15-Day Reminder Notice - California: Fill & Download for Free

I lived with my grandparents for the most part from the time I was 7 until I was 15. They lived in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood. Back in the day this is where most Hispanics lived regardless of income. You had people who were considered “comfortable” with very nice homes and then right next door you might have a family that lived paycheck to paycheck in a modest house. The houses on the street behind my grandparent’s home were small but still well maintained. Toward the end of one block though there was a group of homes that were in very poor condition. The people who lived in these homes were extremely poor. Here everybody knew everybody (and talked ABOUT everybody).My grandparents were considered part of the “comfortable” sect. and my grandfather spoiled me rotten. I had very, very nice clothes, especially for a child. He took me shopping at the best stores in the city. I had more pairs of shoes than I could count and in every color. I also had some nice jewelry. It was always real gold with genuine diamonds or gems. All quite extravagant for a little girl in elementary school. I didn’t wear my clothes for long. I wore each outfit maybe 3-4 times, 5 at the most and then it was time for new. My grandmother would give some of my clothes to my cousins and donate the rest. Or at least I thought.I was in elementary school and in my class was a girl named Mary. She lived in one of the “extremely poor” homes. Her mother stayed home to look after the smaller children. Her dad worked construction. I believe her family had moved from California, so Mary started school a few weeks into the school year. Her family was very poor. Mary’s clothes never fit, and they were always too big or way too small. Sometimes they were even noticeably dirty. I learned later they didn’t always have running water. She had shoes, but they were always worn out. Many times, she came to school with no shoes at all. The school nurses, my grandmother was one of two, would give her a pair of socks to wear.Mary didn’t really talk, I wasn’t sure why. The one thing that stood out about Mary was that she was always smiling. She had the most beautiful smile with perfectly straight white teeth, the cutest dimples and lips that were a perfect shape. A lot of the kids picked on her something awful but even while she was being picked on she smiled. The kids would throw dirt at her and she would pick it up and throw it back at them as if it was a game, laughing and smiling the entire time. I used to get so very angry with her. I wanted her to fight back but she never did. I never picked on her, but I never talked to her either. She irritated me because she wouldn’t fight back. I couldn’t put it in words at the time, but I came to regard her as weak and stupid.There were many occasions my grandmother would pick me up after school and we would visit someone in the neighborhood. I would read or draw pictures in my notebook while I waited for her visit to be over. One day, we went to a house on that poor side of the street. The house had to be the poorest on the block. My grandmother got out of the car, told me to get out and went around to the back of the car to open the trunk. The front door of the house swung open and out came two teenage boys. There were bags and bags of stuff in the trunk. The boys began unloading and taking them in the house. I’d seen my grandmother take a bag or two over to other people’s houses but never anything like this.I grab a couple of bags to take in the house and you wouldn’t believe who comes running out. Mary. She ran over to me, grabbed a bag and said, “Hi Ina!”. I think it was the first time I had ever heard her speak. Several of the bags were filled with groceries. Mary’s mother began to put everything away. There was a baby in an old playpen, a younger but not near as pretty version of Mary and then the two teenage boys, all Mary’s siblings. Mary’s dad was there too. You could tell he was very uncomfortable but was trying to keep it together. I don’t speak Spanish, but I can understand quite a bit. My grandmother began talking to Mary’s father about the boys. He wanted to take them out of school to work on their little dilapidated house, so he could still work at his construction job. The house was in really, really bad shape. Working on it after school and the weekends wasn’t going to make a dent and fall/winter was coming. My grandmother was trying to convince him that would be a mistake. My grandmother got