Rant: Last night, I noticed some water on the floor in the garage. Looked, and the lining of my old gas water heater was giving way. Replacing the water heater today. Doing it solo, but thankfully I am able. Rave: Having noticed it early, I was able to switch off water and gas to the heater, and drained the tank manually via el garden hose. My stuff didn't have a 40 gallon bath.....a clear win. I got lucky.
Rant: Have to love our local council rezoning the properties around us. We're now transitioning from having 4 neighbors ( 4 houses) to having 10 new houses constructed next door and over the back fence. Nothing like having the local suburbs moving next door
Rave: Theory part of the course is done and finished, thank fuck for that. Rant: Now four weeks of practical scenarios and then a license scenario. Rave: Four weeks and provided no more obstacles arise I'll have a lovely Dutch lady visiting me for a month.
Rave: As of 1:16 PM Pacific time, the James family welcomed Jimmy James the Younger. Rave: When my daughter was born, she didn't breathe for 6 minutes so we didn't get to hear the crying you normally expect when your kid is born. When the wife and I heard our son immediately start crying, my wife and I joined in. It was such a relief to not have to worry about again. Rave: He has HUGE balls, which is weird considering I'm only packing a couple of Advil in a dried prune. I'm assuming he's going to be a viking or a bloodthirsty hedge fund manager. There's really no middle ground.
His real dad was probably packing cantelopes. Seriously, though, that's a result of the hormones released during the birth process; Li'l Bandit's balls were huge, too. After a few days they shrunk down to a more proportionate size. Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled program: RANT: Anyone else get an unpleasant surprise after filing their taxes? Apparently I can't claim work expenses under the new tax plan. As a mechanic, I routinely spend over $1000 a year on tools and other equipment; you know, stuff I need TO DO MY FUCKING JOB. THANKS, TRUMP.
Rant: It took no less than 17 minutes for 5 people to figure out how to dial-in to the correct WebEx call today. The call ended 13 minutes later. I hate everyone.
Rave: All things considered life is good. Rant: I was supposed to have a hysterectomy Tuesday. But nooooo they found high grade high risk lesions on my cervix soooo new testing to see if I have cancer. Awesome. Medical care up here takes forever. So it’s abother two month wait. Other rant/rave: Minime moved out and is adulting and y’all it broke my damn heart. I miss that kid. But he’s doing well and we went on a 3k mile road trip together and it was absolutely fucking amazing. I mean. Serious heart to heart talks and light moments and just...I’m going to cry thinking of it. I’m so proud of him.
My dad had a heart attack Thursday. He’s been in poor health for years that they’ve been unable to diagnose. Turns out it’s due to his arteries being half the diameter of a WD40 straw. The best part is that he had debilitating, radiating chest pains from his left wrist to collarbone for thirteen DAYS and told no one. His cleaning lady called me because she showed up and thought he was dying. He didn’t let me call an ambulance; in the argument about it he had a seizure. After that he let me drive him to a local hospital, who took one look at him and med-evac’d him to London. I am normally appalled at the state of Canadian healthcare, but it turns out if they think you’re dying it sorts out all the kinks. He had surgery 24 hours later. I just hope he follows through with the aftercare plans.
Rave: The little boy I posted about previously is getting moved out of the ICU and into the rehab floor. It’s amazing that he’s making such good progress!
Rant: Today, I had a doctor's appointment for Miss James. She's 3 and a half now. The Mrs. and I noticed that she seemed to be falling behind verbally and socially with the other kids at her preschool. Long story short, she's got multiple red flags indicating autism and language comprehension disorder. So now I get to feel retroactively guilty for all the times I was short with her because I thought she was just screwing with me. And I get to wrap my head around being a parent of a special needs child, like how people will treat her because she is differently abled, what might happent to her after Mrs. James and I kick the bucket, fun stuff like that. Rave: The good news is that we noticed this now and not by a teacher right after she started kindergarten.
Rant/rave? Mom, through Ancestry DNA test, has discovered that her father is not who she thought, and she is one of 13 not 3. She's shook.
Rave: bewildered has a new grandparent! Plus many new aunts, uncles! It's like a St Paddy's day miracle!
Rant - Christian women. Goddamn. I generally refrain from engaging but holy shiiiit the snark about international women’s day and the bullshit these females spout regarding women’s roles and men makes me want to kick all of them in the fucking clown car they call a baby maker.
Rave: I went to the Nostalgia Personified tour with Mike Maronna and Danny Tamberelli at a brewery last night, and it was awesome! I got to hang out with them and talk for awhile, and they're both great dudes. Rant: I have to have my wisdom teeth taken out in a few weeks. This will be the first time that I have ever received general anesthesia. I am dreading it. It's also on a Tuesday, so I will have to burn some of my vacation or personal time from work for this. Rave: I have some concerts coming up that should be good...Erykah Badu and Nas, The Rolling Stones, New Found Glory, Trey Anastasio Band, Korn and Alice in Chains, and Noel Gallagher and the Smashing Pumpkins!
Rave: Finally found a used model of the rower I've wanted that wasn't 95% of the original price. Rant: I am way more the fuck out of shape than I anticipated.
Rant: I couldn’t beat the bomb cyclone and I’m stuck in Denver until Saturday. I’m all sorts of stressed out and fed up. The friends I’m here with may start really not getting along soon. Rave: We came out here for my bachelor party/yearly ski trip and it was a lot of fun until we got to the airport Wednesday morning.
Rave: Winter is breaking and the trip home revitalized me. I think I had a case of the sads. Need to make sure that doesn't happen again or as badly.
Rave: Passed the last assessment on my Explosive Ordnance Recon course today. Rant: Mass shooting back home in New Zealand today, NZ has now changed forever and my heart is breaking.
Rave: I have spent the last year of my professional life fine-tuning a comprehensive teaching program to upskill my idiot users. 3 months ago the managing partners got their first look at the program in its entirety and loved it Rave: After the meeting, I went home and finished everything. I was proud. Set to deliver last week Rant: The delivery got derailed and the support I thought I had to enforce the training (5 minutes a day for 2 weeks) through incentives and integration into their evaluations evaporated Rave: After I had a short pity party, I felt freer than I have in years. Now my idle time can be about learning things that I think are fun (After Effects is the shit) Rave: One of our staff is leaving. She thinks the program would work for her new company. I might be able to sell it to them
Rave: Accepted a job, and they will accommodate me with my back issues. It's actually relevant to my degree and I think I am really going to enjoy it. I get to be outside! Yes! Rant-ish- I'm a little worried about the schedule (40hrs over 4 days, up to 14hrs per day), but I think I'm just too used to the new normal which involves me waking up whenever I damned feel like and doing things by my schedule and pace. Time to pull on the big girl britches and get to work. It's only for 6 months anyway. As long as it isn't affecting my back, it will be okay. I have worked in real shit holes in the past, and did it with a smile. It'll be fine. Duh Rave: Money baby! Moving to a new climate is expensive, y'all. ???: 3rd grader in the class I was subbing for today told me I sound like a cowboy. From the mouths of babes...