Cptn Crs in Book Four: Ichi-no-Tani 2017

Before leaving work last night; Ran called me into his office. He was looking over some of Boss’ old files (old including things she’d filed December 2016) and wanted to let me know… we all had a lot of unlearning to do. He pointed out all of the ways that what Boss had done was wrong… not just poor but potentially legally wrong. And he was passionate about it. Which suggests… we’ve got a LOT of work to do… but at least it seems like Ran wants to get us to a functioning and working state. That being said, Wife still wants me to apply to some jobs that came available. The town we’d live in is the size of Up North County… we’d be an hour away from her folks, 45 minutes away from a town of more than 50k people, and 30 minutes away from a MBFITWW. May give it a shot; but… if I don’t get it, I’ll be okay with it actually. I have much to learn and Ran might be able to teach it to me.

Then last night at home… Wife got drunk and initiated sex… which was nice. But of course… ::sigh:: Initiating sex because you are drunk, after midnight on a weekday, by just climbing on… I don’t know. I guess… I wish it was more. I wish it was less “drunk and offensively late at night” and more “genuine and cognizant of my work schedule”… and I wish it was less “okay, we’re doing this so you shut up about it” and more “I want you and I want this to be enjoyable for both of us.” But that may be selfish. (And of course, since it was so late… I didn’t finish… and may have fallen asleep during.)

Now onto today. For obvious reasons, I did not want to wake up. But I did. I woke up and got into the shower. Then out to my car where the Weather Man said “…and the expected high today is 0 (-17.77 C) with a windchill advisory. It’s going to feel like -19 (-28.33 C) for most of the day…” Grumble. I look at the Record Cold Temperatures in countries I want to visit.... Ireland (coldest recorded temperature was -19 C); England (coldest recorded temperature was -27.2 C); Japan (coldest recorded temperature was -41 C). Then I ask the people at Casey’s if this kind of cold is normal for the area. It is. Of course. In Des Moines today they have an expected high of 13 (-10.55 C) with a windchill of -9 (-22.77). Which is odd. I mean… Des Moines is only 138 miles away… but that is a significant temperature difference. ::sigh:: It somewhat explains why this cold feels so bitter. Even the cold that I’m used to isn’t this bad.

I got into the office and it was late-ish. I arrived at about 8:20. Cecilia was there and a DHS employee but nobody else. So, I still got in earlier than Ran, Jude, or the other DHS employee… so not bad. Cecilia suggested that we only do a half-day today; and I would have loved to say yes. I mean… honestly… I’m only going to be doing 4 hours of solid work anyway today… but of course we have to stay in the office from 8 to 5. Why limited to 4 hours? Because it is a Thursday, which means the Disabled Cleaning Crew comes in. And as I say (and think) every week… I am happy that we are part of a program designed to give the mentally disabled jobs and independence. I am a little not happy about it because I wonder if we’re doing it for POSITIVE reasons or if the county agreed to it strictly because “hey, cheap labor” but… that is my own personal concern. That being said… the cleaning crew’s presence makes work difficult. In the first ten minutes alone; two of the young men were shouting and running up and down the hallway. Certainly not a professional environment. Plus… Ran had a Department Head meeting at Ten, so I couldn’t have our (much needed) “Here’s what we need to discuss” meeting with him until the afternoon. It is a good thing he went to the Department Head Meeting though. Boss never used to. Because she would have to leave La La Land, drive to Tiny Town, and act like a Department Head. So, I’m glad that the County Attorney Department will have representation at the Department Head Meeting. And as I write Department Head and Department Head Meeting; the IT Crowd episode “The Final Countdown” keeps coming to mind.

And more news from the world of “How Fucked Is Your County?” More depression related misbehavior from citizens. Though “misbehavior” isn’t accurate. Misbehavior suggests action. Depression has gripped so much of this area that there is a decided lack of action. We send services to people (court ordered) and they accept the services but take no active participation in their own lives. Like, “Thanks for making sure my children weren’t sick or dying. No, I’m not putting on clothes today. Not much point to it, really.” And while I’ve certainly felt like that before (and often in this area)… it is hard to conceive of an entire community going through that. But when I spoke with some of the community leaders (as they are) about trying to fix things, about making this place Commercially Viable or Thrive… I was told the same thing: “We tried about 30 years ago, but nothing worked. So we’ve all pretty much just given up.”

As the day shifted into the 11:00 hour, I grew very tired… very sleepy. And I hadn’t gotten much work done (as expected). But I did get some work done… and that work was frustrating. Our Magistrate writes her own orders. She wrote an order saying “Count 1 & 2 dismissed by separate order.” Okay, that’s fine… don’t see why you don’t make it all part of one order, but it is your prerogative. The clerk e-mails me personally saying “There is no order dismissing Count 1 or 2.” Okay. What do you want me to do about? E-mail the Magistrate… ask if she is going to file that. Hell, I had to remind the Magistrate that the case even existed (since the guilty plea has been on file since December 16th!). Bah. If the Jail and the Magistrate could do their jobs consistently and do them well… I would have a lot less stress and far fewer nightmares when I sleep! Because… I haven’t really been writing it much but… yeah. Nightmares are back. Many of them relating to employment. But instead of Best Buy coming up, it is my brief time with the Interstate Battery Call Center.

I spent the lunch hour catching up on Prosebox Entries. I think I only have 3 full pages of unread Bookmarks now. Of course… that is likely to change, lol. As soon as I finish posting this, there will likely be more to read. But even by 1:00 Ran still hadn’t returned from his meeting. So I analyzed my options. Ultimately, I decided to grab some lunch (though I wish it were a nap). Wife was there watching Farscape and looking up possibilities for our night. We are finally going to “suck it up” and drive an hour to watch a movie. Because “Rogue One” was not going to be shelved to “DVD Netflix” like all the others. So that is my evening. The rest of today? Well… Ran is back. I’ll see how much of his afternoon he’s willing to let me devour. Seriously… 9 issues. Some as large as “Officers have not been fingerprinting or arresting” to as small as “What do I do here?”