A Whirlwind Weekend...I can has RFID?
As usual, this will be a tangent of annoying content, so please do not click past the cut tag if you do not want to hear how awesome my weekend was.
It started Thursday around 1pm. I should back up, actually. My week started off poor, with my mom being sent to the hospital after falling in the shower. She hurt her ribs, but it was discovered her kidneys were failing since she is going thru the destruction of diabetes and was not taking her meds. I was pretty blah with her over some recent things she said behind my back to my siblings, and I am fine if it was her time to find Summerland but I knew my youngest sister was not ready for that reality brought on by my mom being a dumb ass and not taking her meds or caring she was killing herself.
Anyways, she ended up in ICU, had two blood transfusions since her iron was like 7 on whatever scale they use, had blood pressure nearing 250-275/whatever which I didn't think was possible, and was basically incoherent. Laura and I braced for the worst, got ready to have to rent a car or catch a train down (cheaper than a plane by far), and waited to hear how it turned out, calling every day. Thankfully the doctors caught it in time and they managed to get her leveled off and brought the blood pressure down, while giving her surgery for the dialysis treatments she will be having three days a week for the rest of her life unless she gets new kidneys. She's supposed to get out today, which is tops. We plan to visit her and my sisters in a couple months when/if that tax rebate check thing comes in.
So, magically my week from shite to absolute awesome. The fire was lit under my ass when realizing that Laura renting a car would add $25 a day to our rate since she was under 25, and generally having no excuse to slack about and act out the play "Driving Lady Drache" on a daily basis. I had moved to NC in Feb 1998, with a NY license but no insurance so it eventually expired. I had my permit but I didn't "feel" like driving and make every excuse known to man just to avoid getting on the road. I even was afraid of driving to some extent, and just loafed about feeling sorry for myself. Yet, this sloth was potentially keeping me from being able to save money by driving to see my mom when we desired to, as well as miss time with friends who may never return from Iraq/other areas and are ill themselves and may not always be well enough to have visitors. Wake up call.
I made a plan when on Wednesday I sat down with my boss to discuss my potential flight if my mom did not improve soon. I had not used my vacation time for this fiscal year yet, nor had I remembered let alone touched my 4 personal "discretionary" days nor had I used all of my sick days. So Thursday was my day, and I left work at 1pm, planning to hit the Rowan County DMV and finally, after 10 years, take the road test. We were halfway there and I realized I neither had my social security card nor the proof of insurance slip. Laura nearly balked and did not want to turn around, but I pressed the issue. I was not waiting until Friday!
We grabbed the paperwork and headed back, as she had to renew her license while we were there as well, and found the place busy but not swamped. The front desk clerk was not having a great day and was rushed beyond compare. She did however get us our numbers, something our DMV did not have last time I went up there (last year for my permit before it expired) and we waited. Before long, thankfully, we got called back and I lucked out. Using my normal mannered charm I do have, but save for only people who deserve it/I can tell are not 100% asshole, I spoke with the two employees where I was given the sign test, vision test, and arranged for the road test. One had handled me when I got the permit last year, and the other was just as kind. In less than 10 minutes we were on the road and soon back inside. I had to deal with school buses, toddlers in the parking lot, people in the road, and general chaos, but I kicked that test's ass. It looked as if it was going to snow...which would have been FREAKY because it snowed while I was taking my NY driving test back in '98. LOL
So, I come back into the DMV, the woman merely saying "Well, let's get inside so we can get this issued" at which point the chain on my confidence keeping me feeling like a bag of shit was cut, and try not to give Laura any indication either way whether I passed. I paid the woman my $32 for RFID rich, real ID, not expiring until 2016 fun, and waited for my photo to be taken. Which still fooled Laura because they would have retaken the photo even for a permit, pending I failed and opted to practice some more. I walked over to Laura, a bit sullen, but smirking a bit so she eventually figured out I passed, and I got a huge hug while walking out of the DMV, floating on cloud nine. We even went to dinner to celebrate, and I spent the weekend driving around visiting friends I hadn't seen much of but always enjoy my time around. Visited Josh once, visited Doni twice, caught up with a set of twins PJ and Adam I had not seen in maybe a year (and whom had sorely missed my brother Daniel when he was in town from VA), and even went to Goodwill on the way to my Friday doctor's appointment.
