I had the same problem SG, but reading your post made me spontaneously get up and brush my teeth :D <<<look, all clean now

Ever considered the comedic possibilities of a Webcam? ;) :3eye:

my ex-husband has prostate cancer. Very sucky news. :(

Bad timing, since he and his second wife just broke up, so he's alone. He called Daughter No. 1 and asked her to come with him to the next dr. appt. This shows how serious it is, but is an added burden on DNo.1, who is basically juggling 3 jobs on top of holiday madness (+ 4 kids and a husband).

We are upset, needless to say, and I'm not sure what my role in this should be, other than caring friend. We are no longer close.

I'm very sorry to hear that Cloud - very sucky indeed.

Like The Master Baters?

Try a swastika tatoo on your forehead. ;)

No post from my SS. receiver! Hello USPS. WTF

You mean the person you sent a gift to, right buster? Did you see this post?

I believe he did. As far as I am aware, he posted the packet on th 11th and it has not yet been received.

Automatic vBulletin board messages wishing me a Happy Birthday. So, I've gotten 8 of 'em from various vBbes. They're so impersonal.

No one to thank.

What feels like 3rd degree burns on my arse n thighs from climbing into my leather seats after the car had been sitting in the car park for hours.

That, and I am really over these 102 F days we are having, this was the 7th one in a row, they are sposed to continue til next weekend

So what I'm hearing is that DucksNuts on toasted buns is a seasonal delicacy there. ;)

We've had overnight lows in the single digits for the last little while. I'll take the cold over the heat.

Is there any way to keep the car cool while you're away?

Apart from parking in Canada, not much.

There are some things you can do, but they don't add up to much if the only parking spot you can find is in the blazing sun.
Silver coated window shades are very popular - the kind you remove and fold up before driving.
Having a white rather than dark colored car helps a little.
I would never have leather seats for exactly this reason - what WERE you thinking, Ducks? at least get some seat covers.
There are gadgets that can be fitted to an almost closed window that fill the gap and provide a solar powered fan to keep air moving.
All these don't do much though.
The normal procedure is to get to the car, open all doors and wait about two minutes before braving the oven inside.
The heat inside a sun-baked car can reach literally lethal temperatures very quickly. I have seen plastic pens, cassettes, and old vinyl records gone soft and droopy from this heat. It is illegal to leave animals or children in a car on a hot day but still some dumb buggers do it.

We don't leave CD cases in the car anymore. Every single one you leave in the car just gets warped after the first hot day.

We used to have a midnight blue car and the heat it would build up was unbelieveable. Now we have a white car it's much better.

Ducks, you should put a towel in the car for the hot days. At least then you can sit on the towel instead of straight on the hot leather.

You should ALWAYS have a towel in the car. A towel is perhaps the most useful thing in the world.
Haven't you read Douglass Adams?

Maybe Ducks likes the burning?

I am alone.

I'm sick and there is no one to take care of me :(

Me too!

I have no one to take care of.

BigV, where's Tink? Please tell us that she's just at her friend's for the day or something.

Bbro, Case, yeah, that sucks, you really feel your aloneness when you're crook. I hope some friend unexpectedly drops by with chicken (or tofu) soup.

Thanks for the well-wishes.

Here we go again. :cool:

Get well bbro! :)

Gray skies outside. Ho hum.

:grouphug:

remember a few months back how i was upset that some paper pusher in a back room had effed up and cost me $xx,xxx??????? a different effing paper pusher in a different room has effed up and cost me $xx,xxx!!! it is not damaging to the client, but irritating. irritating enough that as it stands now i have lost the client. that adds up to HUGE losses for me over the next couple years.

:eyebrow: this is bullshit. there are only a small handful of top drawer companies that do what they do and i hired the toppest of the top and this is the bullshit that i get? WTF? right now i'm trying real hard to remember why i turned down that offer from a firm that wanted to hire me as an employee. the reasons are still there, but +/- isn't so easily decided right now. WTF?:mad2: :mad:

I was so relieved this morning, because finally, we had a chance to get our burnt-out HVAC compressor replaced. The piece of crap had been replaced just 3-4 years ago before it died again late last winter--but at least it would still be covered by the 5-year warranty, right?

Wrong. I just found out that when the developer replaced the compressor, he had one put in that was already two years old. So, of course the warranty is expired.

