My Father The Lolrus
The weirdest thing happened today, y'all.
So remember where I couldn't get stuck last week? I finally went today and had the bloodwork done at the hospital in Newburgh (nearest insurance-approved lab), and inevitably had some Vein-Finding Issues, which came out all right in the end. But while I was checking in, I gave the nice middle-aged lady behind the desk my insurance card and verified my vital stats and all that, and presently she asked me, "Is there someone we can contact in case of emergency?"
l33: Yes, my mother; her name is [Lolmom] [Surname] and the address and phone number are the same.
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: I don't suppose your father is [Father's Name]? He used to work at [Clinical Research Facility].
l33: Yep, that's him. Last I heard, he was in California. [Oh noes! Run, pixelation, run! THE PROPERTY VALUE ON YOUR ENTIRE STATE IS GOING DOWN EVEN AS WE SPEAK.]
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: I used to work with him. He looked exactly like a walrus. [This is true. My father is bald, round-faced, and at the time, had a bushy mustache that did cause him to look not unlike a walrus (or a Scrubbing Bubble). He has since gotten rid of that last but since he always had one when I was growing up, my brain keeps Photoshopping it back onto him.]
l33: (laughs) Yeah, he really does.
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: He was difficult to work with, too. I did learn a lot from him, though. [I suspect her learnings involved how to deal with Difficult People without going on a killing spree.]
l33: I would use the word "ordeal", actually. Try being his daughter. [Oh, and I have his face, so I get to see him every time I look in the mirror. Thank God I have the lolmom's coloring.]
Throughout this exchange, she kept remembering that she was, in fact, talking to his daughter and kept apologizing, though nothing she said was really bad, and it was all the truth anyway. If you've ever wondered how I got to be so difficult and cantankerous, my father is pretty much the answer.
Also: The lolmom has lived in this area for slightly under 12 years. My father only lived here for about a year before he went to California with the Whore of Babylon, and he is still remembered...not in a good way. This amuses me, because I am a human being who is tickled when her enemies are spoken ill of.
The lolmom got his bukkit in the divorce, anyway.
I just watched Seven Samurai again for the umpteenth time. (Remember: You're going to die, so man up, go in with both swords swinging, and die like a samurai.) If I grow up, I want to be Kyuzo (Miyaguchi Seiji), especially if a cute kid like Katsushiro (Kimura Isao) fanboys me all the time. Seriously, Katsushiro has got the biggest guy crush on Kyuzo. One of my favorite scenes is where he's burbling cheerfully on to Kikuchiyo (Mifune Toshiro), who's then like, "Whatevs, kid. Stfu."
Also: speshful thanks to forgottensanity for spam (moar kittens plz!). I must now scroll down to see H's old e-mail. (I am not going to delete it because I have deleted e-mail from former partners before and still regret it. It is part of my history, even if it's in the past, and being a historian, I like to have all my materials.)
Oh, and my paper lantern arrived today. WIN.
So remember where I couldn't get stuck last week? I finally went today and had the bloodwork done at the hospital in Newburgh (nearest insurance-approved lab), and inevitably had some Vein-Finding Issues, which came out all right in the end. But while I was checking in, I gave the nice middle-aged lady behind the desk my insurance card and verified my vital stats and all that, and presently she asked me, "Is there someone we can contact in case of emergency?"
l33: Yes, my mother; her name is [Lolmom] [Surname] and the address and phone number are the same.
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: I don't suppose your father is [Father's Name]? He used to work at [Clinical Research Facility].
l33: Yep, that's him. Last I heard, he was in California. [Oh noes! Run, pixelation, run! THE PROPERTY VALUE ON YOUR ENTIRE STATE IS GOING DOWN EVEN AS WE SPEAK.]
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: I used to work with him. He looked exactly like a walrus. [This is true. My father is bald, round-faced, and at the time, had a bushy mustache that did cause him to look not unlike a walrus (or a Scrubbing Bubble). He has since gotten rid of that last but since he always had one when I was growing up, my brain keeps Photoshopping it back onto him.]
l33: (laughs) Yeah, he really does.
Nice Middle-Aged Lady: He was difficult to work with, too. I did learn a lot from him, though. [I suspect her learnings involved how to deal with Difficult People without going on a killing spree.]
l33: I would use the word "ordeal", actually. Try being his daughter. [Oh, and I have his face, so I get to see him every time I look in the mirror. Thank God I have the lolmom's coloring.]
Throughout this exchange, she kept remembering that she was, in fact, talking to his daughter and kept apologizing, though nothing she said was really bad, and it was all the truth anyway. If you've ever wondered how I got to be so difficult and cantankerous, my father is pretty much the answer.
Also: The lolmom has lived in this area for slightly under 12 years. My father only lived here for about a year before he went to California with the Whore of Babylon, and he is still remembered...not in a good way. This amuses me, because I am a human being who is tickled when her enemies are spoken ill of.
The lolmom got his bukkit in the divorce, anyway.
I just watched Seven Samurai again for the umpteenth time. (Remember: You're going to die, so man up, go in with both swords swinging, and die like a samurai.) If I grow up, I want to be Kyuzo (Miyaguchi Seiji), especially if a cute kid like Katsushiro (Kimura Isao) fanboys me all the time. Seriously, Katsushiro has got the biggest guy crush on Kyuzo. One of my favorite scenes is where he's burbling cheerfully on to Kikuchiyo (Mifune Toshiro), who's then like, "Whatevs, kid. Stfu."
Also: speshful thanks to forgottensanity for spam (moar kittens plz!). I must now scroll down to see H's old e-mail. (I am not going to delete it because I have deleted e-mail from former partners before and still regret it. It is part of my history, even if it's in the past, and being a historian, I like to have all my materials.)
Oh, and my paper lantern arrived today. WIN.