Renew My Faith

This morning my mother told me her Verizon pre-paid cell phone was not working. Every time she tried to dial out it would not work and told her to contact support. She handed the phone to me to see if I can do anything. I tried restoring the phone to factory settings hoping that would. Now it is saying I do not even have a number! What?

I tried calling their pre-paid phone support and it kept telling me to input the cell phone I was calling about. I do so and I was then told by the computer that there is no record of this number. WHAT!? Then was told to go to a url link to activate the phone which also said the same thing. After an hour of dealing with this I called the Sales number and was greeted by a lovely lady who did her best to help me and transfered me to… the same number was given me problems. This number required a Verizon number to work and since my mother was apparently not working it would not take me through.

I called a second time and I did my best to explain the problem and about the working/non-working info and he transfered me to a live tech who got on the line a few minutes later. I explained again what happed to this lady and she told me that there is a record for that number but yesterday (09-18-2009) that someone called up and deactivated the phone and the number. I am not sure if they transfered the cell number because after she told me this I was kind of upset and not paying attention. So, we go through the process of of reactivating the phone with a new number since I can not get the old one back. So someone took the number and now we are out money because we still had time on the phone.

All in all the people were nice but getting to a live person is hell and took longer then I think necessary. I am not sure who called but who ever did are assholes. >.>

I needed to buy some new pants so I headed down to the local Wal-Mart. After skipping the isles of jeans I found some pants called Carpenter Work Pants. The price was around $18. I looked to the right and saw the exact same pair of pants for $20. The only difference was the item on the right had a simple logo and the name Jesse James Carpenter Work Pants. I know you pay more for logo’s but the exact same item for $2 more just because it had a damn logo on it? You would never notice the difference at all unless you pointed it out to people. Though the good thing is I dropped a few pants sizes. Go Me.

Mom wanted to go to few more places so we traveled to Peebles. I noticed some cool looking pants and was like wow I might buy these. Well I was saying that until I saw the price tag of $40. I’m not into labels so I just kept on trucking. Before I noticed mom was off and away looking at purses and some little baskets. I had to jog just to keep up with her and when I caught her she was like you are buying me these and headed to the counter. I asked if I had a choice and she laughed and said good one. So apparently I bought mom some baskets.

I bought some groceries and had a good lunch but I think I had a good day even though I hate spending money. We went to a few other stores then went home.

I was talking to my 11-year-old nephew the other day about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He told me he wanted to join the military. I am a curious person and I ask why a lot. So, I asked him why he wished to join the military. He told me he wanted to go to Iraq. Again I asked why. What he said next not only surprised me but gave me a fright. He said, “I want to kill Iraqis”.

I was set back by what he said and promptly asked him why would he want to do that. Again, what he said scared me. “They are different then us”. I kept thinking to myself what the hell is my sister and her boyfriend teaching him. I told him that first the military is to defend our nation and our citizen. Not to attack or kill unprovoked. He repeated “but they are different then us”. I sighed and told him that just because someone is different or a nation is different that it does not mean we have the right or the authority to attack/kill. I then stated that to everyone else we are different.

I then told him that there are some nations in this world that there are children soldiers. That these kids fight and kill to defend their family, their homes and their very own lives. He only said “Cooooooool”. I just sighed and dropped it knowing he won’t understand. During this whole conversation he kept repeating old false propaganda. The whole they started they war, Al Qaeda, weapons of mass destruction. Each time I refuted what he said he just shrugged.

My nephew identifies himself as a Christian the same as his mother and her boyfriend. Indoctrination has this boy’s head full of its ok to kill others because they are different or because there is a moral right to it. I have no clue what they are teaching my nephew but I really hope that when he get’s older that he will let logic, reason, rationality weigh more then some false promises by religious brainwashing.

Yesterday my 11 year old nephew came over to use the internet so he can look up some cheat codes for some game. I quickly glanced over to see what he was doing and saw him inputing a cell phone number. Quickly I asked him to stop and asked why he was doing that. He said Don’t worry I am just getting my cheat codes and I done this before. I knowing that you do not need to input a damn cell phone number to get cheats codes I scrolled to the bottom and sure enough. A page and a half of blank page and then a very small fine print of this is a subscription based services. You will be charged $9.99 for this service. I told gage to never come to this site again and found a free “Gamespot” for some cheat codes. I informed his dad to cancel the server and inform his provider if they will putt a block on this type of service since some do.

These cell phone subscription things are beyond deceptive and right down theft. 10 dollars for some txt msgs? You can find almost anything for free on the internet. If a site asks for any personal information then be weary. Make sure you check out the fine print and the F.A.Q on the website. Even search other sources to see if the site is legit or not.

