another day another dollar

This morning began with me getting ready to go work and my son putting me through wringer yet again, he wanted to take his leap frog computer with us and when I took it away all hell broke loose.  I missed my bus again and I hoped I wouldn't be too late but it doesn't help my commute timing when the idiots at metropolitan ave decide to start mopping the trains and posting signs. I'm wtf is wrong with the MTA well I have a laundry list but seriously this is rush hour? can't you post notices on off hours and same with cleaning the cars especially mopping them many times they don't even do this and I can make great timing on the bus and the train stalls there it's so aggravating.  This leaves me little time to make a stop at dunkin donuts the atm or any other quick stop before I get to work and then throw in the elevators acting up.  On my ride to work I noticed a woman coming in with two small children and then I noticed some rude ghetto bitch accusing her of pushing her I thought to myself gtfo it's way too early in the morning for this shit.  I looked and she didn't push her at all this has happened although not to the extreme as this stupid idiot did first of all she looked like a hs student and the woman argued back I think people target certain people for different reasons a lot of times people underestimate ppl and think they won't fight back well I think she was wrong for doing that and if someone came near my kid and stroller I would go off.  These are the reasons I avoid the subways like the plague with my child.  Not only are they filthy and full of germs they're also full of a-holes and crazy people.   After that episode I see another einstein get on with leggings low cut socks and low top sneakers exposing her ankles wtf is that? did you get dressed in the dark? Well my train gets to my transfer point in which I catch the 6 and it stalls wonderful for me and I'm trying not to think about the minutes passing by and how long I will have to stay behind.  I finally get to my stop and I walk to dunkin donuts which I dread b/c there are two clerks there that I can't stand they're both very rude and I've come close to cursing one of them out well I get on line to order my stuff and she's trying to get my order but still talking to someone else so she obviously didn't hear me she tells the other with an attitude to take my order I'm like whatever at this point I don't give a **** who does it just give me my stuff so I can gtfo.  I take my stuff get my metro and am ny and off to work.  I show my id to the guards who in my opinion are a bunch of rude aholes and proceed to the elevator when I punch in 8 minutes which I hate b/c after 4 the clock moves soooo slow for me to leave.  I get to my desk unwind and warm up check my e-mail check a few web pgs and I begin my work and this week I've done at lot of work which I also did today and of course due to printer malfunction we're all connected to the same printer and it's too much work for these lazy clockwatcher to sort through the print outs and sort out what's theirs.  We ran out of toner b/c of this and now the person in charge of computer dept says he's not going to order a new printer and I'm like gtfo you'd rather wait for a part for a printer that we know is on it's last leg than order a new one I told my co worker he acts as if he's paying for the printer out of his pocket he needs to authorize the purchase of a new one so that all of us will be able to get the job done all of this stupidity and dealing with the mundane of every day.By the end of the day I was tired I printed out my daily reports and was ready to get out of there but had to stay 8 extra minutes that usually can make me miss the train   Went to quiznos sub today to get my favorite chicken carbonora sub which tastes great every time, tried their soup the last time also great.  Then I find out I had to pick up jr b/c he got stuck late at work which I dread but then I got a ride which made my life so much easier.  He then brought some pio pio chicken which tastes so good but it will make you thirsty like crazy we all had some then jr decides to dump his food on the floor and I'm already feeling tired but he cleaned it up.  I gave him a bath read him books and off to bed.  Tomorrow we're expecting more snow and I'm glad that I will have a break from dropping him off this is rare but when it happens I make sure to always catch the early train which most people are still asleep or barely conscious and it's nice and quiet and I get to the city nice and early b/c I definitely want to get to work on time on friday so that I may leave exactly at 4.  We're watching NCIS and I should've been in bed a half hr ago but there goes the insomnia again well I had better get to bed or I won't be up on time tomorrow.  The things we deal with in a day it's ridiculous sometimes.

