Friday, July 29, 2011

Most of our "leadership" can fuck off.

HOW FUCKING HARD IS IT TO FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT FUCKING RAISING THE FUCKING DEBT CEILING IS FUCKING TAKING A NEW FUCKING CREDIT CARD OUT TO FUCKING PAY OFF THE OLD ONES?

I'm afraid I won't have a country left for my children to grow up in.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Adjunct abuse can fuck off.

I recently found out that two of my university's adjuncts quit--despite having had two classes each assigned for the fall semester.

I don't blame them, even a little.  My university hasn't given adjuncts a raise since before I graduated from high school.  Since the university set up the new database that does everything, the adjuncts don't get paid until the last working day of either September or February, depending on the semester.

By state law and university rules, we're forbidden from teaching more than four courses per year (summer doesn't count), and from teaching even 200 level survey courses. 

We get no benefits (which I can't argue with--I don't need benefits), no chance at tenure track positions (again, can't argue--though I wish some of the tenured faculty were fireable), and a quarter of the pay of the full-time non-tenured faculty, and an eighth of the pay of the non-tenured, nonessential administration.

From what I gather, we're treated well at our university.  And that can fuck off.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Whatever's making the baby a nocturnal creature can fuck off.

I mean, seriously: she's gone from happily going to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 to reluctantly going to bed at 10:30 or later.  Which means Mommy gets a lot less sleep. 

I don't know if it's teething, or teething causing an earache, or possibly (but not likely, given that she's not running even a slight fever) a minor ear infection.  But whatever it is, it can fuck off.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Just because I don't make much doesn't mean I'm willing to use government aid.

I cannot count how many times a well-meaning acquaintance (or nosy but well-meaning stranger) has suggested that, because my pay from the college is so niggardly (wouldn't even pay for child care for a part-time job), I need to apply for WIC. While yes, accepting food stamps and medicaid would take a lot of stress off our budget, we're getting by just fine.

Yesterday, we took the imp to a speech therapist for an assessment. The therapist suggested, since we have a high deductible insurance that might not cover the sessions anyway, that we use the state-funded, social-work-based, in home therapy for under threes.

Thanks. Thanks a lot. Because our insurance might not pay $300/month, you don't want to deal with us. In spite of the fact that we are eminently willing to pay cash to take care of our son. We do, after all, happily pay for their doctors' appointments out of pocket. We also pay out of pocket to feed, clothe, and shelter them--there's no difference between that and supplying any other need.

Where the FUCK do people FUCKING get OFF suggesting that we FUCKING BEG FOR FUCKING GOVERNMENT FUCKING AID??? I was FUCKING RAISED on fucking food stamps, fucking welfare, and fucking medicaid--and was fucking not fucking able to get as good of fucking medical care as individuals with insurance. I wasn't fucking able to go shopping for fucking food without fucking getting treated like a fucking pariah. Don't even talk about clothes--my husband bought me my first new pair of jeans--ever--while we were dating.

So no. I'm not willing to accept fucking government fucking "aid." It's always a hundred dollars short and three months late*.

*FEMA is only just now beginning to build a trailer park for those made homeless by the tornado a month ago. They've gone so far as to move heavy equipment to the lot where they're going to build it. Just one problem with this expression of generosity: almost all of the people made homeless a month ago are no longer homeless.

Friday, July 1, 2011

When are they going to ban stupid parents, instead?

Nanny government can fuck right the fuck off. With a full size copy of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence rolled up and shoved sideways up congress's collective ass.

Did you know that drop-side cribs have been banned because some idiots can't read and follow instructions, and their kids smothered between the rail and the mattress when the mis-assembled mess's rail fell out of the bottom? The nanny-government sanctioned alternatives are the cribs with one side lower than the other (dangerous when baby starts pulling up), or all four sides higher than I can reach over with an infant.

We've seen the same with some types of umbrella strollers, where kids either fell out or got severe finger injuries because their stupid fucking parents couldn't be bothered to fasten the safety harness. I cannot tell you how traumatizing having to watch the "Never Shake a Baby" safety DVD was before I left the hospital without my son (it was a requirement to checkout before I could go home "with [my] baby.")

I've seen truly obese kids--a friend's neice was 100 lbs at 4--whose parents fed them junk instead of playing with them. I've seen people think that the booster seats--required for the kids' safety with the shoulder belts--are to help them see over the dash in the front seat. I've seen parents that give their kids cell phones with cameras and unlimited texting plans, and we've all seen where that ends up.

Why the hell are the sane and competent parents being punished by bans on useful items because some idiots can't seem to use them right?