Economics

Years ago I complained -- after four months of calling the neighbor at 10:30 at night to please quiet his dogs -- to the city. He's been taking revenge ever since. To avoid the harassment, both vocal (derisive yells, barks & "mews") and minor vandalisms (nails in tires), when visiting Michelle I stay in motels.

This time I lucked into a series of bungalows owned by Charey Fox who -- tho I had to move a couple of times when they were let to AirBnb tenants -- rented them to me at rates almost as low as Motel 6. The neighborhood is quiet and has a friendly ambiance much diff from the drug dealers who'd taken up residence at the Extended Stay Inn where I stayed before. But finding parts for Phoebe has become problematic and once found they have to be shipped. In the past my visits have been a week to ten days, an expense, but not THAT bad. However, this "extended stay," now over a month, has resulted in a significant increase on the VISA.

Yesterday I took a long drive out to one of the new suburbs west of Bernalillo. I noticed a rumble-with-vibration that indicated Phoebe's new u-joint wasn't happy. Daniel at By The Book said to bring her by and as we neared the shop her temperature gauge climbed toward the red, the problem that took nearly four weeks (we thot) to solve. Finding new parts that fit, in this case a heater core and radiator (Daniel tried four radiators), is part of the challenge of maintaining an older vehicle.

Anticipating departure, I've spent the last few nights at Michelle's. Last night it rained all night and into the morning.  The dog's owners, apparently not completely uncaring of the dog, kept it in. So we had peace THIS morning.

I've been leaving in the mornings with Michelle to help with the cat-sitting so am away while the dog barks all day and also get to miss out on the cat-calls and car alarms. Although I'm grateful for their partial incentive that helped encourage me to nomadicism, I can't say as much for the nearly $1,000.00 in rent for this extended stay. I'd hoped to leave today or tomorrow.