[In Part II, I’ll let you know how wonderful it is to wake up each morning in my new apartment. My “good deal” with Time Warner Cable after asking for one for a couple of years. My Laz-Y-Boy furniture order, etc. It is so good to be in my new place! Thank God!!!]

The year started off horribly! At the end of December 2011, something physically wrong had happened to me. In February, 2012, I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Dr. Sloan prescribed Metformin (one pill, twice a day/food) and checking my blood sugar twice a week (not day). I have changed my eating habits and have continued to lose about 2 lbs. a week, and the symptoms that had presented themselves (urination, blurred vision, etc.) have gone away. I’m down about 50 lbs. since the start of the year. I weighed 235.0 lbs. this morning. * I am not starving myself. I do pay close attention to what I eat, so that my calorie count stays usually below 2,200 calories/day, and the nutritional value of the food (plus a couple of vitamin/calcium supplements) helps me meet or exceed most daily requirements.

I mention the horrible start to the year, just to highlight what a turn-around has occurred. I have been feeling really good since the weight has started coming off. I’ve even dropped several pants sizes since the Size 44 on January 1st. I have a couple of pairs of 38 pants, and a couple of pairs of 38 shorts. My new belts are almost getting to the point that I can’t add another hole (which I’ve done several times on a couple of the belts). I’ve thrown away most of the size 44 pants, because they fall off of me, and if I synch a 40 inch waist belt around them, the waist of the pants flops over the belt hiding it.

So, not getting my air conditioning fixed at my old apartment, for over a month until the hot summer weather has become the norm (with even several days of exceptionally hot 100+ degrees weather), has turned into a blessing. Not that I consider that acceptable practice to have been done to someone that was a loyal customer (tenant) for 15 years. It’s not even acceptable if the tenant has only been there a month. *But, it was motivation for me to go looking elsewhere and I was directed (by God) to a much better place. It is truly light night and day. Like coming out of a dark dream and I ask myself, “Why did you stay there so long.”

I feel much better about myself and little things, like not constantly biting my fingernails is a by-product. I don’t know how to trim them properly, but the little white edges near the finger tips are getting deeper. I am not sleeping as much either, but feel surprisingly rested. I might go to bed about 11:30 pm, and wake up around 5 am and just go ahead and get up. I love running the dishwasher. Those old glasses, and some old bottles, and the Mr. Peanut decanter, all came out so bright and shiny that I was in awe of how good they all looked.

I’ve been to the State Farmers’ Market in Raleigh several weekends, and have been eating loads of tomatoes, corn on the cob, okra (just this last week), sweet peaches, cantaloupe, etc. And from Compare Foods across town have gotten some golden colored mangoes, avocadoes, and limes. *About a month ago, I got my first few golden mangoes, and got a recipe online for an avocado, mango, pineapple & chipotle pepper (with lime juice, instead of lemon juice). I thought it unusual the first time I tried it. I liked it better the second time I made it, and by the third time, I was in love with the flavors. Mangoes are odd to peel and cut up. These golden mangoes have a large oval, but almost flat seed pod which is minorly difficult to cut around.

I get up in the middle of the night and thank God for being in this new place. I wake up as the sun is coming up (although the bedroom window and sliding glass door face West and close to McCloskey Road, but with a nice hedge and the apartment below street level), and either look out the bedroom blinds, or go into the living room and open the blinds to the glass door slightly and look out. Just that little bit of scenery, the hedge and pine tree tops above it are so comforting. I look forward to having a cup of hot coffee or tea while sitting out on the little veranda (yea, probably 4 x 8 feet, if that large) just off of the living room when it turns cooler.

It took me a week before I figured out that the bathroom floor wasn’t actually tile. It’s just linoleum, or whatever they call it now days. But, the pattern of the fake tiles is just large enough that it is not immediately noticeable that it is a repeated pattern.

