The End of 2005

I, for one, am happy to see 2005 go. This has been a shitty year for me and my family. I hope that 2006 brings better luck for us.

The year in review -- Job situation
2005 began with me working at the new Wal-Mart in Hallie. I was supposed to be working "part-time," but they would only work me 2 hours and send me home. After several days of this, I decided I'd had enough and quit.

From there, I had an interview with 1 Reason, Inc. as a Graphic Artist. Bob had wanted to hire a person to take pictures of their product line so they could update their catalog. I sat through an exhausting 3-hour interview on a Sunday. Then, I got no calls back - nothing. I should have taken that as a sign that Bob would dick me around.

I then interviewed for a position with Wausau Cabinet. I filled out my application and then sat through an interview with an ex-cop, who managed to make me feel as if I were on trial. That was one of the most awkward and uncomfortable interviews of my life. The interview ended with several questions, I later found, he should not have asked and could have been in a lot of trouble for asking. Nothing.

My next interview was with UPS, in March. I was applying for a package handling position. After the interview, the HR rep asked me to call her back. I did, but she never took any of my calls. I left it as-is and went about looking for my next interview.

In May, I applied with HTI and got a job. This job, I should have kept, but health problems arose preventing me from doing so. I lost my job in July and just about had a nervous breakdown. I never should have lost this job.

A few days later, I applied and interviewed for a job with United Health. This would have been an interesting job, except for the fact that I never recieved an additional interview. Later, I recieved a letter explaining they had found someone with beter qualificiations. Whatever.

In August, I re-applied with 1 Reason for their Online Sales position. I went through another 3-hour interview and was given the job. Except, I had to wait a month so that I could be "properly trained." Apparently, I was supposed to be working on the site design in this time, despite the fact I didn't have a paycheck. When I finally did start, I was not "properly trained" and given additional responsibilities to the point I could no linger do the job I was hired to do. Rather than hire additional people to reduce the load so I could do my actual job, Bob fired me. I then had to threaten to report him to the Wisconsin State Department of Labor to get my final paycheck. I never got the full amount he owed me, nor was I ever paid a decent salary for the work I did there.

Towards the middle of September, following my second paycheck, I applied with "Hom Furniture" - a ritzy over-priced furniture store. It took almost two hours to fill out the application. I later recieved word they were no longer hiring. No loss.

A week after losing my job at 1 Reason, Inc., I applied and interviewed for a position with Radio Shack. My interview went well and I was promised a follow-up phone call. Nothing. I called to find out what was going on and was told all positions had been filled.

In November, I applied with several companies, 15 to be exact. Nothing. Zip. Nada. I continued applying with companies and recieved a few phone interviews and letters.

In December, I applied with UPS as a Christmas-Temp Package Handler. The position was on-call, so I would have to be called into work. I recieved one call asking if I would be available to work. I called back several times, but recieved no answer. I left a few messages, but nothing.

Towards the middle of the month, I interviewed for a position with NBI in their production printing facility. My second interview went fairly well, but I later recieved word the position was given to someone else. Zippo for me.

The year in all - the numbers

2005 saw an increase in the number of tantraums both children would throw if told "no."
2005 saw a major decrease in grades and effort in school
2005 saw a decrease in pet "accidents" in the home.
2005 saw an increase in time the children spent with their dad's family
2005 saw an increase in personal items I have sold to buy groceries
2005 saw an increase in calls to my family

My airsoft hobby
I "bought" two AEGs this year. I traded my P90 Std for a POS G36. I never should have agreed to it, as that trade resulted in me not having an AEG now. I fixed up the G36 and sold it to buy a POS MP5SD6. I got ripped on both of my AEG purchases this year. Rather than keeping one and just sticking it out, I sold them all and got duped out of the money by my wife.

I bought some first rate tac gear this year. But due to financial problems, had to sell all of it to pay bills. Everything I have bought this year has been sold to pay off bills. All of my tac gear is gone now.

