Oh. He'll Pay.

The SU turned up a day late 11 PM on Thursday as opposed to the Wednesday evening as he stated. No surprise - typical in fact. So my Handy Hunk didn't come for the planned estimate of the job. I have a plan though.

Su did turn up however, with a laptop for Rebel Junior. Why? Who knows. And as one would expect the child has been locked in her room ever since. No need to come out ever except to grab food and shower before leaving the house.

I was furious! SU didn't seem to understand my ire. (What ELSE is new!) A 15 year old girl does not need her own computer out of sight of her parents. The conversations that naturally occurred while she was sitting at the computer in the kitchen have instantly disappeared.
I suggested to SU that every parenting book, website and parental advice fora states singularly that children and teens do not need computers or televisions in their personal spaces. It's just never a good idea.
His response was "How was I to know you were getting wireless access while I was away!" That's right turn it around and make it my fault.

I got to him while both girls were out of the house and read from the draft separation agreement that states "major decisions are to be discussed in advance... blah blah blah." He looked at me and baldfaced said "a laptop is not a major decision."
I retorted by telling him that an $800 new camera would be - AND the laptop was a major purchase. Again he came back to say he didn't "buy" the laptop. Missing the point.

I told him that RJ would stay shut up in her room. We'd have no idea what she was doing, who she was talking and it just wasn't a good idea. I also reiterated my opposition to a new expensive, bigger camera. His response was she "needed" it for school to be able to take photos at school events. My response was if she "needs" it to take photos at school then the school should be supplying it for her. I was quite emphatic that RJ's disrespect and attitude of entitlement was not endearing and I would not hear of spending $800, that I did NOT approve the purchase of a new camera.

If he did go out and buy the camera there were two things he needed to keep in mind:
1 - he would be paying for it out of his own pocket - I would have zero part of this unnecessary purchase and
2 - he would have to give Rebel the Elder an equal amount of cash to spend as she saw fit. It is a matter of fairness after all. The blanched look on his face was worth the price of admission.

In the meantime, I am taking RJ's current camera to a camera shop for repairs. SU of course, has no clue what he did with the warranty, the receipt, or any of the other paperwork. He will be paying for these himself as well.