The apartment was originally set up to be handicap accessible, so the shower/tub has all these snuggly secured hand rails at various heights. The water is hot if I want it to be and there is a steady stream of it. Sponge Bob (Roberto) and I are happy taking our showers together. Chao Roberto! Apresto.

A couple of years ago (I think it has been that long.), I downgraded my Timer Warner Cable services from Basic to Broadcast Quality (several hundred channels down to 25 or so), with high speed Internet. I eventually found Netflix, and have been very happy with them. Taking my Logitech Revue system with me when I travel has made this one of the best $99 investments that I have made. I can hook the Revue up to the motel’s HDTV with an HDMI cable, and with good WIFI bandwidth start surfing the Web, or watching a Netflix video without a hiccup. *I made a quick trip to Hickory, and stayed at a Motel 6, which had formerly been a Sleep Inn. This was an extremely comfortable room for me and an exceptional price. $44 or so for a one night’s stay. The room isn’t large, and has only a shower (no tub). It had an HDTV, with 720 dpi, but good WIFI bandwidth. The bed was comfortable, and the air conditioning very good. I enjoyed my stay, and have booked another night for a couple of weeks from now when I go up for the free technology conference at ASU in Boone.

About 6 months ago, or so, I realized that I was tired of the 25 channels of Broadcast Cable and would like to get the over 200 channels back again. So I checked and the price wasn’t right. I asked for a deal when they called, but they never called back, or couldn’t meet the price. So, with the latest move, I decided to take my box back to Time Warner and do without TV or even Internet (except for 3G on the EVO phone) for a while. Sierra, the rental rep at Longhill Pointe had mentioned that she had switched from Dish TV back to Time Warner recently and got a $79 deal which included DVR on two boxes, High Speed Internet, and phone. When I took my box (it wasn’t a box, it was only the modem for Internet) back to the TWC office, at lunch time, I asked the clerk if she could give me a deal so that I would stay with them. She took a while making her calculations and then said, “We can give you Basic Cable and High Speed Internet (w/o phone – which I don’t need) for $118 a month. I paused about 3 seconds and said, “That’s not much of a deal. Let’s end my contract.” She apparently didn’t hear me say let’s end the contract, but I repeated it later when I realized she need to hear it again.

My visit to TWC was on Monday, and what happens? On Tuesday, on my way to Compare Foods (for mangoes), I get a call from another TWC department. He wants to keep me as a customer and comes up with a good deal. I ask him why they didn’t make this offer the day before while I was still at their office. He says that there are several departments and that he can make the deal that she might not be able to. So, for $69 a month, plus $5 more for High Speed Interent, I get a DVR and two cable boxes, and Internet. *It will cost me $4.95 to go pick up the boxes at the TWC office, or they will deliver them for free if a cable installer comes out to my place. Okay, bring it out to me.

We arrange for a 6-8 pm installation window on Wednesday. I’m at my apartment before 6pm with phone in hand for most of the two hours. No installer comes by. No installer calls. I google and see that this is not an isolated problem. I’m not going to call them. *The next morning, at work, I get a call from a TWC rep. She says I see you missed your appointment. I say, “No. I was there, and I never got a call.” We rescheduled for Saturday afternoon from 4-6 pm. That time was going to mess up my day, keeping me close to Fayetteville. But, just after I left the Rainbow Restaurant on Saturday morning, about 7:26 am, I get a call while I’m in my car. It is a TWC rep asking if they can install my equipment earlier in the day. I say, “Sure. How soon? Right now?” He says he can have someone out in about 30 minutes (I think.), and I say, Okay, I’m turning around and heading back to my apartment.

Steven, a personable, professional, comes to my door later and does a great job of getting my cable and Internet installed. DVR, Wow!!! I can record shows. I’ve never had that, except for recording to a DVD. It’s great!

I guess I’ll have to tell you about Laz-Y-Boy in Part 3. {Tomorrow is July 4th, and I’m heading down to Jim and Mary Ann’s this afternoon.]

