Fucking Walmart. And Cars are absolute money pits

I had a flat tire last week. I paid a wrecker $65 motherfucking dollars to come change the tire because I do not have the strength to get of the LAST BLOODY lugnut. Gah.

Anyway, then I was on the spare.....which also went flat. Story of my fucking life, right? Just wait- it gets EVEN BETTER.

I have one of those cars with a weird tire size, which means nobody carries them in regular stock. Except for once, Walmart. So, I order the bloody tires ( they have to come in pairs, I guess? This might have been a lie I was told) and the store calls me and says KIM YOUR TIRES ARE IN COME ON OVER AND WE'LL GET YOU RIGHT IN AND IT WILL ONLY BE A FEW MINUTES!!

.....
So I hop into my broken car and travel across the highway to WalMart, and go stand at the counter of the tire and lube express. The gentleman who was working is one of those incredibly nice people, albeit clueless.  He normally works in the photo department ( I live in a small town, I know where the regular walmart people work, okay?) so I was willing to cut him some slack...until he asked me  " So where are we putting these tires?"

Without even taking a breath I shot back " On the car?"

Like, are we having  a serious conversation right now or was this a big joke I wasn't let in on?

He reacted like I'd told the funniest joke ever, and explained to me what position on the car did I want the new tires to be , drivers or passenger, front or rear. I said " I really don't care. I want the flat spare taken off, and replaced. Wherever you want to put the other tire is fine with me...Just put it on.

Then the poor man tells me " Okay, it will be about an hour and we'll page you!"" Okay mother fucker- a few minutes does not equal an hour, especially in the middle of my workday!  So I marched my fat ass back across the highway, just STEAMING mad. In shitty walking shoes and through melting snow puddles. My socks were wet and my temper absolutely shot. 

I get back to my desk just as the phone rings- it's walmart.  I said out loud " You fuckers better not be already done!"

Nope, they were calling to tell me I ordered the wrong size tires for my car. Umm...the fuck I did! I researched that shit like a champ before I ordered! ( Hello google? What size tires does a 2011 Ford Focus SES use?) So fine - I ordered the wrong size. It's not the first time I've done something like that...They have the right size and it's only another 30 dollars per tire, so I tell them to go ahead and make the change and I'll pay the difference when I pick the car up.

FIVE FUCKING MINUTES LATER Walmart calls again. " Hi Kim? A here from walmart! Turns out you DID order the right size, you have two different size tires on your car!"   Turns out when my mechanic put it on for me, he put on the wrong size...and why would I check? I trust my mechanic right?

I wound up buying a third tire to make all my bloody tires the same size, and called it done.  No wonder I had such a hard time this winter!! IF I wasn't stuck in the stupid driveway, I was stuck in the ditch, and it never dawned on me to check the tire SIZE. 

It wasn't even 3pm and I was so done with the day I was ready for tomorrow.

Yep. Still shitty.

Here we are again, a few years later....and still a shitty blogger. I just can't seem to get my shit together!

Quick updates for those interested.

I got married. I got promoted. I still have an army of children and to many animals. I have a grandchild. He calls me GiGi, because at 38, I am too young to be called Granny. This is mildly disappointing, ,but my sister is only a couple years younger than I and her oldest child is 5, while my youngest child is 12.  Pretty sure I'm on the upswing here.  I have applied to be a foster parent. I bought a house, with a ton of room and even though I do not have any desire to ever birth another child, I still have a lot of love and home to give.

Oh...and I finally decided to go back to school. In 4 years, barring any catastrophe's, I will have my Bachelors degree in Psychology and Communication. 

My first assignment? An essay on time management.....and yes, this is exactly as funny as it sounds.

Here are the objectives:

Write: With a minimum of 250 words and in complete sentences, respond to the following questions:

·         Explain your results of the “How Good is Your Time Management Quiz.” Were you surprised, why or why not? Of the five areas of time management that were addressed in the quiz, which area do you feel is your biggest strength? Why? In which two areas could you implement strategies to more successfully manage your time?

·         Describe your plan for how you will incorporate school into your daily responsibilities. What things in your life may interfere with the time you need to study? What measures will you take that will allow you to devote the necessary time to your coursework without risking burnout?

·         Online learning lends itself to procrastination, even for the most prepared student. Review the resources for avoiding procrastination. Share three time management tips that will help you avoid procrastination and improve your time management. You can use tips listed from the resources above or share your own successful time management tips for a total of three.

Here is my response:

I was quite surprised to see the time management quiz reflect I am proficient in time management skills. Nowhere in my life shows my absolute lack of time management more than the current condition of my house!  In my professional life, I know what I’m doing, and work to make sure my day runs on schedule. Once I arrive home though, it’s a whole new ball game. For example, I went grocery shopping today after work, forgetting I needed to come home and clean before I brought the groceries home. My daughter and I walked into the house with $200 worth of groceries, and nowhere to put them. One of the cats threw up in the living room, and the idiot dog tipped over a litter box. There are tufts of dog hair floating about, because he’s blowing his winter coat, and I am sitting at the kitchen table typing this paper, so I don’t forget to do it.

One of my greatest strengths, according to the quiz, is goal setting and prioritization. Again, in my professional life, I excel at this. I know what needs to be done, what is most important, and what can wait a little bit to finish. In my personal life, I clearly am failing in this respect. In the scheme of things, getting the groceries purchased, and put away took priority over the cleaning, because my kids still need to eat. That said, I really need to get the mess cleaned and done before bed. 

Unsurprisingly, the quiz indicated I am frequently interrupted, and may struggle a bit with procrastination. Sadly, this is not something I was unaware of. For instance, in the writing of this I have moved the kitten off my keyboard no less than 7 times, answered my youngest daughter’s question about her rabbits, and had my oldest daughter call and ask to submit my information for a foster care background check for an emergency placement.   Again though, school is a priority. The mess isn’t going anywhere and will be there when I am finished with my work for the day, as will the rabbits, and hopefully, the foster child will be here in the next few days. (After I clean my house, of course!)

 As I move forward in this exciting yet terrifying adventure of further education, I will be making some changes in the way my house runs. I will no longer be the only one solely responsible for the general upkeep of our home-my children will have chores they will be required to complete to obtain their allowance. Currently, they area only responsible for their animal care, and personal belongings. This is going to have to change. I want to lie and say I can do it all, but I only have two hands – I can only juggle so many balls in the air. I will have time set aside in my evening to work solely on school work and will have my phone shut off except for emergencies.  At work I have a bullet point list of things that must be done every day, things that are done weekly, and things that are done monthly. There is no reason I cannot implement the same type of routine at home.  Ideally, I will have this list complete and implemented before the end of the general orientation class.  I will continue to work in my kitchen, for a couple of reasons. First, I do not have a desk in my bedroom and I write a lot of notes- sitting on the bed is not conducive to legible handwriting! Second, I want my kids to SEE me working towards a better education for myself, and a better future for them. It’s important for them to see school work is not a chore, it’s a requirement, and as such MUST be completed daily.  With that in mind, I also cannot allow it to take over our lives. I want to succeed at this, and I want to finish what I’ve started. I will continue to keep Friday and Sunday evenings school free zones.  We travel a lot, and when we aren’t traveling, we are spending time together, or with friends. We are an avid gaming family and host weekly Dungeons and Dragons games.  I want to make sure we continue doing so. Finally, I will remind myself no journey comes without cost, but the adventure and journey I am undertaking is worth so much more than the nap.

Pretty sure it falls under the " to fucking much information for any sane person to have" category. 

Welcome to my life.