December Updates

A lot of stuff has been happening, as it usually does as the year is preparing to close. Here's a brief rundown:

1. Saturday we cleaned out the Ex's old house, what I call the Marital Home. The same house I am trying to sell because she abandoned it, and it fell on my shoulders. It seems I am perpetually cleaning up after her.
2. The 13 yard dumpster was filled to the top with stuff that she left in the place.
3. The dumpster cost me $230.
4. My realtor called last week and said that she wanted to take inside pictures of the place so they publish a "virtual tour" online. This phone call prompted the cleaning up.
5. My realtor called again this past weekend and said the people that showed interest in buying and "gutting" the place, are no longer interested, and that no one else has showed interest yet. HOWEVER, the interest rates are down in the 5% range, so she is confident this will help boost sales...
6. My brother and Sweetie helped me to clean up the mess in the martial home, and I bought them lunch (actually Sweetie paid, but I paid her back).
7. The virtual tour isn't online yet.
8. I had a big fight, actually I lost my temper, with my middle daughter, "Three", Monday night.
9. She only visits me when she needs something and then leaves when she has gotten what she needs, without spending any time with me. I told her that I was tired of being used and that my "stuff" was no longer open for use, but she was welcome to come visit.
10. Three left a voice mail on my phone last night cursing (using multiple swear words - all of the good ones) at me about fixing a computer for her boyfriend.
11. Three is only 16.
12. Went Christmas gift shopping last night with Sweetie to prepare for our annual family get together scheduled this Saturday.
13. I spent money I don't have.
14. I don't have money, because my tenant still hasn't paid December's rent (which isn't surprising given her past performance the last few months).
15. I over-drafted my bank account by $21 dollars and had to borrow money from my 17 year old son, "Two" to cover me until this Friday when I get paid (sigh).
16. One of my projects at work is causing major problems at some customer's stores, and I have to rework the project in an emergency attempt to fix the problem. Only no one, including me, knows if my "reworked" design will fix the problem.
17. I just got disposable contact lenses that can be worn for up to a month. I am wearing a "test" pair this week and if the work out I can get some more for next year. Bye bye eyeglasses!
18. Sweetie bought me a new watch for Christmas. She told me to wear it to work today, so I am. It's a gold and silver Fossil watch with four diamonds in the gold face, at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 positions. It's really nice...
19. The watch band needs adjusted slightly as it is a little loose on the wrist. Either that or she needs to keep feeding me so I can grow into it.

OK that's all I can think of at the moment...

Later Lou

Press my luck...

I spent most of yesterday talking to everyone I knew well enough to ask, how to go about getting "Big Bucks and No Whammies." The results were not great, but they have a little potential:

• Find a loan company that will grant me a loan. A co-worker suggested a company that I called last night. I spent about 30 minutes on the phone giving them my entire life's financial history. The representative told me I would get a call this morning, and I have been waiting all morning for that call... It hasn't happened yet, which leads me to believe from past experience that no news is definitely not good news.
• Ask the head guy at our office, who has a little money, to give me a personal loan. The issue with this is he is my boss's boss. I am saving this suggestion for next to last resort.
• Ask "Sweetie" to get a loan in her name and I make the payments to her in advance. This option sounds good, except that "Sweetie" doesn't want to have anything to do with this house because it involved "Ex", and because she feels that my luck is really bad, and that things aren't going to go as planned, and she will end up having to make the payments. This option is last resort.
• Ask my one of my uncles whom I have hardly spoken to for years, to loan me the money. I wasn't a good kid growing up, so there is a little bit of bad blood there. And to top off the situation, my brother had a similar situation a few years ago, and when he asked to borrow a few bucks, they told him they wouldn't help him. And he was the good kid growing up, so this one is beyond the last resort.
• Hope that money falls out of the sky, or that some lucky lottery winner decides to read my blog and show me pity and send me a small portion of his/her winnings. Yeah, I am dreaming, but I figure it's better than having a crime against my imagination - Right Limpy?
• I could petition the government for a grant... or I could sell them a few of my hammers... I understand they were buying a few for a couple grand each a few years ago. Nah, they would probably arrest me, or worse yet, make me work for them.

