Money talk

With all the trouble I have had with the IRS, you would never believe I would overpay my taxes but I did. I got a letter that is not my usual monthly bill. I was thinking the worst, although I am good with them right now. It stated that I had overpaid my estimated taxes by $60. Jeez. Why in hell would I give them more than I owe? I am stupid. I incorrectly added my estimated payments I had made to them. They said I was due a refund but I know better. I have a back balance with them that I am paying off so the letter the next day was no surprise, that they were applying it toward what we owe. Oh well, $60 less that I have to pay them? That’s a good thing.

Staying in the financial vein, I finally got a response from the guy handling my invoices saying he had given them to a/p and told them to process them ASAP. Now, he was supposed to have done this 2 months ago but whatever. This is no guarantee I will get paid next week but at the latest, it will be mid July…it’s a small light at the end of the tunnel. I am worried for future invoices though. I don’t want this happening again.

I have gotten most of my stuff reinstalled except one program. I didn’t back up the setup file correctly and it is not an easy program to get your hands on for free. You can only DL an evaluation file unless you sign up and pay for it…bastards. I know, I know, I work with shareware and am unwilling to pay for a program but if you haven’t heard, freelancers are broke these days. I went through the painstaking task of reinstalling Generals. I had one problem after another with getting the newest patch but finally found it on a site and, after 2 hours of messing with it (EA, you know where you can go), I was able to play!

And she's back...

I’m back! Ok, I was never gone but I’m back at my machine finally. I just reconfigured some settings and….alright, I’m lying. I imported tier 3 tech support from Indiana. Talked FunkyB into making the long drive here to fix my shit. Since he was in the fixing shit mood, he reformatted Sky’s PC too…Sky is not happy about this whole losing-his-spyware-ridden-games crap but he’s dealing.

Mine was reformatted whether I liked it or not…it was just easier that way. He also accidentally wiped my other drive too but it’s probably no biggie. So I am working with a clean slate now and using different browsers and such. It will be awhile before I have some stuff set up again but I will make do. The most important thing is that I am able to pull an IP again and use the internet…my PC was useless without that “minor” feature.

I don’t think he was here more than 30 minutes before he talked me into Karaoke. After all, it is the one true way of finding Freyja in the house. We also played some Mario Party 6, which was great until Sky dropped out. We switched his character to a computer player and it kicked our asses…thanks Skylar.

Saturday Tami had a party for Skylar so he got to play with the kids and open real presents (he wasn’t happy with a bike and pool, not wrapped). Sunday Mary Jo had a birthday party for a neighbor kid at her sister’s house…with an in-ground pool! Sweet. It was great. Sky has gotten more adventurous in the water this year. He kind of scared me because he’d just jump in with no water wings on and was constantly underwater. This is new. Usually he is super afraid of jumping in or anyone touching him in the water. Friday at the lake, he was letting Mau throw him in the water. I need to get him in some lessons somewhere…I was going to up the street from the old house but we moved.

Since I have checked a problem off my list and enjoyed a weekend of free fun, I feel a little better…slightly less stressed at least and my heart thanks me and everyone involved.

It ends better than it starts

I have been doing my best to get paid. I have sent several emails to the person that is supposed to be handling my invoices but no response. I did find out he works from home too but apparently doesn’t check his email, which seems odd. I emailed someone else semi-in charge and all she said was to send them again to that guy and apologized for the delay during “this transition”…sigh, wtf? I don’t need apologies, I need my fucking money. I wouldn't even mind a nasty "Fuck you!" as long as there is a check attached. I am nearly 5 checks behind now…like I will have 5 in, which is a lot of money (that I don’t have). Right now I am getting no indication of when I will get anything. Hey, nothing like working for free!

I suppose I could hook up my computer in the cardboard box I will be living in so I can still do my work for that company…well, that is, if I HAD a computer. Mine is sitting in the hallway looking pretty and unusable. I can’t afford to fix it, if I even knew what was wrong with it. At least I could get a new HD and go from there if I had some loot. Or at least I could go buy some fireworks and blow some shit up…something semi destructive, that might make me feel better.

