The Bubbles Cinematic Experience

Last week, as I was merging into traffic on the freeway behind a semi, a big something (rock, bolt, meteorite, cinder block, brick... pick one, I have no idea what it was but it sounded like a cinder block) WHAMMED into my windshield.

Nothing like a lovely blast of adrenaline first thing in the morning to get you going.

After I got to work I examined the big assed hole in my windshield with my flashlight.
It was perfectly round and DEEP.
Went almost all the way through the glass.

So my insurance deductible is a hundred bucks.
::sigh::

Just one damn thing after another sometimes.

Anyway, I had that to do first thing yesterday morning, then off to the Bubbles-in-charge Clusterfuck.

Sometimes you just have to laugh. 

Bubbles met me at the door with, "Do you have an android phone?"

And when I answered yes, she asked if I had my charger with me. I said that I had a car charger, but no wall socket plug in.

"Oh I have that!" she said brightly. "Can we use your power cord? I forgot mine and we can't use the Roku!"

So I handed her my keys, told her it was on the pocket on the driver's side door and she skipped out to get it.

The kids were all sitting in front of a television, eating their lunches and awaiting the exciting screening of a movie.

She came back with my power cord and dug through a few boxes to find a wall charging plug. She triumphantly held one up a few moments later and said, "Here it is!"

When she tried to plug the cord into it, she discovered that it was made for iPhones and wouldn't work with my cord.

So she thought a moment.
I could see little gears turning in her head.
Well, not really. Her head is empty, not transparent.

She said, "Oh I will just go home and get what we need, I only live 8 minutes away. " The kids cheered.

"Meanwhile," she said, "Let's start the movie and we can just watch it on my phone!"

Sure. A teeny little phone, propped up a good 20 feet away from some of the kids to watch the movie.

Now in case you're not around children much, they get bored. This little group of kids, who had been promised a movie all week long for 'being good' was a little fidgety since you know, they couldn't even see the damn movie.

So Dingdong, the sidekick, was quick to admonish them. "If you can't be quiet, I will have to turn the movie off!"

Oh good grief you doorknob, here's how you handle that...

I went to the various ones and twos of kids who were fidgeting and bored and said quietly, "You don't have to sit here and try to see the screen. If you want to go to one of the activity areas and play, go ahead. But keep in mind that the kids who are sitting over here still want to hear this teeny little movie, so please keep your voices down."

Simple. I did not have to remind any of them to tone it down, either.

Bubbles finally returned with whatever she needed, I really don't know. Then she spent another 20 minutes or so hooking everything up and trying to remember various passwords.

Much was made of the kids trying to see her passwords as she entered them, Dingdong was dancing in front of the screen trying to block them from seeing, as if any of them would remember it more than a minute. What did she think they were going to do? Go home and use her passwords?

FINALLY Bubbles had it all hooked up and ready.
She turned to the waiting kids and said, "See how hard I worked to give you this movie? I had to go all the way to my HOUSE and get stuff so you could watch!"

Yeah. 'See what I have done for you? I work so hard for you! Love me! Appreciate me!'

Gah.

How about this instead?
'Now that I've bribed and punished you all week long for acting like children, see how this wasn't even important enough for me to be prepared to show you the movie? Look at how I messed up! Now appreciate me!'

So 40 minutes or so late, she finally went to lunch.

The movie was stupid. And really violent. So I looked it up on my phone about halfway through. It was rated PG-13!!
It's called Home Sweet Home Alone.
Don't bother.
Really.

DUMB movie. People getting hit in the face with things, losing teeth, a man being hit in the balls... yep, seems fine to show to kindergarteners.

The rules say we're not to show them anything that's not rated G. And that all parents are to be informed of what the movie is and sign a paper saying they give permission for their child to see the movie, too. You know, those pesky rules.

Which were not followed in any way.


When she came back, Dingdong went to lunch. I ended up being more than an hour late getting out of there, leaving at 2:45 instead of 1.

Of course. Because I really wanted to stay there ALL FUCKING DAY.

So now I'm torn. Should I turn her in or wait until the next time someone thinks it would be a good idea to send me there for the day and say no, then when asked why send them the link to my blog?

Choices.

Yep.

 

I have nothing much to say regarding the election.
No point in it, really. No control over any of it, same as usual.

I have had some trouble sleeping, though.
So I decided last night that I'd take some Benadryl to help me sleep.

It did. I slept like a brick (with nightmares in its head) and woke up after nine hours. Of course there were three pee breaks in there, because of course there were.

And I've been hungover all day long.

I don't drink alcohol, haven't for more than 20 years, but in my teen years I had an alcohol-induced hangover once or twice. Apparently taking Benadryl wasn't a great idea. So I got up early-ish, didn't take a nap. Hoping that will help me sleep tonight.

So I've been reading things here and there. Trying to make sense by getting a more or less balanced picture in my mind.

And no more Benadryl.

Okay, off to make a meal and drink another bottle of water, which seems to be helping to flush the yuck out of my system.

I'm looking forward to when this shit is over.
Past time for the electoral college to be gone.

Goodwill Hunting

We zipped across the river to Vancouver yesterday.

First stop was the Goodwill outlet center (aka 'the bins').

It's an interesting place.

For the uninitiated, there are people who make a living from scrounging through the bins and then reselling things. I can't imagine trying to make a living that way, it's a pretty dirty place. And people are rude. At least some of them.

I was Google-searching for the addresses of a couple locations in preparation for our excursion when I found a few stories about people who were making a living that way, some of them had been banned from Goodwill for LIFE, some were under restraining orders from other shoppers... it was crazy.

All that over crappy used stuff.

There were a few vultures yesterday, putting their carts along one side and effectively blocking the entire side of a bin, they had to go through it  FIRST before anyone could get there... they didn't want all their stuff to be gone, I guess.

We didn't spend a bunch of money, just found a few things.
But just going is the fun? part.

Lyssa is working on reselling some toys, she found a few things she was happy about.

We also visited a couple retail Goodwill locations.

Those are interesting, too. They seem to specialize, one being particularly good for furniture, another for toys, still another for books. I'm sure they take the demographics of the store's location into consideration when they're sorting.

In one of the Vancouver stores, there were lots of porcelain selections, none of which came home with us. My hoarding tendencies are more about art supplies and crafty things.




The expression on this first doll's face seems appropriate under the circumstances, hung up on a board in all her nice clothes, looked at by everyone who walks by but just.. left hanging there.

And look to her left.
Is that a vampire behind the other doll?
You won't convince me otherwise, especially considering my latest choice in reading materials. 

Aaaargghhhh!!

I thought this one was actually holding a microphone when I looked at the photo, said to myself, 'hey that's odd, I didn't see that when I snapped the pic' then realized what I was actually looking at.

Drop the mic

This next photo cracked me up because of the eyes. I don't understand how someone felt a need to repaint, but if you enlarge the photo, you'll see how creepy the girl looks.

And I thought the smaller girl in back, looking on, was sort of cute and innocent.

 

The 'eyes' have it.

Hug me

AbsoLUTEly unnecessary. But decorative.

Paint me like one of your French girls...

Not pictured... the two older ladies and one man (none of them were together) who didn't seem to realize that one's nose is connected to their whole breathing system, so had their noses uncovered. Are people really that goddamn stupid? I was going to take photos of them, too. But I decided I didn't need the craziness it would cause.

Today I haven't gone anywhere. All that thrift store shopping made me want to stay home, where it's not as crazy.

Most of the time.

OMG they're still trying to kill me!

Things continue to be in normal range with my BP.

Never claimed to be a doctor, but I do have a bit of awareness with my own body and I'm still kicking myself in the ass for taking the medication(s) in the first place. And in the second, third, fourth...

Haha, speaking of medications, which I keep typoing as medicatoins, don't ask me why, I know how to spell, dammit, the pharmacy messaged me yesterday to let me know the second BP medication, Lisinipril,  that had been prescribed (back in April? I think?) has been refilled and it's time for me to come pick it up.

Yeah, that's not happening.

Then, the Metoprolol, which almost fucking killed me... my DOCTOR'S OFFICE messaged me this morning to ask which dosage to send to pharmacy to be refilled!

