Are Good Manners Gone?

It's becoming more and more clear that good manners have gone out of style.  From strangers letting doors close on mothers with young children, to professionals not extending a phone call by the promised date, it seems that any form of courtesy is now out of style.

Maybe it's the "do whatever feels good" mentality that we're drilling into our children these days.  Either way, I'm sick and tired of people being rude.


The latest incident involved a professional.  They were supposed to make contact "either way" by a certain date.  Well, that date came and went with no attempt on their part to get a hold of me via phone, snail mail, or email.  I find it even more offensive since this particular person is a professional, and doing what they say they are going to do is an integral part of their job.

I always make an effort to get back to people when I say I will or to hold a door open for the person behind me.  Is it too much to expect the same from others?

Glad this Week is Over

I am so unbelievably glad this week is finally over.  I kid you not, it has been one of the most frustrating weeks I've had in a long time.  Here's a re-cap of the horrible happenings so far...

Sunday:  My in-laws came over early and left late.  Not the most awesome thing.  They have a bad habit of messing up my house and being very demanding.  My mother-in-law forgot something at home and was planning to bring it up the following day.  Goodie.

Monday:  The kiddos and I were supposed to finally meet up with the playgroup that gets together at 9:30am.  There was a club meeting happening at 10:15, so we all decided to meet at the library.  I got there at 9:30 prompt and guess what?  The library doesn't open until 10.  So I drove around town with the kids for half an hour and came back.  We went in to the appointed meeting area and... nobody else showed up.  So we went to the meeting (which started late) and nobody from the playgroup made it.  Awesome.  I'm supposed to host the next playdate at my house, how uncomfortable will that be??  Hi ladies that I don't know and children that I don't know, come on in...  awkward.

Tuesday:  Nothing really big happened on Tuesday.  I turned in a project for work and got some mixed feedback on that along with a new project.

Wednesday:  Hubby worked from home.  I do the grocery shopping (solo) on hubby's work from home day, but I couldn't go until I knew if anyone was coming over for the weekend.  He didn't get back to me until 6:00 at night, so I went grocery shopping late and we  had McDonalds for dinner.  It took nearly half an hour to get through the drive through and my fries were cold.  Not awesome.  Took the day off from work.  I also realized that the blanket I'd been crocheting was getting progressively smaller.  After counting stitches twice, I determined that I started screwing up on the first row... I had to pull the entire thing apart and start over.

Thursday:  Nothing big happened, but I noticed the TV is progressively getting worse (it emits a high-pitched noise sometimes when you turn it on.  It's becoming more frequent.  The TV is a projection model from 6 years ago, so I guess it's about due to die).  We were supposed to have some storms in the evening, but they missed us.  The grass is dead.  The garden is in desperate need of water.  There is a water ban in effect still.  The town planning board was supposed to meet tonight to determine which candidate gets the associate position.  I didn't get any work done on my new project.  The animals have fleas and the over the counter medication didn't work.  My dog seems to have an allergic reaction to it.  I washed them in olive oil (amazing results, BTW) and washed all the bedding and carpet in the house.  They dried a little on the ugly/funky side, so I picked up some Dawn dish soap and washed them with that.  One or two more baths to go before they look normal again.  It was worth it to get rid of the fleas before they became a problem though.  Nasty things.

Friday:  Another playgroup happened today... or was supposed to.  The plan was that we'd meet at the park at 10:30 or at the library at 10:15 if it rained.  It didn't rain, so I went to the park.  Alone.  Nobody showed up.  These aren't the same ladies as the Monday group, and I'm not sure if that makes it better or worse.  Also, Friday marks the 2nd week since my brother-in-laws interview in Maine for the plumbing position.  I haven't heard anything, so I'm assuming he didn't get the position.  I feel bad for his family, it would have been an amazing opportunity -- and I think it would have helped his wife be less bitchy towards everyone because they'd be farther away and maybe she wouldn't feel so crowded.  Oh, and I didn't hear from the planning board today, so I'm guessing I didn't get the position.  I only got minimal work done today for my project... which means a working weekend.  Not awesome.

So you see, while nothing really bad happened this week, nothing really worked out according to plan either.  So frustrating. I could really use some good luck any time it wants to come my way.

Fingers Crossed!

Fingers crossed that I'll soon have good news to share!  I just read a post on my sister-in-law's FB page that her hubby is going for his long awaited interview tomorrow.  I really hope he gets the job, because not only would it be an amazing opportunity for him and his family, relations between the entire clan would be improved.

The job is 2 states away, roughly a 4-hour drive from where they are now.  That would mean that they would need to move if he gets the job.  Hopefully he'll hear back the day of his interview, because the job would start on the first of next month, leaving them only a couple weeks to move, put in his notice with his current employer, etc.  Luckily, the housing situation is already squared away and they have a place to go that's better than their current situation should he get the job.

Now, my hopefulness is not entirely selfless.  My sister-in-law is bat shit crazy difficult to get along with, and everyone thinks it's because she and her family live too close to my mother and father in-law.  That could very well be the case, but we've never seen how she is when she doesn't live next door to them...  I for one am looking forward to seeing her less often because of the distance and hopefully seeing a turn-around in her personality if they do wind up moving.

So... fingers crossed that my brother-in-law gets the job.  If nothing else, they have 2 little boys and the change in finances would really benefit the children.   Don't get me wrong, they live quite nicely now thanks to the generosity of family and the government.  Moving wouldn't change the family end of the support, but hopefully they would rely less on the state.

