So, how long has it been now? A long time it appears. Why do you ask? Well I only write when something really cool or exciting or different or whatever happens and I have been trying to wait and post a positive note as well as all the crap, so... whats been happening? Lets examine shall we?
First... CAR DEATH! First, Dawn's car overheats and we manage to drive it all the way across town (45 minutes or more one way) back from her meetings for work to the mechanic. "Your car is tip top," says the mechanic, "except for your thermostat, thermostat casing, thermostat housing, AND head cover gasket are all shot." Wonderful. $800 later, the car is running again. However, 3 days later, it overheats again. Lucky for us, this time it was only at her work and not across town. Back to the dealer. "Oh, its the flux capacitor and the ion reducer." Says the mechanic. Or something like that dealing with the thermostat again. "What? I thought that was fixed?!?" "Well, everything was working when we tested it, this is a new issue and that will be another $300. Thank you & come again." I swear to the gods above that if he hadn't explained it so well at the time, cause we all know I don't remember a thing he said now, I would have thrown a fit right there in the office. So, $1100 later, the car is running fine.
Phase two... AC DEATH! So, the begining of Sept, last week in Aug. the AC starts making a funny noise one night and by morning is dead. This is Floriduh for the love of all thing sacred. We need AC. So, we call the home shield folks who have the AC guys come out. The first guy says its a capacitor. And hour after he leaves, clang, clang, it dies again. Now, I have a window unit and have already borrowed two from my boss because it was 5 days before the first tech came out because he was bitten by a snake the day of the appt. and had to reschedule. So back out he comes again, except this time, it is another guy who realizes the motor is shot and needs replacing. However, they have to special order it because they don't carry that old of a model in stock anywhere and have to get it from the manufacturer. Day after day of calling and asking status turns into week after week and finally, after 4 weeks, they install it and it is up and running again. This is 4 weeks of Florida heat so we are running WINDOW units. The power bill just about gave Dawn and I heart attacks.
Phase Three... FLOOR DEATH! So, the AC is kicking right along and I come home one night to find water coming up through the cracks in our fake wood flooring. The AC pan had overflowed, had no auto shut off, and had flooded first Calliope's room (who had been gone nearly 2 weeks by this point so we never went in her room) and then seeped up through the floor as it had no where else to go. Come to find out that the last people to put in the piping for the AC had it come out of the house, turn 90 degree straight up, then slope back down to the fence, which is why it was overflowing. It couldn't drain up hill. So, I cut the pipe and flushed it with chlorine and whalla, it worked. However, the floor is now totally damaged and our $1000 deductible on the insurance means 90% of repairs out of pocket. Hello crappy floors until it can be ripped out and replaced, this time with carpet.
Phase Four... MOWER DEATH! So, two weeks ago, I go out to mow the lawn and snap, zing, the mower throws a few sparks and refuses to start. Try again several times with the same snap, zing and instead of starting, the cord breaks off in my hand, the mower belches at me as if to say that it was sick of working anyways and was going on a permanent vacation and then became totally inert. Needless to say, the lawn is starting to LOOK like Halloween out there and it will have to remain so until we can afford a new mower.
Tada!!! And you people wonder why I never write... sheesh.
On the lighter side of tragedy, we passed our first year of home schooling evaluation. This is a good thing and it appears that we have a few new ideas from the teacher that interviewed us. Things that we didn’t really think would count as we weren’t sure what type of person we would get. She is a very good ex-teacher that believes in life learning as much as school learning and that teaching via hands on and experience is always the best way. Because of this, we can now move ahead in ways we were hoping we could. Using field trips, vacation, games, and other such activities linked with reading and study from online and reference material to go ahead into the next year. It should be good.
Other than that, life in FL just sucks. The people are total morons for the most part and the longer I stay in this state, the more I realize just how stupid they really are. I can't believe that the rest of the world is as stupid as most of these people. People in Floriduh can’t drive either. I have been in a few states now and these people couldn't handle driving in even Nebraska where it is even more flat than here. It is no wonder that we are ranked 48th out of 50 for education and amongst the lowest levels for living standards. Then, there is weather. I thought this state was supposed to be the sunshine state, not the rain every damn day state so the the humidity rises to a point that walking out the door is like walking into the wall of water. Yes, the humidity is starting to annoy me, and life in this state as a whole is tearing me down. Needless to say, it is doing likewise to Dawn who has said more than once that she thought she was stupid until she moved to this state and now she feels almost genius like. I swear, once we can afford it and have decent jobs, the first chance we get, we are outta here.
So, there it is, my life, my rant, my pains and bitches. I will now step down from the pulpit of me and let you guys know that I love you all and I know this too shall pass. Consider this my major bitch and take it with a grain of salt. Or maybe a whole damn salt lick.
Now for the fun, good news that I sorta mentioned in the begining to this. Dawn, working her ass off at work, is like 90% likely to be accepted and invited to Presidents Club this year for her work. What does this mean you ask? It means, Maui! Yes, you heard me, the company takes the top tier from each district that makes goal, secret shoppers, conduct reports and all the other garbage that goes with corporate working, and sends them on a trip if all these things are above standard. So for two week, we will be waiting with baited breath for the little box to arrive at her store congratulating her on her win this year. Weeee... Something about silver linings and all that. And I think Isaiah said something about Nebraska while we are gone if she does indeed win... hmmmm... wonder what he meant by that dad? If she does indeed win, we will talk Mort.
So in conclusion, lets just say, and I am keep everything I can crossed, that we hope this is the last of things on the down side and that we are on the upswing. Hell, maybe I can win the lotto... (breathing normal here) then we will all have fun. Take care all... El'Poofta....
