Something New For Me

I knew as I got older, that things would change. I expected the normal progression of things, ya know, children grow up, out of the house, get married have kids of their own; become a grandpa, get slippers and ties and socks for gifts at all pertinent holidays. One could say I had it figured out well.... if we were back about 30 years.

I had a "talk" with my daughter, who is going away to college this fall, this evening ... late this evening. Yes, I had been drinking, but, bear with me.

We talked a bit about this coming school year, we talked briefly about the following year - more about how she should concentrate on being an RA next year, than having an apartment with friends. (She wasn't thrilled about that).

I brought up the subject about when she leaves in a couple weeks. More direct, what we are going to do with her room. The general talk had been about putting 1 of the 3 boys in there, etc, but her whine was about the things she could not take to college. I explained, we could put them in storage containers, and stack them in a corner of the room.

Needless to say, from there, it just got nasty from her. I was accused of "boxing all of her life" away, and that she would have no place to stay when she came home next summer. (sigh)

I gave up. Like so many times in raising her, I just gave up. Within 5 minutes, I had a nasty message directed at me (and conveniently copied to her mother) using the "F" word strategically in how I was a waste for her.

Yep. Really strains the meaning and full measure of the parent-child relationship. So, being the person I am, and expecting her to "grow into the adult" she is supposed to be, I responded.  I told her to "Grow Up. Use words you understand that can make people understand what you are trying to say, not cuss at them like they are retards." Of course, I still cannot believe that I said basically that same thing, without using swear words my self, but truly I did! For the at least 5 "fuck" (or derivatives) I did not even include a "shit", "damn", "fuck", or any other words considered 'foul' by most people.

Sometimes I amaze myself.

I love my daughter. I'll be the first to admit, no, I was not there for many things in her early years... I was wasting my life on stupid drugs. I admit it. And no matter what, I can't get those days back, and I know it. Never tried to.

Guess that is why she won't listen to common sense. I never had a chance to teach it to her before she was 4.

PeacE

When does the Sun come up?

It's another 2:30am for me. At least this time I am not getting up, but rather, ready to head to bed.

Daughter left for Tucson this morning, and arrived safely. She is working therein the bookstore for the next 3 days. Then come home until the 20th. Which is a day I am not sure about yet. The Wife is taking off to help "move" the daughter into her dorm, but it is mostly non-furniture stuff, so why would I want to go? It's only an hour and half drive one way ... eh. I would rather stay at home and be on the computer or at the pub.

Today is going to be pretty normal. Only thing I have on my agenda is to contact the elementary school. Kids start back on Monday, but we have not received any notification of the middle son's classroom # or his teacher, etc. They usually do a meet the teacher evening thingy... but no idea so I have to call them tomorrow.

Dinner was a nice time tonight at the buffet. Wife and I got alot of things coordinated and updated each other. It's nice to feel in-sync again.

Okay, off to bed.

PeacE

Playing the Hurry Up and Wait Game

Okay, got the van into the garage and now I play the damn game. The Daughter was nice enough to give me a ride home (and one back as long as it doesn't take forever) so I wouldn't have to sit there for who knows how long. Though, I will admit, they had it in the bay being looked at before she picked me up - maybe a good sign. I am just waiting the phone call now to tell me what's wrong, how much to fix, and when will it be ready.

Edit : Wouldn't you know it. Five minutes after posting this they call. Good news is it is all under warranty and I have to pay nothing to have it fixed and re-charged. I also had them check the oil again (due to the problem we had on the trip) and they said it is fine, but our transmission fluid is looking pretty dirty. This had been mentioned prior to our trip as well. So I went ahead and had them do a transmission drain/flush/refill. Van will be ready noon'ish - so the daughter is going to pick me up about 1 and drop me off there.

Other than that, I am slightly bored already this morning. No new movies to watch.

Saturday is the middle son's birthday. He is turning 8. Sounds like we are going to do Peter Piper Pizza (a place similar to Chuck E cheese's in that they have a ton of video games to play) for lunch, but am not 100% sure yet. I know I reserved a spot up at the pub from 6-10 that evening for the big UFC fight. Yeah, reserved! Special seat and price gets you all food & drink for free during the fights. I am catching a ride with someone.

Reverend Mother has her birthday coming up as well on Monday. I have no idea what to get her. I hate shopping, let alone having to shop for "something" you think they will like. And yet, I usually end up feeling cheap and getting gift cards. I would rather them go get something they want than me trying to guess. I know sometimes you CAN find the right sort of gift you know they will love, but I hate the hassle of it all.

Well, it has been 45 minutes and no phone call yet. Wonder if that is good or bad news? Oh well. Guess I will go surf the net until I hear from them.

PeacE

I'm About Done with the Damn Thing

Welp, Sunday evening brought with it the close of a nice weekend. We didn't have alot going on, and more rain came to town, sort of helped keep the temps down a bit. But it brought in a bit of the ol' Smith luck with vehicles.

The van (you know, the one we should take out and bury) blew a line from the A/C last night. We was sitting in the front room and hear this loud, like small explosion, come from the front of the house. I went running out, thinking it must have been a car accident right in front, or a tire blow-out. Nothing. Checked the tires on our vehicles. Nothing. Neighbors heads were poking out doors too. Then the wife saw some liquid spray marks near the front of the van. As I came around the passenger side, I could see neon yellow fluid running down the side near the engine. Popped the hood, and sure enough, saw immediately where it had popped off. The neon fluid is the dye they use to check the system for leaks. It shows up real good on the white paint of the van!