The only airsoft guns I have left are a KWC Sig 226 and a DPMS "Kitty Kat." Both of these guns are sitting in my closet, ear-marked for sale. I just have to get to the point that I want to sell them.

I do believe my airsoft days are over, now. I don't have the money to buy any more guns. Anytime I buy airsoft guns, my wife bitches me out, majorly. I can't afford to travel to any games. I'm not entirely interested in participating right now, ayway.

Christmas 2005
This year's Christmas sucked. The step-children are so greedy I would have preferred to stay in bed on the 25th. I didn't get one damned thing for Christmas, this year. All I did get was a bunch of crap from everyone. My wife was ultra-bitchy through out the entire month, and still is, I might add.

We went shopping four times to buy crap for the step-kids. What was I able to give my son, this year? A lousy- $25 Wal-Mart Gift Card. Last year, after selling one of my airsoft guns, my wife insisted that I spend the money to buy crap for her damned kids. I spent $100 on a Old Navy Gift Card for my son and a $50 card for my parents. She was furious with me.

Next year, I am definitely spending Christmas in Texas, alone. I have spent five Christmas' in WIsconsin. Each have been more miserable than the the previous. My step-kids have been horrible this year, and I have been struggling to not beat their little greedy heads in all year long. The other night, my step-son got so mad at me for telling him to go to bed, he said he wished he could have just five minutes alone with me, he'd show me something.

I really hate this year and Christmas has only seemed to bring out the very worst in everyone. Next year, I want to spend the time with my family in a place where I don't have to worry about those two greedy rotten spoiled little bastards.

Hope for 2006
I want this year to be much better. I want to find a job that pays well, that I can count on to be there for me, and that will be free of all the bullshit I have put up with in 2005.

I want to be away from Kris and her kids as much as possible. The more I'm around them, the more I want to be away from them all. I really despise them all right now and I want to be away from them.

I don't want to spend so much damned time with her family. I understand she needs them and everything, but I want some quiet time away from them all.

I want to see an end to the "we need your paycheck to pay off bills" - shit. Once Kris finds out I have money, she immediately turns around and blows as much of hers as she can on her damned stupid kids. ANytime I spend a dime on myself, she starts in with the crap about us needing the money for something else.

Finally, I want to see an end to her Guilt trip on anything I do for myself. She certainly doesn't mind justifying spending money on crap for her damned kids. SHe doesn't mind justifying taking a trip with her friends to go do something. Why should I have to justify dong something for myself to her? If I'm gonna work extra damned hard to make money, I think I should be the one to benefit from that work.

More Christmas Revelations from the US Government

NYT: NSA Spying Broader Than Bush Admitted
Associated Press



NEW YORK - The National Security Agency has conducted much broader surveillance of e-mails and phone calls — without court orders — than the Bush administration has acknowledged, The New York Times reported on its Web site.

The NSA, with help from American telecommunications companies, obtained access to streams of domestic and international communications, said the Times in the report late Friday, citing unidentified current and former government officials. The story did not name the companies.

Since the Times disclosed the domestic spying program last week,
President Bushhas stressed that his executive order allowing the eavesdropping was limited to people with known links to al-Qaida.

But the Times said that NSA technicians have combed through large volumes of phone and Internet traffic in search of patterns that might lead to terrorists. The volume of information harvested from telecommunications data and voice networks, without court-approved warrants, is much larger than the White House has acknowledged, the paper said, quoting an unnamed official.

The story quoted a former technology manager at a major telecommunications firm as saying that companies have been storing information on calling patterns since the Sept. 11 attacks, and giving it to the federal government. Neither the manager nor the company he worked for was identified.

Alito Defended Ordering Domestic Wiretaps
By DONNA CASSATA, Associated Press Writer



WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito defended the right of government officials to order domestic wiretaps for national security when he worked at the Reagan Justice Department, an echo of President Bush's rationale for spying on U.S. residents in the war on terror.

Then an assistant to the solicitor general, Alito wrote a 1984 memo that provided insights on his views of government powers and legal recourse — seen now through the prism of Bush's actions — as well as clues to the judge's understanding of how the Supreme Court operates.

