Sweet Catastrophe

So the maintenance guy came out early yesterday morning. He had to come out first before being able to call out the service people. I’m glad for that though–he came in and let me know that we needed to run out and grab a new filter because if the service people felt like we hadn’t changed the filter recently enough, our landlord could try to charge us for the service.

So he put in a service call and exaggerated any problems we were having so that they’d be more thorough when they came out. I liked this guy

Unfortunately this was 8am and Eubanks was set to come sometime before 12 and the maintenance guy warned me that if they wanted to, they could be assholes about it and leave if no one answered the door immediately, so I settled in on the couch, but of course they came to work on the lawn so mowers and blowers kept me from getting any sleep.

The Eubanks guy showed up at 11:40 *eyeroll* I know for sure he drained the unit and added more freon. He was around for a little while so best I can tell he checked the a/c compressor, made sure the unit didn’t need to be recharged or anything like that and checked our vents downstairs. He wasn’t very vocal with me about what he’d done. I guess I can somewhat understand since really he didn’t have to answer to me, technically the landlord is the one he’s speaking to about the property, but last I checked Don’s never even been in this apartment and I’m the one who lives here so it would’ve been nice to know what all had already been checked so that if other problems arise, we can rule things out. Oh well.

So it appears the leaking has stopped, so now I just need to check into some really good mold cleaners to stop the growth. I’m not totally sure what all I need to do, so I’m gonna start with checking out what kind of industrial cleaners we have at Lowe’s and definitely picking up some masks….it’s gonna be completely killer to clean dust, cat fir/dander and mold in a small, confined place. I’m determined to get it in one go though; I know I won’t be able to stand more than one session.

I’ve got 3 days off in a row next week, so I think I’ll attack it on the first day so I can have two days to recover.

At this age, I completely understand how being around different people brings out different aspects of your personality. I think that’s completely normal.

What I don’t understand are those people who let one of those aspects ‘become’ who they are, when it’s really not. They turn into this carbon copy of the people they’re around the most.

I just don’t get that.

For instance, I’ll admit that consistently being around tattooed and pierced people makes me feel more inclined to go out and follow that desire in me, but when it comes down to it, I know more often than not I’d want my tattoos to be concealable.

I don’t really know where I’m going with this. I was talking with someone whom I know tends to absorb personalities and it just irks me.

They’re so predictable with it that I can guess what’s new in their life just by asking who they’ve been hanging out with lately.

Of course, this is a predictable person anyway….I knew exactly what topic to bring up to find an abrupt end to our chat. That part just amused me to no end. It was completely open-ended and called for a response, but none ever came, just as I knew it wouldn’t!

Where I once could be friends with this person, I just have no interest in them with their unoriginal personality.

Why is it so hard to let a little of yourself shine through?

I’m still around! Since my last entry, there’s been some Catie time, some Ryan time, some work time, and now some work/blah time. The mold our air conditioner distributing is really starting to plague my allergies and pushing in some severely uncomfortable sinus problems. (No worries, it’s not dangerous mold or anything, there’s just a lot of it…) So I dunno, just haven’t been feeling myself the last day or two and haven’t really wanted to sit around on the computer *gasp*

So I’m still alive!! Just feelin’ a little icky and therefore bored with sitting around!

I’ve driven 10,000 miles in my car.

So my dad bought a motorcycle. Normally, this wouldn’t bother me; he got a great deal on it, but the timing was just really bad. This year I let my dad claim me on his taxes. It felt like the right thing to do, but things are coming into perspective for me right now and I’m realizing a lot of the monetary things I try to give my dad credit for just aren’t deserved. For instance, my car–the undeserved back child support he sued my mother for is what’s paying off my car. And here, he thought he’d be getting $900 with his stimulus check, but me being over 18 knocks out the $300 he’d have gotten for me, but claiming me knocks me out of the running for my own $600. But since he paid my taxes, I had settled for only taking $450—that would’ve been half of the $900 we thought he was getting. Now I’m only taking $300. Why? He claimed me, got a nice tax break for my tuition, still got a stimulus check and where does that leave me? I get half the check I would’ve gotten, and I have to take out a loan to pay for school–if he hadn’t claimed me, I’d be getting enough from the Pell Grant to cover it all. So he paid my taxes? So what….If someone wasn’t claiming me, they’d have been low enough for me to pay myself with just a minor inconvenience for two weeks. I’d have gotten a $600 check that would’ve covered everything I need to get my tooth fixed, plus some leftover to go towards glasses. Instead, I’ll have $300 which won’t be enough to cover the whole dental procedure. Meanwhile, I have to WAIT to even get that $300 because he spent it. What right does he have even looking at used Harleys with my money? He makes me feel guilty for even taking $300 but last I checked, life hasn’t been very easy for me either when it comes to money and I’ve made a lot less idiotic purchases than he has…I don’t know how many random things he’s bought with the intention of fixing and selling, only to be stuck with them.

I just feel like I try too hard to overlook how materialistic my father can be. I want us to have a good relationship, but it can’t be based on pretending.

