Funny you mention that, at the theater last night there was a Magic Mike XL promotion where you could get your picture taken with two male models in front of the Magic Mike sign.
About a year ago I discoveredthat after a ten-year relationship my daughter's mother (the artist previously known as Mrs. KA) had unilaterally decided to start seeing other people and was leaving me to join the Navy. The next couple months were pretty rough -- I got depressed and lost about 65 lbs. Staring at the walls and floor and not eating for several weeks will do that. But wanting to see to my daughter's well-being kept me here on Planet Earth rather than offing myself, which at times seemed like an attractive option -- and in late July I started working a marriage reconciliation program (Mort Fertel's Marriage Fitness Program, specifically the "Lone Ranger Track."). The latter helped me keep my sanity and gave me something constructive to focus on while her mom literally went off the deep end when she was rejected for the Navy at the end of July.
Last fall/winter I came very close to bankruptcy several times as she drained our savings and my checking account over and over... But I worked the reconciliation program and kept everyone fed and clothed and getting to where they needed to go while the two affairs she had gotten involved with both crashed and burned, which is what the reconciliation program predicted would eventually happen. Shortly after Xmas we began working the reconciliation program together, and for a brief period it was looking like things would work out. But after about 3 weeks of that she disengaged and said didn't want to be in any relationship, suggesting we "just live together" until our daughter was grown up. I told her I was not going to put my life on hold for 12 years. Also, the level of disrespect I had gotten from her and her kids was unacceptable and unless we were reconciling I could not see how the damage would be repairable, and her kids treating me like garbage would not be a healthy environment for our daughter to grow up in. Not to mention the looming possibility of bankruptcy, which was the best option for me as things stood in January/February. When she realized I was planning to declare bankruptcy and move out whether we reconciled or not, she opted to disengage herself from me financially and move out herself, since her name is also on the mortgage. For some reason, nothing else about us mattered to her but she did not want to have to declare bankruptcy.
So after managing the household finances for the last 6 months, I have managed to get caught up on everything -- the utilities, the taxes, the insurance -- everything except the mortgage, which has been paid on time for the last several months but is impossible for me to get caught up on. I am in the process of negotiating with the bank to take the several thousand or so we got behind on over the past year and sticking it all at the end of the mortgage. I met with the bank people, and they also realize that at this point I would rather try to keep the house if they will work with me, but that threatening me with anything doesn't matter since I DON'T CARE. It is amazing how freeing it is when you let go of stuff that is weighing you down. Worst case scenarios -- 1) I declare bankruptcy or 2) the bank will make me sell the house. At this point though I am no longer upside down and I should break even if I do have to sell. But any more surprise financial blows at this point and it's off to bankruptcy court for yours truly.
So in about a week, my daughter's mother (and her three kids) are FINALLY moving out. I have remained cordial with her because it is in the best interest of my daughter and my emotional well-being. Since we never actually got "officially" married, this separation process is way easier than it would otherwise be. We are going to share custody and placement, and as long as the bank lets me stay here, my plan is to rent out the first floor while Inara and I live in the basement and I finish remodeling it (it was about half done before we moved in). Hopefully in the next year or so I will be able to refinance or sell it after the basement is done and I can get some of my down payment back out. You guys and maybe two other human beings (those being my lawyer and the other my therapist) are the only people I have told this entire story to.
Either way I can't wait until she is GONE.
For
It has been one hell of a year. But I am embracing the idea of "living in transition" rather than trying to race through all this to get...where? I have no idea. I am moving forward with intention and an open mind and seeing where this all goes.
Matlock and I went to see Brian Wilson last night, with Sixto Rodriguez (Sugarman) opening.
It was pretty great. I was worried because it could have gone a few different ways, but it went the best possible way. Brian Wilson had ten other people with him, including Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin, so they were able to pull off those big layered sounds. And they saved most of the songs I don't are for (the ones I think of as the songs that Mike Love performs at county fairs or whatever) for the encore.
And Matlock really really liked it, meaning I accurately predicted that he wanted to see Brian Wilson in concert even though he didn't know it yet. (Matlock and I really don't like the same music much, so I am a pretty smart guy for knowing that.)
I am now a complete human being and am ready to be with Jesus, for not only have I seen Sail On Sailor performed live but also have seen Sail on Sailor performed live with Blondie Chaplin on lead vocals, just like in 1973. The circle of life, she is complete.
When Lisa proposed going to this concert, I figured "Sure, what the hell. Dude's arguably the best songwriter the U.S. ever produced, and he's well into his 70s, so how many more chances will we get?"
It was awesome. Sure, Wilson's voice isn't what it once was but he's put together a 10-piece band with loads of amazing singers who can pull off all those amazing Beach Boys harmonies. Hell, I remember hearing Good Vibrations on the radio as a kid and wondering how that song could ever be done in concert. Answer: magnificently.
In case anyone asks, Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine is 72 years old and can still sing his ass off.