OK, so I am rambling... but it's what I do.... I am trying really, really hard to be patient for the phone call from the loan company. But it's only 15 minutes until the morning is over, and they did say they would let me know in the morning... Unless their office is in California, or Hawaii, then maybe I have a little more time...

Later Lou

Friend

A friend of mine stopped me at work and asked how things have been going. We hadn't spoken for a week or so, and I asked "Haven't you been keeping up by reading my Blog?" "You have a Blog?" he responded with disbelief, as if having a Blog is a pretty rare thing to do. I wonder if that means I have the Blog disease? Can I be cured? I know from personal experience that it has gone into short term remission, but cured? I told him, not only that, but I have setup a family website. Again, he couldn't believe me, so I told him to Google me. The first entry that came up was my LinkedIn profile which I use to network with other people I know. The second entry was not related to me, but the third entry was a mention of my old BBS from the late 80's that I ran called the "Grand Central Station". The forth entry was my family website: Laughlin's in PA. On the menu of the family website is a list of Blogs including mine, "One", "Two", "Three", "Four" and "Other Two". Yeah, I started all my kids with a Blog. It also lists "Two's" personal website. Anyway, he was impressed and started reviewing the websites and Blogs, and I am waiting for him to comment on at least one of my posts... Then I will know my audience went to at least two people! He told me that he was on the web also, and I should Google him, so I did. I found a website that had a video clip from when he was interviewed on TV for a news cast about a machine to help people with bad backs. Now it was my turn to be impressed! I may have created a website and write to a Blog, but I have never gotten interviewed on TV! He's famous! Well maybe not, but he has had his 15 minutes of fame... My turn! Later Lou

Weekend Work...

I had to go into to work this weekend, since I missed two days earlier this week (my mental health days) and I had a deadline for my project this past Friday. I mentioned earlier that I work for a software company, Retalix, but what I didn't mention is what I do there.

I am a software developer, in otherwords I write computer programs. I get to design, create, and modify the software. Unfortunately, the software I work on isn't as exciting as a game nor it is as well known as Windows, but I have been working on it for over a decade, and to me it's pretty cool. Recently, I have been starting to work on other software products that the company sells and getting some new experience, but my heart is still in the product I have worked on the last 10 years. The deadline I missed is for the product I have been working on.

Since I didn't have the kids this weekend, and "Sweetie" has decided to"move on", I had the time so I stayed at work until around 11PM on Saturday. I got most of the work done Saturday, but I had to go back today to finish it up and test it. Well I got the work done, and it will be ready first thing Monday morning. I will have to spend a little bit of time showing the rest of the team my work and testing it again to insure it works without any issues, and then I will move onto the next project.

Before I went to work this morning, I called "Sweetie" to talk. I was trying to figure out if she really wanted to "move on" without me, or was she just frustrated at the time about something else. Well we talked, and I still don't have the answer to that question. However, she did invite me to stop over after I was done working to visit for a little while. When I got there her father, her daughter "Other One", "Other one's" husband (gotta think of a nickname for him), and "Other Two" were all there. "Other One" even brought their cute dog. So we visited a little bit and then "Other One" had to leave to catch a plane, as she had to fly to Chicago for a business trip. "Sweetie" invited me to stay for dinner and have left overs, which was probably the best food I ate all week... (We won't go into my inability to cook in this post). After "Sweetie" took her father home, we sat and talked briefly before I had to head home because "Two" was coming home to get ready for school this week.

I am not sure exactly where we "are". We didn't really make up, but we didn't really say we would stay apart... We are somewhere in between. I will keep you updated when we determine which way the scales will tip. In the mean time I have to get to bed and go back to work, and try to focus on my life... I need to pay attention to my fianances, and insure that the bills are getting paid, but that's another story for another time.

Later Lou

Bowling season starting with a ticket...