The National Archives released the memo and scores of other documents related to Alito on Friday; the Associated Press had requested the material under the Freedom of Information Act.

The memo comes as Bush is under fire for secretly ordering domestic spying of suspected terrorists without a warrant.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said Monday he would ask Alito about the president's authority at confirmation hearings beginning Jan. 9. The memo's release Friday prompted committee Democrats to signal that they will press the conservative jurist about executive powers.

The memo dealt with whether government officials should have blanket protection from lawsuits when authorizing wiretaps. "I do not question that the attorney general should have this immunity," Alito wrote. "But for tactical reasons, I would not raise the issue here."

Despite Alito's warning that the government would lose, the Reagan administration took the fight to the Supreme Court in the case of whether Nixon's attorney general, John Mitchell, could be sued for authorizing a warrantless domestic wiretap to gather information about a suspected terrorist plot.

The FBI had received information about a conspiracy to destroy utility tunnels in Washington and to kidnap Henry Kissinger, then national security adviser, to protest the Vietnam War.

In its court brief, the government argued for absolute immunity for the attorney general on matters of national security.

"The attorney general's vital responsibilities in connection with intelligence gathering and prevention in the field of national security are at least deserving of absolute immunity as routine prosecutorial actions taken either by the attorney general or by subordinate officials.

When the attorney general is called upon to take action to protect the security of the nation, he should think only of the national good and not about his pocketbook," the brief said.

Signing the document was Rex E. Lee, then the solicitor general, officials from the Justice Department and Alito.

Alito's analysis about the court and the need for an incremental legal strategy proved prescient. The case ultimately led to a 1985 ruling by the Supreme Court that the attorney general and other high level executive officials could be sued for violating people's rights, in the name of national security, with such actions as domestic wiretaps.

"The danger that high federal officials will disregard constitutional rights in their zeal to protect the national security is sufficiently real to counsel against affording such officials an absolute immunity," the court held.

However, the court said Mitchell was protected from suit, because when he authorized the wiretap he did not realize his actions violated the Fourth Amendment.

The decision was consistent with the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in 1972 that it was unconstitutional for the government to conduct wiretaps without court approval despite the Nixon administration's argument that domestic anti-war groups and other radicals were a threat to national security.

Alito had advised his bosses to appeal the case on narrow procedural grounds but not seek blanket immunity.

"There are also strong reasons to believe that our chances of success will be greater in future cases," he wrote. He noted that then-Justice William H. Rehnquist would be a key vote and would recuse himself from the Nixon-era case.

The documents were among 45 released by the National Archives as the holiday weekend approached. A total of 744 pages were made public.

The White House and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Judiciary Committee, dismissed any link between the 1984 memo to Bush's authorization of electronic surveillance without a warrant to thwart terrorism.

"Any connection between Judge Alito's 1984 memorandum and the current discussion of terrorist surveillance by the NSA is a real stretch," Cornyn said in a statement.
But Democrats seized on the memo and vowed to press Alito on the matter at his confirmation hearings.

"At a time when the nation is faced with revelations that the administration has been wiretapping American citizens, we find that we have a nominee who believes that officials who order warrantless wiretaps of Americans should be immune from legal accountability," said Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass.

Bush picked Alito to take the Supreme Court seat held by Associate Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring.

Among the documents released Friday was a June 1985 memo in which Alito said abortion rights should be overturned but recommended a roadmap of dismantling them piece by piece instead of a "frontal assault on Roe v. Wade."

The June abortion memo contained the same Alito statements as one dated May 30, 1985, which the National Archives released in November — but with a forward note from Reagan administration Solicitor General Charles Fried acknowledging the volatility of the issue and saying it had to be kept quiet.

"I need hardly say how sensitive this material is, and ask that it have no wider circulation," Fried wrote.

