Zit

One thing annoying about having to shave for work is the fact I am getting zits in the region I had facial hair. It actually hurts to smile.
Not exactly sure where the job is leading seeing that I'm still getting the basics and not doing detail work which would give me more hours.
At least, I came home for the first time without feeling an absolute need to shower, and I have decaf to drink while I chill before hitting the hay. I didn't rush myself and I stayed mostly dry.
Reading Carnegie has lead me to rethink my effort vs rest with regards to pacing. I stopped for water a couple times and I feel little soreness. Either I'm working smarter, or my body is getting used to routine.

Lip Blister, calling the I.R.S., paint the car yellow

When I got home last night, my lip was swollen. I looked at it and I thought at first it was a blister. I'm 34 and have never had a cold sore, so I was a bit miffed. I figured it could be one of two things: a chemical burn or a bit lip

I ruled out chemical burn since I would have TASTED it and gagged, so I was hoping it was from me biting my lip as I anxiously worked last night.

After sleeping, my lip revealed a bite mark.

I may have mentioned that I enjoy doing our taxes. Sure I use the H & R Block software free linked off the irs.gov website, but I also look over the hardcopy paperwork and figure out what my return should be.

H & R Block screwed us out of money the last year we used their pay services because the preparer was a boob that told us that we didn't need to figure out Schedule A deductions and took out the standard deduction. The following year, I did our taxes and found that going the Schedule A brought back a bit more $ than going the Standard deduction route. Since he only plugged numbers into the software a monkey could plug, the jackass with H & R Block didn't do anything unique to tax professional.

Anyways, I had a couple questions that weren't obvious from reading the various irs.gov publications. I searched and searched, but I found myself guessing what something should be. Upon my digging for info to my questions, I found a page that offered FREE tax help.

I figured that calling on Monday would be stupid, so I called on Tuesday. The recording suggestioned to call Wednesday and Thursday, but I was free and had my "conference call" phone at my disposal. After a while, I got a triage person who told me that my two questions couldn't be answered by him, but rather by two different people. He forwarded somewhere that lead to me waiting another forty or so minutes. This person told me that I would need to file a Schedule C. When I asked about the Schedule C, I was told she couldn't answer but forwarded me to another person. I waited another forty or so minutes when I was told that I didn't need a Schedule C and proceeded to tell me what I had already HOPED would be the correct answer.

Having been vindicated and not wanting to spend another minute on the phone, I said thank you! I was on the phone a solid two hours, and I was only half done with my questions. I would have called yesterday but something came up, so I called back today. I only spent 33 minutes total on the phone. The call would have been shorter, but I had a hard time understanding the IRS person. She had an Asian accent and had to ask what form I was using to file my taxes. After all was said, I was given an answer I was hoping not hear, but figured as being probable from the poking around irs.gov.

AARP

Just a random item I'd like to mention regarding the mail I receive. In addition to postcards from Playboy offering $1 an issue discount rates, various credit card offers, and Christmas cards from our mortgage lender's family, I also get membership cards to AARP.
How'd I get on their list is beyond me, but I've been getting trial membership cards since I was 27! I have nothing against the elderly, but I'm not remotely near retirement age. So if anyone knows where AARP gets their data, please share it with me. Normally, I'd look into the matter myself, but I don't feel like it at the moment.

Parallels

There are things beyond my control that will frustrate me until I am able to accept such circumstances and worry about things I can control.
I believe that the Serenity Prayer is a re-occurring theme in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. It's been years since I read the book, but I remember the prayer being written on a locket dangling in the cleavage of the B-movie star. Pictures/drawings makes such images easier to recall, and KV had a way with crude drawings. I didn't know there was such thing as such a prayer until an alcoholic told me that the prayer was said during AA meetings. This makes sense since K's uncle supposedly founded an AA chapter, and K was always intrigued by the artificial extended family element that AA created.
Anyways, given the nature of the Serenity Prayer, one must wonder how much free will is one allowed to fret.
I can pick my friends, but I cannot pick my family.
I can pick my degree of education, but I can't force someone to hire me.
I am frustrated that I cannot get work, so I pursue things outside my typical field in addition to expanding my geographic search. I still meet the same result of going no where, which suggests that I'm still doing the same thing and expecting different results. I'm doing a number of things differently, so I'm thinking I need to scrap everything I've worked towards and start over.
The reality is that I'm not comfortable starting over. I've a skill set and degree that already makes me overqualified for most entry level positions, and I've been passed over because employers don't want to hire someone that will up and leave for greener pastures at first opportunity.
When I was an infant, my mom quit her teaching job. I am not sure of the reasons, but I take it that she wasn't comfortable with childcare arrangements. She never got another full time teaching position until I was in college. She always tried to get another job even while I was a toddler, but the best she could do was be a long term sub. Not sure why, especially considering she was a special ed teacher, but we lived on a single income for the most part when you consider my father is a teacher as well.We could have moved to another job market, but my dad didn't want to lose his seniority.
I don't want to be like my parents and willfully inflicting harm upon my children out of selfishness of being determined to work within my field without moving.

Mr. Mom

While I was waiting to drop off B at preschool, my brother called to wish me a happy birthday.

Normally, I don't answer his calls, but I figure I'd be best to do so as to not have to bear another anytime soon. He referenced Mr. Mom. I hadn't seen the film in twenty plus years so I didn't catch his meaning.

Watched the film on Netflix the other night, and I found myself more annoyed than I'd like.

I like Michael Keaton, but I find it hard to believe that the movie showed on the "big screen" once upon a time, but I feel that way about a lot of things associated with John Hughes.

Speaking of John Hughes, he's been dead three years.

Sudoku

Getting the paper twice a week for the Sunday ads, I've mostly tossed everything but the ads. There's nothing worthwhile to read in the classified section like there used to be, while the rest of the paper has been reformatted enough times that stories meander like a lost child in a candy store, incoherent and stuck all over the place out of sight.

Feeling blah a few weeks back, I sought out the Life section to do the Sudoku puzzle. Thursday and Sunday papers have supposedly tough puzzles, so I didn't complete a puzzle without trouble for a couple weeks. 
J has a handheld game I got for her that I have appropriated in the last few weeks.

Given my minor obsession, I figured that I was setting myself up for a birthday gift in the Sudoku variety.

Pleasant surprise regardless of my mild expectation.