Short Bus

It’s been a while so I guess an update is in order, yes?  It seems that most of my posts of late are “updates” instead of regular posts, but I really just haven’t been feeling the blogging bug for a while.  I’m still reading, and loving, other’s blogs, but I’ve let this one kind of slip by… Maybe it’s because I really dislike this holiday season.  Maybe it’s because I don’t think my life is that blog-worthy lately.  Whatever the reason, I apologize, and I will try to post a bit more, ok?

The first thing I have to update on is that M and I have finally decided to no longer “live in sin” and we’re getting married on December 9^th.  I guess you can say I gave in.  Not that I don’t want to marry him, that’s not it at all, but I kept holding out for “my” wedding.  And lets be honest here, “my” wedding was going to cost way more than I could afford since I had no one but me paying for it.  Besides, if I’m going to save like crazy for something I’d rather it be a down payment for a house rather than for one day that I won’t even be able to fully enjoy. 

With that said, we’ve decided to go to the courthouse on December 9^th and have a party at our place on December 10^th.  Nothing fancy, nothing over the top – the only thing that is even going to be slightly wedding related is that my friend Melissa is going to make cupcakes for the party.  Other than that it’s food, booze and friends.  No favors, no decorations other than my Christmas decorations, nothing.  And I’m ok with that.

The second update is that M and I are trying again.  He’s convinced that I need to be able to drink next weekend so he’s “holding out”, but again in the spirit of being honest, he’s going to be wasted and since it’s my house I’ll pretty much be stone sober.  So why hold out?  Go with it, buddy!  (More info that you needed, I apologize.)

Last weekend we had a second Thanksgiving at Beth & Craig’s house.  We invited them to our place for fried turkey and all the fixings.  They asked if we could transport everything to their place due to not wanting to leave their new puppy alone for so long.  It was a pain in the ass to move the oil in the turkey fryer, but in the end it worked out ok. 

Remember when you were in your 20’s and every time you went out or to someone’s house drinking games were busted out?  Yea, the four of us felt like we needed to revisit that decade for some reason.  We started with Apples to Apples (a board game) and turned that into a drinking game.

“If he picks my card, Beth drinks four”

“If she picks your card, I drink three”

And so on… (The game is not meant to be a drinking game, but we have the amazing ability to turn anything into one.  Whether or not you have the propensity to turn non-drinking games into them or not, I recommend you try this game.  It can be pretty funny even sober.)

From Apples to Apples we turned to Asshole.  If you’re familiar with this game you know how quickly it can get – let’s say – out of hand.  I reigned supreme with the title of President for four consecutive rounds and was a complete bitch with my rules by round two.

We ended the night playing Short Bus.  If you have enough players (four was really too small a group), this game WILL fuck you up.  Short Bus is played as follows:

One person is “dealer” and lays out the table with cards, face down, like so:

           Card         Card         Card         Card

          (Take 4)           (Take 3)            (Take 3)           (Take 1)

 Card

(Shot Card)

           Card         Card         Card         Card

          (Give 4)             (Give 3)             (Give 2)            (Give 1)

Round 1:  Players determine if the card they will be given from the top of the deck in the dealers hand (not on the table face down) is going to be black or red.  If the card you’re given is the color you chose, you give out one drink.  If the card you’re given is the opposite color, you take one drink.

Round 2:  Players determine if the card they will be given next will be higher or lower than the current card in front of them.  If they’re correct, they give out two drinks.  If they’re wrong, they take two drinks.

Round 3:  Players determine if the card they will be given next will fall inside or outside the two current cards on the table in front of them.  If they’re correct, they give three drinks.  If they’re wrong, they take three drinks.

Example: You have a 4 and a 10.  Inside would be a 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9.  Outside would be a 2, 3, J, Q, K, A

Round 4:  Players determine the suit of the card they’ll be given next.  If they’re correct, they give out four drinks.  If they’re wrong, they take four drinks. 

**If you give out drinks you can distribute them amongst players.  If I was correct in round 4 I could say “Bill can take 1 and Sam can take 3”

You’re now ready to Ride the Short Bus.  Cards have been laid out like the display above.  One row is for giving and one is for taking.  If you have those cards in your hands (suit does not matter) you either give or take the corresponding number of drinks.  If you have the card that is the shot card – call a cab.