Alito, a federal appellate court judge, has been seeking to assure senators that he would put his private views aside when it came time to rule on abortion as a justice. O'Connor has been a supporter of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling affirming a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Daschle: Congress Didn't OK Spying Authority
Associated Press



WASHINGTON - The use of warrantless wiretaps on American citizens was never discussed when Congress authorized the White House to use force against al-Qaida after the Sept. 11 attacks, says former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle.

In an article printed Friday on the op-ed page of The Washington Post, Daschle also wrote that Congress explicitly denied a White House request for war-making authority in the United States.

"This last-minute change would have given the president broad authority to exercise expansive powers not just overseas ... but right here in the United States, potentially against American citizens," Daschle wrote.

"The Bush administration now argues those powers were inherently contained in the resolution adopted by Congress — but at the time, the administration clearly felt they weren't or it wouldn't have tried to insert the additional language," the South Dakota Democrat wrote.

Daschle was Senate Democratic leader at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. He is now a fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal Washington think tank.

The administration formally defended its domestic spying program in a letter to Congress late Thursday, saying the nation's security outweighs privacy concerns of individuals who are monitored.

In a letter to the chairs of the House and Senate intelligence committees, the Justice Department said
President Bush authorized electronic surveillance without first obtaining a warrant in an effort to thwart terrorist acts against the United States.

"There is undeniably an important and legitimate privacy interest at stake with respect to the activities described by the president," wrote Assistant Attorney General William E. Moschella.

"That must be balanced, however, against the government's compelling interest in the security of the nation."

Bush has acknowledged he authorized such surveillance and repeatedly has defended it in recent days.

But Moschella's letter was the administration's first public notice to Congress about the program in which electronic surveillance was conducted without the approval of a secret court created to examine requests for wiretaps and searches in the most sensitive terrorism and espionage cases.

Moschella maintained that Bush acted legally when he authorized the National Security Agency to go around the court to conduct electronic surveillance of international communications into and out of the United States by suspects tied to al-Qaida or its affiliates.

Moschella relied on a Sept. 18, 2001, congressional resolution, known as the Authorization to Use Military Force, as primary legal justification for Bush's creation of a domestic spying program. The resolution "clearly contemplates action within the United States," Moschella wrote, and acknowledges Bush's power to prevent terrorism against the United States.

Congress adopted the resolution in the chaotic days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, authorizing the president to wage war against al-Qaida and other terrorist groups that pose a threat to the United States.

Moschella said the president's constitutional authority also includes power to order warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance inside the United States. He said that power has been affirmed by federal courts, including the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. The FISA court was created in 1978 after public outcry over government spying on anti-war and civil rights protesters.

The administration deliberately bypassed the FISA court, which requires the government to provide evidence that a terrorism or espionage suspect is "an agent of a foreign power."
Moschella said Bush's action was legal because the foreign intelligence law provides a "broad" exception if the spying is authorized by another statute. In this case, he said, Congress' authorization provided such authority.

He also maintained the NSA program is "consistent" with the Fourth Amendment — which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures — and civil liberties.

For searches to be reasonable under law, a warrant is needed, Moschella said. But, outside criminal investigations, he said, the Supreme Court has created exceptions where warrants are not needed.

Disclaimer: All news is quoted from Yahoo! News. Articles are credited to whomever is creditted in the article. All pictures are credited as being from AP.

Almost Christmas

It is almost Christmas! This year has gone by rather quickly. I can hardly believe the year is gone.

Job Situation
I am waiting to find out if I will be getting a second interview for the Production Job at NBI. I had an interview yesterday, Which I think went pretty well. It was kinda rushed, but there really wasn't any need for questions. I don't much like their "Why do you believe you would be the best candidate for this position" - stuff. I simply told them I have experience in this field, I'm a team player, and I am a reliable worker.

Doug gave me a tour of the print room. There were two Docutech Printers in there. These things were frickin' huge - about 15-20 feet long, and was essentially a large copy machine. The thing had 8 trays, each of which looked as if they could hold at least 10,000 pages and printed on 8x11, 13x11, and several other odds and ends sizes.

