*hugs Sahi*

Thanks for being so sweet :)

this rant list reminds me of "gripe night in the morning" (hosted by Bill Handel  KFI 640AM Los Angeles).  I'll try not to be political in my rant lest I'll offend everyone who votes. I'm going to complain about library books. I hate it when I'm about 300 pages into a 700 page book and the back pages start falling out of it!! I feel obligated to report it right away and the library clerk then takes the book to be repaired so then I'm left with no book because that's the only copy that my local library had available..I know...I should quit being cheap and just buy the book..I will buy it when I find it for 49 cents at the thrift store!!

I hate this day.
Not enough that none of the things I planned to do worked out.

Just now Mama arrived with another carload of boxes from the house, and asked me and my lazy pig of a 14-year-old brother to help bring it upstairs. And the lazy pig could, of course, not be bothered to get up from his bed, where he spends the whole summer holidays, watching TV.
So that left me to carry stupid boxes when I'm quite tired already. The little git didn't even get up to lock the cat in the living room (so he doesn't slip out into the staircase, as he keeps trying to do).
I'm not a very patient person, even less when I'm tired. So I went and yelled at him and slammed the door of his bedroom. Now that was enough to bring him out of bed, to run into the hall, yell back at me and even try to hit me. I admit it, I resorted to grabbing a fistful of his hair (which is easy, as it's rather long).

*is determined to spend the rest of the day right where she is, sulking*

Gah, my work pc crashed for no reason.

Thanks. I've confiscated another pc, but it's slow going as I have to beat it into compliance again.

Well, it was a very angry rant before I drove around angrily and then vented to my friend... but rant I must!!

So. First day of classes. I run over to the Bursar so I can like, eat later, and my balance comes out and like $5000 owed. Uh wtf? I ask, puzzled as to why my calculator seems to have suddently become bad at math, since I added up my loans and shouldn't have owed that much. Let's look at your account history! Okey.. loan, grant, grant, grant, loan, oh hey did you get a PLUS loan because it's not on here? ... *facepalm* Yes, my dad was supposed to have filed that 3 weeks ago, at least.  Well, go check the financial aid office. *sigh* Go dance down the hallway to financial aid. Find out yes, it posted precisely *this* morning, like 3 hours before I came in, and it won't show up on my balance until TOMORROW NIGHT. Why, exactly, it takes more than 24 hours, or even more than 24 seconds, to transfer data from one computer to another is beyond me. Whatev, I'll write a check tomorrow for *more* than I owe, so I'll have a slight credit. That is, after I call said father and complain to him that if he'd done this earlier, I wouldn't be in such a serious pickle and still owe ~$1K more than I have in my bank account. (I transfer money from my mutual fund to pay for college... yey grandparents who had lots of stocks and died! ... wow that sounds bad...) Get home, get check, go into room to grab a couple things that I forgot. Hmm wtf it's awful stuffy in here... oh, my windows are closed. The windows I had open ~2", in my bedroom that's on the second floor (so there's noway you can tell from the street they're open), in my bedroom that had a very closed door, which is the universal sign of "stay out" right? No, no... he didn't want to air condition the whole neighborhood. But... I've had my vent turned off and had fans blowing in my room ALL SUMMER. *bad gameshow fail-buzzer noise* Not while you're not home!  ... *sigh* The whole issue with my financial aid, and then him going into my room and moving my things around when my door was closed even though I've specifically told him door closed = no entrance just made me go bonkers. I managed to keep it inside me until I drove off and then let out a good long scream.

It's just really annoying and stressful when you're suddenly put in the position of "Holy crap how do I pay for college?" because someone else messed up. Ya.

Ok, done for now.

How come, if you're really good at what you do, you get more work?

I mean, jeez!

Gah, stupid people! Yesterday they replaced my work pc. I had already demanded that they transfer all the rights of the old pc to the new one. (Even though they claimed I would have to send in request forms for them.) Today I find out they didn't transfer all the rights. So I call again to tell them and they tell me I have to fill in a form for it. But when I claim that that is ridiculous they suddenly are willing to do without a form. Why claim to have procedures if you don't follow them? (Although in this case the procedure would have been stupid.)

All right, I am calmed down now, but yesterday, I was livid.  Every year, the other half's uncle has the family triathalon, which consists of Playstation, darts, and pool.  The tradition has gone on for years, everyone brings some kind of food.  My first choice was nixed by the other half, claiming that mini fajita wraps aren't quite a side dish, so I did my second choice, devilled eggs.  After work on Saturday, we went to the store, and I bought the mustard, paprika, and two boxes of 18 eggs each.  I spent hours on the eggs.  Some ended up being tossed due to tears in the whites, but that's ok, there weren't that many casualties.  I put them on a nice platter, wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge.  I went to bed late that night after doing the eggs until almost 11pm.

