Humor Me

Assaulted Again!

From 11/1/11

While walking Endless about 10:30 Saturday night, one of my neighbors that has given me grief in the past decided that she couldn’t just let me by but had to get in my face… again. I did my best to just go around, but I’m not changing my whole routine to suit her egotistical, drunken, bullying friends. This is the same one I’ve called animal control on because her dog is allowed to run loose and comes at Endless barking and growling. This time the dog nearly bit Endless. I told her if she put her hands on me again, I was calling the police, I was on the public part of the apartment complex, and she needed to leave me alone. Her friends dragged her back into her apartment.

As I was headed through the parking lot I heard her coming after me. Because of my mobility issues, running was out of the question, so I froze hoping she would just overlook me. No such luck. She saw me and approached me with a personal, keyring can of pepper spray. I again told her to leave me alone and she attempted to use the spray on me. I was fairly certain I was safe though since she was pretty smashed and I didn’t see her release any type of safety. She then grabbed me again and I told her I was DONE and I was calling the police. That’s when her friends came along and dragged her back to the apartment again. I probably had the option of beating her with my cane at the point I felt threatened with the pepper spray, but three-on-one I didn’t think was going to be very good odds.

When the policeman came to take my report, I didn’t have any bruises from my attack initially, but I can now see them starting to form; faintly. I’m going to try to get to the City Court and file a restraining order tomorrow. I would have done it Monday, but my foot was killing me after riding the bus all day, and today I woke up with a migraine. Now it probably won’t happen till Thursday since I have PT tomorrow. I also have the option of filing a civil suit, but that takes money I don’t have. I did call animal control and they are going to do whatever since this is the 3rd call… at least I hope so.

Okay, I’ll have to apologize for all caps. I copied and pasted from FB, and it insists on posting as all caps even though it shows up in lower case on the draft board.
– HM

LEAVE YOUR DOG AT HOME!

I AM FURIOUS! Temps hit close to 110F here today and as I was walking to Target I saw a family with a little dog in the parking lot. I had no idea they were planning on shopping there because they were parked far away from the other cars.

I went to the pharmacy and did some other shopping and when I came out, I could hear the dog barking all the way to the front of the store! I went back in and talked to the girl at the service desk, but she didn’t know the policy for announcing the problem. I had to head home because I had medication that needed to be refrigerated.

As I passed by the SUV again, I called the local police non-emergency number since animal control was already closed and they said they would send a car by if they had one available.

When I stopped to rest and give Endless some more ice water, I saw them come out of the store really pissed off and without any purchases, so I can only assume that they made the announcement. They tore out of the parking lot, but I’m willing to bet that they are just going to blame the store (and me by proxy) for butting into their business.

PEOPLE! LEAVE YOUR PETS AT HOME IN EXTREME WEATHER! Unless you have a working dog and are prepared for the elements, I guarantee your dog is going to be much happier in your heated or air conditioned house! You don’t realize that even though the sun has gone down, its STILL over 100F outside!

I had Endless in boots to protect her from the burning pavement and we stopped several times so she could drink some ice water. I have also seen people take their dogs out to the pool for hours and never once offer it a drink. THINK! That’s all I ask.

What Are You Teaching YOUR Child?

You would pretty much have to be living under a blogging rock not to have heard about Jeffery; the young, gay man who was forced to leave his job at Starbucks. (I don’t drink coffee, I’ve never been in a Starbucks) I first heard about it on my favorite retail hell website RetailHellUnderground.com. The thought that workplace discrimination still based on someone sexual orientation baffles me.

When I was going to elementary school, it was in the late 1960′s and early 1970′s. (GEEZER ALERT!) I thought my life was pretty cool because my mom worked in an attorney’s office as a legal secretary (if I remember right, she could type 120-140wpm) and they represented a lot of workmen’s comp cases. When she became Senior secretary, she basically became a legal investigator before there was a title for it, and sometime my brother and I got stuck sitting in the car while she would go to businesses or homes while she talked to clients, witnesses or bosses during odd hours, so we got to meet all sorts of different people and ALL of them were really nice to us. ALL of them. Blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, it didn’t matter. If they had nothing to say, they said, “I don’t want to talk to you.” and that was it, end of conversation.

