Life is pretty good at the moment -- or at least it's as good as it can be with our current toddler-president and his cast of fuckups and cronies and fucked-up cronies running the country. Trump is always in the back of my mind, stabbing my brain with a rusty ice pick every time I get too happy. But the resistance seems to be holding up, strengthening even -- I'm cautiously optimistic about the future. And it can't get here quickly enough.
On the positive personal front, I got a pretty substantial raise at work, around 10%. My company used to be part of a parent company that owned two other businesses. They were struggling and were cannibalizing the profits of my company. I was told by my boss that, once upon a time, the situation was reversed, so we couldn't really complain too much. But it really started to drag us down. Finally, the owner of the parent company (my boss's boss's boss) sold the other two businesses and kept ours. It was the best case scenario for people like me because I didn't have to deal with the disruption of being sold to a new owner, and with the dead weight jettisoned, there is more money available for salaries. Win and win.
We will likely need the money, too, because we are thinking of buying a new more expensive house. S has been agitating for a bigger kitchen for years, and we thought about renovations, but we don't really have the layout for it. It'd be a lot of money just to get something we kinda like; I'd rather hold out for something we really like. The market is insane right now (it's always insane in DC), but it would be somewhat mitigated by the fact we already own property, which is appreciating too. (The smart financial move would be to sell in DC and move to a cheaper area, but there is not a cheaper area in which we both would like to live.) I think we will look into moving in earnest next summer, or, if I have it my way, 2020. I'd like to move into a neighborhood zoned for decent schools, and Lil' S2 will be in kindergarten then. If we move before then, we run the risk of being denied a spot in the neighborhood pre-K progame because kids are not legally required to attend pre-K in DC and the city is not legally required to admit them (no matter where they live). If we stay where we are, it will be easier to get him into pre-K (less competitive), and thus we will not have to pay for daycare anymore, which is good. Now, even if we move, Lil' S2 could probably attend the same charter school as his brother (sibling preference), but we are looking for places mostly on the other side of the city. If I have to drive across DC every morning, and add 45 minutes to my daily commute, I will not be happy -- and that's a huge understatement.
Anyway, I hate dealing with school stuff. It's simultaneously boring and stressful. That's part of the problem with "choice." Proponents of choice -- in school, in healthcare, in consumerism, etc. -- always frame it as facilitating freedom but I often find it does the opposite because I have to spend so much time and energy sorting through the various options. I'd feel much more free if there was only one school, and I could sign my kids up for it and be done with it.
In other news, Krav Maga is going pretty well. I'm getting to be among the best in the entry level class, so I need to test up pretty soon. It's just a matter of finding the time to train for it. I'm confident I could meet all the requirements with a little practice, but I actually have to do the practice, not just talk about it, and therein lies the rub. I've had little motivation to move up thus far, but I'm starting to feel overqualified in my current class. Plus, I'm not getting any younger. It's not going to get any easier. I haven't really done anything like this since high school wrestling, and the biggest difference is recovery and bending over. I feel just as strong as I did back then; I have just as much endurance, just as much power; the balance and footwork and coordination are still strong. But I'm so sore after every workout, and it takes me days to recover (just in time for next class to repeat the process). Also, I struggle with anything that requires me to get down on my knees or otherwise bend over. Sometimes we do bear crawl in class, and it's aptly named for me because it is a fucking bear. If you give me the option of thirty push-ups or bear crawling the length of a wrestling mat and back, I'm taking the former.
Lastly, the wife and kids are doing fine. Well, the wife is actually pretty sick at the moment, but she'll get over it. Lil' S2 is also a little thorn in our side right now -- he never wants to go to sleep or otherwise to anything we ask him to do -- but that too shall pass.
That's all I got today. Until next time...
On the positive personal front, I got a pretty substantial raise at work, around 10%. My company used to be part of a parent company that owned two other businesses. They were struggling and were cannibalizing the profits of my company. I was told by my boss that, once upon a time, the situation was reversed, so we couldn't really complain too much. But it really started to drag us down. Finally, the owner of the parent company (my boss's boss's boss) sold the other two businesses and kept ours. It was the best case scenario for people like me because I didn't have to deal with the disruption of being sold to a new owner, and with the dead weight jettisoned, there is more money available for salaries. Win and win.
We will likely need the money, too, because we are thinking of buying a new more expensive house. S has been agitating for a bigger kitchen for years, and we thought about renovations, but we don't really have the layout for it. It'd be a lot of money just to get something we kinda like; I'd rather hold out for something we really like. The market is insane right now (it's always insane in DC), but it would be somewhat mitigated by the fact we already own property, which is appreciating too. (The smart financial move would be to sell in DC and move to a cheaper area, but there is not a cheaper area in which we both would like to live.) I think we will look into moving in earnest next summer, or, if I have it my way, 2020. I'd like to move into a neighborhood zoned for decent schools, and Lil' S2 will be in kindergarten then. If we move before then, we run the risk of being denied a spot in the neighborhood pre-K progame because kids are not legally required to attend pre-K in DC and the city is not legally required to admit them (no matter where they live). If we stay where we are, it will be easier to get him into pre-K (less competitive), and thus we will not have to pay for daycare anymore, which is good. Now, even if we move, Lil' S2 could probably attend the same charter school as his brother (sibling preference), but we are looking for places mostly on the other side of the city. If I have to drive across DC every morning, and add 45 minutes to my daily commute, I will not be happy -- and that's a huge understatement.
Anyway, I hate dealing with school stuff. It's simultaneously boring and stressful. That's part of the problem with "choice." Proponents of choice -- in school, in healthcare, in consumerism, etc. -- always frame it as facilitating freedom but I often find it does the opposite because I have to spend so much time and energy sorting through the various options. I'd feel much more free if there was only one school, and I could sign my kids up for it and be done with it.
In other news, Krav Maga is going pretty well. I'm getting to be among the best in the entry level class, so I need to test up pretty soon. It's just a matter of finding the time to train for it. I'm confident I could meet all the requirements with a little practice, but I actually have to do the practice, not just talk about it, and therein lies the rub. I've had little motivation to move up thus far, but I'm starting to feel overqualified in my current class. Plus, I'm not getting any younger. It's not going to get any easier. I haven't really done anything like this since high school wrestling, and the biggest difference is recovery and bending over. I feel just as strong as I did back then; I have just as much endurance, just as much power; the balance and footwork and coordination are still strong. But I'm so sore after every workout, and it takes me days to recover (just in time for next class to repeat the process). Also, I struggle with anything that requires me to get down on my knees or otherwise bend over. Sometimes we do bear crawl in class, and it's aptly named for me because it is a fucking bear. If you give me the option of thirty push-ups or bear crawling the length of a wrestling mat and back, I'm taking the former.
Lastly, the wife and kids are doing fine. Well, the wife is actually pretty sick at the moment, but she'll get over it. Lil' S2 is also a little thorn in our side right now -- he never wants to go to sleep or otherwise to anything we ask him to do -- but that too shall pass.
That's all I got today. Until next time...
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