The Price of Progress

A sad note to report: Botanica Mystere, that wonderful shop run by Esperanza McNunn (noted in an earlier entry) has been boarded up, along with The Juice Fountain. Apparently, they are building some sort of hotel complex in the area.

I hope the merchants fare well in their new homes.

Another Solution

I have been advised that mice avoid hot sauce.

Of course this made for a rather comical scene at the grocery store, as I pushed a cartful of Tabasco, Cholula, Tapatio, and something called “Mad Iguana” through the aisles, explaining to curious onlookers that it was for my mice.

Sometimes the most vexing problems can provide us with a bit of levity.

An Open Letter to the Person Who Spread Dish Soap on My Stairs This Morning

I'm not sure whether it was sabotage or simply a poor attempt to clean up the cigarette ash that you've tracked up and down our staircase for the past two years, but please note that dish soap is exceptionally slippery and not suitable for commercial cleaning uses.

As for my early morning tumble down the stairs, dear Readers, you can rest assured that I merely sprained my back and my index finger. No permanent damage was done (except to my Grandmother's thermos - my only keepsake of hers - that shattered beyond all repair).

Return of the Sharp-Toothed Vermin

The mice have been gnawing again, leaving traces of themselves all over my workspace. I see whiskers and droppings and bits of sawdust from the walls. I can hear them chewing in the silence, when I am reading or staring at the blank computer screen. After several more pleas to the property management company, this is the note I received from the building manager:

Hey zombie [sic] guy –

I’m not supposed to give you anything, but this should get rid of those rats of yours.

Charlie
Bldg. Manager

I sprinkled the poison around the places where the mice have been getting in, but it hasn’t been working. Nothing works.

Nothing.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Success!

Thanks to new security measures I've recently taken, I can confidently say there will be no more unauthorized posts from a certain person on this blog.

Thank you all for your patience.

FROM: Rodrigo Weiss
TO: Mathilde Bagnoire
DATE: 05/09/98
SUBJECT: Travel plans?

Mathilde -

I must confess that seeing you lying there like that I experienced a disturbing sense of déjà vu. It was that, more than anything, which set me off.

You’re right. I am feeling raw. Perhaps my euphoria has left me with an excess of energy. I don’t know what to do with myself.

Perhaps we should travel?

Yours,
Rodrigo


FROM: Mathilde Bagnoire
TO: Rodrigo Weiss
DATE: 05/09/98
SUBJECT: My condition


Rodrigo -

You know that I can’t travel in my condition. Besides, to do so would be a flight from reality.

Mathilde


TO: Mathilde Bagnoire
FROM: Rodrigo Weiss
DATE: 05/09/98
SUBJECT: Your condition


Mathilde -

I don’t think you’re in any condition to judge reality.

Rodrigo

TO: Rodrigo Weiss
FROM: Mathilde Bagnoire
DATE: 05/09/98
SUBJECT: My reality


Rodrigo -

I know my reality, and I know that you’re not living in it.

Let’s stop this. I want to see you.

Tonight.

M.

A Plea For Help

Can someone help me with this?

To: Mathilde Bagnoire
From: Rodrigo Weiss
Date: 05/08/98
Subject: Apology

Mathilde -

I’m sorry for the things I said last night. I had spent the previous 24 hours thinking of nothing but you; perhaps the anticipation I felt was too much for me to bear. I shouldn’t have blamed you.

R.


To: Rodrigo Weiss
From: Mathilde Bagnoire
Date: 05/08/98
Subject: My condition

Rodrigo -

I don’t mind you criticizing my housekeeping skills; I have never felt cleanliness to be particularly important when the world is a living tomb. I had suspected you might be put off, given your nature. But I am not likely to change. Where I do take offense is in your criticism of my performance—you know that physical exertion is not good for one in my condition; I hope you also know that I did not purposefully imitate a cadaver.

I think you may still be feeling a bit raw emotionally, and would prefer to put everything behind us.

Mathilde

A Simple Request

Mathilde, I demand that you stop posting here.

From the Boca Raton Bee, November 6 -13 edition:

Mae Ridgecrest Weiss passed away November 3, 2004 at her home in Boca Raton, Florida. She was 92. Born in New York, New York, Ms. Weiss was the heiress to the Ridgecrest Food Company, famous for manufacturing communion wafers supplied to Catholic churches across the United States and Canada. Her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were killed in an automobile accident in 1976, leaving her a widow.

Ms. Weiss enjoyed cooking and needlepoint. She also enjoyed traveling in the Northeast, touring Communion Wafer plants and sampling their merchandise. Later in life, despite her great fortune, she lived without luxury or electricity. She is survived by one grandson, whereabouts unknown.

Graveside services will be held Friday, November 7 at 1 p.m., at the Holy Cross Cemetery on County Road P in Boca Raton. A viewing will be held on Thursday, November 6, 2006, from 4-8 p.m. at Sweet & Son Mortuary. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sisters of Mercy Food Bank and the Animal Shelter of Boca Raton.