Syd's Halloween Pose

Syd has had a rough few days.  He hid, didn't eat, drink water, or use his litter box.  I found him last night at 11:00 PM.  He slept with me, took a tour of his new digs and got caught up on his activities.  I think he will be alright, but I was worried about him.  He is going to have a very Happy Halloween and I hope do too dear reader.  We are blessed to have escaped the evil landlord.  I went back to visit the kitty's on Paul Drive yesterday and they were hungry and mad at me because I didn't have any food for them.  I am trying not to let this whole thing break my heart and concentrate on getting my evidence ready for the next round in court.

Be Back Soon

I think I have the gizmos to blog on the fly.  But till I get the hang of it, I will be blogging less frequently.  See ya on the flip side!

Last Day At Paul Drive

I am emailing from the library today.  I had a great day yesterday spending some time with my neighbors.  But I do not know how to get pictures onto the computer from the flash drive so I can't show you yet what a wonderful picture I took yesterday.  Syd and I are safe, and I will be in touch dear reader as soon as I can figure out how to work this technology from the library.  Thanks to Wayne and Mayda for helping me through the last mile.  And thanks to Raquel, Taran, and his new girlfrind who I can not spell her name yet.  So many of you have helped me through the brutality of this horrible misadventure. 

Stubby And His Woman

I started making a pile of stuff for the thrift store and put it out on the porch.  This is Stubby and the mother of his two offspring.  I am all out except Lori's possessions.  I will be leaving at the crack of dawn.  Utilities scheduled for turn off tomorrow morning, so hopefully the folks setting Lori's things to the curb will bring flashlights and of course a locksmith as I won't be around till later in the day to sort through the metal for my scrap guy.  I am packing this computer the night before as it has the pictures of the apartment as I am leaving it, for court.

Syds New Place

Syd thinks moving is grand.  He finds all sorts of spots he never knew existed.  He doesn't know we are going to live in the truck tomorrow.  But we will be fine.  Thanks to Gail, Eve, Chuck, Nick, Piper, Raquel, Deb, and Randy for all your help.  I will see you on the flip side.  Tomorrow is set out day, so I will probably be blogging from a library.  I saw Nesley drive by last night.  She thinks she has one up on me.  But of course we will be going back to court, and she may not be so smug this time around.

Bigger Picture

I snagged this article from google images and graphics and thought it was appropriate to my situation.  I won't be homeless after Nesley and company set my stuff out as I have a place to go.  I will have to live in my truck for a few days, find places to bathe and all that jazz.  I have to be in court again on the 27th for a mediation in regard to an unpaid phone bill.  Here is some irony:  One of Nesley's helpers, possibly two of them who will most assuredly be coming for the "set out", I have lovingly packed their house to help them move in their time of grief.  I have known them for about 15 years.  Lori and I packed and moved Paula Jean and her son Ronnie when her father died.  They were not present for most of her move, and this is the sort of thanks I get from them.  When Nesley threatened me then busted my kiln, she revealed her true nature.  I won't be bullied by someone like her.  I will make her go through the whole process and perhaps she will lose more than she bargained for as my neighbors now know about her drug dealing, and how she contributes to the delinquency of minors, and how she runs a pyramid sex toy business, and that she doesn't even have title to the property or pay taxes on it.  Perhaps the court in it's greater wisdom will figure out that she is on the wrong end of the law.  Unfortunately for me, it results in upheaval. 


