs, and asked the girlfriend's dad about this, and he said to the effect that they were full of bullshit, the lot I was using belonged to a dead man's family, and the other vacant lot belonged to a woman who is the sister of a good friend. This got us both a bit riled up, and I called the county's tax office, because who better would know who owns property than the government agency who collects money from it? Sure enough, their landlord is lying about owning all three lots, the tax office gave me the listed owners, and interestingly enough the owner of record for the house lives at a PO Box in Missouri. (That makes us wonder who is their "landlord" and what, if any relation he has to the owner. It reminded the GF of some folks who tried claiming they owned one of the lots and could rent it out, and they were caught in their scam.) It also confirmed my previous info about the other lot's owners. Later yesterday I walked my dogs as usual, and the neighbors sat on their back porch and glared at me, making sure the dogs didn't shit in their precious yard (which they didn't), and I tried striking up pleasantries with the woman when she sat out there. That went ok for a few minutes, until I mentioned that the county's records didn't jibe with their landlord's claims of owning all three lots. She got ugly about that, saying she had to go over papers to move into that place and she knows what the landlord says is true, and that I needed to leave. Fine, I left, and had to wind back down to go to bed (curse these early mornings at work). I feel like putting up a sign that reads "Glare all you want, we'll shit more" in the vacant lot just to goad them on, until my better side says ok, you got your mini-rant out of the way, let's deal with this rationally. So today we were gonna drop by the neighborhood police substation, to make them aware of the situation as it stands, in case they have to be called later, only to discover that it closed a while back. So I did the next best thing, I called my ex Father-in-Law, since he's a detective with the city police. I explained the situation to him and asked who can I go to at the station to let know about this? He considered it and said my best course of action was to not walk my dogs there and to find out the landlord's name and number to talk with him. Ok, I can do that, I'm not afraid to call him a liar to his face. Especially after dealing with his tenants who have a near-Fundamentalist zeal about their Truth, no matter the facts! Their landLord can tell them the world is flat, and it doesn't matter how many globes you show, they won't believe you.

In other news, the Senate is having hearings on the progress in the Iraq War, and some of the Presidential candidates are using is as an opportunity to grandstand. Senators Clinton and Obama are soooo against the war... gee, go figure. What isn't making news is what I wish McCain would stand up and say:

Everybody knows I was a POW, in the last war where the US turned tail and ran away, leaving our allies to be rounded up and slaughtered, after the American people were brainwashed by the Media into believing it was an unwinnable war. The Tet Offensive destroyed the Viet Cong's numbers in South Vietnam, but because the evening news only showed the ferocity of their attacks, the American people's support dwindled away and the "anti-war" VC/NVA supporters in our midst gained courage. I am NOT going to let that happen today, not to our brave men and women in uniform who are willing to go where ordered, to fight the terrorists over there, so the American people won't have to fight the terrorists over here. But no, our round-the-clock news echoes the same "anti-war" mindset over and over from the last war, emboldening our enemies at home and abroad, and disheartening loyal Americans from fighting the good fight now when it can be still be won. I won't say there won't be sacrifice. I won't say there won't be blood shed by our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers over there. But until Americans steel their resolve to win this war we are already defeated, at home and abroad. And do not think the terrorists will not come here just because we're tucked our tails in surrender. Our men and women tracking the terrorist cells in the US are succeeding every day, but it doesn't make the evening news, because that still subscribes to the motto "if it bleeds it leads," and since no one dies in these arrests, not a peep is heard from the Media. Also, since these arrests are part of ongoing investigations, they can't be publicized. Otherwise the terrorists will know their agents have been caught and change their plans and operations. I will not let our detractors keep us from winning this war, because then all the sacrifices of our brave men and women will have been for naught, and I will NOT allow THAT again!

Like I said, I wish McCain would say that, but I'm not holding out hope. Thanks for sticking around to the end.