Years in the Making

Not only is today Friday, most everyone's favorite day of the week, but it has a bit more specialness to it as the Daughter turns 21 years of age.

Hard to believe it was that many years ago that she came along. As a parent, I understand what they mean when they say "They grow up so fast".

Yup. She growed up pretty good. She is getting ready to start clinical rotations for her schooling in Respitory  Therapy next week.

So, I am off to celebrate with her today as we head over to the DMV to get her official over 1 license. Later tonight we plan on finding someplace to go ahve a few drinks and do some karaoke.

PeacE

Looking For Content

As I sat here eating breakfast in front of the computer, I wondered what should I use today for content. It is Wednesday, Hump Day, and I thought, 'Ya know, I haven't posted some boobs in awhile....' so I thought maybe today would be the day. Then I remembered Reverend Mother reads the blog (pretty much daily it seems) so maybe I shouldn't post boobies. Then I thought, I'll just post a warning for her, to not scroll down so far. Then I thought, maybe I just shouldn't do it at all. Those two little shoulder helpers sure are making things difficult already today. One would think one of them would lose, but I think maybe it is a bit of a win-win situation.

The Daughter is headed back to Tucson today, for a fingerprinting session. She is starting her clinicals for school, and the first location is at the VA Hospital, and since it is a gov't facility..... That means only a year of school left for her, and it will be mostly clinicals. She shall return to the Valley on Thursday, and stay through the weekend I think.

Okay, RM, don't scroll down further....

Here's today's dose of Boobage. I decided to make it a win-win situation, by not showing any naked boobies. Random pics from Google Images....

PeacE

Another No Win Situation

Yesterday I wrote about going into the store of the service provider for my Daughter. The whole cable modem deal. I was on edge as I did not want to get so angry that I was yelling, and throwing around explicatives. Though, by the time we left, I sure thought that it was stupid of me to hold back. After awhile, I realized that I saved things somewhat, by holding back. Cox is the only provider for services in the area of town where the Daughter lives, so if I had lost my anger bad enough, she could have ended up without service at all. But I am still very disappointed in the company.

We set up their service just a little over a year ago. The package deal suscribed to was for up to 18Mbps download speeds. For one person there, it was working fine. However, anytime someone else was over, and at least 2 computers were on the service, things would freeze up and the modem had to be reset constantly. Last week, the Daughter found out the modem she had been given at the start of service, was only capable of handling up to 10Mbs, hence the lock-ups when more than 1 person was trying to be on the internet. The easy solution, was for Cox to just swap out the modem for one that can handle the service we have been paying for. Instead, the declined to do so. The asshat had the balls to tell me that at the time we started service, the 10Mbps modem was the only product they had - even though they were selling services for a higher amount! To top that off, they now had modems to handle the higher amount, but it was going to cost me ANOTHER $130 to get one, and I could not trade in the current modem for any credit.

Needless to say, we left. I went over to Fry's electronics, found a Motorola modem for less than they were charging. And now I plan on writing a letter to the corporate offices, letting them know what I think of their low-level dealing. They should have told us that in their product (the modem) would only handle so much, and if we wanted better, we should purchase our on our own, a different modem. Instead they just sold us one (because I paid $80 for the modem) with no warning of the lower limits.

Yeah, I am still a bit peeved. Best I can hope for is maybe some sort of coupon for credit on a billing. But I ain't holding my breath.

Today is looking to be a long one. I don't what it is exactly yet, but my allergies are making life pretty crappy about now. The particulate count in the air today is terrible, and I am coughing and blowing my nose constantly. The drainage is turning off any desire to eat anything. Lucky me.

PeacE

Working It Like Having OCD

This morning feels great! I feel rested and ready to tackle whatever is coming this week. I don't usually feel this way. It is ... different.

