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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Whining: Out of the Furnace, Into the Fireplace Edition

Greetings, Pixies! Let's get the party rolling with an antiwhine: Someone found the thermostat, and my beloved evening fog has returned! Most of the last week has been hot hot hot, and I hope other California pixies are away from the fires. The closest are 30 miles from me, but we can smell the smoke. Here's to cooler conditions and a quick victory for the firefighters.

Further antiwhine: The new project came through, just in time to avoid the State Budget Rodeo!

Department of learning things the hard way: My lovely daughter, a gifted writer, has to repeat her writing class next year. Raw talent, my friends, is no substitute for getting to that 8 a.m. class. As always, chocolate and gratitude to all the teachers out there; sometimes the lesson is not one a person wants to learn, but I have a feeling she will not want to make these mistakes again.

Neverending whine: Still chasing doctors and lawyers in an effort to get things settled for my mother. Dr. Wonderful is no longer on the cluestick list, but progress is slow all around. We are so lucky that the stepbrother we didn't know before turned out to be an excellent relative.

OK, Pixies -- let 'er rip! Prizes for Old Skool, Style, Elevated Risk of Mullet, and Dan Ratherisms!!

29 comments:

Miranda said...

Well, Kathy A, a hearty YEE-HAW to better weather and doing an excellent do-si-do around the budget rodeo.

Let swing your mother's medical staff around and around until they start moving to the beat with you guys in unison.

kathy a. said...

Miranda, where's your whine? We have some standards around here. I'm looking for someone to bring the style. ;)

KLee said...

Still pretty bummed about the Very Bad Situation at school, but at least we're out for the summer, and I don't have to be there for (almost) three months. Guess that gives me time to resign myself to being the school doormat/punching bag next year.

Husband was a great help, offering lots of sympathy and even going so far to tell me to quit if I wanted, that we'd make do somehow. He offered to get a second job, but he already works himself silly as it is. I promised not to do anything hasty.

kathy a. said...

((( klee )))

Anonymous said...

KLee, I'm so so so sorry about the crummy situation, but I'm happy for you that you have a partner who supports you and comforts you like that.

Kathy A., as an English teacher, I'm appalled (APPALLED, I say!) to hear that the instructor of an 8 a.m. writing class would hold the students responsible for getting there, like, at all. I mean, was Thoreau up at 8 in the morning writing Walden?!

Oh, yeah, he probably was. But he was a weirdo, so that doesn't count. Bad example. Anyway. Onward and upward, I say! May the next attempt be made at a more reasonable hour - say, 10 a.m., which is the earliest I'll teach for the same reason your daughter will be enjoying another semester of writing. ;) Best of luck!

Anonymous said...

Anti-whine: Summer is finally here! Even if we missed spring more or less.

Whine: Apparently because summer is here, all my students are spending all their evenings out and about, instead of coming to my mind-body fitness class. I'm trying really hard to not take it personally (that they're not coming cos I'm a bad teacher), but sometimes it's hard!!! Deep breaths...

Kathy A. & her lovely daughter: No class should be at 8am, as far as I am concerned! Even 9am was stretching it when I was an undergrad...

Sue said...

What is this 8:00 a.m. you speak of? It sounds awful. *shudders*

Whine: The people who came back to see our house and ooooo and aaaaaah over it THREE times have decided not to buy it. Their 12 year old doesn't want to move schools. I understand that, but still....the suckage is great.

Anti-whine: We've had at least two visitors to see the house every day since it's been on the market (a week now).

Whine: My only remaining living aunt is about to lose her twin brother. He is in hospice and will probably not survive the night. He was a lovely gentleman and will be missed.

Weather Whine: Sorry to all of you over-heated pixies, but if I could just have ONE LOUSY DAY that was warm enough to wear shorts, I'd be happy. I'm just sayin'....

Headache Whine (You Knew That Was Coming): The uber-slow titration up with the topamax headache med is all great except that while it's happening, my head hurts like bloody hell. And all of this is happening while I'm titrating DOWN with my pain meds. Nice? Not so much. Excuse me while I go and puke.

Susan Anne MacKenna said...

Antiwhine: Little Miss S did NOT poop in the tub.

Whine: She didn't quite make it to the potty.

So it goes. Happy Wednesday!

Anonymous said...

Hugs to KLee. May summer be healing.

And sympathy for Kathy on the doctor chase, the new-found relatives and the 8am class. Those real-life lessons often feel so harsh, too harsh.

And may the headaches finally get better, Sue. The extra headaches of house-selling can't be helping.

