I know of a couple that broke up...

... after being together for seven plus years.

They argued all the time. They never seemed to get along. So they split up in January. Once the decision was made, it seemed to make them both relax. The decision was made just after Christmas 2000.

In January 2001, they both notified their families. "M" made arrangements to move out, and asked "S" to buy him out of the house they'd purchased. "S" rented a truck and helped "M" move into his new apartment. They gave away their dog, and split up their four cats, two each.

They talked to each other on the phone at least once a week. They saw each other at their favorite hole-in-the-wall, especially since "M" was working at said hole-in-the-wall. The way they felt about each other, other than the anger, hadn't changed. "M" couldn't stand it if anyone hurt "S", and the other way around.

For the first time since they had known each other, "S" sent "M" flowers for his birthday. Then, the bad thing happened.

"M"s father died. Someone who cared about them equally as "sons". Even though "S" was "divorced" from the family, they didn't treat him that way.

The only thing that kept "M" going throughout that period of time was "S". He had reminded "M" that "S" really was his best friend, regardless of the situation.

Right after that, "M" lost his job. He looked and looked and looked. Nothing turned up. He was working, part time, running his Father's company, but that wasn't going to pay the bills, since his step-mother had control.

When it got to be too much for "M" to handle, it was "S" that he went to. And eventually, "M" moved back into the house.

When that happened, the two decided to get back together after six months apart. They both realized that together they could do and handle anything that came their way.

Whether you've figured it out or not, I am talking about me and TheHusband. I am a big grudge holder. Don't fuck with TheHusband. Sure, he'll forgive you, but my friend, I will not.

We have now been together for over 13 years total. I have mentioned that I cannot imagine how I would have gotten through the last decade of my life without him. He is my rock, and my savior. I love him desperately. Could our relationship be better? Of course it could. But the basics are there. Don't fuck with us, and don't fuck with him. You do not want me on your bad side.

There is another blogger that I read (every day, if not twice or more) who has recently said that he and his other half have split up. They say that they are still good friends, and I believe them (considering my own history), but what I'm hoping is that they will come to the same realization that TheHusband and I did.

I wish them luck.

Hurricane Katrina news coverage...

I did not hear this report, but TheHusband did. I have to paraphrase.

9-1-1 Caller: "I'm in my house, I've gone up to the attic. I have a hammer and a crowbar. The water is flowing into the attic now. Please come get me. Help me..."

Sorry. After living through three, count 'em, three hurricanes last year, I know something about how "local governments" react to them. They tell you to get the hell out. After that, they tell you that if you don't get the hell out, they will not be able to come and rescue you. It's as simple as that.

I have sympathy for the caller, sure. But, dude, when does personal responsibility come into play?

Recently, some bloggers have said they feel like stopping

At least three (that I read, I'm sure there are more) in the last few days.

One of them is in my blogroll. She's been there since the begining.

I hope she changes her mind.

I've been tagged. A first!!

From Pookie, I got these instructions:

List ten songs that you are currently digging ... it doesn't matter what genre they are from, whether they have words, or even if they're no good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying right now. Post these instructions, the artists, and the ten songs in your blog. Then tag five other people to see what they're listening to.

Okay. Here goes. Don't laugh at me.

1. Elephant Love Song - Moulin Rouge! Movie Soundtrack
2. Rent (the entire album) - Original Soundtrack (cannot wait for the movie to come out)
3. Payin' the cost to be the boss - Pat Benetar (Album: True Love)
4. I'll be over you - Toto (Album: Star Box "Greatest Hits", only available in Japan circa: 1988)
5. I owe you nothing - Bros (Album: The Time, 1989)
6. Operator - The Manhattan Transfer (Album: The Manhattan Transfer, 1975)
7. Ray's Rockhouse - The Manhattan Transfer (Album: Vocalese, 1985)
8. Bizarre Love Triangle - New Order (Album: Substance, 1987)
9. I can give you everything - Wet Wet Wet (Album: Popped in, Souled Out, 1987)
10. God Bless the Child - Lisa Simpson (Album: The Simpson's sing the blues)

I tag:

Jin
RichWhiteBoy
R.J.
NakedBoy
Michael

For the record: I do not now, nor do I ever plan to own an IPod.

After yesterday's post...

... I walked up to TheHusband and loudly protested his inaction on Sunday.

"Since you did nothing to solve the problem, now it's worse. I'd appreciate it if you took care of that before I get home from work." Then I stormed out the door and drove off.

I'll leave it to your imagination as to how bad it had gotten in my bathroom.