We used to play this game for hours.  And I really mean, hours.  By the end of the night the first time I played this game, I knew why it was called Short Bus.  

At What Point

It's currently 11:46 pm on Tuesday night & I'm sitting outside Best Buy. No, I'm not getting an early start on Black Friday shopping. I'm waiting for Li to get out of work. She was scheduled from 4pm to 10:30pm today.

After sitting here for nearly half an hour I finally got a text from her:

"Its a truck night. I have to stay."

At which I thought WTF?! I know she was hired for the Holiday Season. I know that the better she performs during this season the more likely she'll be kept on after the Holidays are over. However, my predicament is as follows: She's 16 years old. It's nearly midnight on a school night and I'm not seeing any action near the exit. At what point is this not only unacceptable but illegal & how does she talk to them about these hours without jeopardizing her future employment?

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

Really?!

You have GOT to be kidding me...

The little bitch is taking a nap in there now.  

Craig won't let me go outside to say anything to him so I can only hope that this Jackbag is still here when my boss gets in. 

And I hope my boss is in a bad mood because that will make it more fun for me.

The Suck Hole of Hell I Call Work

Holy hell do I need a new job.  This place is sucking the life right out of me.  I've already pointed out in numerous posts that I do pretty much not a damn thing all day except fuck around on the computer.  On one hand, where else would I get that kind of freedom?  On the other hand, I can do that at home in the comfort of my PJ's after work so it's not really a "treat", and I feel like my brain is going to atrophy from lack of intellectual use.  
On a weekly basis this is what I can count on doing:
Make coffee every day
Answer phones every day (I can probably count on both hands how many times they ring a day)
Print faxes every day
Check email every day
Bill a job (if I'm lucky I'll do this once a week)
Once a month I'll create a waiver and pick up a check
Open the mail  Never mind... I no longer do this


Yesterday I opened the mail, like I do EVERY day and have EVERY day for the last 4 years!  There was one regular sized white envelope with a company logo for the return address and I noticed that the company logo was for an accounting firm, a CPA to be exact.  Since my company already has an accounting firm and a CPA who was definitely NOT this company I figured it was junk mail - A company trying to get our business.  So I opened it.  It was nothing but a yellow piece of legal paper wrapped around a personal check.  Whatever.  I did what I do with every other check that comes into this office without a tear-off stub - I made a copy of the check, date stamped the copy, paper clipped the check to the copy and put it in Virginia's desk since she handles all checks.


I then came across a small manilla envelope with the same company logo on it and this time addressed specifically to my boss.  After opening the envelope I realized that this "accounting firm" was where someone who knows my boss from their church works.  This gentleman was mailing my boss a book (and the check from the previous envelope) and included a typed letter.  I date stamped the letter, shoved both the book and the letter back into the envelope and gave it to my boss.


Today when my boss came in he stopped by my desk to tell me that under no circumstances am I to open mail that has his name on it.  Even if it's addressed to our company, if it has his name on it I don't open it.  What's bothering me is that I could tell he wanted to yell this at me but was keeping his cool, and I don't know why.  I didn't go to his house and pull personal mail out of his mailbox to open it.  I didn't open something that said "Confidential", or a bank statement, or something else that I know not to open.


My boss is going to be less than fucking pissed in about a week or two.  He has absolutely no idea how much junk mail I sift through on a daily basis before legitimate mail makes it's way to his desk.  A lot of junk mail has his name on it (credit card apps, companies trying to get him to open a line of credit, trying to get him to finance equipment, or try their product) and from this point forward, per his direction, I'm not opening anything with his name on it.  I thought I was making an executive decision on opening what I thought was junk mail in an attempt to keep him from having to open it.  At least I opened it before putting it into the "to shred" pile.


I'm pissed that yet another "job" has been taken away from me.  I need to get out of this place.  I need to go somewhere where I can actually work and not be made to feel like a complete toolbag for doing what little jobs I do have.  

Weekend is OVER

Nothing really happened this weekend, but it seems like a lot happened.  Do you ever have one of those weekends?  