slow moving day

Today began exactly as I thought it would I couldn't bring myself to wake up and I didn't hear my alarm had it not been for the fact that he came into the room I would've been late.  Last night after experiencing a stressful day I had the worst case of insomnia but I eventually fell asleep but it always seems like the night flies by and just when you're comfortable warm under your blanket and in a real good deep sleep is when my cell phone alarm goes off and it's time for me to pry myself out of bed.  It felt like monday instead of tuesday.  This morning's weather wasn't good at all snow on the ground not as much as the blizzard or previous storm but freezing rain and sheets of ice frozen over night sure don't help the commute at all.  I was grateful to him that he dropped us off b/c I sure as heck didn't want to walk in that with jr.  When we arrived at the sitter house I get out of car to take him and I was walking slow I almost slipped and fell I was wondering where the heck where the salt trucks that this ice was that thick. I had to walk really slow and it was drizzling I ring the bell it's freezing cold and I get no response mind you my son was sick and is taking medication so I'm getting more pissed off by the minute and I finally ring the bell again and the door opens but it's someone else not the sitter and I'm wondering wtf is wrong with an adult who can let someone wait out in the cold with a small child b/c you didn't like what a parent said to you I mean seriously it never ceases to amaze to what lengths people's stupidity and lack of maturity reach at times.  I signed him in and he's just a kid he runs in to the house and I leave and the "adult" and I use that term loosely never showed her face.  If I was in that ghetto state mind of mind I probably would've told her ass off but she truly isn't worth me wasting my breath over.  What's wrong with people is they like the idea of running a business and they like money but they have no professionalism or any business etiquette at all you would think a return of a phone call would be their priority but it's not it's one big disorganized cluster f***.   My next day off is Feb 22 and I'm going to make a back up plan b/c i'm not going through this nonsense again.  I get to work only to find the gate closed to city hall park and I had to walk around it which made me later to work.  I was freezing grabbed a large hot chocolate at dunkin donuts my daily am ny and metro papers and headed off to work.  I did a few things and began my work day I did a lot of work or maybe it just seemed like a lot but I sure felt heavy handed and tired so I know I won't have any problem falling asleep tonight.  On my ride home the MTA screwed up as always J train was slow and behind we get on the train it was packed we get off at essex to get the M no where in sight we get on another J train and finally get the M in myrtle ave-bway.  I was so annoyed b/c I had to be home on time since today was jr first speech therapy session and it went pretty well except for the times where he wanted to be defiant and not follow the therapist I just wish it was at least one hour of instruction it's only a half hour and when he really got into it the session was over I signed the papers and she will be back next week, we still haven't heard from the other two therapists yet but I think he will be fine with them too I hope anyway.  As the session was going on I was trying to stay focused but I felt myself drifting off and after she left I felt like grabbing a pillow and blanket and dozing off.  Dinner was done we watched our shows jr ate and made a mess after that I gave him a bath put on his pjs and read him some books and he was asleep after 8.  Commuting is tiring especially when you have to deal with MTA incompetence all the time I hope they shoveled and salted b/c I want to get to work on time so I can leave early and be home early.  Tomorrow is hump day which means this week will hopefully fly by fast and this weekend I'm going to try very hard to relax and catch up on rest.  I'm going to do a basic cleaning up sometimes it seems like no mater how much you clean and organize it never lasts.   Well my exhaustion is taking over so I will be heading off to bed, I hope I will make up for the sleeplessness of last night. 