You know, the stuff that I quit taking 'cause it was causing my BP to go higher than most of the satellites in low earth orbit?

The stuff that landed me in the ER not once but twice in the same week? Yeah, that stuff.

MY DOCTOR'S OFFICE. WANTS. TO. KNOW. WHAT. DOSAGE. TO. GIVE ME.

Yep, I replied. And I refrained from using profanity, but it was tempting to open up a big jar of fucks and sprinkle them liberally throughout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's my reply:

Please update my records to reflect that Metoprolol sent my BP into the stratosphere, landed me in the emergency room not once but TWICE in a span of five days AND inspired some of the most condescending and patronizing behavior I've ever seen from medical personnel, some of them right there in your office.

Why was this not already updated?
Holy cow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What the hell are they doing there?
They're sure not providing medical care.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is the day that the hotshot investigators are supposed to be concluding their investigation into what happened to me in the ER and at the local clinic.

I'm about half-tempted to order a t shirt to wear next time I go in.

On the good side, I have just taken a blueberry cobbler out of the oven (it's 72 here today, perfect for baking, don't you agree?) and I'm going to go cut some and relax awhile before time to make dinner.

And how is your day going so far?

I'm not the Goddamn Food Police

Until news of his resignation Friday, we had a senior staff person named Tim.He spent several years with the company, starting as a site director and moving up.

On a personal level, I liked him.
He had a sense of humor and seemed to really like kids.

But he didn't understand them very well.
If you asked me.
Yes, I know no one asked me, but you know that my keeping my opinions to myself is not the most likely scenario.

He was the guy who told us to patronize kids after the national elections in 2016.
No matter what the question or comment, we were supposed to tell them, (and not allow them to discuss any of it privately either)  "Don't worry about that! YOUR job is to be a kid!"

I didn't follow those instructions, (surprise) instead allowing the young people to discuss the issues as they saw them. You really should go read this, I'm too lazy to write it up a second time, but it will give you a great deal of insight into Tim.

Giving a kid three chances to do every single inappropriate behavior in his or her arsenal EVERY DAY is just inviting them to mess up. 

When I ran LEGO camp two summers ago, there were three camps running at the same time until 9 AM when they divided into their separate locations. About 20 minutes before the hour, the staff would start bellowing about it being time to clean up, about half the kids would stop whatever activity they were involved in and begin running around the room, intent on avoiding doing their part.

The noise level went up and up, the more the staff yelled, the more the kids yelled and ran around. It always works that way in the larger programs and more than a few of the smaller ones.

After the mess was tossed in the general direction of the carts and bins, the kids were gathered in the middle of the room. On the floor.
Morning meeting. :::sigh:::
Camilla went over the rules and threatened the children.
This happened every day for about 20 minutes.
Every.
Day.
What a waste of everyone's time.

Here's how the meetings worked.
Camilla would sit above the kids on a cafeteria bench holding her big trifold board open to display the rules.
I hate that symbolic "I'm above you" thing.

There were enough seats at the tables for all the kids to be able to sit on them. But if a child even tried to sit on a bench instead of the floor (where they belonged, dammit) the staff was quick to redirect them to their proper place.

Every rule was listed on the page, and every single one was explained.
I don't know why Camilla bothered going over the rules, since the staff mostly didn't enforce the playground safety rules or seem to notice when kids were getting a little crazy while still indoors. Mostly the staff seemed to hang out with a few favorite kids and once in awhile put out a fire (figurative fire) when Ferd was once again vaulting over the cafeteria table in order to chase Veronica because she had a crush on him and the only way she could think of to get him to notice her was to steal his stuff.

Camilla would open her eyes wide and put on her most serious face/tone of voice, point to a rule and say, "If you break this rule once, I will ask you to stop. If you break this rule a second time, we will have to have a conversation. If you break this rule a third time, I will call TIM and HE will come here and talk to you!!"

One of those rules was the directive, handed down from Tim, for the kids to bring their lunches to one of the staff members, "When you think you're finished, and we will decide if you are."

This wasn't unique to Camilla's site, either.
It had been mentioned at most of our staff meetings.

We were to look at the lunches of children who thought they were finished eating and decide for them if they'd eaten enough and oh yeah... make sure they didn't eat their dessert first.


There were three or four occasions that my group ate lunch with the larger bunch.

I was usually taking my lunch break at that time, but fortunately I was around enough to learn important phrases like, "HEY!! Don't eat your cookies first!"

"Go back to that table right now and eat your sandwich!"

And who could forget the all-important, "I don't know why I have to tell you again that you have to eat ALL YOUR FOOD before you leave the table!"

When a staff person gives approval or disapproval of a child's personal choices, (which really aren't the child's choices at all... their parents are the ones packing their lunches ) during mealtimes, over and over and over, we aren't doing the child a favor.
Not only is this weird obsession with the children's food a grand way to help the kids on their way to an eating disorder (let's feed them guilt and angst with their peanut butter sandwich!!) it's explicitly against our license.

I actually brought it up with management, but Tim didn't care whether it was okay or not, he'd decided it was. I also talked with our state licensing person, she very clearly stated that making children eat/not allowing them to eat their own food was NOT okay.

So while it's not likely to get the same reaction as breaking into someone's car or stealing money from their bank accounts, it's not legal.
Any adult who's doing this is breaking the law.

On Friday afternoon, my group ate lunch with the group we'd shared the bus with.
A small girl, maybe seven, hesitantly approached me with her lunchbox. She opened it to reveal some little plastic containers. One was about half-full of almonds, one had about a third of a tuna sandwich, two of them were empty.

She started a recitation of what she'd eaten and began explaining why she hadn't eaten all of her food.

I smiled and interrupted her.

"Are you still hungry?"

She blinked.
"Huh?"

"Are you still hungry?"

"No."

"Okay. Then you're finished eating. If you get hungry later, you can finish what's in your lunch if you want to. Go ahead and go play."

She hesitated, shuffling a toe in the dirt and peering at me while trying to look like she wasn't. Since I wasn't her adult, she wasn't sure.
So I told her, "I won't keep track of what you eat, tell you to eat more, or worry about what you ate first. I figure you're smart enough to do that for yourself. Go ahead and go play."

I watched as she went back to the table to put her lunchbox down, saw her talking to the kids she'd eaten with, point at me, and go off to the playground. The other kids looked at each other, and one by one came to me with their lunches. I told them all basically the same thing, and they went to play, too.

For goodness sake. It's ONE meal in the middle of the day. There are two snack breaks as well as a lunch period during program time, they're kids and they need to play. They don't need some snoopy adult deciding how they should or should not eat their lunches.

If for some reason they don't get enough to eat during their day, I'm pretty sure their parents will feed them in the evenings.
And they do not need the goddamn food police 'helping' them manage lunch.

Above and Beyond. Way Beyond.

This link leads to a news story.

In case the link is no longer working or you don't want to click on it, the shortened version is that an 8 year old child attending school in Woodburn had been given permission to use adult restrooms due to a medical issue.

His teacher saw him using the adult restroom and made the incredible fucking leap in 'thinking' assumption that he was using the adult bathroom because he was transgender. Further, that he was confused and badly in need of guidance.

From the article:

In April 2018, without notifying the parents and without any authorization from the school district, the teacher began developing a lesson plan to help the boy understand what it meant to be transgender. 

She then began keeping the student inside the classroom alone during recess at least three times to show him videos and teach him "it is acceptable to become transgender."

These lessons included episodes of the reality television series "I Am Jazz" about a transgender girl named Jazz Jennings, books "I Am Jazz" and "Who are You? The Kid's Guide to Gender Identity" and discussions on the difference between male and female body parts. 

The books and show, which were recommended by an "unknown non-school employee transgender individual," exposed the boy to sexual topics and sexual discussions, according to the lawsuit. 

During the lessons, the student was not allowed to go outside for recess until he finished the videos or books.
::snip::
The parents filed a complaint with the school but said school officials minimized what has occurred, telling them "If this happened in Portland, it would not be a big deal."

