I Am Jack’s Raging Mommy

Hiatus

I will be taking a break from I Am Jack’s Raging Mommy.  At this time I do not know how long it will be, but most likely at least a month.

I will still be online from time to time, and reading your blogs when I can, so I won’t completely have disappeared.  Please still email if you like, it’s not that I want to lose touch with anyone, I just need a break.

I promise I’ll be back one way or another, and that I won’t just drop off the face of the internet.

Love you guys.

I’d take it as a sign I am getting old that I fell asleep watching 3:10 to Yuma last night, except that it WAS 4 AM.

Maybe I’m just too old to stay up until 4 AM watching movies.  I can live with that.

Playing Favorites

Joe called me this morning because Jack had fallen, and not injured himself but it shook him up and he was asking for me.  And I can only admit this since he wasn’t actually hurt, but it made me feel good that he was asking for me.  Generally Jack only wants Joe, and when I was dropping him off this past weekend and told him I was going bye-bye he just sort of shrugged “okay, bye” and ran off to play.  Joe tells him he’s leaving and there is toddler-grade meltdown.  (Only slightly less violent than nuclear meltdown).

I know a lot of it has to do with exposure, I’m always there.  Even before we split up he saw far  more of me than Joe due to the simple fact that I was at home with him and Joe was working.  I know he doesn’t love me any less or anything, but it’s hard sometimes to see the reaction he has for others.

I will say though that nowadays when I pick him up after his week with Joe, or when I was up here getting settled in, he is always overwhelmed with being happy to see me.  So I can live with that.

On greyhounds and my brain

Jack is in Missouri with Joe for a week, and I’m really sort of lost without him here.  The weekend was hardest, because there really was no structure to it without him here.  Although being able to just take a nap whenever I wanted was kind of nice, I don’t know if it’s worth the rest of it.

I did go out this weekend, since I am even worse about making myself go out up here than before.  On Saturday I went to see greyhound racing at the track up here.  Now, I am not a PETA freak, and if animal testing helps save human lives I can’t fault that, but at the same time I do have a degree of concern about animal rights, and I had a couple of moments of wondering if it was really something I felt comfortable supporting.  Although I wonder if the dogs who race could have worse lives than the ones that aren’t good enough.  It’s not the kind of thing I’d see myself doing often.  I enjoyed the people watching more than the actual races, and I can get good people watching and betting at a casino, you know?

The other problem with Jack being gone is that I’m alone with my brain too much, and for me that tends to lead to too much thinking and that can trigger obsessive thought patterns.  I haven’t had to deal with it too much lately since I frankly haven’t had enough time to really focus on anything. and the ADHD was showing it’s face so yesterday when I COULD NOT drop certain trains of thought was really weird for me.  I’m out of practice with my tricks for stopping the process so I spent a lot of time just dwelling on things, and frankly I hate that.

I’m doing okay over all, I’m dealing with some things, and I definitely need to get myself a therapist up here rather soon, but for the most part it’s not too bad.  I knew it would be hard moving up here, not really knowing anyone, and just completely changing my life like that.  So to a degree I was prepared for some of the things I struggle with.  I don’t think I’d realized just how lonely I would be.  I think one of the largest parts of that is still just not having the internet at home, and losing out on a lot of communication that way.  I know I feel like the page has suffered for it, since there is a huge time availability issue with me working full time now.

I don’t know.  There are some things I’m just trying to figure out for myself, and work through, and I know that is terribly vague, but there you are.  It’s not much more concrete than that in my mind either.  But I’m alive, I’m well, and I’ll have Jack back next weekend.  So all in all it’s really not too bad :)

Do those days always happen when you have PMS?

The day started with me locking my keys in the car- with it running.

There was this whole thought process.  “Why aren’t my keys in my pocket?  Are they in my bag?  Maybe they are in the car, but where would they be in the car except for… Oh Shit.”

And I would have been able to write a funny post about it later, you know?  Especially considering it’s not the first time in my life I’ve done that.

But then my day just went downhill from there and it ended up with me being all weepy and angry and bitchy and there was much screaming and I was REALLY tempted to just ask if I could go home, but I’m maintaining moral superiority over someone at the shop so I couldn’t do that either.