into everyone’s business and to my surprise everyone let her.Mary took my hand and pulled me outside. We sat down on the step and she talked my ear off. I couldn’t even keep track of all she was saying.Finally, I got a word in and I raised my voice at her. “Why do you let them pick on you Mary? You should fight back, not just stand there! Are you stupid or something??”She put her head down and was quiet for a minute.Mary: “They only pick on me because we’re poor. There’s nothing wrong with being poor, right?”I looked at her and saw her beautiful eyes filling up with tears.Me: “Um, I don’t know. Why are you asking me? I mean no, I guess not.”Mary: “See? They probably don’t know that, so they pick on me. It’s ok. We can be friends now, right? Because you came to my house?” She didn’t wait for me to answer. She wiped her tears away and began chattering again.I felt sick. Sitting there on that porch I felt like I wanted to vomit. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but I just learned what shame felt like. I had yelled at Mary, basically called her stupid. And all she wanted was someone to like her even though she was poor.We were called back into the house. Mary’s dad handed her one of the big black trash bags. She dumped it out on their sofa and it was filled with clothes. LOTS of clothes. Shoes, jackets, a coat, pajamas, slips, and new packages of underwear, socks and tights. All clothes that were once mine. My grandmother had held back my cousin’s share of the clothes and saved it for Mary. To this day I have never seen anyone so happy. Mary wanted to try on everything but didn’t know what to try on first. She was smiling that same beautiful smile and screaming with each article of clothing she picked up. Everyone was laughing at Mary, or rather laughing with her, elated to see her so happy. Everyone except her dad. He couldn’t hold it together any longer and excused himself.Shortly after, we said our goodbyes and walked out of the house. Mary’s dad came out briefly and you could tell he had been crying. In Spanish my grandmother reminded him of his promise to keep the boys in school and in turn she would keep her promise of finding some help to work on the house. Mary came up to me and gave me hug and then ran back into the house. I couldn’t think about anything but Mary and her family all night. How happy Mary was and how happy her brothers were they didn’t have to leave school.The next day I went to school and there was Mary. Smiling, dressed in a beautiful white dress that had once belonged to me. Luckily no one recognized the dress as having been mine. I was happy about that for Mary’s sake.My grandmother kept her promise. Within a couple of days, Mary and her family had running water, now all the time. My grandmother and I would go over to Mary’s house once a week or two to check on the progress on the house. Each time, it was closer and closer to looking like a real home inside. How my grandmother finagled all these things, I’ll never know. Mary got my old twin bed (still looked new) and my grandmother continued to give her my clothes. Mary’s mom was now getting some of my mother’s clothes. Little did she know she was wearing $200 blouses and $300 dresses.Mary no longer got picked on. I’m not really sure why but I just know I was glad. She did talk a lot more and she was definitely more outgoing. We talked some and sat together once in a while, but Mary had now made her own friends and mostly hung out with them.About 3 years later, Mary and her family moved to Chicago. Mary’s dad had a lot of extended family there. They were doing very well, and they promised him work and an apartment in their building. One of the boys had graduated and went into the military, the other was about to graduate and do the same. Mary’s mom was pregnant, again.The last day of school was the last time I saw Mary. We said goodbye, promised to write each other and always be friends. She gave me a huge hug and said, “Bye. I’m gonna miss you.” She hugged me again and took off. I had no idea how much I was going to miss her. We did write some. She said she loved it there and wanted me to visit so I could see their new apartment and her new baby brother. The letters became less frequent and after a few months, we lost touch.It’s been 47 years and I’ve never forgotten Mary or that first day at her house. I remember everything that happened like it was yesterday. I think about Mary quite often and how she’s doing. I wonder if she still remembers me and if she still smiles all the time.I hope so.

