It felt like raindrops were falling on my head last night when I went out on my back porch to watch my dog patrolling our small yard for gophers or mice. Sure enough, the upstairs neighbors had just watered the plants on the balcony above me and water was dripping onto my Adirondack chair cushions and outdoor table and chairs set. And on me. I wondered for the hundredth time just how nitpicky it would be if I asked them to put saucers under their pots. And to stop trimming their red petunias and tossing the clippings over the deck into my garden.
Container gardening is just one of the annoying things associated with being the downstairs tenant in a duplex. Both two-bedroom units are almost identical and when the current tenants first moved in, I hoped they would follow the choice of the previous occupants and not chose to have their bedroom directly above mine. But I wasn’t that lucky. They like to fall asleep watching tv in bed and twice I’ve gone upstairs to request they lower their tv after 10 because it’s right over my head.
“Lorna used to tell me she could hear the keyboard keys when I was working!” the neighbor across the street commiserated. She lived in the upper unit before relocating across the street.
“You can’t complain about how loud they sound when they’re walking around. It’s the joisting and the owners are just too cheap to do anything about it. I know it sounds like they’re pounding around but they’re not. I walked really softly and Lorna always chastised me for how loud I was.”
Still, at times I feel like screaming “SHUT UP!”
It’s odd that the previous tenants were so quiet that I often didn’t know if they were home or not. Considerate and aware of how loud the squeaking floors must be downstairs. I’m forever trying to be the perfect neighbor but it’s difficult to keep a hound dog with extraordinary hearing to bark when just their returning home sounds like the army is arriving.
Maybe I’m just home too much. Other than outings with the dog and trips to the gym and the store, I spend a great deal of time on my computer, working on assignments for my online writing courses.
When I hosted last Thursday’s KTK from New York, I mentioned that I was going to try to make some changes in my life when I returned. Maybe find a part time job. Yesterday morning at a small mall about 15 minutes away, there was a sign in the window of a book store that they are looking for part time help, specifically with their children’s programs. I came home and printed out the application and my resume. I’ve had lots of recent experience volunteering as a reading tutor and with my nonprofit which is directed towards youth. Plus I do have some bookstore experience, although that was 15 years ago. When it came to selecting my references, one was someone I’ve known for 30 years, the other 20, the final one ten. That’s just how things are at 68. It’s been about ten years since I had an actual employer. I’ve been free lancing for much of my life and two of my references are friends I made years ago: I worked with one in two different bookstores; another worked with me on my nonprofit.
The other step I’ve taken is to put an ad up in my local Nextdoor offering editorial services. Having worked as a journalist for most of my professional career, I’m forever aware of bad grammar and poor punctuation. I’m calling the operation “The Final Rinse” because I think what’s sorely lacking in the current print and online content is proper proofreading. I may create a simple web page and have some inexpensive business cards printed up.
Enough of me. How is everyone tonight? What’s for dinner?
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share a virtual kitchen table with other readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another. Drop by to talk about music, your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper…. Newcomers may notice that many who post in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table and hope to make some new friends as well.
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