The cats are NOT enjoying the remodeling work so far.
Tiger does not do well with strangers - hell, he runs and hides when I come home from work - so he’s been sticking close to “his mommy” all day long.
Joy seemed to think the guys needed her help. They didn’t. She’s been in solitary confinement in the bathroom since then.
Just no fun at all …
So, in local news … from Oklahoma, anyway … is the story of the couple from Tulsa who adopted a little boy two years ago, but now want to return him to state custody because he’s not “normal.”
They say that state officials told them that the boy was fine, but that he has exhibited severe behavioral problems since them. He’s unruly and prone to violent outbursts. He’s exhibited behaviors that guys who grow up to be serial killers exhibit. They are frightened, so they want the state to take him back. The problem is that there is no provision in Oklahoma adoption law for that to happen.
I can kind of see where these people are coming from, and it does seem there ought to be an “out” for a contingency like this …
BUT ……………
What the hell would these folks have done if he was their natural born child? Push him back into the womb?
I would think that instead of just “throwing away” the kid they’d ask for the state to pay for the counseling he obviously needs.
ARGH!
I knew I shouldn’t have answered the phone! I saw the workplace name (but not the right number) on the Caller-ID, so I should have known better.
As I write this, there is a tumult going on over my head. Two adult males are delighting in ripping the hell out of the upstairs part of our house … and finding all manner of (insert word of your choice)-rigging that was done to build the house. Nothing major needing to be fixed, but a lot of head scratching as to why certain materials were used for certain jobs. A lot of “WTF?!” moments. Most of one room is stripped to the stud walls already.
Everything was looking peachy … until the phone rang.
“This is (deleted), and I’m sorry to have to call you, but (deleted) told me to call you because we’re going to need you to work tonight … (deleted)’s daughter is having her baby right now.”
And I went into full on ass-hole mode.
“It’s 1:30 … she doesn’t go to work until 11:00. She needs to be off for a shift over NINE hours from now?”
No answer.
“Her daughter can’t have the kid by herself?” (With her husband … with her other children … not exactly “by herself” …)
“I guess it’s a woman thing.”
ARE YOU SHITTING ME? For decades I’ve had it crammed down my throat that I’m not supposed to notice differences in gender, race, or any other OBVIOUS things in the workplace … and then THAT line is going to be thrown at me? (No, I didn’t actually say that … wish I had, though).
“I’ve got two guys ripping my house apart right now. I’ve not had any sleep. I guess I could go up there and tell them to throw a tarp over the hole in the wall and come back and finish when it’s convenient for all my co-workers, because I need to try to get some sleep … which would be near impossible now … because someone else needs off TEN HOURS from now!”
“I’ll call (deleted) back and tell her that you are not available.”
“Thank you.”
NO ONE is on vacation right now … so it would be easy enough to just have someone who is already on the schedule come in a little later than usual. The “company” would like that a hell of a lot better than paying me overtime.
And … my mind keeps going back to about a year ago when these same bastards made me go ahead and come in to work when I’d had a couple of cysts removed from my back, instead of allowing me to use a couple of days worth of the more than 1300 hours of sick leave I had accumulated. I got an apology for that, for what it was worth after the fact, but I did determine at that time that I’d NEVER work in the place of anyone else unless it was an absolute emergency.
Sorry, but the birth of someone’s grandchild TEN HOURS before they have to go to work is NOT an emergency. Especially when the person I’d be replacing has only been ‘on the job’ for a little over a month.
And if that makes me sound like a cold hearted SOB … well … I guess that’s a man thing.
All “good” things must come to an end.
I give up. My little gratefulness experiment is a bust. It’s a joke. The third day was such a horrendous turd-fest that I’ve decided just to stop it. This will be the last entry in this ‘series.”
What happened to change my mind? Read on. “Adult” language warning!!
