So long, August - you won't be missed
It has been a hell of a month. A hell of a summer, really, all around. The past few weeks have been particularly hard to deal with. My father experienced a subdural hematoma on July 16th, and what a shock it was. Generally speaking he is in exceptional health. Before this happened, he was jogging three times a week, plus walking. He is very active and generally takes good care of himself. I guess that is why he survived. At least, that is what most of the doctors are saying. So he has a long road to recovery ahead of him, and thank God that dad is an eternal optimist, because otherwise I don't know how he would deal with this. As it is, my mother is having a hell of a time because she is a bit more of a pessimist, to put it mildly. But all of us kids are doing our best to help out. So far a lot has been accomplished, but it will be a while until my dad has had anything close to a full recovery.
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In addition to all of my dad's issues, my beloved and betrothed thediva_laments is going through yet another round of living hell thanks to a boss whose ego is so swollen it is a wonder that he and it can sit in the same room together. We are doing our best to fight back, but it has been a struggle because this guy has had a free hand for much too long, and people like that who go largely unsupervised have a way of growing into monsters that no one can control. But we have a lot of friends, and there are a lot of people who love her and are going to be very angry when they find out how she has been treated. By God, there will be a reckoning of some sort, come hell or high water. I will not allow this to happen to her without consequences for said shithead. I will not stand by and allow this to be swept under a rug by people who want to pretend that everything is fine.
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We are both still struggling to make ends meet and trying desperately to find work. It has not been easy for us as we have already raided our savings, my 401 (k), and our honeymoon money. Luckily we have been able to do it so far. But we are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel. We can't do this much longer. I have one good job prospect at the moment, but I don't know how long it will be before they give me any decision as to whether or not I will be hired. There is just too much time that will probably have to pass before that happens. So now we are making plans to start selling possessions. I am currently going through my antique book collection trying to appraise some of the more valuable volumes (my first edition of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow should go for at least $400) and I am making plans to sell other things, like my beautiful Meade ETX telescope. I think we will probably end up creating an eBay store of our own to sell some of this stuff.
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And now, on top of everything else, one of our beloved furry children is quite ill. Smoky has always had a lot of health issues, particularly his thyroid, but now it looks like his thyroid is finally shitting the bed once and for all. He no longer seems to be responding to medication. So we are going to have to have his thyroid irradiated and that is going to cost some serious money. Even though the cost of the procedure has actually gone down in recent years, it is still somewhere in the $1,800 range, and that is obviously money we don't have. So we are trying to figure out where to come up with the money for that. Thanks to our friend ginmar, a couple of fundraisers have been started on Smokey's behalf. It is so wonderful to have such good friends, people who will stick their neck out for you and channel some goodness your way.
__________
In addition to all of my dad's issues, my beloved and betrothed thediva_laments is going through yet another round of living hell thanks to a boss whose ego is so swollen it is a wonder that he and it can sit in the same room together. We are doing our best to fight back, but it has been a struggle because this guy has had a free hand for much too long, and people like that who go largely unsupervised have a way of growing into monsters that no one can control. But we have a lot of friends, and there are a lot of people who love her and are going to be very angry when they find out how she has been treated. By God, there will be a reckoning of some sort, come hell or high water. I will not allow this to happen to her without consequences for said shithead. I will not stand by and allow this to be swept under a rug by people who want to pretend that everything is fine.
__________
We are both still struggling to make ends meet and trying desperately to find work. It has not been easy for us as we have already raided our savings, my 401 (k), and our honeymoon money. Luckily we have been able to do it so far. But we are definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel. We can't do this much longer. I have one good job prospect at the moment, but I don't know how long it will be before they give me any decision as to whether or not I will be hired. There is just too much time that will probably have to pass before that happens. So now we are making plans to start selling possessions. I am currently going through my antique book collection trying to appraise some of the more valuable volumes (my first edition of The Song of Hiawatha by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow should go for at least $400) and I am making plans to sell other things, like my beautiful Meade ETX telescope. I think we will probably end up creating an eBay store of our own to sell some of this stuff.
__________
And now, on top of everything else, one of our beloved furry children is quite ill. Smoky has always had a lot of health issues, particularly his thyroid, but now it looks like his thyroid is finally shitting the bed once and for all. He no longer seems to be responding to medication. So we are going to have to have his thyroid irradiated and that is going to cost some serious money. Even though the cost of the procedure has actually gone down in recent years, it is still somewhere in the $1,800 range, and that is obviously money we don't have. So we are trying to figure out where to come up with the money for that. Thanks to our friend ginmar, a couple of fundraisers have been started on Smokey's behalf. It is so wonderful to have such good friends, people who will stick their neck out for you and channel some goodness your way.