my dad

I just got this e-mail message from my dad:

>>>>
We were just told that tomorrow is our last day. That's all I know at the moment.

We got our downspouts repaired last night, and then I worked on cabinets for a while.
<<<<

That was the whole message.
We are supposed to put his drywall up in the gallery tonight. I'm not really sure how that's going to be.

He's worked there for over ten years. He was the first art department, when it was a smaller company. It was called Icom. Then the owner sold it to Rockwell and it became Rockwell Software. Then they started shipping some of their work downtown to Rockwell Automation. Now they need to "streamline." "Downsize." I'm not sure yet, but it sounds like they're really cutting a lot there.

Stupid fucking DOT.

They're widening one of the main streets through town. They cut down all the trees alongside the road. What pisses me off, is that on one side of the road, there is a school. It is all either lawn of parking lot in front of it. The other side of the road has several homes. Most of the widening is on that side of the road.

bad day, part 4

There's a kid in our boy scout troop who is so stubborn, he won't learn. He refuses to learn, if he's made up his mind that he already knows otherwise.

I tried to teach him about responsibility. His responsibility was to get me the meeting plans for last night's meeting. I didn't get them. He had given them to his dad to e-mail to me. His dad did not do so (for complicated reasons, so I can't completely blame the man, but for the sake of argument with his son, I agreed that the dad did not do his job).

I told the boy, "it was your responsibility to get that agenda to me, and I did not get it."
"But it was my dad's fault! He was supposed to e-mail it to you."
"You did not check to see that he e-mailed them to me."
"But he didn't do it. That's not *my* fault."
"Look, I'm not saying this to blame you for not doing it. I'm telling this to you, so it doesn't happen again."
"No, you're blaming me. You're saying it's my fault. But it's not my responsibility - I did my part."
"All it takes is two seconds to make sure that another person actually did *his* part."
"That's not my job."
"It was your job to make sure I got the meeting plans. If you're saying that you won't do that, we can't have you as a leader in this troop. Are you willing to trade your Eagle badge [which he is trying to earn] for two seconds of work?"
"Yes, if I have to put up with this crap."


If it were up to me, I'd remove him from his leadership position, and then see if he comes around. If he doesn't, then I'd ask him to leave the troop. Unfortunately, it's not solely my decision. And his dad is our Scoutmaster.

I feel sorry for his dad, who knows he raised him that way.

5

And I ran out of granola bars, and I'm hungry.

radioactive sugar pills

Anybody want a Pez?