Scary Moment

So, remember how I had two roommates moving out, and two roommates moving in? And I wasn't willing to elaborate on the reasons behind my old roommates moving out? Well, my new roommates didn't permanently move in, and I'm unwilling to talk about that, too. So it's just been me in this unit these past three months.

I hate to admit it, but being alone hasn't been very discouraging. The community I live in is very engaging and invested in what everyone is doing. If I come home with groceries, I can expect to be asked what I bought, and to have that information spread around the complex and repeated back to me by someone I hadn't told.

So I don't get lonely. I step outside the door, someone pulls me into conversation. I step inside the door, I'm left to my own thoughts. It's a pretty good balance, from my perspective.

The roommates that didn't stick paid for their stay (they stayed five days). They left behind a pack of pork chops, a pack of bacon, some chicken strips, half a box of those hash brown patties, and a dozen eggs. I didn't know how to cook the pork chops, so I contacted my mother. She sent me a recipe, I put it ina pan, and it exploded into a ball of fire.

I wanted to turn off the heat, but the path to the knob was too covered by flames. I wanted to take the pan off the heated element, but the handle was covered with sizzling, spitting cooking oil. I dumped out the kitchen garbage pail and filled it with water, but as I prepared to toss it on the flames, I noticed the fire was subsiding.

If a camera had been angling at me, and I hadn't dumped a trash bin on itself, the flaming pork chop may have been considered a culinary technique. You known how on those cooking shows, they have those chefs playing with fire in their pans? The end result was a delightful sear, but I chose not to be so adventurous next time, and with the remainder of the chops I just had them heat at the same time as the oil.

I am baffled how my technique wound up the way it did. Apparently my chops erupted because I'd failed to thaw them first. But how could ice, which is solidified water, result in fire? How could more frigid temperatures caused by being frozen, result in unexpected heat? I don't get it.

Recently, I became incapable of making pancakes. I don't understand. I used to find pancakes a fun and natural way to start the morning, especially if I was making them for someone else. But for some reason, now when  I try to slide my spatula beneath the pastry, it caves in on itself, unless I burn oneside to a crisp. I just purchased a waffle iron and am experimenting with it, but the first batch hasn't been promising.

My neighbours recently gave me a breadmaker. In the past, I've scoffed at people who own breadmakers (Do I need a breadmaker? I AM a Bread Maker!) but I never gave one of these machines a fair try. I will, and I will let you know.

They also gave me some board games: Connect 4, Monopoly, Snakes & Ladders, Trivial Persuit, and something called Shuttles. I love my neighbours  <3 3="" p="">
<3 p="">
I recently applied for several positions. I was accepted today as a Safe Management Instructor. I will be teaching courses on escalation and de-escalation, relationship building, enviro-scans, and self-defense techniques.

Recently, we had a really scary moment in our complex. It started (from my perspective) at the Talize (secondhand story across the street). Somebody walked in who I assumed was a police officer. Put someone to the floor without asking questions or reading their rights, went on pulling their pockets inside out. Person pinned was hollering that they didn't know what was happening, and the person applying force was putting too much pressure on their finger.

Someone I knew from college wandered over there and started listing things on his finger. I wanted to snoop, but they were at the children's section and I had no reason to be there. the authority figure is joined by four other people of his rank. I'm beginning to wonder if it's standard practice to have five people on one guy.

The officers pull him out on the street and pin him. Just so happens a Girl Guide is trying to sell cookies there. As the persecuted is being dealt with, the girl is shouting "Girl Guide cookies, five dollars!". I go up to buy cookies, but hope to overhear something from the commotion nearby. The girl tried to sell me three boxes for five dollars, several nearby people overhear this and take issue, since apparently she'd only given them one box for the same price. I don't know why she did that, maybe she was trying to pad her numbers.

So anyway, I go home with one box of Girl Guide Cookies and notice the same unmarked van and at least two of the same authority figures that were inspecting across the way are in the complex. Someone asks what they're doing and they say it's "So boring, you don't even want to know"

But they're in full defense gear, and they're carrying assault rifles.  Apparently at the same time as someone got pinned at Talize, someone else got pinned by the bus stop. Another unmarked van shows up with another group of authorities. In total, 15 authorities armed with assault rifles show up in undercover vehicles.

<3 p="">As soon as I see the rifles, I duck into my unit, deadbolt all the doors, turn off all the lights, curl into the fetal position and pretend I don't exist. I don't even peek out the window, because I'm afraid one of those guys might think I'm a sniper or something. In contrast to this, a group of my neighbors watched it all happen, sipping beer.
<3 p="">
<3 p="">Everyone in the unit got arrested. There's rumors surrounding the reason, but I don't think anyone really know. One of my neighbours who watched it happen while drinking beer on his porch said it was all an act to scare us. I don't really think they would plant undercover cops in a unit for months, then have 15 men  show up in full gear to stage a fake raid, so that they could spook some people living in a townhouse complex.