The really sad thing is that my cell phone is literally all of those devices combined.  I could, and have, foregone the use of any device except my cell phone, and the other reason I missed any of the others is that the phone has too little RAM and no text editing software beyond the likes of Notepad.

So, I was all calm and patient about moving and stuff.  We're taking steps already and even though it could take six to twelve months to get out of here, we're definitely doing it.  So I'm feeling pretty good considering it's only 5 days after I was in the crossfire of a gun fight.

Then today somebody tried to ram my car because I was going through an intersection (the same intersection) too slow.  How do I know they were trying to ram me?  Because they turned towards me and accelerated as fast as their POS car could go... and then when they missed--because I sped up and the turn was too acute for them to make--they looped the other direction and went the opposite way from me.

AGH.

Since I've been paying attention to LJ again recently, I might as well post this.

A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with ADD.  What a mind blower, amIright?  All of a sudden the struggles and failures in my life started to make sense.

Most adults who get diagnosed get depressed.  They stress out because, OMG, there's something wrong with them.  Me on the other hand?  I'm stoked.  It's so nice to know what's been going on in my head all these years.  More importantly, now I know how to manage it.  I'm still learning the tricks and methods that work for me, but Bran and I have both already noticed changes for the better.

In fact, not knowing what was wrong with me was causing depression.  Now, with things getting better, I'm so much happier.

So sure, it kinda sucks that I have ADD... it's a flaw.  But having this flaw just means that I had even more points during character gen that I'm really awesome at other things.  It's a trade-off, one that I'm happy to accept now that I know it's something I can manage.

Yeah, I got shot at today.  Driving home from the grocery store, a car pulled onto the road behind me and the driver climbed halfway out his window and started popping off rounds in my direction.  I ducked and sped through the next intersection, turning onto a side street that's super steep.  Because of the way the road curves before the intersection, and because the shooter couldn't accelerate while out the window, I was able to lose him.

Neither myself nor my car were hit.

Was he just some asshole trying to scare random people?  Probably.  I didn't know him, I've done nothing to piss off someone like him.  I really think it was a total random act of violence meant to frighten just so this fucker could brag about it later.

On the other hand, he climbed halfway out his window, while his car was moving, and was definitely aiming the gun.  I still think it's random violence because I'm 99% sure I gave him no reason to target me.  But did he mean to miss, or was he just a really lousy shot?  He got off four rounds at me, but it was definitely a semi-auto pistol, so theoretically he had another 5 in the clip.

I was on the phone with the police about 60 seconds after it happened.  Obviously they took it seriously and we saw a police helicopter flying low over our neighborhood in about ten minutes after the shooting.  They still haven't come by to interview me, and I doubt they will.  Since I saw everything through my rear-view mirror, I didn't get a very good look at anything.

You know what the craziest part of all this is?  It was 11 in the fucking morning, on a Thursday, on a major road.  WTF?

On top of all this, the guy who mows our lawn was mugged last week a few block away.

I know the neighborhood is going down hill, but I took solace in the fact our particular street was safe and I knew what streets weren't.  But now even on the main roads are people shooting randomly--and in broad daylight.

I can't feel safe here any more.


EDIT:

Maybe I should have checked the news first:
http://kdka.com/local/Arlington.shootout.moving.2.1705416.html

Turns out he probably wasn't shooting at me (or maybe he was, thinking I was somebody else?)

I called the police again and they should be by soon.

Two days without internet is the worst we've had to suffer so far, so, hot-damn are we lucky!

I helped our neighbors shovel our road today.  Yes, the road.  A little over a hundred and fifty feet, I'd guess.  The plows haven't been down our road at all even though they have hit the roads on either side of us.  We watched a truck (the kind of truck that people who actually need a truck own) spin its wheels this morning as it pushed through 2 and a half foot drifts.  I have a lot of faith in my subaru, but dang.

Tomorrow my workplace is closed, which is fortunate because it frees me up to deal with the snow some more.  It's going to be necessary since we have more on the way.  I'm worried a bit about our roof, but I'm hesitant to go up there since falling would mean a 30-foot drop thanks to the slope of our land.  Of course, I'd be landing in a big thing of snow, so maybe I should be all that concerned.