mlk day and politics overall

Today was MLK day and most people just see it as another day off.  I looked on my cell phone today to see various news links and blogs in his honor and I clicked on one that had a you tube link of his famous I have a dream speech and I listened to the speech and it saddened me that this man had a vision of peace equality and respect for all people in this world and in a short span of time his life was ended by an assassin I think about how different the world could've been if he were still alive and he would've been able to continue his goal or if President Kennedy and his brother Robert were here the same? or would they have been saddened by the way today's world is.  The 1960's were a time of change and turmoil in this country and I think they really wanted to try and improve our world but the ignorance and intolerance and fear of change is what motivated people to plot what became their demise while they were the pioneers of this movement and this world has made a lot of progress since those days but there is still a lot of work to be done there's still a lot of hatred, discrimination and intolerance toward certain groups, the anti-immigration sentiment, etc.  sometimes it makes me think that it's just a different type of racism now that evolves with different issues and situations.  I know that nothing is gained with violence, hatred and intolerance and everyone loses.  It seems like these days you can't even have a conversation about politics without getting into a heated argument, fight, or worse a shooting.  I hope one day that people will see past race color religion and political affiliations and see one another as people with likes dislikes hopes and goals and we may not always agree with one another you can always agree to disagree I know I have there's a lot of peoples views I don't agree with and I respect them and they're entitled to have their opinions I don't get why that's so hard for some people.  Why would anyone want to live in a world where everyone looked the same, had the same political views, religious beliefs it would be a pretty boring world I think safer to someone but very boring to me and many others.  Diversity is a good thing I just wish people would see that.  If we don't explore and think outside the box, take risks, experiment we will never experience life.  Sometimes we make good choices and some bad but life experience isn't acheived by being perfect it's being human and being human is imperfect.  I think MLK visions lives in other people in our current time who try to emulate his works and his vision and hope things will one day start looking up instead of down as it's been these past few years.

no down time today

I was looking forward to this weekend as it was a long weekend to rest and relax but saturday was the usual cleaning of this house which I hate to do and run some errands.  It's getting to the point that I hate going to the stores b/c they never seem to have what I want but I always seem to find the right color size, etc. online in the comfort of home with no long register lines or annoying customers.  Yesterday I went to bj's to pick up a case of water pull ups and a few snacks.  Why is it that the express line in the stores is the slowest line? I notice this in every type of store out there.  I also think to myself why do they never have enough cashiers but if someone asks if they're hiring, they don't need any help, it's just plain old incompetence in my opinion do they really think we have time to wait around most of the time none of us want to be bothered with going in the first place.  Today was supposed to be my "me" day well that it didn't work out and now I have to go to work tomorrow morning and it will feel like a monday instead of tuesday.  I spoke to the sitter a few days ago who said she'd be open today and I called to confirm yesterday no response left a msg same outcome sent a text to her daughter no reply either and I was really upset b/c she was the one who said she'd be open I wake up and get my son up call her and she gives me some bs that she just got in and I'm thinking @ 7 am she's full of shit and I got annoyed of course and said you didn't get my msg that I was bringing and I left a msg with your daughter and she started talking a lot of crap and then told me if I wanted to bring him I could but no kids were going to be there I said **** this and her I don't need this crap I can't get how hard it is to return someone's phone call or reply to a msg what if I would've gone out in this freezing cold weather got on the bus with my son for you to say that!!! I would've told them off.  Truth is I haven't been exactly thrilled with their services for a while already and their lack of organization, etc. but I'm like millions of other working parents out there I can't afford the outrageous tuition of pre schools and don't qualify for a voucher b/c I'm married and my husbands income we'd be laughed before the application process began if I applied alone I would qualify but this is not the right thing to do even though people have suggested it to me for every 10,000 people who get away with it I will be the 10,001 person they will catch so I continue to bring him there until I find a better solution or our relocation goal is finalized.  There really needs to be more affordable daycare options out there b/c it's not easy to qualify for a voucher your income has to be pretty low and considering the high cost of living these days especially here in NYC it's tough to get by these days.  My son was pretty bad today refused to take a nap tried for 1 hr 30 minutes to be exact and I was frazzled hungry and was in desperate need of a break it didn't happen till his father got home.  He then tells me this how life as a SAHM would be and I couldn't even handle today and I want to say oh stfu,. there are good days and bad days and this was just a bad day he doesn't always behave like this. Men think being a SAHM is a piece of cake until they have to do it I once remember coming home to a messy house, etc. and he gave the same excuse I did lol not fun when you actually have to do it.  Once he got home we got something for dinner and I retreated to my bedroom to watch some tv and just have some time alone and it made a little difference and the cat decides to come in and hop on the bed to keep me company as she always does and I also think she smelled the cold cuts and wanted some ham and turkey so I gave her some and she vaccumed it of course.  Jr. even gave his father a run for his money to put him to bed and take his medicine just one of those days and I'm glad that it has come to a close that I finally have some downtime to relax before I have to get up and get ready for work tomorrow.   I spoke with the our new service coordinator today and she seems to be a nice person and we discussed his evaluation and speech and special instruction plan.  She works pretty fast b/c I quickly after got a call from a speech therapist and his first session will be tomorrow after work and I'm looking forward to it and I hope he behaves and warms up to her.  I also asked her to research things about early intervention in Florida so I know what their criteria is just in case we need it.  I hope that this coming weekend we will have some downtime to do something besides always cleaning and running household errands if I could only afford maid service and a nanny that's a dream of course.  These are the days I wish my mother still lived here I would've been able to get a break and regroup but maybe that will change in the future we'll see what the coming months bring. 