Bowling was uneventful on Friday night although I bowled out of my ASS!  I have no idea where my mad skills came from other than I decided that I wasn't going to let our habit of losing every week get to me anymore.  I'm there for fun.  It's not my job, I'm not a professional bowler, and I don't get paid to bowl.  Actually... I pay to be there so it's exactly the opposite?!  Funny how that works.  Either way - I bowled fantastic.  We still lost all the games, but whatever!

Saturday night we were substitute bowlers for our friends Mike and Abbey who bowl on Justin and Jessie's monthly league.  Mike was out of town and Abbey is recovering from a broken collar bone.  It's amazing how well you bowl when it makes ZERO difference to your game!  This wasn't a sanctioned league meaning they don't play for money and have no "standing" in the leagues.  M nearly had a 300 game (which is a perfect game - strikes all throughout) until the 9th frame when he got a 9 and not a strike.  He was actually glad because a perfect game would mean more to him in our league.

Craig had asked M to come out with him on Saturday night to watch the UFC fight.  M turned him down because we had to bowl for Mike & Abbey.  While we were at dinner afterwards with the group M got a text from Craig asking him to come out to watch the fights after we were done with dinner.  The only problem with that is that Craig was at Jenny's.  The one person I do NOT want M hanging out with.  M was smart and turned him down, but shouldn't have ever said anything to me about where Craig wanted him to go.  I never would have known since I don't snoop through M's phone and read his text messages. When I expressed my displeasure at Craig for even asking M to go there M said to me, and I quote, "Don't say anything to Craig."  

This festered in me all day on Sunday.  I asked M on the way to work today if he was going to say anything to Craig.  I explained that I thought it was rude of Craig to invite M knowing how I feel about Jenny, and that I thought it was disrespectful of M to not defend me in something that bothers me that much.  He said he'd talk to Craig but I wasn't too convinced.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

While watching my beloved Bears slap the Lions in the face and punch them in their kidneys during an AWESOME football game, I found out that a girl I know is suffering her 3rd miscarriage.  She and I have a long history, and no longer "speak" outside of Facebook, but I really feel badly for both her and her husband.  She was extremely over weight when she and I were friends, and had gastric bypass surgery in an attempt to be healthier as well as carry a baby to term.  This was their first attempt after her surgery and they were so hopeful.  While our history together is complicated, and a bit messy at times, my heart breaks for her.  I cannot imagine going through that pain and suffering more than once.

Mushroom Print

There are many things that irritate me.  This is true.  However, there is nothing that makes me want to stab someone as much as when people park like an asshole.  Especially when they park like an asshole in front of my office.

My office building looks like this:

This is one half of the building.  You can see there are two doors at the left.  The other side of  the building (the side I was standing on while taking this picture) is exactly the same as the side you see here.  There are two docks - this one and one on the other side.  We don't use the one that you can't see.  It's been blocked off from the inside of the shop and is used as storage.  The driveway area up to the dock is used by my bosses for parking their cars.  Either way, used or not, it's a driveway and as such should not be blocked by parked cars.

The street space in between the two docks has enough room to park two cars while still allowing delivery trucks, or my trucks, to enter and leave the dock area as well as to not obstruct the sidewalk which you see here. The assholes across the street see it differently.

Parking is only allowed on this side of the street and I want to give a shout out to the douche-bags who insist on parking like an asshole in front of my building:

Douche-bag #1

You can barely see the end of the work van parked on one half.  He is neither blocking the driveway in front of him nor is he blocking the sidewalk; yet this Asshat has left 7 feet between herself and the van as well as 2 feet of her ass end protruding into my dock.  Delivery trucks will have no qualms about hitting cars that are in their way.  They've done it before, they'll do it again, and their attitude about it is "Meh.  Oh well."  I'm not even close to kidding on that.

Douche-bag #2

I came back from lunch today and this Twatwaffle has decided that his precious car is too cool to be near other cars, so he thought that if he parked almost smack between the two driveways no one would so much as breathe on his "sweet ride".  See that silver car there?  That's me.  I was hoping to get close enough to make him squirm when he came out of his office and saw my car kissing his.  I could have gone up another foot.

When I see shit like this I have an overwhelming desire to key "LEARN TO PARK DICKWAD" in their hood.  Maybe they'd get the message then.

