He's in a good mood for once.

My dad started a new job yesterday and he's pretty excited about it because he had been working in the same position for 17 years and hadn't gotten a raise in 12. If you think of the amount of inflation there has been in the past ten or fifteen years, that's absolutely insane, but that's the way that pay scales work. You get to the top and then there's nowhere to go.

It doesn't matter so much though, because in that time my mom's wages have doubled, and it's really her that supports everyone anyways. That's how it's always been. That's why she gets the most presents at Christmas.

Still, it's nice to see my dad in a good mood for a change. It's a rare thing these days because it seems that the only respite I get from his criticism is when he turns around to criticize Du instead. It has to be one or the other. He can't just leave it all alone.

But I think he was feeling kind of stagnant in his job. He's the special counsellor at school that deals with pregnancies, drugs, alcohol, suicides, violence and other behaviour issues. The fact is that as much as you try, you can't save everyone and for every one success, there are so many failures. I think he was getting kind of disillusioned by that. He's getting older and the kids are just staying the same.

I feel boring today. I am also incapable of focusing my camera today and it's incapable of autofocusing. This is not a good combination.