Really, from mid-October on, 2016 was absolute hell for me, something I’ve done a good job of hiding from everybody, but…well…let’s take a look.First, this is my oldest daughter, Sydney.(no, she doesn’t really look this weird…in case you can’t tell, we’re kinda weird)Anybody who knows her finds her to be a goofy, adorable little chick. 5′1″, barely 100 pounds, a beast at basketball, great student, amazing friend, only girl that played on her school’s football team, full of confidence and energy…she’s kinda awesome. It’s important to know who she is, as she plays a large role in what’s to come.This is Jon. He also plays a large role in the end of 2016.My followers know that I’m still friends with a core group of guys from high school, who I call Don, Ray, and Ryan to protect their real world identities as superheroes. Well, Jon was on the “next tier” of guys we hung out with. I wasn’t super, absolute close with him, I didn’t share my deepest, darkest secrets with him, but he was with us pretty much every weekend.Jon came back into our lives a while back when he friended us all on Facebook and began talking about moving from South Carolina back to Arizona. He wanted to move back for several reasons: first, we were still what he considered the best friends he’d ever had (awwwww), and he had SEVERE back issues that was best treated with marijuana, illegal in South Carolina but legal in Arizona. From January through October, he began making trips to Arizona every couple months to do job interviews and visit with us, and I have to admit, it was good bringing him back into the fold. We were all very supportive and helped him out when he had to have an operation for a small growth in his esophagus.Some time in early October, the company I work for begins doing a MASSIVE amount of hiring in Ukraine. Rumors begin swirling that there will be layoffs…several people are fired immediately, while many of our talented developers immediately leave or begin the process of leaving.In mid-October, Sydney suffers her first breakup. How do I help my 13-year-old daughter get over a breakup? It was her first real relationship and, sadly, it lasted 8 months— much longer than middle-school relationships should last. It was her first boyfriend, and it lasted far too long, leading to a devastating breakup for my daughter. Since the breakup, I’ve been able to piece together that her boyfriend, who we shall call Dumbass, had been cheating on her for a bit, and he was using, as an excuse to see the girl, that she was threatening suicide and needed support. I also was able to piece together the reason for the breakup: Dumbass wanted to have sex, and Sydney wasn’t ready yet.Sadly, a huge mistake was made the day after the breakup, something that I wasn’t aware of: Sydney had approached my wife for advice on something, which was not a smart move, as my Warrior Princess has never been dumped. In her life. Ever. So, Sydney getting dumped was perceived as an enormous slight against our entire family.When Sydney approached Mom for help, telling Mom that Dumbass’s new girlfriend had been threatening suicide, Mom suggested that Sydney march into the school counselor’s office the next day and report it.This…wasn’t a smart move. Dumbass was able to piece together what happened and told his new girlfriend, who we’ll call NewGirl, that Sydney was just trying to get her in trouble (I firmly believe that NewGirl had never threatened suicide, that this was just Dumbass’s excuse).At work, things are becoming toxic. With 3 weeks to go before a big conference where we’re demonstrating the work my team has been doing for an entire year, my team is yanked off of it, with the project being assigned to our Ukrainian team.I’m told, in no uncertain terms, that our Ukrainian developers are earning half our salaries but doing the same amount of work. My manager makes the statement, “If I can hire two of them for the same price as you, why would I want to keep you, unless you can do the work of two of them?”Two days after reporting the suicide threat, NewGirl confronted Sydney in the school courtyard. A crowd surrounded the two, chanting “Fight,” but Sydney refused to do anything and attempted to defend her actions.The next day, the same thing happens. This time, Dumbass becomes incensed about the situation and charges at Sydney with his clenched fists raised; as he charges, he shoves one girl to the ground and is only prevented from attacking my daughter by several friends of both sides getting between them.Dumbass is 6′1″, 200lbs. This traumatizes Sydney, as she was still head-over-heels in love with Dumbass, and he just tried to attack her.That night, Sydney begins receiving text messages and Instagram messages from Dumbass’s and NewGirl’s friends, insulting her in every way. One simply reads “Nigger