The locks have been changed on the exterior doors and I'll be picking up the new gate locks today. (Went last night, but the ones I got were too big for the holes. Hurrhurr.) My mom talked to her boss at work, and it turns out she can get a discount from an alarm company that is owned by the same corporation. They might be out here as soon as today. My landlord is having someone come out today to replace the locks on my apartment, and Mike had his locks changed yesterday. Now we just need to track down someone to replace the upstairs door, and Mike and I need to get the locks on our cars changed. As long as they didn't raid my place last night, we've weathered the immediate storm.
But my mom and cousin will be living here on their own. While my mom is putting on a brave face, my cousin is freaking out. (I think she's been turning agoraphobic for a while now.) My mom just went upstairs to check on my cousin, and she's not there. Instead of being here for the woman who is essentially supporting her, she left last night without letting us know. Yeah, it's not safe enough for you to stay, so leave the 62-year-old lady on her own.
I'm going home today to get some clothes and my new keys, but I'll be staying at my mom's as much as possible this week.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009 And things get worse...
Mike and I were going to BBQ at my mom's today. Because Mike works nights and my hours have gotten out of whack since I've been out of work, we got here early in the morning, Mike around 5AM and me a couple of hours later. Mike slept upstairs at his sister's, and I slept at my mom's while she went to church.
While we slept, somebody lifted up the screen in the living room window, lowered the fan, and slipped inside my mom's apartment. She's got a dog, but he was in his cage. The thief or thieves quickly riffled through all three apartments. Mike's phone, keys, and wallet are gone. His sister's purse, keys, wallet, and Nintendo DS. My keys and phone, and my mom's mp3 player, credit cards, social security card, and birth certificate. The contents of a electronics junk drawer. And all the meat for our Fourth of July BBQ. In fact, they cleaned out most of the food from all three floors.
All the doors in the place were left open, as were many drawers and closets. Luckily, they didn't grab anything big - our tv's, stereos, and computers are still here - and they missed the backpack with my laptop inside. No jewelry seems to be missing. But as they have our keys, the odds are good they plan on coming back.
So we waited for the police to show, spending the hours canceling credit cards and phone accounts with the aid of the laptop. I had my wallet on me while I slept, so they didn't get my cards and can't have gotten my address from my ID. But I'm worried that they can get it using my cell phone number. The last we heard, they used Mike's card three times and it looks like they are heading west. I live in the west 'burbs. I notified my local police and they said they would keep an eye out, but I'm still nervous as hell.
The cops came and took our statements. He said a team would be round to dust for prints, but they still haven't shown yet. I spent most of the day outside, keeping an eye on the cars until Mikey gets back with the spare keys. I'm going to have to get the locks on the car changed; we've already had the locks on the house and garage changed, and my landlord is sending someone round to my apartment tomorrow.
My mom has already decided to keep the dog out of the cage from now on, no matter how much he destroys things. He was in the cage while I slept because he gets very hyper when I'm around and won't let me alone. He nips and pounces and barks at me if he's out of the cage, and cries and whines if he's in it. Between that and all the fans going, it's not surprising we slept through any noise.
I'm pending the night here, for whatever good it does anyone. Hopefully, the thieves didn't see enough of value here to try and break-in when they find out the keys don't work. But I'm worried about the nights when I won't be around. Living here on their own is going to be real rough on my mom and Mike's sister. She's been trying to sell the house for a while now. We have to get out of here.
While we slept, somebody lifted up the screen in the living room window, lowered the fan, and slipped inside my mom's apartment. She's got a dog, but he was in his cage. The thief or thieves quickly riffled through all three apartments. Mike's phone, keys, and wallet are gone. His sister's purse, keys, wallet, and Nintendo DS. My keys and phone, and my mom's mp3 player, credit cards, social security card, and birth certificate. The contents of a electronics junk drawer. And all the meat for our Fourth of July BBQ. In fact, they cleaned out most of the food from all three floors.
All the doors in the place were left open, as were many drawers and closets. Luckily, they didn't grab anything big - our tv's, stereos, and computers are still here - and they missed the backpack with my laptop inside. No jewelry seems to be missing. But as they have our keys, the odds are good they plan on coming back.