Evictions
by Rebecca Webber
12 November 01
When a landlord-tenant dispute results in an eviction, the resulting scene is often far more terrible than Hollywood's version, in which the evicting official carries furniture out to the curb while the evicted tenant curses and frets on the sidewalk.
In 1985, a 56-year-old Bronx woman killed herself when a city marshal arrived to serve her eviction notice. The marshal heard a single shot after the woman closed the door.
In 1996, a city marshal called 911 for help evicting an ailing 82-year-old woman from her apartment in Astoria. The elderly tenant had been unable to pay her rent due to steep medical bills.
In late August of this year, a city marshal arrived in Bedford-Stuyvesant to evict a woman who owed her landlord about $14,000. The tenant allegedly attacked the marshal, beating him with an aluminum rod, dousing him with a flammable liquid, and setting him alight. The marshal died in the attack.
It was a story of almost incomprehensible savagery, and it promised to bring renewed attention to a process that nobody likes. But it was followed a few weeks later by an event of even more incomprehensible savagery, and New Yorkers quickly forgot.
When the city halted evictions in September, it was not because officials wanted to take a hard look at a dysfunctional process. It was because the terrorist attacks had created so many temporarily homeless New Yorkers, and because the courts, in something close to chaos, were not equipped to kick any more people out of their homes.
EVERYBODY LOSES
Evictions do not always have horrific outcomes, but the process is never pleasant for landlord or tenant. Housing court cases can drag on for many months, sometimes years. Tenants must navigate the lengthy legal process and attempt to satisfy their landlord's concerns or else lose their homes.
Landlords often lose out in eviction cases too. Yes, they can re-rent vacated apartment, usually at a higher price. But they also often lose the overdue rent - an average of six months' worth. A 1995 study by the American Economics Group found that New York City landlords lost about $145 million dollars in unpaid rent in a typical year. And this does not count the legal fees. "The last thing an owner in the city wants to do is go to court with the tenant. It's a losing situation either way," said Frank Ricci, director of governmental affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association, the city's largest landlord group.
Still, landlords often take the first step toward eviction, filing about 300,000 such cases in housing court each year.
BEFORE THE BENCH
The vast majority of evictions, about 90 percent, stem from nonpayment of rent. The remainder include such situations as a tenant who has a pet illegally, or who is a nuisance to neighbors, or who occupies an apartment that the owner wants to live in himself.
It is a slow and complicated process, played out in housing court according to a process set down in Article 7 of New York State's Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law.
Most eviction actions filed by owners do not result in forcible legal eviction because tenants decide to pay up or move out. "It's a way to up the ante to let the tenant know that they are serious," said Ricci. "In most of those cases, they work out some agreement to begin paying. They might go to court one or two or three times, but most of those do not end up in eviction."
Both landlords and tenants avoid housing court, in part because both believe that in the courtroom, the deck is stacked against them.
"In housing court, 90 percent of landlords are represented by counsel, whereas less than 10 percent of tenants are, so the system becomes actively biased," said Patrick Markee, senior policy analyst for the Coalition for the Homeless. "What actually happens is that there are out-of-court settlements which are biased against the tenants. People are agreeing to payment schedules that they can't possibly adhere to. It happens all the time."
The Coalition counsels many desperate tenants through its eviction prevention program. "We're just flooded," said Markee. "We have to turn people away."
Funding for civil legal services was slashed by the Giuliani administration and the state senate, said Kenny Schaeffer of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, so poor tenants are almost never represented when they have their day in court. "It's like playing hockey against a professional and you don't have skates or a stick," he said.
Landlords, not surprisingly, see it differently. They believe that, legal representation or not, the court favors tenants.
"Judges often see themselves as administers of social justice rather than the law as it is written," Ricci asserted. "They decide they are not going to evict anyone because they don't want to contribute to homelessness. Judges have bent over backwards to deny owners apartments in the building on very obscure reasons because they don't want to evict anyone -- even though the intent of the law is very clear."
Some do believe that the system is fair in protecting the rights of both parties. "The owners are able to collect their rents and evict people as needed. The tenants get due process protection - notice that the petition has been filed, opportunities to pay rent, notice before the marshal shows up," said Joseph Burden, chair of the Housing Court Committee of the city bar association, whose members discuss and review the issues surrounding housing court.
BOOTED OUT
Landlords obtain eviction warrants in almost 40 percent of the cases they pursue. In the year 2000, housing court judges approved about 122,000 evictions.
"Statistically, the number of evictions and the number of filings have remained fairly constant over the past few years," said Jodi Harawitz, executive director of the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, which provides legal information for tenants. She believes that a class action lawsuit that allows families on public assistance to sue for greater rent subsidies has kept the number from rising in recent years.
Tenant advocates believe that the city's current housing situation - with high rents and increasing gentrification - gives owners a great financial motivation to evict. "The housing crisis has gone so deep that any vacant apartment is going to go for $2,000. So the incentive for landlords to evict people is more than it has ever been," said Schaeffer.
While a strong economy has kept the eviction rate fairly level over the past decade, the current economic downturn could cause it to soar.
During the Great Depression, many tenants found themselves unemployed and unable to pay rent. Some landlords lowered or even forgave rents. Others accepted labor in exchange for housing. But many tried to force non-paying tenants to leave. During 1932, city courts issued dispossess notices at two and three times pre-Depression levels. Then, as now, those who could not resolve their rent arrears, found themselves on the street.
It happens when a city marshal escorts tenants and their belongings out of the apartment and changes the lock. The marshals complete about 25,000 evictions each year, about one for every 5 eviction warrants issued by housing court judges. That is because most tenants facing immediate eviction vacate their home before the marshal arrives.
The contents of the apartment must be warehoused until the tenant can retrieve them, according to New York state law. For the tenant himself, there is no such safeguard.
No one tracks the movement of evicted families after the padlocking of the door, but tenant advocates believe that many initially move in with relatives or friends. "It's usually a pretty untenable situation because they are also usually poor people in crowded conditions," said Markee. "It becomes impossible to maintain and then they come to the shelter system."
About 17 percent of families utilizing the city's resources for the homeless arrive straight from their eviction, according to studies of the city's homeless population. Untold others end up in shelters when crowded post-eviction accommodations become unlivable.
Homeless advocates believe that emergency rent assistance from the city, "one-shot deals," should be easier to obtain. "It's very difficult for people to negotiate that system," said Markee. "It's going to cost the city $36,000 a year to put them up in a homeless shelter, and they might have rent arrears of just two or three thousand dollars."
A BITTER END
JoAnna Jones had lived in a homeless shelter before she moved into 50 New York Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant in June 1999. She was determined not to go back.
Virginia Smith, the owner of Jones' building, filed her first nonpayment suit against Jones in December of 1999. Jones paid up, but in June 2000, the two were back in court - with Jones owing Smith $4,900, or 7 months rent on her $700 apartment. Still, she fought the impending eviction, arguing that her nonpayment stemmed in part from Smith's failure to provide necessary services and repairs. The city Department of Housing Preservation and Development validated much of Jones' claim and ordered Smith to rectify the apartment's problems.
The legal battle dragged on for more than a year addressing continued nonpayment of rent, uncompleted repairs, attempted settlements and stayed evictions. But by August 2001, Jones owed Smith about $14,000 and her eviction notice was signed and ready for delivery. The city marshal serving the notice, Erskine G. Bryce, bore the brunt of Jones' violent frustration and anger at her eviction. Bryce died after a horrible struggle and Jones was charged in his death.
"Eviction is a terrible tragedy in human terms and economic terms," said Schaeffer. "It has a devastating impact."
Even as many of those displaced by the terrorist attacks move back into their homes, evictions have resumed in most parts of the city.

