In April a garbage truck malfunctioned, and sprayed hydraulic fluid all over the front and side of my house. They were unable to clean it, which means I need new siding, gutters, windows, and light fixtures. The company who owns the garbage truck is having their insurance take care of it, and it has been a huge pain in my ass.

The adjuster came, and gave me the estimate; turns out they will only cover actual cash value. Actual cash value is the cost of the materials and labor adjusted for depreciation. My siding is from 2013, so I am owed 2013 siding. It also means I am on the hook for over $3,600, because I cannot buy used siding from 2013. I understand why the laws are written this way. If I break your 2013 iPhone, I owe you the cost of a used 2013 iPhone, not a brand new 2022 iPhone. However, this makes no goddamn sense for siding.

I worked with my insurance, and there is nothing more they can do. Small claims court has the same rules as the insurance companies, so that will be a waste of time. My next steps are to talk to the company that owns the truck, and then the city. I have already put in a lot of time and effort into something that is not even my fault, and I am about to give up, dip into my emergency fund, and just pay the excess. I hate it, and I hate that it is still ongoing.

On top of dealing with insurance companies and contractors I, also, had a lot of medical problems in June. I had food poisoning for two days at the beginning of the month. Of course it had to be over the weekend. After I recovered from food poisoning, I got sick, and was ill for two weeks. It sucked. At least I had the opportunity to watched a lot of the summer games showcase.

Luckily I recovered by the time my uncle had his 75th birthday. He had it in Medora. All of his family, except one of his daughters and her family were able to make it. They had car issues, otherwise they would have been there. The weather was hot and humid, but I have never seen my uncle so happy. He loves being surrounded by family. He is already talking about doing it again next year.

A week after the birthday I had a funeral to go to in Montana. My great aunt passed away in May, but her immediate family had a second service in June. We had a service in Glendive and a burial in Wibaux. Her husband (my grandma’s brother) is buried in Wibaux, and she wanted to be buried next to him. We had a fun time, which is how she would have wanted it.

My great aunt had two daughters, who are my mom’s cousins. We spent the weekend with their families, who we do not see too often. However, whenever we do get together, it is like no time has passed. We spent a lot of time just catching up and reminiscing, and laughing and crying.

When they first showed up in Glendive, my dad and I joined some of the family at the town’s brewery. The five of us like to try breweries if there is one close by. It is a good excuse to have a pint and catch up. Afterwards, we joined the rest of the family for dinner, and continued catching up.

The next day was the service. The officiant shared stories from my great aunt’s life. Afterwards, the burial was a solemn occasion. “Thanks” go to my mom and grandma; they put a lot of work in so we were able to gather at the park in Wibaux after the burial. It was the perfect day, and we had snacks and good company. We spent the rest of the day sharing stories. A group of us snuck over to Wibaux’s brewery before heading back to share more stories.

One of the stories is miraculous. One of the families could not be there. In May, my great aunt and her great grandson were in the same hospital. His expected due date was for late August of this year. He was born in May, and was very premature. My great aunt got to see him on video before she died.

The great grandson was not expected to make it. He was a foot tall, and weighed 1 lb. His lungs were not developed. Humans are amazing, because he is not only still alive, but he is thriving! As of the end of June, he was on 30% oxygen (the air we normally breathe is 20% oxygen). His lungs are almost fully formed. Doctors and therapists are saying his brain is developing normally. Everything is looking good. He still has a ways to go, but it sounds like he will not be in the hospital for much longer.

It seems like he has a lot of personality. They swaddle him, and he is constantly trying to get out. He will wiggle his arms out of the swaddle. He does not like it, which kind of makes sense. Babies like to be swaddled because it reminds them of the womb. However, this little guy spent only a few months in the womb. I am excited to meet him one day.

I want to finish up the post with a new “project” of mine. I want to play through the games of my childhood. I plan on doing this over several months, maybe even years. Right now, I have 10 NES games, 22 SNES games, and 5 Gameboy games identified to cover the late eighties and early nineties. After I get through those, I will have to identify the games from the late nineties to the early 2000’s. If I have a lot to say about the games, I think I will do a “Games of My Childhood” series. Otherwise, I will roll it into the annual “Games of” series. Either way, look forward to it.

Part of this “project” is also acquiring the old games. I did start rebuilding my handheld library, but my SNES and NES games were all sold in high school. I am looking at several hundred dollars to buy all of the games and cases for them. I plan on doing this over several months, and it seems like games might be coming down in price. Once I get them all, I will have to take some pictures and make a post about them. We will see how things shake out.

See you next post.
-Royfuss