So we waited for the police to show, spending the hours canceling credit cards and phone accounts with the aid of the laptop. I had my wallet on me while I slept, so they didn't get my cards and can't have gotten my address from my ID. But I'm worried that they can get it using my cell phone number. The last we heard, they used Mike's card three times and it looks like they are heading west. I live in the west 'burbs. I notified my local police and they said they would keep an eye out, but I'm still nervous as hell.
The cops came and took our statements. He said a team would be round to dust for prints, but they still haven't shown yet. I spent most of the day outside, keeping an eye on the cars until Mikey gets back with the spare keys. I'm going to have to get the locks on the car changed; we've already had the locks on the house and garage changed, and my landlord is sending someone round to my apartment tomorrow.
My mom has already decided to keep the dog out of the cage from now on, no matter how much he destroys things. He was in the cage while I slept because he gets very hyper when I'm around and won't let me alone. He nips and pounces and barks at me if he's out of the cage, and cries and whines if he's in it. Between that and all the fans going, it's not surprising we slept through any noise.
I'm pending the night here, for whatever good it does anyone. Hopefully, the thieves didn't see enough of value here to try and break-in when they find out the keys don't work. But I'm worried about the nights when I won't be around. Living here on their own is going to be real rough on my mom and Mike's sister. She's been trying to sell the house for a while now. We have to get out of here.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Happy Birthday to Me, I Guess
It was my birthday Sunday, February 1st. I turned 42.
It was my last day of employment Friday, January 30th. I was laid off after 17 years with the same company.
I may be posting here much more frequently, my imagination and energy set free by the absence of work commitments. Or I may be posting here even less frequently, mentally and emotionally crippled by an ever-expanding miasma of despair. I'd say it's about fifty-fifty either way at this point.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 King Vitaman Sucks
The family Halloween party was last Saturday. The plan was to serve hot dogs for all the kids, but someone done forgot to get the hot dogs (but oddly, not the buns). Mikey and I were dispatched to the nearest supermarket, some chain I have never heard of named something like Buy & Low or Pay & Little or Hey Hillfolk Get Yer Vittles Here. Now, we were in the wilds of Indiana and apparently, that's where old products go to die because Mikey spotted King Vitaman in the cereal aisle. I remembered loving King V as a kid, so I snatched up a box as we made our way to the checkout line.
(The original plan was to boil the hot dogs, but Mikey wouldn't hear of that. Our host didn't have a grill, so Mike assembled the parts needed to MacGuyver one - a big foil pan, a wire cooling rack from the cookie sheet aisle, and one of those small, pre-soaked charcoal bags. The cooling rack fit perfectly across the top of the foil pan and, in case the heat got too much for the thin metal of the pan, we placed the whole contraption on some bricks we found in the back yard. It worked like a charm. The hot links were damn good.)
This morning, I figured I'd have myself some King Vitaman. I anticipated a bowl full of sugary goodness served up with a side of warm, glowing nostalgia.
I didn't get it.
Imagine Captain Crunch with all the flavor removed. That is King Vitaman. You get the same amount of calories, you still cut the hell out of the roof of your mouth, you just don't experience anything resembling the sensation of taste. I am assured by the package, however, that the cereal is a good source of 12 essential vitamins and iron. Fuck you, package.
I don't know if King Vitaman always tasted like this, or if someone's been screwing with the formula. It's not as if they haven't made some changes over the years. I remember the box looking like this:
and it now looks like this:
It may seem odd, but I prefer the slightly deranged, probably drunk, potentially pedophilliac gentleman from the old design to the generic cartoon currently being used. I mean, good on the Cookie Crisp wizard for landing another gig, but the old package had character.
Speaking of the package, instead of using the side panel for something useful like recipes that might make this shit taste good or tips on how to stop blood pouring from the roof of your mouth, Quaker has given us riddles. And by riddles, I mean "retarded non sequiturs that make the guy who writes Dixie Riddle Cups look like Molière."
And don't get me started on the hidden picture puzzle on the back, because you're already looking at me funny. This thing couldn't challenge a nearsighted five-year-old on mescaline. It looks like the artist, exhausted after putting in the bare minimum effort to hide the spoon and arrow, looked at his watch and said, "Fuck it, Quaker ain't paying me overtime. I'll just stick everything else in the trees and the goddamn clouds where they'll leap out at the viewer like titties in a 3-D Russ Meyer movie". I'd much rather have the stupid knight mask from the back of the old box, thank you very much.