Somewhere along the way when I wasn’t looking, something happened and I don’t know what because it sure didn’t happen to me. People changed and they felt that it was okay to take whatever was perceived as “wrong” with someone and turn it against them. I DO remember this happening in school. My brother and I were bullied relentlessly. My brother probably has an undiagnosed mild spectrum of autism. Way back then, everybody who didn’t fit into the “perfect” mold was called “RETARDED!” and bullied. If you were a relative, no matter how “normal” you were, you were “retarded” and bullied too. I had to learn how to beat up kids 2 grades ahead of me. Teachers just called it the “boys will be boys” syndrome until bullying was finally recognized as a serious problem. (I was going to blame it on the infamous Columbine High School shootings until I read past the first entrance in Google)

My question is: What are you teaching your child? Are you teaching them that its okay to call someone names? That its okay to point out some difference in them? When you see a service dog in the store do YOU say, “LOOK AT THE DOGGIE!” If you saw a homeless person would you scoff and make a disparaging comment, or would you ask them if you could buy them a meal or some soap and a bottle of water? If you saw someone struggling with a package because they had lost part of an arm, would you laugh, or would you offer to help?

EVERYTHING your child sees you do, you teach them. So if you go around making comments about “fags”, “queers”, “fairies”, or any race, creed, color, or disability, etc., then you are not teaching your child tolerance. So when they go to school and end up with other children who may have two mothers or two fathers, they are going to have a skewed view of how to treat this person because of YOU. YOU may or may not end up changing your child’s relationship with their friends, because we ALL know that in the end, our children WILL decide who their friends will be, and NOT their parents.

No One Ever Said Thieves Were Smart

So yesterday my friend came over to see if she could have the tail light out of my (bank’s) pick-up because hers was out and she didn’t want a ticket. Since the truck has been sitting there for 9 months now because I can’t afford to make the payments or insurance, I said, “Sure! why not?” We went out to the truck and went to take the light out, but considering how long its been since I’ve had to replace a rear light, I kept thinking it was a “bulb”, not a whole freakin’ assembly, so I figured I’d get out the owner’s manual to make sure. I keep a ‘door only’ key on the truck (the ignition key is coded), and when I opened the front door, I saw something in the passenger’s seat that made me stop and say, “OH, SHIT!” And here I was doing so well on filtering my language again.

On the seat I immediately recognized the ignition cover for the steering column. Someone had punched the driver’s side lock on the truck and tried to steal it probably because they didn’t see the magic, blinking “THEFT” light on my dash and thought it wasn’t alarmed. IDIOTS. Just how stupid do you think people are out here? If you punched the lock, then of course it means the battery is dead because there would be an anti-theft system on a truck as nice as this MORONS! So they ripped the ignition lock out of the truck, and of course it wouldn’t start. Now how many brain cells would it take on top to have brought jumper cables? OH WAIT!!! Its been sitting so long that it doesn’t even CLICK anymore when you turn the key! Chances are, even if they HAD tried to jump it, it wouldn’t have worked!

So, for the purposes of the bank’s records, I filed a police report, and some time tomorrow I have to call them and give them the bad news. Its not like I haven’t called around to different car lots trying to get them to take the car or tried to get other people interested in it. Lots of people look, they tell me what an awesome truck it is (it really IS an awesome truck!) but as soon as they hear how much I owe, they aren’t interested. I don’t know where its going to go from here, but I’m sure its going to be someplace bad. It always seems to work out that way for me. Wish me luck on this mess!

Chapter II: The Next Night

CHAPTER II: The Next Night (last night)

I was walking Endless as usual (we take the same route as it is about the right length for my energy level and if she wants to run, I can lock her in the basketball court to run loose) when I hear the Siamese cat that I’ve been trying to tame. Someone has moved away and dumped it and it doesn’t really seem to be afraid of dogs, it just doesn’t know Endless and Endless is a bit forward with cats since I have two. She just thinks all cats are hers. I figure if I can tame it down, I can find it a home on craigslist.

Maybe it wasn’t the smartest move on my part, but it was sitting on top of one of the fences going around one of the apartment patios. ALL of the blinds were completely drawn, and I just wanted to reach out and see if I could touch it, so I talked to it soothingly, and sure enough, I did! This is a big breakthrough as I have been working with this cat for about a month. Just then, one of the less-than-desirable neighbors sees me from the far side of the basketball court and starts SCREAMING “What are you doing?! You don’t belong there! Why are you looking in people’s windows?!” Please note: this not her apartment. Oh boy…

This lady has been a thorn in my side for no apparent reason ever since I moved in here. She has constantly tried to give me advice on training, food, health, weight, equipment, etc. on my dogs, and I have been nothing but polite, while ignoring the advice completely. She has two dogs on her balcony that she can’t even put in her own apartment together because they would attack each other (and other dogs). No, I’m not taking advice from you. thankyouverymuch.