Today we start the new bowling year for our league. I belong to the team "Retalix Strikers". Retalix is the name of the company I work for, and they have sponsored the team by getting us team shirts. This is the logo that is on the back of our shirts.

The team is made up of my boss here at work, myself, my brother, and two of my brother's co-workers. It's a a men only leauge, which is a sore spot with a few of my women co-workers. Last year we made it to the playoffs, and ended up making it to the "Super Bowl" of the league, and played the number one team. We didn't beat them, but we did win one out of three games against them, but just making it to the final playoffs was worth it, and a new experience for our team. If you are interested in watching our statistics you can check them out at this link on "League Secretary".

On a different topic, I mentioned yesterday that we were going to the old marital home and doing some major yard work. Well I got home later than I had planned, and we didn't get started until almost dark. We got an hour's worth of work into the place, and most of the yard was mowed and trimed. The hill side in front of the house still needs work, and the small piece of land next to the garage where "Ex" spread broken cement block needs to be done. Even though there is still a lot of work to do the place looks 100% better.

The reason I was late getting home last night wasn't because I left work late, but rather than I got pulled over by the state police for speeding. Apparently I was going 77 in a 55 mile an hour zone. Well, he found that my car's inspection sticker was expired, and made me an offer. He said he would only give me one ticket, and I could choose which one I wanted. I could either have the ticket for speeding or the ticket for the expired inspection stickers. It wasn't much of a choice since the speeding ticket is a moving violation and would add "points" to my driving record and cause my insurance rates to go up. So I chose the expired inspection ticket, and it came to $107.50. I am thinking of starting a legal defense fund, so if you want to donate to the cause, please Email me! :-)

Later

Lou

Bring you up to speed.