Each job was a .pdf-file in folder. There looked to be abut 30 jobs in the folder. The other workers seemed to be going along at a decent pace. I got to see their CTP setup and the other machines. The whole place looked very clean and it would be nice to work there.

On the Home Front
The kids seem to be behaving a little better. They are still not behaving as nicely as they should be, but right now, we take what we can get. Andrea's grades are still very low. She has a 46.9 in English and a D- in Math. We recieved her mid-term report and her grades are mostly due to missing and incomplete assignments. She also has a poor participation grade, which hurts her chances of getting a higher grade.

Andrea signed herself up for basketball, but Kris isn't going to allow her to play because of her poor grades. I miss the Texas UIL system, here. If you don't have the grades to compete, you aren't allowed to participate in anything extracuricular - Sports, Academics, or Music. Here, it only semi-applies to the 7th Graders. Andrea's grades, for lack of a better word, SUCK!

Jacob is playing Peewee Basketball and seems to be enjoying himself. Of course, it's the typical standard set-up - Kris pays for it and Rick takes him to everything. We tried to get Rick to take a hint this spring by having him setup Jake's Baseball stuff for the summer. He completely forgot to do it and kept putting it all off. Then he blamed the Eau Claire Parks and Rec. Dept. because he was too lazy to do anything. He told Jake they hadn't sent him the forms in time and that it was too late. That was complete BS. Jake blamed his mom for it, as usual.

Kris has been working her tail off with Christmas stuff. She's been working very hard at work to get several accounts updated and is putting in extra hours to try to get a bigger paycheck. We're finally getting caught back up on bills, but me getting a new job would really help out.

What I want for Christmas!
I don't really want anything for Christmas. The last couple of years have really turned me off tot he holiday, in general. I associate most of that with the kids. They are both very greedy and act horrible. The two of them only see Christmas as something they are owed by everyone. They make their Christmas list without realizing just how tight things are. And then, they bitch and moan when they don't get what they want.

Kris hates Christmas because of how greedy her kids are and all the other crap that goes into preparing for it. Her attitude about holidays sucks. It makes it hard for me to want to get excited when sheacts like such a goon about the holiday season. Instead of trying to enjoy the holiday with her, I have to listen to her moan about "how bad shopping is" and "how greedy her kids are" and "how much she hates having the get-together." I swear, if I hear her gripe about how bad the Cholidays are, I'm gonna smack her.

I realize that each person stresses over the holidays in a different way. But Christmas is a time to share with your family. I want to be able to enjoy spending some time with her, but the constant pissing and moaning about how bad everything is completely infuriates me.

If she hates Christmas, then she needs to stop celebrating it in such a miserable way that only spreads her misery to others - namely me. I don't want to spend my holiday having to listen to her crap. Holidays are supposed to be a celebration and happy, nopt pissing and moaning.

If she hates how greedy her kids are and how bad the shopping is, then she needs to simply stop buying presents for them. Annie and Jake are greedy because people keep feeding their greed. Make them think about someone else for a change. Let them find out how other people celebrate christmas by not giving them a bunch of crap. Let them learn about giving, by having them give up their christmas greed. Let them serve something other than themselves.

Kris could do a hell of a lot more to kick the greedy monsters in the butt. They don't deserve the kind of sacrifice and dedication she gives them. Teaching them that people have feelings would be the best Christmas present she could give those two little monsters.

What I really Want for Christmas.
I want the kids to think about someone other than themselves. I want them to learn to be appreciative and respectful. I want them to stop making excuses for everything and start doing what they are told. I want the two of them to stop whining and snivelling about everything they don't get. I want the two of them to show me a little respect.

I want Kris to kick both of her kids in the ass. I want her to slap them the second they start to sass her about anything they are told to do. I want her to take things away from them when they do something wrong and I want her to get up off her ass and be a parent instead of trying to be their "buddy." I want her to teach her kids to be good people by actually doing some mothering. I want her to stop playing the neutral party and get involved. And I want her to stop coaching from the bleachers and actually get in the game.

