The Joys of Tech Support

[mb99usa]

Catch - up

Nothing new on the baby front. B had a doctor appointment yesterday and she is moving along albeit:loopy: (like that word) slowly.

Dropped the dog off yesterday. Did not go badly. The manager of the SPCA said that dogs like him are usually quickly adopted, so taht made me feel better. They started working with him even before I left.

M has not been feeling well the last few days. Not sure why. Has a runny nose, had a fever (gone now), and just whiny . Not like her at all. She seems to be feeling better this morning.

Could also have something to do with TV withdrawal. B and I decided to cut back on her TV time to 1 movie per day and maybe a few cartoons. She has not adjusted to this well. Which just enforces why we needed to do it.

Trying to catch-up on work since I was out yesterday. Also trying to catch-up on my journal reading, I'm a few days behind.


Ask me any questions you may have if I've left out an updating something.

 

[mb99usa]

Long slow day

It's been a long slow day. I'm still working from home and will continue to do so until B has the baby.

Anyone else watch I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Outta Here ? We ended up watching the end of it the first night and I got hooked. I'm a Howard Stern fan so seeing "Stuttering" John Melendez on it is what first caught my attention. Seeing that Chris Judd, J-Lo's ex-husband, was on was the second thing.

John was his funny self. Chris really surprised me in how normal and really cool he seemed. As one of the other contestants said "J-Lo screwed up not keeping him". Not trying to sound gay but Chris came across as the kind of guy I like to hang-out with.

Chris ended up winning which was fun to see. You could tell he was really blown away by it.

I had to go over to B's grandparents' house today and help free a car. B's grandfather slid off the driveway and got stuck between his driveway and the one next door. Luckily the car was pointed towards the other driveway.

B's cousin helped me dig away as much of the ice and snow as we could reach. I then used their other car to push. We got it moved a little but it was on an incline and the back bumper dropped below the front bumper of the car I was pushing with. I didn't want to cause any damage so I decided to push it the rest of the way by hand. Wasn't getting to far til a couple of the Lake's maintenance guys stopped and helped out.

It wasn't until after we freed the car that I found out he had gotten stuck last nite. Explained why everything was frozen. While digging under the front end we found the snow was a green color. The radiator was leaking anti-freeze. May have been the ice build-up overnight, but I recommended they get it checked.

M is back to feeling like herself today. No more whining and a lot more active. Back to getting into trouble but I would rather have that then see her feeling the way she was the last few days.

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B has lost a few kids from her daycare since she handed out the contracts.

P the little boy that we think has developmental problems is gone. His parents decided to put him in a regular daycare that is costing them the same as what B raised their rate to. We expected them to look for something to help his development but instead they are just putting him in a regular daycare. They think he will do better in a larger group of kids.

Personally we are happy to not have to deal with him, but don't think this is going to help him any.

The 8yo girl B watches before and after school will no longer be coming here after Friday. We sorta expected this but thought she might last through the end of the school year.

B is started to get worried that I'm going to get upset about the loss of income. I keep telling her not to worry and we'll figure out the next step after she has the baby.

She has started looking into school bus driver positions. Just another option to explore.

Keep on rockin people.

Oh yea, I finally got a good pair of shoes. Picked up a nice pair of brown suede K-Swiss casual shoes off E-bay. Very cool and comfortable.

 

[mb99usa]

All Alone

Not really. B took M to the doctor so I'm home alone right now.

Working, working, working.

Not too much to talk about right now. No baby news yet. Just trying to get through to the weekend.

Drinking way too much coffee again, almost finished the pot I brewed this morning and then I'll probably make more .

Can you say caffeine high?

Oh well. Finally made an appointment to get my truck's windshield replaced. That will happen next Tuesday. Then its time to get it inspected. See how that goes.

Need to get the van into the shop again. Got a squeaking coming from one of the rear wheels which I think is the bearing going. Soon as the truck gets inspected that will get looked at.

Finally going to turn off the DirecTV today sometime. Also need to call Ameridebt about $45 that's missing. One of the accounts I'm paying through them was payed-off the beginning of January but they sent another payment at the end of January. I talked to the company the payment was made to and they have no record of receiving it, so I have to have Ameridebt find out what happened.

Never dull around here. Gotta go get some work done. See you later.

