saturday, april 14, 2001
happy easterdependence!

sunday may be easter for most the rest of the u.s., but in my neighborhood you would think we were heading into independence day. the kids have been playing firecrackers all week. LOUD firecrackers. they are quickly giving me a headache and making it very hard to concentrate at all. god, i HATE this neighborhood

it's bad enough they feel the need to annoy us with this nonsense, much of which are loud enough to be mistaken for and have the sound of gunfire (real smart in a gang neighborhood ...NOT), but they are "experimenting" with the damn things as well. let's light off 10 at a time! how about lighting them under a garbage can. i just heard some kid say something about setting one off inside a GLASS BOTTLE!

the true insanity is not that the kids will do stuff like this and play with this crap. the biggest insanity as that the parents LET them, even encourage them by buying the damn things for them, then do not supervise them. it's not like they care that firecrackers can be dangerous. one family bought their kids bb guns for christmas last year. these are the kids that have been terrorizing my kids for the last few years, so i had to tell me girls that if one of these boys come out with their guns they are to come in the house immediately. now i have to tell them to just not go out at all if they can avoid it. a glass bottle for crying out loud! and how many will get hurt when the thing sends glass flying everywhere???

i really hope that they lose interest soon, but am not holding my breath. in the mean time, i jump every 5 minutes or so, can't concentrate, am getting damn bitchy and have a headache to boot. i turned up my music and just shut my front door (the weather was nice even if the kids were total piss ants) so its not as bad. but the constant popping and banging has me completely on edge.

a couple more years. i hope i can survive that long without seriously maiming some child or getting into a fight with one of the adults. a few more years and maybe i can live in a neighborhood that i don't feel i have to hide from. a few more years and maybe my kids can go outside and not worry about being injured by some other malicious child. a few more years and maybe my kids can make friends in the neighborhood.

next year is my last year for my bachelors. the certification takes 2 more i believe.

lord, keep us safe and sane until then.