Poor Stickers, aka Dipshit kitteh. This 4th of July has been rough on her. She's finally asleep, I think, but maybe not to deeply with the war zone going on outside still. Old man kitteh could care less. They just don't seem to bother him. Maybe its because we got him when the kids were little. If you can survive that, fireworks are no big deal.
The dipshit kitteh hasn't left my side since they have begun. And wants me to hold her like a little baby. You know how hard it is to be on your laptop with a kitteh in your arms? But alas, that seems to be how it is going to go for the rest of the night.
Everytime that I've gone outside to watch the fireworks in the surrounding area she wants to go outside. Then about 30 seconds later, after a boom, she's meowing to go back in. Stupid kitteh. Don't you know I tried telling you about the noise?
At least the apartments I live in has banned them, with a risk of immediate eviction if caught setting them off. Which is nice. I'm a pyromaniac at heart, but there isn't enough space in an apartment parking lot to set stuff off without risking someone's car. Of course, that didn't stop anyone last year, but has seemed to work this year.
Shortie went to a local reservation with friends to go blow everything up. I'm glad we don't live near there for several reasons. The fireworks and dipshit don't mix, and they have a really nice casino. That could be really costly if I lived that close. I don't live that far, but I don't like to fight the traffic to get there. So that tends to limit my visits to about once or twice a year. Although they do have a really good buffet. Maybe I'll have to stop by on a day off soon.
Hopefully the booms will stop soon. It is 11:30 already, and she is upset. At least I don't work early mornings anymore, so going to bed late won't be a problem for me. But the kitteh, different story.
Hope everyone had a fun 4th and still has all their fingers.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Keep an eye on your kids when in a parking lot watching fireworks
Tonight Shortie talked me into going out to watch the fireworks at Emerald Downs. This is the horse race track here locally. Now as we didn't want to actually go into the place, we went to the grocery store across from it. Well, not directly across from it but with a really good view. Apparently everyone comes to see the fireworks on the 3rd out here by the track. And they are all over the city of Auburn. Maybe not all over the city, but within viewing range of the track.
So we get to the grocery store parking lot where she goes every year with her friends to see the show, I was amazed (I don't know why it amazes me anymore) at how many kids were running around this parking lot without parental supervision. Now this parking lot is not closed off to traffic, nor is it on a road never used. Its actually off of one of the main streets that is incredibly busy. We saw a child about 5 or 6 damn near go into the road while traffic goes by at 45mph. WTF? Do you not want your kid to make it through the night? People lighting off fireworks in the parking lot and throwing them at people. Do you NOT know that the city of Auburn has a fireworks ban? Really? Of course, several of these came really close to several of the cars. Thank god we parked at the end where they weren't setting stuff off, as I might be in jail for decking some idiot who sent one near my vehicle.
Oh. It gets better. One of Shortie's friends made it to the show. So we gave her a ride back to her place, which wasn't far, but she was recovering from a cold and it was chilly and dark out. After dropping her off we start down the road and what do we see? A couple of adults with a little kid went running across the road. Did I mention they were all wearing dark clothes? Did I also mention that there was the crosswalk just on the other side of the build they were behind? WTF? Then as we approach that really busy road I mentioned earlier, some little kid (around 4 or 5yo) jumped off the sidewalk into the street. Thank god I saw the kid when I did and I wasn't farther up the road, or it would've been a really bad situation. That would've been horrible. Of course, the parents would've sued even though they weren't paying any attention to this little one at almost 11pm. Its dark out. Watch your f-ing kids. Some of us don't want to be responsible for hurting them, or god forbid, killing them. Shortie wanted to jump out of the car to confront them, but she just settled on a rant about how some people just shouldn't breed.
Ok, I'm not a perfect parent. I've never claimed to be one. But my kids grew up knowing not to run in the street, and to hold an adults hand while out in public. They do get embarrassed about that now that they are 18 and 19. Ok, I really don't make them hold my hand anymore, they'd give me cooties at this point anyway. When they were little, I taught all three to "touch" the car while I was getting them into it. As there was usually one or more of them needing to get into car/booster seats, I'd put the littlest one at the time in first, then the rest. Well, its kinda hard to put one in the car and hold onto the other one. They knew that if they moved their hand off the car they were in big trouble. It worked.
People watch your kids. You brought them into the world. Don't let someone accidentally take them out of it. If you want to be stupid, YOU run into the road and I'd be more than willing to hit you as you are worth points.