Smug Mug

This is the smug look my landlord gave me as she was destroying my kiln this spring and noticing that I was taking a picture of the spectacle.  She had that same smug look Wednesday morning as she lied under oath about her own signature on rent receipts.  It is the look of someone knowing they can beat you because they have an attorney.  It is the face of someone who is willing to destroy your personal property to make a point.  She and I are not finished as I have filed a counterclaim and now have the originals that she denied yesterday.  So her purgery is going to come up again as I have the copies of receipts for the kiln that I sent her.  When the numerical sequence is examined in the receipt book itself and she is unable to produce receipts of her own, the judge will realize she was lying on Wednesday.  We have former landlord receipts that I took to human services for September, October, of 2009. Then we have Nesley's receipts from September, October, 2010, which she didn't see yesterday, but will see next time we go to court.  Then there is the two receipts for the busted kiln which I am going to present that she has the originals but probably won't give them to her attorney, and the the two receipts for September, October, 2011.  She is caught in a trap and doesn't even know it yet.  When a judge sees the September October receipts for last year, he is gonna wonder why I would have forged them as she is claiming April as the last time she got rent from me.  She claimed yesterday that she has a receipt book that she uses for her tenants, yet she didn't have it last September and October, and she didn't present it yesterday to him. So he is gonna know she is lying about last year, and then he is going to compare the receipts she lied about Wednesday and know she purgered herself.  Her only way out is a motion to dismiss and of course, I am not gonna let that happen.  I want to see her smug look leave her face and watch her squirm!  She has just committed a crime that she can do some jail time for.  Then they are gonna believe my claim that I sold drugs for her all winter, when she wasn't fixing the clogged gutters that I complained about.  The judge didn't want to hear any of that yesterday, but when he realizes she lied about the receipts he will more than likely begin seeing another picture.  So zoom in dear reader on that smug mug behind the pine branch.  That is Nesley Thomas my X landlord and 20 year old acquaintance.  She drives a Black PT Cruizer with a license plate that reads WICKED, and she is.  She is a slumlord, a drug dealer, tax cheat, and I have personally seen her give pot to teenagers...so this is what will occupy this house once they place the red tag on the door, and do the set out.  She will be setting out Lori Rayburns possessions as mine are being safely transported to a storage unit. She has won round one, but round two is coming at her and she just might not be so smug after she leaves the courtroom next time. 

Lions, Tigers, And Bears, Oh My

I grew up 3 miles from Gratiot Ohio and I can tell you that we are not getting the full story here.  I called in The Black Swan Yesterday in relation to Nesley Thomas my landlord who lied in court today about her own handwriting and signature.  The Black Swan is a very exotic animal....and this scene of carnage was 3 miles from where I grew up.  So....there has been a direct hit.  I have been the steward to a cat colony which is not all that different than what Terry Thompson was trying to do.  He had a good heart, he was trying to do the right thing.  He was a veteran, and he was up against a system that is pro human and anti animal.  Amish run puppy mills go unpunished tonight within 15 miles of this "accident" as the laws are so skewed that breeders are favored over those who would protect life from that element.

I lost today in court against my landlord., and she lied under oath about her signature on a receipt from last year.  But much to the dismay of her attorney and her, I got the originals back in the mail from Human Services this very day....so I may be able to overturn her in my counterclaim and prove that she lied under oath.  That would be special and awesome!  "It ain't over till the fat lady sings".  And I think she hasn't even started warming up yet.  Too bad that so many animals were lost yesterday.  I regret calling in The Black Swan, but I believe the events in Zanesville were an omen and the battle between Nesley and I, is not over.   There will be more lives lost....hopefully not animal, reptile, amphibian, fish....hope I am not leaving anyone out! The whole energy of the event is exactty the same as the malevolent legal action they have launched against me.  There has been a great sacrifice today that I understand, but that the rest of the world will not notice.  But there is no coincidence here...Artemis is my goddess and my four legged friends were murdered in the process of Nesley and my battle.  I regret their sacrifice.  I don't take their deaths lightly and their deaths will not go unpunished!  There will be more casualties.  I am sorry about that.  This is her....This is her doing. She would kill  50 animals to provide blood for her ritual, and she got it yesterday.  I have my own blood thankfully and I wouldn't ever sacrifice a whole farm of them to beat her.   I use my own blood for my rituals....not the blood of innocents! But she got a direct hit yesterday and she won by deceiving a Judge today....but she might not win in counterclaim.   For now my cat colony is safe from her.  After I am gone though....she might be able to use them for her dark purpose's  The Black Swan is still a factor.