The washer is still broken and there are quite a few other, smaller problems going on and they just mount on top of the bigger stuff. It’s getting unbearable. I know I don’t sound like the most positive person right now but I really am trying to make the best of the situation. I am trying to keep in mind that, since we are watching every penny, that when I do get paid finally, we will have a shit load. I guess it won’t be that great once we get caught up on bills. In the meantime though, some bills will not wait and Mau makes crap so we will be in some serious trouble. I can get by until early July, when I am supposed to get paid but I can’t make it until mid July….that’s a bit long when it’s already been over a month.

Like I said, I am trying to make the best of it. Since we cannot afford to go to the waterpark (we don’t have passes this year to KI because I was going to buy them and didn’t get paid), I found us a free place to swim. It’s a lake and most of you know about me and natural bodies of water but it was alright. We are going back tomorrow. Just something to do that gets us out of the house and frees the mind for a little bit. James came by so that helped and Juan made a long overdue appearance (made me watch the basketball game, damn him...he always does that). They were not here at the same time but turns out they know each other...doesn't that figure?

Sorry, nothing funny today unless you really want to laugh at me then feel free. Oh wait, we forgot to close our garage door one day so I called Mary Jo to see if Keith would close it for us. She said he came running out of the garage dodging bikes on their sides and the lawn mower and ate shit. Even though I did not witness this act, I nearly die laughing just thinking about it. There! :P

I really hate computers now. Not too fond of my job either.

I didn’t get paid again. I guess none of my current invoices got to where they were supposed to go because Mr.Jackass can’t do his job. I do find it difficult as well to send an email with an attachment…how tiring and time consuming that is, it must take hours *sigh*. Well, if I thought we were broke when I missed one check I must have been crazy…missing 2 in a row will surely put us on the street (and our street is kind of dangerous). Problem is, I really don’t have anyone to gripe to within the company anymore since my boss isn’t my boss anymore and I have no clue who this new guy is. I do have his email but he doesn’t respond so it’s pretty useless. Maybe he doesn’t know how this email thingie works…what’s this button do? I believe my company would hire someone like that, wouldn’t surprise me.

Even though it is summer and I really love summer and am generally happier in this season, I am severely depressed. It’s hard to be cheery when financial doom is lurking. I have been busting my ass to keep caught up on work (since the database takes in new files faster than I can do them lately…yay, more traffic for them, no money for me!) while trying to fix my computer which there seems to be no cure for. It won’t even let us wipe the drive and start over…I guess I have to buy a new HD again (even though there is nothing wrong with this one) and find another copy of XP. Mau is getting pretty pissy that I am on his computer too. The washer is still broken so, as if I had any free time to begin with, we get to spend hours at a laundromat. Ok, despite the money it costs, the laundromat’s not that bad but it just adds on top of what is already getting to be too much.

In the tradition of running away from my problems, we decided to just move away and possibly release this curse that is looming overhead…go live with my dad. Help him out, pay him rent, spend quality time together before it’s not possible (he’s an old guy recovering from a stroke). No can do. Dad doesn’t want us, which made me cry. Most families try to stay connected. Mine does everything in its power to stay the fuck away from each other.

Since I’m in a fuck-everyone mood, fuck Edr0. He’s a bitch.

Just to not leave you on a depressing note, we had some action in the hood Friday evening. A car with 2 guys in it came flying up the connecting street at around 50mph skidding their tires and crashing into the entrance to the park. Kids frequently play right there so all the neighbors went running up to make sure one of them didn’t get killed. Thankfully no kids or animals were present. The 2 guys got out of their car laughing until they saw their blown tire. 2 white guys then came charging up the street cussing and yelling at the other 2 guys about the way they were driving. This started a fight. Mau tried to break it up but they politely told him to butt out. Why you have to take your shirt off to fight is beyond me but the fat white guy quickly strips off his shirt and takes off some chains making comments like “bring it on motherfucker”. It was comical and I realized it could be for theatrics…you know, like it makes it more dramatic if you’re stripping off your shirt in the heat of the moment. Maybe he just sees it in movies. Well, nearly immediately, he bends down like a wrestling move (Edr0 likes this move too and it never works out for him either) and his head meets the concrete. Throw some kicks idiots, you don’t bend over for Christ sake. The other white guy ended up being a stationary punching bag and they both left bleeding. The cops showed up but I don’t know the outcome of that…I would think destroying city property is some sort of crime. They really messed up some stuff in the park, including splitting a parking block in 2. I hate to be the one to break the news to Kari that they fucked up her flowerbed.