I want Kris to learn to handle her/our money reponsibly. I want her to learn how to shop so that we can save money. I want her to stop falling for the tears everytime her kids want something and stop trying to buy her redemption for the mistakes she's made with them. I want Kris to stand up and take some responsibility and stop relying on her family to bail her out of everything. I want Kris to learn patience and stop doing everything "For the now." I want Kris to grow up.

I want to find a job that will let us catch up our bills and get some thing the family needs. I also want to buy back some of the things I've had to sell in the last three years to put food ont he table and to bail Kris out of her financial hole. I want to get out of debt and out of this hole and move on with our lives.

What I want for Christmas
I want to get a job that pays the bills and lets me save some money to buy something I want. I want to be in good financial shape so that I don't have to pawn everything I own for anyone. I want to be able to spend my money without having to justify any of it. I want the time and freedom to pursue my own hobbies without having to include the wife or kids. And I want the not be nagged and bitched out about wanting to do any of it.

That's what I want for Christmas.

But if you're still reading, there are a few material things I want for Christmas:

• New HD, more RAM, new Keyboard for the computer
• My SW Action Fleet Collection sent to me from parents
• a Century Arms G3 (not the CETME garbage, either) hk91-clone Rifle w/4-6 magazines, a UTG G3 Mount, and about 200 rounds of quality .308 Ammo
• S&W Sigma 40F in .40 cal S&W w/ 2 spare magazines and 50 rounds of WInchester Black Talon hollow points
• the Star Wars Trilogy (Ep 4- 6) Widescreen DVD Set
• a 27" TV for the living room
• a new printer
• a 500 mhz or better laptop with at least 256 MB of RAM, running Win 2k Pro
• $500 cash to be spent howeverI want
• 2 days of uninterupted quiet time at home with no kids

I don't think that's really too much to ask. After all of the things I have had to sell and give up in the last two years, I think the list is more than deserving. I guess I will cross my fingers for now.

Hosting a new Game!

D-Day: Normandy
I recently ran across D-Day: Normandy, a WWII Total Conversion of Quake 2. The game is a standalone, meaning you don't have to have Quake 2 to play it. Unfortunately, this also means there is no Bot Support for the Single Player side. It would have been nice to have the singleplayer side, but it prolly would have been more hassle than the authors wanted.

I am hosting the Full Install on the website and its available for download below:

http://willsroom.com/d-day/d-day-standalone.exe

There are a few glitches in some of the maps that make gameplay iffy. Most of these can be found on dday map#5 - crouch/crawl function is disabled to double as "jump"; completion of one of the objectives causes an immediate crash to desktop; and occasionally, the map textures become screwy. This may simply be issues with my machine, but it can cause some trouble.

A couple of players have been unable to get onto my server after following the proper procedure for joinging the server. One of them, I believe, was due to the user's firewall settings. The other, I'm not sure about. I hope to have this issue fixed, perhaps it will be when Brady hosts the next game.

Finally, getting additional maps to load can be a major chore. You have to go through the console to activate the maplist and then you have to hope to god they show up. I was a little disappointed by this, but there may be a fix out there I just haven't run across. I am still testing a few to see if they will be all right to host.

Job Situation
I'm currently working for UPS as a Driver Helper. This job is an on-call position where I may go out and help deliver packages. The pay is very, very good. In fact, I wish I made this much at any of my other jobs as it would have gotten all of our bills caught up and I'd have a few new toys! :) I copleted orientation on Dec. 8th and should go out next week sometime.

I have an interview with National Business Institute for a Production job in their Print Division. I hope the interview goes well as the job was M-F and has some good benefits. I would like to get back into Printing because the job was somewhat rewarding, I seemed to mesh really well with the job, and I enjoyed working in the field. I guess we'll see how it goes over the next week. I would like to start soon, because I would really like to have some money to buy William's Christmas present. I'd also like to get a new computer before this one dies.

