Dick in a Box

A much better Hanukkah gift.

What Kind of Soul Am I?

You Are an Old Soul

You are an experienced soul who appreciates tradition. Mellow and wise, you like to be with others but also to be alone. Down to earth, you are sensible and impatient. A creature of habit, it takes you a while to warm up to new people. You hate injustice, and you're very protective of family and friends A bit demanding, you expect proper behavior from others. Extremely independent you don't mind living or being alone. But when you find love, you tend to want marriage right away. Souls you are most compatible with: Warrior Soul and Visionary Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

And on the fourth night of Hanukkah...

I am relieved my SIL survived the last night at home. My dickhead brother didn't follow through with his threat to continue his fight with her.

I called in the morning, then later in the morning, then around noon to see if my SIL was okay. And with each call, I grew exponentially more and more anxious. I'd already spent the morning crying on the shoulder of a dear friend and co-worker, so the wait to hear from her was very hard.

After talking for a bit, I gave her some phone numbers to call and some people to talk to. She'd eventually come to the conclusion she needed to leave with the baby, and I'd opened my house to her so that she could feel safe.

She left a message for him that she and the baby were safe, and that they needed to talk. We were anticipating my brother getting pissed, driving over here and creating an arrestable offense. Instead, he called. They got into for over an hour on the phone. In the meantime, I changed by niece into her sleeper, got her bottle ready, fed her and rocked her to sleep.

Then SIL came into my room and she told me she was going back. I was never really convinced she was sure she was doing the right thing. Thank God I have a friend who's been there, done that. Armed with the reality of spousal abuse victim behavior as my friend described, I was prepared for this possibility.

I have a headache.

And my sinuses burn. *sigh*

I need sleep - rather elusive the night before. Imagine that.

Happy Hanukkah (part 4)

How bad is it that I'm checking out an abused womens' shelter for my SIL?

And, no, I did not sleep last night.

Happy Hanukkah to me (part C)

I have a black and white picture of my parents as they're boarding a train for their honeymoon trip to Chicago. It's framed in a nice contemporary frame with a mat border, and it stand on my dining room buffet right next to my mother's old electric menorah, which is dutifully lit and displaying the third night of Hanukkah.

I just got finished telling that handsome, young father of mine, dead for more than 29 years, that he SHOULDA KEPT IT IN HIS PANTS.

Fan-fucking-tastic night.

Happy Hanukkah to me (part deux)

Looks like crying won out.

Happy Hanukkah to me

Our planned dinner at my house was spectacularly dysfunctional. I thought I was going to have to call 911.

I'm not kidding.

Not at all funny. Completely fucked up, in fact.

I don't know whether to cry or tell my SIL to take her daughter and leave my brother. He would not like what I would say at any divorce proceeding, particularly with regard to custody.

I have made some seriously bad judgments in the last two years. One is buy this condo and the second was sending a letter of recommendation for them to adopt. And now I'm totally in love with a child whose father - my brother - is a heartless, abusive prick.

Under normal circumstances, I'd eat something, but this is bad. Really BAD. One of those majorly BAD times when the desire to eat disappears.

There's not a goddamn thing I can do about this either.

Prez Tease!

I LOVE this guy!!!!

Do you trust your HR Director?

Bitch of the first magnitude. Bee-YOTCH, if you will.

How do you trust a Human Resources Director who is indiscreet and bitchy? How do you take problems to an HR Director who can go from passive aggressive to downright actively aggressive in the span of 8 seconds? How can you rely on an HR Director who gets a thrill from control and passing judgment and gossip? What if you've observed displays of utter contempt by your HR Director towards the person who reports to her?

SHE'S. YOUR. HUMAN. RESOURCES. CONTACT.

Nearly everyone in the company sees this. That alone would be funny if our Human Resources Director wasn't taking out her frustration with [insert personal/professional issue here] on the one person in the company who has no power and no voice.

I listened in as HR Bitch phoned her whipping girl at home (waking her up), looking for batteries. I listened as HR Bitch hung up without thanking the woman once she found them. I heard HR Bitch walk away from the phone mumbling "well, I guess she'll be late again".

I'm aware of many more incidences of unrestrained displays of disdain in addition to this.

In the meantime, what do you do for the poor woman who's terrified to tell her supervisor, the HR Bitch, she's sick? A woman who knows she will get The Sneer™ and then The Dig™, and knows that bronchitis verging on pneumonia in HR Bitch's world is no excuse for leaving work early to see the doctor, or to get a chest x-ray or blood work.

What do you do with an angry and cruel Human Resources Director who is clearly unfit to direct resources that are human?

Just throwing it out to the universe. I know there are no easy answers.