Just a really crappy day.   And all I want is to have someone I can hug who will tell me that everything is okay, that I am okay, and all that reassuring crap but I don’t have anyone for that here.  Except Jack, but I don’t think he’d be patient enough to cuddle as much as I want.

So I stuck the day out and am done now.  I never did have lunch, so I think I’m going to take my mom’s suggestion and go home and eat comfort food.

Titilating!

So apparently Kansas City is the number seven city for porn searches in the nation.  (See mom! It’s wholesome here, too!)

As such a local news team decided to do a story on how to protect yourself and your computer and interviewed Mike.

I CANNOT wait to see some of the phone calls we get today :)

I still have leftover pancakes, come to think of it.

My folks came up this weekend to see the house, and make sure I don’t have their grandchild living in a slum.

(I exaggerate.)

(A little)

The house passed muster, which was good, and they helped me get a bit more settled, which was even better.  I now have a dresser in my room, the headboard on my bed, and the living room is free of boxes, clutter, and toys.  Joy!  My mom was awesome, moving things around and unpacking and only asking for my approval, and making me stop if I made any kind of motions to help.  My dad and brother got to carry furniture, which I am sure was the highlight of their weekend, but I really appreciated it.
The dining room/den is still a LITTLE bit in the style of storage-unit-chic, but I have things better arranged for what I’ll actually unpack, or what will stay in boxes in the basement.  (I have an attic, but it’s one of those drop down rickety-ass stair cases and frankly I don’t have the nerve or the knees to mess around up there).

We went to eat at this place near my house with a train theme.  They actually deliver the food to the tables via train, which Jack (and the grown-ups) found to be one of the coolest things ever.  Seriously, I think I may take him there instead of the indoor playground on rainy days.  Just as much fun, and they have burgers :) I’ll see if I can get the video somehow, because it really was just the neatest thing.  Plus Jack yelling “The train, mommy! The train” like some miniature Jerve Villachez was not to be missed.
Today everyone has gone home and I am back at work.  The weather, which had been absolutely wonderful and shorts-worthy, changed back yesterday so it’s all chilly and gross outside, so I suppose it’s not the worst thing in the world to have to be in the shop today.  It kind of sucks though, because while it wasn’t the longest weekend, or all that thrilling to anyone but us, I had a really good time with my parents and brother.  Plus I got to sleep late on Sunday, and I really hate to give that back up.

It’s like a carnival ride of doom

It’s that time again boys and girls!

Observe as my hormones are raging and I am alternately angry as hell or weeping for no real reason!

Watch as I confuse and astound the poor boys who work with me as they experience first hand my mood swings!

Ooh and Aww with delight at the split second it takes for me to switch from happy to weeping!

A fun time for all, and an experience you will never forget!

Oh. My. Word.

May I just start by saying, I don’t drink all that much anymore.  A few beers here and there, whatever, you know? So St. Patrick’s Day debauchery in Rolla ended up being more of a match for me than I realized.
On Saturday Mike and I drove down to Rolla for Pat’s and to meet up with some friends who were in town that we hadn’t seen in years.  Now, as a bit of background here, Pat’s is a HUGE deal at UMR.  (Now technically MST but damn it, I don’t call it that).  This was the 100th St. Pat’s and an even bigger deal than usual.  Alumni were flying and driving back from all over the country.  Globe, in some cases.  There were people in town I hadn’t seen in four (and up) years, so after waffling for several days, Saturday morning I decided to go for it.
I bought a new shirt that ended up being a bit more cleavage-y than I realized at first, but not obscene and much appreciated.  I also got some green panties, because it just seemed like the right thing to do.  Turns out my friend Wendy had the same idea, which made me feel a lot less weird.  Maybe it’s a Rolla thing :)  I had fun flirting, and being
Anyway, we ended up hitting two houses and a couple of food stops along the night.  And I got a little inebriated.  Which is to say that my klutzy-ass self with bad knees at some point decided “Sure!  I’ll dance with you, person who is as intoxicated as I am!”.  My legs are STILL sore and I’m sure that’s where at least a couple of my mystery bruises came from.