Doc visit went well, had blood levels done. If they are high again then I will finally be referred to the immunologist for allergy tests to see what might be causing my raised eosinophil count off and on, as I have no cancers thankfully. :D Driving around in rain and mixed weather like fog today, and at night, even through the hell of the Wal-mart parking lot really made me feel good. Some music and a destination. Amazing. Driving to work and stopping for a coffee refill at my old store is pretty cool. Just having that feeling or succeeding and seeing how far I have come from just a couple years ago. I have a decent job with great people, low stress, great benefits, close proximity to home, and a loving wife who accepts me with my long hippie hair and beard or even clean shaven except for the chin beard and mustache.
So, the boring part of the post is done. If you got through that, major props. You rock. Here is the hidden bit of ace you were hoping for and the reason why you sit through the mess known as my rambling. I have told a few people on IRC about a record I found locally at Goodwill that struck me as majorly wrong, despite the fact it is from a gospel singer. Now, to be clear I do not have anything against gospel music or even religion. I sometimes say crazy things about local Christians who really do a disservice to the concepts of tolerance I like to think do exist in the Bible but I do not put enough emphasis on their individual traits and generalize their insanity under that broad label too much of the time. I am guilty of that, and can understand how some of my Christian LJ people would have been offended. I have just been so tormented by people claiming to be good Christians over the years that the term itself bites me sour. I am getting better about it, mainly as I find that everyone under a label be it this or that, is prone to be an assclown is fool's clothing tainting an otherwise unoffensive label.
Anyways...back to the record. You may never have heard of a fellow by the name of Merrill Womach, but he put out a record that was called "I Stood at Cavalry" and I get the idea he was going for. I really do, because I did go to church when I was younger and I know a lot about different parts of the Bible, including the Crucifixion. I love to DVR the bible specials, as they fascinate me, especially "The Naked Archaeologist" series where he uses science to validate scripture. Maybe I am making too much of things, especially considering the fact I am not as attached to the religion as many, but what do you all think of this cover below:
I mean, if I were a witness I don't think I'd just be standing around as some dudes got strung up on crosses, even if I knew one of them would be the martyr of martyrs. He's just sitting there chilling in his leisure suit as Romans, Jews, and other hang about, some very smug by the look of it. I understand he may feel close to his God, and even closer to his God's embodiment on earth who rose from the dead, but the cover makes me wonder how many copies he sold and what people thought about it. I bought it because it was so odd, and seemed ironic to have a gospel record with such a cover, as most of the ones I have seen focus on the individual(s) in some pose rather than highlighting the role people had in a very lame event in our far flung history.
I won't lie. I laugh at the zombie Jesus jokes because so much of the body of Christ portion of Catholic mass is strange and the whole resurrection story is hard to swallow unless Jesus was mere unconscious. I have been in plenty of Latin masses and enjoy them actually. But the supernatural powers attributed to Jesus are nothing short of scifi novel worthy, modern science from 50 years in the future, and generally make me think more about bad horror movie plots than anything. That or he was a super wizard with whom I would love to hang out. I found the record cover funny to me when I first saw it, but eventually it makes me want to get some old fashioned revenge on those smug Romans. I don't want to turn the other cheek, but maybe it's because I think Jesus is due a few handfuls worth of stoning people who turned their back on him. Granted, that was not the message but sometimes tolerating what some people do is far worse than doing anything to stop them.
So, that's my update. Things are going well, waiting for a Waicom Bamboo to arrive in the mail in the next couple days. I may eventually have my strange doodles show up here, who knows. If my ramblings in text are any indication of the oddity in my head (if you have not yet seen my poetry artwork) then you are surely in for a treat. Hope you all are doing well, in whatever time zone you haunt.
