Readers Digest Version of my week

There is a lot of stuff going on right now but it is just to much to go into any detail and quite frankly, I just don't have it in me today to type it all out. Here is the Readers Digest version:

• Tenants called yesterday. All five of them have to get rabies shots. It's gonna cost a lot and they are pissed. They say they have had 5 bats in the last year.
• I called pest control companies. The cheapest is $100 to take a look and over $1,000 for a solution.
• Work is a drag. People coming back and wanting things. Not enough time in the day to do all the work that is needed to be done. I am burning out.
• The house is a mess. Drew stayed overnight at a friends and said he would clean before he left. It didn't happen. I am not sure I have the energy to yell at him. He is just grounded.
• Jess is doing two-a-days for volleyball. She doesn't get home until after 8 pm.
• The heat and humidity suck the big one. I am tired of this weather and it isn't helping my disposition at all.
• We are going to lower the price of our house to try to sell it. At this point we are fine with taking a loss.
• I can't sleep at night. Toss and turn, insomnia. blah, blah, blah.
• My yard is a mess. I have weeds everywhere and I haven't been home enough to get it done. Even when I am home, I am too tired to do it. I am only cutting the grass. The rest is slipping away.

I do have a few things I am clining to get me through. I am looking forward to football season. It will be a welcome distraction. Even if I am at work on the weekends, I can put a game on. I also am looking forward to the fall when the weather will cool down and the humidity will go away. It looks like Thursday will be nice. Mid 80's and less humidity. I know eventually the work will get done, I just have to remember the old saying "How do you swallow and Elephant? One bite at a time.". I have a partner in pain so I am not going through this alone. Nancy is fighting the good fight at work with me and she is someone I can lean on a bit.

• I am a little dissapointed that my posts have been rather dreary of late. I apologize for this. I don't want pity, I am just telling it as it is. There are people in this world that have it far worse than me and I know that. I am sure the posts will become more entertaining as things here improve. Stick with me!

At least it's not Wednesday!

The weekend was pretty good. Nancy and I worked almost a full day on Satuday but it was very productive. We got a bunch of stuff done that needed to get done before the teachers come back on Wednesday. The work we did on Saturday will make the rest of this week go a bit smoother. Sunday, Jess and I played in a golf tournament. It was a parent/child tournament that is a fund raiser for the Make a Wish Foundation. One of the member has a son that battled cancer and ended up passing away shortly after he graduated. He battled it through the last couple years of HS.

Anyway, we played with Nancy and her family. It was fun, we golfed poorly but it really didn't matter. The weather was very hot and humid. I think I drank a gallon of water and peed once!

We are truly in the last days of summer break. The teacher all come back on Wednesday and the first day of school is the Wednesday after that. Drew gets one more trip of the summer. He leaves Wednesday with his Dawn's parents to go camping and fishing in Missouri. He seems pretty excited about it.

This has been a very busy summer as far as work goes. I am not going to plan much for next summer. I think we need a relaxing summer for a change and I am setting the goal of next summer being exactly that. Yesterday was my first day off in 4 weeks.

So I get a call from the people who are renting my house. He says they have bats in the house and one of them bit their daughter and she has to have rabies shots. He thought the bats came in through the chimney. They had the flue open! He said they shut it but then they saw two more bats. Three in all. All in the same night.

I felt bad but was unsure what he wanted me to do about it. I am sure the bats came in through the flue because it would be hard for three bats to make their way down from the attic to the lower level, two stories below. Anyway, I told him I would see if there is anyone who deals with this and has any recommendation. I don't think there is much I can do. We lived there three years and never had a bat. Not even one. I feel bad for the little girl but don't think there is much I can do. I have found them to be winers! I rented a house on first street that had a bat and I didn't call the landlord. They are a bit different.

Ok, off to start my Monday. The saga will continue tomorrow.

Whatever!

So my golf game is still in the crapper. I am glad trash day is the morning before golf league because if it was the morning after, my clubs may be sitting out there by the garbage cans! I think I have hit every dang tree on that course. It seems to be pretty much mental right now. Wherever there is trouble, trees, out of bounds, water, that is where I hit it. I have mastered the hook, slice, straight ball, fade, you name it. If it there is a way to hit a tree or go out of bounds, I have that shot down pat.

Today is Friday, the end of the summer is getting close. Work is still hopping and the teacher all come back on Wednesday. I am pretty sure I will let my calls go to voice mail on Wednesday and just return the calls that are important. I am in no mood to hear about their signature block or their screen savers.

Jess is playing volleyball a bunch lately. She had a tournament somewhere yesterday and didn't get home until 9:30. Today she has another tournament this morning and then practice later this afternoon. I think she is supposed to play in a basketball tournament tonight and tomorrow.

I agreed to play in a child/parent golf tournament on Sunday. Jess and I are supposed to team up. I suck so bad, I am kind or regretting that decision.

Drew has been hanging out with the neighborhood kids this week. He is going on a camping trip with his grandparents in a week or so. They are going to Missouri.

I forgot the funny story I was going to tell but I will try to think of it this weekend for the Monday post.

I am going to try to go to Nebraska over the Labor day weekend. I hope the kids schedules are free so we can go. They haven't had a chance to swim in the pool in a long time.

Golf - Why do the balls have dimples anyway?

Thursday it trash day and golf league day. I have mixed emotions about golf these days. I enjoy being out and getting away from things for awhile but my game has been so utterly terrible lately that it has taken a bit of the joy out of it.

Work is moving along. We have much to do and will work this weekend but things are getting closer to done all the time. We have a bunch of projects but each one is getting close to wrapping up and one they are done, we can cross them off the list and move to the next thing.