I hate computers sometimes

How insanely annoying. My computer was working fine then I turn it on the next morning and my anti virus program keeps popping up an alert of a virus in my system files. It won’t let me pull an IP now and it’s been troubleshooted to death. I think I am going to have to wipe the HD and reinstall OS. Fuck, as usual, my mail is the issue. I have corrected this for future issues but for now, I lose 400 software updates…should I not care since they haven’t paid me anyways? I have backed up most other important files and I’m exhausted with it.

Well, that leaves me sharing a PC with Mau. I don’t think he’s pleased about the fact nor do I like the view from over here. I have to have a connected machine though for my poker, I mean, my work. In the event that Mau is using his PC, I am stuck with Sky’s which I refer to as the “freeze-o-matic 8000” with the crappiest sound ever (it needs a new HD and is filled with spyware so no online banking on that puppy).

To take you back to the day of hell, the washing machine broke. I didn’t know this until I went down to change the laundry before bed at 3am and found it filled with water. I had to wring out jeans and towels by hand and dry the load like 3 times.

Getting pissed.

I wake up at 7am to the wonderful sound of a cat puking. Oh, it’s Ian who is sleeping on my pillow…and now puking on my pillow.

Getting more pissed.

I am not sure how I move that fast out of a dead sleep but I pushed him onto the floor while cussing, hoping he would do all the puking on the floor. No such luck. He had gotten my pillow and where my shoulders go. Fucking cat. There nothing like getting your head puked on, trust me. I cleaned it up, changed the pillowcase and went back to sleep. I got up to find my computer was fucked.

Real fucking pissed!

It’s just one of those days I guess…weeks, years, whatever.

Me, Mary Jo and Doug (the crazy site neighbor guy) playing in the woods. 

Adventures in camping part II...

Camping was a blast. Wet again but good. We got an even better site this time and positioned the tents under trees so they didn't get wet until it rained pretty hard Saturday night. Saturday day was nice though and hot enough to get wet in the waterpark.

Keith & Mary Jo went with us again and brought Jonah. We got set up pretty late on Friday night, the campground was full and there was a large group of girls across from us. All I had to hear was someone say "Let's sing a song!". Oh god, no. Ok, I can handle a couple songs but they sang like 20 of them. Those types you do pattycake to it sounded like, nothing I recognized...I was never a girl scout thankfully though. By the 3rd song, Sky & Jonah were dying. They started shouting "Shut up!" to them and acted like one more verse was going to send them into a mental breakdown. The singing was less irritating the more it drove the boys crazy and the girls would sing louder the more they yelled at them. Luckily this ended at some point. We ended up getting in trouble by the ranger for being too loud after midnight. It's so dark that he stood right next to our table and no one saw him until he spoke. Freaky. We had to use our "library voices" from then on he stated. Poo.

We ended up with some cool site neighbors on the one side and the other side was woods. A couple with 2 kids from around here. They were slightly odd but very friendly. The kids got along great and we hung out at night around the fire both nights playing games and such, sharing wood and Oreos...ahhh, good times. The boy had his turtles with him so the kids had fun playing with them. They also had a dog who played with Kali so it worked out for everyone.

