Apartment Life #421

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post. 

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So about 3 weeks ago I was turning over in bed and something popped in my back. I've had what I think is really bad pulled muscle since then. My doctor came out on the 17th and said that I could have weakened the bone when I fell and hurt my arms a couple of months ago and then fractured my pelvis when I turned over in bed. Because of where the pain is, he thinks it could be a pelvis fracture like a hairline fracture, a bulging disc or a compression fracture in my back. So he sent the X-ray techs out here again this week to do X-rays of my lower back.

I had to lay on the couch to get the xrays done.

 I've been having to walk with a crutch for the last 3 weeks and it could be any number of things, so he wanted to rule them all out.  I'm hoping it's not any kind of fracture and just a pulled muscle since my blood and urine tests came back and he found Myoglobin in my urine which could indicate a damaged muscle. 

I just can't stop hurting myself I guess. 🤣🤣🤣 

Oh and he told me that the xrays they took of my arms when I fell 2 months ago showed I have Osteoarthritis in both shoulders. I had a feeling about that already since I'm like Rice Krispies and snap, crackle, pop every time I move my arms. 

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This past Sunday we called 911 because the smoke detector in the apartment right next door was going off for 30 minutes. We knocked on the door and no one was home. The fire department came just to make sure there was no smoke or fire. They had a hand held device where they could see if there were any hot spots in the apartment and there weren't any so they had no cause to break the door down to get inside and check.  

Since they couldn't get in and saw no hot spots, they left. Thankfully the woman who lives there got home about an hour later. I have to wonder if she had a faulty smoke detector like I did. 

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On the 17th and into the 18th the winds were blowing! The gusts were no joke, they thought only the higher elevations were going to get 70mph gusts but we ended up having 70 mph gusts that night. It did a whole bunch of damage all over Las Vegas including the 2nd level of the pedestrian walkway at the airport collapsed and is closed indefinitely. The winds were crazy. I'm surprised we didn't have more damage here at our apartment complex. And the news said there was a gust at 82 mph on the Hoover Dam Bridge. 

The high this week was 98F/36C

The low this week was 61F/16C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

The Carnival

 

Years ago before Cal Ranch bought the parking lot next door and the buildings there was a different store here, it was Smiths grocery store and the Carnival would use the large parking lot for the yearly Carnival.  Ken and I would take our daughter over there each year and go one some of the rides. 

There were quite a few rides here for the kids and the adults. 

We went at night a few times too. But we stopped going when Ken was asked if he needed some extra work by one of the guys who was helping to set up the Carnival. He said sure and went over to one of the small buildings and got hired to help set up all the rides. 

The thing was, he saw who else got hired. A bunch of the homeless guys in the area got hired to set up the rides and most of them got told what to do and had NO supervision as they were being set up. Then to top it off, it was the homeless people in the area who were operating all the rides, taking the tickets and manning the ticket booth. 

The last time Ken and I took our daughter to this Carnival we noticed that a few of the homeless guys were drinking on the job as they switched the rides on and off. That was the last straw for me and we didn't go again. 

But A company bought this property they used to set up on and they moved the carnival to another location. I have no idea if they are still using local homeless people to set up and operate the rides but I wouldn't doubt it.

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full-sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things.  I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

I won a book on Goodreads!

Did you received any freebies or free samples this week?

Book Review: Alpha's Obsession by Nova Sloane

 

Book Description

Nadia Volkov knew she was a political pawn, a human "gift" to secure peace with the most dangerous aliens in the quadrant.

She expected imprisonment, cruelty, and a quick death if she was lucky. She didn't expect Ravek.

The Pack Alpha is massive, terrifying, and absolutely furious that his body has chosen a fragile human as his fated mate. He should reject her. Send her back. Pretend the soul-scent doesn't hit him like a narcotic every time she's near.

But he’s obsessed.

Now Nadia is trapped between a mate who watches her like prey and a bond that's rewriting her DNA. She should be afraid, but the most dangerous alien in the universe kneels only for her.

Fated mates. Possessive alpha. One bond that changes everything.

My Review

The Keth’ari are a predatory race of aliens that have taken over worlds, when they set their sights on Earth, the politicians and government got together and agreed to send the Keth'ari a gift in the form of Nadia. She comes from a prominent political family and knew what was expected of her. She was supposed to kneel in front of the Prince to show Earth's submission to the aliens. But Nadia stood her ground, not knowing if she would anger Ravek and be killed on the spot or be kept as a slave. 

But Ravek found her brave even before he caught her scent and knew she was his mate. So, she's shown to her quarters, where she has no idea what awaits for her future. 

While the bond is affecting both Ravek and Nadia, she has no idea what's happening to her at first, but Ravek does. He feels the pull of the bond very strongly and wants to give Nadia time to get used to her surroundings but he's quickly becoming obsessed with her. 