the dilemmas of working parents

Today was another cold morning and I sure didn't want to get out of bed I forced myself out of bed and jr heard me of course and cried so I took him out of the crib and brought him to the livingroom.  He's been cranky for the past few days b/c of fever and we think he may have pink eye.  I hope not b/c it's contagious.  I was late to work today thanks to the wonderfully competent MTA the buses came 3 at a time and the one I was on decided he wanted to let us off mid way b/c it was too much work for him to drive up to the bus stop and let us off so we winded up getting off between a big heap of snow and passing cars.  I was so annoyed I had to pick him up and hurry up and cross the street.  I get to the sitter and give her the children's motrin and she asks me if I had taken him to the dr but I couldn't b/c all of them were closed due to the snow.  I told I her I didn't have a chance and just when I arrive to work 13 minutes late a little while after that my cell phone goes off and it's her telling me that he has discharge coming from his eye and I thought he didn't have any when he was at home either way she says she has pink eye and how she had to keep him away from the other kids  and how it's contagious and not fair to the other kids or her now I get this but don't make it seem like I knowingly brought my son to you with pink eye and couldn't be bothered b/c I had to get to work now that maybe the case for a lot of parents but it's not with me.  I then was stuck with the dilemma of having to leave work early or his father leaving early and I opted for him to leave early.  I was pissed off at first initially b/c he tells me to leave MY job and I thought why is it that men always say so are you going to leave early? I said I don't think so I don't have enough time off so I have to be careful and I was already out due to snow so I thought it was only fair he left and he did.  He says that he didn't see any discharge either I think she just wanted him out of the daycare so that the other kids weren't around him.  I made the appointment for the dr and I hope that they will give him something for it but another dilemma was he will have to be out of daycare until he gets better this is the hardest part for working parents these are times I wish I was home with my child b/c no one will take care of your child like you do and who wants to worry about having to answer to a manager boss or having to worry about having paid time off? I sure wish I didn't.  Some women can be a parent and not have to worry about being a provider but some have to be both parent and provider or partial provider in my case.  I think society has lost focus on what's important these days.  It shows in our ridiculous maternity leave packages that companies give out, the outrageous cost of daycare, and parents who want to live a certain lifestyle have two cars, the latest stuff etc. but no one realizes who's paying the price in the process, the children.  They're being raised as latch key kids, or by after school programs, babysitters, etc. while the parents bust their asses at work and come home tired from commuting and working all day and sometimes don't have even the energy or the patience to deal with the children.  I know b/c this is how I feel sometimes.  I sometimes lose my patience and get aggravated and I realize that children don't know and realize that we are tired aggravated need a break, etc.  There's only so much you can do in a day and usually by the time I get home from work I don't want to do much but change my clothes, watch some tv, have dinner which neither of us usually wants to do and most of the time he does while I watch jr give him his bath and get him ready for bed, etc.  I think people really need to think twice before they have children especially women b/c I think that everyone gets caught up in the pregnancy, getting all of these things for the baby most over priced latest gadgets that don't really matter no one thinks about childcare, your job and having to juggle all of these tasks as a full time working parent, without going postal.  Earlier this week it was determined jr needed speech therapy help with motor skills and early intervention is really getting on my nerves b/c we tell them specifically we need evening or weekend services I get a call from a speech therapist and tell her these needs only to be told that was "impossible" due to her busy schedule and I thought wtf is wrong with these people do they think that everyone has the luxury of staying home or living off the system well I sure wish I did while I know my son needs the help these agencies have to realize the dilemmas we face as working parents and try to work with us not against us and stress us out even more.  So his father is supposed to contact the new coordinator and I hope this is resolved b/c I'd like jr to start receiving the help he needs ASAP.   These are things that no one thinks about and we wanted to have another child but I doubt very much that will happen at least not now and definitely not living here in NY.  It's too expensive to live here and I don't want to deal with the same stress I deal with now two fold and having to pay out daycare for 2.   These are the times when I think it's best for us to move out of here.  Our relocation plans for now are on hold due to job issues, me driving, etc. etc. sometimes I think it was the vacation nostalgia but there still is a part of me that does want to relocate but things have to be set in place in order for it to happen.   Right now he's at the dr with jr and I hope the dr can give him something for the infection and someone is willing to do us the favor of watching him while he's out of daycare which will always will be eternally grateful to him since I can't afford to miss any more time from work.  These are the days I wish I was a SAHM but these days with the rising cost of living especially here with rent as high as some mortgage payments it's not possible for most.  I think if more people managed their money better a lot more things can be done but sometimes even just buying the basics I find myself coming up short seems like a no win situation money doesn't go as far as it used to anymore and it seems like everything is going up metro card, food, cable is another rip off I thought about getting rid of that at one point b/c of their ridiculous fees and taxes but I do like to watch an occasional show on TV once in a while maybe it wouldn't be so expensive if they didn't add all of these ridiculous surcharges taxes and fees. 