Before going to work himself, he went to the Home Depot and bought a 25 foot "snake". He tried to no avail to loosen whatever it was that had clogged the drain on "my" side of the house. After a bit, he gave up and called a plumber.

Plumber arrived and used a 30+ foot snake. This extra five feet worked, of course. The plumber mentioned that TheHusband should instruct any females in the house NOT to flush certain hygiene products down the drain anymore.

We don't think this will be a problem.

"Get up and do something about it..."

That's what I said to TheHusband yesterday.

I freely admit that I am not handy with a tool. When my car needs work, it is my husband's job. When something breaks, it is my husband's job.

So, as I am doing my Sunday chores yesterday, laundry, cleaning, etc., the toilet in my room started gurgling.

Yes, you read that right. Gurgling.

The washing machine was draining and it was affecting the pipes on this side of the house. Shortly after that, waste water (presumably from the washer - leave me to that thought, m'kay?) started pouring into my shower from the drain.

I went to find TheHusband. He was laying on the couch. I told him what happened and he just sat there, looking off into space. After a few minutes, I couldn't stand it anymore.

I said, "Stop thinking about it and get up and DO SOMETHING." He asked what he should do. I told him to find out what the problem is and fix it. He said that we didn't have a snake and maybe I should call a plumber.

I couldn't believe it. Here I was cleaning this stupid house all by myself, yet again, and doing HIS stupid dirty laundry, and that was the best I was going to get out of him? It's not like I stopped him from mowing the lawn, trimming the bushes, chopping the firewood, or overhauling the car. HE WAS LAYING ON THE FUCKING COUCH.

I put on some decent clothes and went to the store for some Liquid Plummr.

When I came home, he was laying on the bed watching TV. I gave up and did what I could.

Later on, I went on my weekly trip to the grocery store. When I came home, he was still on the bed, napping.

At this point, I am, of course, steaming. Good thing I do my laundry first. It was all done and hung in my closet. His? Still in the washer and dryer. I left them there, not that he will notice.

Later in the day, he finally got up and left the house. I'm thinking that he's going to the Home Depot to get whatever it takes to fix this issue. I am wrong.

He went to the Home Depot alright. He got parts to fix the air conditioner unit which has been leaking for the last two weeks. Fix is a reletive term for TheHusband. Typically it means a liberal use of Duct Tape.

This time was no different.

Tomorrow is the memorial

for our friend "A".

Those of you in the immediate area, and you know who you are, who've been reading this blog/journal for the last few weeks can join us at the Memorial for Him and OurDog.

Remember, "D" had the unexpected expense of cremating his partner of over 10 years, "A". There is still a house payment to be made.

When anyone hands you an envelope, put a $20 bill or more in it.

In the end, I think that would be better than spending $20 on flowers that will die in a week or so.

See you at 3:00 p.m.

UPDATE: Oh. And if you have a tab, please pay it off. That'll surely help him make the house payment...

Doctor Visit.... August

*whew*

Blood pressure: Normal to high, not requiring additional medication.
Kidney function: good
Cholesterol: good
Liver Function: good, but enzymes elevated, again. Still nothing to worry about.

T-cells: 154. Not great, but not horrible. Would like to see them come up. Really. Any day now. Honestly. I'm ready.

Viral load: Unde-fucking-tectable.

Percentage: 12% down, but not bad for someone with almost no T-Cells.

No changes of the meds since my little hospitalization last month.

Funny. My doc says, "you know they could have called us and we would have told them that your anemia was because of the AZT we had you taking."

My answer?

"Yeah, like they would have believed you after the fourth or fifth time I told them."

He asked about it. I told him I was still receiving bills from doctors I hadn't ever had the pleasure of meeting. He said, "Welcome to the world of American Medicine."

He's an immigrant, you see. And he is right.

Never forget, Never again...

No, not a pre-anniversary post about 9-11-01.

I work for a company that sells and services equipment in the Hospitality Industry. On Friday all of our Project Managers were out of the office, as were our service technicians. They were out, you know, doing their jobs... I was in the office doing mine. I am the office administrator.

So on Friday afternoon, one of our larger clients had a printer down. No PM's, no Techs, nobody but me "in town". So what wonderful idea did the Service Manager (at the home office on the other side of the state) have? Send me to the aforementioned clients place of business to replace a printer. On a Friday. Right before they open.

I told him it was a bad idea.

Two hours after I got there, one of our Technicians showed up and determined that it wasn't the printer, it was the wiring in the network (read: in the walls).