I used an old rag and wiped up the dye as best I could from the exterior of the van and inside the hood area before it could set. Guess I will be calling the garage in about 4 hours to see about getting it in today. The Wife mentioned she hoped it was something we could say they didn't attach properly when they put in the new compressor, but I explained it was not to be. The metal connection that went was a bolt & nut that when I put it back together, you could see that the bolt had snapped inside the sleeve. So that means replace that part...whatever it is. If it is part of the compressor, better get a whole new one, that's for sure.

So now it is like 3am, and I am awake. I went to bed early as I had been feeling pretty 'blah' in my head all day. Think I might be coming down with a head cold. I am notorious for getting colds in the summer, rather than winter due to all the in and out from 100+ temps to A/C chilled 70s... just brings it on faster for me. My nose was pretty clogged up earlier, but now is running like a choo-choo train. I should go see if we got some sinus/cold meds.

This week starts out with that visit to the garage. Tuesday, the daughter heads to Tucson to start at her job at the bookstore. She'll be down there about 3 or 4 days then comes home til the 19th I think. Then she heads down to move into the dorm. I was calling about adding her to our car insurance on Friday. On our current policy, to add her as a driver (no other vehicle) is gonna cost an additional $861. I told the agent, I needed to shop around for some quotes before committing. He was fine with that. In fact he is the one suggested I try Geico or Progressive. Wonder if that means he already did and he still has the lower quote.... Either way, I should get started on getting those quotes. I think I will try online here in a few.

Okay, that's all I got for this morning so far. Maybe more later today, especially if the van turns out worse. Oh! And I ain't even bragged about what the Rev Mother has for me yet!

PeacE

Stu has come to Farmville!!

I have been a Myspace user for a few years now. I originally signed up there to help with maybe getting in contact with people from high school. When it first started, Myspace wasn't too bad. Through the course of time, I ended up with more family members "friended" on there, than actual friends it seemed. Even my brother Stuman finally got around to signing in there. He was always saying how he wasn't going to get on that site, etc etc. By this time, it was teeny-bopper heaven, ya know what I mean?

Anyways... FaceBook came out, and I created an account there. As it became more and more popular, I eventually deleted my MySpace account, and just used FaceBook (FB). Over the regular course of time, I have hooked up with many family members across the states, and friends from past schools, etc. I even have family members friended that are close-by...like the Wife, daughter, RM, and Sis to name a few. Stuman, for over a year now, has been adamant about not joining FB. I think was using some kind of excuse like he didn't need a socializing network to distract him from other things on the internet.... or something. I am sure he can comment later about whatever his excuse was. While I was on our trip, back at the beginning of July, Stuman succumbed and created a FB account.

Now that is all cool and dandy. I hooked up and friended him and all like a good person is supposed to do for a family member. It was no big deal. Just like we were hooked up on MySpace.

Of course, now there are a zillion and a half games you can play, and Farmville is one of them. I admit, I have been playing awhile, and enjoy it. Well, just the other day, Stuman is now playing it after swearing that he wasn't going to play.

Too funny! I know, a long post about it, and you aren't laughing. But I am!

PeacE

Someday, I May Learn

I came home tonight. Late, sorta. I mean, I was before midnight, which is really good considering I was out drinking. And I didn't go out drinking, until I had accomplished what needed doing by me today.

I and my oldest son, Ralphd00d IV, were off late this afternoon to register him for junior high. Normal affair, they just don't do it until like starting 4pm. I think half of that is due to our AZ heat. Though today, it poured down some rain in the middle of it all. Too much too fast for the ground to soak in, so it all became like flood waters streaming from every drainage/wash/etc etc.

Anyways, we got him squared away with the fees all paid for his PE outfit, yearbook, and of course, school pics. He walked out with his schedule, and an ID card. Over the next few days I plan to spend some extra time with him explaining how Jr High is a bit different from grade school, aside from the regular differences he knows. When I brought up about PE class, he was a bit surprised about how you have to use locker rooms. He is a bit chubby like I was (though his is gonna be grown out of it in about 6 months I think) and is really self-conscious about it... I know I was at that age. I think some fatherly advice, about how to use that towel for the best snap, and how to dress in 3 seconds flat, are in order. If nothing else, teach him that duct tape only hurts when ripped off fast, but it is the best way to remove it. Oh yeah, and those other rules, like don't bend over to pick up the soap. We are giving him a soap on the rope, so he can hang it about his neck while in the shower.

Sounds bad, but c'mon guys! Y'all have been there. Some stories are worse than others, and we all remember stories we were told prior to being there. At that age level, endowment plays a big part of "masculine acceptance and dominance". Well, he don't need to be on the jock team.... in fact, I would rather he play for the underdog. He has a great sense of unrighteousness, and knows when someone is being treated unfairly and has mentioned this several times to us. I always tell him, "Well, what do you think the right thing for you to do in this situation is?" Don't always get the best answers, but it is a start as to how he is going to handle things.

So it is almost 1:30am here, and I should rattle off some ending to this. Got other websites to see since I am busy not joining the wife in bed. Seems we have had a bit of a disagreement this evening, and though I have apologized, for any way she could have misunderstood me, she still is not happy. If I had known this prior to leaving the bar, I would not have left. (sigh) Such is life.

PeacE

Hmmmmm

It has been a pretty mellow week so far. It is Wednesday, and nothing much is planned. Tomorrow evening I take the oldest son to "register" (read pay them money) for Jr High. Includes picture fees, yearbook, gym clothes, etc. Plus he will get his schedule and find out if he got some of the extra classes he wanted (like Band).

Nothing exciting in the job market. No leads as of yet.

Thats it for today.

PeacE