Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Some days I hate the phone
The telephone is a great invention. I mean really, where would we be without it? There are times, however, when you want to pull a Russel Crowe or Naomi Campbell and throw the damned thing. These past few days gave me enough reason to have that urge.
The first time was late Saturday night. The Squeeze and I are sound alseep in bed when the phone rings. I looked at the clock. It was 3:11 (actually 4:11 because we didn't set the clocks ahead before we went to bed). The Squeeze woke with a start and grabbed the phone on his side of the bed. It was a wrong number. The Squeeze said to the woman, "Do you have any idea what time it is?!". He said there was silence on the other end for a few seconds, then she said, "um...ya. sorry" and then she hung up. Seriously, what kind of moron calls someone at 4:11AM without being absolutely positive that they have the right number?
Needless to say, I was wide awake after that, and I tossed and turned for a few hours trying to get any sleep I might be so lucky to acquire, which wasn't much. Naturally, all day Sunday I felt like shit because I didn't get enough sleep. I could have easily fallen asleep around noon for a bit, but we had company, and that would just be wrong.
Her name and number are still on our caller list...I'm just waiting to be in a real prick mood and I'll call her at all hours of the night...or day. Maybe she works shifts.
Weezie called me Monday morning to see if I wanted to go to lunch with her and Zoey. It's my day off, so why not? We had a really good time, Zoey was being so good. Such a cute little thing. No screaming or crying. She just sat there in her highchair nibbling her crackers/cookies/french fries. Only a couple of things hit the floor. Not bad at all! Three months to go before the new baby comes along. Eek! When will I tell the folks!?
When I returned home after running some errands following lunch, The Squeeze's brother was puttering around in the kitchen. He told me that his ex-girlfriend, Psycho-chick came by the house to drop off something she borrowed from The Squeeze ages ago. Apparently she wanted to talk things over with BIL. He didn't elaborate and I didn't ask. I merely rolled my eyes as I'm apt to do whenever somebody mentions Psycho-chick. I think she's still got the funky thigh-sweats for BIL, even though she's the one who went insane on him and told him he could go and marry this other female friend he was talking to. Just a bit unstable.
BIL told me last week that Psycho-chick had left a couple of voicemail messages where she was crying and saying how she hopes he's able to get over her and move on with his life. News flash: HE HAS!
Oh yes....I was talking about the phone. Well, this morning at about 9:25 as I was getting ready for work, the phone rang. Call display said "Private Name, Private Number". It was HER! It rang until the voicemail picked up, and then she hung up and called again. She did this all the time when she and BIL were dating. She rarely left a message. She would just call and call and call until someone answered. She might take a break for 5 or 10 minutes, but she would keep on calling. I never answer the phone when I see that on the display because I can't stand the woman. It was nothing for her to call half a dozen times or more within 5 minutes. This morning she called 3 times before BIL finally decided to pick up the extension downstairs. I hope to God that he's not entertaining the idea of getting back with her. We'll have to do an intervention.
Another reason I hate the phone is because it has been the vessel of so much bad news. Usually it's my one brother's wife who seems to call us every time someone dies. She's like the messenger of death. She called when my other brother died, when my uncle died...and when other distant relatives have passed on. I dread the sound of her voice on the other end because it normally means someone's dead.
Last night I got a call from an old friend of mine who I really don't hear from anymore. She called to tell me that someone I used to work with died that day. Too freaking much. So I've been on the phone calling other friends we all used to work with back then to let them know the news.
The woman who died was a real laugh. I've been thinking of her a bit lately. I remember all the times the gang went out after work, and the laughs we had. And this woman had a laugh! When she got into an uncontrolled laughing fit over something, tears poured from her eyes. We got such a kick out of making her do that. Her daughter was the same way. It was really something to get the two of them going. We laughed at the way they were laughing so hard, and they, in turn, laughed about the way one of us laughed, and it would go on for hours.
How wonderful to leave a legacy of laughter and good times. She didn't have an easy life. Her husband left her with two kids to raise on her own. She worked her whole life to provide for her family. She taught her kids to respect others. I was always amazed at how polite and well-mannered they were, and that's back when they were in their late teens. It's been about 15 years or so since those times. The kids are in their mid 30's now. It will be a bitter-sweet reunion to see them at the visitation. I'm sure I'll see a lot of the old gang I haven't seen since then.
It's sad to come to the realization that we get so caught up in our present and planning for the future that we often forget about the past. The past is where those memories were made. I should really make more of an effort to go back and see people from my past who gave me those memories before it's too late. I regret that I didn't see her before she passed away. Oh, the laughs we would have had.
God speed, Sharon.
The first time was late Saturday night. The Squeeze and I are sound alseep in bed when the phone rings. I looked at the clock. It was 3:11 (actually 4:11 because we didn't set the clocks ahead before we went to bed). The Squeeze woke with a start and grabbed the phone on his side of the bed. It was a wrong number. The Squeeze said to the woman, "Do you have any idea what time it is?!". He said there was silence on the other end for a few seconds, then she said, "um...ya. sorry" and then she hung up. Seriously, what kind of moron calls someone at 4:11AM without being absolutely positive that they have the right number?
Needless to say, I was wide awake after that, and I tossed and turned for a few hours trying to get any sleep I might be so lucky to acquire, which wasn't much. Naturally, all day Sunday I felt like shit because I didn't get enough sleep. I could have easily fallen asleep around noon for a bit, but we had company, and that would just be wrong.
