Post vacation vomit

We have survived the family vacation from hell and it did go pretty much as I suspected it would.  Too many people in one building for too long a period of time.  Especially when some of those have health problems and there are very young children as well.  As usual, the in-laws were wanting this to be a Norman Rockwell moments and in reality it was more like the Adams Family/Griswald Family Vacation.

The tick brought the significant other who suddenly needed to leave early to get a medical test done ASAP.  This meant that they had to take one of our cars putting three and half people, two kayaks, suit cases and everything else into one Xb.  This all transpired at ten o'clock at night when the electricity had been knocked out by a thunderstorm.  So as we all sat in the dark, sweating and attempting to get the little ones someplace with air conditioning, they are throwing things into my car so as to leave.  This was done with no discussion or asking advice.  Just we are leaving now.  My other half was furious to say the least as all this transpired in front of her family.

The tick's sibling did what I expected, smoked, ate and drank.  The later was done with everyone else's beverages as the sibling did not purchase ANYTHING.  Blessedly they left a day early.  The other thing of note was that the sibling is now an expert on just about everything one can imagine.  All this while they have no steady job and no drivers license.  The later due to multiple DUI convictions, thus they are now on foot.

The mother in law was her normal controlling self and even managed to have multiple mad fits.  No one was sure what brought them on.  Just a bunch of one word responses or very sharp answers to questions.  The meals had to be preplanned and this meant that there was WAY too much food purchased meaning someone had to make room to take it home.  This prompted another mad fit as no one wanted to deal with all the food.  Instead of leaving it for the cleaners or the next guest it all had to go with her.  The father in law has to eat at specific times of the day or else the world quits turning.  This means that when the clock begins to approach the anointed hour, everyone has to be prepared to stop what they are/were doing so that he may eat.  If the time comes and for what ever reason he is unable to eat then you get to listen to him complain or he begins pacing and complaining.  One thing he did say on the final day as we were leaving was that the next time a vacation like this was done, it should be days shorter.  AMEN to that and hopefully there will not be a next time.

On a crappier note, I have to go back to work in the mines today.  To make it even better I get to work part of the day with the Whiney Troll.  This is one of the individuals who had their hours cut two weeks ago.  As such, she demanded that she get first offer on any open shifts and wanted more time on call.  As predicted, she now is trying to get out of the call.  I don't know why the Pope doesn't just terminate her worthless butt and save us all from the misery that she is.

Now just a few short weeks and I'll be in Paradise for two weeks, without in-laws, ticks or having to deal with a Whiney Troll.  

Going, going, gone

This is a quick note to let everyone know I'm going away for a week of hell.  I won't be posting during that time but should be back in one week with more fun.

All my best to each of you, remember that if you love something you should set it free.  If it returns to you, it is yours.  If it doesn't return to you, then you should hunt it down and kill it.

Rainbows and elbows

The funny thing about relationships is that they only work when they are balanced.  Check out a site called Pravsworld...there is a really great poster about this.  Last night the conversation turned to getting prepared for our "vacation".  It is up to me to load everything possible in/on my car including the yaks. It was suggested that someone (her) would/could call the tick to come help.  This was immediately followed with I should call as it would be taken more seriously from me than her.  Why didn't she just come out and say I should call to make the arrangements?  Instead I get this crap of we should do this, you go do it.  Does anyone else have to deal with this sort of crap?  I for one am getting fed up with the convoluted manipulation B/S.

The trip has turned into pretty much what I knew it would and it has not even begun.  Now I get to deal with the tick's elder sibling who is an alcohol sodden druggie who only calls when they need money.  On top of this I find out that the tick's significant other may be joining us as well.  To put the icing on the cake, the later two will be riding with us while I'm sure the former will need to be collected at the nearest airport.  Put all of this together with twenty some odd people share one cabin for a week.  I think I would rather travel to a third world country to get a trans-rectal root canal done by a blind dentist.  Is there anyone out there volunteering to take my place...anyone?  I thought so...you bunch of cowards!