ZANESVILLE, Ohio  — Sheriff’s deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide in what may have been one last act of spite against his neighbors and police.
As homeowners nervously hid indoors, officers armed with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders fanned out through fields and woods to hunt down about 56 animals that had been set loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself to death Tuesday.
After an all-night hunt that extended into Wednesday afternoon, 48 animals were killed. Six others — three leopards, a grizzly bear and two monkeys — were captured and taken to the Columbus Zoo. A wolf was later found dead, leaving a monkey as the only animal still on the loose.
Those destroyed included six black bears, two grizzlies, a baboon and three mountain lions.
Jack Hanna, TV personality and former director of the Columbus Zoo, defended the sheriff’s decision to kill the animals, but said the deaths of the Bengal tigers were especially tragic. There are only about 1,400 of the endangered cats left in the world, he said.
“When I heard 18 I was still in disbelief,’’ Hanna said. “The most magnificent creature in the entire world, the tiger is.’’
As the hunt dragged on outside of Zanesville, population 25,000, schools closed in the mostly rural area
When I heard 18 I was still in disbelief,’’ Hanna said. “The most magnificent creature in the entire world, the tiger is.’’ As the hunt dragged on outside of Zanesville, population 25,000, schools closed in the mostly rural area of farms and widely spaced homes 55 miles east of Columbus. Parents were warned to keep children and pets indoors. And flashing signs along highways told motorists, “Caution exotic animals’’ and “Stay in vehicle.’’
Officers were ordered to kill the animals instead of trying to bring them down with tranquilizers for fear that those hit with darts would escape in the darkness before they dropped and would later regain consciousness.
“These animals were on the move, they were showing aggressive behavior,’’ Sheriff Matt Lutz said. “Once the nightfall hit, our biggest concern was having these animals roaming.’’
Lutz said at an afternoon news conference that the danger had passed and that people could move around freely again, but that the monkey would probably be shot because it was believed to be carrying a herpes disease.
The sheriff would not speculate why Thompson killed himself and why he left open the cages and fences at his 73-acre preserve, dooming the animals he seemed to love so much.
Thompson, 62, had had repeated run-ins with the law and his neighbors. Lutz said that the sheriff’s office had received numerous complaints since 2004 about animals escaping onto neighbors’ property, and that Thompson had been charged with animal-related offenses.
Thompson had gotten out of federal prison just last month after serving a year for possessing unregistered guns.
John Ellenberger, a neighbor, speculated that Thompson freed the animals to get back at neighbors and police. “Nobody much cared for him,’’ Ellenberger said.
Angie McElfresh, who lives in an apartment near the farm and hunkered down with her family in fear, said “it could have been an ‘f-you’ to everybody around him.’’
Thompson had rescued some of the animals at his preserve and purchased many others, said Columbus Zoo spokeswoman Patty Peters.
It was not immediately clear how Thompson managed to support the preserve and for what purpose it was operated. It was not open to the public. But Thompson had appeared on the “Rachael Ray Show’’ in 2008 as an animal handler for a zoologist guest, said show spokeswoman Lauren Nowell.
The sheriff’s office started getting calls Tuesday evening that wild animals were loose just west of Zanesville. Deputies went to the animal preserve and found Thompson dead and all the cages open. Several aggressive animals were near his body and had to be shot, the sheriff said.
“It’s like Noah’s Ark, like, wrecking right here in Zanesville, Ohio,’’ Hanna lamented.
Sheriff’s Deputy Jonathan Merry was among the first to respond Tuesday. He said he shot a number of animals, including a gray wolf and a black bear. He said the bear charged him and he fired his pistol, killing it with one shot when it was about 7 feet away.
“All these animals have the ability to take a human out in the length of a second,’’ said Merry, who called himself an animal lover but said he knew he was protecting the community.
“It was like a war zone with all the shooting and so forth with the animals,’’ said Sam Kopchak, who was outside Tuesday afternoon when he saw Thompson’s horses acting up. Kopchak said he turned and saw a male lion lying down on the other side of a fence.
“The fence is not going to be a fence that’s going to hold an African lion,’’ Kopchak said.
Danielle Berkheimer said she was nervous as she drove home Tuesday night and afraid to let her two dogs out in the yard.
“When it’s 300-pound cats, that’s scary,’’ she said. She said it had been odd Tuesday night to see no one out around town, and the signs warning drivers to stay in their cars were “surreal.’’
Some townspeople were saddened by the deaths. At a nearby Moose Lodge, Bill Weiser said: “It’s breaking my heart, them shooting those animals.’’
“What a tragedy,’’ said Barb Wolfe, a veterinarian with The Wilds, a nearby zoo-sponsored wild animal preserve. She said she managed to hit a tiger with a tranquilizer dart, but the animal charged toward her and then turned and began to flee before the drug could take effect, and deputies shot the big cat.
Ohio has some of the nation’s weakest restrictions on exotic pets and among the highest number of injuries and deaths caused by them. At least nine people have been injured since 2005 and one person was killed, according to Born Free USA, an animal advocacy group.
On Wednesday, the Humane Society of the United States criticized Gov. John Kasich for allowing a statewide ban on the buying and selling of exotic pets to expire in April. The organization urged the state to immediately issue emergency restrictions.
“How many incidents must we catalog before the state takes action to crack down on private ownership of dangerous exotic animals?’’ Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO, said in a statement.
Kasich said Wednesday during a meeting of Dix Communications editors: “Clearly, we need tougher laws. We haven’t had them in this state. Nobody’s dealt with this, and we will. And we’ll deal with it in a comprehensive way.’’
Barney Long, an expert at the World Wildlife Fund, noted that tigers in general are endangered. He said there appear to be fewer of them living in the wild than there are in captivity in the U.S. alone. Over the last century, the worldwide population has plunged from about 100,000 in the wild to as few as 3,200, he said.
More than half are Bengal tigers, which live in isolated pockets across Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, India and Bangladesh, he said in a telephone interview
“The tragic shooting of 18 tigers in Ohio really highlights what is happening on a daily basis to tigers in the wild throughout Asia,’’ Long added in an email. “Their numbers are being decimated by poaching and habitat loss, and that is the real travesty here.’’

Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/article_e7450cf0-fa58-11e0-b6fe-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1bH6XNOXq

Read more: http://www.pantagraph.com/news/national/article_e7450cf0-fa58-11e0-b6fe-001cc4c03286.html#ixzz1bGuJdvKg

Black Swan Hearing

I am posting this at 4:46 PM on October 18th and scheduling it to post about the time I go to a hearing against my landlord for eviction tomorrow.  The Black Swan is a difficult concept to folks who are not familiar with it.  I am calling forth from all directions "The Black Swan" as my totem in defense of my enemies who are taking me to court tomorrow (today dear reader).  The Black Swan was perhaps the most difficult book I have ever read and tried to comprehend.  I will read it again someday and try harder.  Most people would not attempt it, and could not understand it either.  But the man that wrote it bet against the stock market and became a millionaire and wrote the book in an attempt to try to explain how he knew that there would be a crash.  His metaphor in essence: it was not believed that a black swan existed,  so when they found one in Australia it became a metaphor of something stated and believed to be myth, turning out to be true after all.  It turned out there was indeed such a thing as a black swan in spite of insistence of the scientific community that denied it.