I have filled out an appl;lication with Indianhead Foods Distributing, a company which distributes Restaurant and Bulk Grocery Products. The position is in the warehouse, probably loading and unloading. The pay seems decent and the hours are good. Another hopeful.

Grounding the Kids
This week saw the second of Andrea's Grounding. Last Tuesday, Andrea was told to go downstairs, unload a small load of her laundry, and load some towels in the washer. To which, she began whining and bitching. Kris told her to shut up and do it - Annie was supposed to do it 30 minutes earlier, but claimed "she didn't have the time to get around to doing it" while watching cartoons.

Kris had enough and told her to get up and get busy, turned off the TV, and told her she would get any supper until it was done. That was it, Annie began her usual whining and bitching. Then she walked over to the phone, picked it up, and dialed her friend's number and began walking into her room. Kris was in the kitchen fixing supper. I asked Annie what she thought she was doing, having just been told to get busy. She replied that she was calling "Heather" and that she would get to her chores when she was done.

Nope. I told her to hang up the phone and get busy. As she passed by, I gave her a whop on the butt with my hand, along with a little bitching about being told to do something several times and stalling on all of them. This is exactly how Andrea runs out of clean clothes and begins taking Kris' - she refuses to do her chores and then stalls until supper. After supper, she conveniently has homework or studying to do. Apparently, she is studying for a test on Mario Party Advanced.

Well, I sent her downstairs, with her snivelling and bitching about getting a swat and how she never does anything wrong and how she's so mistreated. Then she tried to give Kris a hug, which she almost always does when she gets in trouble or when she's trying to stall. Kris was not going to have any of it. She told her she didn't want to give her a hug and that she needed to get busy. At this point, she had wasted 15 minutes from the last time she had been told to get busy.

Kris told her she didn't want to give her a hug because she was angry with her. Andrea began the "drama" which almost always involves her tearing up and making a big show of crying and wailing like a two year old. Both her and Jacob do this almost any time we tell them "no", by the way. Kris told her to shut up and began with her "I work 7 days a week" - rant. It's true, Kris does work 7 days a week and anytime she asks her kids for help, they bitch and whine about it.

Andrea stomped downstairs (completely forgot about how upset she had claimed to be, not 20 seconds before) and began cursing, using the "F-word" and the "M-F-word." Most of it was directed towards me, because she hadn't gotten away with her usual crap of laying on the couch past request number 6 to do her chores, stalling for an additional 3 requests, refusing to do it, going in her room, and then insisting Kris gives her a hug. On any given day, if I don't step in and intervene, it takes Annie troughly 30 minutes to do what she is asked.

I had come back inside from dumping some trash and recycling in the dumpster and overheard her conversation. I told her if she didn't want her mouth washed out with soap, she'd better shut it. She replied telling me to "F" off. SO I told her if she didn't shut up, she'd be grounded. As usual, she didn't shut up. So she was grounded.

Now, on top of her now grounded status, Kris and I have had to tell her every single morning for the last 3 years to pick up her "pull-up" when she gets dressed. She leaves them thrown in the flloor - wet, dirty, whatever. Then she leaves her door open and the dogs rip it to shreds. Not to mention, it usually stinks up her room. She sees nothing wrong with doing it. We have been trying to get her to pick it up everyday for years.

Well, I made a new rule that said she would lose all phone priveleges for the day if she left her pull-up in the floor. She doesn't seem to care about losing that privelege until its already gone. Then she is completely repentant, and swears she'll try harder and that we should let her get by this time. Yeah. Sure.

Andrea knows right from wrong. She simply doesn't care. If she wants something, she does whatever it takes to get that, regardless of the consequences or who it hurts. Kris doens't always see this, but I think Annie is a Sadistic little creep.

Winter Wonderland

Snow and Ice
Last night we had big fat snow flakes fall. These were those big white fluffy ones that seem to just hang in the air. It showed for about 15 minutes and stopped. Jake went out and shoveled the sidewalks and then came back in freezing. Kris bought him another pair of gloves last weekend.

