Wah wah and boo hoo

I don't want to become Gloomy Gary or Sad Sammy here, but a good 25% of my life seems to be comprised soley of bad luck in recent days. Thankfully the wife and kids continue, even in the moments when I can't stand 'em, to more than balance out the scale.

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It's been less than 48 hours since discovering my mortgage payment would soar because of local property taxes. Today the Journal reports that despite an influx of $100 million of Obama's stimulus money, MPS (Milwaukee Public Schools) will be asking for an addtional double-digit increase in the property tax levy.

If you follow the link you'll see note a reference to a recent audit of MPS, one that identified numerous black holes in their budget. Memo to the school board: maybe you could close those gaps before you take more $ from my wallet and throw it away.

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I got my Escort back from the shop tonight. The verdict: both brake lines had been severed in the area around the drivers seat. The cause? Flying road debris, rust, Lisa getting inventive - who knows?

Anyway, I had the car back twenty minutes before the the exhaust system fell apart. All was quiet one minute, and the next I'm driving in a car making enough decibels to burst your eardrums. It's well and truly undriveable in its current condition. If I drove across town (again) I'd get a ticket in a second.

Sigh.

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Smiley missed school today for a required check-up at the Ear/Nose/Throat doctor. His left ear tube has fallen out, which was more or less expected, but in its absence fluid has again returned to plague his eardrum. He'll be put on a prescription and if it doesn't clear up, look for a return to the operating room for more tubes.

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I was talking to a couple of the guys from work today when they asked me when I was going to go drinking with them.

"Probably when someone asks me to," I said.

"We just did" came the response.

Regretably, I had to say no, not because of my legendary social phobias but because I already felt hungover by the time they asked, courtesy of a damn strong stomach virus.

I last called in sick to work in August of 2000, when I had compacted wisdom teeth pulled out. I should have broke the streak today. I was miserable. Instead I slugged it out and made it through the day, but if things don't improve I'm pulling the trigger and call in Friday.