Damn, these people will sell anything, won't they?

Sometimes, the ability of hucksters to sell stuff never ceases to amaze me. From some fetid imagination now comes In-Souls, shoe inserts and odor eaters with Christian scripture dyed on every insert so that you can always "Walk in the word of the Lord."

Grief. And I thought new-age hucksters were silly!

Great. Just freakin' great

So, now Kouryou-chan's afraid to leave the house because she thinks the neighbors are going to yell at her.

Our property sits on a hill, and the new neighbors are slightly down the grade from us. Whenever it rains, the water runs down the road and, if it rains hard enough, overslops the ridge on the edge of their property, dumping pine needles down their driveway. This is simply a fact of nature.

This afternoon, Kouryou-chan and one of the other kids were playing in a stream of water that was running down the road from the neighbors slightly up the grade from us, and the Woman Of The House (tm) comes running out and yells at them. Not asks them to stop, yells at them. That's her first instinct. Then, she turns to me and says, "Don't be making a mess of my yard."

"Excuse me?"

"Don't get fucking rude with me!" she shouts.

"I haven't said a word yet."

"Just don't get rude with me, okay?" And then she stalks off. I was completely baffled. Omaha went and had words with her, since she handles confrontation better than I do, and her response when she came back was, "We're moving. I'm not living next to people who expect the worst of their neighbors." Apparently, it's our fault that nature dumps pine needles on her driveway, and not the fact that they chose a nice house with a pine-lined easeway.

I can't help but wonder how long they'll be able to live in that house with all that rental gear. Hopefully, not long. I don't want my child to be a prisoner in her own home because our neighbors are psycho.

On the other paws...

Last night, after a day where I got the Eastern wall of the house all mowed and cleaned up, Omaha, Kouryou-chan and I drove over to j5nn5r and desirae's house for good cheer, moral support, excellent alcohol and excellent hottubbing (although not at the same time), really delicious barbecue, contributions of cold drinks and ice, and just a general good time. shastaw told us of her recent custody battles and we commiserated, pointed out where she should go for serious investigation in her own situation. Jenner too, was having a hard time dealing with his own family because, as the grown-up, he's the one whose duty it is to say to his relations, most of them younger and snottier than he, the phrase, "No, you can't have that."

It really seems to me that's the key to being an adult. Learn to use the phrase, "No, you can't have that" and its associates, "No, you can't do that," and just the simple, "No." Especially, "No, I won't do that for you. You want it? Do it yourself."

Being an adult means you're the center of resentment. Your relations, the ones who've grown up with a sense of entitlement, resent you for being the gatekeeper to their instant gratification. Your peers resent you for being the wet blanket who points out the consequences of their desires. And even those who don't know you resent you for having the temerity and the gall to believe that you know better than others. Well, you do.

And that's just about all there is to it.

Despite the rancor

I gardened a lot today, finishing up the whole of the back yard, which involved a lot of mowing and just as much weed whacking. It was, on the whole, an excellent 4th of July. I've cooked every meal, cleaned up my messes, took care of my family and my household and in general, as they say in CoveySpeak, "connected with the mission" of being a devoted father and husband, a serious caretaker of my patch of land, and (hopefully) a generous and thoughtful friend and lover besides.

At least, that's what the plan says I'm supposed to become. Eventually.

Omaha spent most of the day tuning her bicycle. By evening, we went out to the Fireworks show down in Des Moines, which we appreciate because it's homey and you have a great view of both the Tacoma and Vashon Inlet shows, which are both huge and wonderful. Kouryou-chan loved every second of it. We invited j5nn5r and shastaw along (along with her two delightful kids) and a good time was had by all.

Trying to get home was a chore. Our delightful new neighbors had decided to block off our driveway so that they could shoot fireworks. I shouldn't have to ask permission to get to my own freakin' driveway. Grr.... It was too bad they were near the end of their stash, too, because it's a $1000 fine (or 30 days in jail) if they get caught.