Neglect of my journal.
I have several unfinished drafts, just keep getting interrupted/distracted every time I start writing an entry.

Anyway, I was just checking Zillow for the value of my home.  Some people say it's not a good reflection of actual home value, but I figure it's gotta be somewhere in the ballpark.  Home values in the Phoenix area have risen dramatically this year - and mine is definitely on that list.  According to Zillow, it is almost valued at the amount I owe on the property.  Note that 3 months ago, it was around 50 grand in the hole.  Will it stay there or even go up?  Well, I have no choice but to stay here and see what happens.  I need to get my credit score up higher to be able to get into another home anyway.

I really, really, really want out of the city of Phoenix.  The water rates and the taxes they are dumping on everyone is nothing short of outrageous and finding out the pension spiking with the unions that are working for the city - taking these tax increases and using that money for absurdly high pay increases and bonuses - is also nothing short of outrageous.

But I will have to stick it out here for - who knows how long, I am really in no position to be able to view into the crystal ball and give that kind projection.

As for the new tenant, he is already gone.  Moved to Boston to move into what is nothing short of a mansion in a very ritzy area of town.  He will be a nanny/personal assistant type of thing and will be making very good money plus all expenses paid.  I have seen a picture of the house, it's unbelievable.  Good for him is all I can say, I wouldn't have turned down such an offer, either.  The lady that owns the house is a successful dentist who owns her own dental clinic.

There isn't a whole lot new going on around here anyway, in terms of writing in this journal.  My next door neighbor will be back soon enough and who knows what's going to happen between him and his neighbor on the other side, time will tell if he really intends to follow through with a lawsuit to get his land back.

As for the neighbor behind me, I saw him last weekend and told him if he didn't clean up all that cat s*** which piles up against my fence on his side, I would be calling the city to come out and write him a ticket.  "Oh, is it that time again?", acting as if it's normal to let that kind of substance pile up for months and months at a time and is exactly what I said to him in reply.  Are you serious?  You think it's normal to let animal feces just pile up until someone has to threaten civil action to get you to do anything?  While we were at it, I informed him he didn't deal with the dirt that has also been building up against that fence - I am on mountain base, his lot is higher than mine, whenever it rains or just time, more dirt piles up against that wood fence - I would simply take him to court and have a judge force him to repair the damage it's doing to my fence.  "I'll see you in court" was his reply, I said fine, see you in court and walked off.

So, it wasn't amazing that he cleaned up the cat crap - I called the city last time and they definitely came out and told him if he didn't have it cleaned up within 24 hours they were going to cite him for it.  But what did amaze me was when I looked over the fence to ensure he had cleaned all of that up, he had also dug out all the dirt that was pushing my fence in!

Regardless of his sour, grating attitude, I will still thank him for doing all of that next time I see him, which is quite infrequently.  I don't really go out of my way to see him or any of the other - people - that are living like hoarders in this neighborhood.  Besides the city taxes, this neighborhood and the people who live in it and the WAY they live in it the other reason I really want out of here.

I want to move back to Tempe - the next city over.  I want to move into a regular, site-built house and in a neighborhood where people take care of their properties but at the same time I do not want to be in a neighborhood that has a homeowner's association.  People should not have to be forced to take care of their properties, pride-of-ownership should be the motivating factor for that.  There are a lot of very nice, older neighborhoods in Tempe with block-built homes (versus the stucco junk they want to build everything out of nowadays, it's cheap and it doesn't last long before you have to have someone come fix the cracks that form in it over time) that do not have associations lording themselves over everyone.  Many of these homeowner's associations get filled with board members who seem to have serious control issues.  They want to tell you where you can have your satellite dish mounted, what color to paint your home, what kinds of plants and trees you can have, etc.  I don't want that kind of control over my life, thanks.

It's Sunday morning, getting my mind/heart into church mode.  Another hour before I leave for that.  I have no great agendas today for after church, just want to kick back and relax, maybe do some outdoor chores but nothing too serious.  It's still getting quite warm in the afternoons, I can't wait until the middle of October or so when it cools down to the point that it's cool all day long and you can actually air out the house!

That's enough for now, maybe continue later.

ben