7am on a Sunday morning, and I was wide awake...why? Because the skanky woman next door started screaming at someone or something at the top of her lungs, before slamming their door and stomping down the stairs. Bitch.

One of their stinking friends knocked on my door again in the middle of the night--think it was about 3am, this time. I didn't bother to get up to see who it was...probably someone looking to make a buy, for all I know.

And, their stinking elderly bassett hound is barking, as I write this. Why the hell the landlord hasn't evicted them yet, is beyond me...well, probably 'cos we have a largely absentee owner/landlord...."we drive past the building whenever we're down here" the landlady once said to me, rather defensively. They live a 45 minute drive away, it's not like it's Timbuctoo. A 45 min. drive in America, is nothing. It's like being next door.

Woke with a queasy stomach, and with their 2nd hand cigarette smoke wafting across the hall and seeping into my bedroom, sleep has eluded me. I normally am not too bothered with cigarette smoke--having had a dad who was a serious chain smoker for years--but, that said, there's a few times when I don't like the stuff--when I'm trying to sleep, and when I'm eating. Cigarette smoke can effect my breathing slightly and burn my throat a bit. But mostly, if the smoke bothers me at all, it can, once in a while, upset the hell out of my stomach--which was the last thing I needed, this morning.

Needless to say, I'm not a happy camper today.

I went to the concert last night, but didn't stay for the fireworks. There were hundreds of people there when I got there, and by the time I left, there were a few thousand. The concert was nice---here's a bit of trivia, Glens Falls, NY is the smallest city (pop. approx. 15,000) in all of the United States, with it's own professional symphony orchestra. There was a woman from the local musical theater scene there, and she did a few vocal numbers and danced a bit on the lawn.

I was lucky enough to find an empty bench fairly close to the park's performance shell, so I could hear the music fairly well. It spinkled a bit, with a few rumbles of thunder and flashes of lightning, but the storm held off, tho' it was extremely cool, towards dark.

A man sat next to me. And halfway through the concert, he stuck up a conversation--which was nice, except that he wouldn't shut up, so after the intermission, I couldn't really pay attention to the music. The man started asking personal questions...sometimes the same question over and over. I had an inkling that he wasn't quite running on all cylinders, which was confirmed when he said he'd had a brain operation. And, that was OK, my brain isn't exactly all there, of late, either...but damn, I wanted to listen to the concert and it was impossible to do that, and be polite with the fella, too. And, the fireworks were late, going off. They were supposed to go off at 9.30, and they never went off till' almost 10pm.

I politely made my excuses--on the pretense of worrying about riding my bike home in a storm, and left. It's hard for me to see at dusk--easier at night than dusk...dim light is worse for my night-blindness, than straight darkness. I was actually worried about trying to ride home with all that mob exiting the park. A lot of people were illegally parking in the handicapped lot...as I was walking my bike through, some berk in a sports car quickly swung into an empty parking space, and almost ran into me and some little old lady who was walking through.

The police were no where to be seen. Last time I saw the two offficers, they were busy feeding their faces at a hot dog stand, during the playing of the National Anthem. So much for patriotic policemen. :))

Two officers--bicycle officers, to take care of a crowd of a few thousand people...well, you can tell we have a low crime rate up here. No sherrifs cars, no city police cars, only one local volunteer ambulance crew on standby. If there ever were to be a disaster at a big city event, Glens Falls would be grossly ill-prepared for it, that I can tell you.

After the fireworks, it took about 30 to 45 minutes for the southbound traffic to clear--the tailbacks stretched for about a half-mile.

So, here I am, Sunday morning, stomach feeling like crap. Guess I'll go read or something. I might go to the laundromat since I'm up anyway, I don't know. Maybe I'll tidy the bathroom, or find a book to read.