Faggot.”Jon contacts us to arrange for his next trip to Arizona. A key thing he wants to do, as a native Canadian, is get us all together to go to a Phoenix Coyotes hockey game against the LA Kings on Dec 1.Oct 21, Dumbass and NewGirl follow Sydney and her friends throughout lunch. She calls me, and I get school administration involved, who really seem to be downplaying things.That night, Sydney receives a message from Dumbass: “don’t be surprised if I come at you”. We call Dumbass’s mother, pleading for her to get her son to back off, but she insists “He’s not doing anything wrong, maybe you should get your daughter to back off.”He manages to leave her alone for a while, but on Nov 2, during their one class together (Science), he walks up behind her and just stands there, silently, until she notices people staring behind her; she turns, sees him looming over her, and immediately shuts down: hyperventilating, crying, shaking…she’s having a panic attack.The United States elects the single worst and least-qualified presidential candidate that has ever walked the earth.November 9, Dumbass does the same thing, with the same results. I talk to school administration again, who refuse to change Dumbass’s schedule and insist that he didn’t do anything wrong, he was just walking around in Science class.A week later, Dumbass decides he wants to change lab partners, choosing a friend who sits two seats away from Sydney…she doesn’t panic, but she’s still on edge throughout class. That night, she can’t sleep, and stays home from school the next day. I get her into therapy at that point to find a way for her to cope with being in the same vicinity as this boy, who’s apparently realized that he can play a fun little game by just trying to torment her.The following weekend, we drive to California for a basketball tournament; when we return, I find that Sydney’s bedroom window has been pelted with eggs.On December 1, Dumbass decides to ride home with NewGirl…who rides the same bus as Sydney. While boarding the bus, a girl overhears them discussing how they should sit as close to Sydney as possible to trigger a panic attack…they sit 3 rows away from Sydney, triggering one, and throughout the bus ride, Dumbass is turning around in his seat, pointing and laughing. I worked from home that day, and I get a call from one of Sydney’s friends at the bus stop, telling me what happened. I walk to the bus stop where I find my confident, proud daughter, curled up in the fetal position, crying and trying to breathe. I have to pick her up and carry her home.The night of Dec 1, we go to the hockey game with Jon. It’s a great game, the Coyotes barely lose, but it was still fun to watch. Before the game, we sit together at Ryan’s house, having a nice, long discussion on life. After the game, we say our quick goodbyes, as most of us need to work the next morning.I wake up Dec 2 with the beginning of a nasty cold. I have to assume that the stress has weakened my immune system to the point where I’m pretty susceptible to illness.Dec 2, I speak with school administration again. I get the same brush-off about how he didn’t mean to sit at all close to Sydney, and he most certainly wasn’t pointing and laughing.The same day, during Science class, Dumbass again moves to sit by Sydney. She manages to hold it together.My manager tells me I’m no longer allowed to work from home after I do so while sick; he specifically says that I should have taken sick time, but still worked while at home.December 5th, Dumbass rides home on her bus again…Sydney, again, manages to keep it together. I’m very proud of her.In early December, we have our big conference announcing things. The project I worked on for a year makes a huge impression and gets rave reviews.An email is sent out congratulating the team that worked on the project…every name listed as working on the project was Ukrainian.On December 11, we receive word that Jon had died. The next day, we receive confirmation that he had committed suicide the night of the hockey game. Our operating theory is that Jon’s esophageal tumor had come back, cancerous…that, coupled with Jon’s crippling back pain and his lack of any wife or children was just too much to take, and the hockey game was his goodbye to us.I’m diagnosed as having a massive respiratory and sinus infection. I’m given antibiotics and some codeine cough syrup; I’m still only getting about 3–4 hours of sleep per night, due to stress and coughing.December 14, Dumbass, apparently dissatisfied with Sydney being able to hold herself together, tries sitting next to her at a school assembly. She has to move while he smiles at her.December 15, I get notified that a close friend and surrogate grandfather of mine had died after a long series of health issues.That night, I sit on the floor of my