I will call the black swan as my animal totem to take into court tomorrow, as I believe much is being denied, and much to be revealed.  The Black Swan ended up a great symbol in between all that has happened since I moved last year.  My X gave me this tile as she knew how meaningful The Black Swan was to me.  Perhaps she saw me struggle with it intellectually.  I was pleasantly surprised when she gave it to me as a housewarming gift.  It also ended up in Hollywood as a great film last year.  I haven't seen it yet.  I suspect there are many elements that are relevant and similar to the concept.  For the Wikipedia link for Black Swan click here.

Dear reader, I am facing a Black Swan event....but I have the advantage of knowing it, and my opponent does not know it.  She thinks, she is going to be able to waltz into court because she has plunked down  $182 dollars, another $300 for her attorney and be able to silence my side of the story, make me homeless, and penniless, in addition to having a debt to her etc.  But she does not have the knowledge and the totem of the Black Swan in her education....so lets just see what is gonna happen.  Lets just see what actually happens in relation to hot air, greed, and grandiosity.  This blog is written before tomorrow, and by the time you read this an outcome from the court.  I am calling in The Black Swan to help me defeat their attempts to make me and Syd homeless tomorrow.   Lets just see what will happen.

 There is one power which is goddess and god.  And this power is the black swan.  I hereby release all forms essences and form contingencies that could be blocking the way of perfect black swan event.  This may come in the specific form or a total dismissal of the charges against Concha Castaneda in court today (9/19/11) for the good of all, according to the free will of all so mote it be

Moving Boxes For Syd

Syd is having great fun with the moving boxes that I bring to him.  First their was the air conditioning box, then the box for the shop vac.  He is loving this.  Maybe I can live with him in my truck for a week or so.  I can't very well leave him in the storage shed.  I will be sleeping in the truck till the following week when I go to mediation with Lori over the phone bill.  My sleeping bag is good for 20 below and I slept in my truck when I went to animal rescue during hurricane Katrina.  I don't want to lose him.  I would hate to be arrested for putting him in his cat carrier and dropping him off at Lori's.  He can't live outside.  I can keep cat food in the truck and feed Stubby's Colony every morning as I have been doing for a year.  There won't be enough gas to drive him to my sisters and then be able to come back on the 27th for the mediation.  I went to visit her yesterday, and she just doesn't have room for too much more of my things and she already is cat plentiful.  I may have to take him to some emergency shelter till I can get my Columbus legal matters finished.  Of course Nesley just might lose tomorrow and then she would have to start the whole eviction process over again.  I intend to counter sue her for all the damage that has been done to my personal property, so I won't be trying to get the case dismissed.  I think in November, if she hasn't paid taxes on this place it may go to Sheriffs auction. 
They will also probably fine her for not registering it as a rental.  She will have to pay about $500 to put the title in her own name, and pay the water bill in her mothers name.  My neighbors will be watching to see if she puts another drug dealer in here.  It's all good....till it goes bad!  In the meantime Syd is happy in all his boxes, he has no idea that we both may be homeless after Wednesday.  I won't be here for the "set out".

Mr. Banker

For some reason this band (Lynard Skinard) reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan.  I took my Les Paul into Uncle Sams Pawn Shop Friday and they were concerned about the water damage to the guitar.  I had pawned it last August in order to move here and I never took it out of the case since then.  This house has so much water, and moisture issues that they would not honor my request for a loan!  I wanted to get a storage shed so I could start moving my possessions out before court on Wednesday.  I made the mistake of not taking it out of the case and wiping it down before taking it in...I was declined the money I was asking to borrow in pawn because of the moisture and the mold on my most prized possession.  This guitar was in my bedroom the whole year not my basement!  So the water damage is beyond the basement and if I can get the court on Wednesday to hear my plea and counter claim, I might be able to attach my $2000 Les Paul onto the damages that I was already listing from my workshop.  We'll see what the repair shop is gonna charge me.

  Last year my landlord offered to pawn my guitar rather than going through Uncle Sams.  I had already pawned it, or I might have taken her up on the offer. I borrowed the money from pawn last August in order to pay for the gas to move into her house.  I had payed Lori money for the utilities and rent, so I didn't have the money to move.  It occurs to me now that she has been trying to get my cherished belongings all along.  She destroyed my kiln, so it is obvious to me that she would not have returned my guitar to me had I borrowed the money from her.  One of her workers pulled a gun on her last summer because she owed him money and refused to give it to him.  Her boyfriend beat the crap out of him and now Nesley has her own gun.  She better hope the West Jefferson Police don't find her with a pound of dope, cash, and her little pistol.  That changes the minor misdemeanor for smoking a little pot into a felony.  That means prison time.  So she deals drugs, brings teenagers to the transactions, sells sex toys in a pyramid scheme out of her two trailers in West Jefferson, cheats on her taxes, is a slum lord, and runs her own pawn scheme when she can.  Is there no end to her wickedness?  This is the person who is hiring a formerly disbarred attorney to evict me.  I am so glad my Les Paul is safe and sound in the German Village Guitar Shop getting repaired.  I frankly didn't know what else to do in order to save it!  I couldn't very well bring it back here as it is too damp.  This is the reason my drum heads are so loose and sound like I am beating a card board box.  Soon my other possessions will be safe from her as well.