This morning's main task is to work on the weekly agenda, and I started with enthusiasm, but it has waned in the past 20 minutes. Between the youngest son's rehearsals for the church Christmas musical (yes, they started already) and The oldest son's band practices & football game, we have the Daughter in town this week - well, most of the week - and there are things that need to get done with her. Then the Wife has next Saturday and Sunday filled with continuing education classes. Yeah, my excitement at what this week will throw my way has just about completely disappeared.

There will be easier weeks. There will be busier weeks. Sigh.

The Daughter is in town though, and today's foray we will do together, is to the Cox Store. When we set her up in Tucson, Cox was the only available internet/cable provider in that area of town. So we set it up, providing basic cable and internet service. Nice package deal, and he internet speed was even better than what we had at our house. Anyway, the past couple months she has been having problems with her internet, where the modem was constantly having to be reset repeatedly. I told her to take the modem to Cox there, and see if they could check it to be sure nothing was wrong with it. Turns out, the modem is fine. It can handle download speeds up to 10Mbps. Problem is, her internet speed goes to 18Mbps. So, when she and the boyfriend are both on the computer, it locks up the connection, forcing them to reset it constantly. Okay, well, Cox then wanted to charge her $80 for the proper modem she needs. What?!? We paid $80 when we set up the service, and they gave us the wrong modem, and now they want to charge us for their mistake? Yeah, well, when I found out what had happened, they had already gone to Best Buy to price the proper modem needed. Looking at around $100. I checked another place that would be a little cheaper. But then I got to thinking, I should go talk to someone at the Cox store and get this straightened out. I am a bit more demanding of my rights than the Daughter is. So, she brought the modem up and later this morning we shall embark on our adventure.

Maybe some of that excitement that waned is coming back for today!

PeacE

A Little Bit of AuH2O

The old people in my house (meaning the Wife and I) are a bit excited for tonight. Turns out both of our high schools are having their Homecoming events tonight. Mine I had known about for several weeks. Hers she just heard about I think like Monday. Granted, my graduating class from the public school was about 10 times larger than her church school.... Either way, we are both a bit excited to be going to see old friends and do some catching-up and reminiscing. The boys will be going with her, as I know she likes to show them off, and how big they are, etc. And besides that, some of us alumni band members are meeting for drinks after the game, and I can't take the kids.

The Daughter is hitting 21 years of age in a week. It is also the week she is on school break from where she attends. Kind of nice to get the week of your birthday off! We are working on setting up some plans for time with her, and maybe even her & I get out to celebrate her 21st at the bar, doing karaoke. Maybe even let her have a frou frou drink or two as well.

I had a new drink mix yesterday. It is called Mio, and it is some kind of energy drink stuff, you add to water. I did the green one, meaning, I thought it would be like a lemon-lime taste, as the darker red one was black cherry. I learned I should read the bottle, as this one was packed full of caffeine. I fixed my drink about 5pm, and I ended up awake until 4:30 this morning. I had tried a couple times to lay down and sleep, but gave up after an hour. Needless to say, I spent plenty of time playing on the computer last night.

So, the AuH2O reference in the title? I'm a proud first full-class graduate of Barry Goldwater HS. Still doesn't make sense? Au=gold, H2O=water and it is also part of the school fight song that gets chanted!

PeacE

Obligations and Guilt

I am a bit guilt-ridden today. No, Reverend Mother, it wasn't you. I have given myself this built of guilt. It is a guilt by a feeling of obligation. Does that make sense?

I have mentioned before about how my FIL has Parkinson's Disease. It is pretty advanced, and since there is no cure for it, all the docs can do is prescribe medicine that help ease some of the symptoms (like palsy, etc.). The MIL has been the sole caregiver since he was afflicted, and the strain it is having is immense. Months ago I started helping by sitting with Dad while Mom went out to do grocery shopping once a week. Nothing major, just a couple hours on one day. It was mainly to be sure Dad didn't fall and hurt himself, or roll off the couch. These days, he sits/lays on the couch most of the day, as most motor controls, balance, ability to verbalize have all pretty much left him. This school year, I have added in more time to sit with Dad while Mom runs over to the school to pick up my boys. She does it as they stay at her place until the Wife gets off work. Since I don't have AC in my van, it worked out with this arrangement for all of us, as Mom gets a break and out of the house for a little while as well.

