original profile ... i have 3 great danes & 3 cats aged 21, 11 & 7 ... i was self~sufficient until 17 months ago but have now lost everything else i owned in order to keep these pets of mine ... i went homeless due to absurd blight laws in oakland as violated by a boyfriend ... since then, i've lived outside in a large shed & work with live fish seven days a week for this & for food but am paid nothing in cash ... i remain here because it is the only place both my cats & dogs are welcome ... the primary reason i keep considering moving into my van with the danes is a neighbor next door to where i am staying who is totally intolerant of them ... they have kept me so fearful of losing my dogs, that i never leave them alone here & cannot accept any paid position which does not allow all three along with me ... her most recent complaint submitted to animal control actually documented these dogs only bark between 3~6 times a day, though it omitted the fact that there are rarely more than 3~6 barks at any one time ... the animal control officer in charge of our case assures me the judge will declare her complaints invalid ... {updated 2K5 october}
update 2K6 june ... while awaiting my court date on the barking case, i got a 2nd ticket for three dogs~at~large when my male poked his nose through one slat in the fence that was broken by these same neighbors while moving a large exercise machine ... using a log i kept of every bark & woof during an 82~day period {date, time, number, volume & reason ~ usually due to noise made by the complaining neighbors}, i was able to demonstrate my dogs disturb the peace an average of 12 SECONDS per day ... the couple that lives next door on the other side of us appeared in court as witnesses on our behalf & two other neighbors sent supportive statements {in spanish} ... both cases were finally dismissed by the judge ... it cost more for my attorney than the fees i'd've had to pay if i had not contested these two tickets ... worse, due to the vagueness of how the local ordinances are worded, we are still no safer from this neighbor than before ... both animal control officers claimed they had no choice when issuing these citations ... the policy is that once a neighbor puts any complaint in writing, all decisions as to the validity of it are left up to the court ... i've met one woman who is soon due back in court for the 6th time & now know two families that moved out of this city due to repeated animal control problems, with no hassles where relocated
worst of all, i cannot feel any sense of victory because this whole mess has resulted in the death of my very best friend, Lady Sparkling Diamond TwoC ... it essentially began one evening my boyfriend was sitting in his van, waiting for the buyer of a car he owned parked in the driveway here ... he was well~known to the intolerant neighbors & we'd even told them why he was visiting that night ... yet this woman maliciously reported him to the police as a suspicious stranger ... when the police officers learned from me that she knew my boyfriend, they decided to let him off, even though he was driving on an expired license ... they made me promise to drive him home ... literal fool that i am, it didn't occur to me not to honor my word to them ... my boyfriend got a job for the next day, which i helped with, that kept being extended ... it postponed my return here until we finally broke up over this ... 2c had gone into heat during the week i was away ... then she went into labor the day i was due in dog court ... nothing else could have separated me from her at such a time ... i put her in a kennel at the vet hospital while i was at the hearing ... i didn't know she'd delivered a healthy~looking puppy during the 15 minutes i showered that morning until i found it dead when we got back ... no more pups were born ... the next morning, my vet performed a caesarian without x~raying 2c beforehand ... there were no puppies inside of her ... she was spayed & returned to me ... i called the emergency vet around midnight because of how woozy 2c seemed & was reassured it was normal after such surgery ... at 3am Twoc let out a loud cry ... i was arranging for an ambulance when 2c died about 20 minutes later ... she was buried at bubbling well pet memorial park ... am used to losing pets because i once specialized in fostering & adopting the oldest ones that few people will consider ... however, i cannot reconcile myself to how unnecessary TwoC's death was ... i can't say how much i miss her ... more than any dog of all the great ones i've known, she personified the proverbial best friend
there is one final sad update to be made ... my eldest cat, Harpo, has passed on too, just after her 22nd birthday ... from the specific moment she discovered my lap during her earliest explorations, it seemed like being there was all she ever wanted ... last of the 3 black marx bros, harpo has joined groucho who went at 19 & chico who died at 17 ... they were from a truly tiny line of cats & looked like kittens all their long lives
10-06-2006 ... update ... the people next door began threatening to kill my dogs after they lost in court ... they throw hazardous trash over the fence ... every time i get a job one or both of them is screaming at me when i get off work ... other neighbors say my dogs are no trouble when i am gone ... so the dogs & i are often staying in the van ... it was for a temporary job to begin with ... the danes did great, so now trying it longer term ... i do not feel we have a choice about this, but am more hopeful than i ever expected to be ... i do some tarot card readings for tips at nightclubs in the san francisco bay area although it makes me uneasy to accept payment for this ... am working any odd jobs i can find which let the dogs come along ... will be offline indefinitely ... love to all ... auraL7 and Fantasia Dancer and Pepsi Cola and {2c and Harpo} and Yamika and Sheshe and {mice frogs fatheads crayfish snails turtle and} all
to be continued
You Are Blooming Flowers
http://www.blogthings.com/whatpartofspringareyouqu...
You are an optimistic person by nature. In even the darkest times, you are hopeful about the future.
You feel truly blessed in life and can sometimes be overwhelmed with emotions.
You have an artist's eye. You are always looking for beauty in the mundane.
You have a good sense of aesthetics, especially when it comes to shapes and color.
What Part of Spring Are You?