Frog problems; man problems; a condo is seen

It seems that the mutant frog problem never really got cleared up.

There are two lily ponds near the building my lab is in. I haven't seen any young frogs in them since
my last frog entry. Where do the adult frogs come from?

Yesterday I had a series of bizarre interactions with men. The first one happened when I was walking Mac. I walked by the house with the flowers Mac crashed through. I heard a greeting from the man I often see outside the house, but I didn't see him. Finally I realized he was sitting in his car in the driveway. I stopped and walked toward him, apologizing and asking if he got the note I left. He said, "I love you, baby." I stopped and said, "OK, thanks." He said, "the flowers are already growing back. I love you, baby." I said something innocuous and left. (Does one capitalize the first letter of a quoted sentence, as in "He said, 'The flowers …'" or not? Please leave a comment.)

The second bizarre interaction was with Abraham, the mechanic. He was telling me about his daughter, who sounds great. He was saying that he encourages her to go to graduate school and become an accomplished woman before she considers settling down. I loved his logic. He said, 'and then I said to her, when you are a successful lawyer and you own your own house and you pay your own way, you will know that a man who is interested in you is not looking for someone weak, for someone who will be dependent on him.' The odd part was when he was telling me about a boyfriend she had. They were together 2 years. According to Abraham, she told him she wouldn't have sex, and he broke up with her. He looked me in the eye and said, "if I loved someone, if I had waited two years and she wasn't ready, I would wait. I would want it to be her choice."

The third and extremely odd interaction was with the apartment manager, Ramone. He was turning onto Wilson from northbound Pacific and I was turning from southbound Pacific. I was in front of him once we turned on to Wilson. I walked by his parking spot on the way into the building. I said that I hadn't recognized him until he passed, I had recognized him in the rear view mirror after I had turned into the first driveway into the complex. Ramone said, 'Me too. I didn't recognize you until I saw you from the back. [pause, followed by an amused and slightly suggestive tone] I recognized you from the back! But weren't you wearing a red handkerchief?' We talked a little about my hat and parted ways. I was honestly surprised that he would make any kind of joke like that; he's always seemed to be a really respectful and polite guy.

Yesterday Holly and I walked to a nearby condo on the market. I wanted to take a closer look at the complex. When we got there, we saw that there was an open house. I was reluctant to buzz them, but Holly insisted, for which I am grateful. I attribute my reluctance to my general aversion to meeting people.

The apartment was huge. There were essentially two suites, each with a bedroom, hall and bathroom, all of which were separated from the main space by a doorway. The master suite had a lovely walk in closet. The apartment's character was typical Southern California Apartment Building Bland. The kitchen had ugly cabinets, there was ugly paint on one wall and ugly wallpaper on another. One wall was fake-wood paneled, which I hate, and it had popcorn ceilings. It was on the ground floor, and its fenced in patio was contiguous with the walkway between it and the next building. The interior hallway to the apartment was really dark and depressing. The front door of the apartment was a very odd and ugly double door, the kind where one side is usually stationary. The apartment was clean though, and aside from two walls, the paint was white and fairly fresh. Holly's analysis: she thought it was very utilitarian and would be great to rent to a roommate and easy to rent out (if necessary) after I leave.

The apartment seemed dark to me. I have fewer windows at home, but there's nothing between my apartment and the sky, so I get lots of light in. The building across the walkway from yesterday's apartment blocked direct light.

I haven't gotten enough of a sense of what's available to compromise on a place like that. The complex seems nice and it's right across the street from school. I've seen a few listings in that building, so hopefully more will be listed. I think a different apartment in that complex might suit me better, especially if it's not on the ground floor.