 

[mb99usa]

No Baby Yet

As the title suggests, no baby yet. B is getting really frustrated. She did not sleep at all last nite. Keeps having contractions in little bursts, but nothing of note.

Quick recap of the weekend.

Friday we found out M has ear infections in both ears and that is why she was acting strange last week. The one in her right ear burst. Other than that the doctors say she is as healthy as can be. She is taking her medicine "reluctantly" but is feeling a lot better. Friday night we went to Applebee's for dinner. Did not work out too well. M was good for the first hour, then the food arrived and she was ready to go. I'll explain later.

Saturday we decided to surprise B's mom and cruised down to Annapolis. Stopped at the yacht club she works at and were surprised to find she had the day off and was not there. B's mom is a work-aholic and is usually at work even on her days off. So we got to surprise her at her apartment. We had a fun time. Ate at a cool bar/restaurant by the waterfront, Griffin's was the name of the place for anyone familiar with the area. Went to a few stores, Zany Brainy and Barnes & Noble's. I got an Elmore Leanord and a Robert Ludlum while B picked up a Dr. Phil book and the workbook that goes with it.

Then went back to B's mom's place and I helped her dispose of her X-mas tree. Her ex-boyfriend got it for her but then would not come over to help her get rid of it. Nice guy.

On the drive home B had me take over driving half-way and was sure we would be going to the hospital instead of home. Didn't work out that way.

Sunday was pretty low-key. I got up not feeling too well. Sore throat and headache. We cleaned the house a little. B tackled the kitchen and I the laundry. We both almost got everything done. I watched the race in between loads. Not a huge NASCAR fan but I've gotten into it some this year. FOX does a great job with the coverage and I think that is what has kept my interest.

Now it's Monday morning and I have to log into work in about 30min. B is finally getting some sleep I think. M will probably be up soon. Back to the daily grind. Maybe today will be the day.

 

[mb99usa]

Today May be the Day

B is having pretty regular contractions. About 7min apart right now. Fingers crossed this is it.

Only problem would be the repair shop is supposed to be coming out to replace my windshield.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[mb99usa]

Well....

Well....we're still at home. This morning looked promising but ....
Things are dragging on a bit. Had several times through the day where the contractions got going pretty regular for a little while and then..........slowed down considerably.

We took M for a walk around the block. That was fun. We haven't done that since the early fall. B says we need to get a new block cause this one is getting boring. I told her we just need to walk further.

M is now into fighting her naps. Layed her down at 11:15, its now 2:30 and we're still battling. She just refuses to stay in her bed. Oh well, terrible 2's.

Just got the windshield in my truck replaced. First time I had one of the repair places come to the house to do it. Every other time I've needed a windshield replaced, I've taken the vehicle to the shop. It was very educational. Pretty quick too. Now I just need to get the truck inspected. I'll be calling about that tomorrow. I need to let the truck sit awhile so the adhesive can cure.

Hopefully there will be nothing major that needs to be repaired. I expect the brakes to fail, 4 years and I'm still on the originals. But I'll let them determine that. I don't want to spend any money I don't have to. Everything else should be fine.

I still have the starting problem, but that is only when it is wet. My dad gave me a great idea on how to resolve that. Put a ziplock bag over the distrubutor cap to keep it dry. This will work as long as my distributor is not near anything hot. I'll check that tomorrow when I take the truck out for the first time in over a week. Still have the other problem with the interior light staying on. I pulled the fuse so that problem is already taken care of.

Well, I gotta go put M back into bed.

Thanks for all the good wishes everyone. I'll keep you posted as things develop.

 

[mb99usa]

Still Waiting

Still waiting for the baby to come.

I know this sounds like a broken record but the DirecTV is still turned on. B decided she likes having it. She really likes watching some of the shows on Discovery Health and of course I'm partial to the sports channels.

Well the windshield is replaced inthe truck. Need to call the repair shop today and make an appointment to get it in for inspection. Wish I had a valid insurance card. I have insurance but we misplaced the new card for the truck so the one I'm carrying is expired.

Still need to call Ameridebt about where my $45 is since the place they claim to have sent the payment never received it.