I try and explain about the cat, which is of course brushed off, and she comes around the basket ball court, gets right up in my face, and starts cussing me out. Again, I’m calm, non-reactive, and, thank the basketball players, so is Endless. For some reason, angry people HATE calm people. This little woman, only about 5’1″ (if that), puts her hands up (thank heavens I have warning) and shoves me! WTF! You did not just do that! As I said I was bullied as a child, I was bullied as a teenager, but I will NOT be bullied as an adult. I especially will NOT be assaulted. I whipped out my cell phone and called the police. I’m a little too old to be taking down 5th graders when I’m in 3rd grade again.

Of course there’s never a friendly witness around when you need one, so its a case of “he said/she said” (only in our case its she said/she said), but naturally, she had a pile of friends standing there giving their side of the story, and it was just me filing the report. I plan on taking this all the way, unless mediation means that at the end of her lease she moves and does not come back. I’m also looking into a restraining order (which would be interesting since the mailboxes are over by the basketball court).

I try to be friendly to the people I meet, but I suppose a life of having my ass kicked has done something to my personality that makes me socially awkward. I definitely relate to animals better than people. I will NOT have a screaming/cussing fight with you. I raised my kids with a filtered mouth for 25 years, and I’m not up on my cuss words. Besides, it just takes more energy than I’m willing to expend. How many times can you drop the f-bomb before it becomes ineffective? People use it as a regular part of speech so much anymore that it has no shock value. I’m tired. I have no energy to relive my high school drama years. I should not have to be boxed in because a couple of people think they own a certain section of the apartment complex. The people in the back are more than welcome to come up to the front and the people in the front are more than welcome to go to the back. I pay rent to walk the WHOLE PROPERTY. Not just the 557sqft. of my apartment.

I’m sorry if I’ve dumped here, but I wanted to let you know that Endless is AMAZING. I think that lady was really hoping to get bitten so that she could have the dog warden called on Endless and have her taken from me. When that didn’t work, she realized her plan failed, and now I fear that one or both of us will be injured more severely in the future. These seem like the type of people that would hit me in the head from behind with a baseball bat and then beat Endless to death. That really scares me.

Dealing with Drunks, Drama & Dogs

Okay, a little background first. When I was growing up in the 60′s and 70′s my brother is “different”, and bullying is rampant. I had to beat the shit out of everyone who picked on my brother (2 grades ahead) and me, just because he was my brother. The names I was called scarred me for life and I’m still very sensitive about it. I HATE to hurt someone’s feelings and have a hard time saying “NO” to this day. I still have triggers.

I now live in a pet friendly apartment complex because although Endless is an SDIT, I have 2 cats, one of which I brought from CT with me that I refused to part with. Generally, I have no issues with the people here except the ones that walk their dogs without leashes AND can’t keep them under control! here are a couple of small dogs that stay right with their owners that I don’t mind, but I finally called the animal control when one lady let her dog run loose to come charge at Endless barking. If your dog is 20′ away from you off leash, your dog is not under control in my book. I asked her to “call your dog” (I’ve learned it works best) and she unleashed a long string of colorful metaphors (cuss words) calling my dog a “Rottweiler” and it shouldn’t be on the property because it was a “dangerous breed”. *eyeroll*

Since then, I knew that there was a storm brewing because when the office gave me a couple of tow stickers for a car that was chronically parking in the handicapped parking spot at night (even though it showed no plate or placard) and this bitch caught me putting the sticker on the window, she went all Incredible Hulk on me and bitched me out about how I was defacing cars, scaring people, illegally representing myself as an officer (WHAT?)… you get the picture. I guess that Animal Control had also left her a note about her dog needing to be on a leash, and she wasn’t the least bit happy about having to comply.