So we get to the grocery store parking lot where she goes every year with her friends to see the show, I was amazed (I don't know why it amazes me anymore) at how many kids were running around this parking lot without parental supervision. Now this parking lot is not closed off to traffic, nor is it on a road never used. Its actually off of one of the main streets that is incredibly busy. We saw a child about 5 or 6 damn near go into the road while traffic goes by at 45mph. WTF? Do you not want your kid to make it through the night? People lighting off fireworks in the parking lot and throwing them at people. Do you NOT know that the city of Auburn has a fireworks ban? Really? Of course, several of these came really close to several of the cars. Thank god we parked at the end where they weren't setting stuff off, as I might be in jail for decking some idiot who sent one near my vehicle.
Oh. It gets better. One of Shortie's friends made it to the show. So we gave her a ride back to her place, which wasn't far, but she was recovering from a cold and it was chilly and dark out. After dropping her off we start down the road and what do we see? A couple of adults with a little kid went running across the road. Did I mention they were all wearing dark clothes? Did I also mention that there was the crosswalk just on the other side of the build they were behind? WTF? Then as we approach that really busy road I mentioned earlier, some little kid (around 4 or 5yo) jumped off the sidewalk into the street. Thank god I saw the kid when I did and I wasn't farther up the road, or it would've been a really bad situation. That would've been horrible. Of course, the parents would've sued even though they weren't paying any attention to this little one at almost 11pm. Its dark out. Watch your f-ing kids. Some of us don't want to be responsible for hurting them, or god forbid, killing them. Shortie wanted to jump out of the car to confront them, but she just settled on a rant about how some people just shouldn't breed.
Ok, I'm not a perfect parent. I've never claimed to be one. But my kids grew up knowing not to run in the street, and to hold an adults hand while out in public. They do get embarrassed about that now that they are 18 and 19. Ok, I really don't make them hold my hand anymore, they'd give me cooties at this point anyway. When they were little, I taught all three to "touch" the car while I was getting them into it. As there was usually one or more of them needing to get into car/booster seats, I'd put the littlest one at the time in first, then the rest. Well, its kinda hard to put one in the car and hold onto the other one. They knew that if they moved their hand off the car they were in big trouble. It worked.
People watch your kids. You brought them into the world. Don't let someone accidentally take them out of it. If you want to be stupid, YOU run into the road and I'd be more than willing to hit you as you are worth points.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
We don't tan, we rust...
As a lifetime resident of the lovely state of Washington, you'd think I'd be used to the rain, well I am used to it. I'm even used to it when we probably shouldn't have it. Like right now. Its July 3rd at 4am (I know, I'm a vampire) and its pouring. Really flipping, pouring. Stickers, the dipshit kitteh, just came running thru the apartment meowing in fear because she was in my bedroom window and the wind caused the rain to hit her. The window is partially open, its not really been warm enough for any length of time to need it open, but I like the fresh air and the window is a bitch to move so there it stays.
Everyone thinks it rains all the time in Washington, Seattle in particular. Some years it does, some years it doesn't. This is one of those years apparently. I passed a boat on the 405 coming home tonight that was loaded with animals, lots of them. Not sure where they were headed, but it looked like they were having fun. Unlike the semi going UP the 405, with no traffic in front of them, with their brake lights on. At least it looked like their brake lights, they were brighter than the normal running lights, and EVERYBODY (the two other cars in front of me) had to SLOW down before they could pass this dude. And what do we all see? No one. That's right. Not a single damned car or truck in this guys way. Now if it were a downhill stretch I could understand. But UP the hill? Really? I have friends who drive the big rigs, and I'm not 100% positive, but pretty sure that if they are going up a hill at 1am with no traffic in front of them (did I mention they were doing 45mph?), they wouldn't have their brakes on whilst going up the f-ing hill. No, they weren't even exiting, which was my first original guess when I saw the bright lights WAY ahead of me. Its amazing how quickly you can catch somepeople with your cruise control set to 63ish. Ok, it says 65 but the needle reads 2mph more than the speed readers you see all over the roads these days, so I just go to 65 and hit the set button.
The funny part about this "summer" is the fact that the weather was better in the first part of June. Which was very good as we had a graduation and a grad party that was primarily outside. The ceremony wasn't, that was held in the Tacoma Dome, but the wonderful game of 'finding all the relatives and your child after' was outside, as was the party the next day.
Rain. Gotta love it though. I mean, where else can you rust instead of tan? Wait, that could be the new state motto. Welcome to Washington. We don't tan, we rust. But the ducks are happy as hell. No not the Oregon variety, the feathered ones you can feed at the lake. Now, were in the hell is the lifeboat? Well, I am on the 3rd floor so maybe I won't need it tonight.
