Randomonday

- So I went out to dinner after getting back from the parents house last night. Sat at the Olive Garden's bar and had a really good Steak Gorgonzola pasta. I was sitting a few seats away from a couple having dinner. They were sitting at 90 degrees to me, it was quiet, and I could hear almost everything they said. It was obviously a first date. The curious thing was that I learned some of the more basic info for only one of them. The guy. I eaves-dropped quite a bit of their conversation and not once did he ask anything about her. Nothing. I know how many marriages the guy has had, how many kids, their ages & boy/girl spread, what he does for a living, the unconventional way he got the nice clothes he was wearing, how he's wrecked the last 2 trucks he's owned, and what he thinks about her ass. The one and only thing I learned about her was that she's been married twice. That's it. And she volunteered that info! He didn't ask. How sad is that. I really hope he didn't get any...



- Christmas day was good. Got to spend it with my parents and my girlies...and my stbx. The day was very nice. We played a lot of Wii bowling (my 6 yr old threw a 214!) and some card games. The evening was interesting though. We all understood that I was going to stay overnight and the stbx was going home, as she had stayed overnight Christmas Eve. Well, when the time came for her to leave, she suddenly 'got sick' and started acting like a little kid. She may have been sick, but it was probably from the wine she'd had over the previous few hours. She wasn't drunk so I didn't have any problem kicking her out. It was a scene. We ended up having a 'discussion' on the front porch in the 30 degree weather, with her trying to resolve our marital issues. *sigh* I finally went inside and left her standing there. She sat in her car for a solid hour before she finally left. But other than that, Christmas was nice.


- Oh, and we also had a plumbing issue right before everyone started getting ready for bed. We figured it out and fixed it, saving a Christmas visit from the plumber.



- I think I just overheard a coworker say "Alrighty then" to a customer over the phone. And it wasn't intended to be funny.


- I got a nice big fryer pan with a cover from my parents (which is what I asked for.) They also gave me a loveseat that they didn't have room for in their new place. Score! It crowds my tiny place a little, but I really missed having a couch. Now I have places to seat more than 2 people!

- Oh, and check this out... during out little discussion, the stbx said (talking about her infidelity. Yeah, even that came up. Sheesh.), that "Yes, I made a mistake, but it's different for a woman."

Ummm..wha? Like as in it doesn't mean you cheated on me? or that it shouldn't have hurt me? or that it was ok because you are a woman?

She spent all day doing something good towards repairing the damage and threw it all out the window with that one statement.

- Her birthday's coming up. Should I get her a stack of psychiatrist business cards?

(Better?) Letters from the Editor

Dear host dude on the radio,

How do you think your guest feels when you start his introduction with, "Bear with us folks while we get through this next guest. Then we'll get back to the phones." Sheesh. Make him feel important why don't you?

Sarcastically,
Dudenotlisteningtoyourshowanymore



Dear Key of Awesome,

Your guys' stuff is awesome. Obviously. Your parody of Katy Perrys' Firework is hilarious and I love the Eminem stuff. I wish I had your kind of imagination.

Shine on,
Roflcoptering


Dear scanner,

You suck.

Mess with you later,
Frustratedscanneruserwhogaveupafteronlygettingtenpagesfinished-andwhoisnowgoingtoleaveitforthenextassistanthehires.


Dear pile of dirty dishes,

*sigh* I'm seriously considering asking the landlady if I can install a dishwasher. The problem is that it'll have to stick out of the wall, which would make plumbing it easy, but would make my place less aerodynamic and kill my fuel mileage. I think I'm going to switch you all to plastic or acrylic and let my kids take care of you. It'll be fun! Like a waterpark for utensils. Just don't let the Blackhole ride take your top off.

Ciao,
Lazybumwhohateswashingdishesbyhand



Dear coworkers who walk through my office after I fart,

Sorry.

Should I put up some sort of warning? What if I put my calculator upside down? Or a big red ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK sign? Or....OR....maybe you should stop using my office as a hallway!!

If you see me eating chili cheese fries for lunch, and comment on how good it smells, you might want to reconsider a later visit. Even if you come over and don't smell it yet, if I get up and wander over to the coffee maker, you might want to tag along.

For you own good,
Holdonlemmeopenawindow.




Dear Readers,

Hopefully these were at least a little better than the last two stinkers of LftE posts.

Get it. Stinkers.

Anyway... I think the first one set the bar higher than I could regularly deliver on, but hopefully I can pull better ones out in the future.

Sincerely,
Me

It's a pretty funny parody: Key of Awesome #27

RandoMonday

- So my assistant is finally gone and here I am scrambling just to remember all the things that need to get done. Oh well, gives me something to do I suppose.

- I love my girls more than anything, but it's been quite the transition from being with them every moment outside of work to only seeing them a few hours a week and every other weekend. They are non-stop. It's like they are physically incapable of being still for more than a couple of minutes. That is, unless they're sitting on my lap, especially if 2 of them are on my lap. Then they are content to sit there for an hour. Long past when my legs fall asleep. But I hate to shoo them off. They were like this back when I was always with them, but I was acclimated. I barely noticed. Not now. It can be kind of obnoxious.