The bruises?  Was I moshing, you ask?  No, I was not.  But I have several bruises on my arms and legs that are most likely the result of my drunkenly stumbling into solid objects.  The three in scratch on the back of my neck I can’t even BEGIN to guess about. And since neither of the slightly more sober people I was with know either, it remains a mystery.
I’m told that we went to Denny’s at some point, probably after two since I’m told we crashed around four.  These things are all heresay because I have NO memory of Denny’s.  Or of ordering an omelet covered with onions and green peppers.  I assume I must have pointed at the menu to order since I don’t like Denny’s omelets, and I NEVER eat onions or green peppers, and I don’t care HOW drunk I was, I didn’t intentionally ask for that.

Ended up passing out at the house at some point, and becoming aware of the outside world around 11:30 the next morning.  Amazingly other than briefly feeling like I was going to hurl, I didn’t have much of a negative side effect other than the bruising.

All in all the night was amazing, and I’m really glad I decided to go. The other thing I’m really glad about?

That I don’t drink like that any more.

Because, man.  That was crazy.

Dear computer consumers,

Hi there! My name is Jack’s Raging Mommy and I’d like to give you a couple handy tips for when you are dealing with your computer techs.

First, I would like to say that we are not stupid. We have heard your story about a “friend” “giving” you your computer but forgetting to tell you the password SO many times. We have rules in place. If you can’t prove a computer is yours, we will not remove the password. Yes any other place worth it’s salt will have the same rules. No we will not sell you the removal software or tell you how to do it yourself.
So your mother bought you a computer you don’t need, and you’d like to return it. Sure. There’s a restocking fee, and oh by the way, SHE has to return it. We will not accept a return from someone other than the purchaser. I’m sorry your husband is getting a laptop and you don’t need the tower just sitting there. I’m sorry you are an ungrateful person who wants to take the money your mother spent and not mention to her that you returned the computer. You can deal with your personality flaws on your own, but we aren’t going to play that game.

You’d like to sell us your computer, eh? Well that’s great. We do that. We just have to test it to make sure everything is functional, and establish what value might be in it. Yes, there has to be paperwork. If you keep insisting on cash you are not likely to get it, since it sounds just a LITTLE suspicious. Especially when you then freak out about us performing diagnostics and saying that you haven’t turned it on in a couple years. Then when you come back two hours later with a different computer? Well, at this point we aren’t going to trust you at all. You can leave now. Yes, you, creepy man.

If you call with a problem common enough that I even know the answer, please don’t dismiss what we say out of hand, then continue to get angrier and angrier as other things aren’t working. You’ll only feel that much more silly when you realize that oh, that thing we said back at the beginning? That was right after all. If you have brought your computer in, and we do the work ourselves after telling you clearly how you could have done it yourself? Yes. We are going to charge you for that.
If we tell you over the phone that the batteries in your wireless mouse are dead, but you insist on us coming out on a field call to check? Then you will pay the one hour minimum charge for a field call. Sure it sucks to pay a full hour of field rate for us to change your batteries, but DUDE. We told you over the phone how to fix it. We’ve been out there before, you know our policies and prices. Don’t sit there and rail about how you’ll never use us again (because at this point you have proven to be more trouble than you are worth anyway) and that next time you will call X company. Because yesterday when you called back to book a call? Well, you just looked silly.

Oh, and if we perform full diagnostics and tell you that your Hard Drive has a SMART failure and is going to die soon, please believe us. Because when the company you are under warranty with tells you “Oh, it’s fine” and sends it back to you, you may be all happy at that moment. But in two months when it dies and you lose everything on it because you didn’t believe us when we said you should do a backup? And when it’s a computer you run a business off of? Well, you aren’t going to feel so great then.

Not that everyone is ignorant, or that sometimes the gaffes aren’t our own*. And I’d NEVER give real-life, honest-to-god examples or anything. But seriously. We aren’t stupid. Chances are we know what we are talking about, and it’s why you called or came by in the first place. Trust us, this is our job.

This has been a helpful reminder from your computer tech company.

* That will be a post of it’s own, trust me. And I know that all places don’t operate the way we do, and that it is very possible to get someone on the phone who doesn’t have a clue what they are doing. I won’t mention certain big-box stores with their on-site tech service whose work we have to fix ALL the time. I know there are bad apples out there. But that’s not us, really.