No Money...

I currently have $0.85 in my checking account... Woo Hoo!! I am wealthy!

I am not really bad at managing my money, it's just that I don't have very much of it to manage... I make a good income, however I don't get to keep any of it. I pay taxes, child support, health insurance, and loans all of which are taken out of my paycheck before I even get it. So, that leaves me to "take home" less than 40% of what I earn. With the remaining amount I pay my car payment, car insurance, 3 mortgages, 3 sets of utility bills, credit card balances and if I am really lucky, I get a couple of bucks for groceries, and gas for the car... phew...

I need a new source of income... Anyone want to hire a used software engineer? Not that I am limiting my abilities to software engineering, because I can learn a new skill.... possibly.

OK I am done whining. There are a lot people with a lot worse problems and situations than me. So, I am going to go back to work, and wait patiently for my 40% at the end of the month.

Later Lou

Nephews...

My brother has three wonderful boys. His youngest was born this past March and is still a baby. My youngest is 12 years old and in middle school, so yeah, I am the older brother.

At his oldest son's birthday last party I had gotten him a duplicate gift, a DVD that someone else had already given him. So I offered to exchange it for any other movie he wanted. He asked me to exchange it for "Meet the Robinsons", which unfortunately didn't come out until this past Tuesday. His birthday was in August, so I had to hang onto the DVD for quite some time to exchange it.

I went last night directly after work to Best Buy, where I purchased the DVD to exchange it. Best Buy is one of my favorite stores. I love to just wonder around the store gawking at all of the "toys" (i.e. TVs, Computers, Stereos, Cameras, etc...) and "games" (DVDs, Software, Cd's, accessories, etc...). Coworkers and I have taken lunch hours just to go to the store and check out the large, wide screen, HD TVs.

As I entered the store I was thinking what a great Uncle I am taking care of this without anyone reminding me, because usually I forget or postpone these kind of things and I have to be reminded a bunch of times, which is a normal guy thing I think (I am pointing out my guy-ness because it was called into question lately).

I walk up to the return counter, and I am as expected immediately waited on and asked how by the man in the blue shirt can he could help me. I said, I wanted to exchange this unopened DVD for another one. He said "Sure, no problem. Can I have your receipt, please." I paused, and said I didn't have a receipt, but that I only wanted to exchange this unopened DVD, and I didn't want any money back. He told me that they could not return or exchange the DVD without the receipt, something about how their computer system wouldn't allow it. He said because he didn't know how much I paid, he couldn't give me a credit. I suggested he give me a credit for the lowest price of the DVD, and he said, "Sorry, but without a receipt I can not process your return."

I stormed out towards the front door, only to be stopped by their "doorman" and told that he was sorry I wasn't happy, but that was store policy. I told him the policy was stupid and continued my rampage out the door.

Right now Best Buy is not my favorite store.

On a lighter note, I got to take my brother's middle son to his soccer game/practice on Saturday. He is only 4, and hasn't gotten the gist of the game yet, but he seemed to enjoy running after the ball and try to kick it in the correct direction. When we arrived at the practice field there were about 2 dozen or so teams of kids playing. It was the first time I had taken my nephew to soccer practice, and I hadn't met his coach or any of the other parents before. So I figured I would just find other kids with the same color shirt. So I looked out onto the field, and they ALL had on the same color shirt, with the same symbol on the front... no help!

We walked around the area about 10 minutes until eventually my nephew started walking onto the field. I was surprised, because he seemed hesitant to walk onto the field everywhere else we had been. I asked him if this was his team, and he nodded his head. I looked up to the coach, and asked "Do you know this little guy?" and he responded "Yeah, that's your brother's middle son." (OK, he didn't actually say "your brother's middle son", instead he said his name, but this blog is public, and I haven't asked permission to give out his name, so I took a little literary license)

They practiced a little and then had a three on three game with another team. My nephew didn't score any goals, but he had a great time, and so did I. I should have gotten my kids more involved with sports when they were young... too late now.

Later Lou

Towed

I had a car towed from my property tonight... and it wasn't mine.

(This photo isn't the actual van, but it's the same make, model and color).

When I brought "Two" home from work tonight, we arrived a little before midnight, and parked on my property was the van that had been parking in front of my garage earlier in the month. "Two's" new car is now parked in front of the garage, so I guess the van driver felt they could park in front of my front door, on my property.