So I promised a funny story, here it is:

For what ever reason, Drew is confused by deserts. We were at a restraunt one time and he ordered a banana split. When we were getting ready to leave, I noticed that he hadn't eaten the bananas. I asked him about it and he said he didn't like bananans. I then asked why he ordered a banana split? He said he didn't know that it had bananas in it.

So fast forward to the other night. He is eating a ice cream desert called "Fudge Brownie A'la-mode. Ok so he turns to me and says. "I don't know why they call if "fudge brownie a'la-mode" when it has ice cream in it." I laugh and tell him that the a'la-mode part tells you it has ice cream, like apple pie a'la-mode. He says "Well, maybe back in the 80's they called it that!"

So my little Drew is confused by deserts.

I have another story for you but will save it for tomorrow. I am going to go and focus on "being the ball", for golf tonight.

Have a great day!

If I die of a heart attack, yesterday put the ball in motion

So my clothes dryer was broken and it was multiple things that were broken. I had been working on the damn thing for awhile now and would get it going only for something else to happen a week or two later. We decided to call in a "pro" to fix it. He was scheduled to come yesterday.

In the meantime, we get a call from our tenants. The basement is flooded with sewer water! Bloody Hell!! So, I call my buddies at Leroy's plumbing and heating. I have been a regular customer of theirs over the years and they know that house very well.

Leroy (actually the guy who did the work is not Leroy, he retired, but he will always be Leroy to me) called and told me that he had to "Roto-Rooter" the line, he thought there were tree roots growing into the sewer line and needed to be cleaned out. He had to remove the toiled to do it but he thought that would do the trick.

Ok, he calls me back and say the tree roots were indeed in there but there were dryer sheets caught on the roots and they caused a little dam that was causing the blockage. I am not sure what the hell dryer sheets were doing in the sewer but I am going to call the tenants today and let them know to not throw that kind of stuff down the toilet.

Stupid bastards!

Work has been completely hectic to the point that this may be one of the top 4 or 5 worst times since I have been working here. As I have worked here in Perry we have taken on a little bit more responsibility each year. Just a bit so it was never really a big deal but over time this has become a monster that is almost unrealistic. At the same time I get questioned about the size of my department. They won't ever cut positions but it is used as a justification to not give me or Nancy any kind of significant raise.

Bastards!

Molly is naughty, still pooping and peeing in the house. I am going to kick her ass if I catch her. Right now the kids are pretty much doing the potty training because I am not home that much. She has a few more weeks before I am done working weekends. When I am home, she will learn a hard lesson.

On the bright side, the dryer is fixed and the damn sewer problem at our house on 1st street is fixed.

We are trying to sell the house but the tenants are slobs. Not dirty to the point I can really say anything they are just messy. Clothes all over the floors, shoes in piles in the corners. Counters covered with paper and other crap. Nothing dirty but it just makes the house look like crap when the realtors show it. They just don't care if people know they are slobs.

I have complained enough. I will have a funny story for you tomorrow.

The saga continues......

Circus Freaks have nothing on School Registration

Well if you ever want to see a freak show, stop by your local convenience store or go to a school registration.

It was an interesting day. No major dramas or anything like that but plenty of weirdos, freaks and nut jobs.

We had a guy come in completely wasted. I mean, this guy couldn't walk right, his speech was slurred and he was falling into the computer stations. At first I thought he was mentally challenged but once I got close I could smell the liquor. I told the cashier that I had a bit of mixed emotions about the guy becuase he is obviously a drunk but as drunk as his stupid ass was, he came to registration, paid the fees, and filled out the paper work. I think his registration fees we over $200. Maybe that is why he was so drunk , had to drink to be able to write a check that big for registration.

All in all it went pretty well yesterday and it was a bit busier than I had anticipated. The technology held up well and everything went about as smooth as possible.

One other funny story. We hire a few translators for those parents that only speak Spanish. So this one woman comes in and is freaking out becuase she has a restraining order against one of our translators. She was freaking out becuause she thought the translator would have access to her records and she absolutely did not want that. The translators don't have access to anything but she didn't know.

I have to go in early this morning to get the computers all picked up and the place put back in order.

Oh, maybe tomorrow I will share the outfits that some of the people showed up in. There should be a law about some of that. For instance, if you are over 250 lbs, you shouldn't wear spandex, tube tops, or short shorts - and if you do - you should shave your legs!

Ok, gotta go. More tomorrow.

Humidity is a drag

It is Monday, August 6th and here in Perry that means it is school registration day. It starts at 12 and ends at 7. We will train the workers at 11 and it will take until after 8 to get everyone out and the cashiers balanced out. I go in at 7:30 this morning so it should be a long day.

The weekend was good. The kids got home Friday night. They had many stories to tell and I think they had a great time. I know they were happy to be home. It is amazing how much you can miss your shower when you are away.

This week so far I have plans for every night except Friday. Tonight I work late. Tomorrow night I have to cut the grass. Wednesday I told Drew I would take him to the Simpson movie. Thursday night I golf and Friday night I rest.

Jess has a volleyball camp in Indianola today and tomorrow. They leave at 6:30 am and will stay overnight down there. She should be home sometime Tuesday evening.

Molly has been a handful lately. Her potty training is hit and miss. She will do good for a few days and then poop in the house a couple times in the same day. AUGHHH! Good thing shes cute.

School starts August 22. Just a couple of weeks away. I checked out Jessica's locker at the high school. I was going to take a picture of myself and put in the locker so when she opened it the first day of school, there I would be, grinning at her. I decided to not do that when I thought she might change lockers. How embarassing would that be. Some kid opens their locker and there is my grinning face staring back at them. I am not sure who would be more embarrassed, Jess or me.

I will let you know how registration goes today. There are typically a couple of stories that come out of a day like this that will make you smile.