Very Bad Day

WARNING: This post may contain whining, self-pity, and foul language.

I know Monday is often a difficult day but today is extra bad.

-Spent this morning at a funeral for the husband of one of PH’s childhood friends. I’d only met him once but it was a horribly sad affair. He was 39 with two children. He and his wife had recently moved west – a lifelong dream for them. Less than thirty days later he is killed by a drunk driver. Their teenage son read a poem at the funeral and I’m still crying.

-PH’s mother called from NY yesterday. PH’s Grandma (age 90) has cancer and things are not going well. It appears that PH will be traveling to NY soon for another funeral.

-The Tour de France is over and I have nothing to distract me.

-I HATE FLORIDA!
I know after a month away I should be able to suck it up and put on a happy face for two more years but this place sucks. In no particular order, here are my complaints:

THE WEATHER – Yes, it is hot everywhere. But for most places, hot weather lasts a couple weeks. It has not been below 70 since May. It will not go below 70 until at least October. Last nights low was 78. Yes, I have air conditioning, but I hate being imprisoned in my house for five months. KK and Hew lived outside while we were up North. Hew lasted fifteen minutes yesterday before coming to me flushed and sweaty, begging to go inside. I need cold weather. I would like a seasonal change. I want SNOW!

THE EDUCATION SYSTEM – Florida has the lowest high school graduation rate in the nation and consistently ranks in the bottom as far as education. Rather than just admitting this and looking for a solution, our esteemed Governor wants to argue with the numbers. Yet his administration refuses to admit that they screwed up by hiring a company to correct the essay portion of Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) that did not have education requirements for the scorers. A passing score on the FCAT is required to be promoted and to graduate, yet the scorers of the exam did not even have to show that they had any education. A state that refuses to invest in children will continue to pay for years to come.

MY NEIGHBORS – I do have some lovely neighbors, but a majority of our neighborhood stopped associating with us after the last presidential election. We were the sole Kerry supporters in our entire neighborhood and had the audacity to put a sign in our yard. Never mind that there were fifty Bush signs. First, they signs were stolen, but we kept replacing them. Then, some women from the next street over showed up at dinner time and informed us that we must not be educated on the issues. After her “education” did not work, she told us that we were irresponsible and didn’t care about our children’s future. SERIOUSLY! I told her to get the hell out of my house. PH was nicer and explained to her that we both have graduate degrees that we paid for ourselves and that maybe our education just differed from hers in that ours taught us how to compute the national deficit after four years with Bush (never mind the fact that the US was on the way to becoming one of the most hated nations and destroying the Constitution upon which it had been founded). Crazy lady then reported to the other neighbors her failure to convert us. We then received religious flyers on our door and in our mailbox telling us we were going to hell (YES, STILL SERIOUS!).

NO TAXES – Generally, this would not be something to bitch about, but no taxes means no quality services (ie education). Additionally, it pisses me off that grumpy old people come here to make their residence to avoid taxes after they and their children have had the benefit of good school and community services elsewhere.

GRUMPY OLD PEOPLE – I love old people. I am thrilled that my children have a majority of their great grandparents alive, but some old people believe that age allows them to cut to the front of the line, hit me with their grocery cart rather than say excuse me, and drive down the middle lane in the road. Manners should not decrease with age.

I know that I am tired and grumpy and the world will look better tomorrow after a little sleep. Right now, I could use a little less heat and death.