Everyone thinks it rains all the time in Washington, Seattle in particular. Some years it does, some years it doesn't. This is one of those years apparently. I passed a boat on the 405 coming home tonight that was loaded with animals, lots of them. Not sure where they were headed, but it looked like they were having fun. Unlike the semi going UP the 405, with no traffic in front of them, with their brake lights on. At least it looked like their brake lights, they were brighter than the normal running lights, and EVERYBODY (the two other cars in front of me) had to SLOW down before they could pass this dude. And what do we all see? No one. That's right. Not a single damned car or truck in this guys way. Now if it were a downhill stretch I could understand. But UP the hill? Really? I have friends who drive the big rigs, and I'm not 100% positive, but pretty sure that if they are going up a hill at 1am with no traffic in front of them (did I mention they were doing 45mph?), they wouldn't have their brakes on whilst going up the f-ing hill. No, they weren't even exiting, which was my first original guess when I saw the bright lights WAY ahead of me. Its amazing how quickly you can catch somepeople with your cruise control set to 63ish. Ok, it says 65 but the needle reads 2mph more than the speed readers you see all over the roads these days, so I just go to 65 and hit the set button.
The funny part about this "summer" is the fact that the weather was better in the first part of June. Which was very good as we had a graduation and a grad party that was primarily outside. The ceremony wasn't, that was held in the Tacoma Dome, but the wonderful game of 'finding all the relatives and your child after' was outside, as was the party the next day.
Rain. Gotta love it though. I mean, where else can you rust instead of tan? Wait, that could be the new state motto. Welcome to Washington. We don't tan, we rust. But the ducks are happy as hell. No not the Oregon variety, the feathered ones you can feed at the lake. Now, were in the hell is the lifeboat? Well, I am on the 3rd floor so maybe I won't need it tonight.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
So I've finally upgraded...
Well, I've put off upgrading things for as long as I can. I had to get a new phone as my old one decided that it didn't want to stay on during phone calls. I can't believe that it decided to die after almost 6 1/2 years. Aren't they supposed to last longer? Really? Are things that disposable? So I got a smart phone, and I really do like it. I managed to figure out how to hook up the blue tooth and get ringtones all by myself, but when I tried to answer a call it didn't work. I kept pushing the damned green button and it didn't work. So bless Shorties heart, when she came home she called the phone and showed me how to answer it, while rolling her eyes at me of course. WTF? You have to slide the green thingy across the screen? Who the hell thought this thing up? Everything else is just touch and it works. Really? Answering the phone isn't done the same way? Why not? And of course, I couldn't find THAT little bit of info in the instruction manual. But, whatever. It works now. I can answer your phone calls, if I want to that is.
I went to pick up Shortie at work tonight, it is nice that she is working a late shift so I can get her when I'm done and she isn't waiting very long for me. So she decided that she wanted to check out the games I had on the phone. The Flood-It frustrated her and instead of getting hooked on it (like I am) she turned that one off and went in search of something more her taste. Bejeweled was her first choice. She discovered that some apps are a pain to put on the phone, in that when you go play them or open them, you sometimes have to do all this other garbly-goop (real word I promise) to get to the damned game. I found her a really cool version of the game, and as long as I can keep the phone away from her, I might even get to play it myself. Jeez, some people's kids. Wait, she's mine. Damn. Guess I'm going to have to share.
The second upgrade I've had to do in the last two weeks is to upgrade the cable. Now this wasn't really my choice, we used to get our cable thru the apartment complex and it was part of the rent. They, however, decided that it was easier for the tenants to deal with it on their own. Not a really big deal, but as its not bulk anymore, the price is obviously more expensive. I did get a screaming deal for digital though. Amazingly it was cheaper than the expanded basic I had before. I also now have the really cool guide on the tv, so no more tv guide channel or firing up the laptop to find out what is on.
What really amazes me though is how many channels are on infommercials at 4am. Most of you probably aren't up this late, but as a bartender who keeps vampire hours, I'm up until 5am usually. But there are at least 5 more channels I like that are working at this hour. Yay.
And back to sharing new things, I had to fight to get the remote for the cable away from her so I could play with the new toy. Why can't mom get to play with things first? It's not like it's Christmas or birthday's when they get the cool stuff and get to play with them first. It's my toy. Let me play with it, or at least try to figure it out, before you have to show me how to make it work.
I know, I probably should have done these changes a long time ago, but I figure if it ain't broke don't fix it. That and I'm cheap. Why spend money if I don't need too. I mean the more I can save by not upgrading means more M&M's I can buy. Ok, I don't really buy that many M&M's, but you get the point.
Time to go play with the cool remote. Hopefully I'll have at least half of the buttons figured out before she commandeers it again.
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