So, fast-forward to last night. I was walking Endless on our usual route and we had stopped by the basketball court because there is a really nice bench there and the lights were on so I could text my friend. Scrappy, the American Bulldog that Endless is friends with came up and they were play bowing with each other, and “guess who” comes up from behind and starts screaming about how I’m crazy, I belong in an insane asylum, I’m impersonating police officers, I’m scaring people putting notes on their doors, putting stickers on their cars, I probably live at the back of the complex (insinuating that the people back there are somehow not allowed at the front of the complex… huh?), I go around looking in people’s windows (she’s seen me!), and if I weren’t “so old”, she would kick my ass, etc. Lovely. Nothing like listening to a drunk bitch with the side of her head shaved. When I had been sitting there, I could hear the “music” coming out of her apartment, and it sounded like someone throwing up in a toilet. People like that, I figure had a rough childhood too and just came out of it differently, so I figure I’m listening to a drunken rage and instead of internalizing it on myself, I turn it around for the first time in my life and remain absolutely calm.

Every time she screamed at me, I replied in a calm, soothing tone. Every time she accused me of something except for the car sticker, I said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” The more she yelled and the louder she got, the more the neighbors came out and realized what an idiot she was. When I finally had enough, I calmly got up and walked in the opposite direction making her look like a complete fool. Normally, I would have broken down, cried, and hidden in my apartment for weeks after an incident like this. But having Endless there, being calm, ignoring the idiot, and the other people looking at HER instead of ME for once in nearly 50 years has finally made me feel really, really good!! I feel like I have finally made a breakthrough in my life!

And just so you know… if it HAD come to defending myself… I do carry an aluminum cane, and I have thought many times about HOW I would use it if I needed to. I may LOOK defenseless, but I used to train horses weighing in at nearly 800lbs (I preferred ponies). I am no pushover. It would have hurt like hell, but adrenaline does a lot to mask pain. I was beat up as a kid, but I will not be abused as an adult.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR DOG YOU LAZY BUM!

Yes, you! The apartment actually PROVIDES free pick-up bags, and you are too freakin’ lazy to bend the fuck over and pick up your dog’s poop! You’re probably the SAME kind of person who would leave a dirty diaper in a shopping cart, on the sidewalk (I kid you not! If it didn’t cost me money to e-mail to my computer, the picture would BE here!), or just left out in the parking lot somewhere where some poor cart jockey would have to clean it up.

Just because you have a small dog, or (what you think) is a well-trained one, does not absolve you of having it on a leash either! There is a LEASH LAW here, and I’ll be DAMNED if I’m going to risk my SERVICE DOG getting some DISEASE or worse yet ATTACKED by your fucking PURSE RAT! They put these laws in place for a reason. People like YOU voted on it. Just remember that. If you don’t like it, get off your fucking ass, go talk to your congressmen, and have the law changed!

Wanna start on Breed Specific Legislation? We’ll start on owners like YOU! Not on the DOGS. Over and over again it is proven that the OWNERS are negligent by:

Leaving small children unattended with dogs.
Leaving dogs intact.
Not having dogs obedience trained.
Having dogs tied out [on ropes or chains].
Coming between/interfering with mother dog and puppies.

Just because small dogs aren’t reported as often, doesn’t mean they don’t bite as often. They are capable of doing just as much damage, it just takes them longer. So before you think its “cute” for your 3lb fluffball to snap and snarl when you reach for it, just remember you are just as liable for any dog bites associated with it. And if your “little snookums” decides to take a chunk out of my service dog in training and sets her training back, I WILL press charges, and you won’t think its quite so funny anymore. Rethink that, shithead.

Words That Hurt

Something happened to me recently that changed my life. I received yet another diagnosis that pretty well put another nail on the coffin of my over-all health. I’ve been diagnosed with early-onset degenerative disk disorder. What does this mean for me? This means I’ll never have the chance to work with animals again, EVER. So everything I spent my whole life figuring out what I was good doing has been flushed down the toilet and is useless.

Why should I care? I’m on disability! My life is all set for me for the rest of my life! I’ve got food stamps, free medical, free transportation to medical appointments… what more could I possibly want? Let’s just say that you should ask that of a runner who just lost his legs. and see what they say. To me, its the same thing.

Japan just had the most horrible earthquake and tsunami ever recorded in their history. Hundreds of thousands of people killed, injured and missing, a nuclear power plant releasing radioactivity, people starving, buried, drowned, a world catastrophe. Countries from all over are sending supplies, personnel, aid, relief, food, shelter, experts, humanitarian funds out the wazoo. And they should. I saw the pictures. If I had money to donate, I’d help.

