For Labor Day we went to my folks who live 50 miles from us out in the country. Dad made ribs. Personally, I hate ribs. The upshot is that we borrowed their truck to run errands during the week. We had the mother load of cardboard and other recyclables to return and we bought a cheap college dorm room piece of furniture from a local retailer that is kind of a Target wanna-be. It is touted as a sofa-bed. Well, those terms a might generous as I would label it more park bench-army cot. It's just for guests so who cares! Not this has anything to do with the rant it's just strikes me as funny.

Ok, ok, back to the rant. So this morning Piro drives back to retrieve our car and walks into the house and there sits my dad recuperating from surgery which he had sometime during the week and did not tell any of us kids about. This is the THIRD time in 4 years that he has pulled this stunt. These aren't minor little things either. He knows I am extremely not happy when he does this and yet he persists. He says he doesn't want us to worry. Well, ya know what, I am in a constant state of worry that he is going to run off and have surgeries without telling us. Wouldn't it be better to worry just one day? What if, god forbid, he should cork off right then and there during surgery? I can't believe my own mother plays along with him. She'd be the one left to call us up and say, "Yeah, I worked in the food pantry today and oh, BTW your father is dead." Or maybe they just wouldn't tell us because they wouldn't want us to be sad. It is so infuriating. I'll call him tomorrow and give him the usual scolding. It's almost like a game to him now.

Parents never get less annoying - they just start annoying you differently. There must be a secret rule book parents get. They must pass it out in the delivery room or in maternity ward with the formula and diapers. It is too well planned to be anything but a conspiracy.