I can only imagine the relief He felt when He stopped typing. Although, relief probably wasn�t it. He�s an odd one, don�t you think?
I know that when I closed the book last night, I felt as if I�d accomplished something. Untold thousands of pages�how many hours spent reading? Who knows? I was done.
I met Roland Deschain back in 1992. JewelrySlut gave me a bunch of books to read after I was at school. I always had a paperback or 2 in my back pack as I traipsed around the RU campi (plural for campus). At that time, I was introduced to The Dark Tower. Finally, 13 years later, I finished the tale. It would have helped if The Writer had moved along a little bit, but these things take time. I followed Roland here and there, shooting one bad guy after another. I saw him pop up in several other books. I became, and I believe this is a real term, a �Tower Junkie�. Last night, I finished the saga. Anyone else here a Tower Junkie? If so, we need to talk? I would not advise starting the series unless you have like 1 year or 2 on your hands. It�s more than just the 7 books. There�s got to be at least hat many more that need to be read as background and gap fillers. But, if you�d like to be a Tower Junkie, let me know and I�ll prescribe a reading list.
That ends my attempt at something other than stream of conscience babble.
On with the opera.
So, I�m kinda cranky lately. Almost in a funk. And, not the good kind of funk where I get to walk around in a mink coat and platform shoes. More of a blah funk. Not good.
Work is boring the shit out of me again. Like I should be shocked by this revelation. But, HealthCareRelatedCompany is not deciding on the vendor and the calendar keeps marching towards Jan 1. And, as long as they don�t decide, the potential for my suffering increases. Also, when things get slow, I usually have to go back to NJ in a week or so. I so do not want to go to NJ in a week or so. Shitter. Plus, people keep calling me into useless meetings during lunchtime. So, I haven�t been in the pool since Thursday. I plan to go today, come hell or high water.
Then, there�s Shmuppie. I may kill her. I know she�s cute, but I think her time on Earth is drawing to a close. To start, she has a cold. So, she�s cranky. She�s also in that phase where she�s testing us to see what our limits are. Everything is answered with a �No� or a tantrum. She�s gotten into kicking us. Really, it�s quite fun. In the sense that it�s not. So, I�m already not in the mood for her shit, and she�s doing her best to pile more shit on. We�ve broken down and whacked her a few times. We didn�t want to, but sometimes when your kid is freaking the fuck out, a slap on the ass is the only way to stop it. It works. Now, don�t go calling Child Services or anything, we always hit her in a spot covered by clothes. Plus, if you don�t use a closed fist, there are no bruises. She�s just gotten out of control lately. I think part of it is from being cooped up. The weather has cooled off. Combo that with her cold and the lack of basement access and we�re all getting a little stir crazy. I hope she gets over this soon. Otherwise, she�s a gonner.
Then, there�s last weekend. Or as I call it �The Visit�. Ugh� So, she got in on Friday night and things were OK. And if OK includes having your mother show up at your house looking anorexic and looking for tequila, then we were just fine. I think my mother weighs 100lbs soaking wet. She really looks like shit. We could tell right away that she did not like the house. Now, it is in a little bit of a state lately. As I describe it, take away 1/3 of your living space and see how you fare. It�s not fun. We�re in Week 3 of this experiment.
So, she got right to work on Saturday morning. She had made us all these curtains and drapes and shit. Some are OK, others seem to have been designed and sewn by a deranged clown. So, there I was, hanging all this nonsense in the wall. Then, she wanted to paint. But, we also had our little nephew at the house for the afternoon. The 2 of us had to go to Home Depot to buy more paint, and all Crazy Thin Lady wanted to do was work work work. We painted all afternoon. I was finally able to get us all to stop and bathe so we could get dinner�at which she drank more tequila.
Sunday dawned with more of the same�work work work. At 1:00, I called a cessation of festivities and piled us all into the car for a tour of North Raleigh. We had fun looking at houses and giving her the lay of the land.
After we got home, the trouble really started. My father had left her something like 4 cell phone messages, had called the house, and had called JewelrySlut�s cell. Seems he needed to talk to his wife about something. Well, they ended up fighting and she started crying. Again, as mentioned countless times before, why they stay married is Waaaaay beyond me. So, now she�s depressed and headed for the Merlot. I decided to cut her off after 3 glasses or so.
I have some problems here. Her drinking is not good. Until recently (like the past 5 years or so), my mother NEVER drank. Like not even a sip of wine at the holidays. Now, she�s drinking to get away from the mess that is her marriage. I�m not looking forward to having to confront her on it. But, the time is coming. We also got to hear about their recent 9-day cruise. That�s right�a 9-day cruise. Apparently, if they had not met up with some other people on the trip, it would have been a full-on disaster. So, what are they doing next? They�re going to Hawaii in January. Not only are they staying in their Maui-based condo, but they�re also staying in a 1-room cottage on the beach on Molokai. Why? I don�t know. Maybe they like hating themselves.
So, on Monday, she was up at 7:00 and was painting while the 3 of us slept. She then decided to rip down the wallpaper in our � bathroom. Thankfully, 3:30 came and we were able to shuttle her to the airport.
What a whirlwind. We are exhausted from her visit. For all the whining she�d done about missing Shmuppie, she saw very little of her. No�there were drapes to hang and shit to paint and it all needed to be done NOW!!! On the bright side, we did get 2 new bathroom vanities. I guess she told my father of the horror that is our home and he told her to start buying stuff for us.
THE HOUSE IS NOT THAT BAD!
Whatever. $500 less for me to spend.
This is good because now we�re working on getting heat to the basement. We have a wood burning stove, but we�d like some other source of heat. There was a baseboard heater in place, but the flood washed it out. So, we have heating and electrical guys coming in to assess what�s going on down there. I think we found someone this morning who will be able to help us. It�s going to cost some money, but we need to get the place warm and up to code if we ever plan to sell it. Hey�it�s just money�
But, as good news, ChurchBomber is coming this weekend. She can�t get in until Saturday evening, so that kinda sucks. MerlotMan�s mother is sick and they had to wait to buy the tickets. So, she�ll be in for a few days. That�s good because JewelrySlut needs the rest and the wine.
The basement�s almost painted and all we really need now is carpeting. The stupid carpet lady won�t call me back. I grow inpatient by the day�
I honestly believe I have rambled on for long enough with out really saying much. I need to go get something to eat before I head to the pool in a little while. Plus, my feet are cold. I don�t know how that matters, but I figured I�d share with the group.