 I will be leaving Lori Rayburn's belongings in the house for the red tag and set out.  I was trying to get Lori's stuff back to her each time I was in Clintonville for Freegeek, but the attempt to have me arrested for doing the right thing pretty much ties my hands and prevents me from that.  Unlike my landlord, and my X's former lovers, I don't like to keep things that don't belong to me.  So maybe I will snap some pictures and have someone else give her a call in one last attempt to be nice.  I think she would want her things back rather than have them ruined in the mud or taken by thieves.

Eviction Hearing Scheduled

Next Wednesday I go to court against my landlord Nesley Thomas who lives in West Jefferson.  She has a 50% chance of winning her case.  I have had the pleasure of going to eviction court on two occasions and both times I won in counter claim.  The Zanesville court awarded me two years free rent when I presented my evidence in 1989.  Those people had run off a whole congregation and took possession of an old Baptist Church on a desolate country road near lost lake.  There was a school house on the property that they rented to me, and I used my Social Security settlement ($5000) to get plumbing, electricity, appliances a bathroom and kitchen to turn it into a habitable dwelling.  When I moved in there was only an outhouse and one electrical outlet with a single wire running to the church 50 feet away.  I used the church basement kitchen to cook my meals until I got my own kitchen installed and electricity.  That church property was an American Baptist Charter,  so ownership was basically whoever cared for the property.  These people were so ruthless and obnoxious that the whole congregation just left the church and re-congregated in Zanesville that was 25 miles away.  Of course the new "stewards" left the 1885 vintage Baptist sign up even though they were Pentecostal which was very misleading.  As you might guess dear reader I walked into that situation and got abused by right wing swindlers.  The minute I spent all my settlement money on the school house these cheats filed for eviction.  I took my receipts to court and the court awarded me the counter claim (rent credit of $5000).  But of course these nasty folks did everything to get me to move out in spite of the courts ruling. They sent men to my door at all hours seeking prostitution services.  They hunted 10 feet from my windows and front door startling me with gunshots all hours of the night and day.  I got very little rest even though it was a peaceful dead end road out in the middle of nowhere.  They poisoned my cat....and left other dead animals for me to have to bury all around my yard.  They put Copperheads in my car, exterminated my bee hive, and they ended up burning their own church down and accusing me of arson.  That of course backfired, as I wouldn't be writing this today had they succeeded.  I had no phone and the police were 25 minutes away.  I could not fight them off 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  My life was hell because they hated me because I won my counter claim.  So even though I won my case, I ended up vacating the premises as soon as I got the money together.  Some day I plan on turning my journals about that time into a short story called The Church Of The Double Cross. 

The person that is attempting to evict me right now is pretty much the same sort of person as those people in Zanesville who tried and failed to evict me.  The above picture is the mud hole that is where my possessions will be placed if I lose in court next Wednesday and a red tag & set out scheduled.  Of course this is what she wants.  She has taken sides with my X, and wants to punish me.  Their attempt last month to get me arrested and beat up by the police blew up in their faces so they are furious as you might imagine.  I have an email someone recklessly (drunkenly) told me that they were teaming up.  She even mentioned them all by name.  I had suspected this sort of collusion but had no way of proving it till she sent me the email.  If I am able to present my evidence, I will be able to prove that my landlord is attempting a malicious retalitory eviction, and I may be able to recover back rent and damages to my personal property.  In the meantime, the City Attorney has advised me to take her to court and sue her.  Ironically this is the City Attorney that was on the board that disbarred her attorney!  The county auditor has started investigating her as she has not paid taxes and doesn't have clear title to her properties and hasn't registered the properties as rental property.  Because she works for H& R block she knows she can avoid paying taxes as long as the properties are in her deceased mothers name.  Property does not have to go through probate.  She was glad to drop by and collect rent for a year, and to deliver drugs to this house every Friday for someone we both knew who dropped the money off on Thursdays.  She did not address the problems with the water, doors falling off the frames, but was very willing to sell dope through me.  I felt like a prisoner here at times.  I resented the relationship and was elated when my friend gave up his habit.  I didn't have to see her every Friday and put up with her dysfunctional friends and under aged teenagers.  It is more than ironic that Franklin County has an automatic eviction without court hearing for tenants dealing drugs out of a rental.  They have no such laws concerning landlords who deal drugs though their rental properties as my landlord does.  I realize what I am up against next Wednesday.  I will be going to court and I will be trying my hardest to get my evidence heard.  If I get an opportunity to counter sue, I most certainly will, and maybe I can put a dirty drug dealer out of business at the same time.  I have been up against ruthless people like her before and taken to court.  I am used to it.  I know the drill.  I try my best to be loyal, honest, and true to my friends and loved ones.  I don't like thieves and cheats.  Life is too short to tolerate that sort of behavior.  People like my landlord do not deserve a renter like me.  My neighbors tell me this place was a dump when Nesley's mother owned the property.  It has a fresh coat of paint new cub boards and appliances just like the schoolhouse did as I was the one remodeling.  This house was gutted by fire in 1977 and it won't stay dry when it rains.  There is much mold here and damaging moisture.  It is like plastic surgery has been performed in order to make it appear nice in order to deceive an unsuspecting renter or buyer.  When I leave, the scrappers will come remove the gutters and anything metal they can find.  The last tenant moved out and they began scrapping that very night.  A house over on Purdue two streets from here, has been vacant for a very short time and the whole back of the house has been stripped of it's aluminum siding.  All the gutters have been removed.  There is no one in the house and a side window completely open to the elements.  I called them and left a message.  Chances are that would stop if they put in a renter like me as I am vigilant.  When I am gone this house will begin rotting and sliding down the hill.  You can see in the picture that the stone walls near my truck are starting to fall apart and drop out of place.  Without me being here her property will erode and lose even more value.  Right now the Auditor has devalued the property to $16,500.  When they find out about the holes in the roof and flooding problem, they may devalue it even more.  I think the wiring is faulty because of the moisture in the walls. My landlord does not care about that, she just wants me out of here because I won't deal drugs for her anymore, and she wants to show my X that she can punish me by destroying my property and making me homeless.  There will be karma.  I know Karma, and she is a bitch 

