Today, I hung french doors.

In a midtown home. Built in 1920. Ask me, go ahead, ask me if any of the frame was square. HELL NO. Took me all damn day to do it. I know, I know, I should have just gotten prehung doors and put them in but that's wasteful considering I had old doors in the garage. And I just couldn't do it because on one side of the opening we have been tracking the boys' height since they were old enough to stand on their own. There's history on that door frame and I couldn't cover it. I couldn't forget it that easily. I couldn't just throw it away so I decided to work around it. Took me longer and caused me to cuss.......a LOT.......but I saved that history.

I also learned to work around the imperfections. Takes time and ingenuity but it's worth it. I had to cut part off the tops and the bottoms of both doors. I had to cut some off the sides then use a hand plane to finesse it into place. They're hung. They work like they should. They're not perfect yet but that's OK. I'm more about function than flash.

I cut. I sanded. I planed. I filed. I cussed. I swallowed sawdust and tracked wood shavings all over house. Even my son hollered at me for making a mess in the house. Freak. I reset the threshold and now all that's left is putting the hardware on. If this house has taught me anything it's taught me that something is going to go wrong or need to be repaired and that with some patience and research I can fix just about everything.

Except where I work. What a fubar. That may be a project I don't have the talent to take on. Or maybe I do. We'll see.

Wharton and the privilege tax

Ok, I don't know about you all but when I run out of money there's nobody I can turn to in order to get more. The city and the county have got to get out of my pockets. Consolidation is a good idea as long as after we consolidate we focus strictly on what a municipal government should be providing. Fire, Police, garbage and sewage. The rest is questionable. I suppose vehicle registration and roads. Take a good long hard look at the rest. Nobody needs a bodyguard unless you're doing wrong. 24% of the cost of my annual house payment goes to city and county taxes. That's just unacceptable to me. And this garbage about keeping the schools separate. Whatever. That's just trash talk about class. It's not a racial thing anymore because the county is majority minority now. That's all about money. Combine the schools. Hire competent and honest administration and pay the teachers a good wage. Hold the students and the parents accountable and stop dumbing down the tests. If a student is disruptive, throw them out and give them mandatory military service time or some sort of social service time but make them do that time in another country. Perhaps some time spent in Africa or South America with no running water or electricity and they might begin to appreciate the life they have here. Regardless of where they end up just get the fuckers out of the schools so the serious students can learn in peace. There is NO guarantee of an education. That's a privilege and should be treated as one. Make school year round. Periodic short breaks. Summer time breaks were set when we were farmers and the kids were needed to work the farms. Nobody is doing that anymore. It's time to adapt. The chinese and japanese are out schooling our kids at an alarming rate. It's time for us to catch up and to treat our teachers with the same respect that the asian countries do. Otherwise, we're doomed. Let the parents holler about childcare for their kids. Tough. Childcare....stupid children....childcare....stupid children.....you decide. Society will adapt to year round school. Seems to me that it would be easier to find periodic childcare than it is for find someone for the entire summer. The market will adapt. Trust me.

I could go on and on but need a second cup of coffee.

I told you that we bought an elliptical trainer. I'm not sure the calorie counter on it is accurate. Don't see how it could be because it doesn't know how much I weigh or how old I am. Nor does it make the distinction between me or my son. My son. My youngest decided to stay on the machine until he burned 1000 calories. I have no idea how long he'd been on it because he was working when I got home. I walked in the door at 4:15 and he didn't get off the machine until 5:00. He collapsed in the floor then went to his room and turned into some variation of Mr. Hyde. If burning 1000 calories makes him that mean then I'm not allowing it ever again because I'll end up killing him. Gawd.

I'm going for coffee now. Then to work. Toodles.

January 3rd, 2008

So, I sold the car. Now what? So far, I've kept my goal of adding a minute everyday on the elliptical. 15 minutes today. The boredom is a killer. Watching TV helped. I need to rig something to hold a book so I can read while fighting with that horrible bitch.

I keep telling myself that I'm not really trying to lose weight. I'm trying to get healthier. That way I won't get disappointed or frustrated and stop.

Not much else to report today. My oldest has discovered "Scrubs" and I must say, it's quirky. Jury's out on whether I like it or not.

See you later.

Sold the MG

Bittersweet. I know she's going to a really good home. One that will put her right but sad that I had to sell her. The money will make several payments on my oldest's braces. I guess we all have to make choices. It was fun while it lasted though. Soooo, she's been saved.

The blog isn't going away though. I have toooooo much to rant about. Later though.

Hope everyone had a good holiday. I did. I'm sure there's something about the season that I could rant about....like how it's soooo not a true christian holiday. Jesus wasn't born on the 25th of December and how the Romans moved his birthday to December and combined it with a pagan holiday to make this thing we call Christmas. Cracks me up that the holy rollers are celebrating a pagan holiday. I'm sure there's some irony there. And all the money and greed that goes with this holiday? Is that really Christian-like? I don't think so.