Saturday night was the true adventure. We had all these trails behind our site through the woods so, besides making a very convenient restroom, we wandered around. Mau had taken me back there earlier along the one trail. It was pretty dangerous, especially since it was muddy. I fell in a hole 3 times, almost slid off what I thought might be a cliff (it was dark) and dodged prickly plants. We went back on a trail for what seemed to be forever and took a break. We chilled then walked back the same way avoiding the holes I kept falling into. It was like we had walked out of the twilight zone because once we were out, we realized we had only been like 10 feet back there and it took a fraction of the time to get out. "What? I thought we were way further back." "I know, what was that, like 10 steps?". Mau played "Search & Rescue" with all the kids. He ran off into the woods and the kids, all armed with flashlights, looked for him. It was very organized considering the oldest was 12 and the leader was 7. Mau was hanging off the side of a cliff letting them walk by him then follow them to scare the piss out of them type of thing.

After that we decided to go on a night hike on a different trail. I know, a group of 8 trying to do something "illegal"? Yeah, the ranger stopped us and let us know we were not allowed to be on that trail. Damn. So we went around a different way and these 2 stray kids joined us. It was odd. They walked with us for a bit before someone says "Where did these other kids come from?". As quickly as they appeared, they disappeared and everyone was like "Where did they go?". We gave up after not finding the trail, instead smoking with Mary Jo and the neighbor (Doug) in the woods then wandering around back there listening to the rain and taking pictures and no, I am NOT a hippie.

It was Skylar's birthday so, after we got back, we let the kids swim in the new pool and do the pinata thing then we went out to eat with Keith & Mary Jo to use our hard earned gift certificates. We had to see what the hype in this city is all about. It was cool and we sat outside with a storm blowing in...it was neat. The food is not all that though and they messed up my order so we got money off the bill, keeping the bill under what we had in certificates surprisingly. Afterwards Mau, Sky and I walked down some steps to the river that looked like they rarely got used. We heard voices and Mau gets to the bottom yelling "Come here quick!". What he thought was people having sex turned out to be a guy helping his acid tripping g/f out of the river. She had fallen in and was telling Sky repeatedly how cold it was and how he doesn't want to go in. He half paid attention to her, not seeing the severity of the situation...this is the Ohio River and does have a strong current. Anyways, as we were walking back up the stairs, she collapses onto my back. I'm not sure what happened to these people because we got to the top and looked back and they were gone. Maybe she fell back in?

Oops. Skylar's Pepsi tournament results are posted online finally. He ranked 134th under the, ahem, girls. Right between Samantha and Bailey :P I guess they didn't fix the snafu. If he had been placed in the correct category, he would have ranked between 141st & 143rd for boys out of 500 (judging by his handicap total). He will be starting a summer league tomorrow along with all the neighbor boys...Mary Jo coordinated it and is supervising all except Sky.

Mmmm mmmm good 

Happy Birthday Skylar!

I said "How does it feel to be 8?" He replies "Great.". There you have it folks...8 is great.

Need a break...

This week has been very busy. I didn't get paid because there is a new guy handling the freelance invoices and...well, obviously he's a jackass and doesn't send the invoices onto a/p on time. Bad timing with rent, 90% of the bills due and Sky's birthday. This made for living on the credit card, which still to this day I do not know why in hell they gave me one again. My hope, of course, is to get caught up on checks and pay the money back to the credit card but with Mr.Jackass in charge now, who knows if that will happen...he can't even email me back most of the time. This also doesn't make me feel a whole lot like working but work is overflowing and I don't have a choice.

Skylar got a new backyard pool for his birthday and it proved to be quite a task with a sloping backyard. Looks fine here, start filling. No, it's leaning. Move it here, start filling. No, leaning more. Let's try here. No. Argue a bit. Fuck it, fill it up and we take our chances. Half way filled, no way, will definitely collapse. Go buy sand and use a big piece of wood to level out the bottom. Now this side is leaning. Jesus! Ok, let's level out the top by digging in 90 degree & humid weather. Fun. After 3 days of fucking with this, we did get it working with a slight lean but the top looks round finally. Tested it out without filter and chlorine but three 7 yr olds in it and it held up. Putting any pressure on the edge will most definitely cause a surprise water ride into the neighbors' yards but it's working and that's what counts. Plus side is it's big enough for adults! Accident prone Ed? We'll see.

