I'm Back

Hello to all of you who have stopped by and wondered; "WTF is he doing, no post again". Sorry, the winter doldrums had me in a funk and the creative juices just weren't flowing. Besides, with kids basketball, scouts, work, home improvement projects, and kicking the stepdaughter and her spawn out of the house, I have been a little busy.

You are wondering about that last comment. Yes, L and I finally kicked her daughter's lazy, shiftless ass to the curb and her bratty kid as well. Now before you go all bleeding heart liberal on me about how could I kick out her kid, let me explain the circumstances.

Beginning in January, we counseled her on saving money for a car, an apt, and basic living needs, so that her and the spawn could move out. She gave us her typical "I KNOW" response and proceeded to piss away everything that she earned. In the meantime, her and SH1 were having this on again, off again relationship, mainly for a booty call. She finally got tired of his crap and lies, and not working, and being a general POS, that she hooked up with a new guy.

The new guy, whom we have dubbed PW, for p*s*y whipped, is a skinny, quiet guy, who wouldn't say shit if he had a mouthful of it. But he adores her, supposedly. He likes being the father figure to the spawn, and to some degree has been a stabling influence to her.

Cut to mid February. They have been dating 3 weeks and suddenly cook up this idea to file their taxes together so they can increase the return they get, they will pool their money, and that will solve the problem of transportation and housing. Seems logical to them, despite us telling her that it is illegal and she could be in a world of trouble.

Guess what.. our opinion and advice don't mean diddly. They do it, and all of a sudden, they have a car and plans to move in together. When L and I approached her about her mistake and pointed out that it was illegal and that she might get hauled off to jail, she took that as, we were going to drop a dime on her with the IRS and she would go to jail.

What resulted from that illogical thought process was two weeks of hell, in which she called L, her mother and I everything but white people, she moved her and her son in with PW's cousin, and proceeded to make our lives miserable. The one consolation from all the BS is that L finally got her fill of the lies, the irresponsibility, and the disrespect. She told her to pack her shit and git.

So after dragging her feet for a month and coming up with a myriad of excuses for why they don't have an apt yet, we finally said enough is enough. We rented a storage unit, loaded her crap, and stored it till the end of April. If she doesn't get it out of storage by then, she loses it. She knows this and has said that she would get it done. WE WILL SEE.

In the meantime, it has taken some getting use to, but damn is it nice to come home to a quiet house and not having a sink full of dirty dishes or half eaten food laying all over the house. Anyone want to place bets on how long PW puts up with her shit? I'm not giving odds.

Is This London or St Louis?

The old adage in St Louis is if you stick around for an hour the weather will change. For the most part it is true. We can go from cold and wet to warm and dry in the span of a day. But this new year so far has tested our endurance for extremes. This time two weeks ago, it was in the single digits with 3-inches of snow on the ground. Today, it is in the forties and looks like London England

I just wish it would decide whether it is going to be winter or spring. My sinuses cant take much more of this back and forth stuff.

The Bucket List

L sent me this, after she received it from my sister. Guess my sister wasn't really interested in my answers....

The Bucket List

Put an X next to the listing if I applies to you. Feel free to embellish the answer if you want. This is for your Entire Life!

(X) Shot a gun
(X)Gone on a blind date
( x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x ) been to Canada
( ) Been to Alaska
( ) Been to Cuba
(x) Been to Europe
(x) Been to Las Vegas
( ) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Bahamas
(x) Been to Florida
( ) Been to Japan
(x) Been on a plane
( ) Been on a cruise ship
( ) Served on a jury
( ) Been lost
(x) Gone to Washington , DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
( ) Cried yourself to sleep
(X) Played cops and robbers
(X) Played cowboys/girls and Indians
(x) Sang Karaoke
(x) Paid for a meal with coins only?
(X) Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? (X ) Made prank phone calls.....
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(X) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
(X) Written a letter to Santa Claus
(X) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(X) Watched the sunrise with someone
(X) Blown bubbles
(X) Gone ice-skating
( ) Gone snow skiing
(x) Camped out under the stars
(X) Seen something so beautiful that it took your breath away?
(X) Are or have been Married?
(X) Children?
(x) Have a Pet?
(X) Been skinny dipping outdoors
(X) Been fishing
(X) Been boating
(X) Been water skiing (does knee-boarding count?)
(X) Been hiking
(x) Been camping in a trailer/RV
(x) Flown in a small 4 seater airplane
( ) Went para sailing
( ) Flown in a glider
( ) Been flying in a hot air balloon
( ) Been bungee-jumping or sky-diving
(X) Gone to a drive-in movie
(x) Done something that should have killed you
(X) Done something that you will probably regret for the rest of your life

1. Any nickname? Rockman, Bones, Kamala...(don't ask)
3. Favorite drink? Diet Coke
4. Body Piercings? No
5. Tattoos? No
6. How much do you love your job? A lot
7. Birthplace? Cape Girardeau, MO
8. Favorite vacation spot? Hawaii
9. Been to Africa? no
10. Ever eaten just cookies for dinner? No
11. Ever been on TV? N0
12. Ever steal any traffic sign? No
13. Ever been in a car accident? yes
14. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4
15. Favorite number? 22
16. Favorite movie? Bourne Identity
17. Favorite holiday? 4th of July
18. Favorite dessert? Carrot Cake
19. Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Close to retirement and out of debt. Definitely no stepkids or kids living with me.
20. Farthest place you will send this message? California
21. Who will respond to this the fastest? I don't have a clue.