My other issue with the parking situation is that when we DO have a delivery driver that doesn't want to hit a car that's parked improperly it's then up to us to find the owner and ask them to move their car.  Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but the amazing thing is that we know who drives these two particular vehicles I've featured here and what building they work in, however, when we enter said building and ask that the cars be moved - suddenly no one in those buildings know who owns the cars.  How is that even possible?!

The wonderful gentleman who drives the back car, Douche-bag #2 if you will, also rides a Harley.  When people are parked like normal in front of my office he likes to back his bike into the 4 foot space between the front of one car and the ass end of the other, thus completely blocking the sidewalk in front of my office.  Or he'll back into the space between the front of the car parked on the other side of my dock, thus creating a blockage to my dock driveway.  I wish I had a photo of that to post here, but I don't.

I want to print out these flyers from this website, but my boss said no.  He's such a party pooper.

Whatever... Some of This and Some of That

Li has her first day of orientation today.  We had to buy her khaki pants, a white polo shirt and black tennis shoes for her uniform.  She is so nervous.  My concern is that, now remember I love my kids, she's an air head.  She is so incredibly self-centered that she cannot remember the simplest instructions.  She's a teenager so I know she'll outgrow the self-centeredness, I hope, but I really hope that she gets her head out of the clouds long enough to actually learn her job and perform it properly.  I guess only time will tell.  She has made the decision not to get her license until after her "temporary" status becomes a permanent status, which I think is very smart of her.  Once she's got that license she's locked into paying the $32 a month my insurance will increase; job or no job.  I cannot afford to pay that right now and that was one of our rules.  Get your license = pay for the increase in insurance.

She and M had a verbal scuffle the other day.  Li came home from her boyfriends house, rushed through dinner, rushed through her chores and thought that she was going back out.  Um... no.  She may have a curfew but that doesn't mean that she automatically gets to leave the house when she wants because the curfew time hasn't come yet.  When I told her she couldn't go back to his house, she threw a temper tantrum like a 2 year old, went to her room, and slammed the door.  Big no-no.  M went up there to threaten to take off her door and her exact words to him were "FINE!!  I DON'T GIVE A SHIT!"  Both he and I are fed up with her trucker mouth and he lost it.  Took her phone away, took her computer away, took her door off the hinges, grounded her until the end of the year, all sorts of punishments.  After he calmed down he realized that maybe he went a little too far in punishments, and returned the computer, the phone and cut her grounding to a week.  The door is still off the hinges.  That was my punishment.  She'll be lucky if she gets it back as it's not the first time it's been taken off for being slammed.  My punishment is also adding a day to her grounding every time I hear a swear from her.  I have a feeling that may take a while...

I've come to the realization that while I dislike the future SIL, I don't think I dislike her as much as I dislike the comparison of her and I by my Mother.  This dawned on me the other day when my mother decided to lay into me for not wanting to go to my Cousin's Baby Shower.  It's not that I'm not happy for them, but even with the ok from my OB to try again, I'm just not sure how comfortable I will be at a Baby Shower right now.  I'm not the right person to be sitting in a room with a very pregnant woman oohing and aahing over her belly, her gifts, her decorations, etc.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I've explained this to my Cousin and she said she understands.  My mother, on the other hand...

Apparently SIL has had a miscarriage (of course she has) and was out about in public and was just peachy-keen within a week.  She must have told my Mother this because that was her argument to me: "Well, Sarah said the best thing for you is being out and going about life."  Because of course, the best way to convince me of ANYTHING is to put the words "Sarah says" in front of it.  Regardless of this particular conversation, or argument - however you want to look at it, it dawned on me that my Mother has compared me to every serious girlfriend Eric has ever had.  And I have never come out on top.  According to her I can always improve on my posture, speech, schooling, dress, friends, taste in music, etiquette, even my miscarriage, all because his current girlfriend is "better" at whatever is being compaired.  So I have made a decision:  I do not care for Sarah, but I will try to ignore my Mother's comparison of me to Sarah and see if that changes the way I feel about her.

The One With The Updates

Updates Updates Updates...


