LostSophia

I am friggin' tired. Worked 55hrs last week, working 48 this week, and 57 next week. My boss has me doing swing/grave doubles every other day, which really turns into about 20hrs per shift if you include commute time. At least this means I will be able to pay rent, but man is it kicking my hind quarters.

On top of all that, I've been having to basically go do more direct care in my time off, as my mother broke her arm a couple weeks back and I'm the only one who can help her shower etc. But the good news there is that she just found out she will not need surgery for it!* Yay!

*She fell and fractured her humerus in two spots right on the top of the ball that fits into the shoulder socket. They couldn't cast it because of the location, and they said if the pieces were not aligned correctly it would enlarge as it healed and screw up her range of motion at the shoulder, in which case they would have had to do surgery to put in a steel plate. Happily, the catscan showed that all was in order and healing correctly. It's still been bloody fucking expensive for her though, and she's having to lose pay by missing work. Just the ambulance ride alone was about $900. I swear, the medical situation in this country is just criminal.

Sad. I'm sorry Spain. You know how a lot of writers go through these periods of time where they can't seem to write anything and don't seem to be doing anything productive, right before they have a good burst of success? Maybe computers do the same thing. Yeah, OK, probably not. Maybe you should just go with that Neil Gaiman short story and sacrifice a few pigeons to it.

Looking good, as always!

Fair enough, fair enough. If you should find yourself over in the Pacific NW, you are always welcome. In any case, I will eventually get out your way once the funds come through for my wedding and honeymoon. That is unless Jessie comes back with horror stories about your secret murderous rampage and white slavery involvement, or just mysteriously disappears...

I'm going to the US! No, not now, but sometime this year. I got a small grant on friday (about 2400 US$/1400 £) to cover travel expense to go to the US and interview labor unions about how they're handling the economic crisis for my newspaper. I'm well pleased.

Very nice! Any chance you'll be anywhere near Oregon?

P.S.

According to NPR, the Oregonian, etc, Portland Oregon has the 2nd highest unemployment rate in the country. Sounds to me like a great excuse to come visit! :icon_wink:

Oh, or this.

Truly in the spirit of the thread title:

does anyone know why the bottom buttonhole on the front of a shirt is often horizontal while the rest are vertical?

I don't know why, but my guess would be to help keep the shirttails being pulled away from each other in front from undoing the bottom button.

In theory it does. However NHS dentists (who provide free -or cheap, it depends on your circumstances-) dental work are like rocking horse shit at the moment as the dentists can do a lot better in a private practice and have bills to pay after they've finished their training.

That's a shame. Is there any way the government could help new dentists pay off their schooling debts if they chose to go work for NHS or something like that? Maybe they could offer some scholarships in exchange for an agreement to work for NHS for some period of time after they finish?

Thank you very much to Pål for sending me the 3rd book! I am devouring it ravenously and with much enjoyment. More on that later, no doubt.

I have had a couple of dreams about fellow forum members, but I am not comfortable sharing.

And yes, I know that's a bit of a tease. You'll just have to live with it.

Thanks. On the downside, I really don't see myself being able to do much about it any time soon. On the upside, so far it doesn't hurt. Mostly I just felt rather ghetto. I mean Top Ramen? Really? I must say though that my teeth have been steadily edging up near the top of the thankfully not too long list of personal physical traits I am most embarrassed about. At the moment, I would say I have piratical teeth, and am dreading the day that they finally cross the border over to full fledged Zombie teeth.

Feeling pathetic. Last night I broke a tooth on dry Top Ramen noodles. Can't afford to fix it either.

I received a package from England in the mail today, which more than made up for the strange latrine smell in the place and the fact that the June bugs are out tonite.

Inside were books 2, 3, and 4 of the Felix Castor series...

Oh man, I am intensely jealous! If anyone is willing to mail me books 3 and 4, I would be eternally grateful!

Oh ouch! You must really be biting your nails. Waiting to find out what's going on is the worst. I hope it turns out ok!

I'm really sorry to hear that, Christian. Relationship problems suck big hairy goat cocks. I hope things work out.

How did Chaplin's City Lights end?

Like this.

The theory I heard last (I'm not going to claim it's right) is that it is more harmful to those with a strong immune system because the immune system goes into overdrive and damages the lungs.

Oh good. So we just need to go out and get HIV and we'll be fine.

Now here I sit, making love to a bottle of rum (which feels fantastic on my throat) and looking forward to another wonderful night ...

My day wasn't nearly so epic. Today I got the news that a client of mine has breast cancer. Then I got home to discover that almost all my rum was gone. Bloody pirates.

Therefore, from the hypothetical woman's perspective in question, I'm quite simply a penis.

Awe, Christian, don't sell yourself short. You're fingers and a tongue too!

Oh no! The peace dove flu! It's a pandemic!

You know, from a heterosexual stand point, that sentence still implies that 'most people' are male, or that women wouldn't miss sex. The other thing that rankled me was the grammatical implication that 'friend' and 'woman' are mutually exclusive. Then again, most of us women are pretty psychotic, so maybe you've got a point around there somewhere.

See how much trouble you get in when you don't just say what you mean. :wink:

...insert whoever you want to fuck.

That's what she said.

This is all general of course — I'm not directing any of this at Pirate Tom. If I understand that situation correctly, it doesn't apply anyway.

Yeah, the girl involved lead Tom to believe that everything was OK with everyone. I put the majority of any blame squarely on her shoulders.

Yay fossils! Have fun, Billi!

Chief and I may be moving to Roseburg, Oregon. Ravyn's uncle was in a terrible motorcycle accident a few days ago and lost his leg. The guy who hit him has a record of driving without insurance and driving under the influence of crystal meth. He was driving in the wrong lane and hit Ravyn's uncle head on. The guy got out, used his belt as a tourniquet, and then just took off. He has since been arrested as he abandoned his car at the scene. His passenger was a 15 year old boy who realized the first tourniquet wasn't working, added his own belt, and likely saved Ravyn's uncle's life. His leg was mostly severed, and he broke all the bones in his right arm, his collar bone, and his pelvis. He was flown from the Roseburg area up to a hospital in Portland and has had many surgeries, but seems to be recovering. It will likely be about 2 years before he can walk again with the aid of a prosthetic leg, and we are unsure how well he will be able to use his right arm.

Tom and I have offered to move to Roseburg to help Ravyn's uncle with his piano refurbishing business and with caregiving. We are not sure yet if that will turn out to be the best option, but it is looking like it may turn out to be very beneficial for all of us.

Indeed. For the most part I agree. I very much think that the person who is in a relationship has more obligation to that relationship than the person who is not. One person has agreed to a social contract of some sort. The other person hasn't. I still think it's a dick move to get involved with someone when you know they are already involved with someone who is not ok with it. However, in my opinion that falls into the common civility to others category, which is not as strong a bond as an agreed upon relationship should be. I also think there is a self-interested motive for avoiding being the man/woman in the closet, which is that you may not want to set yourself up for a possible altercation. Obviously drama will most likely ensue, and a person may want to avoid that.

But yes, I have noticed that in cheating scenarios, more often than not any man involved seems to be blamed more heavily than any woman involved regardless of who is in which position. That is a double standard and it is bullshit.

That sounds entirely reasonable.