long day

I sure didn't feel like getting out bed this morning but when do I really? I drag myself out of bed b/c jr is crying in his crib and I got up half hour earlier maybe that's another reason why I feel so run down and maybe I should've given myself an extra few days to rest before I went back to work but I didn't and now I'm paying for it.  Sleep and relaxation does wonders for your body and mind.  Today I go to catch the 6 train and see a woman who needed directions and she asks me where york st is and I think about york st in bklyn but she actually was looking for york ave in the upper east side and I thought wow how did she wind up in lower manhattan? My thing is if you really don't know don't send someone on a wild goose chase.  This fool who ever they were told this lady that the 5 train goes which is not true.  She deemed me her life saver and I was glad I could help.  When I got off at the last stop she followed and I showed her where to catch the 6 she thanked me and I went on my way to work I stopped got breakfast at dunkin donuts since I didn't get time to eat at home my metro and am ny papers and I wish they'd fix that stupid elevator as it made me late once again to work.  I then get to my desk and eat and start my work assembling and stuff mailings is a very tedious process takes me a lot of time sometimes half the morning.  I wish they could come up with a better system.  I was wondering about the meeting with early intervention to discuss the services jr needs I got the report in the mail and I have to admit it was long and a lot of details but we couldnt make the mtg this week so I called to reschedule and since I never got a response I text the service coordinator and I couldn't believe the response she sent back,  it was unprofessional and sarcastic.  I took a deep breath and thought my son needs this help but then I got angry and thought who the heck does this lady think she is to send me a message like this so I sent a mildy sarcastic response and then she replies she's sorry that she thought I knew the date it had been rescheduled which was next thursday 8:45 which i'm kind of pissed off b/c mornings are hard but his father has the day off so he will attend but I'm disappointed since I did want to be present since this is an important step.  There are so many people who have jobs these days that I wonder how they got them in the first place.  They have no professionalism at all.  Some of them don't even know their jobs well it's ridiculous.  You see this is a lot where I work but it's all over.  Today was pay day and I wasn't expecting to get much but I got something which felt good b/c it was a lot more than I expected to receive.  Tomorrow is finally friday and I'm glad I cant wait till the weekend hopefully I will get to sleep in.  Between trying to recover from the road trip and get used to ny pace again and all of this nonsense with this iphone att etc I'm exhausted and ready to call it a night.   I'm glad I will get a ride to the sitter and train b/c Friday is one day I don't want to be late. 

