Everyone is Falling Apart

by 7:00 pm. It has 114 Comments.

Thanks for all the kind words for my dad- he’s resting comfortably at the hospital and will have his surgery Monday morning. I asked him if he was having an affair with one of the nurses there and that is why he is spending so much time there, and he was not amused.

In other news, Dom and Taylor are over for dinner because now, Gerald is mostly recovered, but Brianna and Landrea (Gerald’s daughter and wife, respectively) both got back from the hospital with a diagnosis of an extremely contagious pneumonia. I cooked up a big spaghetti dinner with garlic bread and made some cookies, and I’m gonna go get some vanilla ice cream and make ice cream cookies and we’ll have movie night. They’re going to just stay the night in the third floor bedrooms because it makes no sense to send them back home into a contagious environment.

There was an election today fr the school levy for the county, and when I was in the grocery store and heard a guy grumbing how he was going to vote against it because “I don’t have any kids why should I pay more” and I just wanted to punch him in the neck because I am glad to pay more for education so I am not FUCKING SURROUNDED BY STUPID PEOPLE. At any rate, went down to the polling place and voted. For the first time in forever, it was just a simple paper ballot, and we all agreed we would love it if they just used paper ballots from now on.

Other than that, not much going on. You all?


At Long Last- My Student Loans are Paid Off

by 9:08 am. It has 119 Comments.

I made my final student loan payment this morning. It feels pretty amazing.

It took a while to pay them off for a number of reasons, but chief of which was that I set a very low payment rate the first few years I was paying them off because my interest rate was so low I decided it would probably be better to defer them for a bit and invest the maximum into my retirement account. At the time I was living in a shithole two bedroom apartment that had not been remodeled and had… carpet on the walls in some rooms but was only 300 bucks a month (the next cheapest 2 bedroom was 700 bucks) and drove an 83 chevy celebrity until 2006 when it finally died.

After I had a bit of a nest egg, I then started paying in earnest- every month, 400 bucks. And now I am done.

Probably just start putting the money into the furnace fund, since I own a house and after replacing the water filter yesterday and the ac unit in September and all the plumbing and electrical wiring two years ago, I know that is next. Or maybe one of the animals will learn the loans are done and decide to get some debilitating and expensive protracted illness. But the god damned student loans are paid off.


Saturday Afternoon Open Thread

by 3:40 pm. It has 47 Comments.

It is cold and snowy here, so I did what comes naturally to me- I took a nap. I was awoken by a majestic beast:

He has been very loving since I returned, sleeping by my side or on top of me, sitting on me while I am in the chair downstairs.

Now, for fun, guess how much ATTITUDE there is in this picture:

Answer: A metric shitton. They wouldn’t look at the camera no matter what I did. Stubborn damned animals.


Home Crap Home

by 5:20 pm. It has 207 Comments.

2,570 miles later, the family truckster is parked outside home crap home. Thurston was so excited to see me he peed himself, although in fairness, he does that sometimes when I am only gone for four hours. Rosie came to see what Thurston was all riled up about, gave me a cursory glare, and fucked off somewhere. Still have not seen Steve.

This was the first major trip I have ever taken with Lily, and of course, she was a perfect angel. This should not really be a surprise because the sum total of her existence on most days is sleeping a dog bed five feet from me. So basically she did the same thing on the trip, just at 75-80 mph. She was do sedate at the my parents’ that my dad asked “Does she ever do anything she looks like she has flatlined.”

Some pics of the fat loots from the trip:

First, Tammy’s kicks, which she tried on and loves:

Second, some cigars for Brian, Tammy’s husband:

Third, for the three sisters (Devon, Annie, and adopted sister Tammy), somewhat matching necklaces:

And then finally, for me:

The former is a large picture of the Angel Oak of St. John’s Island, a live oak that is perhaps 600 years old and just massive. As you all know, I have a thing for trees, so I had to have it and am going to see it next time I am down there.

The latter is a print of some artwork by an artist in Charleston named Sam Long. The original piece is something she makes from polymer clay and bakes in a kiln, but this is just a print. I liked all the colors and the Warholesque feel of it. You should definitely check out her website- she seems super neat and she has nine cats.

Final playlist:

Miami to Charleston, SC:

Coldplay- A rush of blood
Donovan Frankenreiter- Move By Yourself
Lorde- Melodrama
The Smiths- Hatful of Hollow
Talking Heads- Stop Making Sense
RATM- the Battle of Los Angeles
Parliament of Funk- Millenium Collection
Les Claypool and the Holy Mackerels- Highball with yhe Devil
Guru- Jazzamatazz
Dire Straits- Brothers in Arms

Charleston, SC, to Bethany:

Donovan Frankenreiter- Move By Yourself
Led Zeppelin II
Lynyrd Skynyrd- All time greatest hits
Beatles- Abbey Road
Beatles- Sgt. Peppers
Zappa- Overnite Sensation
Beyonce- Lemonade
Alice in Chains- Dirt
Black Panther Sountrack
Kendrick Lamar EP
Beastie Boys- Hello Nasty
The Cars- Heartbeat City
Notorious BIG- Ready to Die

I should probably take my road trip playlists to therapy and let them analyze them because I’m sure it says something about me.

I’ll be back later. I need to unpack, shower, put my life back together, and although I am dreading it, check in and see what the orange fuckboy has been up to the last two weeks since I have paid only superficial attention to the news.

It’s fucking cold and that is bullshit.

Oh, and boy is travel cheap when you don’t drink (and you are staying in someone else’s place. I budgeted the money I got back from the insurance from my cancelled Outer Banks vacation and spent 500 less. And that was with eating out a bunch and buying a few things.


Wednesday Night Open Thread

by 7:59 pm. It has 163 Comments.

It doesn’t matter how big or small the footstool is, we make room:

I’ve the conversations with my parents sound eerily similar to the conversation I had with my peers when I was stoned to the bejeezus. For example, dad just offered this up:

“How does a bald person with a beard know where to stop the beard.”

Back in the day, that could have dominated a stoned conversation for several hours. Or maybe it would have just felt like several hours.