Heat Wave and Other Weekly Updates

 As I am writing this, our heat index in downtown Baltimore is unusual for this time of year - it was a sizzling 101 degrees yesterday!  While temps like this are not out of the question, it is unusual for it to be so soon in the summer - we usually don't have these types of temps here until at least early August.  Just a couple of things to say about this, and then we will move on. 

I can see it now - a number of leftists are going to start hollering "global warming," and Greta Thumberg will temporarily get her nose out of Palestinian terrorists' backsides to give us another of her dramatic "how dare you!" moments.  I don't see this as any evidence of global warming at all - it is just a fluke of the weather and more than likely will cool off soon enough.  Also, weather patterns like this mean the possibility of thunderstorms, and a good rain will be the key to cooling things off a bit.  The "climate change" doomsayers therefore can shut up and go back to eating their avocado vegan toast in their mama's basement. 

I also wanted to address an issue we have been dealing with the past couple of weeks or so - porch piracy.  For those outside of the big cities, you may not be aware of what this is, but essentially it is when some parasite with nothing better going on in their lives steals deliveries off of porches and doorsteps.  Many of them are so brazen that they do so in broad daylight, and in the past 2-3 weeks I have had two packages stolen, and a housemate also had some deliveries stolen as well.  Baltimore for some reason seems to be experiencing an epidemic of this behavior, and even the cops are ignoring police reports about it now.  While on one hand companies such as Amazon will recoup the costs of the stolen merchandise, it is still a bit disruptive to the normal flow of life.  So, being that cops here don't seem to take porch piracy seriously, I decided to take matters into my own hands and did so in two ways.

For those who know me, you know I love cats, and I have three of them.  One part of cat care is the infernal litterbox, and it can be one of the most challenging jobs to clean one of those.  Cat urine, unlike human urine, is extremely akalyne, and it reacts quickly with bleach or any other household cleaner.  I found that out several years back when I lived in Florida.  At the time, I was cleaning the litterboxes out on the back porch, and I made a bad mistake of pouring a combination of bleach and ammonia in the box as I was cleaning it.  What resulted was a chemical reaction which produced a small acrid cloud, and come to find out that could be extremely toxic.  When I did research later on how to effectively clean litterboxes, I found out that the best way to neutralize the odor is with something acidic, like white vinegar.  Now, for people who know me well, the smell of vinegar makes me very nauseous, and I hate the stuff.  It is an effective cleaner for sure, but for me I cannot endure the odor of it.  But, that day I made an exception to neutralize the litterbox toxicity I had created, and thankfully the vinegar did alleviate the toxic reaction.  Oddly too, the bleach and ammonia also neutralized the vinegar too, so what was left was essentially water after that - odorless and colorless water.  I tell that story to tell this one, and then I will get back to the main topic.

Cat litter can be tricky, and in order to make the job less unpleasant, it is important to choose the right kind.  The ones that look like small pebbles are the best as generally they will just dump out with no issues.  However, there is the other kind, a finer litter that is more like coarse sand.  That stuff is useless, in that it creates a stinky cement that takes forever to clean out of a litterbox.  I try to avoid that stuff at all costs, but when you have a grocery delivery service like Instacart shopping for you, often they replace what you order with what you don't want, and not wanting to waste money, you have to use it.  I think pet supply manufacturers should take that sandy crap off the market and instead stick with the more gravelly litter as it is easier to maintain.   That backstory now leads us back to our original thesis.

The noxious odors of a litterbox can be overwhelming at times, but in some cases that can be an effective weapon too.  When we were struck twice by porch pirate parasites, and the police report I filed was never followed up on, I decided to take matters into my own hands by creating a trap for the pirates.  In a small box that I had received a delivery in sometime back and still had lying around, I placed a small trash bag, and as I cleaned the litterboxes I filled that bag up with the most pungent litter (and a few cat turds for extra effect) and then securely tied it shut to contain the odor.  Then, I sealed the box with tape, making it look like a parcel being delivered, and I set it outside my door.  The heaviness of the litter would fool the scumbag attempting to steal it into thinking if it is that heavy  it must be valuable.  Then, I stuck it outside on the door step overnight to see what would happen.  And, wouldn't you know it, someone jacked it!  I would love to see what happens when they open that, thinking it is valuable merchandise they can sell to get their next crack or fentanyl fix, and they get that nasty surprise!  It is my hope that it may deter them from messing with our house again.  As an extra measure, we decided to invest in a secure package recepticle to stick outside as well, so that no one could steal packages.  Also, after my housemate reported theirs missing, Amazon is doing its own investigation as well to see if they can effectively reach a solution which would keep our deliveries safe and free of theft.  I only hope they are successful in doing so. 

Bottom line, porch piracy is one of the worst and most prevalent crimes, especially in cities.  People have important deliveries they are expecting, and the human vermin that steal those fail to understand they could be tampering with something important, such as life-saving prescriptions.  Of course, they don't care, because they are evil, selfish, and only serve to feed their own addictions which lead them to do stuff like that.  It is not because they are poor, homeless, or hungry either, I guarantee that - there are plenty of poor, hungry, and homeless people out there who do not resort to such tactics, and in all honesty they would probably be the first to stop such crimes if they witnessed them happening.  The typical porch pirate is not homeless or hungry at all - they are stealing merchandise to make a quick buck, and often they also may have addiction issues too.  In other words, they are criminals, plain and simple.  I have actually suggested that we should do to porch pirates what some countries like Saudi Arabia do to their thieves - you steal there, you get your hand chopped off.  A few extreme deterrents like that may cause this crime to dissipate in major cities, and that would be a good thing. 

So, we talked about cat litter and porch pirates, and the other aspect of my thoughts this week has to do with my search for a new house soon.  Thankfully, God's provision in recent months has made it possible to get some small credit problems straightened out, and being I also have been blessed with a good salary teaching, I am able to start considering buying a home for the first time in my life.  I know buying a house will be a process, but where I am at now was not meant to be a forever home - I live now in a small cramped room that essentially serves as a bedroom, office, and even coffee station for me.  While I live fairly comfortably, it is not what I am used to.  Given this is a time of recovery from a lot of things for me though, it also gives me a chance to plot the course of life I am going to be on for the next several years.  And, one immediate goal is getting the hell out of inner-city Baltimore and moving to a more compatible environment where you don't have to worry about getting deliveries stolen, etc. I will continue to document progress on that. 

On that note, I am due for a demo lesson that I get to observe and review for my school, which is happening in approximately 15 minutes.   So, I will go for today but plan on sharing more insights soon.  Thank you for visiting with me today.