- This may be pretty sad, being so late and all, but I think I finally understand this whole 'leave the seat down for the females' thing. Way back in high school, I think it was my sister who was the first to complain about it to me. She got mad at me for her falling in the toilet. Of course I had to ask why she just didn't turn the light on and check, and she replied with the most likely standard, "It wakes me up." Now at the time, I thought that was curious, but didn't think about it too hard. Nor did I make much effort at putting the seat down. I mean really, you're already up and going to the bathroom, why aren't you awake?

But last night I witnessed my 6 yr old heading to the restroom at 11:30pm. I'd stayed up late reading and my bed is just situation that if I lay off to the side I can see down the hallway. I leave the bathroom light on for them just for this kind of situation and I watched her walk down the hallway towards the bathroom. Her eyes were barely open and I think she was still asleep. She went in, sat on the toilet for more than twice as long as necessary (yeah, she didn't close the door) didn't flush, didn't wash her hands, but she did turn the light off. I think I understand now that maybe most girls don't actually wake up to go to the bathroom.

Very weird.

- Regretting that I didn't order a new stapler back when I thought about it last. Now I'm fighting a broken one, trying to finish paperwork. Should I order a red one?


- Kinda funny that our customers complain about building codes and inspections. Yeah...we don't need buildings falling down in the wind.



- Haven't played Halo since Tuesday. Huh.

- Walked to my car through a light drizzle this morning and got out 1/2 hour later to no rain, clear skies, 30 mph winds, and a forecast of snow the next 3 days. Friggin' Wyoming.

- Netflix'ed the The Ugly Truth last night. Funny movie. Have never heard it called "flicking the bean" before.

- I think I might go see Tron tonight. Anyone wanna go with me?

Happily Holidays

Thought I'd share my latest desktop wallpaper. The bestest one yet.

clickity for a bigger version

The Route 66 picture was taken just 3 short years ago. My how time flies.

Letters from the Editor

Dear admin. assistant,

This is your last week and I wish you well on your future endeavors. Sorry to see you go but it was fun that we ended it with a bang by getting toasted at the builders association holiday party. I've never seen anyone get so drunk on so little alcohol. At least you weren't like the lady in the parking lot who was screaming at her friends to give her keys back. I hope they didn't.

Good luck!
Bossman



Dear alcohol,

Why does an open bar make me forget that I don't really like to drink you? Well, I shouldn't say that. You taste good, but I don't like the effects of drinking you. I'm not a 'hangover' kind of guy, I'm a 'get sick right away and then have no hangover' kind of guy. Although it was probably the coffee between drinks of you that had the worst effect. Laying awake in bed for 3 hours was worse than the sick part.

Smell ya later,
Farfrompuken




Dear cute girl in the red dress at the party,

Do you realize what I had to do to get the juevos to ask you to dance? I didn't see you dance with anyone else so was expecting a 'no', but still.

Maybe next time,
Rejected




Dear wonderful weather,

Thank you so much for visiting! It's been wonderful having you here for the last couple of days. I know you're scheduled to head out soon, but you are more than welcome to hang around forever.

Appreciatively,
Isthatevenaword?




Dear Department of Family Services,

I can imagine your job isn't all that easy. In such a low income area the majority of the dads are probably less than willing to pay child support. I am not one of them. You don't have to assume I'm not willing to pay. Do you really consider garnishment right away? It may just be me, but I think there's a bit of a stigma attached to the word 'garnishment'. Like you had to do that because I wouldn't pay. But hopefully you won't do that. I would appreciate it.

May I always live to serve you and your crown,
3babydaddy




Dear Life,

I sure hope you get turned around soon. I've been bored out of my gourd lately. I know, I know, you're what I make of you, but when my hands are tied and the work and money aren't there, I guess this is what happens.

See you soon,
Boredtotears

What to do, what to do...

So fellow bloggers, what should I do? Should I fight for custody?

To set the stage: I got served a hearing summons to establish child support. The stbx filed for state aid and in order for her to even get considered, child support needs to be established by a judge. I understand and don't really have a problem with that, but right on the front page it states that she's the custodial parent and I'm the non-custodial parent. I don't remember giving away my custodial rights, but the way we're currently handling money and time with the girls, it's as if she had primary custody. Logistically, considering the girls' school and all, it just makes sense.

Almost all of our mutual friends & family have, at one point, encouraged me to get custody of our girls. Or at least not give up custody. I'm not sure that's the best thing, but I'm afraid if I don't start fighting now, it'll only get more difficult.

At this point I'm not inclined to fight for custody. Not a small part of that decision is the potential of spending up to $10,000 for a 50/50 chance, at best. But it kills me to think that it might negatively affect my relationship with my girls if I don't. Considering the regular upkeep of kids; a place to sleep, meals, school, medical stuff, I don't really have a problem with her taking care of all of that. I trust that she can do it well enough. I don't even mind paying a full custody amount even if we shared custody. It's just money. I just don't want to lose any more time with them and I'm afraid that their mom will not go out of her way to make sure I have that time.



What do you guys think?