Goings-on

Things I forgot to say about the MoTab concert (or, rather, fellow concert-goers in our vicinity):

• The old man sitting next to Jon was pinching one of his nostrils and wheezing through his obstructed nose the entire two hours.
• The girl sitting next to me wore a jingle-bell bracelet. Luckily she took it off after the first couple of songs, because I was ready to remove her entire arm from her body.
• There was a tone-deaf woman sitting behind us who sang along loudly to all the songs she knew. Fortunately she only knew two of them. She must have been mildly retarded (there is no other explanation for a person who thinks a ticketed concert is a sing-along) AND blind, because she didn’t notice the daggers that shot out of my eyes each time I turned around to glare.

Things I forgot to say about life in general:

• MY EYELID STARTED TO SWELL AGAIN! Luckily it went away on its own this time. Really hoping this isn’t going to be an ongoing thing.
• Our apartment complex sent us our rent renewal notice a few weeks ago. In order to sign the same length of contract that we’d signed when we first moved in, they wanted $200 more a month. TWO HUNDRED!!! They clearly forgot that Phoenix is one of the cities most affected by the downturn and that there are thousands of empty condos and homes sitting around wanting tenants. They also must have forgotten that we’re excellent renters, we have always paid on-time, we have consistent income, we always pick up our dog’s poo, and we have never been complained against. But if they wanted to kick us out and have our apartment sit empty for eight months, fine. Anyway, Jon negotiated with them and everything worked out, EXCEPT – they offered us our choice of two “upgrades” (from a list of about ten) upon signing our new lease, which seemed nice at the time but bugs me the more I think about it. Those are things they’re changing about all the apartments, eventually. As people move out, they put in the upgrades before the new renter moves in – if they’re lucky enough to find a new renter. These changes are necessary to make their complex more appealing, because, like I said, renters have thousands of options in Phoenix. So, since they’d have put in all ten upgrades had we moved out, shouldn’t they have offered to put them ALL in since we decided to stay? You know…actually rewarding your good tenants, instead of threatening them with a $200 increase, conceding to a lower rate, then giving them two of the ten upgrades you would have given the next person, a total stranger? Maybe I’m a revolutionary in apartment management.
• The highlight of my month so far was taunting a basenji at the dog park to make it bark. It’s funnier if you know that basenjis don’t bark, they “yodel”. (It didn’t work, by the way. He didn’t make a peep the entire time. Stupid basenji! Can’t even bark!)
• I had a dentist's appointment last week. The assistant took my X-rays then the hygienist pulled out a picture of black teeth and gave me a lecture about how I was going to end up with periodontal disease if I didn’t change my habits--- all this BEFORE she even looked in my mouth! A few minutes later, she sheepishly told me I had beautiful teeth and was doing a great job of home care. I should say so, I floss every day!!!!!!!11 Other than that, and the eye boogers (see my Twitter feed for details), I liked the new place. The dentist is Jamaican! Also, I have four cavities. Blast these teeth of mine. He told me that some people are just cursed with cavities, no matter what they do, and that the grooves in my molars are unusually deep so that’s definitely a contributing factor. Speaking of non-compliments, the hygienist exclaimed, “You have such curvy roots!!” when looking over my X-rays, and I thanked her. Anyway, I have an appointment beginning of March to get my mouth fixed. Yay modern medicine!
• Jon and Penny lounging: