As the subject says, life gets pretty heavy at times.

Still dealing with the loss of my dad last Feb. This summer I finally had the chance to pick a location to dump my portion of his ashes. Found a great spot overlooking Mt. Katahdin here in Maine that I knew he'd love. It's in the middle of the wilderness with an awesome view, the kind of spot that deer frequent for the tasty grasses. Just the spot for an avid hunter like him.

Work has been kicking my teeth in, not with difficulty or even work related stresses . . . it's having to drive 3 hours every day. That's 3 hours less that I have with my family every day, and with the tourist traffic, that's also 3 hours of dealing with FAR too many crappy drivers. I'm a fairly good driver but still relatively new to the long distance travel game, so when I'm surrounded by HUNDREDS of morons at highway speeds who are talking on their phones instead of paying proper attention to the road, I get a bit nervous.

Oh, and as an aside . . . And this isn't an attack on women drivers, so PLEASE don't take it as such . . . Where the hell did we go wrong as a society in teaching women that they 'can't be good drivers'? Seriously! I KNOW there are excellent women drivers out there. My wife thinks cutting through Manhattan during rush hour by 'surfing the cabs' is a great way to spend some time. But daily, I'm assaulted by several women who are either just BAD drivers (not paying proper attention to traffic flow, not signaling, cutting you off, more worried about changing clothes or putting on makeup) or, by what their body language behind the wheel is saying, aren't confident in their skills as drivers. STOP teaching young women those bad habits!! Seriously! My life is endangered by this crap twice DAILY!!

But it's not all bad. There's some seriously shiny silver linings to these dark clouds.

First off, the contract that I was hired under that's due in mid-October is being picked up by another department, so I'll be employed for at least another 6 months, if not longer. The project I'm working on is a big important one that's being scrutinized by SEVERAL layers of upper management, and performing great here means I'm gaining not only WICKED work experience, but my chances of becoming a permanent hire and gaining a NICE salary as well as excellent insurance options go through the roof. And the best part? The project's gonna be wicked simple so long as no one screws anything up.

Secondly? Gonna be a dad again.

Yah, what they said. *grins* The wife and I decided that it wouldn't be a bad thing to spawn again . . . and literally no sooner said than done and we're with podling. She's currently 6 weeks along, and we've got our fingers crossed. However, we're also fully with the knowledge that she miscarries easy . . . But we'll cross that bridge if we have to.

Best part? If things DO work out, the new baby'll basically be my birthday present next year. *grins*

We're still in the midst of the first dazed glowing moments . . . need to get our collection of baby goods figured out (go through what's left over from our first, fill in the missing supplies) and start tossing around baby names. This time around we're going in blank (our first had been picked out by us years ago, frighteningly enough, before we'd even met. Well, the first name, anyway.) so we're just hoping something hits us for inspiration.

Anyway, that's what I've been doing these last few weeks.

How about you?

d

I definitely know what you mean. Over the summer, I worked a highway paving job with the department of transportation back home and had to get up at 4:00am each morning, work 14 hour days, plus commuting 30min. to/from work. Worked 6 days a week, 60 hours a week. So I certainly know how you feel... and it does get old after a while. But hang in there bro... and I'm sure that bringin' another lil' mini-drougnor into this world will make things alright. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your job, and the mrs. for a healthy kid! God bless!

3 hour commute. Been there, done that, except mine has been on the Long Island Railroad/Subway for the past two years, so I can completely understand where you are coming from with the lost family time. I would see my son in the morning (most days) and then get home in time to put him to bed. It sucks. The good news is that it changes soon since Friday is my last day at this job and the new one I work from home.

That said, I have had my fair share of jobs where I drive all the time, and I know what you mean about women drivers. Here on Long Island, the land of the SUV and Minivan Moms, it is nuts. You never want to be driving past a school during either the beginning or end of the school day. It seems like all the parents (mostly Moms) picking up their kids forget that there are other cars on the road. Quite scary.

Great news about the job, I hope it all works out.

Even better news about the kid! We had our second, a little girl, back in March and it is awesome. Just get ready for those sleepless nights again...

I drive an hour and a half to school, and work, and just about anywhere I need to go. I hate driving anymore. I definately feel ya there. Getting to my girlfriends houes is almost 2 hours from work. Then the closest anything we can do, another hour drive.

And i wonder why my 160k car all of a sudden has 180k.

You can do it drougnor, you're family is in my thoughts

Congrats on the pregnancy, hope it all goes well

Congrat's on the next future Pimpin' PC Guru :-)
As for the bad drivers, I hate them to. But anyone
in front of me is viewed as a Bad Driver until I pass
them. HeHeHe :-)

Congrats........Boy, do you have your hands full.......