Friday, April 23, 2021

A Neighborhood Spat


These trees are right outside the school where I work. Pretty impressive display, huh? They don't seem to be at all bothered by our chilly nights (37º F last night).

I heard back from the camera shop. They said my repairs would take 10 to 12 working days, so for a couple of weeks you're going to be getting pictures from my phone. I'm just pointing it out in case they're not up to my usual standards. I don't want you thinking, "Gee, Steve used to be such a good photographer, but now he's slipping." (Or, worse, "Steve used to be a mildly adequate photographer, but now he's really slipping.")

It's ironic, isn't it, that my camera would die mere days after I gave away my old Canon camera, which I hadn't so much as touched in a decade? But that's OK. The phone will do.

In other news,  I downloaded a list of all the e-mail subscribers to my blog, in case I do eventually adopt another subscription service. (Blogger's is going away, in case you missed their recent update.) I was astonished to find that I had something like 1,300 subscriptions! But then I started looking through them, and many were obviously the work of a spambot. The "subscribers" all had Outlook e-mail addresses and signed up at the rate of four or five a day back in 2017. I don't quite understand what anyone gains from subscribing potentially fake e-mail addresses to my blog, but the mysteries of the Internet are legion. Turns out I have about 50 legitimate subscribers, and I'm cool with that.

Remember how the maintenance man was supposed to come and take a look at our garden fence? Well, he called me from our front door on Monday morning, and of course I was at work -- somehow he'd gotten the time of our appointment wrong. (It was supposed to be that evening.) He let himself in and while he checked out the fence I talked him through the issues that next-door neighbor Mrs. Kravitz has raised. I still don't know what the landlord is going to do about that situation, but I'm staying neutral. If they want to replace the fence, fine; if not, fine.

I talked to upstairs neighbor Mrs. Russia last night, and apparently she and Mrs. Kravitz had an altercation the other day. (There is no love lost between those two, for a variety of reasons too complicated to go into now.) Mrs. K's maid (yes, she has a maid) accepted a package that was meant for Mrs. Russia. When Mrs. R went to collect it, it had been opened. Mrs. K told her they opened it by mistake because her maid doesn't speak English, and according to Mrs. R she was quite nasty and challenged Mrs. R's language ability too. Mrs. K wound up throwing the box at Mrs. R, who ordered her not to accept any more packages on her behalf. In response, Mrs. K allegedly stuck out her tongue. I am not kidding! Mrs. R was so incensed she considered calling the police, though I'm not sure what in that exchange could possibly be considered criminal.

As they used to sing on Sesame Street, "These are the people in your neighborhood..."


For some reason, fellow blogger Mitchell's post yesterday about items we keep reminded me of the bowl on my desk at work, where I put all the various doodads that I find in the library. It's a sort of lost & found in case anyone says, "Where's my fidget spinner?" or "Have you seen my rainbow-colored friendship bracelet?" (So far, no one has done so. The kids who lost some of that stuff have probably graduated by now.) As you can see, it contains items as diverse as a plastic bumblebee, a star-shaped Secret Service pin, a unicorn guitar pick, bits of (I assume) costume jewelry and a seashell engraved with the word "courage."

Of course, Mitchell's post was about treasured belongings; I'm not sure why it prompted me to think about junk on my desk.

54 comments:

Moving with Mitchell said...

Your photos, whether from your good camera or your phone are always excepetional.

Some of my "treasured" belongings are also in a bowl of random crap on my desk. But I'm so excited you found my Secret-Service pin!!! (And my loose screw. I've been looking for that for years. I have a couple of loose screws in my bowl, but they're not mine.)

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Perhaps you should invest in a large, inflatable children's paddling pool. Fill it with mud and then invite Mrs Kravitz and Mrs Russia to put on their bikinis for a mud-wrestling bout. With i-phonr pictures it will all make a great blogpost. Dave can be the referee.

P.S. I am also a spambot!

Anonymous said...

I can't remember you saying what your camera or phone is?
Better to have neighbours falling out and not being personally involved.
The collection of things lost by students is so interesting. For whatever reason they meant something to them at the time. The dice? Was there a gambling ring?

Ursula said...

The moment I had press "send" (one of my comments yesterday, 22 April, re the photo) I knew I'd worded it wrongly. I didn't mean to say that your photography wasn't up to standard; I meant to say that the building you took a photo of was rather unprepossessing, downright depressing. Fine difference.