In conclusion, this forty-two-year-old was let down by a children's breakfast cereal in every way imaginable.
By the way, I won the costume contest at the party. (Thank you, thank you, oh, you're too kind!). If I can get decent photos within the next couple of days, I'll post 'em here.
(The original plan was to boil the hot dogs, but Mikey wouldn't hear of that. Our host didn't have a grill, so Mike assembled the parts needed to MacGuyver one - a big foil pan, a wire cooling rack from the cookie sheet aisle, and one of those small, pre-soaked charcoal bags. The cooling rack fit perfectly across the top of the foil pan and, in case the heat got too much for the thin metal of the pan, we placed the whole contraption on some bricks we found in the back yard. It worked like a charm. The hot links were damn good.)
This morning, I figured I'd have myself some King Vitaman. I anticipated a bowl full of sugary goodness served up with a side of warm, glowing nostalgia.
I didn't get it.
Imagine Captain Crunch with all the flavor removed. That is King Vitaman. You get the same amount of calories, you still cut the hell out of the roof of your mouth, you just don't experience anything resembling the sensation of taste. I am assured by the package, however, that the cereal is a good source of 12 essential vitamins and iron. Fuck you, package.
I don't know if King Vitaman always tasted like this, or if someone's been screwing with the formula. It's not as if they haven't made some changes over the years. I remember the box looking like this:
and it now looks like this:
It may seem odd, but I prefer the slightly deranged, probably drunk, potentially pedophilliac gentleman from the old design to the generic cartoon currently being used. I mean, good on the Cookie Crisp wizard for landing another gig, but the old package had character.
Speaking of the package, instead of using the side panel for something useful like recipes that might make this shit taste good or tips on how to stop blood pouring from the roof of your mouth, Quaker has given us riddles. And by riddles, I mean "retarded non sequiturs that make the guy who writes Dixie Riddle Cups look like Molière."
And don't get me started on the hidden picture puzzle on the back, because you're already looking at me funny. This thing couldn't challenge a nearsighted five-year-old on mescaline. It looks like the artist, exhausted after putting in the bare minimum effort to hide the spoon and arrow, looked at his watch and said, "Fuck it, Quaker ain't paying me overtime. I'll just stick everything else in the trees and the goddamn clouds where they'll leap out at the viewer like titties in a 3-D Russ Meyer movie". I'd much rather have the stupid knight mask from the back of the old box, thank you very much.
In conclusion, this forty-two-year-old was let down by a children's breakfast cereal in every way imaginable.
..........
By the way, I won the costume contest at the party. (Thank you, thank you, oh, you're too kind!). If I can get decent photos within the next couple of days, I'll post 'em here.
Monday, September 22, 2008 So You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star
We had the family Rock Band party this Saturday. It was really my brother's gig and he set everything up. We put up the big tent at the family compound, hooked up his XBox to his digital projector, hung up some bedsheets as a screen, and we were good to go. We had perfect weather, and nearly everyone showed up. Sara had the most consistent high scores on vocals, as she makes up in enthusiasm and volume what she utterly lacks in pitch and harmony. Andrea kicked all our asses singing, of course, but I think I did pretty good on Moonage Daydream and Here Comes Your Man. Even reticent ol' Mario took a crack at the mike. A good time was had by all.Maybe too good of a time in my case.
Due to a serious misunderstanding, I drank an entire fifth of Bacardi. The misunderstanding was that I thought I could drink an entire fifth of Bacardi. I was completely useless all day Sunday (as opposed to my usual 3/4 useless) and am still hurting this morning. Sara and Andrea made me feel even worse by reminding me that after I finished the Bacardi, I moved on to straight amaretto on the rocks. Ouch.
I didn't thrown up, though perhaps I probably should have. But I just can't bring myself to vomit since my first trip to India. I guess after doing nothing but puking for three straight days of agony, you develop a mental block from ever doing it again.
By the way, kids, Barcardi O and V8 Splash Tropical Blend for the win.
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