All Things Profane and Sacred

So, last Thursday, at 1 am, we did a 45 minute trip to the emergency room. The doctor stiched J's lip back on his face where it belonged. It was a real mess and the doctor said going in to work at the metal shop was not a good idea. We called in Thursday and Friday. On Monday, when J went to work he was told he was fired-they had replaced him Friday and had not bothered to call to save him the 45 minute trip in.

I hate this.

Ok, so this morning was gray and depressing, so I came into work first thing and posted a depressed bit. Things are not so bad.

We have again achieved two income household status. Hopefully, we'll be able to hang on to that for a while. Our reserves are tapped and the creditors are at the door. Luckily we're able to carpool, so that saves money and means we only really need one working vehicle.

Money has been a little bit maddening for us this last year, two years, or however long it's fricken been. I can't deal with the bills anymore because it makes me feel so hopeless. We keep struggling but I feel like we're stuck in place, and while things change, none of it seems to matter to our overall financial picture-we're still fucked.

One thing that is really different about Oregon is the amazing ubiquitousness of recreational smoking equipment. It is especially the bongs that get me-in Wisconsin, bongs are (or at least were) illegal. Here, you can buy them at the local corner market. For real. This especially struck me a few weeks ago, as we were traveling through rural Benton County. We stopped in small town, USA for a couple of sodas at the local mini-mart and were greeted by a huge display of bongs upon entering. One of these bongs was 4 feet high. At the mini mart. Crazy.