Ravek sees red when another male tries to talk to Nadia but after that they start spending time together getting to know one another and find they have a hard time keeping their hands off each other. The bond they share flares hot, so he has to explain what's happening to her and them. 

This was a quick, fun read. I really liked how strong Nadia was in the face of being given to an alien who she had no idea how he would treat her. It was fun to watch their bond bring them closer. That book cover was what made me stop and read what this book was about. I love the cover.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Favorite Picture of the Week

 

When my grandson comes over on the weekends, he's been walking Falor for me since my back is hurt. I was standing on the step, and he walked him down the sidewalk for me. He's only 13 and he's already taller than I am, and I'm 5'6".

So many clouds, no rain. All of the pictures of clouds were from the same day.

It rained over the mountains though.

I love those big, puffy clouds.

Saw a line of clouds rolling in as I was out with Falcor. I can't walk far so I just stayed in one place and let Falcor do his business. 

Popcorn clouds in another direction.

Then took another picture of the line of clouds getting closer.

Later that day there were more clouds over the mountains.

As the sun was setting it looked nice. 

I stood out there slowly walking Falcor back home and thought this picture was neat. Sun was almost gone, the clouds were driven off with the wind and the mountains looked black. You can even faintly see a few stars in the sky in my picture.

Book Review: Beastly Arrangement by Elizabeth Dunlap

 

Book Description

An ancient agreement between a family of witches and the Dragon beastkins sends Evangeline straight into a marriage she doesn't want.

Her new husband is scaly, rude, and he makes her heart pound with excitement. She has no intention of bowing her head to this beast, but one touch from him is enough to bring her walls crumbling down.

Julien had no intention of agreeing to this marriage, until he saw Evangeline's face, and his heart was stolen instantly. He knew he would have her, no matter the consequences.

If Julien and Evangeline can't cast aside their differences, their timid new feelings will be shattered when another Dragon comes to claim Evangeline for his own.

Julien must prove to Evangeline, and himself, that she belongs in his bed, in his heart, and nothing will ever tear them apart.

**Warning: For Adult Audiences 18+. Language and actions may be deemed offensive to some. Sexually explicit content.**

My Review

Evangeline has known since she was a small child that one day the beasts might come for her to marry one of their own because of a treaty their ancestors made a long time ago. In order to keep the peace, a female witch from her coven is chosen to marry one of the dragon beastkins. 

But no marriages have taken place for decades because no male dragon beastkins have been born until Julien and his cousin were born and now that they're both of age to get married, Julien's father is demanding he take a witch bride. 

Neither Julien nor Evangeline want to marry someone they don't love but as soon as they meet, sparks fly, just not exactly the right way. Julien is rude, grumpy and doesn't know how to treat Evangeline because he feels the sparks of passion right away and he thinks she's used her witch magic to enchant him somehow. So he fights the pull he feels for her after she moves into his home. 

Evangeline doesn't understand why Julien is so rude to her but she decides not to make things easy for him. The only problem is, if Evangeline doesn't mate with Julien and become pregnant with three months, according to the treaty contract, she'll be passed to the next eligible beastkin, which would be Julien's cousin. Julien doesn't want to see her with him because he knows his cousin would hurt her, he's not a nice guy. 

Once Evangeline realizes that her younger sister's life and freedom are on the line if she doesn't try to make her marriage work and somehow get pregnant in three months, the dynamic changes between Julien and Evangeline. They actually start to like each other and the spice level hikes up quite a bit. 

I liked the magic part of this story too. It was fun to see the explanation of how her magic works.

There are a lot of misunderstandings between the two of them in the beginning. I love a good enemies to lover's romance and this was good. It had a good ending too. 

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. 

Amazon

Happy Raturday!

 

*All pictures today are courtesy of martymousehouse.com*

Apartment Life #420

 

This is a weekly blog post that I'm calling Apartment Hell  Life. I've mentioned a few times some of the crazy things that have gone on in and around my apartment complex and in my neighborhood in the past 27 years that I've lived here and people keep telling me I should write a book. But instead of a book, I've decided to share the crazy things that have happened in and around my apartment complex in the last 27 years here in a weekly blog post.

Life Update:

Once again, my daughter got a referral from her doctor's office to physical therapy this time and when she called them, they told her they don't take her insurance. The referral department are not doing their job. How hard is it to make sure they take her insurance? The marijuana edible drinks are helping my daughter with the pain she's having. Good thing too since she hasn't been able to see pain management yet. I'm not asking for too much, just do your damn job. She's still waiting to see if the weekly infusions will be given a pre-authorization or not. 

My back is still painful. At least I'm not having the shooting nerve pain down the back of my leg anymore. I'm having to use one of my crutches to walk around. 

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 I made this meme when I spotted this pigeon eating on a chicken bone. 

