Miracle In DeKalb
Wednesday, September 13th, 2023 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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65F and sunny out there this morning! God, do I love this weather! A few things from InstaCart were on the stoop when we went outside... stuff for my lunches. It's one of my favorite things about the app... that I can put together an order at 2AM, and set it to be delivered at 11AM.
I called Ace Hardware about the plexiglass, but they don't have sheets large enough.
They recommended I call a local outfit called, Glasshopper.
Glasshopper said that a sheet the size I'm looking for would be $115.00!
But real glass is a lot cheaper. For that, it would be 50.00, per window.
And they said they can have real glass ready the same day.
A little research shows that it's probably better to use special double sided tape to stick glass to wood, rather than any type of glue. But the tape is pretty affordable.
The only real downside to using real glass is that I'd have to be careful as hell not to break it!
And it'd make the storms heavier.
Soo... I think if I go this route, I'm gonna have to get the frames together first and make damn sure they can go into the window wells without having to be forced... which may mean sanding or planing around the edges.
The frames would also have to be damn straight, because glass isn't gonna follow a slight bow in the wood.
But if they were flat, and fit in the wells, then it shouldn't be much to lay down the tape, drop the panes in place, and glaze around the back sides.
Only after that glaze was hardened would I flip them over and glaze around the panes from the front.
So... this DOES become a much more time consuming project with regular glass.
It's either that, or I pay $115.00 per window for plexiglass.
I think I'm just gonna have to get the damn frames together before I make that call.
One more reason to call in on Monday.
Well, it turns out the big story today... and this is BIG... is that Brian announced he's giving up his rehearsal space!
Well... it wasn't quite like that.
What he did was, post on the group thread about why he wasn't sure about coming to the funeral, or if he did, not to anything else that weekend.
And it all centers around... you guessed it... car trouble.
I guess the ball joints are going... or the wheel bearings... or probably both. But it's a huge repair, and he was hoping to limp the car along another couple months, which is why he didn't want to miss work on the weekend of Dad's funeral, because he figured he'd need the money.
But apparently it's not gonna last much longer so, it's either a costly repair, or trade it in for a new car and take on a car payment.
And either way, it means he can no longer afford the rehearsal space.
So, for background, both of us happened to get Dodge Avengers, back in 2013. There were a lot of them around back then.
Both were 2012 Avengers, bought certified pre-owned in 2013. I got mine in March. Brian & Karen got theirs more like July.
Mine was black. Theirs was blue.
I drove the hell out of mine back and forth to Elgin every day for five years until it was paid off. That was 2018. But by early 2020, it had a wheel bearing issue, so I traded it in for a Toyota Yaris.
I imagine Brian & Karen paid off theirs in 2018, or 2019, if they had a six-year loan. Don't know for sure.
But either way, they just hung on to it. And now it's 11 years old.
They may have had a bit more disposeable cash in late 2019, but it was short lived, because in march of 2020, Brian quit his job, in response to the pandemic, and didn't get another one until 2021.
Dylan was living with them over that period, and helped them pay the rent. But it was just Dylan and Karen bringing home the bacon.
That lead, of course to Dylan jamming with his Dad, and triggered Brian to go band crazy... which did motivate him to get a job... but only because he wanted so badly to rent a rehersal space for the band he was forcing Dylan to be in with him.
And I guess, his excuse for the expense of the rent was that they still didn't have a car payment.
But that's dodgey math, because there's no way their car payment was ever $350.00 per month! It was probably at most $210.00 or something.
But even if you're charitable and grant that perhaps Bri's new job paid better than the old job... and therefore made up the difference... it's still a terrible plan, because the Avenger was already going to shit.
The way he explains that away is that they only need to drive it around town.
But that wasn't true either, because Dad was already in and out of the hospital quite a lot, and Brian should've been visiting him... both in the hospital, and here at his house, when he was well.
So, if you rewind the clock back to 2021, when he got that better paying job... THAT was the time to start paying down credit cards, up the credit score, and trade the Avenger in for a newer car, with an affordable down payment.
And they'd have had some money to spare.
And anytime you have a reliable car and a little money to spare... you have options in life! You can commute... to where there's even more money! You can get credit cards. You can get loans.
You can move... out of DeKalb... and rent a house somewhere in the metro... with a basement... where you can set up your drums.
And build on things, and meet new people, and put money into a 401K.
It also just never hurts to be closer to family. You help each other out. More people to brainstorm with about big problems.
What was I saying last night about Tim & I brainstorming together in January about how both of us could get ahead in 2023.