So the child's parents are angry.
I would be, too.

As a person who works with children, I do what I can to avoid adding worry or anxiety to a child's life. I haven't been faced with anything that didn't have some sort of solution so far. Thank goodness.

Part of the reason I'm able to help is that I recognize that I don't have all the answers. What I have are resources and support.
So when something comes up, I know who to talk to.

And the people I consult are the type who'd send me to a different expert if they didn't have the answers.

It's important to realize when one doesn't know everything. And we all know what happens when we assume.
Seems this teacher wasn't aware of that.

I hope there is some follow up in news stories. I'd like to know how this is resolved.

Just mean.

I read Dr. Grumpy's blog once in awhile. He posts sporadically so I check it about once a month.
It's not usually boring. Stories about his medical practice, his kids, some history lessons.

I checked in this week and found this post. It isn't long. Go read it. And read the comments.

The condensed version is that the son of another doctor forgot his lunch, he called her for help, she refused to bring him food and to be even more supportive, called him a moron.

Some of the comments agreed with her, calling it 'tough love' and suggesting that's the way to teach 'em a lesson!

Almost as harsh as that 'mother' was with her child.

(edit) I didn't comment until after WSF left me a comment, then I combined my own answers to him and dropped them off over there. For all the good it will do.

You'd think a doctor would know a bit about child development. Kids that age, particularly boys, seem to have some difficulties with remembering to be responsible. There's actual science behind the apparent cognitive lapses, it's been awhile since I did that unit study for work, but I remember quite a bit of it. I also remember what it's like to be a young teenager. There's a great deal going on inside a person when they're that age, and it's really difficult to navigate through life for awhile.

In addition, a parent is supposed to be a support system for their child(ren). Is it inconvenient to have to bring food to your offspring? Sometimes. Should they still be supported? Always.

The message being sent to this kid is that he's not smart and further mistakes mean she likes him less. So every time he messes up, that moron remark will be in the back of his head.

Of course the doctors and lawyers of the world are supposed to be the enlightened ones, maybe the idea of compassion is for people like me.

Will the fact that he missed lunch hurt him more than the fact that his mother didn't find him worth the inconvenience of making sure he got to eat lunch? Somehow I doubt it.

Untrainable

As a licensed daycare provider in the State of Oregon, I am required to attend 15 hours of training in specific things every year. Child development etc. Two hours of this, two hours of that.

The crap organization I used to work for didn't like paying for things like training, though.

Brashley was at the corporate offices when Jeanne and Assberry found out via a state division of childcare email that the company was not required to pay for trainings or for the employee time spent on training. The company was perfectly within their rights to make their employees pay for their own classes unless attendance was mandatory.

Class prices ranged from free to hundreds, depending on subject matter and location, but the company had been paying for them all along, we just attended.

Then the company decided we weren't worth that investment anymore.

Sort of demoralizing.

But I had a conversation with Rob,the Big Fish I've written so much about. I told him that if I wasn't worth an extra couple hundred a year after all I contributed, there was really something wrong.

And after that they did pay for our training, but not for the hours we spent in those trainings. And most of the time, we were on our own as far as figuring out where to get the training(s).

Now I'm working for an organization that is willing to invest money in their employees. Not only do they arrange and pay for the trainings I go to, they pay me for the hours I spend in training.

There's a person in the office who goes through the training files of about 50 people every month. She schedules training sessions for us. She figures out what the majority of the group needs and plans accordingly.

It's not always convenient. For example, today's (all day) session was in Wilsonville, a 40 minute drive from my house. I was up at the usual 5, although I managed to doze off a bit until I finally got out of bed at 6.

Traffic is usually horrendous, but today was a holiday. Haha, at least for  people who aren't day care providers for the company.

I was in Wilsonville by 8:30 although the session wasn't scheduled until 9. I like to arrive a little early and look the place over. I want to be able to sit where I want to sit. I don't like sitting in a space where someone will have to climb over me, past me, around me. I don't like people sitting practically on my lap, either. Unfortunately at our regular site director meetings we're sorta squished into our conference room.

It wasn't like that at this facility,though. Plenty of room. I settled in at a table with several people I've met before and a couple of new faces. It didn't feel too awkward.

We had three sessions scheduled for today.
Importance of Play in After School (duh...)

Planning in After School... not what you'd think, though. We learned the difference between outcomes and results. If you think that sounds a little boring and not particularly relevant, you're correct.

After the first two sessions, two hours and one hour long, we had an hour for a lunch break. There was some discussion about that, some people had planned ahead and brought their own lunch but others planned to leave the site and go out hunting/gathering. Taco Bell, Wendy's, Subway. No. Thanks.

But the ones who had not brought a lunch and therefore would need extra time to get food outnumbered those of us who planned ahead. So we had to take an hour for lunch. ::sigh::

After our lunch, we had another two hour class.

Employee Wellness for Afterschool Providers

During this essential (all these trainings were MANDATORY, a distinction that never fails to piss me the fuck off) training, we learned all about the new catchphrase I've seen popping up here and there, "It's OK not to be OK."

Yes, that's right. If you are tired and aggravated and just can't take the pressure anymore, it's OKAY. Take time for yourself. Go for a walk. Destress.
No word on what you're supposed to do if you're a single person site and you need a break. Because you won't get one.And we were treated to still another catchphrase, 'Be in the moment!' Because being in the moment (where else should one be? Life is a series of moments and during my life, I've been in every damn one of those moments...)

Be sure to eat red, green, yellow and purple veggies, too! And white! Don't, for shit's sake, forget to eat WHITE veggies!

We did a really fun!! exercise during this class. We were divided into five or six person groups by necessity, that's how tables and chairs were set up in the giant conference room. So each group got to plan a menu for a whole day, utilizing a handy color chart. We'd already filled in the chart with vegetables and fruits, arranged by color.

We all planned a day of healthy eating together!

I have some candy leftover from Valentine's day, many of my kids brought me some. So I handed out Hershey's kisses to my table mates while we were in the moment.

Hey, it's okay not to be okay!

And ponder the irony with me here... let's talk alllll about good nutrition while the company serves things for snacks like cheez it crackers and yogurt that's full of added sugar. They want us to buy skim milk for our kids, though. Can't get that wrong, now can we?

So I do appreciate that the company wants to invest in the employees. I've worked for the other guys, you see.

But I can't think of anything I learned today that's going to make me better at my job.

And that's disappointing.

The Butt Rapin' Businessmen of Grant County, Oregon

My parents live in John Day, Oregon. Population, about 1600, give or take.

They've been there since August, 1971.
A few months before I turned 11.

One of my first memories of John Day was my mother's exclamation as we drove past the (then) only gas station in town.

"THIRTY FIVE NINE?!?!"

Apparently that was much higher than they'd been paying in our former home of La Grande. She was aghast at the price there. Until we went to the grocery store for the first time.

I don't remember prices. But I remember her gasping as she looked at the prices on the various things we needed to keep the family fed. I had two little brothers then, Jim turned 8 that fall and Steve turned 3 about a month before that. I remember her horror at the prices quite well.

The excuse the local merchants gave back then was that it "costs more" to ship items into town. They were in the middle of nowhere, you see. All that hay to feed the horsies who brought the merchandise, I guess.

I don't know what things were like then, but I know that's a load of crap now. However, the local businesses are still using the same tired excuse for their ridiculous price gouging. ALL of the businesses there charge higher prices than anywhere else I've been with the exception of the time I had to buy tampons in Mitchell, Oregon.

Back in about 1990, when Bob was visiting, we all trooped over to John Day for a few days. I went to Chester's, the store that purchases the radio spots so someone can sing their little song... "How do you keep your food costs down? By shopping Chester's Market!! The saving-est place in town!" and bought ingredients for tacos for 5 adults and a little guy.
$30.00.
That's an awful lot of money even now, almost 30 years later, for a package of hamburger, some taco shells, lettuce, cheese and sour cream.

Here's another example for you.

I visited my parents last summer and went to Mosier's, the only furniture store in town, to see if my assorted brothers and kids and anyone else interested could come up with a fund to replace the parental oven.