I have recently moved (still in the process of moving) from 412 Oakridge Ave., Apt. 37 across town (actually northward). I had not planned on moving from the apartment that I had lived in for 15 years (Oakridge Place — originally Queen Anne Apartments, when I first moved there) until Wednesday before last (June 20th, 2012). On that Wednesday morning, I got up showered, got dressed and went to the Rainbow Restaurant, as I have many times in the last 15 years. During my breakfast, I got a call, which is highly unusual for me to get any calls on my phone. It was the secretary from Jones & Jones (heating & air guys) and she was wanting to know if I could meet the repair guy to let him into my apartment. It was about 8:06 am, and I said it would take me about 20 minutes to finish breakfast and meet him there. It ended up taking about 15 minutes, and he arrived about 5 minutes after I got back to my apartment.

Two guys came in. One was older (I took this to be one of the Jones of “Jones & Jones”.) and one a very large man, who apparently was an air conditioning expert (a company vendor rep). They headed back to the closet where the ventilation fan was located. They started to discuss the matter, and one said he needed a tape measure. I reached in a nearby drawer and pulled out two tape measures. The older gentleman took one.

The expert made a comment about the door width being only 28” and that it was going to difficult (hinting at impossible) to get the replacement unit through the closet doorway.

As I listened to them, and before they left my apartment, I realized that this was the process that I understood had gone on the next week after I had reported my air conditioning was out to Gina at Downing & Downing, LLC (Dick Street). The Thursday before Memorial Day, I had called Gina about 11am and reported my outage. I hoped, but really did not expect anyone to come out and determine what the problem was until after the holiday. *I took my short South Carolina mini-vacation (Santee, Columbia, Spartanburg) over that weekend. *When all this started we were still having incredibly pleasant and unseasonably, cool weather for June. But, if you have ever imagined a train wreck in slow motion… where the train is a long way down the tracks, but you know the car is just not going to get off the tracks, no matter how long you give the train to get there. That is the feeling I came to embrace regarding “them,” Downing & Downing (Gina) getting my air fixed before it became incredibly hot.

I asked how long it would take to special order the unit. The expert said he did not know. He would have to go back and research the solution, and then he would let the other gentleman (Jones?) know later that morning. I asked the older gentleman if he would give me a call when he knew how long the process would take. He said he would. He still hasn’t called, but that may be because Gina told him that since I was moving, there was no need to “rush” (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ad infinitum, etc.) getting a replacement unit.

I was livid. This was 27 days after I had first talked with Gina about my air being out. We had gone past all those unseasonably mild Summer days, and now June 20th was the start of the back to back, 90 degree plus days. *I panicked. Gail, the on-site rental manager, had asked me a day or so earlier, if I wanted to move to another unit within the complex. I told her, “No. I just want my air conditioning fixed in my apartment.” I called Gina, but she wasn’t in yet. I am supposing that I spoke with one of the Downings, although I don’t know that for a fact. The gentleman was polite, and listened as I “downloaded” my frustration on him, and then said he would relay the message to Gina when she came in.

I headed on to the office. In the hour or so until Gina called me, I my anger subsided and I decided that I would have to move across the complex to #8, which had recently been remodeled and in which the air was working gloriously. When Gina called, I was calm. I told her I would move into #8 since it was indeterminable as to how long it would take to fix the air in my apartment. *15 years. I’ve been a tenant at Oakridge Place/Queen Anne Apartments for fifteen years.

That night after work, I went back to the apartments and headed to #8. But, I noticed that the outside lights for the whole apartment complex were out. The stairs were dark. And, then something finally clicked, and I said to myself, “I don’t want to live here anymore.” I don’t want to move across the complex. I rehearsed the steps down, and across and up, and up further to #8, that it would take time after time to move my stuff from #37 to #8. I thought of how out of control these people were. They couldn’t get my air fixed in almost a month, in the summer time, and they couldn’t provide safe lighting in the stairwells at night. *It took several days before the outside lights were fixed. A downstairs neighbor got a motion sensitive light and installed it at the corner of his apartment. *This was fine, but it didn’t come on until I had come down the dark stairwell. Going up was fine.