I hope my company didn't charge the client for a service call run by a typist.

Hey Cindy...

... I'm thinking it's time to go home and concentrate on things you can control, instead of asking for things that most Americans will never get: a second visit with POTUS.

1000 visitors

Thanks to all of you.

One year later

Today is the one year anniversary of Hurricane Charley hitting the Central Florida area. I thought I'd share my post from my old blog.

Saturday, August 14, 2004
Hurricane Charley

Well, Charley has come and gone. No big deal for us personally.

Part of the fiberglass roof over our side porch is missing. A piece of lattuce came down. One of the sun shades was destroyed. A part of our fence came off. All VERY minor stuff. Two of our neighbors had trees ripped out of the ground, in both cases the tree fell away from the houses.

The eye of the hurricane went directly over the airport, about 20 miles away or so. There were max sustained winds of 85, with gusts at 105, a new record for OIA.

We lost cable about... 9:00, and electricity shortly after that. I lit some candles for TheHusbnad and went to bed. He stayed up until after 1:00 a.m., he went for a drive and looked at the neighborhood... for what reason I don't know. There was no power so I don't think he could see anything. For some reason, he took my car (oi vey) instead of his truck. Sometimes I just don't understand him...

The power came back on this morning, just before 8:00 a.m. So, two hours without coffee wasn't too bad. I made some with the press-pot and cold water, that just didn't cut it. People are out cutting up the trees in their yards now.

There were two deaths attributed to Charley from the Central Florida area. One was from an 18 wheeler being tossed on to a car while driving on the Bee Line. This was before Charley actually showed up... was really from a feeder band earlier in the evening. On the local news they are talking about Charlotte county where -- it is described -- deputies are standing guard over "stacks of bodies" yet to be identified. They are saying that more than 100 people are reported missing.

It begs the question. If Central Florida started worrying about this storm on Wednesday, when Charley was still south of Cuba, why wasn't Punta Gorda? Just because the NWS said it was coming to Tampa? One of the models said it would come in near there-- and then head towards Orlando... exactly what happened. Our local TV stations were telling us about this... where were the local stations down there?

I watch the CBS Early Show...

... on Saturday mornings only. During the week, I watch the Today Show. I've been hooked on "Katie Perky" (as she is called by David Letterman) since she was known as "Katherine". But I digress.

They had a young pop singer on today. You know, Nick's little brother?

Oi vey. I don't think he likes girls.

A cure on the horizon?

Good news for a change.

In their study, Margolis and colleagues treated four HIV patients who were on HAART and whose virus had been suppressed for a long time. For four to six weeks, the patients also were given enfurvitide twice daily. This intensified HAART treatment helped to prevent the further spread of HIV. Then, in addition to HAART, the patients were given oral valproic acid daily for three months.

By the end of the trial, three of the patients had a 75 percent reduction in latent HIV infection, the investigators found. The fourth patient developed anemia during the last four weeks of treatment with valproic acid, so treatment had to be stopped.

Although patients still had reservoirs of latent virus after the trial, this approach may one day lead to a cure for HIV. "The ultimate goal of this new treatment is to clear viral infection," Margolis said. "If this pans out, the goal is to have no replication competent virus left in the body, and so therapy could be stopped."

(emphasis mine)

What do I do?

TheHusband "found" my blog today.

He said he did it with a simple web search, not of me, but of one of my recent subjects.

He sent me the link immediately, wondering who it was. I called his cell phone.

I said "That is me, and it is my blog. I don't want you to read it. Not because I don't want you to know what I say, but because if I know you are reading it then I might not be completely honest with what I post.

He said he wouldn't read any more. I believe him. But I marked his IP address anyway. Thank the gods for Sitemeter. (If you are back SMW, I'll know it...)

But now I am feeling like I need to delete the whole thing. Not that I am embarassed at anything I've typed, it is just that there is a difference between someone I know reading my journal and someone I DON'T know reading my journal.

You, dear readers don't know me. I can't take any criticism from you to heart.

R.I.P. Andrew

"My Friend Andrew", born 12/17/1955 in Slovenia, died August 8, 2005 at 0415.

I don't think I ever wanted to visit Europe, until I met Andrew. Although he couldn't imagine ever leaving the United States, he never stopped talking about how beautiful it was in his homeland.

This man had visited more countries than I can count, including Antartica. Twice!!

I am thinking about a trip to Slovenia, now.

I'll miss you Andrew.

