they call it stormy monday, but tuesday’s just as bad
Steph sprained her ankle really badly. She is hobbling around on crutches, her foot in a compression boot. I am now her designated driver. We are using her car for this, because mine is kinda broke, and I can’t afford to take it to the shop right now. She has to go to school five days a week, plus other miscellaneous trips. I am enjoying being more involved in her day-to-day life, but boy am I tired. We have been doing this for two weeks now. I wonder what I am going to look like after six weeks. Or eight.
Adding to the fun, the hard drive in Steph’s Mac died. She had no backups! As if her busted ankle wasn’t already enough of a blow to her schoolwork, this was almost worse. All her pending homework, gone. I had to buy her a new hard drive for her Mac, and a new drive for time machine backups, and loan her my Mac while I was fixing hers. Stuff I can’t really afford right now. To her credit, Steph did not let all this bad news distract her. She is working harder than ever at school. She practically lives there now.
Steph also moved into a new house. There is a seven-year-old girl that lives next door, and she is the KUH-YOO-TEST thing EVER. I have spent many dollars I don’t have buying kiddie apps and books for my iPad, so I can watch her impatiently bang her way through them. I took a photo of this activity, but I can’t show it to you, because you are all perverts and child molesters. Thanks a lot, internet. This is why we can’t have nice things.
The seven-year-old lives with her grandparents, because her mother is a meth addict. I have met the mom. Many times, unfortunately. God, what a mess that woman is. All the more reason for me to try to give the kid some positive attention. Her grandparents have been really sweet about it. “She is so happy you are here,” one of them said to me. This is reminding me that I need to have more kids in my life. They are such a joy.
I have gotten myself involved with a company that is a federation of contractors. They introduce you to pre-qualified clients who need contract work done - iPhone and iPad programming, in my case - and they take a cut of your hourly rate, if the job works out. Everything I know about this place is stuff I figured out myself, because almost everybody I’ve interacted with is terrible at communication. Despite that, I’m finding that I kind of like dealing with these guys. They are often ridiculously demanding, which could potentially be a problem, given how much time I spend ferrying Steph around during the day. But I always have my trusty iPhone with me, so I can answer emails, or take a Skype call, or look at a PDF, or whatever. I haven’t started a paying contract yet, but I am very close. If the one I am angling for now doesn’t work out, they will find something else for me to try.
Can I just say again how much I love, love, love my iPhone? I use that thing 40 times a day, for so many different purposes. Especially now, given that circumstances have forced me out of my usual self-imposed cocoon, blinking into the sunlight. Best tech gadget EVER. Steph is even more addicted to hers than I am to mine. Good luck getting her to look you in the eye, you’ll do better if you send her a text message.
This girl I used to know in my twenties recently found me on Facebook. We have had a few phone calls, and a few emails, and a few text message exchanges. Before this, we had been out of contact for over 20 years. She is still exactly as selfish and impossible as she ever was. She suffers from something I like to call “pretty girl syndrome.” People who are as attractive as she is become accustomed to other people doing almost all of the work in their relationships. I wasn’t willing to call her ten times for every time she called me back, so we fell out of contact. But these days I am much better at managing her mercurial behavior. It takes a lot to get me flustered, in my advanced years. And there is a lot of good in her, despite her flaws. God knows I can always use a few more sane people to talk to.
So, that is my life right now, internet. It feels like the wheels are going to fall off at any minute, but they haven’t so far. Knock wood.
Adding to the fun, the hard drive in Steph’s Mac died. She had no backups! As if her busted ankle wasn’t already enough of a blow to her schoolwork, this was almost worse. All her pending homework, gone. I had to buy her a new hard drive for her Mac, and a new drive for time machine backups, and loan her my Mac while I was fixing hers. Stuff I can’t really afford right now. To her credit, Steph did not let all this bad news distract her. She is working harder than ever at school. She practically lives there now.
Steph also moved into a new house. There is a seven-year-old girl that lives next door, and she is the KUH-YOO-TEST thing EVER. I have spent many dollars I don’t have buying kiddie apps and books for my iPad, so I can watch her impatiently bang her way through them. I took a photo of this activity, but I can’t show it to you, because you are all perverts and child molesters. Thanks a lot, internet. This is why we can’t have nice things.
The seven-year-old lives with her grandparents, because her mother is a meth addict. I have met the mom. Many times, unfortunately. God, what a mess that woman is. All the more reason for me to try to give the kid some positive attention. Her grandparents have been really sweet about it. “She is so happy you are here,” one of them said to me. This is reminding me that I need to have more kids in my life. They are such a joy.
I have gotten myself involved with a company that is a federation of contractors. They introduce you to pre-qualified clients who need contract work done - iPhone and iPad programming, in my case - and they take a cut of your hourly rate, if the job works out. Everything I know about this place is stuff I figured out myself, because almost everybody I’ve interacted with is terrible at communication. Despite that, I’m finding that I kind of like dealing with these guys. They are often ridiculously demanding, which could potentially be a problem, given how much time I spend ferrying Steph around during the day. But I always have my trusty iPhone with me, so I can answer emails, or take a Skype call, or look at a PDF, or whatever. I haven’t started a paying contract yet, but I am very close. If the one I am angling for now doesn’t work out, they will find something else for me to try.
Can I just say again how much I love, love, love my iPhone? I use that thing 40 times a day, for so many different purposes. Especially now, given that circumstances have forced me out of my usual self-imposed cocoon, blinking into the sunlight. Best tech gadget EVER. Steph is even more addicted to hers than I am to mine. Good luck getting her to look you in the eye, you’ll do better if you send her a text message.
This girl I used to know in my twenties recently found me on Facebook. We have had a few phone calls, and a few emails, and a few text message exchanges. Before this, we had been out of contact for over 20 years. She is still exactly as selfish and impossible as she ever was. She suffers from something I like to call “pretty girl syndrome.” People who are as attractive as she is become accustomed to other people doing almost all of the work in their relationships. I wasn’t willing to call her ten times for every time she called me back, so we fell out of contact. But these days I am much better at managing her mercurial behavior. It takes a lot to get me flustered, in my advanced years. And there is a lot of good in her, despite her flaws. God knows I can always use a few more sane people to talk to.
So, that is my life right now, internet. It feels like the wheels are going to fall off at any minute, but they haven’t so far. Knock wood.