Those unforgettable moments

Well, I guess I needed something to prompt me to start blogging again.  The last 2 nights have definitely pushed me in that direction.  There are some memories that would definitely fade over time but it would be great to remember them. 

Two nights ago, I worked in the evening until almost midnight.  As with every night, I take the dogs out before bed. We have a guardien in our building, which is a woman that looks after the common areas.  She sweeps, takes the trash to the curb, etc.  Her apartment is right inside the main door.  As I was coming in the door, I was trying to be quiet; however, you have to turn on the big light and the 3 sets of doors you go through sometimes make noise.  As I was closing the last set of doors, I hear a ruckus coming from her apartment.  ("Can you describe the ruckus, sir?")

She came tearing out of her apartment in her pajamas screaming at me... in French.  She speaks no English.  She went on for about a minute straight, hardly taking a breath, pointing wildly around the foyer area.  I did pick up the word "chiens" (dogs), though.  As she was finishing up her tirade, she immediately turned around and stormed back into her apartment, slamming the door and loudly locking it.

Let me just say that she is an exceptionally nice lady.  In the last 10 months we've been here, we've had absolutely no issues with her at all.  This was totally unexpected.

The next day I contacted the rental agency about it since I had no idea what was going on.  I figured she was upset that I'd taken the dogs out so late and had woken her up.  Yes, that was the case.  She can hear every noise in her apartment and I'd been taking the dogs out after 11pm a number of nights in the last few weeks.  I said I would do my best to get the dogs out earlier.

So the next night, I take the dogs out before bed and... I was yelled at again in French.  No, it wasn't by the guardien.  It was by the homeless man that sleeps the next block over.  Seriously.

On the next block down from our apartment, there's a recess in the wall.  There is a homeless guy that has been sleeping there for probably 5 months or so.  I've never spoken to him, but I've seen some people talking to him.  Last night, I did see someone standing about 10 feet away from him talking to him.  As I walked the dogs in his direction, I noticed that he was talking rather loudly.  Once I got near him, he turned toward me and started shouting at me.  I was probably 15 or so feet away from him and just kept walking, paying him no mind.  He kept yelling... until I was all the way at the other corner.  That was about 100 feet or so.  As I turned the corner, I turned in his direction.  he was still turned toward me screaming and gesturing.  All in French. 

So, what have I learned?  Apparently, me walking the dogs is a bad thing.  I'll let Sandy take care of that for the next 5 months.