They live in a manufactured home and were still using the original oven that came with it back in 1982. The door was impossible to close right because of a broken hinge. Dad had to go get a knife from the silverware drawer and argue with it every time Mom wanted to use it.

But that wasn't the scary part. This little oven was a wall oven, mounted about three feet off the floor. It was so old that the fiberglass heat blanket was just gone. Deteriorated into nothing. So if one did use the oven, the heat was evident on the OTHER side of the wall, in the living room. I'm not talking about a little warmth, either. The wall was hot to the touch. NOT safe. When I asked Mom about it, she said that they couldn't afford a new one right now, they'd just bought twin beds for their spare room.

The two metal twin beds (with mattresses, not bad ones but definitely not top of the line) that my parents put in the guest room? A little over 900 bucks at Mosier's. I found the exact same bed on Amazon without the mattress for 98 bucks. Free shipping. Those mattresses are not worth $350.00 apiece. Trust me.

There's a difference between making a living and making a killing.

But when you're the ONLY game in the entire county, you can charge whatever you want as long as people are dumb enough to pay it.

The guy at the furniture store was less than helpful about the oven. He blathered on about different sizes and how difficult it was to find ovens to fit in 'those trailers'. He had nothing in stock, would have to special order. And it would be 'around a thousand dollars'. Pretty sure that's his standard price on just about everything.

More on that in a minute.

While I was there I looked at refrigerators, too.

I had looked at a few here in Portland, they ranged in price from about 400 bucks for a simple, not huge, no frills refrigerator with no freezer to around 4 thousand for a stainless steel all the bells and whistles and a partridge in a pear tree big assed combo fridge/freezer that wouldn't fit in their house anyway.

So I had a price range in mind.
The lowest price fridge in the John Day version of a furniture store was a freezerless refrigerator, 18.5 cubic feet. It was over a thousand dollars !!

I may have mentioned this. But there's a difference between making a living and making a killing.

Now, the oven.

The oven door finally fell off about six months ago, leaving my mom without an oven.

I went to Amazon to look at prices, just to get an idea.

Then I read some reviews on Consumer Reports. Did some cursory research, just to get an idea of the different features and possibilities. I was considering getting Matt and Amy on board, possibly my brothers and pooling our money to buy Mom a new oven.

A simple wall oven in the proper size on Amazon was about $450.00. Not cheap, but reasonable. Free delivery, of course. Professional installation was another 50, one of my brother's friends has a business there. So $500.00.

Then my Aunt Sue Ann, Mom's younger sister, sent Mom a check for a new oven. Just because. She's generous that way, she can afford to be. She sent her $750.00.

And my mom went to Mosier's, the only game in town, and told the guy, "Well we found this one on Amazon for about $500.00"

And he told her, "Gee golly, I never heard of that brand!! Why, it would probably be IMPOSSIBLE to ever repair such a thing!! I don't even know where I'd find the parts! But what a coincidence, I can sell you a name brand oven for ONLY ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!"

Or I'm guessing that's how the conversation went.

So my mom, who may be slightly gullible, went, "Oh, okay, why don't you go ahead and order that for me?"

Because in HER mind, it was only going to cost her $250.00 'cause of the check she had.

And he worried her with the idea of repairs. Because of course brand new ovens need repaired all the goddamn time. (picture me rolling my eyes here)

Now you could argue that it's my mom's decision and her money, and you'd be right. I haven't said anything to her about it, I don't have any wish to hurt her feelings and she's doing the best she can.

But there's a difference between making a living and making a killing.

When you own the local grocery store and you can buy a Mercedes for yourself and one for your wife, you may be overcharging for a six-pack. Or a head of lettuce.

I don't know what Mosier drives, but I'll bet he's paying for it out of a bank account that increases in thousand dollar increments.

Day 1. Yes, I'm a little late reporting.

It's been an eventful week.
I'm tired and I can't seem to keep up with life in general, which isn't new, but I'm finally sitting down to try to write something.

In the few days I've worked at summer camp I've already figured out why the center director is so keen on trying to hire me full time on a permanent basis. Not that I'm wanting to switch, but as usual, it's hard to find good people who know what they're doing.

Day 1. Kids are loud. The room is really large, but it's been set up with all the shelves and play areas against walls. Making a big runway right through the middle of everything. The staff mostly sits at a table coloring with a few kids while the rest of the children make paper airplanes and run.
And yell.
And chase each other.
Lie on top of each other to wrestle.
Take the few things they do have to play with away from each other.

My station is in the corner of the room. I'm glad I brought so many supplies.
Since our school was closing, there was a lot of stuff being just tossed out. I grabbed a lot of paper products. Enough for this summer and for the next three years or so at my school, actually. Funny, they tossed it because they didn't want to move it, but it's coming to the new building anyway. :-D

I have a lot of my own art supplies, too. Pencils and erasers and pens and drawing books. Markers, scissors. Yarn and string and model magic.

I brought FIVE large rubbermaid totes. Crammed full with every art supply imaginable. It's a good thing I did, because if I'd depended on them to provide any sort of supplies I'd have been screwed.

They left it up to me to decide what sort of activities to provide, and I've tried to at least loosely follow their theme weeks. This coming week they're going to OMSI for their field trip, and although I didn't have the time to save enough household garbage for everyone to make their own robots, I have a few ideas for the kids to make. Rube Goldberg machines, other chain reaction activities, using little wax sticks to make their own marble mazes. I have a bin full of red solo cups to build some towers. Dominoes and wood blocks and string and tape. I have some connectors to use with fun noodles, too. The kids can make structures with those. As an added bonus, one can slice the noodles lengthwise and tape them together and make enormous marble runs, something I've done with most groups I've worked with. I already know it will be a challenge to keep the kids from using them as lances and trying to fight.

I don't know what it is about this organization. Every site I've visited or worked at is dismal. Dull and not enough independent activities for the kids to do. My site was awful the day I walked in. By the time school started, I had turned it into a good place. My kids were very excited to be there when they saw all the things they could choose from.

Yes, they offer art or other group activities, but there are so many kids who don't wish to participate. It makes the job a lot more difficult when the kids don't have a lot of decent choices. This is why they run around and scream and do cartwheels and lie on top of each other.

It's not my site. And although I do walk over to the children who are really out of control and suggest they find another activity, I feel like a hypocrite because there really aren't that many activities for them to do. They're BORED. And about to spend the entire summer indulging in behaviors that are going to do nothing helpful for anyone.

So there aren't a lot of toys. Many of the ones they have are broken or in the case of games, missing pieces. That's really on the staff, if one has the kids check out the games from an adult and the adult checks the game when it's returned, the kids take much better care of it. I always tell my kids that I expect things to be torn or broken on occasion, and if they're not mistreating the item, well then, stuff happens.

But this group? I wouldn't dare give them a game unsupervised. Good grief.

But it's not my site, I don't have to deal with the lack of things during the school year and the behaviors the kids are allowed to indulge in.

I mostly stay with my little mini group(s) and work on our art projects. Last week was painted paper projects, the kids painted gigantic sheets of paper with tempera the first day I was there and we let them dry, then cut them up. I have posted about that project before, and it was a great success with this group.

Also successful? The weaving project with yarn on soda straws. I have to pick up some more variegated yarn, but that's easy enough to do.

But the crazy isn't limited to child behaviors. And I haven't even told you about the stuff that goes on outside on the playground. EVERY time we go out, there are at least three papers filled out for skinned knees or bumped heads. Gahhhhh.

I'll try to catch you up a little more tomorrow. Or rather today, since it's 3 AM. Heartburn has subsided, it's time for me to go back to bed.

I figured it out... I AM part of the team!!!

They refer to us collectively as 'TEAM!!'
I have the official jersey.
I go to all the team meetings.
I get to 'rah rah' with everyone else.
They even pretend like they want my opinion. But you know what??
I'm the WATERBOY!!!!!!
The person who gets clapped on the shoulder, pointed out occasionally.. (If you have problems with your timekeeper, call Susan, she seems to be doing great with her clock hours!!!) everyone smiles at me when I walk in to big meetings, I get emails that say things like 'thank you for working so hard on this!'

