Father's Day 2009

Today actually started yesterday, if you can believe that. I went shopping with my son and ex-wife to buy my own Father's Day dinner. Since she was laid off last week, I decided to help her out, just a little. The stepson and her came to the conclusion that since our bill last time, eating out at Ruby Tuesday was about $85 for four adults, why not take that same money and spend it on groceries and therefore, get more bang for the buck. Capital idea! Finally, they caught on. This morning, before church, I had a drop off appointment at Petsmart for the family dog. After church, I was informed that he might have a cancerous growth at the opening of his anus. A very tender area, indeed. As I was changing my clothes in preparation to go to my son's and ex's for the day, I received a phone call from a former roommate. His father had passed away about 1:30 pm today, after being taken off life support a few days ago.
I guess I am just ranting, because today has been an emotional roller coaster. Happy at church and happy that it is Father's Day. Sad because a friend lost their father and the family dog (Spike) has cancer for the 2nd time in 2 years. We have had him since he was a puppy, for about 7 years now. Financially, we can't afford another $800 surgery and besides, what good would it do? It would be money wasted in what are already tough times. Sad really, but there it is.

Another Heinz 57 day

WOW, what a whirlwind of a day! Early in my work day, we find out that our site may loose 10% of our workforce due to layoff. Later we had a team meeting to discuss how we felt about the news. We were all speechless because even though we knew something like this was coming, we did not have a definite number or a date of action. We now have a time frame of not later than the end of this month. In order to avoid delay, our office is notifying some this week or next. Tomorrow I have off, because my ex-wife is taking her daughter to court, to ask for custody of the oldest granddaughter. I pray for God's mercy and protection in this, as in all things. It breaks my heart to see a daughter and mother fight as these two do. And as usual, I (along with a child this time) get caught in the messy middle. Both warn me of the other.
When I got home, the rednecks are celebrating a good day of work, in their traditional manner. Bon fire in back yard and beer. I am not sure about two of the guys, but one of them (my roommate) could never tolerate a 40 hour work week. He prides himself on being his own boss, runs a handyman service, and depends on someone else for transportion. He "claims" to make $80 per hour. Well, if that was true, he would own his own house and not being renting a room. Room....what a joke that is. It is really a den, made into a room by replacing the door leading to the outside with a board of plywood, more plywood covering the half wall leading to the living room, and a half curtain which closes the entrance from the kitchen. Oh and let's not forget the square cut out of the plywood leading to the outside for his window AC unit. Did he say he makes over $12k a month??? The bon fire is blazing, even as they cut more wood. Isn't this now summer? And to top it all off, they are cutting fire wood with a hand held circular saw in one hand and the board held freely in the other. Did I mention they have been drinking beer???