Whine: The dishwasher stopped working. We futzed with it, consulted a repair guy who diagnosed over the phone that based on age and symptoms, the service call would be a waste of money. So we bought a new dishwasher. And with 2 washes under its belt, it is acting up the exact fireplacing same way. (soap film that won't rinse off). In the meantime, the water pressure at the kitchen sink has virtually disappeared, which has made washing dishes by hand even harder. So I called a plumber I trust today. And he says the problem is that our water softener is kaput. Fireplace. The old dishwasher was old and the new one has nicer features (whenever it works), but the money we put out on the dishwasher would be so nice to put out on the water softener.

I called three more plumbers today to get quotes. So we'll have lovely phone tag and estimate visits and washing dishes by hand until then.

Whine the Second: My brother is getting married Friday. I wish we were just guests and not flower girl, ring bearer, reader and usher. I wish as the reader that I knew what I was reading. I wish that my mom would stop asking them about all of things they have so far forgotten because at my whiniest...I just don't want to help.

Anti-Whine: My son calls himself the ring barrier. My daughter had the same immediate visceral reaction to the flower girl headpiece that I did. (It is pretty gaudy). We don't usually have the same taste and I was delighted that we did.

I think I better stop, as the whining could last all night. I just want to get through the wedding and have a working dishwasher again. Please?

Miranda said...

I really wasn't feeling the whines until now. I am preparing for an interview right now. If this is the case study they use to evaluate potential employees, well, I understand all that is wrong with the vehicular producing companies.

Profitablity of SUVs? Really? ::headdesk:::

And what on Hell's Half Acre is "sensitivity analysis" as in how to do? The fact that Google doesn't yield much is not encouraging about this company.

This is so an interview I am about to fail mightily on...

KLee said...

Thanks for all the support, pixies. I really appreciate it.

Just trying to reconcile myself to the situation, and get myself somewhat psyched up for the task ahead. Hell, I figure if I gotta be the doormat, I might as well be a NICE doormat. Like one of the ones from Pottery Barn or Pier One? Yeah. Gotta find that silver lining SOME damn where....

Liz Miller said...

Hey, KLee, I'm so very sorry that your school situation is so sucky.

Are there alternative schools you could work at? Private kindergartens, other public schools?

Hugs and kisses.

Sue said...

((((KLee)))) Here's to a healing, renewing, life-giving summer (raises virtual margarita)

sarah - Weddings *shudders* Family weddings - where are those margaritas????

Hugs to all the whining pixies today.

I know that with all the midwest floods I have ZERO right to whine about weather, but really pixies, today it is not only cold, but raining. Yesterday in a city in our province they were shoveling fireplacing snow. Snow. In June. I live here because???????

Anti-Whine: The Amitriptyline seems to be working well for our cat. He was having some serious OCD issues (licking the wall in one certain place, dragging his water dish around - perhaps I mentioned some of this here....) anyway - he is one mellowed out feline on his new anti-depressant meds.

How did I end up with this neurotic cat? Do. Not. Answer. That.

As you were.

kathy a. said...

Oh, Sue -- you have restored my faith in humanity, and put a grin on my face with your tale of the mellow feline. Do you think drugs would work for the cat who poops in the tub when she feels insufficiently adored?

Passing the margaritas to Miranda, who will want them after the interview. Crossing fingers, anyway.

Sarah, that is a dishwasher saga of epic proportions! Ugh.

DMD, would your daughter like a cat? It probably doesn't help to hear that "this too shall pass," since that is part of the problem, eh?

esperanza said...

My Whine: I have to go grocery shopping.

Sweet Baboo's Whine: Hey! What happened to those grandparent people? Hey! No one has held me in the last 5 nanoseconds! Hey! Did you not see me playing here all ALONE? Hey! Did yoy not hear my pathetic little whimpers? HEY! PICK ME UP!!!

So sorry about the headache whines and the job whines and the poop whines, et al.

JenR said...

Pre-emptive whines for me .... format stolen - er - borrowed from esperenza:

My whine: Four-month shots are bound to take us back to the land of sleeplessness and refusing to eat for probably about a week (if the two-month shots are any indication).

Baby boy's whine: OW!

Antiwhine: At least we got a week of only getting up to eat twice and not waking every 45 minutes.

Sue said...

Sympathies for the Sweet Baboo and the Grandparent Withdrawl Syndrome. A day at a time baby.

Kathy a. - yes, I think this drug would work for the tub-pooping kitteh. Our boy is one happy little man.

Sympathies for all job and baby poop and baby needle whines. So many ouchies this week in so many different forms.

Liz Miller said...

Anti-whine: I just got off the phone with a guy from a very large environmentally friendly non-profit organization. They may need someone with my mad programming skillz.