And then when I have ideas to improve the team, things to contribute, the experience of more than 10 years to say, 'Um, guys? This may not be the best way to go about it'.... I get something like, "Thank you so much for your input! We will take that into consideration!!!"

Yep. The fuckin' waterboy.

It took me awhile to get it.
I'm not accustomed to looking at the world from the screwed up perspective of a narcissist. A person who is so mentally ill that if I didn't dislike her so much, I might have some pity for.

I can't deny some compassion... I am not perfect myself, and some of the personality traits I dislike seeing in other people are ones that I own.

However, I can admit it. I've worked on things over the years, got a little help from friends and family and have been able to apologize to the people who have been hurt when my dark side gets the best of me.

I will never be 'fine'.
But I don't know anyone who can say they are just fine, either. Do you?
We all just do the best we can.

So, being a little messed up myself, I can understand why it's difficult to perform like a rational human being at all times.
So I don't blame Fluffy for being imperfect.
We're all there.
I know she can't help some of it.

But. Being a little messed up myself I know that some of her complete inability to treat people with the respect they deserve isn't inability at all... it's willful.

She treats some people like shit because she isn't a nice person underneath that helpless, wide-eyed, tiny bit of Texas accent, hand-wringing exterior.
She's actually sort of unkind all the way through, she knows it.
She.
Doesn't.
Fucking.
Care.

And that does piss me off.

I have constantly been flummoxed by her inability to see. I'm incredibly frustrated by my own inability to MAKE her see.
Me, the one who's articulate and able to express myself quite well (most of the time) and particularly when I have had a great deal of time to consider what I want to say and how I want to say it.

I kept trying to make her see. And this week, I've finally realized that we're not even looking at the same picture.

When things are going to shit (and during the past year, that's exactly where they've been work-wise) I ponder. A lot. An inordinate amount of time worrying over a JOB. I lose sleep. I rant. I clench my jaw. I have to stick my tongue in between my back teeth when I go to sleep at night to remind me to relax the jaw a bit. Otherwise, I will wake up with sore jaw muscles.

But I'm unable to just let it go. I can't half-ass my work. I love my kids. I love what I do. To me, it is not a job. It's a calling. It is something worthy of putting my heart into. Worth the hours I spend working unpaid, looking up crafty things and information and things to do with my kids. Going to Goodwill and spending my own money on things. Spending 10 bucks on something that will keep children occupied for several days or even off and on during the school year is not an expense, it's an investment. I am proud and happy that I do this job so well. I have loved it from the beginning. And Fluffy, that wide-eyed, hopeless, helpless flounder of a person, has turned it to shit for me. I'm angry. I don't like her. I am no longer getting the joy I once had. And it's not my attitude... it's her, fucking things up everywhere she goes.

It's not like I haven't tried to fix things, either. Repeatedly.
I talked to Fluffy personally in January. I had noticed things that were definite cause for concern, and naively thought if I told her about them, she would take action. She didn't do a single fucking thing.

Her nasty, mean and ugly friend, the one who was using her position as a site director to emotionally and verbally abuse children, was absolved of all personal responsibility. She was left in charge of helpless little people. She made them cry. Walked away. Showed no compassion. Addressed school staff concerns with a hand held up in their faces and, "I'm DONE talking to you."

What the fuck??????? We are guests in the schools. One would think being a decent guest, one who does not metaphorically (or actually, hell, I don't know) shit on the floor or abuse the children would be sort of a priority.
See, I thought that what was in the best interest of children was Fluffy's number one priority.

It's not.

Fluffy is her own number one priority, and you either join the Fluffy train and get in line to kiss her ass, or you're 'not being a team player'.

Even though, of course, she addresses us all as "TEAM!!" in her cavalcade of emails with so much useless information packed around teeny little bits of things we actually need to know that it's just one more goddamn frustration.

So...

Because I am able to communicate effectively in writing and I had 8 hours or so on my hands (seriously...eight fucking hours) I wrote a HUGE missive to the Big Fish back in March, was it? I wanted him to know what had been going on. Silly me, I thought that because I've been with this company 12 years and have proven over and over that I'm personally invested in my kids and my job that he would listen. We spent two hours talking. And although he did listen to the parts he was interested in, he didn't manage to put the whole picture together. It's just not that important to him. I'm a widget. A widget with 12 years of experience.
Ah well.
12 years of widgeting looks good on a resume.

And I know he shared that email with her.
I talked to Fluffy again in April. After meeting with the big fish. After she knew that more than one of us had gone over her head with that bogus fucking summer application.

She wanted to 'make things better', she said, making that hand-flappy helpless little gesture she does.

Nope. Nothing was done. At all.

So what I did by meeting with the big fish and sending him that lengthy missive, written on my own time, was to give that bitch more ammunition.

She knows what pisses me off, so she does more of it. I alternate between wanting to kick her in the fucking cankles and slap her face and wanting to grab her by the shoulders, shake her, and scream in that stubborn, vapid face, "WHAT IN THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU??"

Of course neither course of action is productive.
And so far, I've refrained.
Sometimes it's difficult.

None of this is new. I am just writing it all down to give myself some perspective and to prove to me that I'm not the crazy one. At least not about this.

When I end up having to find another job to preserve my sanity, it will be helpful to me to have this and other stuff in writing to refer to.

Yesterday, Matt came over for awhile. He's going to be 29 years old on Wednesday, but I still want him to text me when he gets home. I'm nutty that way, too. He didn't text for a LONG time. More than twice the amount of time it should take him to get home. So I texted him.

And he texted that he was sitting still in traffic because there was an accident.

"Describe the car!" I demanded.
"Um, okay. Why?"
"Because it might be Fluffy!!"

The waterboy always worries about the team captain.

Also on the good side...

The decision was made this year not to serve the 'food' from the USDA summer feeding program.

I've written about it before.
Sometimes the stuff I've written was even humorous.
Or at least I found it so.

Sometimes, it wasn't funny.

Last year, I was pissed off because the silly twit who runs the food training scheduled our summer food program training on a day we had OFF.

This year, for various reasons, we are not serving lunch.

I think this is a good thing. The brown bag lunches consist of processed crap, with almost no natural substances included. There is a terrible amount of waste, as the uneaten lunches go back to the kitchens and are disposed of. It's disgusting. I would not eat those lunches if you paid me, even back before I started trying to eat better.

It makes me angry that these 'meals' are paid for with our tax dollars. With all the hype about eating better and the standards being imposed upon school lunch programs in order for them to maintain their funding, you'd think we could do better.

Of course it's not as easy for parents when they have to pack lunches.
Many of them end up buying Lunchables or other processed-until-it's-no-longer-food stuff. Kids end up eating crap anyway, although we're not the ones serving it.

I am relieved that we aren't going to deal with the crazy paperwork, the odd scheduling, the members of the public in the midst of our kids, the utterly stupid way we're required to serve it and the horrendous waste. I'm also really glad not to have to deal with Ms. Smartyboots, who's an arrogant little dictator. She is in charge of the district food services, not our program, but seemed to think that she could tell us what to do.

Last summer, she threatened one of us. She didn't like all the lunches that were coming back (even though she had adjusted our daily order) and suggested that she was going to start charging our company for them.

She had no authority to do so. When this was pointed out to her by our manager, she backed down in a hurry. "Oh, I was just trying to make a point," she said.

According to people who know her, that's what she always says when she's been an asshole.

I haven't had to deal with her too much, but I was less-than-thrilled when I called her once last summer to let her know we were running out of meals and there were several children waiting to be fed.

When she ascertained that there were only six children waiting, she said, "It's really a waste of my time to come out there for only six lunches. Tell them to come back tomorrow."

Yes, she really did say that. I guess some children are more deserving than others in her book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have had a nasty headache since Wednesday of last week. It slacks off with the judicious use of migraine medication and Excedrin, only to come back about 12 hours later. I did have about a 14 hour break, only to have the headache appear on the other side of my head. It's been a bad one. If it stays true to form, I'll still have it tomorrow, but will finally be rid of it on Wednesday.