The next morning, Thursday, I got online and googled for apartments in Fayetteville, NC. I found three that I wanted to take a look at. One was new, and the other two were older communities. I told my boss that I was going to work for a few hours Thursday and Friday, and afterward go out apartment hunting. I figured that I wouldn’t find anything the first day, but hoped that it wouldn’t take more than a few days to decide on something.

The web site for “Ansley at Patriot Park” looked great. The 1 bedroom units seemed well laid out and at a reasonable price… although I had been paying several hundred dollars less at Oakridge Place. There were photos of actual rental units on the web site. I went to lunch and then headed up Ramsey Street to find Ansley at Patriot Park. I had printed out a Google Maps map for the immediate vicinity. It showed that the apartment complex should be just off of McCloskey Rd.

I found McCloskey Road easily and turned down it. I went past a new complex, Longhill Pointe, on my right, and then an old VFW building, and then nothing but pine trees on either side for quite a distance. My phone’s GPS showed that I had gone well past where Ansley at Patriot Park should have been located. I turned around in the middle of the road and headed back the way I had come. I drove through Longhill Pointe and asked a young man, who was one of the laborers working on finishing up the townhomes, if he knew where Ansley was located. He didn’t know. I asked, just for reference, how much these units were going for. He said he thought they were from $800 to $1,100 a month.

I headed on to find my original destination. On the way, I realized that I needed gas. I called the Ansley number and was directed through the various choices by an automated system… no human being even at the end. I got gas and thought about checking out the apartments across the street, but wanted to make one more effort to find Ansley. I would go down Ramsey further and see if I had turned in the wrong road. *I hadn’t.

I came back to Longhill Pointe, and turned into the rental office. Several signs were positioned at the head of the parking spaces, “Future Resident”. I went inside and found a young woman, Sierra, and asked her how much the one bedroom units rented for. I didn’t hear the exact figure, but as soon as she said $700 (she said $725), my ears perked up. Hey, I could handle $700 “something” a month. These were brand new units. I told her, “Let’s talk.”

We went over and sat down and began to converse about the complex, and units. There was a 1 bedroom available, immediately, and it was on the first floor. Sierra and I eventually took a golf cart a short distance down Foothill Lane and went into my possible new home. *It was fantastic. It was new. The appliances were black. The countertops were not stone, but looked nice. There was a built-in microwave and dishwasher, a place for a washer and dryer, and a little covered deck just outside the sliding glass doors. This was IT!

Sierra and I went back to the office and began to go over the info I would need to provide the company to verify that I was the wonderful tenant that could pay the monthly rent. I emailed most of what was needed back to the office within the hour. *I sent a PDF of my income statement, and called immediately afterwards to see if they had gotten it. I’m talking about 30 seconds after I had mailed it, they had the document open, and were reading the info off of it. Sierra was out of the office showing another unit, but the three girls (women) in the office (there may be more, but I’ve only seen three) are “interchangeable”. I mean “interchangeable” in the most complimentary way. In talking to the 3, it was like talking to one. Without “skipping a beat”, each one of them easily, and quickly looked at my info, knew what needed to be done next, was providing me with what I needed. I found that unusual, but very pleasing.

I came back the next day, Friday, at about 3pm to go over and sign the contract. The contract was lengthy, but I was in air conditioned comfort and heading toward a happy place. Believe me, my initial experience has been incredibly pleasant. Okay, the toilet flap doesn’t always seat properly and the water will then run endlessly. But, I’m counting on Victor to “be on it” when I notify them again that it needs to be fixed. *The problem is intermittent, but you don’t want to have to wait after each flush to see if its going to work or not.