It started Thursday around 1pm. I should back up, actually. My week started off poor, with my mom being sent to the hospital after falling in the shower. She hurt her ribs, but it was discovered her kidneys were failing since she is going thru the destruction of diabetes and was not taking her meds. I was pretty blah with her over some recent things she said behind my back to my siblings, and I am fine if it was her time to find Summerland but I knew my youngest sister was not ready for that reality brought on by my mom being a dumb ass and not taking her meds or caring she was killing herself.
Anyways, she ended up in ICU, had two blood transfusions since her iron was like 7 on whatever scale they use, had blood pressure nearing 250-275/whatever which I didn't think was possible, and was basically incoherent. Laura and I braced for the worst, got ready to have to rent a car or catch a train down (cheaper than a plane by far), and waited to hear how it turned out, calling every day. Thankfully the doctors caught it in time and they managed to get her leveled off and brought the blood pressure down, while giving her surgery for the dialysis treatments she will be having three days a week for the rest of her life unless she gets new kidneys. She's supposed to get out today, which is tops. We plan to visit her and my sisters in a couple months when/if that tax rebate check thing comes in.
So, magically my week from shite to absolute awesome. The fire was lit under my ass when realizing that Laura renting a car would add $25 a day to our rate since she was under 25, and generally having no excuse to slack about and act out the play "Driving Lady Drache" on a daily basis. I had moved to NC in Feb 1998, with a NY license but no insurance so it eventually expired. I had my permit but I didn't "feel" like driving and make every excuse known to man just to avoid getting on the road. I even was afraid of driving to some extent, and just loafed about feeling sorry for myself. Yet, this sloth was potentially keeping me from being able to save money by driving to see my mom when we desired to, as well as miss time with friends who may never return from Iraq/other areas and are ill themselves and may not always be well enough to have visitors. Wake up call.
I made a plan when on Wednesday I sat down with my boss to discuss my potential flight if my mom did not improve soon. I had not used my vacation time for this fiscal year yet, nor had I remembered let alone touched my 4 personal "discretionary" days nor had I used all of my sick days. So Thursday was my day, and I left work at 1pm, planning to hit the Rowan County DMV and finally, after 10 years, take the road test. We were halfway there and I realized I neither had my social security card nor the proof of insurance slip. Laura nearly balked and did not want to turn around, but I pressed the issue. I was not waiting until Friday!
We grabbed the paperwork and headed back, as she had to renew her license while we were there as well, and found the place busy but not swamped. The front desk clerk was not having a great day and was rushed beyond compare. She did however get us our numbers, something our DMV did not have last time I went up there (last year for my permit before it expired) and we waited. Before long, thankfully, we got called back and I lucked out. Using my normal mannered charm I do have, but save for only people who deserve it/I can tell are not 100% asshole, I spoke with the two employees where I was given the sign test, vision test, and arranged for the road test. One had handled me when I got the permit last year, and the other was just as kind. In less than 10 minutes we were on the road and soon back inside. I had to deal with school buses, toddlers in the parking lot, people in the road, and general chaos, but I kicked that test's ass. It looked as if it was going to snow...which would have been FREAKY because it snowed while I was taking my NY driving test back in '98. LOL
So, I come back into the DMV, the woman merely saying "Well, let's get inside so we can get this issued" at which point the chain on my confidence keeping me feeling like a bag of shit was cut, and try not to give Laura any indication either way whether I passed. I paid the woman my $32 for RFID rich, real ID, not expiring until 2016 fun, and waited for my photo to be taken. Which still fooled Laura because they would have retaken the photo even for a permit, pending I failed and opted to practice some more. I walked over to Laura, a bit sullen, but smirking a bit so she eventually figured out I passed, and I got a huge hug while walking out of the DMV, floating on cloud nine. We even went to dinner to celebrate, and I spent the weekend driving around visiting friends I hadn't seen much of but always enjoy my time around. Visited Josh once, visited Doni twice, caught up with a set of twins PJ and Adam I had not seen in maybe a year (and whom had sorely missed my brother Daniel when he was in town from VA), and even went to Goodwill on the way to my Friday doctor's appointment.