So instead of sitting here typing more, I think I'm going to bed early tonight.
This is a good idea.

What an Asshole!

I worked a little today and decided to stop by Goodwill on my way back home. Wandered around a bit. My attention was caught by a young-ish dad (30s?) and his two little boys. One was about 3 or a little younger, sitting in the seat of the cart, and the other maybe 5. He was riding on the front of the cart. Both kids were talking constantly while their 'father' tried on some shirts.

He kept telling them to hush.
Be quiet.
Stop talking.
He got stern with them and threatened to 'beat their butts'.

Then he moved the cart a little and parked next to a display that included some fuzzy, furry jackets.
And said to the littlest one, "DO NOT TOUCH."

Well of course the little guy was curious and touched the fuzzy coat.
The dad turned around and saw him and slapped his arm.
It sounded like a pistol shot.

The little boy began crying.
He sounded utterly devastated.

I was standing right there next to them and couldn't control myself. I exclaimed, "Jesus Christ, Buddy!!"

He whirled around and glared at me.
Snarled, "Fuck off."
Turned away, pushing the cart, and left the store.

And after a moment of surprised quiet from most of the other people in the store, life just... went on.

I hope that little boy is okay. Slapping a child on the arm isn't considered abuse in this state, although it's a mean and shitty thing to do.

I still can't believe he parked that little boy next to something so tempting and expected him not to touch! He's a baby! That's what they do.

:(

What a piece of work.

I'm no masterdebater.

The whole discussion started because F was so discouraged that two Colorado legislators had been recalled for screwing the electorate. The responses I didn't make and sort of wish I had are in blue.
F: Well, to be honest, nearly everyone had a gun before; this is the the West.The measures passed weren't restrictive at all. Now politicians will be afraid to vote for even mild restrictions on guns.

Isn't it about time for politicians to start listening to the people who (pretend with me, won't you?) ELECTED them?? Not restrictive? Of course that's your opinion.

B: No guns allowed in this Texas home. But, we are definitely a minority household. Eww! Guns are all.. icky and stuff!! She later commented about having had to take a gun from one of the people she counseled and how horrid it was to ::shudder::: touch one!

F: We have a shotgun somewhere, that my husband has used once to go skeet shooting. I grew up in rural Idaho. Everyone had guns, but they also had common sense.

A: I live in the country and we have guns - I don't even pay attention to what we have. A shotgun and rifle maybe? I know there's a little pistol somewhere. They're for snake and harmful critters only - but I hope I never am here by myself and have to use one because it'd be like Barney Fife! I hope I'm providing a good visual for ya'll!!

F: The shakiest gun in the West?

A: let's just say it would probably be entertaining to anyone watching! Including the rattlesnake!

T: We have one, home protection only. We don't carry it anywhere and since we don't have kids we don't worry too much about it. When the niece and nephew (3 years old) come to visit we lock it up!

A: ^^ absolutely. We never have kids out here anymore, they're all grown up. I know, F. There's just no getting the right wing out of their delusional bubble....and we have to live with them. I just about have a stroke every time I hear their silly screams about "outlawing guns" "taking our guns away"....Jeez - if they could get a passionate about an issue that IS true and that DOES hurt our people...too much to ask of them.
How stupid do you have to be to think that this issue is a 'right wing' thing? I believe in our rights, but I'm not a right winger. Dork.
Mental: I know I'm in the minority regarding this group at least, but I don't care. It is not the business of any branch of the government to regulate what firearms I do or do not have. It is personal business. When a legislator oversteps his or her bounds by voting however the fuck they want instead of doing what the majority of their constituents want, they are not doing their job and need to get the hell out.

F: The government regulates all sorts of industries and products in the interest of public safety. Guns should be no different.

Mental: When they get guns away from criminals with their 'common sense' laws, you might get some agreement from me. But did you know that people who have had depression or have had any anxiety medication are precluded from owning guns in several states, and that in California those are grounds for confiscation? That's not 'in the interest of public safety'. And I really don't care to argue gun control, my point is that when a legislator no longer votes the way his or her constituents want, they're not representing them. They need to be recalled and get their arrogant asses handed to them.

F: There will always be legislators that vote in a way that some of their constituents don't like in a two more party system. Recalls are meant to deal with fraud or corruption, not general dissatisfaction.
Oh, you're the arbiter of why people should or should not recall an elected slimeball! If they're not doing the fucking job, they shouldn't be collecting the salary or having the perks that go along with it. Dumbass.

Mental: I disagree. When I have an asshole working for me (or in this case against me) he or she needs to find a new job. Abridgement of my constitutional rights, however, is fraud. As they swore to uphold that same Constitution. You know, that pesky 'shall not be infringed' part.

F: So no one that disagrees with you is allowed to hold office? Dafuq??? What? Huh?????
Mental: I just scanned everything I've said. This, "So no one that disagrees with you is allowed to hold office?" was not there. When the majority of a legislator's constituents say 'here is how I want you to vote' and that legislator doesn't represent the majority, he or she is not doing the job. The legislators in many states who have decided to go with the current fashion statement of wiping their asses with the Constitution of the United States should not be allowed to hold office. This applies to the euphemistically labeled 'gun control' as well as many other examples. They're not representing anyone but themselves in many cases, they're being paid to do a job they're failing to do. Whether they disagree with me has no bearing on what they've sworn to do.

F: In the case of the Colorado legislators, they were representing the majority that elected them. Sure they were. That's why they were recalled. Because the majority liked them. Uh huh. They were doing everything just right. They were GOLDILOCKS legislators!
Mental: Well, if they're being recalled, evidently they were mistaken about what the majority wanted.

F:How is representing those who voted for you in any way fraud?
Or not doing what they were elected to do?

Mental: The fraud is voting to infringe the Constitutional rights of the Americans they were elected to represent. They weren't elected to take away people's rights.

And here's the funny thing. I don't even HAVE a gun. Don't have a need for or want one. But when they take an oath to uphold the Constitution, they probably should do exactly that.

A: I just have never seen anything in any legislation that makes me in any way whatsoever concerned that anyone is even trying to pass a law that would outlaw or collect my guns. I just haven't. Even assault rifles - yes, limiting access to those, but not even trying to collect the ones out there. I know very well someone who has one of those, and even though he's a good friend of ours, I do have to say when he gets drunk and his real feelings come out - he scares the crap out of me. Mental- I hear what you're saying, but a question I wrestle with is the issue of where one's rights end because they infringe on someone else's rights. For example, I do not, capital do not, want to have people walking down the isle at the grocery store, movie theater, any public place with a rifle strapped over their shoulder. I will leave that area immediately and that infringes on my right to buy groceries, go to a movie, whatever. I don't know that this guntoter is sane and just has to feel macho and carry his gun around ( small dick ) or if it's a crazy person about to go off and start shooting people. If they are all over the place, no one will know. No one will know when to run and hide. Texas just passed a new law that lowers the hours of training requirement for getting a concealed carry license from something in the high teens to only 4, so I'm getting a little concerned about all of the concealed guns out there, too, which I never was before. They are making it easier and easier for any nutcase out there to buy and carry guns. I do find this trend disturbing. I'm not rabid about it - yet -but disturbed.
The argument that the lawful types who carry guns want to be able to protect us if some crazy opens up. Right. That's what I want - crossfire from people with 4 hrs of gun training and cops showing up and having no idea who the bad guys are and who the good guys are. Huge ass recipe for disaster here. And further limits my right to come and go in public because I will not be able to recognize if a threat is there. It will always look like a threat is there.
And my understanding is that there are no qualifications whatsoever for rifles and such, not even 4 hours of training.
Granted, Texas has turned into one big open-door insane asylum, so some paranoia is a good thing. New law: a gun license counts as voter id, but not a university student ( or I'm sure faculty) id. Now that's seriously screaming red fucked up!

T: I agree with the constitution. Anyone that wants to own a musket or join the military should be allowed to!
Oh and don't forget, even blind people are getting guns! Nothing can possibly go wrong here, right?
http://www.cnn.com/.../09/08/us/gun-permits-blind/index.html

Mental: As I said, I am not interested in debating gun ownership. Don't want one? Don't get one. It's none of your (generic you) business what other people are doing. The Constitution says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Period. I don't give a rat's ass what kind of guns they had then or what kind they have now.