Second anti-whine: I got the interview through a fellow whiner. He hasn't whined here in a while, but he gave my resume to the interviewer! Woot!

Madeleine said...

Anti-whine: Expensive UV-protecting bathing suit for Snuggly Girl on sale! $10 off!

Wine: Emerged from store to see traffic cop writing me a ticket. $30 on!

Madeleine said...

Errr.

Whine: stoopid speeling.

Madeleine said...

News as it happens: Snuggly Girl got the Grade 3 teacher we wanted her to have but were afraid to ask for because we've heard the principal will do the opposite of your request, on principle. I think I've spelled both of those correctly.

So yay for high hopes for a good Grade 3 year. Watch this space 'round about October for the disillusionment to settle in.

Miranda said...

Whine: The interview went very well. We were all feeling collegial by the end.

Fireplace.

Dream Corp needs to get back to me before I end up taking a temporary job with Evil Corp. Both are supposed to contact me at the same time - by the end of this week.

Anonymous said...

* Why do I always forget to turn the timer on when I put the pasta in the water?

* I am picking my battle: I am giving in to my husband's insistence that we paint the baby's room orange. I do love him all the way almost all of the time - that is not in question here - just that I question his judgment. Orange? And before you ask, no, not peach. Orange. And no, it's not for a favored sports team or anything.

He assures me it will look good and he has made it clear (in nice terms) that if it's not orange, he's not painting. Dood, I'm six months pregnant. I'm sure as heck not painting, ya know?

No cluesticks necessary on this one. I've given in to it and bought the paint. Save the cluesticks for daughters who have to retake prerequesites, stoopid skool districks, principals with questionable principles, and companies who just need to call already.

Elizabeth said...

Whine: when Liz and I tried to set up bloggish playdate, we couldn't find a weekend day that worked for both us until the end of August.

Anti-whine: Had really nice trip to NYC last weekend.

Whine: how can it be almost July already?

Anti-whine: Friend from college visiting next weekend -- we're ditching the family and going backpacking.

Good luck to liz and miranda on the job fronts. Miranda, at least in my world, sensitivity analysis means that you look at how much your answers change if your assumptions about key variables are wrong -- say, the price of gas.

Unknown said...

My daughter is whining for the computer, so I'm gonna be quick.

Son stole my last $20 bucks out of my wallet.

Phone got cut off because I couldn't pay bill. It is still off. I am still broke. Fuck Verizon.

Went to meeting at 9 am on Tues morning to discover that meeting is actually on 9 am on THURSDAY. I am that lame.

My daughter, thinking she was doing someone a favor, told our cleaning lady (my home health aide) to go home and SIGNED HER PAY STUB because she got caught in rain and was wet. So house.... meet the maelstrom that is my son. It is a complete sty. DISGUSTING.

Said son, who is grounded, has glued his ass to our sofa and has not moved in days. Every time I ask him to do anything he yells at me.

Oh, and I also forgot to send in a form to our health insurance who promptly dropped the kids the day before my son's medicine ran out. So consequently... I'm living with an unmedicated bipolar asshat that won't do shit around the house and is mouthing off at all times AND I can't get his medication because I don't have a phone to call the freaking health insurance company AND the pharmacy won't give us any meds because they're the kind that are limited to doctors RX with special pad. ANd doctors can't get samples.

I frigging hate my life.

Madeleine said...

Oh, Margalit. That is sucky.

Can you use Skype to call? If you have a way to charge a few dollars to a credit card you can buy Skype-out minutes and use your computer to make calls. If you have a microphone.

My late whine is that Snuggly Girl slept like a baby last night. A cranky, toothing baby with a bad cold during a growth spurt. Up every hour, miserable and tired but couldn't sleep. We suspect caffeine, but I've gone over the impressive list of treats eaten yesterday (last day of school) and it's mostly sugar and not caffeine. Sugar might keep her up late, but it wouldn't also cause her to wake every hour after that. I don't think.

Happy summer vacation to us! Too bad I am under work pressure and also need to finish getting all her camp stuff packed to go on the luggage truck this afternoon. And the nice sturdy sandals we bought a month or two back, so Prepared and Ahead of the Game were we, are now too small so I need to see if the store will exchange them today.

Liz Miller said...

Elizabeth and I are two very weekend-y people this summer. This coming weekend we each have part of the day free - I am free until two, she is free after three.

Our email exchange was like something out of a Nora Ephron movie.

Hugs to Margalit and to Sue.

Anonymous said...

Wow, Pixies. Good whines.

My dissertation proposal meeting went well, but of course they want more work. I thought I might get July as the calm between the storms, but now it will be the Pilot Testing between the storms.

kathy a. said...

Prizes shortly. Feel free to keep whining!