Parrothead Jeff

Yeah, I’ve been gone from my blog for much longer than I would have liked. Some out there that I talk to on a regular basis are aware of everything going on while most of you don’t know.

This is going to be a post of mostly personal B.S., so I’ll put it all down below the jump.

OK, I’ve been putting off posting for a while for a number of reasons. Lots of SHTF (Stuff Hit The Fan) lately.

Here’s the basic rundown:

Cindy’s dad passed away less than three weeks ago. This has been hard on everyone, especially Cindy’s mom as you can probably imagine. We had a combination memorial service and birthday party for him a little over a week afterwards on what would have been his birthday. Mick was a great guy, a great father, and a great friend. His loss will be deeply felt by many.

Aside from the general bad news, there’s been other stressful stuff in general. We will likely be moving in the next month or so and haven’t started packing yet. There are two things about the place I’m moving to that I don’t really like. I don’t think I’ll be able to get a C&R (curio and relic) collector’s license for firearms (new hobby - more to come soon) which means lots more $$$ to be shelled out for transfers and background checks down the line. I also won’t be able to have gunpowder in the apartment so I’ll have to go to a friend’s place to do reloading (yep, more on that soon too). We don’t know for sure that we’ll even be moving yet due to several factors including when the darn place will be done.

As for the guns themselves, I just purchased a Steyr M95 rifle. More on the rifle later, but all I seem to get from people is something along the lines of “What do you need that for???” My answer is basically that I don’t need it anymore than they need to have a TV set instead of books and that I like it for the history and it should be fun to shoot. Discouragement all around I tell ya.

Work has been a serious pain in the butt lately. Someone got promoted in my group, a couple of people were away for training, and another person was temporarily reassigned. Yeah, last week sucked big time. Two people are back from training this week, but that just means our group will be taking up slack for the other group who’s sending two people out for training this week.

And then there was today. It was truly full of brown, smelly stuff that should be flushed.

Plans were for Cindy and myself to get together with her mom, niece, and nephew for some time out at Floyd Lamb State Park, feed peacocks, possibly have Nephew and myself detach for a short while and go shooting before rejoining for dinner with a friend of Cindy’s mom. That didn’t even last to the arrival at my car after leaving my apartment.

Some JERK-OFF popped the lock on my car via a slightly opened window and took my Sirius Satellite Radio and windshield mount. They left the power and antenna cables (not compatible with the new radios, by the way) dangling off the dash. They passed up my GPS receiver, the remote for the satellite radio, and a few other valuable items. I just don’t get it.

Fast forward to being nearly at the intended destination. I needed cash so I tried a U-turn to get back to a 7-11. I was in the center/left hand turn lane when the goof off behind me stopped beside/behind me, honking his horn. Right at that time, the phone rang. I finally got to 7-11 and was still pissed off. In briskly closing my car door, one of the door trim pieces managed to slice the end of my right index finger like a razor blade.

But wait! There’s more!

In a fit of frustration at a conversation on my cellphone shortly thereafter I tossed it (not too hard, either) on the floor. When retrieved, the screen was broken. Now I get to shop for another new cellphone. When I’m trying to save money.

In conclusion, life ain’t been a bed of roses lately. But whatchagonnado? Me, I think I’m going to go get the sleep I can tonight and see about how soon I can take a day or two of the 7.5 vacation days I have banked up and get some stuff together so that I have something resembling order in my life.