Bye Bye Rain Barrels

I removed the rain barrels and redistributed them to an undisclosed location.  I put the gutters back in place today as the basement floods each time it rains and I suspect that even though the slumlord purchased the rain barrels, she will claim property damage when I remove them.  It is just the kind of person that she is.  In addition to bringing teenagers with her each time she delivered a bag of dope, she is unethical at every turn.  I can not possibly figure out what her unethical attorney is going to present as evidence of "property damage" at the trial...so I need to be vigilant and try to anticipate what low lives will try to put on me.  Shit is on for sure, and I am covering all my bases.  After they are done discrediting themselves in court, I will take my shot at them with a whopping counter suit.  Take your best shot low lives.  You haven't been able to get me yet!  I wouldn't be too confident if I were you...as your grandiosity has backfired on you every step of this process. 

Moving The Studio

Thankfully, I will be able to move my studio this weekend.  The meanies have planned my eviction so that it is a few days shy of the first of the month.  I am grateful that my studio will be operational prior to going to court and I will be able to fill Christmas orders.  Feathers are still very popular and I can probably make them off the bumper of my pickup if necessary.  I don't need electricity to make them....just a firebrick, blowtorch, baby food jar of picking solution and my toolbox.  It's hard to keep a good woman down.

Water Payment

I was able to stop payment on a water bill yesterday after signing my new lease.  I will be moved out by the time the water is scheduled to be turned off.  I had to pay a partial water bill that belonged to my landlord from 2009 in June just to keep the water turned on.  So it is with great pleasure that I will be leaving her with a sizable water bill that she will have to pay in order to even clean this apartment or flush a toilet.  That is after she hires a locksmith to get in, or breaks a window as I re-keyed all the locks.  Both Legal Aid and The Urban League were not surprised when I told them about the unpaid water bill and the water problems here.  Apparently slumlords try to use water shut offs to avoid taking their tenants to court.
I had hoped I could get out of here without going to court, but they are claiming there has been property damage, so I feel like I will need to show up in court to answer that charge.  For some reason my landlords attorney doesn't state what exactly the alleged property damage is, and says he will submit that evidence at the trial.  Maybe he will get disbarred again for some more fraud and misconduct.  I am shocked he is still practicing law as he was disbarred indefinitely for 8 counts of fraud and misconduct.  Read about Columbus Bar Association, v. Jeffrey Blankenship here.  It is not shocking that my immoral landlord would choose someone like Jeff.  She probably wouldn't be able to get any other attorney in town to go along with her tactics.  I sure hope he gets his money up front LOL!

Moving Day

Moving Day is October 15th.  I signed a lease today and paid 1/2 months rent.  Rent is $10 cheaper and I don't have to pay water or gas.  I will have lots more money to work with each month.  I won't have to deal with my scuzzy landlord.  I will be close enough that I can check up on Stubby's cat colony and visit with my neighbors.  I will be making sure that whoever gets this place knows that the land lord is a drug dealer, tax cheat and pedophile. 

Class Of "76" Reunion

I had the greatest weekend that I have had in years this weekend.  We had our 35th class reunion.  Friday night was a tailgate party at the football game between Licking Valley and Newark Catholic (a rivalry much like Michigan and Ohio State).  Saturday night was dinner at a place called The Grill in Newark.  Sunday we gathered at Flint Ridge State Park for a picnic.  The leaves were turning and it was just beautiful.  I got there early so I hiked in the woods on the handicap trail.

Frijolito Farm Tour

Today Wayne Shingler is giving Frijolito Farm tours.  Here is the link with the information.  I hope to see you there!

Solar Cigarette Lighter

I spent a few hours looking at the website for Simply Living on Friday.  There is a lot to be learned there, and far too much for one session.  I went to the grocery store afterwards and selected some food for the weekend as the weather is going to be nice and I am in the mood to grill out.  As I was leaving the store I noticed a man on the sidewalk straddling a bicycle and his hands seemed to be reflecting the sun.  As I walked by him I realized he had a magnifying glass, and was carefully funneling a beam from the sun to the tip of a cigarette butt.
Now I had just read lists of all the things you can do to conserve energy on the Simply Living website.  Everything from using a clothesline to using the local bus line.  I had not seen anything about solar lighters as an alternative to flicking the bic!  It could be that they don't want to promote cigarette smoking since cigarette smoking is simply dying LOL.  Now I didn't have my camera with me, which is rare, so I couldn't snap a photo of this man on his bike, lighting a cigarette with a thick piece of glass.  I googled this image and can tell you dear reader that this picture does not do justice to the imagery I saw.  Because the sun was setting, he was in silhouette except for his hands that appeared to be on fire.  I can imagine a whole painting of this snapshot memory.  I seemed to be the only one who noticed him, even though I was surrounded by at least 10 other people coming in and out of the store.  It was a magical moment for me.  My Creator (Higher Power) seemed to be communicating to me that the Simply Living lists can always be added to.  I shook my head and smiled at the man and said "there is nothing new under the sun".

Urban Homesteading

I really find the Complete Idiot's Guides to any and everything offensive because of their title's...perhaps because I am disabled and sensitive to labels.  However, some of these books are treasure troves.  The Complete Idiot's Guide to Urban Homesteading is the gemstone on my coffee table right now.  Here is an outline.