A: got no problem with them either.....as long as they are members of- the very first words- "A well regulated militia"...... I wonder, would a well regulated militia in today's world be like the Texas National Guard? I wonder if police forces are considered militias? Kind of a different subject, but I'm curious! I don't consider those "Patriot" militias to be "well ordered", but maybe they would count. Don't know.

Mental: And since we're splitting hairs, the well regulated militia were people who were standing up against a tyrannical government that no longer represented them. Get a bunch of people together who are tired of being shit on and they'll regulate themselves pretty well. Become that militia. Which they have every right to do.

A: Oh, I was referring to assault type weapons. I guess if I was a fly on the wall it'd be pretty amusing ( in a sick way ) to watch a bunch of people calling themselves a militia take on the American marines, special forces, seals, Navy,Army, Air Force....that'd be about a 5 minute fight, at best. I just don't see that argument at all - as a reality, instead of theory/principal....

T: Mental, if you are talking about people rising up against our government there's a lot easier and safer way to do that. No guns even involved. The wonderful democratic process. If you need guns to do it, like in Syria, Somalia, etc. Because you surely won't be "free" if that's your plan. Folks thinking they can take out our government with an AR15 are smoking something serious. 'Err one knows what AR15's are for......mowing down citizens in theatres and 6 year olds in school.

This is where I should have just stopped trying. Anyone who really thinks this way doesn't respond to reason and logic. And I fucking know that!! WHY did I keep going? The wonderful democratic process. Jesus wept.
Mental: The 'wonderful' democratic process where only the wealthy can run or ever have a chance to be elected? Where not one of those rich people has ever had to choose between buying a box of tampons or a gallon of milk or trying to pay for the medicine for the baby's ear infection two days before payday?

The 'wonderful' democratic process where the results of the election have been announced before the people in my state have had their votes counted?

Yeah, fuck that.

T: So your answer is to form a militia and shoot them all?
Look, no one said it was perfect by any means but if we fall to the point of killing people we disagree with we are literally (and I do mean literally) another Syria.
FUCK! Jesus fuck!! NO! Did you study to become this stupid? Where do you even come up with a twisted dumb fucking thing like that??
But no. I kept trying to reason with this person. I suppose at this point we could start considering that I'm the idiot here. ::sigh::
Mental: No, that's not my answer. That is the reason a militia could be formed. I don't plan to shoot anyone. I look at the fucks running this country and wish things upon them like penile erosion and hope they end up looking like the picture they hide in the attic ala Dorian Gray. I don't wish violence on any of them. Mostly I try to dismiss them from my universe, sort of the same way I've been dismissed from them.

T: OK, good because for every citizen killed by assault weapons there have been 0 politicians killed by them (horribly inefficient). A militia for any other reason than national defense is a fairy tale, won't legitimately happen. But meanwhile civilians dying everyday. Back to square 1 on this topic.

J: I wish there were no guns, no war, no fighting...that is the vision I hold for the world I want to live in....maybe not in this lifetime, but I believe...
Aww, isn't that cute! If you just wish/believe hard enough... And lollipops! And unicorns! And let's be all hopey changey!!

Mental: Civilians are dying in huge numbers from medical errors, car wrecks, cirrhosis, heart attacks, cancer, electrocution, falling... whatever. (People DIE... ALL. THE. TIME. It's sort of inevitable.) Of course you're conveniently leaving out the fact that most upper level politicians are protected by layers of armed guards.

My favorite example of "Look at what a fucking moron *I* am" is the fairly recent bullshit from Joe 'buy a shotgun and fire two blasts' Biden.
Mental: I love the way ol' folksy Joe's handler is nearly shitting a brick at his remarks.

Buy a shotgun!

T: "Of course you're conveniently leaving out the fact that most upper level politicians are protected by layers of armed guards. "
Actually Mental, I am not leaving that out at all. That is EXACTLY what I was referring to above when I said militias serve no purpose for taking out our government. Won't happen. The only purpose for assault rifles is to kill innocent civilians.

Yes, that's what happens ALL. THE. TIME. I wonder if this person has ever considered how many guns are out there vs how many are used to commit any sort of crime. And hey, doofus, the AR-15 is quite often found in the hands of law enforcement. They need them to use in their continuing quest to kill innocent civilians.
Mental: The purpose of what you're calling an assault rifle (consult teh google to learn about what's out there, the nomenclature, and the purposes of the different varieties) is self protection. I doubt seriously that waving a piece of paper at a criminal bent on destruction "You can't shoot me!! Your gun is ILLEGAL!!!" is going to stop him. Or them. But you can sure as hell take them out in your own defense if you're armed. Remember, when seconds count, law enforcement is only minutes away.

T: Uh, Mental I never said you have to wave a piece of paper.....where did you get that? I even acknowledged above we have a gun here at the house for defense. You can bet someone breaking in here won't be getting paper.

Mental: " The only purpose for assault rifles is to kill innocent civilians." I'm assuming you mean AK-47. (And I deliberately made that error. I know what an AR-15 is, and that's the one that scares the hell out of people. I made the error on purpose to see if the people I was talking to actually had a clue. They did not.) Which does not fit the definition of 'assault rifle'. And I'm glad you're prepared to defend yourself, everyone should be. But if it's more than one person and they're hopped up on something, good luck stopping them with only a few shots. (That's theoretical, of course, I have no idea what you're packin' )

But the current crop of gun control legislators has NO clue about guns, they don't know what they're defining, they base their knee-jerk reactions on the fact that some guns LOOK scarier than others, and it's still NOT THEIR BUSINESS what I have or do not have.

T: I'm not into the technical definition of what an assault rifle is and isn't. Yet you are willing to infringe upon the Constitutional rights of the citizens of the United States when you don't even know what the fuck you're talking about? I could probably side the the President Bill Clinton definition when he signed the last assault weapon ban. I really agreed with that! (I really agreed with something I have NO FUCKING IDEA about! But it was like, really awesome and stuff!! And Bill Clinton had a BUDGET SURPLUS and he was like, dreamy!!)

An aside about that budget surplus thing that has always just bugged the shit out of me. Some people actually believe that it means that the government was running in the black! Out of debt! When you point out to these folks that 'budget surplus' simply means that for one golden moment in time they spent less than they stole from us, they stubbornly and obtusely deny it. Still T talking here: I have a S&W .38 revolver. It would put anyone except Superman on his ass. No worries at my house! My concern is for innocent civilians in movie theaters and children in schools. I mean why draw the like at assault weapons? The constitution doesn't say anything about machine guns either....machine guns ok? Where is the line?

Mental: Why aren't we PROTECTING our children? Instead of making schools into shooting galleries?

T: I agree! Protect them by banning assault weapons? Have a better idea?

Mental: Yes. I do. Since it's already illegal to SHOOT CHILDREN and other defenseless humans and the fucking criminals and insane pieces of shit who've done it DID IT ANYWAY. Had someone fired back, those cowardly turds would have STOPPED SHOOTING CHILDREN. Yes. Arm people and let them defend those they're charged to protect.

T: So.....after he fires off a couple rounds (which on an assault rifle can be done in less than 1 second) someone pull their own gun and shoot the person with the assault rifle? Ok so between the bad guy shooting, the crossfire, the chaos, the cops possibly getting confused on the actual bad guy, how many dead? SMH.

Mental: Oh, I'm sorry. By all means, let the shooter continue his rampage through the school building, shooting at everything that moves as long as he has ammo. Silly to try to stop him.In fact, let's just put the weaker children in his path. Save him the trouble.

T: Or just ban his gun.

Mental: Sure. Let's ban it. Like drinking and driving. Let's make a law about that, too. Oh, and the cowardly piece of shit responsible for Connecticut did not even use his "assault rifle". While we're at it, let's make laws against robbery. And stealing stuff from people's houses. And rape. I think for sure we shouldn't have that anymore. Let's make it illegal to use a blowtorch on your neighbor or his house. Let's make a ton of new laws. Utopia!! It's coming soon!! All due to the magic of democracy!!!

