I had been reluctant to put the plan in place as LO still comes home for breaks (and she would go nuts down there) and frankly, the dating pool is...quite shallow if not island-minded and/or inebriated. (Oh the stories my sister and her friends have from dating in South Florida.) But at least I had the plan.
Anyway...from the looks of current recovery efforts, that plan won't be a good option for a couple of years.
...
I was talking with a startup in VA in August, and after the initial phone call, they wanted two written reports about the state of their marketing program, each submitted one week after the other. (I don't mind the project idea, as it helps me get into the mindset of the company's challenges, etc.) However, after sending the first project in, the guy who interviewed me went dark and never responded when I had questions or when I submitted the second project. At least I got a "Sorry, we went with someone else" email.
The worst part for them, however, is that they went through a major Web redesign and sales strategy redesign earlier this year and majorly fucked it up. I mean, like lost hundreds of thousands (if not potentially millions) in revenue already this year. The company "grows their own" and many of the problems I saw were because they didn't know better. Guess who ran the redesign? The guy who initially interviewed me.
Also, this company is competitor to a better-known global company that is the next town over from them. I wish I got the story, because they have to be intertwined in some way.
Since it was already mid-August when this all went down, I didn't really bother to look again until after Labor Day. The recruiters are calling again, but I wish I could say I was excited about something.
....
The other piece of news from our family is that LO is raising a service puppy through a college club this year and next. He's living with her in the dorms and getting house trained. In about two years, if he passes training milestones, advanced training, and health checks, he'll go to work with someone depending on his skill set. (We've already decided to adopt him if he doesn't make the program.) She picked him up this past week at the airport and yes, he'll be coming home during breaks. LO is thrilled.
...
My little sister had her third kid a few weeks ago, and I ended up babysitting after my b-i-l's parents decided they didn't want to watch the two older kids for a second night. It was kind of stressful as my younger nephew is two and I don't speak two year old. He also didn't want to eat dinner and was cranky. He ended up crying and going to bed late. Poor kid did have a crazy few days leading up to when I was babysitting him, so it's understandable. When my sister was in hard labor, the daycare called my b-i-l and said that my nephew may have hurt his arm. It wasn't overtly hurting the kid nor restricting his activities, and my sister was, uh, busy. When my nephew was taken to the pediatrician with his new little sister for a checkup, it turns out he did have a bone bruise.
Also, I think the whole iPads for kids thing is...way too addictive and too easy to get inappropriate content. When LO was little I worried about too much TV. At least in my household, I could monitor the TV and what LO watched. However, with the iPad, it was hard to know what they were watching as the even the curated YouTube kids channel had stuff on there that I was uncomfortable about. Let me just put it to you this way, I was grateful the kids did not know how to recharge the iPads.
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One last story...the same weekend where I watched my sister's kids, LO went off to school and I was stressed because at the time, we didn't know where Hurricane Harvey was going. Anyway, that Friday night, my shitty asshole neighbors were out in our shared backyard at 12:30 am. I heard them through the evening and thought they would shut up. Since could hear them drunkenly carousing in my bedroom at that late hour, and I lost it. I put on a jacket, leaned out my kitchen window and yelled at them to "Shut the fuck up", along with some other expletives. They were not happy and yelled at me, telling me I was rude, etc. Anyway. A few more expletives later, they quieted down somewhat. I could also hear them outside my front door, when I heard someone say, "Oh, it was XXX."
I was pissed off enough that I wrote an email that evening to the landlord, explaining what the problem was, and how many parties they've had this year (hint: it was not the first or fifth time). I also reminded him they were the house I reported last year about the bonfires in our backyard. I then said if I have to confront them again, I'm calling the police. It got my landlord's attention (that and the fact that 7 of us share the backyard, including a few families with small kids) and he said he'd warn them. As it turns out, my old money town has a noise law with no time limits for disturbances and our housing is zoned as rental, so if the landlord doesn't do anything, it goes to the zoning board and the landlord can potentially lose his rental licenses.
Anyway, so shitty asshole neighbors have been hanging out on their porch, which is better for me, but I hope the homeowners across the street from them do complain.
...
That's about it. Fight the power. Or harness it. Or be a pissed off Gen Xer. Whatever works.
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