True Crime Close To You

*sigh

I have a strange, if not morbid desire to contribute, though the relevance of my contribution is subject to what you mean by 'close to'. I've never really had a close brush with true crime, insofar as a significant crime occurring close to my permanent address, which is, ultimately, a good thing.

I was however staying on the corner of 75th & Broadway, & spent a significant amount of time in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center roughly 48 hours prior to 9/11. That said, I'm but one of hundreds of thousands, if not many millions of people who could, or would also consider this a 'close brush with true crime'.

 

Well, in the last 5 years there have been two murders in my neighborhood. If that wasn't bad enough, last year we had not one but two shootings right outside my job at the local mall. Unfortunately I watched the first victim die and saw the other men being loaded into the ambulance. He later died as well.

Not crime per se, but when I was young I watched friend attempt suicide by slicing his wrists with a box cutter. He survived, but later that year he lit himself on fire only to die two months later.

 

Autumn,

Been out of the office for a while, sorry for the tardy replay. I live in Greensboro, NC. Not normally a high crime place but I guess I just have a knack for being where the action is. Both of the shootings at the mall were premeditated, they really didn’t have anything to do with the mall itself. One of the shooters has been caught since, but the other one (gang related) is still out there somewhere.

The suicide attempts were altogether a different story. I was 17, completely naive to the group of friends I had fallen in with at the time. These were kids that had some of the most destructive upbringings you can imagine. The guy who cut himself, James, wasn’t really a close friend but an acquaintance who was older and looked old enough to get us beer without being carded. He lived in a hotel room with his mom, who was a security guard strung out on coke and liquor. A group of us were in his room when we looked over and he had taken the blade out of a disposable razor and began to cut. James was much bigger and stronger than any of us and when we saw the blood start out we all just kind of froze in fear. His girlfriend was screaming and hitting him, trying to get a towel on the wound. The rest of us just ducked out and called 911. We didn’t know what else to do, after all he was clearly unpredictable and we just were trying to not get killed.

A couple months later, I was riding my bike over to his GF’s house where we used to all hang out when I was passed by ambulances, fire trucks and police cars. By the time I got to her house the medics were loading him onto the stretcher. He was unrecognizable from the burns. We went to see him a couple times at the UNC burn center but he died on New Year’s Eve, two months after the fire.

Thanks for the thoughts, frankly I’m just glad to say that’s a part of my distant past.

 

Thanks. I’m an only child and it took me a long time to really understand the world and how people can be.

Not going to lie, it’s been a rough week. The job has started, but I haven’t been able to go in at all this week. Two of those days were my off days but I’m back to being out of PTO time again. I had been doing fairly well, I still haven’t had a severe vertigo attack since November. But I messed up about a week ago and had a couple servings of pasta. The next morning like magic I’m down with the full pressure, tinnitus and dizziness again. This is now day five and I’m ready for it to be gone, I’ve been on my best behavior dietary wise.

I’m still on 1000mg acyclovir tid. Frankly I’m not super convinced it’s really helping me. I’m thinking that eating wheat has more of an effect than just about anything else. But I dunno. It’s so hard to peg down the triggers sometimes. I was thinking it was the weather as we’ve had so many strong storms pass over the last few weeks.

I’m a little worried about my new position as it will have me moving around a lot more, not a good thing for MM sufferers. Right now I’m trying to dodge my kids cold that they both have,
I think my wife is already coming down with it. I’ve been so lucky this year having not been sick other than the MM stuff. How are things on your end?

 

Whew, I can't imagine having an ear infection on top of MM. I used to get them a lot, although I think they were actually just early MM attacks. So far so good on not getting MF sick, I've actually been use rubber gloves and masks. Screw getting sick. Allergies are cranking up here, so I always have that to fall back on ....

I used to eat a TON of wheat. Whole wheat pasta, homemade whole wheat bread, wheat quesadilla wraps, the list goes on and on. I have had a lot less bloating and have lost a few pounds since I stopped eating it. Surely there's some relation there. But it seems any grains really affect me the same way. Oats, rice, even quinoa (all high arginine foods) give me almost instant pressure and increased tinnitus. I used to not be so ultra sensitive.

As far as the job goes, it's really kind of a cake walk. So I'd really like to keep it if at all possible. The new position does require a lot more moving around though as I will inherit "Leader on Duty" roles instead of being just isolated in one department. I'm going to give it the college try before doing anything drastic. I have my FMLA forms already filled out just in case things get dicey.

Feeling much better today. Tomorrow is my day off so hopefully Monday will bring a new day and a fresh mind. Thanks for the support and I hope you knock your cold.

 

I was a kid. Went to Kmart with my dad. We go our separate ways. I was looking at records. Guy comes up next to me holding a few albums and starts browsing. Every time I edge away he moves with me. Then he shows me the two Richard Simmons in short-shorts albums he was holding and asks me which one he should get.

 

Well I hope he bought you one because those are probably worth something these days.

 

Probably 25 cents at a garage sale to be honest, ha.

Can you imagine though. Hitting on a little kid. So f**** up when you think about it. And that's the best he could come up with? That was his pickup line? Showing me half naked photos of Richard Simmons?

 

I was on a first date with this girl and she threw her starlight mint wrapper out the car window. It was one of the most unsexy things I'd ever witnessed.

 

The humanity! Actually the act of littering really T’s me off. I’m assuming that was the last date?

 

Yes, it was the last date. I wasn't sure which was worse. The actual littering, or the fact that she had no clue that it was wrong. Which was odd because she's a teacher and they're knee deep in the save the planet stuff.

 

Some are. Some are just mediocre people trying to get by. But then again I’d put myself in that same pool. But I don’t litter.

 

Reading that comment was like being at an intersection in NY. Head jerking to the left. Then right. Then violently to left again. Far out.