Let's fast forward until I take the eggs out of the fridge, shall we?  So I get the eggs out, and take them down to the truck.  I place them in the back seat after the other half put his laptop case on the floorboards.  We then head to his mom's house to pick her up.  We get there, and she has all of her food items in her little rolling file box (which is her newest "gotta have" toy) along with some other things.  I put the box in the bed of the truck with the folding chairs and our Easy-Up.  That's when the bitching started.  She was upset that her box was in the bed and not in the cab of the truck.  It is explained to her that since it is dirty, on the ground all the time, and the rolling wheels will pull at the fabric of the truck, it's not coming inside.  She pouts for a while, then halfway down the road remembers that she forgot some things she promised her brother that she'd bring.  So, we turn around and retrieve the items she forgot.  After she goes in and gets the stuff, she moves the eggs, and starts putting a plastic bag on the seat.  Of course this just makes the other half mad because she wants to put that cart in the truck.  After quite a bit of arguing (yelling just isn't quite the word for it), she puts the stuff she forgot on the seat (all of which are things like file folders, which are nice and glossy), she puts the eggs on top of that, then drags her box out of the back and puts it on her lap.  Not only is it a large plastic box, but it's pushing on the back of my seat.  Irritated at the whole thing, we just go ahead and head out.

We get not ten miles to his uncle's house, when we hear "Oh, shoot, the eggs" coming from his mother in the back seat.  I turn to look, and she's almost dumped her box because she's trying to lean as far as she can across the seat to save the eggs that went sliding when we took a turn.  Apparently, the eggs sitting on top of her stuff slid off, slid down between the seat and the door, and some escaped the now open plastic wrap.  Of course by now, the other half is pissed.  The situation he was trying to avoid was happening.  Now, she's trying to collect the eggs that fell, and trying to shake the eggs still in the tray into a decent arrangement, making it even worse.  I take the tray from her and put it in my lap, at this point, I am fuming.  I spent a LOT of time on those eggs, the arrangement of them was fine, and now they were a jumbled heap on the tray in my lap.  There is nothing but silence from the back seat the rest of the way.

We finally get to the other half's uncle's house, and I immediately run in to put the eggs on the counter and get some rags.  By the time I get back to the truck, the other half's sister and niece are already cleaning up the egg mess, and the eggs still in the truck.  There was yolk all over the door panel, the seat, the side of the seat, the floorboard, the laptop bag, everywhere.  His mother did offer to clean it up, but the whole reason we brought her along is that she can't see well enough to drive, let alone clean up all of the egg in the truck.  We get everything cleaned up and go back inside.  The eggs were fine, the other half's sister ended up rearranging the eggs for me. 

The whole time we were there, and the whole way home, we never got an "I'm sorry" from his mother.  The other half has told me that she'll never get a ride anywhere from him again (this kind of thing is something she does regularly to everyone in the family, especially her kids).  I was very civil to her the whole day after I got over the whole egg thing (which only takes a few minutes for me, I can never hold a grudge for very long).  I know that she believes she did nothing wrong, it's the way she is, but it's still irritating.  The least she could have done was say that she was sorry about the eggs.  Unfortunately, like her own children, I'll never hear that from her because that's the way she is.  Some day, someone will knock her down off of her high horse, and she'll just get right back up there as if nothing happened.

I'm just glad my mother isn't like that, she's strange at times, but always courteous.  I have found, especially lately that I think, act, and am a LOT like my mom.  I'm really glad the other half isn't at all like his.

BTW, all of the eggs were devoured and I brought home an empty platter.  :D

gaaaaah. the phone lines from all the closed shops are being redirected here.a lot of people call to ask for books about cars, repair manuals and such, and so far we gave them the number of the last german shop,where they had all those books.fine. and now that shop is closed down as well(incidentally,the one i started to work at..*sheds a tear*)we have to give them the number of the other bookshop that bought one of ours.argh.highly frustrating. and not good for the reputation,which is bad enough already.sucks

*strolls in, flicks the ash off of his cigarette, takes a drink from his high-ball and squints around*  Well, it's nice to know that the party continues even when you've been gone a while.  *grins and takes a drag*

How y' doin' folks?  It's good to be back.  But, as this is the gripe area, I shall now seek to shock and amaze you with my powers of presti-b*tch-itation and clair-annoyance.  *shakes out his hands lightly, takes a drag from his cig and gestures*  Nothing in either sleeve, no cards, no birds, no handguns.... dammit *hastily picks up the vaguely pornographic playing card that slipped out of his pocket.*  Uh... THAT'S NOT MINE!!!  *mutters* Well, that's one trick in three down already... *sighs*.

So, in addition to having been without internet for most of the last three months, I have also moved, had to fix my car twice (with one more part to go... *sighs*) and transport and bury my father's dog... rework a bunch of personal paperwork... figure out WHY the custody case for my youngest daughter has gone nowhere and FIX THAT PART... sue my previous landlords... All in the last THREE WEEKS.  Oh, and I still haven't gotten the state to straighten out that seemingly insignificant thing about my youngest daughter's last name yet... I'm sure they'll get around to it before I f*cking die of old age, though.  *realizes that his cigarette is dead and lights another one*... My doctor told me I needed to quit smoking and I just said... why?  If the stress doesn't kill me before the year's out, I'll be astonished.