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I received an email that went out to all residents at my apartment complex. New rules for dogs.

 Specifically," Dogs are not allowed to URINATE anywhere on the property, including the rocks by the sidewalk." That's never been in the lease before. I haven't signed a new lease yet so I have no idea if it's in the new one. 

And there's still a $600 fine for letting guests brings their pets into your apartment. That is in the lease. These people are crazy. 

If the manager doesn't like dogs, just make it a dog free apartment complex for all new residents. 

General Property & Lease Rules

No animals are allowed on the premises or property — even temporarily — unless specifically authorized in writing by the Owner or Management.

This includes animals belonging to guests.

Approved pets are only those listed on your Lease Agreement.

Unapproved animals are considered a lease violation and may result in fines, lease penalties, or possible eviction.

Dogs must be taken completely off the property to urinate and defecate. Pets are not permitted to relieve themselves in any on-site areas, including rocked areas, landscaped sections, or turf. 

Under Clark County Code § 10.36.020 – Solid Waste Excretion, it is unlawful for a pet owner to allow an animal to defecate on public property, common areas, or another person’s property unless the waste is promptly removed. The code specifically includes common areas of apartment complexes and multiple dwellings.

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Summer is here. 

The high this week was 104F/40C

The low this week was 70F/21C

So that's it for this week's Apartment Hell  Life! Be sure to come back next week for more.

While We Were Hiking In Nevada

 

I thought I would post something different today. I share a lot of pictures right around my neighborhood because I don't travel out of my neighborhood all that often but there was a time that me, Ken (my late husband) and our daughter, Elizabeth would drive to Mt, Charleston or Red Rock and go hiking. We did it all the time, back when my knees and back could take it. 🤣🤣

Before our daughter was even born Ken and I went to Red Rock here in Nevada and we stopped to pet the burros. They would come right up to you and stand there while you petted them. It's illegal to feed them. This is me back in 1990. 

When our daughter got a little older we took her with us hiking out in Red Rock around 2011.

For the most part we would just hike out in the desert during the nice weather before it got really hot. it was flat and easy to navigate for a kid. As our daughter got a little older we would climb up the rocks and mountains. She had a lot more energy than we did and she got to the top so fast.

Red Rock has mountains and cliffs that you can climb and we would hike through them to find interesting spots.

Getting to the top of some of the big rocks gave me a nice backdrop for some of the pictures I took. Like for this one.

My daughter and her friend went back to Red Rock when she was older and found this place. What an interesting find.

My daughter took some pictures like this one while she was hiking with her friend. You can see why it's called Red Rock.

Sometimes you can find small creeks with running water.

But there's always more to see and take pictures of.

When you get to the top of some of the big rocks, the climb back down is a little scary but the view is nice.

Me and my daughter around 2012. There is still a little snow on the ground where we went hiking at Mt. Charleston.

Standing on the side of the road where we pulled off to get a picture on the way up to Mt. Charleston.

Mt. Charleston has a lot of trails to follow. I've always been a bigger women but that didn't stop me from getting out there and hiking some of the trails and climbing up some of the rocks we found.

My daughter always liked going hiking too.

We found a large, big, red rock and me and Elizabeth climbed halfway up it so some of the red rock would be showing in the picture. Then we all climbed to the top of it and took the next picture from the top. 

That view was worth it.

This one came out so dark because I didn't have a digital camera back then. But we found this little alcove to eat lunch in and there was cool sand to sit and relax on for a while.

Ken and Elizabeth at Red Rock. We were once again standing at the top of a big rock so I could get the view in the background in the picture.

And then Ken took a picture of me as I climbed up to the top of this rock. He didn't think I was going to make it so he stayed behind me until I got up there. Our daughter was already at the top waiting for us. 🤣🤣 To have the energy and stamina of a 12 year old. 

I hope you enjoyed the hike through the hiking pictures.

Freebie Friday!

 

Welcome to another weekly Freebie Friday post, where I tell you what free samples and full-sized products I received in the mail and how you can get them too. Someone asked me why I do a "Freebie Friday" each week, so I'll tell you.

A while back I listed all the free samples and wins that I had received that previous year and so many people didn't believe that I could have gotten so many free things.  I decided to prove it by taking a picture every week and sharing the sites that I found the links to the freebies at. So now you too can get great free samples coming to your mailbox each week.

  You can find links to great samples at Hey It's Free and Freebie Shark.

This week I received: 

A sample pouch of IAMS wet dog food and a coupon for a buy 1, get one free. 

Falcor liked the food so that's always good. 

I also won a book from a FB contest. 

I won a Healthy Snack Box on FB.

The Healthy Snack box was great. 

There was popcorn, granola bars, vegie straws, rice cakes, gummi bears, shake mix and biscuits.

Did you receive any freebies this week?