This weather, the holidays, and work are really taking a toll on my creative thoughts and desire to come up with something more entertaining for you all. So please accept this as a token of my appreciation for visiting, and feel free to plagiarize, comment, discuss, or whatever you want to do with it.

Have a good day.

Bah Friggin Humbug

I know it has been well over a month since i posted. So kill me....shit happens, life gets in the way, work gets in the way, and I just haven't felt in the mood.

The mood still isn't really in there, but I felt like I at least owed you faithful followers some of my time and wisdom. So here are some random thoughts that have gone through my mind in the last few weeks.

* How many times do I have to come home to a new steaming pile of shit that the stepdaughter has left waiting for us?

* How many times do you have to keep defending the inadequacies of your children before you realize that it reflects on you?

* When are we finally going to catch a break and not have to spend money of other people and have the time and inclination to spend money on ourselves?

* Why is it that, people whom you despise and loathe under normal circumstances, always seem to feel obligated to play nice at the holidays, making you feel guilty? Tell them to piss off regardless of the time of year it is.

* How come I always end up in a job I love with a manager that I do not respect and has advanced well beyond their Peter Principle level?

OK.... enough of the soap box. Now a very brief update...

Stepdaughter is working again... yippee hooray, bout GD time.

LB is still a pain in my ass but he is going to preschool now so some of the socialization skills are starting to help. Now if we could just get his OCD under control, he might actually begin to function like a normal 4 y.o.

Shithead is history with the stepdaughter, and we are just waiting for an opportunity to drop a dime on him with his PO and send his ass back to the pen.

L and I are struggling to maintain some sense of a normal life, under all the external pressures from her family. I told her last night again.. Start telling people NO or I will do it for you. We can not and will not continue to be the rescue squad for every little family crisis that someone else has. We have enough shit of our own to deal with... MORE ON THAT LATER.

I sincerely hope that you all have a happy holiday season. I am planning on telling everyone that gets in my way or on my nerves to go fuck themselves and leave my house. WISH ME LUCK.

Friday Funnies - NORTHWEST AIRLINES PILOT TRAINING FILM

You have to wonder if this is how Northwest Airlines trains their pilots after this week's incident of "overshooting the airport by 150 miles.

On The Mend

After a visit to the DR on Monday, it seems that L and I are suffering from the residual effects of a respiratory virus that mimics the flu, and actually could be a mild case of the flu.

Not likely H1N1, but the plain old, garden variety flu. Whatever it is, it sucks donkey dong.

The doc says don't worry, take the horse pills I am prescribing, and if your not better in a week to ten days after the course of antibiotics, then get your will and testament in order get your butt back in here and we will do something else. Gee, what a comfort.

He did say that while he feels my pain, we are not alone. He has seen more patients this fall with the flu than he saw all last year. And while everyone is freaking out about H1N1, he said that more than likely, what people have is the regular flu. According to DR, getting a flu shot does help, but if you have the symptoms for more than 48 hours before you seek medical attention, then tough shit... anything that they give you wont really help. Your body has already started producing antibodies to fight the particular virus strain in you and any additional medicine will just slow down that process. (Guess you all skipped that day of H.S. Biology.)

DR says that the over the counter meds will help the symptoms, but if things are markedly improved after a week to 10 days, then you likely may have a secondary infection.

Long story short, don't screw around with this stuff. If it lingers, get medical help and take care of yourself. Because of all the crackheads out there, Wally World can't sell the really good over the counter medicines anymore, so you may as well get a script for it and stop messing around.

Creeping Crud

I don't know how many of you have been sick this past few months, but I am getting damn tired of feeling like ASS.. as my grandson so eloquently puts it.

It all started Labor Day weekend. My middle stepson came down with some bug, classic flu like symptoms, aches, pains, chills, fever, coughing a lung up and a runny nose like a faucet got turned on. He passed it to L who was home in bed the first week of Sept for 2 days with fever and aches.

Then a week or so later my son got it. Now this boy fights being sick to the death, but when he is laying down on the ground sleeping in the middle of his sisters soccer game because he doesn't feel good, I know he is sick. (Why he as there in the first place was beyond me, but that was his mother's decision... fodder for another blog on how self-centered and self-absorbed she can be at times).

A week later my daughter has it, and guess what, she just happens to have it the nite her and her brother as suppose to be at the house. Needless to say, I feel like my home is becoming a petri dish.

Fast forward to the 2nd week of Oct. I am home sick for two days with fever, aches, and coughing. Then L got it again last week and was home for 2 days.

She went to the DR on Thursday and all that quack would tell her is that she has a viral infection in her respiratory system and there is nothing that can be done other than to let it run it's course. What BULLSHIT.....

So we have purchased countless over the counter medicines to help alleviate the symptoms but that is like putting a band-aid on an amputation.

Guess what.. I went to bed last night with a fever and generally feel like I am walking around in a cloud today. The good news it that I already had a DR appt. schedule for this afternoon to review some lab work. So lucky me, my timing is right on in that regard.

Additionally, my doctor is s D.O. rather than an M.D. They tend to be less formal, more holistic, and less willing to cut and hack on you for something. I have been seeing this guy for going on 17-18 years now and he is the best. He is always willing to discuss in detail my treatment, and given that i am a scientist, he knows he cant bullshit his way around the diagnosis or toss me off with a "you wouldn't understand". I think that also helps me in that whenever I am in a predicament like I am now, with this crud being passed around like it is. He will not hesitate to raid his closet of medicine and help a brother out with a handful of free sample packages to help all of us get through the plague.

Maybe I will hit him up for some Viagra too....you never know.