Ramble. Disjointed.

Since I last checked in, there have been a bunch of things I could write about and haven't.

It's not that I don't have a ton of things on my mind, I do.

It's not that I don't have any time to write... I have that, too.

I've just been... cruising along.

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I got a phone call from child welfare regarding the child I'd called them about. The person I talked to told me that she had spoken to this child before. I don't know whether to be pissed off that a child is still in a dangerous situation due to inaction (yeah, I know they consider many things when deciding whether or not to remove a child from the home) or be glad that my report isn't the first one they've gotten. It means that the young person I am concerned about is on the radar, so to speak. I have been very careful not to mention gender or any identifying information about this child. I can't be too careful when it comes to a a child's safety.

It does upset me that I probably will not know what happens to the child, but I can at least feel okay that I tried to help. It makes me angry that a parent can abuse a child and it can go on a long damn time before someone takes the proper steps to put a stop to it.
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The construction of the school across the street is causing a few disruptions in our lives. First, they're not allowed to start work until 7 AM. So that means they idle their heavy equipment and talk and make all kinds of fucking noise for a half hour before that. Bless their hearts. I could make an issue out of it, but by the time school starts for me, I will be up and gone for an hour before they're even out of bed. And I'm sure I'll be able to rest between shifts once they've managed to break up some of the gigantic boulders that are all over the field. Once you start digging in close proximity to the Columbia River, that's pretty much what you'll find. Boulders. The size of cars.
So the giant jackhammer goes. All. Day. Long.
Ughhhh.
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Another construction bonus? All the little field mice who used to live in the bushes and trees and under rocks in the field across the street are looking for a new home! Apparently some of them thought our home would be a good choice, so I had little mice in my bathroom a couple nights. Then Lyssa had one in her room. Then there was one in the momcave. Eric relocated a couple after catching them in the bathroom garbage can in the middle of the night. He walked all the way down the block to the alley in his underwear to do so.

Another one of them was a casualty of war, though. The mousetrap that Eric put in the momcave claimed one victim. We have some t shirts crammed under the little gap in the bottom of the front door now. The shirts were issued to me from the company I used to work for. I had planned to cut them up into squares and wipe my ass on them after the apocalypse, but found stuffing them in the bottom of the security screen and wiping my feet on them was okay, too.
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When I get depressed (which has been going on awhile... having to leave my job a year ago really did a number on me) I hoard stuff in my house. And now I'm down to the last couple weeks before school starts and I have to do something about the mess. It's not fun. It's not easy. It's time consuming. I don't WANT to.

But it's almost time for Bobapalooza 2017 and after school starts I'll be even more tired than I am now and feel even less like messing with the hoard.
So that has to happen.
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I have to meet my manager person at Sprawlmart on Tuesday to pick up a few items for my program. Hang on a minute while I message her to find out what time, because I plan to get there a half hour early and load up my cart. If she doesn't want to pay for all of it, then I will pay for some myself. But I know what I need and am hopeful that I'll get it. Back in a flash.
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Okay, I'm back. Hope it wasn't a problem to wait a minute.

I have to meet our licensing person on the 29th to license our temporary space. I don't know where anything is, haven't been there since mid June. Should be interesting.

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My aunt and uncle made a 15 hour drive from Southern California and are visiting my parents in Butthump Oregon as we speak. Why? Why because Butthump is in the ::::drumroll:::  PATH OF TOTALITY!!!!

Yes, that's right. For a few minutes on the 21st, the sun will disappear (you know, kind of like it does every single night) and everyone will go ohhhh and ahhhh and wowwww.

The organization I work for has decided that all children (they're still running a small summer camp)  will be indoors by 8:30 (eclipse happens a little after 9) and can't go back outside until noon. (eclipse is over a little after 11) The suggested ratio of staff to students is 3 to 1 for the event, and they're not staffing for that. They're worried that kids might look at the sun. They're trying to cover their asses. I understand that very well, and if I were the one making decisions for the company, unfortunately I'd have to make the same one. But it still sort of sucks for the kids. They're going to watch the event on television and do some worksheets about the eclipse.

Talk about a buzzkill.

Eric's company is taking the day off, the traffic before and after the event is going to be horrendous, at least as far as they know. No one can predict the future with 100% accuracy, right?

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I have to go get a mammogram. My doctor of 16 years, before she FUCKING QUIT LAST MONTH and went to a clinic for Native Americans only, did the referral for me. They called and tried to set up an appointment already, but I just... didn't.

Need to deal with dental, too. We have no insurance for dental anymore, thanks to Fluffy and her Cavalcade of Cunts and the loss of my job. But we have a good dentist. We've been seeing him a long time. We paid off two sets of braces for the kids. We've always paid our bill. So they're willing to work with us.

But Lyssa needs to get her teeth cleaned etc.
I have a tiny little cavity, or what feels like one in a tooth waaaay in the back. Fun, fun.
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There's more. All of it is just as exciting as the stuff I just typed up.

And I may even manage to get back here and write something soon.

Got a blogoversary coming up at the end of the month. I started writing this blog in 2005. A long damn time ago.

If I get my shit together I might even have some tie dyed socks to give away. Or a shirt. Or something. Stay tuned.