Right, I’m moving the computer upstairs. I’m sitting here and there’s a party going on at Parkview. Every time the door opens (to the vestibule) I pause what I’m watching. 1) So they don’t notice I’m here and try to come visit and 2) So they don’t hear what I’m watching ’cause Sex and the City has become a bit of a guilty pleasure.

I know there will be cons to the new setup, but it’s not like I can’t move it back downstairs.

I need the change.

For Ryan, I mean. I forgot to update that he did find one when they went looking while I was gone!

Already having ups and downs though. They kept it to fix the air conditioner and speedometer, along with other random maintenance things to take it back to the condition it was in when they got it.

Before he even left town the check engine light was back on. He talked to someone and figured that out. It’s a sensor issue and they had changed one, but apparently his has two so that needs to be fixed. In the meantime it’s screwing with his gas mileage (don’t ask me to explain how…that part wasn’t in English for me ) Not long after leaving Valdosta his battery light came on. He called me to look quickly online and find out what that means–assuming it meant low battery was just too obvious–good thing I looked too. It actually means that the alternator isn’t charging the battery, so you’ve got anywhere from half an hour to a day, just depending on how much charge the battery had. It also had a list of things to check yourself if you can’t immediately get to a mechanic so I listed those for him as well. It was 3am before he could look for himself but he called to fill me in and there was NO BELT on the alternator. The belts were on the list of things they changed out, so they either left it too loose or tightened it too much, either way, having a belt snap off like that on the interstate could have potentially wrecked him. He’s lucky that the belt obviously worked its way out–normally they snap and take out surrounding belts with them. I haven’t talked to him yet, but the plan was to call and bitch out the dealership. You just can’t be careless with stuff like that and they’re absolutely going to have to reimburse him for towing and whatever has to be done to get it back going.

Otherwise it’s been smooth sailing. He’s already replaced the cd player since the one that was in it sounded horrible with his Zune. He’s not gonna do much else to it though. It’s nice enough as it =) Of course, it means the new memory for my computer is gonna have to wait a little longer, but I can accept that if it means he has a reliable ride that I don’t have to worry about!

Yesterday was so packed I really feel like it spanned two days, not one. Ever have those days?

I was up at 6:30 getting ready for work, having breakfast and all that jazz. I only worked until 1, but it was a pretty packed few hours. There was a lot going on to keep me busy.

After I left work I had to rush through Target to pick up some things that had to be bought before I left town and then I sprinted through a quick meal at home and hit the road.

Joshua (my nephew–almost 1 yr) was at Mom’s so I went straight there. I had meant to visit everyone yesterday, but I ended up at Mom’s until 11. We had Joshua and one of Roger’s grandchildren for a few hours. I wore Joshua out and then he napped on me for a while. Not too long after, Jessica and Rocky Joe brought Jessalyn over so I was dirty, soaked, and exhausted pretty quickly. If I spent like three days a week with the babies I’d never have a need for diet pills. Jessalyn is almost two now, so of course she’s into running back and forth into everything and testing limits. She’s still a little sweetie though!

We almost had Joshua really walking! He walked a respectable little bit on his own, but we didn’t have room to get him to really walk far. I think he’ll walk within the next week or so if they keep trying.

I miss the babies already, but my back certainly doesn’t!

Heh. It’s nice when I can procrastinate because I’m waiting on someone else! I haven’t filled out Financial Aid yet because Daddy hasn’t sent me his info yet.

I haven’t put my cards up for sale because Ryan keeps forgetting to bring me the custom boxes to put them in…sure I could go ahead and put them up, but I’d like to have pictures of them boxed rather than the current state they’re in. As is they probably won’t look like they’ve been cared for–but they have!

I haven’t signed up for the insurance yet because HR hasn’t been able to answer my questions yet. I need some time-frames and I need to know whether or not certain professionals are included and I haven’t gotten those answers.

Of course, I’ve got a ton to get done today that I’m putting off all on my own as well

While discussing the female issue:

Ryan “It’d be funny if when it finally came back it lasted for 3 or 4 weeks.”
Me *blank stare*
Ryan *realizes what he’s just said*
Me “No. No Ryan; there’d be nothing at all funny about that. Not for me, and certainly not for you…”

REALLY?!

Yesterday and today I’ve gotten what feels like four months of cramps. Still no period though. I worked earlier today and came home and told Ryan he could have the car as long as he came back with a pain pill and my moving boxes and card boxes he keeps forgetting so I can pack up my cards to sell and ship off.

I’ve just been sitting upstairs with my heating pad and Harry Potter and it’s been alright. Stuck on the phone with my grandmother right now. Whew…that was a good hour and twenty minutes, but hey, if that’s all it takes to make her happy, it’s the least I can do.

Anyway, I’ve got nothing else to say really. Just wanted to share Ryan’s moment of temporary insanity. And share with you that my insides are being ripped apart by….well probably tiny angry TV executives or something–my punishment for never watching television on the actual television anymore…