Anyway. As I think of more I'll post it. Gotta go build another bookcase for the living room.

Good Thursday Morning

It's finally cold. Who knows how long it will last. The only good thing about it...well, a couple of things really. Hopefully, it will kill some bugs and hopefully, it will motivate me to go rent the machine to blow some additional insulation into my attic. I'm thinking about just hiring someone to do this for me. I know I could save some money if I did it myself but then when I calculate what my time is worth--well, it's much cheaper for me to hire it out. At least that way I know it will get done. I'll just procrastinate for another year. I'm funny that way.

I came home from work day before yesterday and noticed that the front yard had been raked. It looked nice. My partner told me that the boys had done it with no arguing. They just went right out and took care of it. I asked her if she was certain they were our boys. She was sure so we went out for dinner. Fresh Slices. Very nice place with an awesome deck on the back. Whoever built that did a stellar job. It's fabulous. The food's good too but not good enough to take my loyalties from Molly's. We adore that place. Best margarita in the city. Go check it out.

I'm not looking forward to work today. I'm working part time for a total goober. Most of my career, I've been fortunate enough to work for people who knew more about the job than I did. Not anymore and it's wearing my last nerve thin.

Not much to say today but felt the need to post. I'm headed off to the office. Toodles.

Sunday before Thanksgiving

I attended a work Thanksgiving lunch. We sang a song, read a poem and were given the opportunity to stand up and tell what we are thankful for. OK, so all of that has its place but not at work. For chrissake, we're adults and don't need to sit around a table with 40 of our co-workers singing a song. Nor do we really need to hear what everybody else is thankful for. That's a personal thing, in my oh so humble opinion.

It did make me think though. I have lots to be thankful for. Relatively healthy children. A house. Food. Clothes. A relationship that has traveled some interesting roads but always remained traveling in the same and right direction for almost 20 years now.

As they say, though, there must be balance. SO for everything I'm thankful for, I have something to bitch about. My partner has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. She has no insurance because she can no longer work. She's applied for assistance. Here's the bitch. They consider my income when working on her claim. "They" is the Federal Government but "they" won't recognize our relationship so that I can carry her on my insurance. Is that fucked up or WHAT? She went to Social Security to apply for SSI. She has no income and was questioned about that. She said she lived with someone. They asked, "As husband and wife?" She said, "No, because she's a woman." The clerk just stared at her. I'm thinking the wheels, gears and cogs in her brain just spontaneously stopped turning. OK, so they will take into consideration our relationship and my income when it suits them? THEY get to pick and choose? The government shouldn't get to play it both ways. Fuckers. We've had to hire a lawyer to handle this.

She also has to use the Memphis Health Center. Talk about a bunch of fucked up morons. The doctors rotate in and out. You get a good one and the next time you have to visit, that one is gone. She's been fighting with them over the Aricept program since all of this began. This last time, the social worker kept telling her, "I don't need to hear what you've been told." Say WHAT???? You stupid fat lazy fuckers can't keep your paperwork together and you DON'T NEED TO HEAR WHAT SHE'S BEEN TOLD? They basically told her to shut up and I have to wonder if they treat all of their patients that way or just the ones who have been diagnosed with a mental impairment. There's a letter to Cohen coming.

I keep hearing from the general public that, "We don't want you to marry because we don't want our money going to support your relationship." Stupid freaks, you're supporting our relationship now. She will eventually get public assistance and SSI and she's getting free medical care at your expense. Granted, it's not good care but it's care. I have to laugh at those who tell me they don't want their money supporting our lifestyle. Stupid stupid morons. Tell the government to recognize our relationship and it won't cost you a dime. Until then, I'm going after every penny I can from our stupid, short-sighted government and laughing the entire time.

What this has also shown me is just how uncaring and cruel our public healthcare system is. Perhaps they're underpaid and over worked but that doesn't mean you have to treat the patients without dignity and respect. She didn't ask for this disease. She doesn't deserve to be told to shut up. We deserve caring and competent personnel. She deserves to maintain her dignity because the disease will take it soon enough.

Stupid fuckers. Here's what I wish for. I wish that all the politicians out there had to navigate our public healthcare system. They'd make changes overnight if they had to deal with the Bertha that we had to deal with at the Memphis Health Center on Crump.

Another Pet Peeve

I want to sit down with the brain trusts that designed where the manholes in the streets would be placed. Who was smoking the crack the day that they decided they'd put the manholes IN THE PART OF THE LANE THAT YOU HAVE TO DRIVE ON??? Why not in the middle of the lane where the car could easily pass over without one single wheel hitting the manhole?

And who is the brain trust that decides, "Hey, they just paved the street to make it all nice and smooth so let's go dig a bunch of utility holes in it."

Sets my teeth on edge.