It's been awhile since I have posted. I don't have any big reason or excuse as to why I didn't post. I just didn't, and I am not going to spend time trying to analyze why, I am just going to move forward and start posting again. I presume most readers (if I had any) gave up checking for updates... So that means I have a new opportunity to start over again with a new audience. If you are reading this, then you are part of that new audience! So let's get started with the updates: The biggest update is I am still here, and I am still alive, and I am still healthy. Woo Who!!! Let me take a moment to give a little background about myself, and a little review of recent history, and then we can move forward. I am a single parent with four kids. My oldest (we will call her "One") has left the nest and is on her own. She is working full time and managing her own home in Ohioville, PA with her fiancè (we will call him "PlusOne"). "One" and "PlusOne" haven't set a date for their marriage yet, but are doing well. The other three kids are living between my house and the Ex's house. My second oldest (we will call him "Two") who is a senior in high school, is living primarily with me, and the two youngest girls ("Three" and "Four") are living primarily with Ex. "Three" is a junior in high school, and "Four" is in middle school. I have been on my own since February 2000, and I have moved quite a few times, improving my living places as finances allowed. I have been living in my current home for over 3 years, and just recently (May 2007) I bought the building. The building is a duplex, and I have rented out the second apartment, which is helping to defer the cost of the mortgage. I am a computer programmer working for an international company with HQ in Israel, and has a main office in Dallas, Texas. I live and work in Western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. I am dating a wonderful woman (we will call her "Sweetie") who is a nurse, and a mother of two. Her oldest (we will call her "Other One") has also left the nest, has graduated college, gotten married, and is now working full time. Her youngest (we will call him "Other Two") is in High School. We have been dating for quite a few years, and we currently aren't talking about marriage, but who knows what the future might hold... You will have to stay tuned to find out more on that topic. So now that you know a little about me, let me tell you a little about what's been happening in my life. The last 6 months have seen a lot of changes in my life. First, as I have already mentioned, I became a homeowner in May. It's the first time since 2000 that I have owned property. Even though it's been almost 6 months since I bought the place, I am still thinking like a renter rather than an owner. The building needed some serious roof work when I purchased it, and a few other minor repairs. I got all of that done, and rented out the second apartment, and any day now I will be receiving my 3rd rent payment. It's a unique experience having someone else pay you rent. I have good tenants that pay rent on time, which I understand is a rare thing... So I hope they stay for quite some time! :-) Buying my home was planned, and took 4-5 months to complete, but I am very happy with my decision. However, the second house I have acquired was not planned. Yeah, you read correctly, I have two properties. In June, Ex decided she no longer wished to pay for our old marital home. In August of 2006 she purchased a new home, and had been trying to sell the old marital home since then, but couldn't find a buyer. Her finances grew tight with the mortgages from both the old home and her new home, and she felt she could no longer afford the old house, so she just stopped paying the mortgage (actually there are two for that house, but that's not really important). She attempted to arrange a "short sale" with the mortgage holder, but I stopped it. Why would I stop it? Well it's actually quite simple: The mortgages were still in my name as she did not refinance after the divorce, and I did not want my credit score to be screwed over by a "near foreclosure". So to prevent the almost foreclosure, I had to take over the property, and pay the mortgages myself. The cost of taking over the property (2 months of back mortgages, and title transfer fees) was approximately $1,800.00. Since I just spent all available cash I had on the purchase of my home, I didn't have the cash. I asked Ex to pay half and I would pay the other half, and then she wouldn't have to worry about the property any longer. I thought she agreed with that, but apparently didn't so when I withheld a support payment, she took me to court. Two unexpected things happened at the court hearing: I did not have to pay her for the withheld payment, and they lowered the amount of money I pay her each month. The only negative was that they now withhold the support payment from my paycheck instead of me paying her directly. The marital home is in extreme disrepair. The roof needs replaced, water damage, and other damage inside the house needs to be repaired before someone can move into the place. I haven't decided if I will sell the place, or if I will fix up the place and live in it, or rent it. I don't think I can sell it easily since Ex wasn't able to sell it, and there are many homes in the area for sale, as well as the current housing market problems. So that leaves fixing it up, and either living in it or renting it. I could probably rent it pretty easily as it is very near a college, however, if it is fixed up, it would be a nicer place than where I am living now, and I could just rent out the other half of the duplex I am living in now. So that's big financial stories, now onto the more important family stories. "Two" and "Other Two" spent the summer as counselors at Boy Scout camp. "Two" is currently ranked second in his class, and is trying very hard to get to first by the end of the year. He is also trying to decide what he is going to do next year for college, and he is trying to get his driver's license. "Three" just turned 16 last month and is spending most of her time with Ex. She hasn't been coming over to my house recently, and I am not exactly sure why, although I have heard it's because she thinks I have a flea problem in my house and I don't believe her. I haven't found any fleas yet, and I have sprayed. "Four" is coming along, and is spending something like 70% of her time with Ex, and the rest with me. All of the younger kids are now in their second week of school, and are still getting acclimated to getting up in the morning, and completing homework in the evenings. Today "Four" said she wasn't feeling well and didn't want to go to school. She didn't look sick, and didn't feel feverish, so I sent her to school and told her to see the nurse if she didn't feel well. I hope she is OK, and will make it through the day. It's hard to tell if she is sick because she has not always been honest in the past about her health. Tonight I am going with "Sweetie", "Two" and "Other Two" to the marital home, and we are going to do some major yard work. The lawn has gotten a little out of control. The next post I will put up some pictures, and I will do my best to update more often! Later

No Golf

Well, it looks like I am not going to be playing golf this weekend... The golf course is safe!... for now.. :-) I will be traveling once again to Heritage Reservation to visit with my son tomorrow. His mother was supposed to be going, but she isn't able to go, and I don't want to leave him up there for two weeks straight without a visit. Especially after his injury the previous week... Oh well, at least I can be back in time to play cards at my brother's house in the evening. My mother just celebrated her birthday yesterday... Yep it's official, she is still older than me! We went to Fire Mountain buffet restaurant, and then visited for awhile. I really should visit with her more often. We had a good time. There are quite a few other birthdays in the family coming up. My youngest is going to be 11 in a few days, and the middle girl will be 15 a couple of weeks after that. Some where between the two my brother, Rick, celebrates a birthday... It might be possible that he has finally gotten older than me. :-) My niece in Ohio has a birthday the day after my middle daughter... I believe she is having her sweet sixteen! So I better go get some more birthday cards and presents! I wonder if they will accept an I.O.U.?