Early afternoon yesterday I took my 11 year old nephew and baby nephew to the school play ground. While we were going to the swings we spotted a wallet. My eldest nephew picked it up and I asked him to hand it to me. I only checked to see if their was an address and which there was. It was right up the road so I decided to play with my nephews for a bit on the swings and take it back when we head home. My nephew said he wanted a reward. I had to tell him that a reward should never be asked for nor expected. You return things to the proper owner and let them decide. If they do not offer any thing then take in the solace that you helped someone.

After a bit of fun I took my nephews to the house and knocked on the door. The teen owner opened the door and I held up the wallet. The teen said “wow, my wallet” grabbed it then shut door. Could of at least said thanks but I just figured that the parents never told their kids how to react to different situations. Maybe that is why we are in such a mess now.

At least I was able to teach my eldest nephew a lesson in returning property to the rightful owners. He did ask me a question. He asked, “what if you found just money on the ground”. I thought for a moment and paraphrasing here. If the owner of the money can not be identified then you can keep it. If the owner can be identified then you should return it like you would any thing else. Just because you find something does not mean you can keep it. The old phrase “finders keepers, losers weepers” is just for people who does not want the moral hiccup to get in their way of keeping things that do not belong to them.

Yesterday I went with my mother to Wal-Mart to pick up some items. I got a new plastic basket to hold my movies in. Speaking of movies I got a $5 movie, The Musketeer. As my mother and I were getting ready to check out, I saw someone from a distance I thought had moved to Florida several years back. They got in line ahead of us and the guy looked at me and said my name. Made small talk a bit. I am not sure if his wife remembers me but wow she got big but still decent. Few more lines of small talk before my mother and I went to car to get some food.

Mmmm Taco Bell. We got home and ate. My sister came over with Little Jacob and Gage. I let Gage play Call of Duty 1 & 2. He really plays well for an 11-year-old. He likes head shots.

My mother had to work today so I had the mighty dragon drool-a-lot all to myself today.  It was a interesting clash for the most part.  He only whined a bit when his tooth was hurting. We watched Toy Story 2 twice, in a row. I got very bored of that movie and before he started to fall asleep I put in Doom the movie. Decent movie and underrated. I watched the movie while the little one slept in my arms. For near two hours he slept quietly and only turned a bit. By the time he awoke I had to use the restroom. So quickly I gave him his lunch.

I restarted the Doom movie again while the little one terrorized the house. The cat escaping outside. I was able to confine this little dragon to the living room. Though on a few occasions he escaped into my room. Though the most horrifying thing he did was use his growing teeth to chew through the joystick on the ps2 controller. He was happy enough to travel around the house while holding the controller. We checked the mail with nothing but stupid advertisements in it.

The little one moved from resting on my lap to running around the room until his father came and picked him up. I will not be taking care of him tomorrow for his father is off work that day.

So a day off then.

The third day was very quiet. The mighty dragon drool-a-lot was very well behaved today. He only cried a bit when his teething was bothering him but beyond that he was a typical happy child without a care in the world. We watched Toy Story 2 again before I put in Rocketman. That was a very hilarious movie and the calm dragon looked at us weird and wondered why we were laughing. After the movie, the mighty dragon fell into a deep sleep for a couple hours. When he awoke with a grunt and a empty belly, he desired food. Eating his food with a glee and part of mine as well.

The little one played a bit more while grandmother picked up a bit. After all that cleaning and following around by the mighty dragon, I took him to check the mail. Eventually I took him to the school playground. We walked slowly down the sidewalk where he picked up some sticks. Weapons? Defense? Maybe but who knows. Swinging the sticks back and forth until we go to the playground. He swung a bit and played with the the playground mulch. It was getting time for dinner so we started walking back. Ut oh, look who found a larger stick. Luckily he was just interested in swinging it around. When we were walking up the driveway. The mighty dragons mother pulled up to whisk him away.

Sadly I took no pictures of this day but stay tuned for tomorrows a new day.

Today is April 1st so that means April Fools day. I don not really do any jokes but I do enjoy some of the jokes that do go on. Guild Wars turned our Character into a cute chibi Gwen-Chan. I like this joke more then the previous 2 years.

Day two was easier watching the mighty dragon drool-a-lot for the grandmother of defense was on hand to help. My mother helped out a lot and really soothed the beast. Rampaging around he passed up the oven mitt of holding and went straight for the giraffe of power. He received this gift from my mother, oh the horror she betrayed me.

I was able to hold this power off with a graham cracker.  I was safe for the time being.  Sadly the grahm cracker was quickly stuffed into his mouth.  The terror was released and he rampaged around the house.  The cat tried to run but was quickly over taken.  Her defense was up and she bit but not hard so the mighty dragon drool-a-lot was not harmed.  The mighty dragon grew tired and eventually fell asleep.