This whole scenario does introduce another issue as well.  Normally, if friends or family were moving, I'd offer my help with packing or some tips to make the process easier on them.  I've moved quite a few times and consider myself pretty good at organizing and packing in a quick and timely fashion.  Anyway, my sister-in-law can be terribly moody, and I'm not sure how an offer of help would be received, especially since she is apparently not pleased to be moving despite the fact that she always says she wishes she could live farther from out in-laws.

So do I put the offer out there and risk her wrath when she believes I am invading her space, or do I say nothing and risk her being angry that nobody even offered to help?  Choices choices.  Have I mentioned how much I hate walking on egg shells around "family"?

Gold Digging Granny

This post is about my husbands grandfather, who has recently remarried without having any family present at the ceremony.  In fact, nobody in the family even knew the date of the wedding or that a date had been picked.

I feel the need to point out that my husband's grandfather isn't in the best of health, and has amassed a notable amount of land during his 50+ year marriage to his late wife.

That being said, his new wife has proven herself to be quite the gold digging granny, and I truly hope she gets all that is coming to her.  Karma has a funny way of going full circle and biting people in the butt.  Until that happens, I'll relax and enjoy the show.

Mother-In-Law Madness

So I realize this blog is becoming my way to vent about my in-laws, but bear with me.

My mother-in-law is currently on the phone with my husband getting computer help.  She has been on the phone with him since he got home, two hours ago.  He had a brief, 15-minute break to eat dinner, but then had to rush back to help her.  He has spent no time with either of our kids, and now they are going to bed.

My mother-in-law knows that my husband only has about 2 hours after he gets home to see the kids each night, yet she insists on calling as soon as he may be home to get help.  She isn't working right now (she's a sub and school is out), so there's no reason she can't wait until the kids are asleep to get help.

Also, let me just mention that it has taken 2 hours so far for him to try to help her set up her printer.  Her wireless printer.  They had it working fine and less than a minute later she called him back and said it wasn't working anymore.  I really feel like this is her way of "spending time" with her son, even though it's cutting into his very limited time with his kids.

I really hate how they have zero consideration for anyone, yet expect unlimited understanding from everyone else.  I am not a saint and I only have so much patience.  I'm afraid I am at about the end of my rope and I will go off on her soon and tell her exactly what I think of her.  Someone needs to set her straight.

Lawnmower

So I wanted to post this story of what happened with my in-laws and our lawn mower because it's really bothering me and my husband doesn't want to talk about it.  I know that we all have our horrible in-law stories, but this one really takes the cake.

My husband has a habit of picking up inexpensive kind of junky lawnmowers from people on Craigslist.  He purchased a mower for $150 from a fellow in the next town over.  It worked for one season and then broke.  No surprise there.

My father-in-law is always bragging of the mechanical sensibilities and inexpensive pricing of a small engine repair place near his vacation home in Maine.  He offered to take the broken mower up, and we agreed.  $350 later we had a working lawn mower, just in time for the final mow of the season.  It wasn't working perfectly, but it was mowing so we didn't complain.

Fast forward through Winter and Spring.  It's time to start cutting the lawn again, so we get out the mower and it runs, but not well.  Half way through cutting the lawn, black smoke starts billowing out.  The mower dies and can't even be driven back to the shed.  We throw a tarp over it and give up.

Again, my father-in-law mentions he's bringing some items up to be repaired in Maine.  He offers to bring our mower up as well, and we agree.  The repair man looks at it and tells my father-in-law that it will cost $300 for a new motor.  The motor apparently died.  Awesome.  Oh, let me mention now that my husband sent a signed check made out to the small engine repair place with my father-in-law in the event that it could be repaired.  We told him to of course check with us first before agreeing to repairs and paying.

Well, because of other bills, we decided to put the expensive repairs off for a month.  My husband asked my father-in-law to just leave the mower at his vacation house until we decided what to do or could afford the repair.  He said ok, but mentioned that he thought the replacement motor was "really nice" and that if it were him, he'd do it.  Again, my husband told him that we needed to postpone repairs for a month.

A few days later, I got a call from my mother-in-law.  She said, "I just wanted to let you know that we thought it was a really good deal to fix the mower, so we told the guy to go ahead."  She then proceeded to tell me they would make the check out for $200 and then we would owe them the remainder.  I don't know where she got the OK for $200 from, but it wasn't myself or my husband, they had been told to hold off on the repairs.

So them my husband called his parents and got in a mini-fight with them about it.  His father said the repairs were being done, he couldn't tell the guy no, it's a really good deal, and that we could either pay the $300 or he would pay it and then sell our lawnmower to my brother-in-law for $300.

This really pissed me off.  Who do they think they are to have repairs done when we asked them not to and then sell a lawnmower that isn't theirs to begin with?  Even broken, a large riding lawn mower like ours can bring in at least $150 in our area.

So now they think that I'm being a horrible person for being angry with them about what they did, and my husband doesn't want to start any wars, so he's just not saying anything.  I contacted my brother-in-law, explained the situation to him, and asked him not to buy the mower from my father-in-law since it isn't his to sell.

If he goes and sells it online, I have several of his expensive tools at my house.  I'm contemplating wrapping the cords in duct tape and selling them for $30 each online, then telling him "Well, I put $30 into them and I need my money back so I had to sell them.  It doesn't matter that you didn't want me to do it, it's already done."

And these people don't see why I don't want to leave my children with them for any length of time.  If you can't respect our decisions regarding a lawnmower and its repair, you certainly won't respect our decisions regarding our children.