Broke

The engine light came on on my car. Cost to fix: $200.

I found out that I'm getting a new boss. Uncertainly level: Elevated.

I need to have a mucocele (sp?) removed from the inside of my mouth. This requires surgery to cut out the glands. Cost: $200. The oral surgeon provided me with this news on the same day that we got the news about having a new boss. Day that I now hate even more: Wednesday.

The engine light came on in my car. Cost to fix: $300.

My one-year-old hvac system broke AGAIN. Proposed cost to fix: $570, with the expectation of a $170 rebate on the parts from the manufacturer. I called my builder to tell him that he sucks. He told me that he would fix it for free. I paid $155 for the service call and decided to risk it with the builder. They "fixed" & I went back to work. By the time I got home from work, it was broken again. When I called the builder to complain, he informed me that he was "just trying to save you some money" by doing the work for free. Of course, it would have saved me more money if he hadn't installed a defective system. But I shouldn't mention that. That would be UNGRATEFUL. So, the A/C has been broken all weekend. If the builder's people can't fix it on Monday, I will have to pay the HVAC company (who at least know how to fix things). And, it will have cost me an additional $70.

I hate my builder. Never buy anything from The Gates of Eden Park. They SUCK.

Unexpected bills for the month of July (so far): $955.

!#@%&*!#@#$%@%

Random Observations

Nothing shocks me anymore:

Apparently, everyone lies or twists the truth to their own advantage. From now on, I'm getting everything in writing. And I'm going to ask questions about things that seem obvious. Because trusting people (save perhaps family, true friends and good coworkers) does not work.

My best friend is now a 26-year-old great aunt. Damn.

My oldest niece is tougher than I thought. She just moved to Colorado to work with horses (something she loves). I thought it was unlikely that she would ever leave West Michigan, let alone head out west on her own. I'm impressed.

Toby is better at killing bugs than me. He killed a silverfish and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Ikea is building a store in China on ancient burial grounds and tearing down the tombs to do it. While it's not their motto or anything, the chain is not meant to be evil - it is, after all, a Swedish non-profit. Bad Ikea!

Clinton criticized Bush for commuting Libby's sentence. Bush's talking head criticized Clinton for pardoning Marc Rich (sp?) whose lawyer was... Libby.