shower, water falling on me as I, proud, manly-man that I am, cry uncontrollably.December 20, there’s only one PE teacher at school, so they combine Sydney’s PE class with Dumbass’s for a giant game of Capture-The-Flag. In this game, each side has a flag on their end of a football field, and each team splits into two groups: the offense, that goes down to the other end of the field to capture the flag, and the defense that tries to prevent it. All players wear flag football belts, and defenders are tasked with pulling off the offensive players’ flags, at which point the offensive player has to return to their flag in order to come back into the game.During the game, Dumbass, on offense, charges at Sydney, on defense. Sydney stands her ground, so Dumbass yanks off her flags (reminder: he’s not supposed to be going after her flag) and whips her across her arm with the belt, leaving a large, red welt. When he’s asked why he did that, he tells people it was an accident.That afternoon, I take my daughter to the local courthouse and we’re granted an Order of Protection to keep this boy away from her. As I’m standing before the judge, I’m sweating profusely from a fever and on the verge of passing out.December 22, I’m put on another round of more antibiotics and given anti-inflammatories for the respiratory infection that is still present and the bronchitis that is becoming apparent.That night, I accompany the police to deliver the Restraining Order while coughing non-stop.I spend Christmas Eve and morning in misery, still coughing constantly and suffering from a fever. I spend much of my time just laying on a couch.December 27, I come down with the worst flu of my life. I drive home from work, shivering, wearing my wool overcoat and the heater on full-blast; it was about 75 degrees outside. I’m awake the entire night with massive chest pain, bad enough that my Warrior Princess wants to take me to the hospital.The next day, I stay home, sick, absolutely non-functional. I’m sent a warning via work email about my attendance. I just don’t have it in me to care.Dec 29, my daughter and I attend a hearing for Dumbass’s restraining order, as he’s insisting he hasn’t done anything wrong. My voice breaks repeatedly during testimony, a combination of my illness and the anger I feel for this boy and his parents for even having the nerve to try to defend themselves. Sydney tearfully tells the judge everything that’s happened, and Dumbass agrees about everything that’s happened. His parents insist he’s a good boy and that my daughter’s just heartbroken and is trying to get revenge. The judge tells them that they’re absolutely wrong, the first good news that I received in months.I don’t think I can explain how painful these few months have been. The helplessness I’ve felt, watching a friend commit suicide, watching my daughter be mercilessly bullied by somebody she cared for, the constant illness, the misery of knowing I need this job or a replacement, but having no opportunity to interview due to illness and dealing with my daughter’s situation…it’s been one of the worst periods of my life.Things are just now stabilizing. Jan 3 was the first time in a long, long time, I’ve felt healthy. Sydney’s still been out of school and returns next week, so we get to see if Dumbass has figured things out and knows to keep his distance. My friends and I are going to get together for a memorial for Jon sometime next week, as he had specifically asked for there to be no funeral. Now, I just need to figure out my job situation….Thank you for your patience reading this…I know it was rather long and rambling, and not the happy-go-lucky stuff you’re used to coming from Garrett.I promise, my next answer will get back to poop jokes.*** EDIT/UPDATE 2/6/2017 ***Thought I’d come here to give a little update. 2017 has been shaping up to be much, MUCH better than 2016!Thanks to the court’s intervention, Sydney’s life has gotten considerably better. Her attendance at school has stabilized (she missed more school this year than in grades K-7) and she still managed to make Honor Roll last quarter. Her new boyfriend is a good kid with a great family who’s two inches taller than me…and is terrified of me.While Jon requested no service or memorial to himself, a small marker has been placed in a cemetery in Scottsdale. I still kick myself for not seeing the clues about what he was planning, but I’m accepting things a bit better now. We still talk and laugh about the bastard…we’ll miss the guy.As for me, well…in one week, I received three, count ’em THREE job offers, and I put in my two-week notice this morning.Thank you, all of you, for the kind words. I really appreciated it.Now…back to my usual answers! So, there I was, there I was, naked…in a refrigerator…and you’ll never believe who opens the door….