Last nite was pretty uneventful. M woke up in a horrible mood since she took such a late nap. We decided to go to the mall and walk around. Plus there's a great little pizza shop we love to go to. We are becoming regulars. When I ordered the guy says,"ok, so the usual." Its kind of cool, its a locally owned place with 1 restaurant on each end of town. Everyone knows the owner and his son.

Didn't buy anything. B wanted to get out of the house and M cheers up when we let her run around the mall. Place was dead. Small town mall in the middle of the week.

Well, I should probably try to get some work done.

 

[mb99usa]

Dr. Visit Today

We have a doctor visit today. Maybe we will find out what they are going to do. Today is B's due date and they have already told us they do not want her to go too much past it.

Hopefully I will be able to give everybody an update later.

 

[mb99usa]

We Have a Plan

Eureka!!!!!!!

The doctor has layed out the plan for us. If nothing happens over the weekend we have an appointment at the hospital for 7 Monday morning.

This is a good thing because they will break B's water. Doc says she will then go into labor right away or it could take up to another 24hrs. We'll at least be in the hospital and making progress if we have to do this.

Doctor was thinking of ways we could try to move things along at home. He looks at me with a little smile and says,"intercourse". Repeats it several times. Was really hard to keep a straight face. B had already read about this being one of the best ways to get moving too. She still refuses. She's already uncomfortable in that region so I understand.

Joked with her that the Doc ordered her to sleep with me so now she has to. Didn't go over too well.

At most only a few more days of waiting. This is a good thing.

 

[mb99usa]

New Baby

It has been a hectic 2 weeks. After reading the next few updates you'll understand why I disappeared for awhile.

:up: We had a perfect little boy on March 14. 8lbs 10oz and 21.5 inches long. He'll be known as G in here.

That was the good news. Thins starting going a little crazy right after he was born. G had his hand up next to his head when he came out and tore up B pretty bad. The doctor worked for 2 hours stitching her back up. Tore up inside her vagina and all.

Good news is that is healing well. No sex life for awhile but I'm just happy she's OK from that. Doc said there will be some scarring which could cause intercourse to be painful, won't know about that for awhile.

Gotta get some work done. I'll tell you about B's week in the hospital later.

 

[mb99usa]

Hospital Week

OK, this post will get quite graphic.

We got out of the hospital on Monday 3/17 around lunch time. B was sore from all the repair work done to her vaginal and anal areas. Both are fun holes have been compromised for the time being but hopefully only temporarily.

Monday night I took B into the emergency room because she was having extreme back pain. Good thing B's mom was staying with us so she could watch the kids. A couple of pain medications, a few hours, and a set of CT scans later a mass was found in B's kidney. They sent us home with an appointment with a urologist for the next day.

Ah, the urologist office. Not a place for a couple in their mid-20s. I don't think anyone else in the waiting room was under 70. After waiting for over an hour we get brought in. He goes over B's scans with us and tells us there is a mass of blood in her kidney and her ureter is blocked. Sent us for more scans and wanted to see us again in a few days.

Late Wednesday night B had her G-ma take her back into the emergency room because of the pain. I stayed home with the kids. She was admitted and would not get out until the following Wednesday. Thursday night they put a stint in her kidney to clear the ureter. She spent the next six days with a catheter as her kidney drained and she layed ina hospital bed.

B has always been anemic but while she was there they had to give her 5 units of blood and several more units os plasma and platelettes. The hematologist is going to follow up with B to see if she can help with her anemia.

Saturday was B's worste and best day. She started having explosive diahrea and vomittinguke: . They did a ruch scan of her and found out she was improving greatly. The puking and shitting were caused by her colon clearing out. Because everything had swollen it had been partially blocked as well. Now that her kidney was returning to normal size the colon could empty. She spent the day in pain from her stomach convulsing to expel all this, but the doc said it was exactly what she needed.

Sunday and Monday were pretty calm compared to Saturday Tuesday was just to be sure she could keep down solid food.

I spent the week shuttling the kids between houses where family could watch them so I could be with B in the hospital. I spent several nights on the couch at home and at my parents. Everyone was great and a lot of help.

It has been great having everyone home and I dread having to go back into work on Thursday.

 

[mb99usa]

I Survive Another Round

Well, we had another round of lay-offs again. My department lost 3 total and my little group lost 1. The 2 supervisors in the department have been demoted to senior app. engineers.

