This lady who lives on the corner across the street had a habit of placing her reflectors (ornaments that absorb sunlight, then glow at night) on one end of her lawn. Her purpose in doing this was to get those reflectors to take in as much sunlight as possible. Then sometime in the late afternoon, she'd go out and place the reflectors back on her lawn. For example, she'd put two reflectors down on either side of her home's steps and maybe two or three of them somewhere in the back yard.

She had been doing this, placing the reflectors in a bunch on her lawn, for awhile now and nothing happened. But early this afternoon, it did.

A while van pulled up in her next-door neighbors driveway. A woman got out, grabbed all of the reflectors and put them in the van. Then she and her accomplice took off.

Those reflectors are gone for good. Still, police were called and the incident was reported.

Had I owned those doodad reflectors, I would have never place them on my lawn in a bunch for a thief's convenience. But somehow, some way, those reflectors were bound to be stolen. I'm sure that there'll be similar incidents, though I hope not. The lesson of never placing any tempting item on the lawn so close to the street has not been lost on me.

But some people never learn. I just bet that the victim will think that I had something to do with it, which I haven't. Had she been a good neighbor and treated me and my property respectfully in past years, I would have alerted her to the robbery. But since she had been so mean and nasty, thinking that nothing bad could ever happen to her .... well, it did happen. Hopefully, she'll learn her lesson and avoid tempting thieves by leaving shiny doodads on her lawn for the taking. Or maybe she would.

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. It's cooler, for one thing. I can open a few windows and let the refreshing breeze in the house. The cats love to sit and watch squirrels, birds and falling leaves.

There, I've said it. Falling leaves all from my neighbors' trees on either side of my property. And this is only the beginning. If I didn't do anything about those leaves, I wouldn't be able to walk out to my driveway. The worst part about all of those leaves is that they get mighty slippery after one or two good rainfalls.

So cleaning them up using a rake can eat up a good couple hours. That's why I like to keep raking them up, bagging them and putting the bags out for pickup. Used to be that homeowners were allowed to rake the leaves to the curb for pick up by public works, but that no longer applies. Now it's mandated that leaves must be bagged in paper leaf bags. I'd have no problem with that had those bags been available for free. But they cost money, and I've already spent enough money on other bills. Plus, public works usually manages to show up after the open leaf bags have tipped over and spilled their contents (leaves) all over the place.

To avoid both evils, I'd simply throw a few bags of leaves in with the regular garbage. Last year, I'd been able to do this with very few problems, except for the time when one or two garbagemen tapped the bags and left them there.

That's not gonna happen this fall, nosiree. Instead of plastic bags, I'm using paper grocery bags. I've got a big stack of them ready to go. I'll get leaves off of my front and back lawns on a regular basis, so there won't be a tremendous amount at the end of October. Let the garbage men feel the bags all they want.

The only thing I'll have to worry about is the possibility of the garbagemen opening up the garbage bags. But even that's unlikely. Besides, I need to get more use from my outrageous property taxes which are little over 5 thousand dollars a year.

The beige shag rug that's still in my bedroom has to go. So far, I haven't had any luck in ripping it off the floor to see what the floor underneath looks like. I even tried using a utility knife, which proved to be a big fat waste of time.

I would much rather getting a professional to help me, but that's not about to happen for financial reasons. I'm going to have to rely on myself to get rid of that rug somehow.

For one thing, it really stinks because one or two cats have been peeing on it. I've tried to clean the mess up with Chlorox, but Chlorox doesn't work that well.

So I asked at the hardware store about how to get that rug up and was told that I'd need to use a crowbar. And today, I noticed a tool store on one of the towns' main streets. And that just may be the place in which to buy a crowbar. I doubt that a place like Home Depot or Lowe's would sell crowbars.

Once I get that rug up, I'll be able to see what the floor underneath looks like. Hopefully, all it will need is a touch-up done by a professional floor person.

I really look forward to enjoy being in my bedroom again.

I got yet another whopping 300-dollar electric bill from my state's monopoly electric company, Public Service Electric and Gas. This was so disappointing, since I already paid them 330 last month. What was that --- chopped liver?

Speaking of which, I was getting hungry. It was almost lunch time and I was getting very hungry. When I get that hungry, I begin to get very irritable.

I figured that I would use that hunger to fight the electric company and at least get an appointment for a special reading of my meter. So late this morning, I called Public Service and had to put up with the telephone menu thing. You know, "Press 1 for ---." How about "Press 1 for another insane option in English?" Anyway, I got through that and waited maybe a minute or two before a customer rep came on and I quickly explained the problem. That was along the lines of "This is the second month in a row that I received an estimated bill for over 300 dollars. I need someone to read the meter. The estimation is way over the top and needs readjusting."

The customer rep said that the next reading wouldn't be until October 16th. At that time, my meter would be read (if the meter reader actually showed up) and my bill would be adjusted.

So on it went, blah, blah, blah, back and forth. I was able to speak passionately because quite frankly, I was very hungry and irritable. The customer rep guy met his match.

Still, by the time the smoke cleared, I couldn't get the reading that I requested. I'd have to wait until October and probably expect to receive another 300-dollar estimated bill. It's my job to bail out Public Service (that's a joke. Public Service is a joke.)

So I'm going to deal with it by paying a smaller part of the bill. I'll wind up getting a shut-off notice for my audacity. If that happens, I will have a complaint letter to the Board of Utilities ready to go. As I already explained to the Public Service rep, 300-something dollars times 10 months comes out to over 3 thousand dollars!

Am I going to let Public Service get away with such an outrage? Heck no.

Lately, it's been one thing after the other around here, although I confess that I did bring a lot of it on myself.

One of my recent projects involves removing a carpet from the bedroom. It's a difficult task in that I just can't lift a corner and peel the carpet back. No. I'll need to get and use a crow bar! That was the advice I got from the proprietor of a nearby hardware store. He didn't tell me where I could buy one, though. If I could get ahold of one, I'd have an easier time of removing the metal strip on the floor that separates one carpet from another.

Since that will be the most difficult project, I've decided to tackle the carpet in my spare room for now. I've got the thing partly removed; the only thing I'll have to deal with is its backing, which resembles tar paper and is a devil to remove. If I dare scrape it, I risk marking the floor. By the way, I want to see what the floor looks like, then decide if I want a professional to fix it. If the floor is only stained, that should be a fairly easy job. However, the carpet AND its backing have to be removed first.

So far, I've been able to obtain a chemical that has to be brushed on, then cleaned off immediately. Also, the windows will need to be opened to allow for ventilation of the chemical's fumes.

I also have another chemical which is a powder substance that needs to be dissolved in two gallons of hot water, then applied and immediately rinsed off the floor.

I don't care for either option, simply because of the possibility of the cats wandering in and out of that room, especially Mimi, who's used to using her litterbox and eating her meals there. Then there's Columbus, who wanders in there occasionally, mostly to steal her food.

Eventually, I'll have to choose and try one of those chemicals. Otherwise, I'll have to call someone in. That would be the most expensive option of all.