The house was quite for hours and I was able to clean the rampage the mighty dragon did earlier in the day.  He awoke quietly and wanted to be picked up and carried for a bit before he wanted down to play. He is still teething and cried a bit. I printed off a picture of his mother and father so he could carry it around. It held him off for a bit until his father came and picked him up and the mighty dragon drool-a-lot waved goodbye.

Stay tuned for tomorrows episode.

The place where my sister works has cut 3rd shift. They moved my sister to 1st shift. The time she usually watches Jacob until his dad come home from work. So for the next week until my sister gets a babysitter we will be helping her. So I will be watching my nephew from about 8:00am – 4:30pm.

The first day of battle was intense.

I was woke up with pounding steps from the living room. The mighty dragon drool-a-lot is teething. So in between fierce battling of control of items stationed around the house and the crying, the battling was intense. After a few hours of intense gimmie that and teething crying, the mighty dragon was tired and felt like taking a nap on my chest for an hour. I put him on the couch to rest but after 30 minutes on the couch he awoke with a crying roar and rolled off onto the floor. I still being the kind uncle and knight. I picked him up and held him for another 10 minute power nap.

After he awoke and wanted to stay awake I made him some lunch.

We watched one movie before he took his nap.  The Fox and the Hound and after that the Toy Story 2.

If you noticed he has a oven mitt on his hand.  This awesome power glove was key to his fight.  Thankfully I was able to counter it with cinnamon cookie snacks.

The mighty dragon drool-a-lot played for a bit before his teething started to bother him again.  It got so bad that he was crying contently.  He really wanted his mother.  He would go to a picture of her and just stand there pointing and cry.  After I had my lunch of peanut butter toast with the dragon stealing a bite or two.  He laid down reluctantly and took another nap. He only stirred every now and again. I rubbed his cheek and jaw to sooth him. It quieted him down long enough for his mother to finally pull up. He was very delighted to see his mother that he jumped into her arms from mine.

I spent the next few moments to pick up his rampage and fix myself a snack to post this battle report.  I have another week or so of this.

Yesterday evening my mothers preacher called me and invited me to a breakfast that my mothers church was having for friendship day. Now if you do not know me well or just don’t care to. I am an atheist. I do not believe in superstition, zeus, thor, shiva, leprechauns, fairies, any other god or other magical fairy tells. I believe a church is just a building same as a post office is just another building. My mother wishes I would go to her church and I bet the church does as well to fill their kofers.

I am for one do not turn down free food. Before we went to her church we stopped at Wal-Mart to get some Orajel for my wisdom teeth and pick up some doughnuts. We also ran into my sisters boyfriends parents in the parking lot, so we talked to them. We headed to the church and when we were pulling into the parking lot, The Fight Song by Marilyn Manson came on over my ipod. I thought it was befitting the occasion. The breakfast was uneventful. No, I did not lower my head when they prayed over their food and that was the only mention of imaginary friends as well.

I have been to her church a few times but I got tired of hearing the bullshit lies and delusional stories so I stopped going. They are good people I think. Somewhat misguided, deluded and delusional. Who isn’t right? The entire trip was very uneventful. I did talk to two people about Guild Wars. They use to play but not anymore. Guild Wars does get boring, especially with no content updates.  Though the update in April is suppose to pack some of this stuff.  Hopefully I will not be disappointed.

That was my morning.  What did you to this morning?

My niece left her soccer ball over here sometime ago and I have been kicking it up the hill in my backyard.  Very fun and very sore.  Just after a few days my back, shoulders and feet are sore.

My eldest nephew came over yesterday and we played a game.  Just kicking the ball up the hill switching between each other.  I havent ran that hard in ages and I am filling it.  I do walk a mile a day but I am filling this exersice well.

I took a picture of my nephew kicking the ball and might go take a few more today.

He roared with the best of them.  Wrecking havoc from one room to another.  Plotting my downfall from my very own throne.

From inside to outside, the mighty dragon drool-a-lot and myself roared as we clashed.  Both searching fo each others weakness.  At last he found one of mine first.

I had to retreat for the time being but I will be back for you the mighty dragon drool-a-lot.

The funniest thing is when my nephew opened the back door then shut it.  I knocked on the door and he opened it and shrugged with his arms out like he wanted to say what do you want.   He then lifted his shirt and then ran off.  He also took his shoe off and tried to put it back on.  When he failed he picked it up, shrugged, fussed then threw it.  Picking it up again and running towards the living room.  His mother came and picked him up to take him home when she finished plotting some plants.

My sister came over today and I helped her watch my 17-month-old nephew while we did some work in the yard.

It was fun.  I chased my nephew around the yard.  We had an awesome battle.  Me a fierce warrior, him the dragon drool-a-lot.  The battle was intense.  A thrust here, a dodge there, a powerful whirlwind and a mightly ending blow.  The battle raged but at last the mighty dragon drool-a-lot was quited by his weakness for………… cookies.