I only need to survive for one week which I will do.  You simply need to turn off the caring, let the crap hit the fan and make sure it's pointed at someone else.  Life is sooooo much easier to deal with when you choose not to care about things so much.  The Pope's minion sent out a message about accepting things as they are instead of how we want them.  So with that in mind I choose to let things go to shit, sit back and let someone else have to get up and deal with it.  It's NOT my problem!  The problem arrises when too many people attempt to get to the end of the rainbow all at once.  Everyone elbowing, pushing, shoving and fighting over trivial crap that means little or nothing in the end.

Hang on a moment...had to get more coffee.  As I was up at four something this morning, saving more lives...HA HA.  I will not miss the shithole of a mine for one minute.  Interesting enough, more and more of my coworkers are quietly making plans to leave as well.  At some point  in the near future the only ones left to do any work will be the newbies, management and crickets.  I guess they should invest in the complete volume of "Healthcare for Dummies" books.  But fear not my quivering friends, the gubment has a plan to save healthcare and us.  This from the same group who passed and signed an amendment exempting themselves out of our wonderful new and improved gubment sponsored healthcare initiative.

Well time to go, I've ten hours and a drive to go before I sleep.

Much too young...

The words of the song goes "I'm much too young to feel this damn old" and that is just how I feel at this moment.  Another week of mining turds, dealing with fools, shuffling my life to accomodate others, etc.  I am just worn out and I need a break from this insanity.

The week(s) of hell are now upon me.  This week, we aquire two more bodies to deal with.  The next we get to deal with all the family in one very small house.  My enthusiasm runeth over in case you can't tell.  Oh well, like a bad ham sandwich...this too shall pass.  I shall try to practice my Zen excercises but it is hard to not think of anything when everything is resting upon you.  Pray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rum, it's not just for breakfast...

I had the most restful, peaceful evening last night.  The spouse, tick and tick's tick were gone leaving the house to me, myself and my dogs.  I watched what I wanted, had adult/dog conversation and mostly just relished the quiet calm of solitude.  There is a fine line the seperates lonelyness from solitude and the wise know what that difference is.

The headache I had been suffering finally subsided and now I am left with the bruised fealings from applying pressure point therapy.  The bruised feeling is much better than the ice pick in the temple feeling to be sure.

I did hear from a co-worker that we were both spared in the cuts at the Pope's mine.  The others did not fare so well and to be honest both need to be gone.  That is another tale of woe for another day.  The important thing is that my hours are intact thus allowing me to continue with the plan to eject.

I found another website with posting for houses and land in paradise.  The really cool part is that I found two houses that fall well within the budget and would afford the purchase of "Number Five".
Who at this moment resides several paradises away.  With it, the house and the business we will be set for life.  How sweet a life it will be...no ticks, leaches, relatives or Klingons.  The Klingons tend to be the worst.  For those inquiring minds the Klingons are relatives who show up with little or no warning. Making plans for things they "think" would be fun and then don't leave soon enough.  If you've never had the pleasure of their company, just wait.  Every family has at least one and usually takes the form of an in-law thus promising you a life of Hell should you make them or their child (your spouse) mad.

The title is stolen from a college beer drinking poster so I truly cannot accept credit for it though it is truthful.  A shot of that magical, golden nectar of the Gods in ones morning coffee does wonders.  It seems to make one not care as much about how the day appears or what one may face.  Not that I am an advocate of over indulgence, hardly the case.  Just that it can be applied internally for medical purposes (mental health is still medicine).

I leave you with a photo of one of my favorite places on this planet.  Those who are lucky enough to have visited it know what I speak of.  Those who do not, maybe you will be lucky enough to find me when I eject or get an invitation which will include a visit to this most magical spot.  Till then...

Solitude of self

Having survived another week I feel as though I've been twisted into knots.  The prospect of having my hours cut, job cut, taking care of the tick's tick, etc. are draining on one's soul.  Multiple times I am expected to give up my time off to take care of others "needs" due to a lack of planning and/or forethought.  In short, I am tired!

