Let that be a lesson to us all:
Complaining fixes everything. 
You first!
Only 10 years? I could swear it’s been going on most of our lives…
Nor can you resist snagging the 1000th post. 
That’s right! Maybe now you’ll listen to me when I complain!
You first!
No, no, YOU first!
Only 10 years? I could swear it’s been going on most of our lives…
I was rounding DOWN to make us seem YOUNGER!
In a random WTF news item of the day, an F/A-18D jet from Air Station Miramar (yes, that same Air Station Maramar that was the setting for 80’s movie Top Gun) has crashed into a residential neighborhood of San Diego, killing 2 people and narrowly missing a local elementary school.
So… first count our blessings that more lives weren’t lost, then make sure BKitty is okay, then and only then, proceed with your Top Gun jokes.
Chopper would have crashed it into the field at Charger’s Stadium like a hero.
I’m still owed money by the National Gallery of art. I’m going to have to use grant money I received for career advancement to pay for health insurance, and when my wife asked about doing that I got so angry I blew up at her, merely out of frustration at our situation. In a way that scares me. I don’t really know what else to do and I realize there are worse off people out there and that this, perhaps, is not the best forum for this, but I’ve really started feeling alone in the world these days and this is the closest I have to a community of people where I can speak my mind without feeling like I’m being judged (ironically, since it’s on the internet). Life really frakking sucks right now and I honestly don’t know what else to do.
Thank you for your indulgence, guys.
That does indeed suck Armando. I know it doesn’t help, but it’s rough out there. (Although: The Nat. Gal. is stiffing you? WTF?)
Hang in there Armando - we’re all rooting for you!
And I concur with Pike’s WTF…
Armando, it’s a well-documented fact that myriad-forces-that-will-go-unnamed-here are crushing – nay, obliterating – the American middle class. So, for what it’s worth, it’s not just you. Hang in there. Statistically speaking, things tend to balance out… and you’re due for a heckuva good streak eventually.
You know that the National Gallery of Art was founded by Andrew Mellon, former Secretary of the Treasury under Hover, during the Great Depression. He was trying to make some free-marketer point. So this stiffing you’re getting has some serious pedigree.
Seriously, I got laid off for the first time a few months ago - fine now - so I’ll be feeling for ya. Hang in there!
Day starts: The five-year-old is sick. Has to go to the doctor. That’s me. My work day is frakked.
I get to work late, do my thing.
9:49 p.m. EST. In the office late. I walk down to the car. My gloves are gone. I toss the car. Not there. I walk back, retrace my steps. They’re not anywhere.
I give up, put the keys in the car, and… nothing. Try again. Nothing.
Thank Zeus for AAA+, which is good for 100 miles of towing a year, no additional charge.
And at least I get to wait in my warm office. As opposed to the cold car, without gloves. So I’ve got that going for me.
So here I am, inflating my posts-per-day count, waiting for the AAA guy to call back, hoping he’ll be cool about dropping the car in one place and dropping me in another after a 35-mile tow.
Very tired. Wish I’d given in to my caffeine cravings around 4:00 and pounded a soda. But I figured, “No, hell, you’ll wrap it up and be home by 8, 9.”
In a Willow voice: “Waiting now…”
That really sucks Armando. I can commiserate with not having any money - I’ve been living on a scholarship stipend for four years and it’s gotten very old
I had MAJOR test’s I had to take in 3 class’s today but I got sick and I have to stay home.
I’m not going to be able to get my grades up befroe break so I’m get the lecture from my mom hopefully I won’t get grounded or anything…
I hate this time of year…
I completely feel for you, Armando – our modest little family has been stuck in the negative equity loop for two damn years now, mostly by my own fault and poor judgment, and we’re now looking at the fifth (yeah, fifth) move in two years as a result of these sorts of things. Career changes, health expenses, infertility concerns, it’s all a big poop-storm. You’re not alone in the least, and we can collectively wallow in it, or…
…we can lean a little bit on one another and await the flip of the karmic switch. I may be a blatant agnostic with lapsed Catholic guilt tendencies, but I know all about the balance of energy, and the value of positivism. It’s one of the few things that have kept my wife and I together, our son happy, and our minds from slowly deteriorating into some kind of cranial goo. This forum, for all of its nerdy references and tongue-in-cheek humor, is such a welcome community of genuinely good-natured people, I can’t begin to describe what an oasis it feels like, in an environment of otherwise ego-driven or top-this-if-you-can attitudes. Do I know any of them personally? Nope. Do I have to put on airs or false faces to try and impress anyone? Heck, no. Can I let my geek flag fly as often as I’d like, or even vent out about awful landlords, job insecurity, or my-child-is-making-me-nuts woes, at any time? You bet your bippie.
Chuck has said it often enough to be a mantra, the GWC is honestly some of the nicest people on the 'Net, and it’s always even a small help to know that even if they can’t fix what ails you, they can offer a hand on your shoulder. (Metaphorically speaking.)
They’ve had to cut their budget by 15% and are trying not to stiff all of their composers in the process. I wouldn’t care if I had a full time salary right now, but I don’t, so I do. I was supposed to be paid way back in October and it may come to me having to at least consult legal counsel at this point, which will make it real fun to get the premiere going next year (won’t THAT be a tense concert if I have to litigate in order to get paid?). Thing is, I really would just say “pay me next year” if things weren’t so tough right now.
At least the wife and I have more or less patched things up. Though I still feel craaaapy about that. Thanks for listening, guys. I was a little nervous of coming out here today, but I’m glad you’re all the great bunch of people that you are.
:o
I completely feel for you, Armando – our modest little family has been stuck in the negative equity loop for two damn years now, mostly by my own fault and poor judgment, and we’re now looking at the fifth (yeah, fifth) move in two years as a result of these sorts of things. Career changes, health expenses, infertility concerns, it’s all a big poop-storm. You’re not alone in the least, and we can collectively wallow in it, or…
I’ve been at this for ten years, with only about two years there where we actually had savings (though still in negative equity, given our student debt). And while we’ve moved about seven times in as many years, I’ve got to say, FIVE MOVES IN TWO YEARS!?!?!? FRAAAAAK ME, Keir. That’s rough, man. You and I need to get together over some ambrosia one of these days and moan the life of the professional musician. Seriously.
I’m so sorry to hear this its a rough time for everyone right now. Just remember You’re not alone. You have my prayers and i’m sure that of many others around here. and if all else fails I may be able to get you a soul destroying; bad paying job up here in Canadian arctic. well not quite the arctic but still at least the health care is covered?
hugs dude. I know the feeling of not knowing where the money will come from. You and your family are in my thoughts.
Armando, fighting about finances/money has got to be the number one reason to fight with a spouse. It’s terribly stressful and can work it’s way into everything. You’re not alone in that at all, so don’t beat yourself up too much about it. Being, and saying, sorry later is what matters most!
I don’t have any sage advice about finances or careers, or your next step. I wish I did, I think any of us that know you here would reach out in a heartbeat to help if they could. But yes, you and your family will be in my thoughts, and I will be sending all the best wishes I can for a better New Year !
Exams :’(
puts gun to head
Tell me when you’re done with that gun.
grading exams