Day Three - 12/03/09
- I woke up way too early and could not go back to sleep. Usually on Thursdays I try to sleep later because I’ll be up until Friday morning. Not on this day … woke up at 6:00am, meaning I was facing at least a 25 hour day. Cripes!
- Got downstairs to find my wife fussing with the cats about knocking the Christmas tree over. I’d have gone back upstairs, but knew that would be a lost cause.
- Finally had to give in and replace the damned refrigerator. The stupid thing’s been on its last leg for a long time, and I just decided it was time to (literally) “pull the plug” on it. Hell, it was over 20 years old. The new one cost about twice what I expected, but it will last and “it’ll pay for itself over time” … assuming I actually live that long!
- Dropped by the jewelry store to get my wife’s wedding and engagement rings re-sized. This is something that’s been needed to be done for a long time. Her finger has (ahem, ahem) “expanded” over the past several years, and she’s been fussing about it. But, her finger was not sore, and the rings easily turned on her finger. Her friends have been telling her that her finger was going to rot off … I told her to tell her friends to go to hell, but she’s a lot nicer than I am. BUT ………. The other day, about 2.5 seconds after I’d woken up and before I’d consumed any caffeine, she decided to stand in front of me rubbing her finger and I lost it. I went into a rant about how I guess I needed to call my boss and offer to work 24/7 for the rest of my life so I could afford to pay for all of the things we needed - the house ‘upgrade,’ the refrigerator (and God knows what else that will quit working), the rings, because obviously her finger WAS sore despite her protestations otherwise. I was an ass, but - damn it - she has the absolute worst timing in the world.
- The tool needed to cut the rings off of her finger was not charged up, so we had to go do something else for an hour. No one else thought my suggestion that I just use my pocket knife to fix the situation was nearly as funny as I did.
- Went to an ’office supply ’ store so I could get a chair mat so that the chair at my computer desk would quit poking holes through the carpet. Also bought a new phone “system” we’d been needing. I had a coupon for a discount off of a certain amount, but our total came to a little over $1.00 less than the required amount … so I grabbed a little bottle of hand sanitizer to boost the total, thus doing what I am always bitching about my wife doing - buying unnecessary items in order to use a damned coupon, spending money to save money.
- Went back to the jeweler … got the rings cut off … was told that the ’prongs’ (or whatever the hell you call them) that hold the diamond in the setting were almost completely worn away and needed to be replaced as well. “Oh shit … how much is this going to cost me?” I was saying to myself when the lady quoted a price about half of what I was expecting. I almost kissed her. It was also a hell of a lot cheaper than what it would cost if the diamond actually fell out - something that would have sent me into a near-homicidal rage. But at least the damned rings will fit! (If this means anything to anyone, the rings are going from a 6 ½ to an 8 ½ … so I suppose we ARE lucky the finger didn’t rot off).
- Braved the crowds at Wal-Mart to do “Christmas shopping” all the while wondering why my assertions that the remodeling, the refrigerator, and the rings ought to get me off the hook for anything for a year! Serves me right for thinking sensibly … for thinking like a man.
- Asked my wife where she wanted to eat. BIG MISTAKE! By the time she decided, I had to turn around and go back to the other side of town. The place (new to us) was nice. The food was good. Our waitress was cute (!), but some obnoxious bastard that apparently worked there but got paid for standing around doing nothing apparently thought I was very cute, because he kept staring at me.
- Got home extremely exhausted … extremely tired … bone weary … and got to hear my wife yell at the cats because the fucking Christmas tree had been knocked over again.
- Saw on the caller-ID that my dad had called. I turned the answering machine off awhile ago because we kept getting “hang-up” calls. You know, where a machine dials random numbers to see if anyone answers so the telemarketers know what time people are home to answer the phone … so he could not leave a message. I figured I knew what he wanted, so decided to let him call me back.
So, you see … it was a shitty day from the get-go.
Oh … and why were we running around doing all of these things? Why were we “in town” to begin with? Because 12/03/09 was our wedding anniversary. Yep, sixteen years.