Doc visit went well, had blood levels done. If they are high again then I will finally be referred to the immunologist for allergy tests to see what might be causing my raised eosinophil count off and on, as I have no cancers thankfully. :D Driving around in rain and mixed weather like fog today, and at night, even through the hell of the Wal-mart parking lot really made me feel good. Some music and a destination. Amazing. Driving to work and stopping for a coffee refill at my old store is pretty cool. Just having that feeling or succeeding and seeing how far I have come from just a couple years ago. I have a decent job with great people, low stress, great benefits, close proximity to home, and a loving wife who accepts me with my long hippie hair and beard or even clean shaven except for the chin beard and mustache.
So, the boring part of the post is done. If you got through that, major props. You rock. Here is the hidden bit of ace you were hoping for and the reason why you sit through the mess known as my rambling. I have told a few people on IRC about a record I found locally at Goodwill that struck me as majorly wrong, despite the fact it is from a gospel singer. Now, to be clear I do not have anything against gospel music or even religion. I sometimes say crazy things about local Christians who really do a disservice to the concepts of tolerance I like to think do exist in the Bible but I do not put enough emphasis on their individual traits and generalize their insanity under that broad label too much of the time. I am guilty of that, and can understand how some of my Christian LJ people would have been offended. I have just been so tormented by people claiming to be good Christians over the years that the term itself bites me sour. I am getting better about it, mainly as I find that everyone under a label be it this or that, is prone to be an assclown is fool's clothing tainting an otherwise unoffensive label.
Anyways...back to the record. You may never have heard of a fellow by the name of Merrill Womach, but he put out a record that was called "I Stood at Cavalry" and I get the idea he was going for. I really do, because I did go to church when I was younger and I know a lot about different parts of the Bible, including the Crucifixion. I love to DVR the bible specials, as they fascinate me, especially "The Naked Archaeologist" series where he uses science to validate scripture. Maybe I am making too much of things, especially considering the fact I am not as attached to the religion as many, but what do you all think of this cover below:
I mean, if I were a witness I don't think I'd just be standing around as some dudes got strung up on crosses, even if I knew one of them would be the martyr of martyrs. He's just sitting there chilling in his leisure suit as Romans, Jews, and other hang about, some very smug by the look of it. I understand he may feel close to his God, and even closer to his God's embodiment on earth who rose from the dead, but the cover makes me wonder how many copies he sold and what people thought about it. I bought it because it was so odd, and seemed ironic to have a gospel record with such a cover, as most of the ones I have seen focus on the individual(s) in some pose rather than highlighting the role people had in a very lame event in our far flung history.
I won't lie. I laugh at the zombie Jesus jokes because so much of the body of Christ portion of Catholic mass is strange and the whole resurrection story is hard to swallow unless Jesus was mere unconscious. I have been in plenty of Latin masses and enjoy them actually. But the supernatural powers attributed to Jesus are nothing short of scifi novel worthy, modern science from 50 years in the future, and generally make me think more about bad horror movie plots than anything. That or he was a super wizard with whom I would love to hang out. I found the record cover funny to me when I first saw it, but eventually it makes me want to get some old fashioned revenge on those smug Romans. I don't want to turn the other cheek, but maybe it's because I think Jesus is due a few handfuls worth of stoning people who turned their back on him. Granted, that was not the message but sometimes tolerating what some people do is far worse than doing anything to stop them.
So, that's my update. Things are going well, waiting for a Waicom Bamboo to arrive in the mail in the next couple days. I may eventually have my strange doodles show up here, who knows. If my ramblings in text are any indication of the oddity in my head (if you have not yet seen my poetry artwork) then you are surely in for a treat. Hope you all are doing well, in whatever time zone you haunt.