And that was on the heels of a lot of brainstorming with Colleen, Kevin, and Sheila about how to deal with Dad and the estate, as he was dying, and after he died.
And all of them live in other STATES, but they were all here for the crisis, because they all have their shit together well enough for that... because they have their priorities straight.
Brian's never around in a crisis, and never part of any brainstorming.
Even though he was in on the group chat that went on all through December leading up to Dad's Death... and afterward for several months... all he cared about was his karaoke drum rehearsal on the weekends!
How does this impact rehearsal?
I did a tribute to Dad at rehearsal!
Does anybody want to come to rehearsal, while they're in town?
How about I bring rehearsal to the family reunion, the night of the funeral?
But I'm gonna blame DeKalb again, for a lot of this.
It's really the symbiotic relationship between DeKalb and Brian.
He didn't move there, back in the stone ages, for no reason. It appeals to self styled bohemians who want to live in peace, far away from the normal, boring people and their so-called, "reality!"
They think it's an oasis, but it's straight out of a Stephen King novel!
And one of the sinister things it does is that whole, "only need a car to get around town," thing!
In fact, because it's so far away from the metro, there are no emissions regulations in DeKalb, so... even more reason never to maintain your car.
There's just no pressure to do it, but there's no money either... to do simple things like brakes and tires.
So pretty soon... your car, only CAN get around town! It can't get you back to civilization anymore! And you can't afford a better one! So you're trapped forever! Hahahahah!
And the effect on the mind... of being isolated in DeKalb... losing touch with the rest of the world... makes you start to think that very bizarre things are normal!.. like karaoke drums!
And when the outside world doesn't agree... that drives more of a wedge between you and the people you still communicate with out there... on outdated social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
So you become more isolated... and more out of touch... and develop even more bizarre obsessions.
Until, when a true crisis comes along, like your Dad's impending death... you can barely comprehend what your siblings are talking about.
Just a bunch of real world gibberish about signatories? mobile notatries, burial permits, and city transfer stamps.
Can't I just show up and play the drums?
Blissfully unaware of the costs involved... the backflips required to get insurance payouts, and avoid, probate, whatever that its.
The money everybody's shelling out to travel back and forth, and pay the priest, and the church pianist, and the Ubers and the Air B&Bs.
Just tell me when I can go and stand in the church, that's all!.. oh wait! I need to work that day, because I'm broke!
I know I go on about this too often, but I have spent a LOT of time thinking about Brian's situation in the past... year, really... ever since the tree fell down in the back yard.
Months before we even suspected Dad was about to die... that was already the definition of a family crisis!
A giant tree falls down in your Dad's back yard, where your brother, who's taking care of him, so that you can be free to focus on your life, lives.
Insurance won't pay for it. There's no money to get rid of it. But it needs to at least be cut up and dealt with before winter!
You live 40 minutes away, and you have an able bodied son of 23.
Do you;
- Rise to the occasion and give your brother a hand.
OR - Lay low until it blows over! Your brother can figure it out on his own.
The fact that he chose option 2...
I mean... I don't KNOW of anybody anywhere who would do that!
For every friend, neighbor, or coworker I've ever had, be they white, black, latino, Asian, or Indian... that would've been a no-brainer! Get your son and go help your father and your brother!
And, of course, with Dad's final crisis coming right after that... and his ashes yet to be buried... yes. I have been thinking about Brian a LOT this past year.
And I know I sound very critical of him, but I really AM trying to wrap my head around HOW my brother can be this way!
What is the explanation?
Is there a solution?
What in God's name happens if Karen dies, and he shows up with Max on my doorstep with nowhere to go?... both of them out of smokes and in need of beer!
Holy Jesus!
But, as per the title of the entry... there was a small miracle in DeKalb today.
His car is finally so shit, that it's forcing him to give up the rehearsal space and get a new one.
And Tim and I were encouraging him tonight, and trying to give him advice.
This is Bri's moment!
If he plays his cards right, he can trade in that Avenger for a very reliable car with a far lower payment than the rehearsal space cost... leaving him & Karen with extra money every month!
And like I said above... whenever you've got a reliable car and a little extra money... you have options in life!
But already tonight, he was talking about getting a Chevy Spark... which is going to be a total lemon that will break down all the time and nothing will have changed.
He hasn't done this enough to know how to do it right!
And he's not gonna listen to the advice of me or Tim, because we're fat!
Or some bullshit.
So... whatever!
A little window of hope has opened.
Brian stands to change everything for the better, in this moment of his life.
Will he?
Or will he sign a shitty deal for a lemon, and make it all ten times worse?
If you are reading this...
And you believe in any kind of higher power...
PRAY!
°¦}