apple rant, att, warranty nonsense

Today on my lunch break I went to an apple store in Soho.  My husbands iphone was acting up and there is only a few days left on warranty and after getting the repeated run around from AT&T and Apple customer service.  I posted a rant on face book and got  response so I thought I had finally got someone who knew what they were talking about I take the time to go to the store and when I arrive, the person at the front tells me I have to call apple care and I thought are you kidding me? I finally spoke to someone else and I was given a slot to go up stairs and see a technician who asked me various questions and he says phone has liquid damage which I was kind of surprised and he said the part they needed wasn't there so he replaced the phone and I breathed a sigh of relief and rushed back to work I was 40 minutes late from lunch and had I worked for the private industry I probably would've gotten fired or faced sometime of discplinary action or been docked that time so thank goodness for city job and an cool supervisor.  While it's something that's not right I don't make it a habit either.  I get home phone is not working and on top of that I have a headache due to not eating wasting my darn lunch time trying to get this problem resolved.  I think my headache only got worse when he told me it wasn't working I thought shit now I have to go back over there again I made an appointment this time but the phone works now so I'm going to cancel but I will still keep an eye on it and if it starts to act weird again it's going right back.  For those of you who read my blog you know very well that I dispise AT&T wireless and apple.  I don't like AT&T or any cell phone company who has contracts it's only a way to trap you and I learned this the hard way.  Cell phone contracts should be gotten rid of but companies are smart they also know that many people want the latest phone and don't want to pay full price for it so this is the bait they use to snag and reel people in.  AT&T has some of the worse service in the metro NY area bad clarity, weird noises, and tons of dropped calls and ridiculous termination fees to boot.  I was told at the apple store to purchase apple care for the phone which is supposed to cover hardware, technical issues, but doesn't cover theft etc and what the heck is the point of only covering some things but not covering all? hmm let's see if I'm robbed or my phone is stolen do you really think I have another $200+ dollars to replace an iphone.  In my opinion that's not a true warranty.  A true warranty would cover everything.  I love apple products I mean I have an ipod nano that was a gift but what steers me away is their ridiculous policies.  When I went there today I couldn't believe all of these artsy fartsy people in there I kind of felt out of place but then it dawned on me that I was in Soho and it's very high end around there you can tell by the stores, boutiques, etc.  and of course the people.  He calls apple care on the phone and the guy pretty much told my husband he was SOL in a nice way he calls apple store they say we can bring phone back this is the shit that frustrates me I wish for once someone would know what the hell they're talking about for once I swear that I think they make things up as they go along depending on who you talk to.  I also thought about the snow we're expecting and MTA also another favorite blog topic of mine can't even handle service when weather is good as you can see the train wreck our sanitation department did and mayor jerkberg flapping his gums about what I don't know damage control isn't working and NYC was left out in the cold b/c of a bunch of lazy union scam artists who intentionally did a work slow down that caused a lot of trouble and claimed some lives too.  They're rotten actions are just beginning to bubble to the surface and you will be hearing about in the news and papers.  Everyone likes to point fingers and shift blame no one wants to take the responsiblility.  I thought it was ridiculous since snow clean up has never been a problem before.  I went off topic but I'm really hoping that this phone continues to work b/c I don't feel like going back down there and get more nonsense from them and don't feel like getting stranded due to snow.  I know I will have no problem falling asleep tonight b/c I had a pretty long and stressful day.  I'm glad tomorrow is friday.