It's not as if they parked on the street in front of my house or somewhere near my property... No, they parked right smack dab in the middle of my driveway. The street was empty, the parking spot in front of their building was empty, the parking spot NEXT to my garage on their property was empty... but they still chose to park on my property.

Well I didn't even turn my car off, I dialed the police. Well, actually, I called few minutes after I sent "Two" into the house to retrieve the phone book, so I could lookup the regular number for the police department. I didn't want to call 911, cause I didn't think it was an emergency. I asked the police officer that answered what my options were, and he said I could have it towed, and I should call the local towing company, and they would remove it. He gave me the name of the company, but didn't think they would be able to do it tonight.

I called the towing company, and they agreed to come out, so I stood outside my building for the 20 minutes it took them to arrive. I waited outside with my car's four-way blinkers on hoping that the owner of the van would notice me and come out to investigate. However, when the tow truck driver arrived no owner had showed. The tow truck driver asked that I have the police here in case there was any problems, so after a quick call and a few minutes two cruisers pulled up.

I explained the situation to one of the officers, and he officer took down the information, had me sign a document stating that it was my indeed property and the vehicle didn't belong to me, and then he gave permission to the tow truck driver to take the van.

The Ford Windstar Van has front wheel drive, and because it was parked with the front end facing the building, the tow truck driver couldn't just tow it. He had to first pull it out of the driveway, and turn it so he could get to the front wheels. He kinda surprised me at how he managed to get the car out of the spot. He just hooked up a cable, to the back of the van and yanked the van out. Then he connected the cable to the front wheel of the van yanked it sideways to turn it.

I started to feel a little bad, but at the same time there was a intense feeling of "satisfaction" as I saw the minor damage that was being done to the van in order to get it off my property. I mean I didn't do the damage, and yet it seemed somehow a fitting punishment.

The van is gone now, the police have left, and now I am sitting here at 1:30AM unable to sleep for fear that the driver of the van is going to get hostile. I don't know the person. Heck, I never actually met the owner, only a person who said they "knew who the van belonged to." They might be a nice person that just made an honest mistake...

Nah, they were blatantly wrong, and I think I was absolutely right to remove the van from my property. Right?

I wonder where they took the van? Hmmmm....

Later Lou

Sweetie Weekeind

If you haven't read my post "Bringing you up to speed" or my Blogger profile, then what are you waiting for... Do it now! Because I can't continue this story unless you are up to speed...

OK. I am going to assume you are like me and are a little lazy and sometimes "skim" rather than read (no I don't do that to everything I read, just boring work stuff mostly), so I will give you the highlights that are pertinent to this story:

• I am a single father of 4 kids, and the oldest is out on her own. The other three switch between their mother's house and mine. My son spends more time at my place than the girls throughout the week, but every other weekend, I get the kids from Friday through Sunday.
• Sweetie is a single mother of two, with her oldest out on her own as well. Her son alternates weekends between her house and his father's place usually on the same schedule as my kids, so on alternate weekends, we have "non kid" time to spend together.
• Back in September, Sweetie told me she was going to "move on", and it prompted a few days of me sulking at home taking a "mental health day" or two.

If you have been reading since then, you may have noticed that I still talk about Sweetie and it seems as if we are still together... Well, we kinda still are. I didn't want to post about this for fear it would "jinx" it and she would keep on "moving on". Anyway, after she said she was moving on, I stopped calling as frequently, but we still spoke occasionally. She invited me up to a dinner with her family a few weeks later, and we talked some more. I was still kinda hanging back giving her some space until 2 weekends ago. We had a non-kid weekend, and she didn't have any plans, so we kinda just 'hung out' together. We had a great time together, and it seemed to re-energize her. Since then we have been talking at our normal pace, and spending more time together. She has seemed more at peace with herself, and more happy lately, and she was using a lot of "we" words when about talking about things, which I take as good signs for the future of our relationship. So right now I am hopeful we will be together for quite some time, as long as I don't push or pressure her. She has been through two failed marriages, and as much as I want her to be my wife, I don't want to push her into something she doesn't want. I am just glad we are together, talking and spending time together. Who knows what the future will bring.

Later Lou