Things are pretty shitty there right now. I'm still working from home which may be a blessing today.

These cuts mean I am going to be one busy dude. We are also going to one 9-6 shift. This will be a nice change instead of having to work the late shift every other week. It also means that my time-frame of being on-call has expanded as well as always being on-call now. Noone to switch off with.

More later.

 

[mb99usa]

Damn It's Been Awhile

Well I'm back. Sorry for the long absence. Please ask if my below update does not answer any questions I may have left you with.

Its been a crazy few months. New kid, work, wrecking my truck.

Where to begin?

Lets start with the good. B is completely over all her probs from the delivery and afterwards. She has healed up nicely. The stitches in her vaginal area have all healed. We have not "done the deed", but my mouth and fingers have done some exploring. Things have changed a little and we're gonna be taking it real slow. Her ass still hurts if her cheeks get spread but major progress from March.

The kids are doing great. G is already half his sister's weight and gaining on her. M keeps hurting herself but comes back for more. She has an ever expanding vocabulary and repeats everythign we say. This of course means major changes in how I verbally express myself

M fell inthe little fish pond we had next to our front porch. That was removed the next day (I wanted it removed 2 years ago). I'm still working on filling in the hole. Wonderfully wet spring has made this a slow procedure.

Now to the not-so-good.

Work has been a drain. No new lay-offs since the last round I mentioned, but a feeling of dread lingers. The company filed Chapter 11 and we have already been told more lay-offs in July. They claim all will be overseas cuts but we are still preparing for the worste. This has produced a good side-affect. My job searching has been pushed up a notch with the focus being on a way to get us moved to Florida.

My truck. My wonderful little truck that served me so well for the last 4years and 138,000 miles. Gone. Demolished. Crushed at the wheels of a tanker truck. Basically I ran into a tanker truck doing about 50mph. I walked away a bit sore but nothing more than that. My truck on the other hand did not survive.

6 weeks have gone by and the loan has finally been cleared after working through 2 insurance companies and an unfriendly bank. In the meantime I have been turned down 3 times trying to get a new loan. Stinking bad credit rating. Its not even that bad. B and I had great credit up until we started having kids. B quit her job to have M and we were not as prepared as we thought. Got behind on a few things and have been working to correct this. Got screwed by a credit card that did not process repeated address change requests from me and reported me as delinquent. I paid the debt as soon as it was brought to my attention but the damage was already done.

1 vehicle is not working out real well for us. I'll keep you updated as this little saga continues to play out.

Once again, sorry for the long absence.

 

[mb99usa]

Work?

The title of this journal incorporates what I do for a living but the contents have barely touched on it. There is a reason for this. I do believe that work can define who a person is. In fact that is something worth striving for if the work deserves it.

My work does not deserve that kind of consideration. I believe that what I do is important but it is not what I want to define me. That is why I don't talk about it very often.

My family is what I want to define me at this point in my life. I try to make everything I do revolve around them. I try not to judge how other people raise their children but I had kids to spend time with them. I take offense when people tell me I should get a baby-sitter and go out with just my wife on a weekend night. She feels the same way. We had children to be with them. That means including them in as much of our lives as possible.

Back to what I was originally talking about, work. My current occupational situation may be changing shortly, not necessarily by my choice. Problem is I don't know what I want to do. This is the only place I have worked since graduating tech school. Granted it has only been 6 years but I think I've had a pretty good run and it hurts to see what has become of the company.

My problem, one which my dad loves to point out, is that I've become speciallized in what I do. I know one set of products and have a limited knowledge of how they fit into the larger scheme of our customer's networks. This has begun to really become apparent as I conduct my job search. I am fully open to making a a complete career shift. Problem with that is a huge drop in pay. Wouldn't even worry about it if I wasn't the main source of income for the family.

I should be using my time at work to try and learn as much as I can right now. I just can't seem to get motivated about anything while I'm here. Customers are beginning to really frustrate me. Worrying about when the axe is gonna fall doesn't help. And now having to leave my wife and kids stranded at home because I need the family vehicle to get to work just sucks.

Our group's supervisor told us today he needs to have a meeting to go over some issues tomorrow. One of which is our being able to work from home, which he's doing today, and has worked out great for the group. He would not go into details about anything else. Fun, fun, fun.