• Creative tips for growing food in the city and making the most out of your harvest.
• Advice on raising chickens, dwarf goats, rabbits, bees, and other city-size livestock.
• DIY recipes for homemade cheese, soap, natural beauty products, eco-friendly cleaning supplies and more.
• Guidance on meeting your energy needs through solar power, conserving water, minimizing waste via composting, and other sustainable practices.
• An overview of zoning laws, neighborhood covenants, and other potential obstacles  to urban homesteading, and ways to address them.
• Tips for utilizing the abundance of resources available to those who homestead in the city.

 Frjolito Farm is having an open house this Sunday so my thoughts are in sync.  Wayne has overcome many obstacles in his quest to have a chicken farm and gardens in this city.  I am proud to be his neighbor and I invite you to attend his open house.  Hope to see you there.

Fox News Rejected Footage

It doesn't take too long to figure out why Fox News didn't air this interview on the Wall Street protest's  This one is for you Aunt Sue!

The Right Tool For The Job

I am not sure what they call this tool.  It looks sort of like a double ended pizza cutter.  But my cat Syd tore out part of the screen in the window. He stretched his whole length up....dug his claws in and pulled the screen out of the spline.  When I examined the screen and tried with a butter knife to fix it, I knew what the tool I needed looked like.  I had seen this tool for years not knowing what it was for having a vague sense of de ja vou.  Or maybe Vou ja de...remembering something that hasn't happened yet.  At any rate....I thought of all the times I had seen this tool someplace....and wondered what it was for.  I found this one at the Re Store and I paid a dollar for it.  This is after spending 45 minutes trying to put the spline back into the channel with a butter knife!  Sometimes we can visualize a tool when we are failing at a task is what this experience taught me.  Talk about reinventing the wheel.  I really think we probably as humans have reinvented the wheel....maybe even several times.  I think this tool probably has a specific name.  I couldn't find a vintage one and I had no name for it.  I would have seemed like a batty old woman if I would have gone in there and asked for a double ended pizza cutter thingy to fix screens.  I just sorted through the bins until I found two.  I think it might be called a spline rolling tool.  It is sort of like the bung wrench....sometimes you just don't know what to call it....but you know what it needs to do.

Local Really Does Matter

I have been so busy putting out fires this spring and summer that I have had very little time to do the things I really love to do.  I will be in the studio for the rest of the week working on projects and getting ready for the holiday's  If I don't have to go to court for eviction, then I won't have to be packing up my studio.  But even if I do, there is always room in my living space to set up a simple workbench and start making Christmas, Hanuka, and Solstice gifts.  Let's see if my enemies will leave me alone long enough for me to get some things done.  I can as easily work on creative things as I can on legal matters.  It is the same amount of time, and darn near it the same amount of energy.

I attended a panel discussion last night at The Wexner Center on local food as it is Food Week here in Columbus Ohio.  It was quite enlightening.  I walked away with the knowledge that local really does matter.  The organization Local Matters had their hand in nearly every panelist's projects.  I subscribe to Local Matters newsletters and I highly recommend joining them on any level you can.  They are doing so much good!  More importantly is the idea that local really does matter.  My neighbor Wayne Shingler the owner and operator of Frijolito Farm posted this photo message about supporting local artisans on Facebook where I snagged it for my today's blog.  I plan on buying locally whenever I can this year and supporting the local economy.

Diatonaceous Earth

My cat Syd has a couple fleas this week as he has been going outside for an hour or so since it has gotten cooler.  I have the high bid on some Frontline on eBay right now.  Still it will be at least two more days till the auction ends and economy shipping just might hold it up for a few more days.  I was talking to my friend Deb last night on the phone and she recommended Diatonaceous Earth as an alternative to Frontline which is poison.  Syd hides after I administer Frontline, so I know it is not completely harmless in spite of what is on the label.  How could something be safe for cats, but not to be handled by humans?  So this morning I looked up Diatonaceous Earth and found that it kills bugs by getting in between their exoskeletons and cutting them up rather than poisoning them.  It is a mineral that is fossilized algae.  It works on cockroaches, fleas, bed bugs, and slugs.  So it definitely seems like a great alternative to poison.  I am gonna try it and it it works as well as Wikipedia says it does, then all the cats in Stubby's Cat Colony will get a dose.  Here is a link to this book on the subject.

Weatherization Program

I found out on a tenants rights site that it is illegal for a landlord to deny your tenant weatherization.  This would explain the silent treatment I got this spring when I informed my landlord that I was awarded a full weatherization grant.  They would probably have replaced the furnace, the water heater, and blown insulation into the house increasing the value of the house in addition to making winter heating bills more affordable.  It is also illegal to try to drive your tenant out by having the water turned off.  It is also unlawful to harass a tenant by showing up without 24 hour notice and threatening eviction for complaining about the problems.  Besides the flooding, faulty wiring, and the construction debris left in the heat ducts, my landlord opted out of the weatherization program.  This was all retaliatory and very provable in court.  If she doesn't take me to court this month, I will be forced to have someone come in and clean out the heat ducts so that I won't be breathing the construction dust when I turn the furnace on.  I won't be leaving until we go to court and I can recover the money I have lost by rewiring, rekeying and replacing the locks and paying her water bill from 2009.  It looks like if she doesn't pay her taxes from 2010 that the house will belong to the Franklin County and be sold for the back taxes.  Pity that she wouldn't approve the weatherization, and make her mothers birthplace something of value instead of an energy sieve.  This house has lost almost half it's value in this housing crisis.  The weatherization would have brought up the value, and possibly corrected the mistakes that her inexperienced work crew made.  I will do what I can to weatherize, with my own two hands and perhaps some donations from freecycle.  I have put in a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and written to The City Attorney's office.  They have advised me to seek legal council and file a lawsuit.  My landlord refuses to return my attorney's phone calls.