The tick did manage to wreck the vehicle they were using.  That makes two vehicles they have wrecked to date without having owned one.  I am told that they will hear about a possible job this week and if it is positive then I will get to enjoy their company on the up coming vacation.  The thought of dealing with them for a full week does nothing for my current stress headache.

Speaking of the vacation, this was thought up by the spouses family.  The thought of spending a week in a cabin full of people does not thrill me in the least.  A few peeps would be OK and survivable but to have that many people at one time is not my idea of fun.  I think that someones mortality is causing them angst and therefore we must have these family gatherings.  It is either that or guilt for not having spent more time with them when they were children.  Either way it is now dependant upon me to drive a thousand miles, spend money I could put elsewhere and burn precious vacation days doing something less than fun.

It is just this sort of crap that makes me want to eject from this hell and move to an island.  Somewhere difficult to get too so that visitors are few.  I just crave solitude!  I am tired of feeling like I'm being pulled in twenty directions at once.  When you go to sleep exhausted, wake up exhausted and then have to please everyone...need I say more.

So today, once again I am responsible for looking after someone's responsibilty until late this afternoon.  I have put off personal things just to accomodate them and not one of them seems to take note.  We all sometimes need help from others, I get that.  What I am talking about is when others continue making plans that require you to put your life on hold just for them.  It seems to be a socially genetic flaw in todays younger people.  I seem to remember doing without or making arrangements to cover my needs without the assistance of others.  Now days it seems that it truly does take a village to raise a child.  That is because our children refuse to growup and accept responsibility for their actions.  I for one would have no problem cutting the apron strings, casting them off on their own.  One of the saying I've heard multiple times is that hunger is a great motivator.

Well, I need to go tend to the tick's tick because they are busy taking care of their needs instead of their responsibilities needs.

Grab your ankles time

Those sweet little sisters of Satan are at it again.  Now they will have fewer of us to mine those turds in the Popes rectum due to another round of cuts, layoffs and job "re-definement".  While none of the administration gets touched or has to suffer from smaller paychecks, those of us on the front lines of delivering care get to do three times the work with a third of the resources and/or pay.  They seem to have stolen a page from the gubments play book on how to run an operation into oblivion.

I read a post yesterday about finding yourself in a hole with no plan on how to get out of it.  This seems to be the new SOP for todays MBA's.  In the mean time we should all take strength in the values of our purpose and goals....try selling that to your creditors.

The tick has not made it home for several nights now, not that I'm complaining.  Just thinking that maybe that part of the nightmare will soon end and I can move on to moving on.  I look at this belle melange with great fear of what is to come.  It seems that the economy is tanking and I am stuck with this parasite of a child.  Not that they are the only one, just the closest and most time/resource consuming.

It truly appears that our day of reckoning is upon us, time to grab your ankles boys and girls.

Another day in the trenchs

Well, let's see how to put all of this.  The golden child states they don't think they can afford to fly their responsibility back to the Left coast, surprise!  The other grandparent had no clue either as to how the responsibility was getting back as both of hers initially said they would fly and now both say they don't want to.  Once again its up to us to contact the other party, make the arrangements and make sure that everything gets paid for.  I will ask this question once again, how is it that one can work for six months, not pay any bills and have no money in their pocket or bank account?

We were told (in secret) that this week the little sisters of satan would be cutting jobs or hours.  I just love how this religious affiliated healthcare organization lives the tenets they claim to espouse.  With everything I have to keep paid and on top of the last thing I need is to worry about having a job.  The last time we went through this they cut our jobs, offered us new ones at fewer hours and let us make up the shortfall in pay by working more hours on call.  Now we think they will cut the hours enough to force some of us to quit.  This will mean the few left will work more hours, more call and less time to rest.

