Grumpy McGrumpypants

The alarm went off when I was in the middle of a dream. This in turn makes it harder for me to wake up and stagger to turn it off. (I have to keep the alarm in a place that makes me stand up and move to turn it off. I have been known to turn off the alarm in my sleep and not realize it until I wake up two hours later.)

Then I get up to see it's raining and it's making my internet connection behave badly. It's quite annoying to have it go in and out at random moments, but it seems to be stabilizing now.

Being grumpy isn't helping with other things. I want to bring up some thing related to WoW guild stuff and not sure I trust myself to be able to explain things without coming off as "OH MAH GAWD YOU SUCK!" I mean, I know it won't be anything like that severe and it's certainly not how I feel, but it's me needing to put on my officer's hat and it's a little anxiety inducing. There's other stuff outside of WoW, too.

Did I mention I was in a deep enough sleep to be dreaming and continued doing so even after I hit the snooze? I think I might need a nap today. Blargh.

A Big Gay Post

Don't Ask Don't Tell was repealed yesterday and it was a Very Good Day(TM).

Warning: Have tissues handy!

First up, a gay soldier comes out to his father and records it live for YouTube.

"Everybody here knows, Dad. And it's all been great. Nobody's giving me any shit about it."

World War II veteran Melvin Dwork, pictured in his old uniform, was discharged from the Navy for being gay. Now his discharge has been changed from "undesirable" to "honorable" as a result of the DADT repeal.

There are several heartwarming pictures there, including a picture from Lt. Gary Ross's wedding (link follows).

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal: Navy Lt. Gary Ross, Partner Dan Swezy Wed As Military's Gay Ban Formally Ends

DUXBURY, Vt. -- Just as the formal repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy took effect, Navy Lt. Gary Ross and his partner were married before a small group of family and friends.

The two men, who'd been together 11 years, decided to marry in Vermont in part because the state is in the Eastern time zone.

That way, they were able to recite their vows at the stroke of midnight - at the first possible moment after the ban ended.

And he wore his dress blues. BLUB!

Pleasant Afternoon Lost to Asshat

Dear Asshats in the little red sedan:

If my truck door hit your precious little car, I'm terribly sorry. I think there was contact, but I had opened my car door slowly and carefully enough that it did not slam against it as you said. I know this might be hard to wrap your brain around, but I don't make a habit of hitting cars, and at first I thought you were trying to say I'd literally hit your car, which bewildered me because, well, I knew that hadn't happened.

Look, it was pouring down rain. I opened my car door carefully, making sure it wasn't going to slam against anything. Then I had to open my umbrella. I couldn't hear diddly squat except for the rain and my own thoughts. Hell, I thought the car was empty. (BTW, what were you and your friend doing just sitting in the parking lot? You weren't waiting on anyone that I could see, but boy were your friend's eyes red.) You then opened the door and immediately started out with, "OH, SO YOU'RE JUST GOING TO WALK AWAY AND NOT SAY ANYTHING?"

First, yes, I'm just going to walk away if I'm unaware I've done anything wrong. I didn't know or think I'd hit your precious baby and, well, I'm focused on getting my umbrella opened and getting the fuck out of the pouring rain. After some back and forth you ask for my license and insurance information and all I asked was to be able to get my son out the car and, unknown to you, to signal that hulking 6' 1" three hundred-pound gorilla waiting at the store's entrance wondering what's taking me so long.

Also, I was going to ask the police be called. Know why? Because you and your friend were intimidating me. You might not be criminals and you might not ever raise your hand to a woman, but I don't know that. I have been pushed around by men before, men who knew precisely what they were doing. Was it mentioning that I had a kid in the car that softened you? I doubt you realized you were being an asshat even after I explained that I didn't hear anything and I wasn't aware and if you'd just give me a second to speak--but no, you cut me off. That teeny tiny mark on your car that most insurance companies would cover without the need of someone else to blame. Also, again, there was no paint on my truck door and for a mark like that, even one that small, red paint should have clearly shown up on my gray door. I've had a car scraped by another's car door before and I know what to look for (granted, that was my mother's truck on a moving day for college, but still, same scenarior minus the asshats).

Some part of me wonders if you did see the gorilla at the store's entrance. I don't think you did, but I do know if he had been in the truck with me and got out with me, this whole thing probably wouldn't have happened, or you would have seriously scaled back your anger. I've seen men with chips on their shoulders around my boyfriend before. It's not because he's violent or that he even makes a threat, it's that it's usually very obvious in a cost-benefit analysis of a situation, it's going to hurt them way more in the long run to test him to see if he can defend himself.

And I hate you for that. I hate that you'd have been more respectful had I the physical strength to back it up. I hate that I was intimidated by a moron who thinks his car is an extension of his masculinity, that you believe I'm the sort of dishonest person who harms someone else's property and just walks away. You couldn't take two seconds to ascertain whether or not I knew what happened. We had to shout to be heard over the rain. You think I'm going to hear it if a car door dings another car?

If that little mark costs you more than fifty bucks to repair, you're going to the wrong auto detailer. And had you pushed for a report, I'd have called in the police to make it all official-like and to make sure you weren't going to push toward violence. Also, your friends red eyes might have been allergies, but again, why were you just sitting in the parking lot? Yeah, bet that's another reason you didn't want to wait and only wanted to yell at me.

Fuck you for making my nice afternoon out full of anxiety. For making me upset enough to feel my hands shaking and to make me feel like crying. Fuck you for making me fear for my son's safety too and make him frightened because a man was outside yelling at his mother and he didn't know what was going on.

Hoping you get a flat tire,

Jade

I hate people.