Well, seeing as I haven't heard back from the library yet, I also applied at that big box computer store featuring the Nerd Patrol. (You know who I mean.) I have a couple of friends (both girls) who've worked there in the past out of desperation. They both said the same thing:
They love to hire women as it diversifies their employee base.
The guys are all goofy little nerds who, if you can ignore the totally creepy ones, will ensure that you never have to do any real work ever.
The fact that they didn't know each other and worked at completely different locations on the opposite sides of town is what made these things stick in my head.
I won't like it, but I'm getting to the desperate stage.
The Boy's family is giving him a lot of crap because his father turns 60 this year. His birthday is right before TB gets off for uni break. The problem is that we have no idea whether or not we can be in the state for that. TB's truck is a broken down stick that only he can drive and doesn't go long distances anymore.
If I do manage to get any kind of a job, I'm probably not going to be able to take a week off to go to Iowa, and my car stays with me. I've told TB that if I do manage to get a job in the next month, it's likely to be seasonal, and, er, they don't really get time off. They're working because everyone else is taking time off. Let's just mention that I would be really steamed if after being pestered about not having a job, I end up getting abused for having one that isn't convenient for my in laws. Besides, if it's between Christmas with both sides, or TB's father's birthday, ummmmmm, that's no contest going to be Christmas.
Additionally, TB technically has a final to give on his father's birthday. If the whole class decides they want to take it early and get out, then he won't, but he won't know that until maybe two weeks before the end of the semester. If the class votes to wait (which, historically, they have), he's going to be here giving a final.
I like TB's father. He's not your centre-of-attention-party sort of guy, but that's beside the point. If we could, yeah, it'd be nice to go up for his birthday, but right now, it just doesn't look like we can do anything about it. We are at the mercy of time, fortune, and happenstance. There is almost certainly no way we can give any positive assurances on our Christmas vacation until the beginning of December. You guys can all see that these are circumstances totally beyond our control, right? You're rational human beings and I am proud of you.
The reason TB's getting the riot act from both HER and Younger Brother over this is because in the family's warped reality, TB is the child that can be counted on. The Sister might potentially put in an appearance, but she would not really want to be involved (this, incidentally, is specifically what TB's dad means when he says "none of his kids"; he means her), and she will be leaving at the earliest possible opportunity. Older Brother is generally good at being at family gatherings (especially considering that his wife's family seems to hold every holiday half a dozen different times), but he's always considered unreliable in regards to everything because that's family tradition. He was the original black sheep and his little sister has not entirely usurped his position. From this point of view, Younger Brother and TB are the only ones who would follow through on anything. But, since this is all HER doing, and TB has the dubious honour of being her favourite child, he's the only one who really matters.
Poor Younger Brother has the distinction of being "the other kid": he's not the bad one, he's not the good one, he's not the girl- he's the Neville of the family, if you will. Had TB still been living in town, Younger Brother would not have been involved in party proceedings in any way shape or form.
Anyway, the drift of all of this has been that if TB can't be there, there's no reason to plan anything, so we're single handedly ruining his father's surprise 60th birthday because we won't know if we can be there until December 1st.
Like I said, it's not as though we have any control over this. I would also say that whether or not they plan anything should have little or no bearing on whether or not we can make it. TB himself said that his father would be able to understand if we couldn't make it because of work/school. He's right. Unfortunately, that wouldn't stop HER from making the whole thing about how we weren't there.
I've told TB that the best present we could get his father is a week someplace far far away from TB's mother. He went to Salem for some business thing back in February (he's been an inspector there something like thirty years, this is not the sort of position that travels, but I guess this satellite company was setting up whatever it is he does and he went out to supervise). Anyway, he was on a plane for the first time in his life and manages to work details about the trip into almost every conversation even now. He hasn't been out of town on his own since the 70's. The guy needs a vacation from his reality.
TB says it would be easier to track down a locally made wine as old as his father instead. The oldest winery in the area opened in 1985. We couldn't even find a wine as old as me here.
Ah well.