Where in the world would you live if you could?  What I mean is that you could make enough to support yourself, have a place to live and not have to do the daily grind.  Everyone has a dream of escaping from their boomerang children, tyrant boss, endless taxation and/or ever increasing sense of hopelessness.  If this life, the one we are living right now is all that there is or will ever be then why do we continue to go on?  I'm not talking about suicide or having an emotional breakdown.  What I'm saying is why not eject from this workers paradise, this American dream of getting rich.  How about living somewhere small with less stress and more life?  Each day we wakeup, wade through the mud and crawl into the trenches to fight for what?  We might get to keep thirty to forty percent of our earned income, that is after we have paid all the direct and indirect taxes.  It's just not worth it any more.

Then when it comes to supporting ticks, you know those nasty little parasites that suck the life blood out of us.  Those sweet little things that we once held and looked upon with love and hope for the future.  That now only want their lives to be like a television show or Hollywood magazine story.  Their futures start and stop at the ends of their collective noses.

All of this is contributing to my burnout and I am ready to make a break for it.  How about you?  

Pots of gold

They say that at the end of every rainbow lies a pot of gold.  While I've been to the end of several rainbows I've yet to find my pot of gold.  I guess the moral to the story is that the pot of gold lies in the journey or the hunt for treasure and that we should find the treasure in the hunt itself.  The line from the song goes something like "it's not getting what you want but wanting what you've got".  Unfortunately I don't want some of the things I've got!

Like the tick, just can't bring myself to say that I truly want that to be a part of my life forever.  Knowing that their standard operating procedures will never change.  Once again the lovely individual that they are left their responsibility squarely in our hands.  Not that we mind taking care of this person just I didn't sign up to raise someones child, pay for the privilege of doing the same while they work on their social life.

The fifteenth of this month marks six months of getting ones act together or the lack there of.  I've come to the decision that its time for them to assume a share of the load.  In my life one of the strongest motivators was always living in doors and being able to eat something.  I personally believe that until this upstanding model of society is forced to pull their share of the load, they will choose to ride.  That time has come and gone and I think come Monday a new leaf will turn in their comfortable little world.  It should be interesting to see how those priorities change when the responsibility for paying for some of those "needs" come to rest squarely upon a new set of shoulders.

Don't I just remind you of Me?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Right Directions?

The conversation yesterday centered on the tick moving in the right direction as far as getting a full time, forty hour a week job.  This is something that they have never had and my guess is that this is just a way to buy more time.  After six months of "working", they still have no money, no car and college loans to pay off.

The college plan turned out just as I expected it would.  Had we been paying the tuition I would have been even more upset than I am currently now.  Having gone to school, which began as a great experience, we then proceeded to end our first year on academic probation.  It seems that when you gone to college, the faculty expect you to read, turn in papers, pass exams, etc.  I must have missed the college where you just go to have fun and hang out with friends.  This part ends with a student loan of nearly three thousand dollars which is accumulating interest as I write this.  But the good news is...we are moving in the right direction.

I guess I just expect more than movement.  The funny thing about movement is that first, the right direction could be toward any point of the compass.  For some the correct one would be backwards.  That is not an option.  Second, movement does not imply progress.  One could move in a circle, call it the right direction and never get further than where they began from.  So far all I have seen is this person walk around in circles, complain that they just can't get ahead and ask for more help.

A hand up is NOT a hand out.  I do know that doing and paying for all of this is beyond the getting old stage and progressing into the throw my shit in a pile and leave stage.

October will soon be here, I won't be here and possibly next year I won't be here at all.  I have a direction that I'm moving in and it is not the one where I take care of a tick the rest of my life.

The tick's tick

The tick brought home the latest acquisition in companionship yesterday.  Can anyone tell me who brings their dog(s) with them to meet someone for the first time?  Not only that but to leave them in side the house while everyone is gone.  My instincts tell me that this person is just another parasite who has attached themselves to the same.

How does this work, one parasite feeding on another?  Not my problem right now but I can see where if this goes forward, the plan will spiral into both of them wanting/needing to live here.  NOT going to happen!

As we fast approach the six months anniversary of the tick moving in, I am fast approaching my terminal limit to paying for everything, cleaning everything, shopping, cooking and taking care of their responsibilities.  That sound you will soon hear will be air rushing in to fill the void left by my body leaving this place.