Family

The evil that lurks inside

Posted on by backuphill

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There is evil in the house.

It resides in a place you never thought to look, yet it rears it’s ugly head at the most inopportune time and it strikes fear in all who encounter it. It most often shows itself in red, digital form but has been known by other identifications as well. It squawks. Sometimes it plays music at unimaginable volumes of incoherence.

The evil of which I speak?

The Saturday morning alarm clock.

Why is it that the man-child in the house can’t figure out his damn alarm clock but can figure out how to subvert Netflix security?

The alarm clock has a week day setting so it only goes off on school days, but NO he has it set for every day of the week. So, Saturday morning rolls around and the 6:00am squawking of a high pitched chirp can be heard throughout the house. There is no escaping it and there is no ignoring it, unless you are he who sleeps right next to it.

I swear if I have to stumble out of bed, half asleep, through a dark house to unplug (yes, I didn’t even bother with switches and nobs) the thing, again, I am going to blow a gasket. I mean like really.

Wait, maybe I’ll self impose the dog house. There are no alarms in there…

 

I’ll stalk you for power

Posted on by backuphill

close up photo ofg light bulb

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That’s right, I’m watching. All the time.

I am just waiting for you to make a move. A move out of the room you are in to another room. I am waiting for you to fail at something you have been instructed hundreds of times, at varying volume levels, to do and yet still forget to do.

Again, I am one of those dads…

If you leave the room and leave the light on, you better dang well know I will be right there within minutes to make sure you know you left the light on. TURN OFF THE LIGHT!

I am not Tom Bodett, and I will NOT be leaving the light on for you (in case you didn’t get that reference).

Why is it so hard to remember? Why can’t you turn off the light when you leave the room and turn it back on when you come back in? Why do I have to be the power police?

Perhaps I will install motion detecting light fixtures and remove all the light switches…Oh, then that might actually have to make the teens get up and move once in a while. I might be on to something here…

Anyway, can we just do one thing today? Turn off the lights.

Who else has to deal with this, every. single. day.?

Get the flush out

Posted on by backuphill

male and female signage on wall

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This probably falls into the TMI category, but it is no less irritating either way.

Have you ever walked into a public bathroom to use the facilities, open the stall door, and find that the crapper has already been crapped in but the final flush failed (whether they didn’t do it themselves or it plugged) to get done? So you end up turning up your nose, maybe curse under your breath a little, and then move on to the next stall? Yeah, me too.

Now, get this. While that previous scenario is frustrating, what’s worse is to find a toilet in your own home in a similar condition…open the lid to sit down and SURPRISE! Now you have to risk flushing and hope that the swirling water stays in the bowl and doesn’t end up on the floor making an even more inconvenient event.

I tell you, I am pretty sure teens have brain damage.

Perhaps we should do like some suggest with animals that pee or poop in the house, rub their face in it. Maybe it we rubbed the teen’s face in it they would get the picture? Yeah, you’re right. The brain damage is too significant. They likely wouldn’t get the picture.

Here goes nothing…

#SMH

Let’s think this through

Posted on by backuphill

closeup photo of person holding panasonic remote control in front of turned on smart television

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Last night I had to have a conversation with some family members that I never thought, in this day and age, that I would have to have. Yet, it seems to be a recurring event these days.

We all know about security and the internet and how bad things can happen if you aren’t careful. We also know there are a lot of dishonest people and cheaters out there. So, to some degree it doesn’t surprise me that I have to have this conversation with my family too.

Last night, a member of the family (less than adult) wanted to input our Netflix credentials into an app that would allow the app to log into our Netflix account so that his friends could log into the app and watch a movie with him. So they could have a “shared experience.” Obviously, if brought to my attention first, the answer would always be a “No” for this sort of thing. It was not, however.

Instead, another member of the family (more than adult) agreed to said procedure in a misguided effort to be “a good parent.” Um, wait, you said ok? Why? Explain to me how you thought this would be a good idea.

Long story short – the answer was still, no. On top of it all, I had to kick everyone in the family out of the Netflix account and reset the password, again. Only four months after aforementioned adult decided it would be a good idea to allow someone else of the extended family access to the account. What a pain in the arse!

So, let’s just think this through a little more before we act, shall we?

Leave me some air!

Posted on by backuphill

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We all know one. We all probably work with one. You know the one…

You know, the one person in your life (hopefully you only have one) from your extended family or a co-worker that talks a mile a minute and won’t let anyone get a single word in? You know, the person who talks so fast they literally suck the air out of the room so no one else has a chance to contribute to the conversation, which usually ends up being one sided?

Ah, you do have one. You are thinking of them now, and it irritates you even now just thinking about it…

This one is for you today. This one is for you to at least have the chance to get three words in. You don’t have to explain. You don’t have to name names (unless it will make you feel better). All you have to do is leave a comment with their relationship to you. Examples = Brother in law; lady in the cubicle next to me; the boss; my last date; etc.

Go ahead. You’ll feel better. This air is just for you….inhale, exhale….breathe….and release…

Red for Ed

Posted on by backuphill

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Yeah, I am going there.

It’s about time people listen up and if it takes a strike, then so be it. What I am tired of is that people don’t listen until it takes a strike, then people pay attention.

One reason I am not a teacher any longer is because of the lack of pay, lack of respect, lack of resources, lack of support, lack of (you name it). The thing is, I worked in a school that was pretty good. We had, for the most part, community support and better than average funding. But, it still got to be too much. I was burned out. I didn’t realize it until I found freedom in another aspect of education, but I realized it.

There are a lot of teachers out there, some with more experience than me and lots with less, that have terrible working conditions and barely make from month to month. But, the one thing they do over and over is give there very best for the kids in their classrooms and it is sad that it goes unappreciated and disrespected.

