Returning to Work in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Oooooooooookay beautiful boys and girls. We have returned to the Land Locked State of Iowa and I’m playing a spot of catch up with Work, Prosebox, Grocery Shopping, and Life Not On Vacation, lol. This will be a preamble for the next THREE ENTRIES as I will break them up. They can be found (when complete) as
FINISHING HAWAII
STARTING THE CON
RETURNING TO WORK

BACK TO WORK!

As I was a little nervous about how much work I’d be returning to, and as I knew it would be a Juvenile Court day, I wanted to make sure I made it to work early on Monday. So I woke up early, showered, navigated the EVER EXPANDING construction work (it is getting WAY out of hand!!) and made it to the office. Looking through e-mails, schedules, and everything… it seemed like a lot… but as I reviewed, I realized that I had already taken care of much of it! There was going to be a LOT to do on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, with some very serious and emotional cases on Friday. The first week back is the busiest no matter what, eh?

Juvenile Court was… okay. Busy, obviously. But the morning went well. There was a lot to do, though. So much, in fact, that I had less than 4 minutes for lunch. So my “lunch” was a single cookie and a can of coke. Obviously, a terrible way to start the whole Healthy Living Approach after vacation thing. The afternoon of Juvenile Court is where we had problems. First One? The hearing had been rescheduled once before because while the child was waiting for hearing; he escaped and fled. Hearing rescheduled. This time? The county where he was forgot to obey the court order to bring him to our county. SO… another reschedule! The next hearing? We had to cut a pretty severe deal; but this kid is going to go back to Des Moines, rejoin the gang, and become a problem for Des Moines Gang Task Force so… in one way, at least it is out of our county? The last hearing? Oh Christ, this is the part of the job that is stupid and sucks!
Apparently, mom is crazy and violently hates the father for things that she believes the father (her ex) has done but can’t prove. Anytime she gets worked up about these imagined slights, her son defends Dad. Sometimes Mom gets aggressive with son over it; sometimes son gets aggressive with Mom over it. THIS ONLY HAPPENS WHEN SON IS AT MOM’S HOUSE. When he’s at Dad’s House, he’s fine, he’s safe, he’s law abiding. The issue is… the parents want us to enter in and modify custody because Mom wants boy Full Time and Dad wants boy Full Time. Here’s the secret: WE DON’T DO THAT. If you want to modify your pre-existing custody arrangement, you have to go through your divorce court proceedings. I have nothing to do with that. I want nothing to do with that. So I cut the case loose. Mom seemed both happy and annoyed with that so… who knows what will actually happen.

After work, I had a plan. I was going to help around the house, change clothes, take Nala for a walk… no matter what. Because we need to get our house back to functioning after the vacation and we need to make sure Nala gets a walk every day. I got home and Wife was on the couch watching a horror movie (back to regular, I see) and Nala was in the bedroom, napping in her bed. I asked Wife what she had done… mowed the lawn. In the two weeks we were gone, the lawn exploded again and so it took Wife about 4 hours using the push mower to do the lawn. With this heat? I didn’t begrudge her for being inside watching a movie. That being said? Kind of wish she’d started the laundry or unpacking, but… I get it. She likes mowing and there was a lot of it to do. I looked in the fridge and… yup. She hadn’t gone to the grocery store either. So there was nothing in our home because we emptied the fridge before Hawaii. Thus, Wife and I went to the Grocery Store and restocked. Again, we need to start cooking real meals and eating healthier!! But we agreed not to “beat ourselves up” this week while we were getting back in the swing of things if it wasn’t veggies and meat every night. After we got back from the Grocery Store, I changed clothes and Wife volunteered to walk Nala. Meaning, I came along, but Wife was the one holding the leash and picking the path. And she did a good job. Not only was it a new path, taking us in safer residential places and seeing more of our new town, it was a solid walk… a full hour walk for the puppy! That was pretty nice!

When we got home, we gave Nala a quick Hose-Bath and Towel Dry. Wife nuked some fried chicken fingers and green beans, and we ate while starting to catch up on missed Jeopardy Episodes. Nala started getting a little over-excited and bitey, so we did what my Dad had done for her when she got bitey. She’s over stimulated, put her in the kennel. FUNNIEST THING? When we dropped off the kennel before vacation, Dad said he’d never use it. He was always against kennels and didn’t think a dog should be in one. He changed his tune. He discovered that if Nala got over-excited, over-stimulated, and bitey… put her in the kennel and she’ll calm down and actually LIKE IT. And the same happened for us. We put her in the kennel, after about 30 minutes, we opened the kennel door, and she just… stayed in the kennel. Like, “No, you guys were right. I was going in 8 directions at once. This helps me stay calm. I’m good here.” GOOD DOG!

Obviously, between Grocery Shopping, Walking the Dog, and Jeopardy… I didn’t get any video game time. Not that it’s a huge obsessive detail but something I’m noting. Because as far as Cell Phone Games and Horror Movies… Wife had access to those on vacation and took advantage of that access. As far as my Playstation or XBox? I did not have access to those on vacation. Thus while Wife has not been much separated from her cell phone games or Horror Movies… I am now “since July 1” for my Playstation and XBox. And who knows? It could be likely that I have time tonight. But honestly? I kind of doubt it. I don’t really see it happening until Wednesday or Thursday at the latest.

Finally, we come to TODAY: TUESDAY JULY 16TH!