I have so much stuff. There was no way that I was going to be able to complete my move in 10 days, before month’s end. I’ve already sent my July 2012 rent check, which should have arrived by today. But, I am going to contest having to pay a full month’s rent for both June and July, when there has been no air conditioning in the place. This past weekend we had several days of 100+ degree weather. Hey! You just can’t pack things up and move them in that kind of weather. At least an obese, “fat man” can’t. But the job continues and there is light at the end of the tunnel.

[In Part II, I’ll let you know how wonderful it is to wake up each morning in my new apartment. My “good deal” with Time Warner Cable after asking for one for a couple of years. My Laz-Y-Boy furniture order, etc. It is so good to be in my new place! Thank God!!!]

I haven’t googled to see if someone has already created a salad dressing with the following ingredients, but it’s possible:

Orange Oil

Avocado Oil

White Balsamic Vinegar

Lime Juice

Stevia (sweetner)

I had bought the Avocado oil some time ago at Whole Foods, and about a month ago bought the Orange Oil and a spray bottle of white balsamic vinegar at A Southern Season in Chapel Hill. The first time I tried the orange oil, I thought it might go well with a salad. *Not sure if I can use these ingredients with a spritzer bottle, but it’s likely.

I mixed the ingredients together, in a small quantity, not having too much oil or vinegar. When I shook up the mixture and tasted it, it was wonderful.

I went to Golden Corral and fixed a simple salad of: white meat chicken, mixed greens, sweet onion, bell pepper, cucumber, dried cranberries, chopped nuts (pecans) and added some Mandarin oranges on the side. The dressing would have done well even without the Mandarin orange slices, but worked well. It is light in flavor, but distinctly citrusy.

I have some mangoes, and avocados which would probably work well to enhance the flavors.

Bill

---

NOTE [10/07/23]:  The orange oil is overpowering in cooking, so I definitely have to be in the mood to use it.  I seem to recall that it had good flavor with pork chops.

But, I found another favorite use for the orange oil, in combination with coconut oil.  Coconut oil is used in some sunscreen/sunburn lotions and ointments as a moisturizer.  Coconut oil also has a “low melting point”.  I guess that is the term, if not, at body temperature, or there about, coconut oil becomes liquid, but cooler, it becomes a soft, white, opaque buttery substance.   So, I came up with the idea to use a small Mason jar, and add water, coconut oil and orange oil, and shake it all together.  This makes a delicious smelling and refreshing water to spread on my face and body.  Oranges & coconuts, oh my.

Sometime in the past year, during the winter, I was in my bathroom in which I was running my “space” heater.  It had gotten exceptionally warm with the bathroom door closed, and I reached for my jar of coconut oil (not the oil/water mixture).  To my surprise the coconut oil was clear and looked watery.  This made me google for more info about coconut oil and that is where I found out about the low melting temperature.  And yes, after my bathroom became cooler, the coconut oil returned to the white, opaque, soft butter.

check credit card bill was charged for coke but only had water.

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

I don’t want to take the bookshelves or little bookcase with me.

throw out the old silver serving tray & old kitchen utensils

[ status private]

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

---

NOTE [10/12/23]: I think this was their Eggs Benedict and it appears that I had it with a small dish of grits. I seem to recall that I thought this dish was “heavy,” but it was delicious. I sat in one of these two seats by the window facing back toward their kitchen. It has been a long while since I visited this cafe, but I think I went several times when I was passing through the area. *There was another restaurant that was in a shiny silver railroad car (perhaps just made to look like a diner made from a railroad car) that I wanted to visit, but I think on two separate occasions it was not open on the day I was passing through. Cafe Gouda website & virtual tour (directions via Google Maps). Looking at their current virtual tour, it does not appear that it has changed any. I would like to visit one more time, if possible.

I think the diner car restaurant might have been Shell’s BBQ, and it looks like the structure is completely gone and there is now a new Biscuitville unit in it’s place.

Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint!

I checked out their web site and the menu looks pretty interesting. NC BBQ & Coleslaw eggroll? Hmmmm…

NOTE [ 11/02/23 ]: I see that this restaurant had closed permanently.