BTS Jin at Weverse, a fan app for K-pop fans. He is HILARIOUS. He can be skeptical, cute, and the king of SAVAGE.1. “Get it together”When a fan had told him, “Oppa, my house lights went out so I pasted oppa’s photo there and it’s shining…” Jin had simply replied with a simple “Please get it together“. Remind us to never call him if our electricity is out!2. “I’ll get taken in”When a fan joked around asking, “Seokjin-ah, when are you forming your own country? I’m all ready to migrate,” Jin realistically stated, “I’ll get taken in.” A realist and a patriot!3. Funny story, thatAlthough we’re not sure of the context, a fan had told Jin he was extremely handsome. He has wittily replied with an anecdote of how he was gaming online and started praising BTS. However, someone else playing had replied Jin that BTS wouldn’t even know he existed! Not wanting to reveal his identity, Jin simply told him, “I see“.4. Water slapA water slap is often seen in Korean dramas, where one character dramatically flings a glass of water across another’s face. A fan had asked Jin to do that to her. Jin was flabbergasted, replying with “No but why would I hit you?”5. “Give me the prize money”Since Jin is so active on Weverse, a fan asked him why he hadn’t received a perfect attendance award. Jin simply said, “No one gave it to me..”In response, Weverse created an award certificate just for Jin. It says, “For his excellent attendance record on BTS Weverse and his always-cheerful willingness to spend quality time with ARMY” – Presented on November 22, 2019”.Jin reacted as only Jin would. “Give me the prize money,” he said. An award means nothing without cash!6. “Why are you sending me to heaven?”“Hul…Oppa, are you okay??” a fan wrote, “Didn’t it hurt??!! An angel fell from heaven…”“I’m not dead yet,” Jin wrote back. “why are you sending me to heaven?” As usual, ARMY’s cute pickup lines had no effect on this Savage King!7. If you don’t know Goo Joon Pyo, you’re a spyOne of the many fans who fell for V‘s curls wrote, “Taehyung-oppa T-T You’re so, so cute T-T”.In reply, Jin brought up the leading man from Boys Over Flowers and gave fans a funny K-Drama history lesson.Back in the days, a character by the name of Goo Joon Pyo was very popular.— Jin“Back then, if you didn’t know who Goo Joon Pyo was you would have been reported for being a spy.”8. “How can a cotton ball like this do work?”BT21‘s RJ is Jin’s “son”, but that didn’t stop Jin from slapping a fan with reality when they posted this: “RJ is working.”“How can a cotton ball like this do work?” Jin replied.9. “Password please”After preordering the Bon Voyage 4 series, a fan left this super relatable comment: “yes yes my bank account is BTS’s now.”“Password please,” Jin replied.10. When he weighed in on the BTS Mattel dollsA fan posted this photo of the dolls with the caption, “Hel..? lo.. oppas…….. ??????????”Much to ARMY‘s delight, Jin wrote, “have to reflect, really”. Who does Jin think should be reflecting — himself or the dolls? Either way, fans loved it!11. When he wasn’t about to let anyone jinx his gameA fan loved Jin’s frustrated (but adorable) reactions to playing Maple Story so much that they said, “I hope Maple Story never works out for him…”. Jin wasn’t having that.Jin wrote back, “Were you the reason my item blew up?”12. When he commented on a Jungkook thirst postA fan posted these sexy Jungkook photos, saying that ramen and Jungkook are equally bad for their health.Jungkook and ramen are bad for [my] health..— FanNobody expected Jin to reply, but he did!Why on earth is Jungkook [bad for the health]— Jin13. “Why did the sticker move?”When Jin tweeted two photos of himself shopping, he didn’t notice a tiny blunder before he posted them. In one photo, his sticker didn’t cover the brand name.When fans pointed this out on Weverse, Jin lamented. “No I covered my shopping bag, why did the sticker move down?”14. That time Suga pretended not to know himWhen a fan posted about how much they love Suga’s blunt sense of humor, Jin shared a story about his own experience. “I was biking to work three days ago,” he began. “and I bumped into Yoongi, who was biking in from the other direction.”“Yoongi waved, there was no one around, so I wondered who he was and if I should wave back,” Jin continued. “I thought maybe his arm was injured and then I got a text [from him] asking why I bike like an uncle.”15. His “Chicken Noodle Soup” failJin’s attempt at the #CNSChallenge didn’t go as planned. He said, “I flapped a couple times and gave up.”15. “Newsflash”Two days before his vacation ended, Jin made this very important announcement.[Newsflash] Bang PD-nim has no appetite, so I ordered chicken alone— Jin16. Drunk fashionSome fans thought J-Hope’s sexy airport fashion was inspired by California styles, but Jin suggested a different influence.“kekekeke J-Hope (must have) had a glass of wine.”17. “Give it back”This fan claimed to have found something precious of Jin’s: his wings.Seokjin, I found your wings— FanJin flat-out told the fan to give them back! Without wings, this “angel” can’t fly.??? give it back— Jin18. Jimin’s married lifeA fan shared a post about being married to Jimin in a past life.I wish I could at least see him for real…What relationship was I in with my bias in my past life?You and Park Jimin were married.— ARMYIn reply, Jin said, “Why are so many [people] married to Park Jimin?”.Source : Koreaboo💜