#1 - I had my Dr appointment with my OB office.  All is good and when I have my first cycle we are good to try again.  YAY!  There was nothing in their pathology(?) that indicated a problem that would be repeated, and my chances of a second miscarriage are no greater than another woman my age.  However, I was advised that if we want a baby than we shouldn't wait too long because I am 35 (or close enough).  My current rate of miscarriage is between 25 and 30%, but when I hit 40 my risk increases to 50%.


BIG RELIEF to know that he's not concerned.  He also said that they understand the anxiety level of a pregnant woman when they've have a previous miscarriage and they will do early blood testing to help to assuage the worry.  Something about progesterone levels being within a certain range and then doubling that number within 3 days indicates that a pregnancy is progressing nicely.  We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


#2 - Li got her first job!  Double YAY!  She applied online at Best Buy about two weeks ago.  They called her that same night to schedule an interview.  She had her first interview and they scheduled a second interview for the next night.  I got a call that they canceled the second interviews because the GM had to leave town for meetings and they would call her to reschedule the following week.  I really thought they were blowing smoke up her ass and that they wouldn't call, but they did.  She had her second interview last night and was offered the job!

She had to go today to get drug tested.  Before she could do that she had to go get a State ID for the drug testing.  Poor M!  I couldn't take time off work to do these because I had Ki's conferences this morning and I took off early for my Dr appointment yesterday.  M got up on his day off, took Li to the DMV (the place where EVERYBODY loves to hang out when they don't have to, right?) and then schlepped her around town trying to find the Drug Testing Lab.  


#3 - M's birthday is tomorrow.  I had originally planned on getting him an air compressor that he's been drooling over for three weeks, but it just didn't work out money wise and I couldn't justify spending $120 on it right now.  I was a little bummed.  While Li was at her interview I decided to walk around this store called Ross.  It's sort of like a TJ Maxx or a Marshalls but less cluttered.  I found a mini air compressor that supposedly you can inflate car tires with for $10.  SCORE!  I also got him a new beard trimmer that he's been wanting.  So it may not be exactly what he's looking for, but at least it's something for him to open tomorrow.


I found out from Justin here at work that there's a store in Lombard, IL called Harbor Freight that carries tools and stuff for cheap.  I checked them out online and their prices aren't too bad.  Justin said they're not brand name things, but that they work pretty well just the same.


So there you have it.  That's my update from the last day or so.  Now I've got to figure out how to clean out my front room for the Poker Game M put together for tomorrow.  


Have a great weekend!!

My Hometown

This home is similar to one I grew up in and is located in the same neighborhood:

Photo Source

Flip it over and it's my childhood home... almost.  Close enough anyway.  My neighborhood was filled with homes like this.  Average split level, 3/4 bedroom, 1 1/2 or 2 bath homes.  The homes sat on beautiful streets with plenty of shade and mature trees...  

This is an example of the monstrosities that are taking over my old neighborhood:

Photo Source

What the hell is this?!  McMansion?  Does the owner of this eye sore even realize that they've helped to destroy a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood?  Do they even care?  I'm sure they're beautiful homes, both inside and out, but an equally beautiful home (with character) was torn down to make room for... This.

I think the biggest disaster of all is that this home is not the only one like it in the neighborhood.  Apparently the American People are in a quest for the biggest, the largest, the most in everything they own.  Big SUV's, big houses, even big food portions...  

I've recently found out that three homes on the street directly across from my childhood home have been changed.  Two were completely torn down and replaced with homes similar to the above and the other one was "remodeled" although I can't even see the original home in what is standing there now.

The town I grew up in, Naperville, IL, was a fantastic town to raise your kids in.  Naperville used to be in the top 50 towns to raise your kids until recent years.  I think it's because it got too big.  There are 5 high schools, a downtown that is more like a little city, and I'm sure there is the crime that comes with that many people.  Naperville made the list this year, but in the 54th place.  Yeah, that's close to the top 50 but it's not really.

I just think it's a shame that such a wonderful town, one that I have very fond memories of, has become this place where you buy a home in a great neighborhood only to tear it down and build another that doesn't even look good.  It kind of reminds me of that Sesame Street song "one of these things is not like the other..."

