RECCE ROOM

 From a reader: "Was this video what you wrote about some years back?"   YouTube: Entitled Parents GIVE their Son's BIRTHDAY to his SPOILED LITTLE SISTER - Reddit   Link to article in question .  Negative, this was not this author. A few telltale hints:  In my instance, I never cared whether I got a birthday party.  Never yelled at my dad (he wasn't at that party).  Never cried about it (though my mom said I did).  It was at my mom's "house," not Chuck-E-Cheese.  It was not my 18th birthday (it was the Redditor's 18th birthday).  It was the only time my mom did that (the Redditor had to endure this for 8 years).  The second story on that YouTube video is also interesting - the OP's entitled aunt tried to use his parents residence to qualify for low-income housing. Although I have seen extended family (my mom's side) try similar shenanigans. It failed in much the same way. 

This is part 2 of a 2-part post .   Recently, I applied for a position with a company, and was made an offer. As part of the offer, they hired a 3rd party to perform a background check. Nothing out of the ordinary. If you want to read about "out of the ordinary" hiring practices, here is a good link . The company performing the background check called me a week later, and told me that the University I attended verified different dates than I had indicated.  My actual dates at that institution were August 1993 to May 1998. That's what I had indicated. However, the company performing the background check was told August 1995 to May 1998. They now said it was my responsibility to prove my claim! My options were a diploma or transcripts.  I never had received my diploma, and my transcripts were long since misplaced. A quick search online and I was able to purchase a copy of each. I sent the .pdf file of my transcripts to the employment verification company, and that was suff...

This is part 1 of a 2-part post. When I was in college, I still lived at home. This brought about some interesting situations. Particularly with a mom who was a major-league shit-tester . One of those things is that my mother was incessant about seeing our report cards.  One might point out that for a minor child, the parent has a right to see the report card. This is true, and is enshrined in the FERPA act passed in 1974. However, When a student turns 18 years old or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, all rights afforded to a parent under FERPA transfer to the student, with only a handful of possible "workarounds."  When mail would come at the end of the semester, it was often a race to the mailbox to get the report card. I won more often than not. But not always. Some days, one simply cannot be there because of other commitments.  Yes, she would open mail addressed to me.  She did the same with my siblings. 

This meme was shared on social media, and it reminded me about something from childhood. For the record, one platform of social media has a whole section dedicated to "insane parents." My mom had all of them beat.  That will be important to know here.  When this happened, I was about 12. We were gathered around, all looking at something (I forgot what). My mom shifted position, I was bumped, and I fell backwards. I landed on the edge of a milk crate that was being used to hold homeschool books.  The crate looked like this: When I landed on it, I yelled out in pain.  My mom fussed at me for being so "dramatic." I ran around a bit in a haze of pain, clenching my injured left buttock with my hand.  When I pulled my hand away, there was blood. A fair amount of blood. I showed my mom, and she examined the wound and called my dad to come home to take me to the hospital.  Side note: my dad's place of employment was very close to the hospital in downtown Chat...

We had been living in the Nashville area for a while. Eventually, we let my mom come over. This started the "fun." A couple of years after she bought her house in Gallatin, she had some misfortune. Her AC unit went out. My dad, my brother, and I all received the same email, titled: "RETAIN AN ATTORNEY!" She accused one of us of sabotaging her AC unit. For years afterwards, she would refer to the time that "your daddy destroyed my air-conditioner." The funny thing was he'd had outpatient surgery on the day she accused him of sabotage. Not long after that, perhaps six months or so, she sent an email asking to "trade houses." I would pay the mortgage on the Mount Juliet House, but live in the Gallatin House. She would pay the mortgage on the Gallatin House, but live in my Mount Juliet House. Naturally, I declined. Some time later - perhaps a year or so - more "fun" happened. I was out of town at work. My wife calls me in a panic....

Picking up from last week - where my mom had moved into a Farm House to prevent me from moving there. I had instructed my dad to not tell her where I lived. I knew she would show up unannounced and try to force us out of that location, as well. She was strange like that. Well, Pops respected that wish for several months. Then he let it slip. We had been at that apartment 3-4 months when there was a knock at the door. My mom was there, and had brought my grandmother. We let her in and tried to be cordial... but it soon got tense. She wanted to "trade" residences. "Let" me live at the farm house, and pay rent on the apartment where she would live. I told her the landlord would not allow subleasing - but she persisted. I persisted more and she finally left in a huff. As she was driving off, I met her in the parking lot. She rolled down the window of her car and I told her "do yourself a favor and don't do that again." She played dumb, but I stood my...

Donovan Sharpe  details a situation where his mother made some poor decisions and essentially price gouged him. In summary, he was needing to live with her until he got back on his feet. She started by charging him $300 per month in rent. As he got raises due to exceptional performance at work, she forced him to pay more - eventually raising the rent to over $1000 per month! This reminds me of a situation I once found myself in. After graduating college and getting married, my plan was to move to my dad's farm near Jackson, TN. Nobody was living in the house at the time. My mom had lived in that house at one point, but had moved back to Chattanooga after my sister graduated High School. My dad and I had reached an arrangement for rent. Over the weeks leading up to the wedding, I made a couple of trips to the farm house and moved some extra belongings into the house. There was some preliminary drama - and that should have been my red flag! She goes over to the farm house, and ca...

  The Transformed Wife  hits another one out of the park. Seriously, if you do not read that blog, you should start today. The wife and I both enjoy it tremendously. The subject of that post was why more men don't want more children. The author makes very good and accurate points. She is not wrong on any of them. The only thing I would add, is that some men don't want more children for (legitimate) fear of excessive child support in a potential divorce situation.  Naturally, there are some exceptions to the rule. However, The Transformed Wife has hit the nail on the head. The Rifleman has two children, one boy and one girl, and is very happy with that number. So is the Mrs. My brother has one son, and is very happy to have his son. My sister has no children, and she and her husband are happy with that. Growing up, my mother made children and babies out to be "gross." She would say that they had diseases and germs and things like that. She repeated the classic femi...

The rifleman's mom was a major league shit-tester. Me thinks this is why The Rifleman is so good at passing shit-tests. Lots of practice growing up.   What is a shit-test?   One of the more major ones I remember from growing up... my mother scheduled a birthday party for my sister on my birthday .  Yes, you read that correctly. Our birthdays were a month apart. As my mother requested I attend, I did show up.  Stayed a minute, had some cake and an unfortunate allergic reaction to something in the air, then left early.  Later, I overheard my mom on the phone with a friend. She admitted she knew what she was doing planning that party.  She told her friend that I cried in the corner.  Kinda reminds me of how #FakeNews treats Trump these days... gets the story completely wrong on purpose.   Of course, she asked me if I wanted her to plan a party for me. My reply? "Yes! Let's invite all my friends, and schedule it for my sister's birthday, and I'll...