Just been really bummed lately.:mope:

 

[mb99usa]

Another Day

Just another day.

Took a few calls. Did some truck searching online.

We had a little group pow-wow today. Go over some things here at work but nothing new.

Just floating along today. I was trying to watch a training CD earlier, but it was even more boring than being in a regular training class.

Still trying to figure out what to do about my transportation situation. Right now it looks like I'll just be buying something that we can pay cash for and hope it holds up for awhile.

Just burnt lately. I don't want this journal to turn into a woe is me fest, just having a tough time being happy when I'm not with my family.

My grandfather is slowly (but not too slowly) losing his battle with cancer. My parent's are heading up to Jersey to visit this weekend. Declined taking the trip with them. Feel kind of bad since this is the second chance to visit I've skipped on. Its not that I don't want to see him or anything like that. It is just a hassle making the 4 hour trip with 2 little kids. There is also not a lot for them to do there.

My cop-out this time was that I needed to go car shopping. Not a complete lie. Oh well.

Keep your heads up everyone. Till next time.

 

[mb99usa]

Weekend Update

I had a pretty good weekend.

Worked from home on Friday. Gave me time to goof-off with my wife and the kids. We got the backyard mowed (still borrowing the neighbor's lawnmower). Got pre-approved for a loan for a new vehicle. They even made an appointment at the dealership for me for Saturday morning. Friday evening we went out and spent money we didn't have on stuff we needed (diapers, formula, etc.). Got to watch the Nets beat the Spurs. Go NETS!!:up:

Saturday had to be the worste day to go look at trucks. Rained all day. Talked to the guys at the dealership and they were really cool. Looks like I'm buying a '97 Ford Explorer XLT. Really nice SUV. A lot more truck than I was looking to get, but the payments are right and it will fit all of us comfortably. Put money down (using my bank card, more on this later) to hold the truck while the banks formally approve the loan and I can gather up the rest of the downpayment. Went to a mall and walked around for a little after the dealership. Took M on the carousel they have there.
Nothing much happened Saturday evening.

Oh yea, watched Red Dragon Saturday. Kick-ass movie.

Sunday B was layed-up most of the day with a cold. I took care of shit around the house, laundry, dishes, etc. Took M to return the movies we rented. Raked up the grass in the backyard, what I could anyway. With all the rain its more like a swamp. Found out my neighbor has a spring under his backyard which I think extends under mine. Pulled out 2 bushes that were next to my driveway and continued working on filling in what used to be our fish pond. More work on the yard tonight.

Today, back at work. A little busier than it has been. A nice change. The dealership called and my card was declined. The deposit we made ont he weekend was not in the account yet. Talked to the salesman and explained what happened. Assured him that I still want the truck. Gotta call him as soon as the money shows up. I can't win with this thing.

Another little side rant. I can't walk into the bank (1 I have an account with , the other handled my truck loan) and get a $5500 loan. I go through the dealership and they can put me into a $12000 truck. What the fuck!!!

Listeneing to Jimmy Buffett and the temp outside is around 80. Why am I stuck in this cube? I need to make some Changes in Lattitudes, CHanges in Attitudes .

Must go pretend to work.

 

[mb99usa]

New Truck!!!!!!

Got my new truck last nite. Only took 7 weeks since the accident. I got a really nice '97 Ford Explorer XLT.

That's my big news for the week.

Nothing much else happening.

Plans for the weekend include a B-day party for one of M's friends (turning 1). B's "dad" R may be stopping by on Saturday. Will be cool if remembers to bring my hydraulic jack back and brings me the 2nd season of the Sopranos.

Sunday we're probably going to my sister A's house for a cook-out. Just a little Father's Day get together.

Short, sweet, and to the point. Pretty much how this week went.

 

[mb99usa]

Not much happening

Not a lot happening lately.

Did the whole friends and family thing over the weekend. It was fun. Got to do some fishing which I haven't had the chance to do in a really long time and it got those juices flowing again.

I started fishing with my Dad when I was 3 years old. It was something we did almost every weekend the whole time I was growing up. We would spend all Saturday or Sunday on the lake fishing. Good times.

Since I moved out I have barely gone. It is something I do miss doing. What is really funny is that B likes to fish too. We just seem to be busy with other things all the time. M is now big enough to start so we are going to get our licenses and start making time to go.