Midnight Present

I'm about to put my dogs up for sale.  They are worse than my kids for sucking the very life out of me.  Walker will get into the dog food and eat 25 lbs of the 52 lb bag of dog food - and shit all over the bedroom floor in the middle of the night.  Who cleans it up?  Me.  M is too busy sawing logs or he rolls over and says "I have to get up in a few hours".  Like I don't?!  

Last night it was the other one.  

Yesterday morning I left ground beef in the sink to thaw for spaghetti for dinner.  Li called me at 3pm to tell me that Tyson had eaten the ground beef.  Really?  I was worried that he'd get into the left over Halloween candy in the bowl on the counter that I'd forgotten to put up, but NOOOO!  The fat ass dog gets his beak into the damn sink to pull out a bag of 1 1/2 lbs of raw ground beef and eats that.  

We watched him all evening.  We barely gave him any food for dinner.  He acted like nothing was wrong all evening.  Remember, this is a dog who has eaten (among other things) the following items :

• Entire bucket of KFC chicken legs w/super spicy sauce
• Uncountable number of tubes of Toilet Paper and rolls of Paper Towels
• Razor blades
• Staples - that go into a staple gun
• Light bulbs
• 2 lb bag of M&M's
• Pan of brownies and glass pan they were baked in (TWICE)

None of the items listed above were even a blip on his digestive tract.  Not one.  But you give him a raw hide bone and he pukes his guts out.  Apparently this dog can only digest non-edible items such as glass and metal, or chocolate which is supposed to be deadly to dogs, because at 2am last night he lost his ass and his stomach all over my bedroom.

I was woken up to M swearing loudly and the light being flipped on.  When I realized what had happened I did the following:  I got up to use the bathroom and went back to bed.  Yes, you read that right.  I.  Went.  Back.  To.  Bed.  As far as I was concerned "I needed to get up in a few hours".

Lately Tyson has taken to sleeping in my closet.  I don't know why.  Maybe because Walker has taken over Tyson's "spot" under the bed?  Maybe because Tyson's fat ass can't fit under the bed anymore?  I have no idea, but the closet is where he decided to lose his bowels.  He's fucking lucky he didn't shit all over my shoes because the dog would have been put outside for the night and possibly for the rest of his life.    

Insurance Induced Aneurysm

You know those documents you get from your Insurance Company after you go to the Doctor, and (most of the time) before you get the bill from the Doctor?  Those documents that show you what the Doctor charged for the service, what the Insurance Company is contracted with the Doctor for said service and therefore are paying for that service, and finally what you owe the Doctor for the service?  Have you ever opened one of those and suddenly everything starts to go black and you can't breathe?

I had such a moment last night.  I will say that I love my Insurance Company.  I have never had an issue with them, and I feel for the premium my company pays and what I subsequently pay from my paycheck I have very good insurance.  Sure I have a deductible that must be met every year but who doesn't?  Overall I'm a healthy person.  I get colds and that's about it.  I don't get bronchitis, I've never had pneumonia, I don't have a long standing disease that requires multiple medicines or hospital stays or doctor visits...  And for that I'm very lucky and thankful.

This is what I opened last night:

That came out kind of small, but it says that the hospital charged my Insurance Company $5,924.25 for my outpatient surgery and my Insurance Company is paying a grand total of $0.00 for said charges.

What?!

My immediate reaction was to faint.  I know that there are several people who have had, and continue to have, Doctor bills that are much larger than this but I haven't.  Even with my two pregnancies my insurance at the time was FANTASTIC and I didn't pay a dime beyond my deductible. 

I wanted to cry, but I didn't.  Once I regained control of my body I said that there was no way I was paying nearly $6000 for a service authorized by my Doctor, who's in-network, performed by a doctor that was in-network and at a hospital that was in-network.

As it turns out, my Insurance Company agrees.  When I explained my concerns to the Representative she asked what the outpatient surgery was for.  Her exact response to me was "Oh, Honey.  No Way.  That service is SOOOO covered."  She went on to explain that the hospital coded the claim incorrectly and that she'll contact the hospital with a request to re-code and resubmit the claim along with my medical records to verify that the surgery wasn't an elective procedure.

Medical insurance is a fantastic concept, and I feel for anyone who cannot obtain it for whatever reason, but I guess this goes to show that you still have to be vigilant.