Abundance of Inserts + raccoons + ceiling down

over 150 newspaper coupon inserts

same stack, different angle

These are two different inserts, so there is no way I could use all the few that I wanted. These stacks were much straighter when I received them. See the strap? That strap was around part of these, just like they came from a printer.

I gave many of these away. People responded mostly positively. One guy said he did not want any. Then, he looked over my shoulder and acted sort of funny. He stammered and said, "Maybe you should ask her." His wife said to him, "NEVER turn down coupons." She took the three inserts and said to me, "I will meet you here next Saturday night."

Somehow, I made a mistake and sent coupons to people who did not say they wanted them. Maybe I did not send to people who wanted them. Sorry for the goof. At least it cost no one but me!

I have faced five stressful days with another raccoon breaking through the ceiling, frightening me, and then I spent a cold, frightening night in the den with no sleep. I dared not go to bed. She fell through the ceiling but caught herself and climbed back up.

Just a little update here: When the raccoon broke through and the ceiling section fell, I screamed a long, very loud, and shrill scream. I was terrified the raccoon would attack me or go to some corner and hide and be here living with me. If anyone had been awake at 1:30 am, I could have been heard. Thankfully, no one called the police.

Than Charlie came to help, was very abusive talking, yelling about how he was fixing it. yelling about my not having what he needed. I figured he would tell me what he needed and I would purchase it. He said he had screws and brought 2 inch sheet rock screws instead of the 3-4 inch screws I said he needed.

THEN, he wandered over to a man working next door and was bumming screws from him. I have told him to quit bothering neighbors of mine. So, that was a big fight. People, I know the people on this street, and I will not be imposing myself on them.  Besides, before you know it, Charlie has crossed all sorts of boundaries with other people.

I offered to sew up his ripped work coat that had stuffing falling out. He threw the coat at me and told me to fix it now and quit watching him. Really, you have to watch him! He did not put the ceiling piece back straight, just screwed it up crooked where more insulation and dust and dirt can sift out. So, I offered but did not say I was going to mend it right now.

He yelled because I dropped the only two needles I had. They slipped out of the package, something that has never happened to me before. It could be all the yelling at me. at that point, I did not get up and go get the other three packages of needles in the other room. The two needles slid down the side of the chair where I will have to move the chair and slid into a lot of coupons. Sooo, it will be an ordeal to get them.

The ceiling is 7 ft here in the den even though the ceiling is 10 ft in the original house. Charlie is about 5' 8" and refused to use a ladder or even a foot stool. So, he could not really reach the ceiling but insisted he could. That made the job harder and made him complain. He could barely push on the drill and left three screws just barely in the ceiling because he said it was really hard wood. So, he yelled lots about how hard it was, too hard for him, and getting a foot closer would be of no use.

At Walmart, I paid $0.53 for a properly colored scrap that I knew I did not have in order to mend his coat and make it look nice. Before he left, he demanded the scrap and we argued about that. He is a man that makes you take stands. Otherwise, he pushes harder next time.

All last week I was fighting a sore throat and sinus problems, but the  stress threw me over into a worse condition. So, it is freezing. I am walking in snow to get to the hens, and feverish with an earache and sore throat.

No, I cannot afford to fix the ceiling properly. No, the raccoon cannot be closed out unless the ceiling comes down. This is a complicated, many times altered old house. I know there is no way to keep them out except at great cost and reconstruction. Not going to happen. Do not suggest getting help from a church. They do not care.

I just heard the weather. Trees to the west in MS are losing limbs to icy rain. And, it is headed this direction! UGH. The weather is 34F and will drop tomorrow afternoon, so we could lose power to falling limbs. I hope not.

Your turn
Have you ever been given sooo many inserts? How is the weather where you are? And, include your vague location. Have you ever had a friend that you felt you had to always push back to keep him or her from running right over you?