This has nothing to do with Brasil. As some of you know, I spend a week of every month here in Brasil. While I am gone, my son is on his own. It turns out that he needs a babysitter.
My son, who I love, is less than successful right now. He dropped out of high school, telling us that “he wanted to get a job”, and that “staying in school was stupid”. Well, he’s been out for over a year now, and he has yet to find a job. Oh, he’s had some short-term jobs, some lasting as long as a month or two – one lasted only one day. He will do odd jobs for gas money, but has no possible chance of contributing to his upkeep or even his car insurance (about $2K/year).
He used to live with his mom. While she was in the hospital, he had friends over and used her new car without permission – he even smoked in it. His mom then kicked him out of the house – there was also a matter of some missing money.
Since Drew has been living with me, I have been treated to the same sort of behavior, although sometimes things will get better for a short while. When he’s following the rules, I help him out a little with gas money and such. When he is not, he’s on his own. Just before I left on this last trip, Drew was talking about possibly joining the service. Although it is possible to do this with a GED, it may not be easy. Drew will need to score high on the ASVAB and even so, there’s no chance of getting into the Air Force (the Army and Navy take limited numbers of HS dropouts). He took an online version of a practice ASVAB test (the aptitude test that will help decide what job you do for Uncle Sam) and did pretty well. 
Generally, when I leave for a week, I always make sure that there is plenty of non-perishable food in the cupboard and the freezer. The fresh stuff is only around when I’m there. He has never shown any interest in that anyway.
In my dining room, in plain sight, is a networked camera that I purchased to monitor the house before Drew lived with me. It’s not a secret, and I don’t sit here in Brasil and watch what’s going on at home all of the time (although one might argue that I should do exactly that). The camera is designed for security, so it will take still photos and store them at one-second intervals whenever it sees motion. The memory capacity is huge, so it will store gobs of pictures.
Yesterday, I checked the camera from here to find that is was blank. It was still functioning, but it was only showing darkness. I went back into the camera’s memory to see what happened, and I found that my new laptop computer was not where I left it on the dining room table. I saw photos of Drew removing it from the dining room (where?). I also saw some other stuff from Saturday night that concerned me a bit. Perhaps it will bother you as well…..
This is a still shot of my dining room. Nicki, Drew’s girlfriend, is sitting there eating. I do not know who that young man next to the window is – I have never seen him before, although he seems to be making himself at home and having a plate of something from my kitchen (bagels?). Who is this guy? He sits with his back to the camera for the rest of the night.
This is Drew’s friend Vince. I have met him before. He is seen here closing the blinds. Why is he doing that???
This is Vince’s hand, dropping a plastic bag onto MY dining room table, just before he closed the blinds. Does anyone yet have a guess as to what’s going on here?
This is mystery boy, taking a close look at Vince’s bag, after the blinds are closed. What do you think is in the bag? What do you think is going on in my dining room? Oh, and where is my son???
Oh, THERE he is. He has a bucket full of water (my guess is that the toilet’s plugged up). Mystery boy is using MY frisbee to clean whatever it was in Vince’s bag. What do you think it is? Why would you put it in a frisbee??
This is the last picture before the camera goes dark. Drew walks in with his bucket of water. Is he going to mop the floor? He takes the cover for my new laptop and places it over the camera, and everything then stays dark. Mystery boy is still working on the frisbee. Oh, and if that’s my laptop cover, WHERE THE HELL IS MY NEW LAPTOP???
Since one has to pass a drug test to get a job at McDonald’s (not to mention the service) I can conclude that my son is interested in getting high and not much more than that. 
His mom kicked him out for less than this. What should I do here?
I’m taking suggestions…..
Greg
Army posters shamelessly ripped from John C. Dvorak’s blog. He’s an intelligent guy and an interesting read.
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