Things that are irritating me:
- Craigslist. Is it me or is it going downhill? I've been trying to sell some furniture on it and all I get is spammers and people who flake out at the last minute on a sale without giving any discernible reason.
- Home Owners Associations. It seems to me that HOAs could be really cool. You could get to know your neighbors, help keep each other safe, form co-ops, etc. Instead all they seem to do is go around and police anal shit like how many feet your trashcan is from your house or if you are painting your house the authorized shade of suburban beige or where you put garage sale signs.
- Dish Network. No matter what I do, I can't seem to get them to let me reduce my service. They nickel and dime me for idiotic stuff. And every day at around 4ish, the only time all day I sit down to chill in front of the TV for a few minutes, it loses its signal by doing a systems check. I'm about ready to chuck the whole thing.
- The Unitarian Universalist Association. (The National Association.) They are having their general assembly here this year but their accessibility system is about the most bogus thing I have ever seen. First, they say you have to pay some or all of your own accommodations. When you pay for your own accommodations, they aren't accommodating you, they are merely blessing you with the privilege of providing your own. Too also, they have this weird accessibility form you are supposed to fill out that is in PDF. It is nearly impossible for a blind person to fill out a FORM in PDF!!! Then! They wanted you to fill out the form telling you everything you need by a certain date, which would also allow you to pay a reduced registration fee, BEFORE they even published the agenda so that you might even have an idea of what you want to attend and what accommodations you might need. AND THEN! They say that at the convention, if you need large print program materials, you can pay $2.00 for a magnifying glass because apparently they are too cheap to just print a few large print copies of stuff. Oh, and only one $2 magnifying glass per customer! So hideous that I'm not even sure it is worth the price of babysitting to go down there and point all this out. ETA" THERE WAS CHILDCARE PROVIDED!!!! I just found out, but I can't use it because you have to pre-register. I couldn't pre-register (or read the info about childcare being provided) BECAUSE IT WASN"T ACCESSIBLE!!!! Ugh. What a wasted opportunity. And by that I mean, of course, for them to have ME/US there.
- First Unitarian Church. (Main Portland one, not mine.) D and I thought we might attend down there this summer just for fun. I wrote to give them a heads up that we were coming as a courtesy because we would need a) instructions on where the accessible entrances are, b) amplification system, c) preferential seating that would accommodate both my need to sit up close and D's need to have room for his wheelchair that doesn't block the flow of traffic, and d) childcare for the boys. I received a reply that basically was a list of about 5 different email addresses of other people I was supposed to contact that might know something about these requests. Okay, fine. But I'm just tired and wanted to have a nice day downtown and visit a different church. Do I have to write 28 emails to make that happen or could someone there actually do some work to make sure disabled people feel welcome there in the first place?
- The girl that has been helping me do some housekeeping. I had these great people that were helping me out a couple of times a month just to do some work around the house. Then, they started expanding their business and employed a woman to work for them who started coming over. She is nice and everything, but she just doesn't do a good job. AND, I'm not 100% sure of this and would never accuse her unless I had gone through the house from top to bottom and had absolute proof, but I think she is stealing from me. Just little stuff has come up missing. Things that I know exactly where I put them. My phone card, some books, etc. I'm going to try to get the other people back, but it is just all so awkward and I don't want to deal with it.
- Naim. He is in a "NO" stage that is driving me bananas. I know it is normal. But everything is NO Cereal! NO diaper! NO outside! NO Julie! NO daddy! NO books! And then he wants all these things not three minutes later and has a fit because I don't produce them immediately. He has had about 3 tantrums this weekend that I've just chosen to ignore. I don't care how crappy I feel tomorrow, we are going to the gym and he is going to child care.
