Updates O Plenty

One of the biggest bits of news over here at H&A is the fact that Bunny and I have quit our trucking job.  We’ve been burnt out for quite some time.  Many factors were weighing on us: the declining health of our parents, one of the best and worst year and half of my highly disfunctional family (who’s isn’t?) has ever seen was completely missed by us.

One of Bunny’s brothers got married and made Bunny’s mom and dad grandparents while we were gone.  Trying to improve our own health out on the road doesn’t work for us (we have some concerns), and this post from over at Twisted Family Antics really hit close to home and the heart for me.

We’d been planning on quitting for a while, but were hoping to stick it out until December.  Well, do to a bit of stressing and depressing on our part, and a lot of bullshit from our brain dead fleet manager at work, we decided the sooner was better.  We plotted a course for home, and made it to shore last Sunday (09/21/08).

Since we’ve been home we’re running around like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to replace the income we just let go of.  We have a few things in the works, so I’ll try to keep you posted.

I won’t be posting any more “Where’ve You Been” posts unless we go on a trip or something.  Chances are we won’t be leaving the state of Arizona for a while.  I will continue doing the “? A Trucker” posts even though I’m still behind on answering some questions.  I still have a class “A” commercial driver’s license, and some form of trucking could still be in my future.

So now you know why I’ve been so behind on my reading.  That’s also why I’ve been so thankful to all of my Crazy Pix contributors.  Crazy Pix donations are always greatly appreciated, but now more than ever.

A post from the past will be making a come back.  Bunny and I started tracking our weight a while back in a post called “Weights & Dates”, but quickly got discouraged, because eating right and exercising aren’t easy things to do out on the road.  We made it a point to weigh ourselves the day we got home.  Bunny weighed 196 lbs and I weighed 306 lbs.

Today (one week later) Bunny weighs 193 and I weigh 302. Yay for us.  The pounds are just dropping off, and all that’s really changed is our eating habits at this point.  Well, actually just today I started doing a little (very little) exercise.  I’m hoping for even better results by next Sunday, but any positive results will do.

My back was an issue a while back.  I never did gave a final update on that.  The MRI didn’t show anything.  The problem was basically resolved with lots of rest, muscle relaxers and pain killers.  I’m no longer in constant pain, but my range of motion is limited in the bending and stretching department.  I also get very stiff after sitting or laying for extended periods of time.  I’m hoping the weight loss will make a world of difference.

This is the first update of any real substance that I’ve done in quite some time due to a long running funk.  I’ve been rather bummed and depressed for quite some time due to issues in my family.  I didn’t want to talk about these issues, because I find them very upsetting.  Well I’m ready now.  I’m hoping getting this out will help somehow.  Take a bit of the burden off of my shoulders.

The first was my brother.  He’s been a drug addict for as long as I can remember.  Well he got himself cleaned up while I was out on the road.  Since then he’s gone back to an old girlfriend that none of the family approves of.  She’s a real scum sucking, drug addict, leach on society.  A real piece of shit.  Anyway, as soon as I heard she was back with my brother the anxiety set in.  I just knew it was a matter of time before she would drag him back down.  Since I’ve been home my worst fears have been confirmed.  This particular topic is worthy of it’s own post, so I’m going to leave it at that.

The main thing that drug me down into my dark place is my niece, the one that got shot two times by her boyfriend.  It turns out he was sentenced to a whopping four years in prison.  It also turns out that my niece is keeping in contact with him.  That little fact has driven a wedge between us.  We still play nice when we are around each other, but that’s as far as our relationship goes any more.  I don’t ask and she doesn’t tell.  I find the whole thing very upsetting.  Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say about that.

Since I’ve been home I also found out that my sister and her husband are drinking again.  They’d both been doing so well for quite some time, it was very disheartening to hear.  My sister has a very serious problem with drinking.  It affects everyone around her in a negative way, including her job and her health.  So far she seems to be holding things together, but she tends to over do everything.  She has a very addictive personality and OCD to boot.  Do those two go hand in hand?

Another fun fact I found out about since I’ve been home is the fact that my other niece (former crackhead, current mother of four) has recently started smoking a little weed and drinking.  She doesn’t need to be doing anything of the sort.

I got to taco night late this past Friday, so everyone else had already come and gone.  I’m not looking forward to looking all of these people in the eye.  I prefer to keep my distance when people are being fuck-ups.  It’s how I handle things.  I used to be notorious from going to taco night early, eating, and then bookin’ out before everyone else started showing up.  It wasn’t intentional this time.  I was just running late.

I’ll try to face my fears in the future, if nothing else, for my mom.  She invented taco night for the purpose of bringing the family together.  It’s been very successful.  There was a lot of bickering and fighting in the beginning, but now people actually show up with friends in tow.  It’s become a great social gathering.

Oh, here’s another thing that’s been adding to my funk factor.  A few months ago a nephew of mine from California came to live with my mom so he can go to college while he’s here.  He’s got a drinking and drug problem too.  He’s been trying to do better since he’s been here, but he’s still had some indiscretions.

One such time included him being drunk over at my niece’s (the mother of four) house.  He started freaking out, smashing the place up a bit, making a half ass attempt to slice his wrists, and having the cops come out to haul him off to the loony bin where he spent a couple of weeks before they let him out.  I’m happy to report there weren’t any kids home durring this episode.

Add to all that just yesterday a friend of my mom’s was out riding his bike and was hit and killed by a car.  He was 47 or 48 years old.  I knew him pretty well.  He too was known for his drugs and alcohol issues, but I’m not sure if either played a part.  My mom hadn’t seen him for a year or two.  His sister called yesterday to break the news to my mom.

I’ve lived a sheltered life when it comes to death.  I have a friend who’s sister died shortly before I went to prison.  I went to her funeral.  My grandma died shortly after I got out of prison.  I went to her funeral.  One of my uncles died in 2001.  I went to his funeral.  Those are the only funerals I’ve been to in my life.  None in my childhood years.

Anyway, this posted has turned out to be a bit longer than I expected.  Sorry about that.  I’ll try not to let things build up inside any more, hopefully avoiding such long rambling posts in the future.

Crazy Pix: 09/28/08

The bigger the bait, the bigger the catch.

Just another reason to stick to dry land.

Another fine pic we have little miss firefly to thank for.