Honestly, Steve, the pitfalls of trying to convey the RIGHT meaning in the medium of commenting on blogs are enough to keep yourself to yourself. Chance being a fine thing. The moment I'll keep myself to myself, no matter what the risks, will be the day I am dead. Something to look forward to I suppose.

U

PS Neither do you need to keep translating Fahrenheit into Celsius for my benefit. Nevertheless, thanks for the effort.

Steve Reed said...

I'll mail your pin right away! I think some of the loose screws belong to Mrs. K and Mrs. R.

Steve Reed said...

LOL -- that's basically what it's coming down to. I keep waiting for fist-fights in the front garden.

Steve Reed said...

I have an iPhone 6s. Who knows where those dice came from! We do have games in the library, but they don't seem to be missing any.

Steve Reed said...

Oh, I didn't take offense at your comment. It's a fact that the phone pictures aren't quite as good -- I've noticed it too! As for Celsius, I have lots of readers in the UK and elsewhere that use that scale, so I try to translate for all. (Although I didn't today. Mea culpa!)

Debby said...

Your neighbors sound as if they both need to go into time out until they learn to use their words nicely.

PS That would be entertaining to watch, if you manage to keep clear of the fray.

Bob said...

I think your treasures hold some value, because you still have them and remember exactly what they are. It's when you have something and have no idea what it is, that it gets odd.

And I was thinking Mrs. R and Mrs. K could have their own show, Might be fun.

Tasker Dunham said...

37ºF is an easy one which Ursula could work out in her head. 37-32 = 5, 5 x 5/9 = 25/9 = nearly 3ºC. (subtract 32 and multiply by 5/9).

crafty cat corner said...

I love the neighbours spat, lol. Grown people arguing make me laugh and my imagination ran wild.
Briony
x

The Bug said...

I REALLY like Mr. Pudding's idea of the mud fight. Please make it happen!

ellen abbott said...

how rude of anyone to open a package that was not addressed to them especially when they know who the recipient is.

well, I guess we'll just have to muddle along with your iPhone photos for a while.

what an eclectic collection of abandoned items.

and I have to ask, since you didn't comment on the post, did you not like the mermen?

Mary said...

Every time you write about Mrs K, in my mind's eye, I picture the less-than-charming character of Mrs Bucket (as she would say, pronounced Bouquet, please!) on the old British TV show, Keeping up Appearances. Of course, there was also the nebby neighbor character on TV show Bewitched who actually was named Mrs Kravitz... Take your pick! :)

Anonymous said...

I'm surprised by Mrs K's behavior. She is even worse than I imagined her to be. Ugh.
Your iPhone photos are always good and interesting.

Ms. Moon said...

Mrs. K may have met her match in Mrs. R. How I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one!
Please don't apologize for the quality of your pictures taken with the iPhone. Some of us absolutely do not have the visual ability to judge them as lesser in any way. Me being one of those.

Edna B said...

I say be thankful for the camera on your phone. Your photos look just fine. It must be interesting being between Mrs. K. and Mrs. R. Those trees near your work are beautiful. It must be so nice to be able to look at them all bloomed out in their finery. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.

Ellen D. said...

Your photos are always fabulous in my opinion no matter what you use to snap them.
Crazy neighbors but very entertaining for a blog post!

Sharon said...

Oh my, that sounds like an exciting confrontation between neighbors. I bet you are glad you missed that.
There have been several time snow that I've left the camera at home and just stuck with the phone.
I wonder if any of those kids actually miss any of those little items they've left behind in the library.

Sharon said...

"times now". Sorry I accidentally mentioned the word "snow".

The Padre said...

Call Me A Wing Nut But The Blogger Thing Is News To Me - What The Flock Of Seagulls

Margaret said...

I love any photos on a blog! One person's junk is another person's treasure. I can't stand drama or confrontations, but there are people who thrive on them.

Colette said...

You'll have your camera back before you know it! In the meantime, your iphone may surprise you - depending on how new it is. I'm quite concerned about the loss of blogger.

Janie Junebug said...

If anyone thinks your photos are slipping in quality, post them next to a photo that I've taken and your talent will be clear. My next door neighbor--on the side of the house where my bedroom is--has taken to playing his TV with the volume up very, very high--until 1 or 2 a.m. I might need to get a white noise machine, or I can stick my tongue out at him if I ever see him, which doesn't happen often.