Anyway, when I got my diagnosis, I posted on Facebook how I thought my life sucked that I had yet ONE MORE health crisis to deal with on top of the other bullshit that I’ve been dealing with lately. Let’s just say that if I had been STUPID in my youth and done skateboarding or BMX-ing down stair rails without helmets or padding and had all these injuries, I think I would deserve some of this shit. But honestly, I did the best I could to be safe training my horses by doing a lot of ground work and wearing a helmet (can’t teach your kids to do it if you don’t!). I didn’t drink much, didn’t do drugs, and didn’t have unprotected sex with a bunch of strange men.

So when I made my posting, I thought at least a LITTLE sympathy would be in order. After all, when my other friends had been through hard times, I had tried to be friends to them. Maybe I wasn’t the best, but I might be a little out of practice as I don’t get out and socialize much. I TRY not to be too much of a douche, but I’m sure I slip up occasionally just like anybody. I’ve eaten my share of crow and learned how to season it well to make it go down better.

I’ve completely shut down my facebook account to outsiders because two people compared my posting to the plight of the people in Japan. Was that really necessary? No. Its like telling someone with a mental disorder to “suck it up”. Well, guess what? That’s what you just did. There are things you don’t know about me that I’m not in the habit of telling the world, and you just told me to “suck it up”. and yet when your girlfriend dumped you, I told you you could message me anytime and I didn’t push. And when you didn’t get accepted to university even with an average of 94%, I thought they could have her take courses in “Corporate Run Around” and “Ima [meaning they are] a Screw Up”? Your boyfriend also dumped you and everyone also sent their sympathies, including me. So why was it so hard for you to just tell me that yeah, my life sucked; even for that one moment.

I don’t know why it is so hard now for people to acknowledge other people’s suffering. I don’t go around biting off the heads of cashiers and food servers when I don’t get my way. I try to be polite to people as much as possible, but I realize that a lot of people aren’t like that. They start their day with an extra large serving of I’m-gunna-kick-someone’s-ass, and heaven help you if you accidentally get bumped and end up stepping on their toe. What ever happened to, “I’m sorry.”, “Excuse me.”, “Thank you.”, “Hello, how are you today?”, “Fine, thank you.”, “Is there something I can help you find?”, “Nothing, I’m just browsing, but thank you for the offer.”, “Would you like some help with that?”, “I’ve got to go, I’m ready to pay and they may need something.” Simple communication and decency has all but disappeared from society.

Now all I hear is either silence accompanies by the look of death, or . “I’m busy!” or “yeah, uh huh. I know! Isn’t that just stupid! I can’t believe uncle red would…” while standing in line, ignoring the cashier, and refusing to get off the phone.

In the end, I just want people to learn to think before they speak/type. Consider that even though their life may not be as bad as those in Japan at the moment, their future may not be that much different in the long run. And telling anyone to “suck it up” that you don’t know intimately enough is probably never a good thing because you never know what’s in the background. Sometimes words can hurt just as badly as the “sticks and stones” of the childhood rhyme.

Update On My Knee…

Good news! I didn’t tear the cartilage!!! *mental back handsprings*

Bad news! The arthritis is a lot more advanced than either one of us would like. He calls it “moderate”, I call it “OH CRAP!”

This means that I’ll be needing another knee replacement in about 10 years. I was kind of attached to this one after all these years and was really hoping to hold onto it. I really shouldn’t be surprised though. After all, its been holding me up for the last 30 years. In the mean time I can look forward to cortisone shots and possibly Synvisc shots to keep me going. CRAP! I HATE SHOTS! My doctor did assure me that he would do a good job of replacing this one (another story, another time), but unless he wants to come to Arizona just for me, I don’t see that happening.

Now for the other bit of news (bad of course). When I was at work last Thursday, my right foot started giving me trouble again. If I stand for long periods of time even my right leg starts to complain, and my foot had horrible things to say to me. I bought replacement arches at work (I work in a pharmacy after all), but wasn’t getting any relief. I was glad it was slow because I got off an hour early.

So… back to David. Now how do dr’s (or in David’s case NP’s) know EXACTLY where to push on things to make them hurt the most??? A trip to x-rays (where I got to see my favorite and cute radiology tech!), and we find out I have plantar faciatis, and of course, more arthritis. Lovely. Just lovely. Man are my toes as ugly in x-rays now as they are on the outside! I look at that one toe in particular that’s permanently tented from the arthritis and can’t believe I’m only 47… but I digress.