I left the house a little late. I had some gastric distress and Nala was being kind of clingy. Not that I blame her. For two weeks, she was with grandparents who are retired… then her parents come back and she wants to spend time with them! But… I still have to work to put dog food on the table! Worse, though? Oh. My. Fucking. Aristophanes! Turned left out of my street and BOOM: one way road with Lollipop Men. They finally waved me through and… they were covering less than 40 yards. But after that one way road issue? The highway/primary road through town? Closed. So I drive 40 yards from my house on a one way access road to run smack into a Road Closed Blockade no more than 20 yards later. Took the detour and added another 10 to 20 minutes onto my commute. Zipped down the interstate towards work. Got off the interstate, pulled into the road to go into town and PLEASE WAIT FOR PILOT CAR. Three miles of fucking road HERE cut down to a one way road necessitating a pilot car. WERE IT NOT FOR THE INTERSTATE, MY COMMUTE WOULD HAVE BEEN ENTIRELY “UNDER CONSTRUCTION” AREAS!! I have NEVER seen it this bad before ANYWHERE I have ever lived. Seriously, even speaking with others in my town it is like the motivation was “How can we make IF impossible to travel through, while also cutting off their access to the County Seat?” Bullshit.

Of course, when I get TO the office? Ah, more heavy construction going on inside! No air conditioning and now they are going at the concrete walls. Ear decimating concrete breakers just going at the walls. I am thrilled, thrilled, that I’ve had to cover for boss today. The heat is bad but as long as I have a fan? It is tolerable. Hawaii was much the same way. But unlike Hawaii, I’m not soothed by the sounds of the ocean outside my window… instead I have jackhammers, saws, and concrete breakers going as loud as they can. Frankly??? If the construction workers get ear protection for this shit, we should too! That just seems fair.

Today for court is almost entirely covering for my boss. Which means that if/when I get some free time this afternoon, I’ll have to squeeze in doing my own work.
Like filing three Charging Documents before a 3:00 deadline.
Like trying to unfuck a case for a juvenile offender that, while he may be violent and likely to re-offend, does honestly deserve a chance to do better… and I don’t want a technicality robbing him of his State Funded Treatment.
Then I have to get my Magistrate Matrix created and printed so that my Wednesday can go more smoothly than Monday and Tuesday have gone! lol!

I’m also going to chart which days I do what as far as health and behavior. Specifically, which days I drink Soda, which days I drink Alcohol, which days I play Video Games, which days I exercise at the gym, which days I take Nala for a Walk, which days (if any) I have sex, which days I masturbate. In this fashion, I hope to get a better look at what my life looks like from a health and Relationships angle.

Before I go? Trump and Racism. Seriously, folks… I’ve heard all of the arguments. I’ve heard all of the deflections. I’ve heard all of the hocus pocus of spin bullshit. And there is honestly ONLY TWO POSSIBILITIES.
(1) Either Trump is insanely inept to the point of being entirely incompetent to run a household let alone a business or this country; or
(2) He’s racist, whether in truth or by opportunism; and knows exactly what he’s doing.

Detractors may say both. But for supporters? Be honest with yourself. Telling anyone of a different skin tone to “Go back to the Country you came from” is racist. Because you are making a prejudicial racial judgment suggesting either (1) the individual is a foreigner due to skin tone; or (2) the individual’s ancestors are foreigners making the individual less of a citizen. Well guess what! A lot of people, including 75% of the Congresswomen Trump was talking to.... are UNITED STATES BORN AND BRED CITIZENS. “Go back to where you came from”- they’re already there, ass hats! It would be like walking up to Neil Degrasse Tyson and telling him to go back to where he came from.... he was born in Manhattan, you ass. And Ayanna Pressley was born in Chicago, Illinois. And Rashida Tlaib was born in Detroit. And Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born in The Bronx.
Not to mention how “go back to your own country” has been a standard, commonly used, well known racist trope going back decades and decades. SO… either Trump is a dumbshit who knows nothing and you’re giving him a pass for being ignorant to the point of brain-damagingly stupid. OR you accept that he is a racist and are totally cool with that. Those are your only options as a supporter.

And for those saying, “Nuh-uh. Democrats are racist!” May I say the following: There are likely racists in every community. There are people that you know, that you’re fond of, that you may follow on twitter, that are in fact racists. But here’s an honest statement from me to you. I would rather the President of the United States be a closet racist, terrified of people discovering the truth, and thus hiding it… as opposed to the President of the United States being an open racist, and so much of a conman that he thinks he can claim ignorance after stating one of the most common racist tropes in history.

By the way, he is a conman. Why kick up all this bullshit right now? Three reasons
(1) Trump believes that all press is good press. When Fox News was covering Democrats instead of him, he threw a tantrum and tweet-cursed Fox News for “daring” to cover Democrats for any reason. This is one way in which Trump can say, “Stop focusing on Democratic Presidential Candidates; I want my limelight back!”
(2) Trump needs to make his base believe, with everything in them, that he is ONE OF THEM. White Nationalists have come out in throngs to support President Trump’s racist bullshit; and his response has been “It doesn’t matter who supports it if enough people support it”. He would rather say these kinds of things to rile up 6 million Neo Nazis because he thinks (and may be right) that it will give him a second term.
(3) Always look for the story that comes out on the same day. If a story comes out on the same day as one of these stupid tweet storms and it could be damaging to Trump, Trump Businesses, Trump Allies, Trump Family, or Russia??? THAT is the story he wants to pull focus from. Like, for example, the same day he started this open twitter racism and the report titled Security reports reveal how Assange turned an embassy into a command post for election meddling came out.

Ending with a bit of random. I am 5‘7. I am keenly, acutely, upsettingly aware of how short that means people think I am. People, it seems, are obsessed with the number 6. Ain’t nobody wants a man unless they are “6 feet tall or more”. And we see this in lots of places. For example, I will share a meme in a moment. BUT I will discuss it first. Zendaya is 5‘10. Tom Holland is 5‘8. Two inches ain’t that large a gap. But because everybody be thinking “If he ain’t six feet, he ain’t nothing” we see shit like this: