Well... I went and did it, and I knew I shouldn�t have done it, but I did. I went and figured my child support check into this month�s budget. I figured I was safe enough in doing so, since even though the ex didn�t send a dime for the first six months I had custody of the Evil One, once he got settled in to his new environment up in Minnesota and found steady work, the checks began arriving every two weeks like clockwork. Ok, maybe not exactly like clockwork, it�s actually been give or take a few days here and there... well, hell, I haven�t really been keeping track, but I�m pretty sure I�ve been receiving checks twice a month.

You see, I never really figured them into the budget, because who knew how long the regularity would last? I don�t ever want to be at the point where I�m counting on money from Dick to pay something crucial, and then have to panic whenever the check doesn�t arrive when expected. I NEVER want to have to call Dick to beg for/demand the money he owes me, at least not in desperation. So I�ve always kind of counted the checks as potential extra money... maybe fun money or dinner out money or money to pay for an expense that could wait a couple of weeks if the check didn�t come on time.

But like I said, they were coming so regularly that I assumed Dick was having them withheld from his paycheck. And this month, with money so tight and our trip to go visit family in St. Louis coming up, was the first time I really let myself count on that check for something important. I was sooooo happy to see the familiar envelope in today�s mail, in plenty of time before the trip... that is, until I opened it up to discover that the check is for only about a third of the amount he owes me.

I have no idea why. The last time I talked to him a couple of weeks ago he was working... admittedly for not a lot of money but he�s been working two jobs and Prunella has been working a pretty good job for awhile now as well. He keeps telling me that money is tight for them... so tight that he doesn�t think he can afford to have Evil Childe come visit at all this summer even though he hasn�t seen her since Christmas... so tight that he claims he can�t even afford a phone card to call the kid to thank her for his Father�s Day gift that I forced her to buy him because �Daddy does SO love you, and he�ll be disappointed if you don�t get him anything�... Bastard.

I might feel sorrier for him if I wasn�t aware that he�d withdrawn his $20,000 retirement fund when he moved out of Ohio (the fund I was entitled to half of but stupidly signed away my rights to, because it didn�t seem right to take half of �his� money.) I don�t know what the status of that money is at this point... before he moved to Minnesota he told me that they were going to save it so they could eventually build a house on a lot Prunella�s dad was supposed to be going to give them when they got up there. But I wouldn�t be surprised to find out that he�s already blown it... he seems to be a lot more free with his money when it comes to buying relatively expensive things for Prunella than he ever was with me. (Which, even though I�m not especially materialistic, I still resent the fact that she�s managed to get herself placed on a much higher-maintenance status than I ever did. Cunt.) Or maybe they blew through the money in living expenses when they first got there and were out of work for a few weeks. Whatever. All I know is that the Evil Childe didn�t see a dime�s worth of benefit out of it. No gifts, no offers to buy clothing or anything special she might want or need, no attempts at visitation except the grudging one at Christmas time.

Yeah, I�m a little pissed off at Dick these days. We had our problems, but I never ever would have thought he�d be an uncaring father to his child, no matter what kind of grief she gave him and the Wicked Stepmother.

Anyway, this isn�t really about that, I�m just bitching about it because I�m on a roll. Hopefully it�s just a one-time thing and he�s not going to make a habit of shorting us... I don�t think he�d abandon payments altogether though, as he�s too worried about the child-support Nazis snatching his income tax refund, and then he and Prunella wouldn�t get to have their yearly spree, boo fucking hoo hoo hoo.

Gawd, I�m just full of the vitriol today, aren�t I?

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Last Five
Crappy job crap, weird neighbor, and someone whose baby I apparently want to have - 2006-05-08
Live from the dump - 2006-04-09
Kind of like a muzzle for your brain - 2006-03-29
...and then she fell ass-first into my cereal bowl - 2006-03-28
Playing catch-up - 2006-03-27

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