Those kids, people say, are the future. At least that is what they say. However, those same people then tear down teachers, the work they do, and their efforts to do the most with the least amount of resources possible. Teachers aren’t just saints, they are freaking super heroes and it is ridiculous that it has to get to this.

How about we invest in the MOST important resource we have, our kids. That doesn’t mean more testing. That means more funding for buildings, teachers, curriculum, teacher benefits, continuing education, etc etc etc. If you want quality teachers in the classroom, you have to act like it. Silicon Valley (or at least it used to, but tech companies in general) attract the best talent because they invest in it and pay them well. How does that not translate into our kids as our most valuable asset? It just doesn’t make sense.

It just doesn’t.

I stand with the teachers in California ( #LAUSD ) that are striking. They deserve better. The students they teach deserve better. We all deserve a better future and depriving schools and teachers of that doesn’t make things better, rather just the opposite.

Stand with teachers and wear Red for Ed ( #RedForEd ).

abc books chalk chalkboard

And then there was none

Posted on by backuphill

door closed garage

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There is one persistent problem with the house. We just don’t have enough storage.

The house has some closets and, of course, cupboards in the kitchen but otherwise there is just not enough space in the house. Which means, by default, the garage (which is supposed to house the cars) has become the dumping ground for all those things that don’t fit in the house.

As such, I have done my best to maximize the space. There are shelves on all the walls, floor to ceiling. There are shelves in the middle of the garage, floor to ceiling. There are shelves attached to ceiling and things hanging from the ceiling. I have been creative in finding places to fit things into things, just to make sure space is used. Yet…

It is still not enough. I guess we just have too much stuff. Do we really need it all? I keep asking why we need 30 serving platters of different sizes, shapes, and colors. I mean, obviously if we didn’t have those I could fit more tools into the garage…and that really is the most important. I mean, really.

Anyway, I built some more pantry-esque shelves over the weekend to free up some of the bigger shelves from canned goods and that will work for a while but after that there just isn’t going to any more space in the garage.

And then there was none.

Do you deal with a similar issue or do you actually get to use your garage for it’s intended purpose?

 

Who left this here?

Posted on by backuphill

woman in white cap sleeved shirt blowing dust

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Ever notice that someone has left a mess in your house? The worst part is that as soon as you spend time cleaning it up, like almost immediately, you have to do it again! I swear I am gonna lose my sh…

Anyway, to be ore specific, have you ever noticed that some jerk has strewn dust all over the house and didn’t bother to clean it up?

Yeah, me too. Who is it and why the hell do they keep leaving all this dust in the house and why don’t they every clean it up? Maybe a better question is why do they have an endless supply of the stuff?? I don’t have an endless supply of anything so what makes the “dust distributor” so special?

Sheesh…I have to go clean, AGAIN. Thanks a lot dusty…

 

A little off the top

Posted on by backuphill

In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.
– Benjamin Franklin
person holding black pen

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I am not dying (well, not in the immediate sense of “not”) so you can probably decipher where this post is going…
Here in Washington we now have the pleasure of spending the next year paying into the “WA Family & Medical Leave” super fund. Mind you, we are just paying into it and no one can use the “benefit” for a whole year until the fund is built by every working stiff in the state. It is required by law. There is no way around it. Another new tax to take money out of my pocket so it can be given to someone else.
It is a new state “benefit” that I likely will never see or use. So I am not sure how it is a “benefit” to me. If it doesn’t benefit all, then is it really a benefit? If it COSTS me something, then it isn’t a benefit is it?
So, starting this month there will be a little more off the top of the pay check to pay into this fund. I am really not excited about it. Once again, the government is taking from me so that it can “protect” me. I don’t think I like this kind of protection.

I am not sure I can sleep on it

Posted on by backuphill

selective focus photography of long coated white and black dog lying on white cushion

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How is it that we fall into a pattern that is both comforting and annoying at the same time? Yes, I know, we all have habits that are both good for us and bad for us. The battle against the bad for us is often overwhelmed by the battle of what’s bad for us. Why do we like thing that are bad for us? Wait, that is a topic for another day…

Anyway, I have been sleeping with this one thing that is bad for me. Rather, I may not be sleeping enough because it is sleeping with me. The bad habit to which I refer is sleeping with the dog on the bed. It is both comforting and annoying at the same time!

I once had cats that slept on the bed. It was nice and all, but I found I had adjusted the way I sleep for them in fear that I would wake or disturb them. As it turned out, after I kicked them off the bed, I slept better when the weren’t on the bed. So, I kicked them off permanently and they no longer even think about sleeping there.

But now there is little dog that has wormed it’s way into my heart and it now sleeps on the bed. I say little because it isn’t big. It’s a Shih Tzu, so it needs help to get onto the bed and back off the bed. But, for a little dog it sure takes up space! It likes to sleep right up against you and it kicks and squirms and wiggles and licks and scratches and snuggles…there is a little comfort in knowing it is there. One, for a small dog it produces a huge amount of heat! So it can keep me warm at times. I have also discovered that it doesn’t ever go to the bathroom on the bed. When it stays in the living room and sleeps on the couch at night, there have been times where it will go to the bathroom in the house. If it is on the bed, there are no accidents and in most cases do I rarely have to get up to let it out at night. It’s weird that way.

Anyway, it is getting to the point where I don’t really want it on the bed any longer because I have noticed the old habits with the cats have come back. I am more worried about disturbing it than how it has affected my sleep habits and pattern. So, can I sleep with it any longer or do I need to continue to sleep on it and not rock the boat?

What do you think? Do you have similar issues at your house? Do you sleep with pets and how does your slumber suffer because of it?