Today was a bit more busy than most days. As soon as Mom left, Dad proceeded to throw pillows onto the floor, and to try to get down and crawl around. We try to let him do this, as several times he has fallen and hurt his knees, even hit his head. The whole balance and motor skills thing. So I spent most of a half hour getting him back to sitting on the couch, which consists of quite a bit of physical work - assisting him to rise and turn, plus from the floor level. Dad has lost a lot of weight, but still....

So to the part I am feeling guilt about. I had told Mom I would not be able to sit with Dad this Friday afternoon for the half hour she goes to get my boys. Part of it is, I have been doing this for awhile, and frankly, I am tired of it. I wanted a day off basically. And after today, which has been the worst yet when watching Dad, I am really tired of it all. It would be nice to get Dad into a LTC or other assisted living place, but money is a big issue. Even with small assistance from us, Mom & Dad would not be able to afford it. So bottom line is that our arrangement is going to go on indefinitely.

I don't want to be doing this. Granted, I generally am not doing anything of importance at the times I sit with Dad. I just don't want to deal with this. Maybe it is issues of having done similar things with my Dad, before he passed. I don't know. I just don't like doing it. I know it is helping Mom out a lot, though. And over the past 20+ years, they have helped us out in more ways than I can count (babysitting all the kids is the biggest one). I feel obligated to do this. Feeling Guilt based on Obligation.

Sigh. Mean to think it, but sometimes, it seems things would be much better if Dad would pass away. I hate thinking that, but it would be better for Mom, due to the stress she is under in care-taking. Yeah, more self-guilt. Or is that self-pity? I don't know. I just know I feel like shit because of it.

PeacE

Drainage and Wind Damage

Arizona is known for being a desert land. No one really associates the forests of the northern part of the state, just the Grand Canyon. That, and it is always being hot is the other typical thought. Granted we do have deserts galore, and two things that go with deserts is drainage and wind damages. Maybe not so much wind damage as, say, the Sahara. I mean, yeah, Yuma has the sand dunes there, and they kick up some scouring sand particles. Mostly I would say it is just the hard, sun-baked topsoil, that the wind helps strip away. and that topsoil, that's where our drainage issues come from. Any time we have a large downpour, the rain just is not soaked into the earth as fast, causing flash floods, etc.

About 20 years ago, all these combined damages, and I am sure some other things that even I don't understand, created the effect of me having allergies. Weird I know. Back in the day (or so I read) if someone had bad allergies or whatnot, they were told to move to AZ for the dry air climate. Myself, I grew up in central Indiana and never had an allergy problem. But a few years after moving here, I have developed one, and it does not like me.

The Doctor says it is just 'general allergies' meaning, no reason to really test for what is exactly causing it, as it is more than likely a seasonal pollen of some sort. I don't know, but they are year-round, and granted, some seasons are worse than others. OTC drugs don't seem to help anymore. My next option is go get a kentalog (sp?) shot form the doc that should help for a few short months. Yeah, you know me and doctors don't do well so that ain't happening too soon.

A few days past, we had a day of higher wind speeds than average, gusting upwards of 30 mph. Doesn't sound like much, but it is more than enough to kick up the pollen count, and other undesirable elements in the from the ground and plants. To counter that, I have done my best to be indoors more, so as to not be affected so much. Now, several days later, I think some of that undesirable crap in the air has worked it's way into the ventilation system. How do I know? Because this morning's activities have been a large amount of sneezing and blowing of the nose. And drainage. Nothing like having snot run down the back of the throat in a seemingly constant trickle.

I know, I know. You think that is gross, but its snot.

PeacE