Lemony got to play in the snow a bit, which was awesome by the way.  She seems to have developed a thing for polar bears (and yes, we're 90% sure she knows what they are).

My bonsai are probably fairing well, but there's no way to tell yet.  I'd dig them out, but they're actually better off buried.  I've dealt with broken branches before, so if a few of them are damaged then... oh well.  Life goes on!

Some people are blessed to discover their purpose in life.  Others are further blessed to go on and achieve it.  I suspect that this person is both.  It's especially nice when you can take a picture of it and share it on the internet, even if your purpose is to build the most amazing miniature model sets in the history of plastic.  Now, click the link :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24796741@N05/sets/72157604247242338/show/with/2346008881/

So, it's already Jan 4th and I'm just now writing  my "New Year" post.  Truth is, I hate doing New Years stuff at the turn of the year.  It feels artificial.  Like I've been sitting around all December trying to think up something clever and meaningful to tell myself when I make my New Year Resolution.  Why try to figure out what's best for me in 2010 when 2009 isn't over yet?  And god knows, the Old Year seems to never want to let go.  It's four days into the New Year and 2009 is still sucking.  So now that I've had 3 days of 2009 post-mortemly kicking my ass, here are some thoughts, starting with Old Shit:

-My first real bout with depression.  Sure, I've been "depressed" before... breaking up with a girlfriend, money problems, whatever... but this time, this shit was stealthy poison.  Thinking back on it, I probably spent about half the year depressed.  I'm still not sure I'm 100% over it, but most people usually aren't at this point.  There's only two important things to take away from this, though: my friends rock, and I'm getting better.

-My house is awesome, my neighborhood isn't.  When we bought this place, Arlington was on the up and up.  Things were looking better in the area.  People were trying.  They cared.  Then, the local police precinct moved their headquarters down the street from us.  "Great!" we told ourselves.  "This means that things will really start to get better!"  It's yae many months later and now what do we say?  "Well, shit."  It turns out that the police are almost ignoring our neighborhood, making it a safe heaven for all the criminals they're driving out of our surrounding areas.  It's so bad, the city bought the largest building in our area that isn't a school and turned it into a parole office.  Now, I knew we were taking a risk in buying this house.  I realized even then that this was a gamble.  Some gambles are worth this risk and I maintain that this was one of those scenarios.  All the same, it's time to get out while the getting is good.

-They come and they go.  Bran was telling me that most people cycle through their "core friends" every five years or so.  While I've made some incredible friends in the past few years, in 2009 that wasn't the case.  I didn't really make any new friends this year and, even more shitty, I feel like I've lost friends.  I don't think anything that has happened in 2009 sucks as bad as that.

-Students just don't self-motivate.  Now, I really never talk about my work here for obvious reason, but this was a  really big part of 2009 and it's nothing really bad, just honest.  I worked hard in 2009 to provide my students with the opportunity to work on a project of their own design, to create something they really really want to create.  Ultimately, the year went by with absolutely, positively nothing getting done.  I do not hyperbolize.  That's a WHOLE YEAR of my Saturdays being spent at work, of my own free will and without pay, with nothing to show.  Very shitty.

There's more shit from the Old Year, but I'm too tired to really think about it.  I'm going to conclude the Old Year with one note regarding something very very NOT shitty: my daughter.  Insert sappy stuff here in your own free time, 'cause I could have all the time in the world I still wouldn't have enough.

Now, how about the New Year?  Obviously I can't be so specific, but in general terms I would like to see the following happen:

-Getting the hell out of Dodge, as the saying goes.
-Get my book published.  I mean, it's been written for a year for crying out loud!
-Get my job sorted out.  No, not that one, the other one.  Well that one too.  And this other one, while I'm at it.
-My financial mission, if I choose to accept it, is to generate shit-tons of cashflow and pay off our debts.  What, I already accepted?  Oh, good.
-Be happy.

Was I happy in 2009?  I dunno.  I was depressed most of the year, but that doesn't mean I wasn't happy.  I certainly had TONS of happy moments in my life during those 365 days, maybe even some of the happiest I'll ever have.  Really, I don't think I care if I "was" happy.  I want to be happy.  It seems like a lot of people in our world don't want that, for themselves or for me.  Well then, they can have all the shit in 2010... I keep none of it for myself!

I came across this randomly and had to share.