Kool-Aid

Sometimes life is just overwhelming.  You tend to lose perspective and get swallowed up inside of it.  Working in a hospital helps, because there is always someone in worse straits…generally in the very next room you go into (though, at my hospital, many of these situations are self imposed).  Still, it is hard not to let stress eat at you. 

Tia’s job seems to be, finally, settling in.  Nothing is 100%, but the odds are in her favor that she will be retained at 80%.  My job continues to be somewhat of a mystery, but it is looking more and more like the plan is to hire someone full time for the clinic, have me train them, and then me moving to a part time position at the Park.  This isn’t ideal, but it will work…you know, if it in fact happens.  Until I see a job posted and I apply and am accepted in, I take nothing as a guarantee.  I have seen enough working to know that everyone is expendable.  However, I do get the impression that they are TRYING to make it work for me, which is heartening.  Still, my stomach is doing backflips while I wait to see what actually happens. 

Tia’s pregnancy is still moving along just about how it should except for some edematous extremities, but thankfully it is just retention and not the dreaded preeclampsia.  Her reflux is under better control and she has been, though in fits and starts, sleeping a bit more than she was (though a lot less than she would prefer). 

The house remodel continues its somewhat lurching forward momentum.  Feels like 2 steps forward, 1 step back all the time.  We finally get the walls down, but it creates so much mess that it takes a full day to clear it.  Then we start painting and everything is a mess again.  And the list goes on and on and on.  If we aren’t trundling loads of dirt and rock by wheelbarrow, assembling poorly drilled out and vaguely directed pieces of Swedish furniture, or painting, digging, or pressure cleaning something…..well, it must be a weekday.  And while there is no ‘clock’ per se, we are kind of trying to finish it all before August when the kiddo will be making his entrance and anything unfinished will likely stay that way for the conceivable future. 

The newest new thing was seemingly simple and ultimately not at all.  We had to cut a piece of granite.  However, it wasn’t a straight cut….it had to be notched.  So, we bring it to have it cut with a template included.  Tia calls later that day to say that they cut the finished end and then had to re-finish it (it is bull nosed).  Then, I evidently wrote the wrong measurement (though the physical template was correct) and they cut it to my measure (my fault, but annoying they didn’t stop to ask why the template and the measurements didn’t match…and erred on the side of cutting too much rather than too little).  So, as I write this our contractor (who has been nothing if not spectacularly helpful and brutally efficient, truly exemplary) is trying to fix all the above to make it work while not looking like someone tried to fix it to make it work.  Should be interesting.  I will say this, if he can’t make it happen, I have a hard time envisioning someone else could. 

As a side bar this is the stated policy of the granite place. 

Tia: We need to get a piece of granite cut, can you do that?

GP (granite place): Yes, for $75.  But, if it isn’t our granite, we can’t promise you we won’t crack it/break it.

Tia: Um, so if that happens, do you replace it?

GP: No

Tia: Are we still expected to pay for it?

GP:  Yes, because we are charging you for our time to cut it. 

If you go to a restaurant, and they burn your medium rare filet, you would ask that either they give you a new one or not charge you anything.  You would be incredulous if they said something to the effect of, “too bad” and expected you to pay for the time they spent effing up your meal.  Suffice to say we would not have paid and they would have just inherited a now broken piece of granite. 

We also had an exterminator out recently to deal with what can only be called an ant infestation at this point.  We tried out some store bought spray, but to no avail.  Now, our bathtub looks like an ant version of Kool-Aid day at the Jim Jones cult every time we walk in the bathroom.  Kind of gross, but at least we know its working. 

The last bitching I will do is about Short Term Disability (STD).  Evidently, short term disability covers you after childbirth (just the birther of course).  Tia’s starts after 30 days @ 50% of her salary.  For a  vaginal birth you are eligible for 6 weeks and for a c-section 8.  Our thought was this: Days 1-30 we would use Tia’s sick and vacation time.  Then 6 weeks of 50% pay followed by 2 weeks of no pay.  What we found out is that the ‘clock’ for disability starts the day the kid is born.  So, she will get 4 weeks of sick/vacation pay (or whatever of that she has to cover with) followed by 2 weeks of STD (covering you from day 31-44) and then NADA/ZIP/ZERO for the last 6 weeks.  Damn it!  

As for the good things, well we are still employed.  We still have lots of friends and family who continue to be overwhelmingly generous with gifts for our kiddo.  We still have a house that we love and the three best cats you could want (even with the obvious drawback of a cat we refer to half-lovingly as the ‘vomit comet’).  And, through it all, we still have each other (and generally are pretty happy with that arrangement). 

Here is to a better week.  Until then……only 3 more childcare centers to visit. 

 Post Script:  Got home and damned if the granite didn't turn out pretty well.  Our contractor is good.