Some weird stuff around here.
No, not the state shutdown. I will admit that I gave them all more credit than was due in thinking that they would come up with a solution before the deadline. My job is deemed to be essential. My son’s was not. So, he is off work for the foreseeable future. He has been instructed to submit his application for unemployment on Monday. Because there are 23,000 state workers without jobs right now, they gave them instructions as to when to apply. They are taking them by the last two digits of their social security numbers. His is 00, so he applies first. What a mess.
So, what could be weirder than that, you may ask. Well, we are living in the midst of a true-life mystery. Something that you would read about in a novel, or watch on one of those crime reality shows.
As I was driving to pick up some lunch on Thursday, I just happened to hear a news report about a Minnesota man who was missing in Florida. They reported his name. He is my husband’s cousin. That’s how I found out about it. On the radio. Apparently we were not part of the “next of kin” who should be notified before a news report is released about the tragedy of a family member.
The cousin has gone missing from a boat he rented in Florida. The boat has been found, but there was no sign of him. There is talk of a possible suicide, or his possibly absconding to a tropical island. The Miami Coast Guard called off the search for him/his body after a day. I am not sure what happens next.
My husband’s family is pretty odd in the way that they handle bad stuff. This cousin and his wife have been estranged from the rest of the family for several years now. But the cousin’s sister knew he was missing, told only one other person who was sworn to secrecy. They couldn’t hide it once it became public.
So, I am not sure if he will be declared dead, whether there will be a memorial service, or even whether this incident is being investigated further. I imagine it is. What would happen on Dateline?
I love to read mysteries, but this is a little close to home for my taste.
Just My Life 
Wow!!! I hope they find him and that he is okay.
As to the state thing that’s sad but I find it seriously weird that the same people who elected Al Franken would elect, who a friend mine calls, “Crazy Shelly”.
By: Kay Dennison on July 1, 2011
at 9:33 pm
That’s easy to explain….the people who voted for her (my district) did NOT vote for Al-that was a statewide election. We are in the most crazy-conservative area of the state. And she is their most crazy, conservative member. I am fine with her running for Pres, I just want her to quit being my rep. It’s embarrassing.
Have a great holiday weekend Kay!
By: chlost on July 1, 2011
at 9:55 pm
She sure got the money to run this last time around. Disgusting. It is my hope she’ll lose badly and just fade away from view. That doesn’t seem to happen much anymore but I can still hope…
By: Yael on July 3, 2011
at 11:40 am
Yes, the money talks.
By: chlost on July 4, 2011
at 4:20 pm
Yikes … what a way to find out! I also hope they find him and he’s alright.
By: dragonfae on July 1, 2011
at 10:10 pm
Yes, the worst part of it was how we found out about it. We’re not very hopeful for a good ending.
By: chlost on July 4, 2011
at 4:15 pm
How shocking! We will all be most anxious to hear your news as it comes in. And my sympathy to your husband. Families are so strange, and each strange in its own unique way.
By: Nance on July 2, 2011
at 10:14 am
And some families seem so much stranger than others….at least from my vantage point. I realize it may not be so strange to them.
By: chlost on July 4, 2011
at 4:16 pm
So sorry about your son’s job. I really didn’t think it would happen. The economy is so tenuous these days.
I do hope they find your cousin and that he is Ok. There are lots of mangrove islands down there where he could be hanging on. Such a shocking way to find out in the first place.
By: Arkansas Patti on July 2, 2011
at 12:19 pm
They are hopeful that the state employees will be called back to work once the budget is determined. But who knows how long that will take? He is okay for a while, but definitely needs his job.
By: chlost on July 4, 2011
at 4:17 pm
I hope your son finds another job – so many state workers getting laid off in CT too… My son has been laid off (not by the state, a corporation) and rehired several times in the past decade – thank goodness he’s working again for now.
That must have been unsettling hearing about your husband’s cousin’s disappearance on the radio. It felt strange enough hearing of the untimely death of a cousin I had been out of touch with for decades – a suicide – but to hear the news on the radio by chance is shocking… It’s hard to know what to do or say… I hope the mystery is solved – not knowing has got to be the worst of it…
By: Barbara Rodgers on July 2, 2011
at 2:50 pm
It seems strange to me that those who at least on the surface claim to want more jobs don’t seem to care about the state employees who are losing their jobs. Hearing the news on the radio was so weird-and the mystery is still unsolved.
By: chlost on July 4, 2011
at 4:19 pm
What a difficult situation. I sure hope he is found and is safe.
By: secret agent woman on July 3, 2011
at 7:32 pm