But the funny part is, I did find out why the custody battle of my youngest daughter has gone nowhere.  Are you ready for this?  The friggin' FOC... they lost us *laughs uproariously, wiping tears from his eyes*  Oh God, I didn't know that was possible.  I mean, for a more reticent human being than I, one could assume it's possible, but when you're 6'0", 240 pounds of angry, red-faced, bearded, bass-voiced screaming Swedish guy, and your 6'3" 265 pound, angry, red-faced, bearded, bass-voiced screaming lawyer is right there with you, you don't think that they could misplace you, could you?  But they did...  No I don't know how.  *laughs*  Made even funnier when they finally relocated our file.  I've got to go through the whole investigation AGAIN!!!  The plug thingies, the child-locked doors, the survey/questionnaire, the impertinent questions about sh*t that ain't anybody's business but mine (do you have a girlfriend, sir?  Wait... what?).

Now, I think that the girlfriend question is a valid one... and shocking to all I'm certain, is the answer that I do not.  Yes, I see some of you nodding with those expressions on your faces that could be sarcasm based, but I correctly shall interpret as innocent curiosity as to the reasoning.  No reason, just no time, money or inclination.  However, beyond that is MY question. 

Why is the possibility of ME stepping into a relationship of ANY concern to these people?  They sure didn't care about the adulterous affair in which my ex was engaging, so how could me having a dinner and movies phase of a relationship be of such interest?  (A background check you say?  But no background check has been run on what's-his-name.  Mediation, you say?  You wish to actually VOLUNTEER to stand between me and that woman?  Thank you kind sir or madam for risking your skin to prevent my injury, be it physical or psychological (Oh, I've got stories *laughs*)  But I couldn't put you in such danger.  No, sir/madam, I could not, in good conscience, place you in such a position as to possibly cause your uncomfortable incarceration in the county jail, for to know my ex-wife is to wish to kill her, and you seem like such a nice person.)

Frankly, the very thought of dating turns my stomach at the moment... not because of any residual bitterness towards relationships or women, but simply because if I were to meet some nice girl who liked my kids and could actually stand my hobbies... I'd have to introduce her to my ex at some point and that's just not a nice thing to do to somebody *grins*.

*sigh* Mad at the world right now. Why? Beats me. Possibly a combination of things. 1) School, 2) BF, 3) Father, 4) Making a great plan and having it all shot to hell.

The breakdown:
1) School - Just the general frustration. Homework I don't get, professors I don't like, assignments I have no motivation to do. Mostly, it's my Modern Physics class that's driving me bonkers. The stuff I don't get, he doesn't explain very well, so it doesn't help me the next time I have to do it. Luckily, there's a room reserved for another prof's drop-in tutor students, and I'm hoping they can help me. Also, Principles of Sociology is DUMB. I hate that class. I'm only taking it because I have to. Literally, I can't graduate without it, considering my schedule. Ya he only assigns us like 20 pages MAX of reading, but it's so mind-numbing, I hate it.
2) BF - Ehh.. we've got a "You're stupid." "Your face is stupid!" kinda thing goin' on, but I'm not diggin' it so much recently. Not sure if it's something he's doing differently or just a change in my attitude.
3) Father - I'm expecting a FedEx package at my house sometime soon, one of my school textbooks. I was told they shipped it out Friday, and that it should arrive at my house either Monday or Tuesday. Cool! So I call my father and tell him that, and he gets the whole "Oh if I have to..." tone of voice. I say please, I'd appreciate it, still keeps going on with that damn tone. I get an email at 9:30 last night (Mon night) saying it didn't show up, do I have a tracking number? Um, no, because if I had a tracking number, I wouldn't have asked you to be around the next couple of days..? No big deal, I go to class this morning, blah blah, and call him when I get out (like half an hour ago). Then he goes on a tirade about how if it had been shipped UPS it would've been here already, assuming they actually shipped it out Friday. Uh, well, it was FedEx, and they told me it went out Friday, so... oh well? I didn't tell him he had to be in the house every second until the damn thing got there, just asked if he would please hang around until it showed up. Grrrr! I don't get it, I ask please can you do this, and he acts like it's the biggest frikkin' deal in the world and it's inconveniencing him soooooooooooo much. Not like he doesn't pretty much just sit around the house already.... >.<
4) My great plan was: Go to the physics picnic today, go home and pick up a couple things, including book, come back, and bug drop-in tutor people. But I don't know when my book is coming, so blah. Ya, stupid thing, but I hate making plans and then having them messed up. *sigh* It's actually another point of *#^%( between me and the BF. I make plans, and then like 20 minutes beforehand, he says "Lets do it this way!" ... Well, ok. It's not really a big deal, it doesn't effect anything, but it still bothers me. I dunno, probably some crazy psychological thing with me wanting at least *some* power. No, b*tch, listen to me! lol I dunno, I've always been shy my whole life, bending to another's wishes, but I'm getting kind of sick of it. I dunno...

On the plus side, I feel a bit better... :P To the picnic I go!

PS - And yes, I came all the way back across campus just to type this up, so I could go back to the picnic, because I was in a very "If anyone talks to me right now I'm gonna snap" mood. Oh the complexities I suffer... lol