Her name and number are still on our caller list...I'm just waiting to be in a real prick mood and I'll call her at all hours of the night...or day. Maybe she works shifts.
Weezie called me Monday morning to see if I wanted to go to lunch with her and Zoey. It's my day off, so why not? We had a really good time, Zoey was being so good. Such a cute little thing. No screaming or crying. She just sat there in her highchair nibbling her crackers/cookies/french fries. Only a couple of things hit the floor. Not bad at all! Three months to go before the new baby comes along. Eek! When will I tell the folks!?
When I returned home after running some errands following lunch, The Squeeze's brother was puttering around in the kitchen. He told me that his ex-girlfriend, Psycho-chick came by the house to drop off something she borrowed from The Squeeze ages ago. Apparently she wanted to talk things over with BIL. He didn't elaborate and I didn't ask. I merely rolled my eyes as I'm apt to do whenever somebody mentions Psycho-chick. I think she's still got the funky thigh-sweats for BIL, even though she's the one who went insane on him and told him he could go and marry this other female friend he was talking to. Just a bit unstable.
BIL told me last week that Psycho-chick had left a couple of voicemail messages where she was crying and saying how she hopes he's able to get over her and move on with his life. News flash: HE HAS!
Oh yes....I was talking about the phone. Well, this morning at about 9:25 as I was getting ready for work, the phone rang. Call display said "Private Name, Private Number". It was HER! It rang until the voicemail picked up, and then she hung up and called again. She did this all the time when she and BIL were dating. She rarely left a message. She would just call and call and call until someone answered. She might take a break for 5 or 10 minutes, but she would keep on calling. I never answer the phone when I see that on the display because I can't stand the woman. It was nothing for her to call half a dozen times or more within 5 minutes. This morning she called 3 times before BIL finally decided to pick up the extension downstairs. I hope to God that he's not entertaining the idea of getting back with her. We'll have to do an intervention.
Another reason I hate the phone is because it has been the vessel of so much bad news. Usually it's my one brother's wife who seems to call us every time someone dies. She's like the messenger of death. She called when my other brother died, when my uncle died...and when other distant relatives have passed on. I dread the sound of her voice on the other end because it normally means someone's dead.
Last night I got a call from an old friend of mine who I really don't hear from anymore. She called to tell me that someone I used to work with died that day. Too freaking much. So I've been on the phone calling other friends we all used to work with back then to let them know the news.
The woman who died was a real laugh. I've been thinking of her a bit lately. I remember all the times the gang went out after work, and the laughs we had. And this woman had a laugh! When she got into an uncontrolled laughing fit over something, tears poured from her eyes. We got such a kick out of making her do that. Her daughter was the same way. It was really something to get the two of them going. We laughed at the way they were laughing so hard, and they, in turn, laughed about the way one of us laughed, and it would go on for hours.
How wonderful to leave a legacy of laughter and good times. She didn't have an easy life. Her husband left her with two kids to raise on her own. She worked her whole life to provide for her family. She taught her kids to respect others. I was always amazed at how polite and well-mannered they were, and that's back when they were in their late teens. It's been about 15 years or so since those times. The kids are in their mid 30's now. It will be a bitter-sweet reunion to see them at the visitation. I'm sure I'll see a lot of the old gang I haven't seen since then.
It's sad to come to the realization that we get so caught up in our present and planning for the future that we often forget about the past. The past is where those memories were made. I should really make more of an effort to go back and see people from my past who gave me those memories before it's too late. I regret that I didn't see her before she passed away. Oh, the laughs we would have had.
God speed, Sharon.
# posted by Dave @ 12:57 PM 
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I'm sorry to hear about your old friend. Those phone calls just suck.
Dear heavens! That's exactly what my brother's ex-psycho would do. One day she called my apt (mind you, my brother did NOT live with me) nonstop, waking me from my bronchitis induced sleep, but she would hang up when I answered it. The caller id showed a store over in the East Bay (obviously when I lived in SF), so I called the store (she was calling from the fax #) and asked for the psycho. She took so long coming to the phone that I hung up, but moments later she called back. This went on all day and into the night.
When my brother finally showed up we went up to a friend's apt since we knew we wouldn't get a moment's peace w/her calling every second. She also pulled the same trick that same day on my aunt. My aunt is the quietest most peaceful person ever and she lit into the psycho. Her husband was in awe as he had never seen her like that.
Tell BIL to run far and fast!
Dear heavens! That's exactly what my brother's ex-psycho would do. One day she called my apt (mind you, my brother did NOT live with me) nonstop, waking me from my bronchitis induced sleep, but she would hang up when I answered it. The caller id showed a store over in the East Bay (obviously when I lived in SF), so I called the store (she was calling from the fax #) and asked for the psycho. She took so long coming to the phone that I hung up, but moments later she called back. This went on all day and into the night.
When my brother finally showed up we went up to a friend's apt since we knew we wouldn't get a moment's peace w/her calling every second. She also pulled the same trick that same day on my aunt. My aunt is the quietest most peaceful person ever and she lit into the psycho. Her husband was in awe as he had never seen her like that.
Tell BIL to run far and fast!
I'm happy to report that the losing streak has finally ended! I actually won a coffee and a donut (or doughnut if you prefer). I guess the Freebie Gods finally heard me and decided to cut me some slack. :o)
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