Imagine you’re a staunch NRA member legally pack’n, in the movie house settling in for a newly released super hero movie, and lo and behold, all of the sudden an armed gunman in full Dawg-theBounty-Hunter gear is up in front of you, what might you do? What might the stranger also pack’n one row over do to you or anyone else when you do what you’ve been jonsing to do since you bought that sweet Glock? This could have gone wrong in a lot of ways. As is, since no one was hurt, do we just call it the worst publicity stunt ever conceived? Or just the worst one this decade? [Read more…]

It takes a good, patient and unfortunate writer to convey the lightless depth of depression. It takes genius to make you laugh along with it: [Read more…]

The other day I heard what sounded like a bowling dropping on the floor in the apartment above. Then I started smelling burnt wire, it was faint at first, but got worse fast. So I’m running around, smelling my fridge, the computer, anything electrical, can’t find the source. My smoke detectors go off, then I hear smoke detectors going in apartments all around. I run out, knock on one door, no one home, run upstairs, knock on that door, tell the guy something’s on fire, he doesn’t see or smell anything. I go back down to my place and just in the minute or two I was gone there is smoke coming out of my bedroom, I hear a crackling sound. I go in there, and in my bathroom ceiling there is smoke coming out. I found out later the guy’s bathroom above had developed a leak under his floor, the water built up around an internal motor and heater in my bathroom ceiling, and it eventually got high enough that when the motor turned on it shorted.

I shut every breaker in the place down and now the apartment is pitch black. Except for a nice toasty glow I can see through a crack between the metal plate covering the motor and the ceiling plaster. I got a fire extinguisher out of my kitchen, ran in there, cranked down on that plate by hand — it was bolted to the ceiling — and got enough play in it that I could get the nozzle on the fire. And I emptied that fucker into the flames. Which by the way added a thick fog-like white mist to the already smoky interior, but it wasn’t too bad, no damage done except for the motor and some wiring and casing up in there. It stank the place up, god only knows what I inhaled, but it dissipated fast with all the doors and windows open.

But had I not been here, or had I been in a deep sleep, I don’t think it would have stopped by itself.

I know the last few years have just been a bad run of luck. There are plenty of people who have way worse luck, this sure could have been worse. But when you have one bad luck event after another, it’s easy to understand how less skeptical people might start seeing cosmic conspiracies or supernatural intervention. You search, for a cause, for a solution, but there isn’t one, because it’s just bad luck.

I wanted to drop a note and thank you all. My rent plus exorbitant late charges are paid. Many people emailed me saying they wanted to help but were too strapped themselves — I sympathize. I actually have a little to spare, although I did splurge on a new pair of shoes. Anyway, if anyone is facing dire circumstances, short on food, about to have their power cut off, I have almost a hundred to spare, lemme know in comments and I’ll see what I can do to pay it forward. If you’d rather keep it private, email me at darksydothemoon-at-aol.

I have plenty now, thanks!

Done, finished, well past what I need, stop giving and thanks!

Should take you to my paypal page, my paypal email is darksydothemoon [break-remove]-‘at’-aol-dot-com name Steve Andrew. Physical address available at request in comments.

Once again I’m desperate, this time facing homelessness. See, one of the ways apartment complexes for the less well to do prey on poor tenants these days is by cooking up charges on top of the stated rent, clearly intended to transfer costs from the owner to the tenant and generate lucrative late fees in ther bargain. My complex has done this to me several times; they accept my rent, a cashiers check since I have an out of town account, then I find out a week or two later there was another fee so they didn’t deposit the rent and retroactively tossed in all kinds of later charges. They’ve done this twice while I was recoveing from the widowmaker,

To make a long story short I couldn’t swing it this time; $ ~1200 they’re now demanding for my $500 shitty studio apartment. It’s bizarre, it’s surreal to write this and read what I’ve written, but the truth is I’m about to be homeless. I’m ashamed to ask for any help, but homelessness is even more shameful, in my current state of health it could be fatal. You guys are under no obligation to kick in anything, if I don’t get a dime out of this I won’t hold any resentment and I’ll keep on blogging for as long as I can.

Coming off of disability, 60% base pay, calculated by using 60% of the disability period my doc recommended which means an efective rate of 0.36 base pay, while my medical expenses doubled, left me broke, I just didn’t have any reserve. I asked if they could would accept $800, every dime I had and could pawn or borrow. They said they’d see if that were acceptable — the next day eviction papers were served, which I take to mean the answer was no.

I work two jobs plus FTB, every single day I work, seven days a week, between six and 12 hours, with no hobbies, no vices, no social life, and yet I still simply don’t make enough to cover the expenses incurred from a heart attack, disability calculated from already terrible base pay, and subsequent surgery, heart meds, copays, utitilies and rent. It’s not a moral failing, it’s sure not laziness on my part, it’s just math.

I’ll tell you, it’s good I’m not the suicidal type, my whole problem is I want to live, I love life, I like everything about it. So I’m not going to end it over this or anything else. And yet I found myself toying with the best and easiest way to clock out in case that becomes the only option.

I have a plan, I’m going to have to stiff the landlord for now and use that money and future checks to buy a tiny piece of property. It’s very cheap and that way I can at least pitch a tent if need be and not worry about sleeping under a bridge or straining frendships by couch serfing, or trying to shuttle between homeless shelters. It stressed me out so bad my heart went into an irregular beat and I had to go to the ER, creating yet another huge bill to come.

UPDATE: THESE ARE NOW THOUGHT TO BE THE SUSPECTS SOUGHT IN THE BOSTON BOMBING. ONE DECEASED, ONE AT LARGE ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEOUS

A police officer is reported shot dead tonight and there are reports of explosions and a firefight going on or just concluded in Watertown, MA. There are rumors that one person is in custody and one person being chased. So far there are no links to the Boston bombings and, reader beware, there have been some stellar dumbass false reports out of that area all week. The only thing I can say for sure I’ve seen blowing up is Twitter. That being said there is rampant speculation this may be related and that one of those people involved fits the descriptions and images released earlier today. There are conflicting rumors it may be related to an armed robbery investigation.

Follow hashtag #SCanner; #Watertown; Reported on #Scanner: “We Do Not have the second suspect in custody”.

Update: Police reportedly have a suspect on the ground at gunpoint and then suddenly backed up as if he were wired or somehow posing a danger.

Update: MSNBC showing video of a suspect stretched out prone on the ground.