- D. D has commitment management issues sometimes. Yesterday, we were supposed to go to a potluck (the Indian themed one I mentioned earlier.) I was actually looking forward to going. He told me at 12 he is a bit tired but that he was going. He told me at 3 he was going, he tells me he is going to be 20 minutes late but that he is still going, he shows up 45 minutes late and tells me he doesn't know if he is going. He hems and haws about it for another 20 minutes telling me how sick he is. Finally, I just say, well fine, we aren't going. If he is sick, fine. But if he would have told me at 12 or even 3 that he was too sick to go, I could have made arrangements to go by myself instead of waiting around for his ass. I really needed to get out of the house, and I liked these people, not to mention that I made a trip to the store to cook for it and this is a small deal so it is actually like my missing food would be noticed. There are consequences to actions, you know. I mean, when you are kind of half sick like he was, you either gotta bow out early or suck it up. Not take the whole day to be indecisive and then drag everyone else down with you. Grrrrr.
- Vonage. I am trying out vonage because I don't have long distance and have been using a calling card, which is now missing. Vonage has just been taking forever to get me my stuff. I finally got it yesterday but haven't figured out how to set it up yet. I have been without long distance phone service for a week, which is usually not a big deal, but my main people I vent to and are close to IRL are all long distance calls and I could have used them this week. (Thankfully, Nik called me yesterday when I should have been potlucking and that made me feel a lot better.)
- Me. I'm all kinds of bitchy aren't I? Aren't I irritating you by now? I've been having a little problem that is off limits as a blog topic and will work itself out eventually, but it has been making me on edge. I actually tried to vent about it to a good friend of mine who I usually wouldn't vent about this too. He is a nice guy, but I was feeling so bad about burdening him about it, that the very act of venting to him and possibly causing him stress stressed me out even more than if I just would have kept my mouth shut. It is probably fine, but he's just hard to read and it was through email which makes it harder to know how annoyed he was by my whining. I whine and then feel so bad for whining that I apologize for whining which just really just makes for more whining. It is a vicious circle.
I'll do you all a favor and stop whining to all of you now! I think I've just been couped up in the house too much this week. We missed Thursday healthy start, Friday at the gym, Saturday potluck, and Sunday church for a variety of different reasons. So, I think the kids and I are just a bit stir crazy and need to get back to routine. Tomorrow we are off to swimming for the kids in the AM and then they will go to childcare and I will swim laps. I'm also thinking about getting a babysitter sometime this week just so I can get out of the house for a bit. I got a new book to read and I got "How Green is My Valley" from netflix to watch (I like Anna Lee in it.) so I need to get to it and get out of my funk.
Hey? Got any ideas for blog entries? Give me some direction! I'm kind of having a case of blogger's block as well. What do y'all want to read about?
Thanks for bitching and moaning. Sometimes I think I'm the only one who does it. Frankly, I think you've got a list of legitimate complaints there.
Posted by: Linda | June 11, 2007 at 12:36 AM
Yeeesh.
I have a friend who used to be involved with the UU (a minister). I don't know if she would have any insights for you, but I can ask if you like.
I'm curious, was there a reason you went with Vonage over SKype?
Posted by: mia | June 11, 2007 at 08:52 AM
I've been reading your blog for a while and decided to finally comment....The fact that you whine only makes you human! If you portrayed everything to be perfect all the time we Moms would know you weren't truthful. Sounds to me like you are a Mommmy that has been stuck in the house with two children too long and need a break. That doesnt make you a bad Mom or person, it just means you are human. Life overwhelms us all from time to time. Hang in there! It gets better..
Posted by: Janice | June 11, 2007 at 09:53 AM
Maybe you should just scream. Screaming feels so good when I feel like crap.
Posted by: Angela | June 11, 2007 at 06:34 PM
hi there, i am a wheelchair user and a medical student. i would love to hear from you about issues related to medical care for people with disabilities. For example: What are the elements of "cultural competance" for care of people with disabilities? What specific accessibility features would make your trip to the doctor better (whether or not they are mandated by law)? What are the things doctors do that are most helpful and least helpful? What disability-related content would you lke to see included as part of medical school curricula? If you ever have time & interest in thinking about these questions I would love to hear your thoughts. Your disability culture blog entry was one of the best things I have ever read about disability, and your thoughts on this stuff are always good! thanks, bliss
Posted by: beep | June 12, 2007 at 01:32 AM