Love,
Janie

Linda Sue said...

the neighbor "ladies" are hilarious children, Lay low as you do...Old women are not to be trifled with, they have secret powers.

Sabine said...

Neighbours are such an amazing backdrop to real life. Keep it coming. I wonder what will happen mext.

Angelicastar said...

Hi Steve, Dave and Olga. Neighbors use to be true neighbors but now all they want to know is what's going on in your house. I had to tell Mr. Kravitz (across the street from me) I really don't care to hear what's going on in the neighborhood. If he see me outside there he come telling me what's going on. So now I am seldom seen. If I want fresh air, I get it from the back yard. (lol) Mrs. Kravitz just wanted to see what Mrs. R was ordering (laughing) So there's a way to keep your neighbors out of your business.....NEVER LET THEM IN TO BEGIN WITH.(lol)

Catalyst said...

I like that last photo of the junk(?), possibly because it reminded me of some of the doodads I have sitting around and stuffed in drawers. Guess I'd better start cleaning it out.

ellen abbott said...

Steve, can you explain how you downloaded your email subscribers. I've gone to the page blogger directed us to in order to do that but I can't understand how. does the subscribe by email gadget have to be on the blog? because I already removed it and blogger has removed it from the gadget list. how do I activate the feedburner email subscription service since that seems to be the first step according to the link blogger provided.

ellen abbott said...

OK, I made my way to the subscriber list. the bulk (like yours) are from outlook.com and within a two month period 12/17 - 1/18. so nevermind I guess.

Steve Reed said...

Glad you figured it out, Ellen, and INTERESTING that you had the same phenomenon -- spambots signing up to your blog during that same time period. So weird! How does that benefit anyone?!

Steve Reed said...

You're stretching my mathematical abilities, Tasker.

Steve Reed said...

I would LOVE to have been there, peering from behind the hedge.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, that's true! I have no idea what some of those things are, actually. The screws, for example -- I know they're screws but I have no idea where they came from or what they belong to.

"Real Housewives of West Hampstead"!

Steve Reed said...

I had to bite my lip while she was telling me the story, especially when she mentioned calling the police. Can you imagine?

Steve Reed said...

Ha! With video!

Steve Reed said...

I missed the mermen post, but I went back and commented! Ha!

Steve Reed said...

I call her Mrs. Kravitz specifically because she reminds me of the bewitched character. It's not her real name. :)

Steve Reed said...

We have reached new lows in neighborly relations!

Steve Reed said...

I think if you saw the pictures side by side, you could tell which came from the camera and which from the phone. But I don't mean to knock the phone -- honestly, for a phone, it does a great job.

Steve Reed said...

This is a really beautiful time of year, with all the blooming trees! Mrs. K and Mrs. R provide no end of entertainment.

Steve Reed said...

Ha! They are fun to write about, I must admit.

Steve Reed said...

Oh, and thanks for the compliment on the pics. :)

Steve Reed said...

Ha! I knew what you meant. :) I think the kids have no idea they've dropped any of that stuff.

Steve Reed said...

You may not have been affected if you didn't have the "Subscribe by E-mail" widget on your blog. That functionality is what's going away. Blogger itself isn't going anywhere.

Steve Reed said...

It's true. I think both of these neighbors enjoy a good argument. I am very non-confrontational, like you, so I don't quite get that.

Steve Reed said...

Blogger itself isn't going anywhere. It's just the "Subscribe by E-mail" function that's disappearing. It was powered by Feedburner and apparently they're basically disconnecting it. It won't affect you at all if you didn't have that widget on your blog.

Steve Reed said...

How weird! I wonder if he's trying to cover up other sounds? Or is he really hard of hearing?

Steve Reed said...

Oh, I wouldn't mess with either one of them. And they're not old -- they're both younger than I am!

Steve Reed said...

We never have a shortage of neighbor drama around here.

Steve Reed said...

It's true! There's a lot to be said for just keeping your head down! Hope you're doing well, A!

Steve Reed said...

It's amazing how things accumulate. I could throw all that stuff in the trash and no one would be the wiser.

Janie Junebug said...

Maybe he's using a chain saw to cut up bodies.