We are pet sitting for Sue & Ryan who went to, of all places, Portland. The 4 kitties are no problem and are all super sweet. They rescued a dog from the park 2 weeks ago and this would be a piece of cake except for this dog is nuts around other dogs. Not nuts like Kali where she flips out wanting to play with other dogs...this dog acts like it wants to eat other dogs and barks like crazy. This makes for a 2 part dog walk. Walk Kali the normal route and say hi to Kari then come back and walk Kilgore Trout (I just call her "Troutsie" to make it easier on both of us) a different route where she will not come in contact with other dogs or people on bikes or lawnmowers or just people in general. She's really sweet though in the house and just chills or follows me around. I made a mistake and played their DDR because, well I can't resist DDR just sitting there not being played. After 2 rounds, I had wiped out their 2 top scores and gotten scores on songs they hadn't. I hope they are not pissed.

We are going camping tomorrow for Sky's birthday...cheaper than having a party. Mary Jo & Keith are going too and bringing Jonah so it should be fun. Hopefully this time, we will actually make it. I'll let you know. Sky got a new bike from grandpa so he gets to test it out. It's a BMX racing bike. He had outgrown his old one (again...damn kids and growing, what's up with that?) and the neighbor kids were starting to make fun of him.

2nd place motherfuckers!

This weekend happened to be kid free due to a grandma hostage situation. It turned out to be the best weekend I have had in a very long time, no offense against the kid but we need a break sometimes. This started with Friday. We hooked up w/ Ed, Ted and Manny (Ed's friend from work) for a late night showing of Lords of Dogtown. Everyone was in agreement that it was an awesome flick, even with the annoying, loud drunk girl who was told to shut up by every person in the theatre. Afterwards we hung out by the river for a bit causing trouble.

Saturday day was fairly uneventful but the night brought on a super late night poker game at this guy's house. Manny & Ed came by to take us over there for the 2am start time. It was a $20 buy-in 10 person winner-takes-all game. We were told ahead of time that we stood a good chance of taking these guys out. Sure enough, Mau won. Last 4 players at the table ended up being me, Mau, Ed and the guy who lived in the house. We kind of took over their game but we weren't dicks about it and I think we would be invited back. Considering the win, we didn't mind getting home at 6am...time well spent (always is when poker is involved).

We slept kind of late then drove up to Dayton for HellaKitty's graduation party and the kid exchange. Problem being, we got there and grandma was gone with the kid and refused to bring him back stating he didn't want to go home yet and didn't even want us to show up. I actually believe the last part. She will bring him back Monday. It was at a new skatepark so Mau did some skating and I ate tons of food and hung out w/ HellaKitty's friends.

We had to leave to get back for our end of the season bowling party. The party consisted of us and Keith & Mary Jo. No one else showed up, except the 2 teams who didn't speak to us then left quickly. We got to bowl for free and got our awards and stats. We got 2nd place...thank you, thank you...which is a $50 gift certificate to Montgomery Inn. Keith & Mary Jo got 4th, a $25 certificate. We will use them this coming week. Crazy Larry, who works there, bowled with us then gave us the best present of all...he took us into the back! I have never been behind the scenes in an ally and it was cool as hell. We also both got a brand new bowling pin. Sweet.

No! It can't be so...

I thought to myself "How can we be out of toilet paper?" but we were, indeed, out of toilet paper and handed Mau a box of tissues.

One of the neighbor kids left one of the side gates open. The one I can't see from the door. Since I didn't know, I let Kali out for her nightly pee. After calling for her twice, I knew she was out. Mau searched until he claimed he got a creepy feeling near the entrance of the pitch dark park. Oh yeah, this was 1am so I certainly wasn't going looking for her. I figured she'd come back eventually. She did but took her sweet ass time. Around 3:30am she finally came back panting like she'd been running at top speed that whole time (and she probably had). I dragged her into the house and she immediately took the submissive pose dogs are famous for when in trouble. I still let her sleep on the bed because I'm a sucker.