The kids go through gloves like crazy. And Kris is gullible enough to buy them a new pair each time they lose them. It's really frustrating for her that she can't get them to understand that we can't afford to constantly replace crap they break or lose. And she's too proud to let them go without something because they can't take care of something long enough to use it. I told her I would not buy them anymore gloved because they never take care of the things I buy them.

Two years ago, I bought Jake a very nice pair of Thinsulate gloves. He had them for two days and lost them. I spent $25 on the damned things and he lost them. After that, I bought a $6 5-pack of knit gloves and told him when they were gone, they were gone. He finally lost the last pair of those last spring.

Problems with the Step-Bitch
Andrea is constantly harping on Kris to buy her some new clothes. Kris, again, can't get her to understand that we have no money for that and that she needs to make the clothes she does have last a little longer. Andrea's problem is that she, too, will not take care of anything she has. Her dirty clothes are thrown in the floor and he door left open. So Jada will naturally go in, find the pants, and chew them up.

I had to tell Annie that if she didn't shut up about it, we'd take all of her Christmas stuff off lay-away and exchange it all for clothes. I get really tired of her little smart mouth. She talks back to us everytime we ask herto do anything. And the night before last, she almost got her mouth slapped by Kris for being disrespectful and using foul language. I swear there are time I'd like to whack her with a rubber hose for a good half-hour for the way she speaks to her grandparents and mom.

Last week, she lost her CD player because she refused to keep it picked up out of the floor. Last Spring, she brok five pairs of headphones - two of hers, being left int he floor. And then she would break Jacob's just out of spite while he watched. The last time, she did it right in front of Kris and I and smiled after doing it. I didn't know what to say, and told her to get in her room immediately.

I know she is going to end up in prison. She is a self-centered, hateful little witch. I'm ashamed to even call her my step-daughter because of how sadistic and evil she seems most of the time. Kris and I had a talk about her behavior a few weeks ago.

Andrea is going to end up in prison because she sees nothing wrong with manipulating and screwing people over to get what she wants. She doesn't care about anything aside from getting exactly what she wants. When she doesn't get what she wants, she throws a temper tantraum and become very aggressive.

Teenage Tantraums
A few months ago, she was told to go in her room and clean it up. There were dirty clothes and used "feminine" products littered all over her floor. The room was so disgusting, I had to close her door and put a towel under the crack. Well, she was told to get in there and clean it up. But she wanted to call her aunt "Leann" to come pick her up so she could babysit. Kris and I both put our foot down and told her no.

She then began screaming at the top of her lungs and jumping up and down. She started cursing at boths of us. I immediately stood up. I told her if she didn't shut her mouth and get in her room to begin cleaning, she would be grounded for the rest of the week. She told me to "F" off. I told her two weeks. Then she told me I couldn't ground her and that I had no right to tell her anything. I had to physically force her to clean up her room and not without having to take away half of her "entertainment."

A few months before, she had tried the same crap. I told her that time, if she didn't cut it out, I would take all of her CDs away. She told me I didn't have any right to do it and that I should "F" off. SO after she left the house, I took her CDs away and threw most of them away.

WTF? Who do you think you are?
The most infuriating thing is that she assumes getting in my face and screaming at me, that not slapping her is because I'm afraid of her. And when I do back down, usually because I know that hitting her would send me straight to jail, sheturns right around tries to egg me on more. I swear to god, the next time she does that, she gonna get a black eye and busted lip.

If I had ever spoken to my parents or grandparents the way she does, I would have been beaten to a bloody pulp. What's more, my parents taught me that you should be respectful to people. I would have never thought to behave that way to any adult.

I don't know what to do about Andrea. She is a horrible little monster. I hate being around her and have had to hold my tongue and control my anger to the point that I feel like the next time, I'm gonna explode. The whole issue makes me want to leave every single time I have to deal with it.

It makes me not give a great goddam if Kris's Kids get a Christmas or if they have anything. They don't deserve anything. They are hate-filled, spoiled, conceited little monsters. The only thing they deserve is to be tossed in Juvie Hall.