all the fun things

Here’s a recap of all the fun things since Saugerties:

— I was constructively evicted from 190 Main St, two months after opening
— Retaliatory eviction that I was able to pay or I would have been out on my ass
— When I left 110 Partition St. I had to take my slumlord to court, where I was treated like the piece of shit after eight months of asking for my security deposit back after being written a bad check and was told by that judge I “was not to speak”.
— For 2 years I lived every day in fear of going to my apartment 
— I lived in fear of being in Saugerties and still do 
— My teeth started falling out
— My hair started falling out
— I am in pain all the time
— I was harassed and stalked by various people and cops in Saugerties 
— My employees were harassed by the owner of the antique shop, my ex was sucker punched in the face after said owner of antique shop felt the need to walk outside and run his mouth, so a fight ensued over me parking my car in front of one of the enormous windows of his store, which are directly next door to the entrance of my apartment building - overnight and through the next day, and only on occasion. A report was made, as well as a request that charges be filed. Those charges were never filed. The police gave my ex false information about the law and attempted to dissuade him from pressing charges at all - all of which was recorded. While standing on the sidewalk in front of the entire town, making a report, a friend of ours drove by and asked if we were ok. The Saugerties police officer then yelled obscenities at our friend so loud that everyone on the sidewalk stopped and looked, before he drove away. The whole thing was mortifying and trashy.

I'VE BEEN YELLED AT FOR WALKING
MY DOGS     

     1. In the alleyway between The Exchange and Smith Hardware, where I have seen HUMANS pissing and doing god knows what else.
    2. Behind Smith Hardware in the parking lot, where I pulled my dogs away from an area in which there are flowers behind a curb, at which point the owner said, “don’t let your dogs go to the bathroom there my wife plants her flowers in that area.” - I had just pulled them away from that spot so that they wouldn’t go there, and he saw me do it.
     3. Jane Street:
       a. A man stands outside of his apartment door and watches me. The first time he did so I was on my knees picking up dog shit; he came outside and told me not to let my dogs take a shit on his lawn, even though its a multi-family dwelling and it’s not technically “his” anything, eventually calling me an asshole and a cunt. The second time this happened both him and his (rather large) neighbor across the street stood outside and intimidated me, one on each side of the street, while they watched me walk my dogs. 
        b. The rather large intimidating man always puts cat food on the sidewalk, which one of my dogs started to get into until I pulled him away. The man, who again was watching me then said, “don’t let your dogs eat that”. I thought it was because there was something wrong with it, but he said, “no it’s mine”, at which point I offered him money and he of course said no. 
        c. A woman in a white Mercedes told me I couldn’t let my dogs go to the bathroom in the woods on the side of a parking lot, even though I pick up their shit out of the woods. She then sat in her car and watched as I walked up and down the street waiting for me to leave. The street. Not the parking lot, the street.
        d. An elderly man who had just moved in, whose lawn is all of 20 feet, asked me not to let my dogs go to the bathroom in his yard. I was walking ACROSS THE STREET when he came outside to yell at me. Luckily, I was able to end up having a nice conversation with him about travel and music. 

ROAD RAGER

- I was pulling out of a side street in the village. I was trying to figure out which way I had to go (I don’t remember where it was that I was going) and I was looking at my navigation. I guess I had stopped at the stop sign with my car to close to the middle of the road, and a guy in a pick up truck started flashing his lights - even though he 100% could have fit - and acted like he was unable to pull onto the street. He then lost his fucking mind. When I pulled over far enough for him to turn onto the street he did some donuts, turned around, pulled up behind me, screamed at me, called me a Cunt and a bunch of other lovely names before spinning his tires to create a really cool smoke show with his really cool pickup truck that looked like it was a pot hole away from spontaneously combusting. The entire time he was yelling at me his face was turning a darker color of red and he started sweating. The following week when I was parked in front of my store my side mirror was swiped - TWICE. I reported him to the police because he was so unhinged that it scared me. I very highly doubt anything ever came of that.
- The same kids ride around the village at all hours of the day and night revving their engines in their piece of shit cars as loud as they can, speeding, just overall doing dangerous, stupid shit - I called the police on them a number of times. The last time I did I was asked my name and I replied, “a concerned citizen”, to which the reply was a very snarky and condescending “Ok then” *CLICK* The professionalism…
- My car was repossessed with all of my medication in it at 1 in the morning (No, Vanessa. You did not have the payments on autopay)
- $3,000 and a migraine later, I got pulled over on my way home from picking up my repossessed car which was repossessed 
- The next day I hit a deer and totaled my car.

all the fun things

- I had $2,000 worth of merchandise stolen by an employee, and a cop, an investigator and an ADA all say “sorry about your luck.” I sent an email to the lieutenant and have heard nothing back. 
- My credit is the worst it’s ever been in my entire life
- I will not be able to get another apartment or another store because of my credit and because I have no money. I couldn’t get a loan for a turd if I wanted to.
- I went from:
Being financially independent, taking care of myself, being the happiest and healthiest I have ever been in my entire life mind, body and soul, having something I was proud of, finally feeling like I was safe, stable and could breathe because I wouldn’t have to move again anytime soon, no more looking over my shoulder, I could put roots down here because I was (finally) in a safe space - (except I wasn’t)
To:
Being the sickest I have ever been in my entire life, mind, body and soul. I am more alone than I have ever been, I have chronic pain so bad that I can hardly move, migraines that make me want to chop whatever side of my head they land on off, I don’t leave my apartment during the day because it’s so close to the store that I cannot deal with the thought of seeing it - I haven’t even looked down the street that the store was on. I have closed all of the blinds on the side of my apartment that the store is on. 
- I lost my business. And really, that’s all there is to say. That’s it for me. I don’t have children or a family — an incompetent doctor took that option away from me when I was 33 — Meraki was it, and I was plenty fulfilled by it. I felt grateful every single day when I walked into that store, and not one of those days passed that I didn’t tell myself I’d be completely fucked if I lost it.

“Friendly Saugerties”? Saugerties is the most corrupt, evil, toxic place I have ever lived, and I have lived in many, many places - people tried to warn me when I first opened. There isn’t a single “friendly” thing about it. The people who are nice to you are only nice to you when they have their hand out or want some juicy gossip. They will talk about you behind your back, gossip, make up stories, and do so with zero shame or guilt because they have no integrity and no moral compass. I am from Rhinebeck/Red Hook, and even though it’s only across the river it may as well be a different planet. I can’t wrap my head around how a population can be so different when they are so close to each other geographically.

I know I’m not special or unique. I know that people have really bad things happen to them every single day. However, this is some ungodly shit.