Sixteen blissful, joy-filled years. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it (it is) … always I’m very glad my wife doesn’t have her own blog.
When my dad did call back he asked where we’d been. I told him we’d been to Lawton because it was our anniversary. He said, “Oh … I forgot.”
Yeah, what a wonderful capper to a wonderful day … especially since he and my mom’s anniversary was just a few days after.
Seriously, though, I do love my wife. But I am giving up this whole gratefulness ‘experiment’ debacle. I know when I’m licked. Besides, it’s much more fun and cathartic to bitch.
Day Two - 12/02/09
The second day of my little “gratefulness” experiment found me - on a note much related to the prior day - grateful for the aspect of my job that allows me days off from work. But, more than just because it was a regular old Wednesday, this is more because of the crappy weather that decided to descend upon us on Tuesday night.
Cold … rainy … possibility of snow … much better possibility, nay probability, of ice. And I didn’t have to drive out into it to go to work. I could smugly sit at home with a cup of coffee enjoying having to do nothing. It was nice for a change. I usually get caught in all the bad weather situations … but not this time.
And, by the time I did have to actually leave the house (but only because I wanted to), the sun was shining brilliantly!
Bonus points! The materials for our “little” remodeling project were delivered yesterday. A month from now, the entire upstairs will have been gutted and redone and will be unrecognizable. Well, it’ll still look much the same design-wise, but will look a lot better. (Note to self … take pictures!)
Oh … the “entire upstairs” consists or (really) just basically one large room divided by a partial wall; so it’s not really that huge of a project. More on that as it goes along, I’m sure ... and perhaps some things I WON'T be so thankful for.
I read an article a week or so ago about gratitude. The writer tried an experiment in which he spent the day looking for things to be grateful about rather than bitching about everything. According to him it helped lower depression and made his outlook on life more sunny.
To me, it sounded like a good idea, but a little tedious. I mean, yeah I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately, but have been getting over it. It’s also becoming the dreary season here … dark all the time. I work at night, but it’s still dark when I come home. I sleep for 6 hours or so if I’m lucky, and get up just in time to see the sun set. Yeah, a sunnier disposition would be a good thing (and that “Your damned right it would!” you just heard came from my wife … and the cats).
But … spending the whole day? Every day? Nah, I’ve got other things I have to do, and - besides - to me that would be a little cheesy. I’d be finding myself cynically being thankful for things and not really meaning it. You know, like - “I’m thankful I broke my leg … but at least an atomic bomb didn’t drop on me!” I know me too well to think that would be any help at all. I’d end the month less thankful, but more cynical … and that’s almost just not possible.
So, what I’m going to do - I decided - is look back over the previous day and find something in that day that I am really appreciative of. And then log it all down here to remind me. And it damned well better work! LOL
Day One - 12/01/2009
This is easy. It was the beginning of my weekend. I got off work at 7:00am, and the day got rosier from there on. So, I could say I was thankful for the day of rest … for the break from the “grind” … for the respite from my inane co-workers and the mind-numbing boredom of the place. But, you know, I’m actually going to take a different tact in this, and look at it in a completely different way.
Despite the “grind,” the coworkers, and all that other stuff … I am very grateful for my job. It’s stressful at times, it’s not what I wanted to be when I grew up, it’s not a great job … but it’s okay. You’ll never hear me say I love it. You’ll sometimes hear me say I hate it. But, in reality, it’s okay.
- Hell, I work alone, responsible for myself (although there is someone else there at the time … responsible for their own work).
- The pay could be a little better, but it affords my wife and I to live comfortably and to be virtually debt free, and the benefits more than make up for the pay.
- I’m at the top of the seniority list and get to pick my schedule and my vacation before anyone else does, and that also means I don’t get called in for overtime.
- Most importantly in this day and age, I HAVE a job … a job that is lay-off proof (unless I do something really stupid).