T: Anything that can take out 20 kids in minutes with no reloading should be banned. There are already laws against those other crimes. Maybe I was referring to assault rifle too generically.

Mental: It's against the law to shoot children, too. At least where I live.

T: It is everywhere

Mental: And I would like to point out that you can take as long as you like to reload when the people you're shooting at are unarmed and cowering.

T: Or they could run.

Mental: uh huh.

Let's have a race. You hand me an unloaded gun and the bullets, then you take off running away from me. I bet when I fire at you, the bullet is faster than you are. Okay. While I am shooting at the guy who's killing kids, I'll stop when he's about to shoot your child. "I'm sorry, but your mommy wants you to run away, she doesn't want me to protect you this way."

A: From what I've seen, I haven't seen anyone banning anything at this particular time. Tightening purchasing background checks and such, yes. But I could be real wrong - it varies from state to state, right? And no - I'm not deluded - banning any weapon that's made is not going to keep every single lunatic from getting his hands on one. I really think a whole lot of this whole "banning " debate is propagated by the NRA for gun manufacturers - like the bullet scare - makes people run out and buy them so guess who makes lots of money. Mental - please believe I'd be right with you if they were actually every going to try to confiscate guns. You and I are a little apart in our view on this, but not as far as our rhetoric makes it sound.They ARE confiscating guns! They're taking them from law abiding citizens in a lot of places. California has some pretty amazing shit going on right now. Ever been on an anti depressant or anti anxiety medication? They have funded a task force to come and forcibly take your guns from you!

Mental: I'd like to say, however, that I appreciate the civil conversation.
I don't agree that the debate is manufactured since many of our elected officials, they themselves protected literally by an army, have said that is their goal. I'm trying to recall where the article was, but it was a breakdown of which horrendous mass killings were perpetuated by "people" who would have passed a background check.

And making something illegal will not make people stop doing it. Never has, anyway.

There are a lot of people in charge who believe that all animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.
I think I'd add to that that everyone is a target, but some are easier targets than others. And I'm really, really tired of the shit that happens because people are literally not allowed to defend themselves by fighting fire with fire.

T: where are people not allowed to defend themselves??? Like A said I'd be standing up against that! The NRA has so many people convinced this administration is out to confiscate guns.....I haven't actually seen anyone even broach the topic but that hasn't slowed the rhetoric. FYI making something illegal does in fact make people stop doing it. Drunk driving laws are a perfect example. The rates of drunk driving has dropped dramatically.

Mental: People in schools aren't allowed to defend themselves against a gunman. In the county I live in, they've decided that no one can carry a loaded weapon. Not that it's stopping the gangs and other criminal assholes. But law abiding citizens aren't allowed by this new law to be able to carry a loaded weapon. I know several people personally who are ignoring that, of course. As they should, since county government doesn't get to trump federal law. Drunk driving laws are a joke. There are people who've been caught 20 times who are out driving again... suspended license, no license... whatever. The sister of one of my friends was killed a few years back at 10 in the morning the day before Thanksgiving by a guy who'd been caught and convicted for drunk driving eleven times.
Rape is illegal. Theft is illegal. Murder is generally illegal, unless you ask Jesse Jackson, then it's just 'frowned upon.' Those crimes happen with regularity every day. Making something illegal does not make people stop doing it. At least on my planet.

Lurkypants: "At least on my planet"? What the HELL, Mental? Is this what you consider a civil tone? Because it just sounds shitty and nihilistic to me.
Lurky, you may want to look up 'nihilist'.
"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Mental: Making something illegal does NOT make people stop doing it. Asserting that 'making something illegal does in fact make people stop doing it' isn't factual, and although I knew better, I attempted a dialog. I don't really care if you like my tone, that's more your problem than mine.

Lurkypants: I only mentioned a civil tone because you thanked everyone upthread for keeping a civil tone. So I figured that it was something of a priority for you. No worries. Carry on.

We interrupt this thread to show how reasonable we're being and how you're not. Nanny nanny boo boo.

Perky: I'm reading this discussion and getting more than a little uncomfortable. I have a question for Mental, whom I know personally and understand her sarcasm, if not her cynicism. Mental, let's look at the logical conclusion of your argument: I want to buy a rocket launcher. I want to set it up at a 90% angle, with a trajectory that goes directly through my neighbor's bedroom window. I like the way it looks in my back yard, and if I want to can switch it around to face.... oh, how about that elementary school directly adjacent to your house. I can stockpile shells for it. i promise, officer, I will never use those shells. I can't imagine why my neighbors and the school children's parents are so upset. After all, it's my Constitutional Right to own this weapon, the corresponding shells, and to aim it wherever i damn well please.

Mental: What? Rocket launcher, huh? Okay, I am officially done.

Rocket. Launcher.
Jesus H. Christ.
I did give up. When I said I was done, I stopped responding. And then I left the group because I was stupid to allow myself to be added in the first place. The person who added me to the group stumped for John Kerry and his smarmy smirking sidekick in the 2004 election. She got all starstruck and giddy. I think she had the screaming thigh sweats, personally. And he lost. And she was so devastated that she did not leave her house for a week. Of course she's not going to be logical. And she will surround herself with other illogical people. It makes her feel more...normal? I really have no idea why she invited me to join the group, really. I am not one of them.

I just don't have the patience or pain tolerance required to continue banging my head against the bricks.
It gets me nowhere.

Although parts of the discussion were temporarily amusing, it mostly left me feeling hopeless.

These people and their clones are running the country right now.

Perky:  Im not being an ass. I'm asking -- just how far does this go? What if YOUR house was the one adjacent to the guy with the rocket launcher, and it was aimed at Alyssa's window. Would you not be freaking upset?
 why "done"? It's a serious question. I'm not being a jerk. I'm trying to understand the perameters of your argument. I think instilling fear in other citizens needs to be addressed. Because seeing these guys walking around with machine-gun capability, just because they darn well aren't gonna let the gubmint tell them what to do... that (I believe, understandably) frightens the shit out of me. What's the difference between a rocket launcher and an assault weapon? Because you're suggesting that a right to bear arms shall not be infringed.

Suggesting? Are you fucking kidding me?? The Constitution of the United States of America is NOT a suggestion. 

But clearly, at least to me, there are most certainly instances when it's in the citizens' best interest to be protected from someone who believes they can own any weapon they want, and can do with it what they want (including, apparently, scare the heck out of other law-abiding citizens) without being held accountable for the fear he's instilling. Here's my take on this. All straw arguments aside, when the Constitution was written, the intent was to allow citizens to keep weapons (18th century weapons) and assemble to fight whatever tyranny might come their way. Throughout our country's history, ordinary citizens have owned and used firearms to protect, to defend, to shoot threatening critters. There was no overreaching fear in the masses of those weapons nor their uses. But in the past, oh..... 5 years, the fear has become whipped into a frenzy. It's ridiculous. And it's scary, far-scarier than the threat of a lone gunman going berserk. It's overkill (no pun intended).
And have you given any thought to exactly WHO is whipping up that frenzy? Who's spouting the rhetoric and taking advantage of every crime that fits your standards to push your bullshit agenda?
T: I noticed the tone too. Thank you. I kept it nice anyway because, well, that's who I am. Oh yes. You're just a peach. You're so sweet that I bet you don't even eat sugar. Perky, I specifically asked Mental about machine guns and didn't get a reply. I specifically did not reply. Because it was a stupid fucking question and had nothing to do with what I was talking about. I mean, rocket launchers and machine guns were about as common as nukes back in the days the Constitution was written. Should we all be allowed those too? I still stick with my first comment, anyone that wants a musket should be able to have one. Two even! Mental, making something illegal does in fact make people stop doing things. Otherwise why have ANY laws at all? No drunk driving laws, no murder laws, no laws at all. I mean what's the difference?

Perky: I understand Mental's comment, in that those of us who are law-respecting citizens will follow the laws, but those who aren't law-respecting citizens won't, necessarily.

T: But is that not in fact the way it is with ALL laws?