"Your words have no power to alter the truth. Your perception does not affect any reality but your own... it is your words and deeds that cast your reflection. "

~Luna Jade, musician

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Tour of Duty TRU- intermission

Sometime during the first half of a year at Toys R Us, we had a couple incidents at home that prompted us to move from that apartment complex we were living in. The first one happened around September or October. I hadn't been at the store that long at this point and I get a call from Monsignour Idiot. He asked me if I was sitting down and this usually means the news aint good no matter WHO asks you this. He told me that he'd gotten a call from the apartment complex and they told him he had to get right home immediately so he did. The door to our apartment had gotten kicked in and we'd been robbed. Oh great. It's not as though we had alot of really good things to begin with so what the hell could they want of ours? He wasnt sure what all was missing at that point but knew for sure that they took the television and the computer. Wonderful....$400-$500 right out the door. I asked him if I needed to leave work and for once in his miserable life, he was nice and told me that I should stay and he'd pick me up later. Didnt matter...I was a wreck the rest of the day.

After work, he picked me up and brought me home. From what he was saying, the cops stayed until the door was repaired. The door was a MESS...the frame had been shattered. My first thought was to the cats which must have gotten out and I was really upset about that. As I sat down to assess the damage and find out what was missing, I heard a soft 'prrrrr-rwow?' and realized at least one of my cats was still in the apartment. Oh JOY!! All of the cats, the minute the door was kicked in I suspect, took to hiding while there was so much business in the apartment. No one even knew they were in there and they never left the safety (such as it was) of the apartment. *WHEW*. Once I realized my "kids" were safe, I looked around with new eyes and noticed what all was gone. They stole the tv and the remotes but left the VCR player (thank goodness for cats that get sick on things...I know...ew). Ok, the tv wasnt a great loss because we didnt spend the money on it AND the tube was starting to go on it anyhow. They took the computer and printer but left all the software alone. My mom said it's because I had it all sandwiched in between Christian music cds and that God's Hand may have covered it all in protection. All I know is that there was at least $300 worth of software on that desk that was still there when I got home. They left all my dolls too....not that they were worth much anyhow. I think what upset me the most about the whole thing was that they were even petty enough to rip the phone cord (I was on dial-up at the time) out of the wall and ruin the phone jack that it was plugged into which was located in the bedroom. Yeah...that really made me feel violated there.

Sometime in the spring, we had another scare....and this time I was home. I had the day off and had been cleaning up the apartment some. About 330pm or so, I get a call from Idjit wanting to know what's going on. At this point Im very much confused at why he's asking this and so I ask why. He informs me that the whole parking lot near us is blocked off and crammed full of police and that our building was surrounded!!! WTF!!!???????? I asked him how he knew and he told me that he was up near the rental office borrowing a neighbor's phone so he saw them all there and was I ok? Well yeah, I had been but now I was scared. He told me that the neighbor across the hall had come home to check on his pregnant girlfriend, not knowing she'd gone in to work, and had come face to face with his own gun in a robber's hand! Oh dear Lord I was frightened. I guess the neighbor took off running and went to the rental office to call the cops. They werent sure if the guy was still in the apartment or not so I needed to get away from the door....go into the bathroom and shut every door between me and the front door (not that there were many). Before I could get there though, I saw shadows on my vertical blinds. The cat, who'd been sitting in the window, got scared and ran from the window and as she did, the blind moved a bit and I saw the flash of a gun along with a uniformed pantleg and shoes of the person just outside my window. Then a gentle rap on the glass... As terrified as I was, something told me that it was ok. I peeked out and the guy standing there was in full SWAT gear and had his badge and id handy for me to check. He asked if I was alone in the apartment to which I replied yes....and then he asked why I was crying. I told him that I had gotten a call telling me what all was going on across the hall and WTF did he THINK I was crying and upset!!??!! He told me to walk quietly towards the rental office (which was about 2 full buildings toward the front of the complex). Walk, yeah right, the minute I was one patio away I took off to a full out run (and I do move alot faster than I look). When I got there...to safety...I looked at the clerk from the office who was standing with dimwatt and told them under no uncertain terms we WOULD BE MOVING as soon as I could find a new place and I didnt give a damn about the lease we'd just renewed (we'd been there about 3 years at this point) AND there would be NO penalties applied because we certainly DID NOT sign up to be in a place that was being robbed once a month or had the SWAT team showing up.

9 comments:

Phoenix said...

OMG!!

what a horrific experience! really...

hey guess what?my blog was earlier called Phoenix rising from the ashes... we both share the idea of being reborn from our ashes...

take care :)

Anonymous said...

Hello :)

Femin Susan said...

Hi......
Your blog is really interesting... Keep posting.... Wishing you " A Happy New Year''

Louise said...

Wow I'm sorry. Robberies are scary. Knock on wood we've never had one.

el chupacabra said...

Terrible- the least of the things the bad guys take are your property

Steve Richards said...

I'm so glad you got the hell out of there.
Karyn & I had a few very similar episodes
when we lived in Mesa, AZ, only it was drug trafficing that was the basis for the
neighborhood decay, and ultimatlely, one of
the reasons we left Arizona together!
Intense story!

-steve

jewelzmomof4 said...

WOW sounds like you made the right decision telling him you would be moving. I would have to. Good luck to you and I hope you find a place SOON:)

Dorkys Ramos said...

Oh no, that's horrid! I would've been too scared to even breathe in that place. And sleeping at night would have gone right out the window. Thank goodness you were never hurt and that you left!!

MARZ said...

That sucks...but at least you're ok!!! :-D

It's been a while...I got a new blog, the IX. Check it out...add me...I'll be deleting my tour guide blog soon :-(