On the work front the new boss pulled another bone-head move. Just last week we found out we cannot work from home anymore. Stupid move there but then this week he pulled an even dumber one.

Our group has always covered for each other and it was understood that if you needed to take a half-day or less you could work through lunches to make up the missed time. Worked well, kept us from burning vacation time, and kept more people coming in for a half-day rather than taking the whole day off. New boss says we can't do that. Anything over an hour now has to be taken as vacation time.

Not only does this suck because I just had to use up 4 hours leave time for a half-day I took but I stopped taking lunches so I could burn a few hours here and there when I needed to. So now I take my hour lunch and I'll be taking the whole day off when I need to take care of something at home.

I have a 3-hour round trip commute. The only reason I would come in for the half-days was because I wouldn't need to use leave time. Now that I'm going to have to use leave time anyway I'm just gonna take the whole day and spare myself the drive.

Then after he tells us this and makes a few of us use leave time we didn't thinkwe were gonna use he sends out invites for 1 on 1 meetings. Presumeably for our reviews which are due. The reviews are pointless because we are not getting raises for the 2nd year in a row and none of us really care about setting goals we don't plan on being around to meet.

Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.

How much longer till they padlock the doors?
How much longer till I find something else (come on Florida)?

Gotta love a tense and insecure work environment.

Good times to all!!!!

 

[mb99usa]

Still Here

Not a whole hell of a lot happened today.

I've gotten hooked on the Sopranos . I don't have cable much less HBO so I don't get to see it regularly. R, B's dad, has the first 3 seasons on DVD and taped the 4th. I watched the first season over Memorial Day weekend. I'm now about half-way through the 2nd season. Should finish that by this weekend and the I'll get the 3rd over July 4th.

My mother's side of the family is Italian and both sides of my family are from the New Jersey/New York area. I used to spend summers in Jersey with my grandparents so it's really cool watching these. Some of the people in my family have loose ties to the Mafia and I'm sure there have been some at some of the family functions we used to go to up there.

The sun has made an appearance today. Looks like we'll have to try to get some yard work done tonite before it gets dark.

Love my Explorer more than my old truck. Didn't think that would happen but its a great ride.

Guess that about sums things up for now. I'll see if I can be more exciting in the future.

 

[mb99usa]

Busy weekend ahead

OK, so here goes. Plans for the weekend.

Last nite - B's cousin stayed over.

Tonite - Watching one of B's daycare kids overnight

Friday - Nothing

Saturday - Watching one of B's daycare kids, picking up mother-in-law in the morning (lives over an hour away), cook-out at B's real dad's house in the evening

Sunday - Watching B's daycare kid again, going to the Aquarium with B's mom, our kids (including daycare kid), B's cousin and her 2 kids, and maybe B's cousin from last nite

Just looking at that I need a beer.

Strange shit happening with B's family.

Her one aunt (the mother of the cousin that stayed with us last nite) is pretty much a dead-beat. She has "emotional :mope: " problems so nobody confronts her about anything. A load of shit if you ask me. She was complaining to B about stuff today. B is just gonna rip her a new asshole one of these days . Asked if B could watch her cousin when schools starts again cause she "may have to get a job". Fucking loser should already be working. She's living with her parents, basically rent free, doesn't help out nearly as much as she should, if at all, and bitches about everything. Just pisses me off cause our house is now the family get together house cause noone wants to go over there anymore. I've been asked not to say anything so I keep my mouth shut but only because I respect B's mom and love B.

Just found out some stuff about B's other aunt's situation but I'm not real clear on it yet. Even more screwed up.

I've got no idea what's going on with my family but that is by design. I've learned to try and distance myself from things. Pisses my parents off but keeps me sane. Limit the stress intake to what I can manage.

The one thing I do need to do is get to Jersey and see my grandfather before he is gone. He's got cancer and its just a matter of time now. They are moving in with my aunt and uncle end of this month so I'm gona head up after the move. B said she'd go whenever I want, its not a trip either of us really want to make, but I may see if she wants to skip on this one and I'll do it solo or with my dad (it's his dad).

Damn depressing post. Told you I would get more exciting just didn't say it was going to be upbeat exciting.

Tell you what though. Even with all this shit Life is Good!!

Catch ya later. Good times!