I had to buy a gel insole for my shoe (to go with the arch support), and now I have PT to see if we can get it back under control. I’m REALLY hoping I don’t get to the point of needing a cortisone shot. I do believe I’ve mentioned before just how much I hate needles. I just want to keep at least one leg working. Wish me luck.

Oh! Happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day!

If it was my kid…

Let’s just say that no one is a perfect parent. I’m not. My mom sure wasn’t. And from the examples I see around me sometimes, I wonder how the human race manages to survive.

In the wild, there are rules. You break the rules, you die. Its called survival of the species. If a wolf cub doesn’t learn soon enough from the pack that being a brat is inexcusable, the alpha male will kill it. No lies. He pick the pup up, shakes it by the neck till dead just like a rabbit. True story. The puppy is warned by visual clues, verbal warnings, discipline, sometimes by shunning, but eventually, the alpha gets tired of his crap and will kill him.

Now I’m not saying that one should go out and kill their children in any way, but I am saying that wolves know how to take care of their pack. Their society. If they didn’t, they would starve. They all need each other to keep the pack functioning properly. The problem I see nowadays is the parents not bothering to discipline their children.

I know someone who is just such a person. I have heard her say, “Don’t do that.” and that’s the end of it. No consequences, no follow up. I have heard her say “If you do that I’ll…” or “If you don’t stop I’ll…” or “When we get home you’re going to have to… (or I’m going to…)” only to be forgotten or not followed up. This kid is a total monster because he knows NOTHING is ever going to happen.

Now she claims that its because her ex was abusive and the kid has ADD/ADHD and depression. Funny, when I was a kid, it was called being a brat and it got you in trouble usually resulting in you sitting in your room alone without a television, video game player, phone, or contact with your friends for a period of time. My mom didn’t tolerate crap from me. If my mom said it was going to happen, it was going to happen and I knew it and I knew to knock it off.

I also knew that the rules at home were the same for the rules at a friend’s house. The only difference being that unless we were offered a choice of drink, we were going to drink milk. If we asked for a drink, we were only allowed to ask for water. If we were offered something else, fine. I have had people come in my house and ask for stuff, then acted like I was lower class society because I didn’t have it. Sorry. If you wanted something in particular, you should have brought it with you. I would be happy to keep it cold/hot for you.

Then there are the people who come and start asking you how much something was and IF THEY COULD HAVE IT! WHAT??? Um, no. I’ll tell you where I got it and you can go find it yourself if they still have it. That kind of stuff gets you put on my “Do Not Invite Back” list.

Finally, we come to the things that drive me nuts about today’s parents and things that I see and hear of:

“I WANT IT!” Yeah, and I want a million dollars, but you don’t see me pulling a 3yo temper tantrum, do you? When my kids pulled that I’d say “Put it on your list for Christmas”.

“But I want it NOW!” Yeah, and I want world peace now. You’re still not getting it, especially with that attitude. One more out of you and you can go sit in the car (which only works in certain places). Or, One more out of you and we’ll all go sit out in this sticky, hot (or freezing cold) weather until you get an attitude adjustment because I don’t put up with that.

Screaming tantrum? Your butt is back in the car and we are headed home. I’ve done it too, and its a pain in the butt, but you were given fair warning and I SURE won’t put up with that! Start fighting me and I will DRAG/carry your kicking and screaming butt out to the car. Not a pretty show, but we all know the consequences in my family. If it gets that far, you can guarantee you’re going to get a swat for it as emphasis. Notice I say “swat” and not beat them to a bloody pulp. There is nothing wrong with a warm backside every now and then.

I went through the “time out”, and stuff, but if you’re still fighting it at age 4, its time to move on. I can’t tell you how many times my kids ended up in their rooms only allowed out for food and bathroom breaks when they were from about 7-11. By that time, you are past that. You’d better have an understanding about how the world runs around you.

I don’t think I did too badly. As far as I know, none of my kids has an arrest record, is an alcoholic or drug abuser, or earns money by prostitution or illegal activities. The girls seem healthy and well-rounded, but there’s a glitch in my son somewhere. He always thought that he should have more than he has. Nobody in the family seems to know where it came from except the fact that he spends all of his time in front of the computer and video game console wanting more, more, more, but not willing to go out and EARN it. I see it this way. Whatever he wants, he’s going to have to earn. The girls both had jobs in high school and bought extras, so he can too. The rules don’t get to change with him. I just have to figure out how to live with his whining. If anyone has suggestion, I’m all ears.