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"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis D. Brandeis
"Psychos do not explode when sunlight hits them, I don't give a fuck how crazy they are." ~ S. Gecko
"What the fuck is a German muffin?" ~ R. Swanson
Last edited by Stephen Maturin; 07-09-2015 at 10:01 PM.
I'm wondering if my daughter is about to go into the witness protection program. A United States Deputy Marshal is looking for her because she is a possible material witness to a crime. Or she may know information of the whereabouts of a fugitive from justice.
Also, mostly unrelated, but serious business, the guy that beat her nearly to death four years ago was released from prison this week. He wasn't supposed to get out until at least 2017 because of getting caught with a shank in 2013. I hope he is in custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and slated for deportation, he is after all, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala.
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Sleep - the most beautiful experience in life - except drink.--W.C. Fields
so I have this new client, and I really hope it works out. I have no free time at the moment, though. This is the first time off I've had in 4 days. Like literally first hours off. I had 4 hours off for sleep Wed night, 5 Thurs, and 4 Friday. The rest was work.
If it DOES work out it pays enough for insurance, bills, and fun stuff so I can quit the Chain Coffee Place of Doom. And get more hours off for trolling by reading and not posting.
I'm terrified it won't, though. Mostly because that's how my brain works.
It looks like it is about time for Ding's employer to rewrite the job description so he can go back to being an unqualified success.
__________________ Old Pain In The Ass says: I am on a mission from God to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable; to bring faith to the doubtful and doubt to the faithful.
Last night I was suffering from an existential crisis. For the first time in my life, someone out weirded me. We have a regular patron who sports dreadlocks and a Hitler mustache, which is pretty stupid but not that weird. Yesterday he came up and spoke German to me. I said I didn't speak it and then he asked if I spoke German in German, which I know enough to understand. I said again I didn't speak it and he called me a dummkopf.
I said, "Did you just call me stupid?" He looked shocked and asked how I understood that and I replied that I watched a lot of Hogan's Heroes as a kid. He said it meant dum-dum and I said I knew. Then he flashed me a crap Nazi salute and left. My first thought was, "I guess the mustache is deliberate after all." Forgot to mention this guy is African American.
On the way home I was thinking that the world could show me nothing stranger. I was done, I had seen it all now that a Black Nazi had insulted me in German. Then I got mad. Ever since reading The Restaurant at the End of the Universe as a teen, "Don't try to out weird me. I get stranger things than you free with my breakfast cereal." has been my mantra. And yet I've been out weirded and I have no idea how to deal with that.
In brighter news my sciatica was less painful last night and this morning. So after weeks of pain and one week of really intense pain, I feel like it's a holiday or something. Mild ache, WOOHOO!
__________________
"freedom to differ is not limited to things that do not matter much. That would be a mere shadow of freedom. The test of its substance is the right to differ as to things that touch the heart of the existing order."
- Justice Robert Jackson, West Virginia State Board of Ed. v. Barnette
Jesus, this pain in the ass week has been dragging on way too long ever since I overslept Tuesday morning, and it's only Thursday. At 5:30 this morning I was letting the dogs out when what to my wondering yet bleary eyes should appear?
Fuck.
Usually that tree trunk is not almost horizontal. Last time I checked, it was totally vertical. This can't be good.
Yeah, that's not right.
Turns out it just fell over.
The good newses: We rent. WOOOOOOO! The owners are handling it well and taking care of having it removed. The tree fell slowly, taking several minutes, so there's almost no damage to the various roofs and fences it is now laying across. We were not parked in front of the garage.
See the garage?
Squint. It's under the tree.
We weren't parked inside the garage either, which is also good, because even though the roof would have protected it, the car would now be trapped inside.
The bad news: It may have taken out some of the garden and especially the rosemary! The rosemary's roots are still in the ground, so it may survive, but it is currently being pinned to the ground by the big tree. I don't know how long it can stay like that and still bounce back.
Having quite a lot of experience with falling trees, and anxiety about falling trees, and sleepless nights about trees that haven't fallen but will fall soon, this post was so well written I didn't even panic or freak out. Its a funny falling tree post.
Thank you
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ensign Steve
Jesus, this pain in the ass week has been dragging on way too long ever since I overslept Tuesday morning, and it's only Thursday. At 5:30 this morning I was letting the dogs out when what to my wondering yet bleary eyes should appear?
Fuck.
Usually that tree trunk is not almost horizontal. Last time I checked, it was totally vertical. This can't be good.
Yeah, that's not right.
Turns out it just fell over.
The good newses: We rent. WOOOOOOO! The owners are handling it well and taking care of having it removed. The tree fell slowly, taking several minutes, so there's almost no damage to the various roofs and fences it is now laying across. We were not parked in front of the garage.
See the garage?
Squint. It's under the tree.
We weren't parked inside the garage either, which is also good, because even though the roof would have protected it, the car would now be trapped inside.
The bad news: It may have taken out some of the garden and especially the rosemary! The rosemary's roots are still in the ground, so it may survive, but it is currently being pinned to the ground by the big tree. I don't know how long it can stay like that and still bounce back.