I stole this from Michael

... so I can't take credit for it. But I really want the 10's of readers of this site to read it. And take part in the poll:

American Family Association Poll

Because we all know “might makes right” and things that are taught in science class should be taught by popular mandate, I'’d like you to go vote in the American Family Association's poll on Creationism vs. Evolution.

Remember though, the “Yes to Creationism option is checked by default, so if you are a big fan of proven theories like Evolution, please make sure to select it, or you'll be one of the very many people who will have pushed submit without realizing they forgot to uncheck the AFA'’s preferred option.

Have fun. And link the poll on your blogs please! Taunting the AFA is FUN!!!

via Eva Young who has more on political strategies and Intelligent Design here.

Please join us. The AFA is winning the poll, and I'd like to change that.

What a fucking week...

After this, and this comes today.

I arrive at work to find that someone had sat at my desk. Normally, I wouldn't mind, but they moved things. They went through my files. But the only thing that pisses me off? They didn't put them back. I am aware that it isn't "my" desk, or "my" computer, and they aren't "my" files. They belong to the company and anyone that works with the company can sit at them, use them, or look at them.

Want me to see that you've been there and left me something after I've gone for the day? Leave it in my "In" box.

Then, I am called into a meeting with the CEO to be told, once again, that there have been "challenges" at the corporate office, and that's why our computers don't work half the time. I can handle that. But here's the thing. If you tell me that you can't get to "my" problems until you have solved other "challenges", I can understand that too. But what I need you to do is tell me when you can get to my problems. That's all. Too much to ask?

Anyway, there was other stuff and then the CEO asked what I got out of the meeting. I said that I was walking away with the feeling that I should be a BIG BOY and suck it up that others are not required to follow the Policies and Procedures that are set by this company, and I need to work around that, all the time following said Policies and Procedures myself.

He couldn't believe that I got that out of the meeting. I changed my tactic and just started agreeing with everything he said so that I could get out of the meeting and get to work.

I thought to myself, "If that's what I got out of it, and you didn't mean to say it, then you didn't do a very good job of getting your point across, did you?" But of course, I can't say that to the CEO of the company, now can I?

Then I spent the next two hours on the phone with the IT guy trying to get the phones to work and my computer fixed. Only one of those things were accomplished.

All of this is going on and I am also trying to find out if the VA sent out my pills. I'm low and ordered them two weeks ago. They should have been here by now. Finally, I get someone to admit that they hadn't been sent out.

This week I have been plagued by people who get paid for doing a job, but couldn't find the time or energy to actually do that job.

And to top it all off, when I got home I realized that my wallet was not in my back pocket where it belongs.

Greeting me at the mailbox

Was a card. A sympathy card from the Vet's office.

The inscription inside said:

May you find peace in knowing
your decision was truly
kind and loving.

... and it was signed by both Veterinarians from the office, even though I've only seen one of them.

I know we made the right decision. I don't need to be reminded.

I had just gotten to the point where I was thinking about all the "happy" memories I had of OurDog.

I didn't need this.

--
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the gesture. I'll probably send them all flowers the day after I pick up OurDog's ashes. That's how much they cared about my dog - and me.

Actual conversation at work today:

Company COO: There seems to be a problems getting the equipment to you.

MiKell: Yes, there is.

COO: Why is that?

MiKell: I ask for it. The people who are supposed to get it to me don't send it.

COO: So, what you need to do is let me know if you haven’t received it within 24 hours.

MiKell: Wait. What you are saying is… that I 1) have to ask for equipment, which I didn’t have to do three months ago when someone else was doing that job; and 2) when I do ask for it and they don’t send it to me, I then have to complain to their boss because they aren’t doing their jobs? And if I don't complain, the fault belongs to me?

Wouldn’t it be better to teach them how to do their jobs and give them the tools to do said job?

[…]

MiKell: Why is it that the “Inventory Coordinator” has to send me an email telling me that he is about to order (for me) from Distributor A, I should stop everything I am doing and go do a mini-inventory of said items? I mean really, I don’t pay any attention to what item comes from what distributor. That isn’t my job, it’s his. Besides, didn’t I just complete a full inventory of what was in my mini-warehouse just a few weeks ago? Shouldn’t he know what I have? If not, should someone not give him access to our database to find out the answer to this question?

COO: That’s why I think we need a weekly conference call to decide these things.

MiKell: Wait. Isn’t that the purpose of our Database? So that everyone in the company knows what I have in stock at all times? If not, then that means I am wasting my time and the company’s money at the end of every month spending three days counting each and every doo-dad in my shop?

R.I.P. Digger

I miss you already, and it's only been two hours.