Nail Clipping

I know this particular topic has been discussed in other blogs, and forums... I know this because I actually looked for it. But if you would be so kind, please let me vent a little here on this topic... Besides, it is MY blog afterall right? I work at a small branch office of a pretty good sized company. The my desk is in a closed room, that holds 7 cubicles, of which, 5 are in use. The sound is muffled slightly by the cubicle walls, but there is still quite a bit of sound that carries throughout the room. Most of that sound is usually one person talking to another over the cube walls... Which is usually ok, but sometimes it gets a little lengthy and loud, and distracting to those who are trying to work... However that's not the topic at hand. The sound that carries the most (my opinion), and is the most annoying (again my opinion) is the little repeative "clip", "clip", "clip" sounds of a fellow co-working chopping his fingernails with a little metal fingernail clipper! Now I know it's not as bad as if he was passing gas all day, belching, or sniffling, but that sound is absolutely horrid. To me, it's like fingernails on a chalk board. What's worse is that it's not one or two clips, it's about 20 to 30 clips... He must clip each nail 2 or 3 times! Or he is doing his toe nails as well.

I have to give the guy credit, at least he is clipping his nails instead of sitting in meetings with us, and biting them off, which to me is even more disgusting to watch, but quieter! It's the sound that gets me, not the fact that little bits of nail are flying all around his cube. (I expect he aims for the trash can)

Of course, I could just go over and politely tell him to QUIT! However, to keep the peace, I just grit my teeth, silently, and leave the room for 10 minutes!

Fundraisers

Tonight I am going to a "Parent" meeting for my son's scout troop. The chairperson of the parent committee called last night to setup the meeting, and said that they wanted to put the final touches on a fundraiser they will be doing for the troop to raise money for summer camp. He explained that they were doing a hoagie (sub) sale, where the boys take orders, then the committee either buys the hoagies, or has the boys make the hoaiges, and then they are delivered to the customers. They usuaully have a couple different types of sandwiches such as Italian, Ham, Turkey and/or Roast Beef. In the past these hoagies have been a huge 18" in length, and sell for around $6.00. Where I work we have about 35-40 people who are in and out of the office throughout the day. Of these people a good portion of them have young people, so there is usually always some fundraiser form in the employee "kitchen" and of those fundraisers most of them are either candy or hoagies. To be honest, I am just a little tired of eating hoagies. Isn't there any other fundraisers any longer? Is that all groups can sell or do now a days is hoagies or candy? And why is it that the "kids" assume that the parents will take the order forms into work for their co-workers to buy... What ever happened to door to door in the neighborhood? Oh yeah, I forgot, we don't live in a safe society any longer... So I need a good idea for a fundraiser... Something other than selling something, or at least not selling the same old same old... Ideas?

Busy...

I have been trying to sit down and write something here. I didn't want to just sit down and write a bunch of nonsense, but after reviewing other Blogs, I guess that's all they are... :-) Well, I have a little time before my next "event". It's one meeting after another, and not all of them are work related. As a matter of fact MOST of them are not work related. I suppose the easiest, and best way to be less busy, would be to just say one word more frequently, and with confidence. It's a word that apparently I do not use enough, except maybe around my kids... It's a simple, yet powerful, small word... I am sure you have heard it, if not used it many, many times...

That's the way to become less busy... When asked to do something, instead of trying to please someone else, or doing it to make yourself look good, Ok that's simple enough right? Wrong! Ego gets in the way, or the desire to take care of someone gets in the way, or the boss who keeps you employed gets in the way, or the significant other gets in the way... Well speaking of getting in the way... I have to go now to my next meeting... So I will catch up with this later! :-)