Yeah, that’s what I’ll use as the jumping off point for this ’series’ … being grateful for employment. The fact that from about 7:15am on Tuesday until about 10:25pm on Thursday I get to sit at home and not think about it is just an extra blessing.
With so much information on the Web, how do you stay organized online?
Organized?!?
What be the meaning of that word?
My wife is freaking out.
This is the first year that my dad hasn't been around on Thanksgiving, so it's also the first time she's going to "have to" make a dinner. And she's stressing about it way too much.
Oh, we could go to my sister's house - that's what we did when Dad was here ... and for the last several years that Mom was still around - but I don't want to. I'd always said that if my dad wasn't in the picture we'd NOT go to her house for any holiday dinners. At the time, I figured he'd not be around due to death, not the insanity of his moving 1800 miles away.
I don't want to go to my sister's house for a couple of reasons, all mainly having to do with her husband and his father and his brother that will be there ... mainly him, my brother-in-law. I just don't really care for the guy. Never have. And, I'd rather just not spend my holiday with people I don't care for. That's why we don't go to Nebraska where my wife's family is. I got cold chills just thinking about it!
So, my wife is making the "big" dinner this year - for the two of us - and is worried about it.
She's never roasted a turkey before, so she's worried about that. The thing is, she's not really roasting a turkey this year either ... we just bought a medium sized breast that is probably more than enough for us (and the left-overs will probably end up in the freezer to be thawed out for Christmas dinner). She's afraid it'll either be too done and too dry. Me? I'm hoping that's the case! I'd much rather have that than salmonella!
She's never made stuffing before, but that's no big deal - it's coming out of a box. And the candied yams are so simple - heat and eat, basically.
She wanted to try her hand at a casserole that my mom used to make, but I suggested she just stick with an easy to do green bean casserole. After we'd come back from the store to get "the fixin's" she discovered we had no green beans.
She said, "I guess I can use peas instead."
"Like hell you can!" I yelled as I headed to the store to get a can or two of green beans.
Really, though, it's no big deal. But, she is freaking out just a bit. And it's starting to get on my nerves ... to freak me out a little.
Next year when we have turkey, it's gonna be turkey hotdogs!
Discrimination is always an ugly thing.
Racial bias just for the sake of racial bias is not right, regardless of the ethnicity of the offended party.
Gender bias just for the sake of gender bias is utterly wrong, regardless of the gender of the offended party.
No discrimination is good. None of it is right. All of it is ugly.
A new form of discrimination has come to light that really disturbs me. It disturbs me to no end because most people accept it without even a second thought. It sickens me because it is actually promoted by Hollywood, that bastion of unapologetic liberalism that, for the most part, goes to great pains to shine the light on discrimination and bias … even when none actually exists.
But, no, those folks on the “left coast” have no problem with this newest and most evil of all discrimination … bias towards certain forms of the undead.
Think about it -
Vampires are “cool.” Vampires are sexy. Vampires are “hot” (cool and hot … hmmm).
Zombies, on the other hand, are evil, vile, disgusting.
That’s just not right.
I’ve never really understood the attraction to vampires anyway. Even in the original Dracula movie with Bella Lugosi there was a certain amount of sexiness implied. Female characters were smitten by the coffin-sleeping undead Count. And that just never made any sense to me.
I mean, just think about it. Vampires are dead. They have no pulse. There is no blood flow … to ANY body part. Not to belabor the point, but not even Viagra is going to help. How is that attractive? How is that sexy? How is that cool/hot?
Hey, at least a zombie would be able to “slip you the sausage” if you know what I mean. Of course … the rotted body part might break off in the process. And he’d bite your face off and suck your brain out your eye socket, but at least there might possibly be a little bit of enjoyment in the process.
A vampire, of the other hand, is only interested in biting and sucking and …
Wait a minute. Never mind. I see the attraction now.
But still, the discriminatory aspect of the issue disturbs me. They’re both dead, and zombies need love too!