Now a $1000 job has turned into a $3500 job. And we get to go back to hoping that the rest of the winter isn't as freaking cold as it was last year. :worried:

that sux - my next door neighbor just went through the same thing - turned out to be $5000! Ouch

Sore throat, aching all over and exams are looming ever larger. Owww. Owww. Also am in middle of stopping smoking and yesterday was first day I have managed without a single cheat.....so....am really hoping i can get through today. I get quite scatty when I am stopping smoking. Am using the nicoteine gum, but still really want to smoke.

Good luck Dana! Its so worth it!

You can do it, Dana! You will love the way food tastes without the smokey flavor.

*smiles* thanks guys. I am feeling more confident about it today than I have since Jan 1st (when I 'gave up' despite fact that most days I have cheated. Big difference nonetheless between smoking one cigarette and smoking 10-20).

It's now 15:25, and I have managed to go most of the day, so far, without it being constantly on my mind. The thought did occur to maybe wander down to my friend's house, ostensibly to visit, but really to finish one of the stubs in his ashtray, but managed to convince myself that was a bad idea :P

Good luck Dana. Have you considered munching on carrot sticks or something like that? Some people say it helps.

And what ever happened with your political showdown that was brewing?

I'm rootin' for ya' Dana. :thumb:

Way to go Dana! Now your lungs will thank you for it! Keep on truckin'.

Whats upsetting me today? We are adopting a dogfrom our local animal shelter, so yesterday animal control came out to do a yard inspection, walked to my side yard, smelled the 100 piles of dog shit in my next door neighbor's yard, and gave him a warning to clean it up. The reason it upsets me, is that I feel like it is my fault they gave him this warning. It does not bother me because we don't use that part of the yard anyway, and I realize it was bad for the neighbor's dog to live in that mess, but I still feel guilty, because they are wonderful neighbors and our kids play together every day.

hopefully at your house and not in that filth.

Yes lol

It's unsanitary to leave piles of dog shit lying around. Don't feel too bad about it binky. When they've done it, I'll bet they'll actually be glad about it, specially if they're as nice as you say they are.

I know its unsanitary, and he cleaned it up right away, I just feel bad because he was really embarrassed bye the whole thing, he works nights and has 2 small kids, and just has it a little rough right now

by*

i think you just feel bad because you were planning on throwing your new pooches poo over the wall figuring he'd never notice, but now... ;)

:lol:

I had a panic attack in one of my college classes today.

We were all supposed to read part of the declaration of independence and when it was my turn to read my voice started shaking and I started getting really nervous.

You'd think this would be a case of being afraid of public speaking, but there were only 9 or 10 people in the class. And it didn't stop at just nervousness and a shaky voice.

I started getting heart palpitations in my chest and in my neck, my hands started to shake, I started sweating, my face flushed, and my vision started to blur. In the end, I couldn't get a word out. I was completely speechless.

So I was siting there in my chair for about 15 seconds, everybody looking at me. Finally I got the words out "could somebody please read for me". So somebody else read. I sat there mortified and still shaken up.

This comes at the worst time for me. I have no friends in college. I haven't even talked to someone I know in about 2 days. All I do "for fun" is school work. I used to be mildly popular in high school with a semi large group of friends. But they are all gone now, and I'm left in Portland with nobody.

And now I get panic attacks.

Wonderful.

Sounds awful :(. Have got a personal tutor you can talk to about this?

Panic attacks are a bitch of a thing because there's really nothing you can do except try and calm down.

Why are you so nervous? If it wasn't the class, then there must be something else and that was just the tip off.

In any case, I hope things get better for you soon. Maybe you should go see your doc.

And the thing that's upsetting me today is that my ex husband took our two sons (10 and 11) to see I Am Legend yesterday. Last night they didn't want to go to sleep in case the mutants came and got them. They were so upset they were crying. They wanted us to get them a body guard to protect them.

Sometimes the stupidity of my ex just astounds me.

No tutor. They have free mental health specialists, but I'm reluctant to see one.

I have no idea why it happened. But now I hate the idea of it happening again. I have no idea who to talk to about this.

Go see the free mental health specialist!

My freshman year of college I was severely depressed to the point where I started failing my classes and I had to drop several of them -- after being a straight A student my entire life.
I was reluctant to talk to anybody about what I was going through -- and I even had friends at my university -- but I finally visited the campus psychiatrist and it was one of the best things I've ever done. They were a real help.

That's like me with The Exorcist when my uncle showed it to me when I eight or nine or something. I was freaking out.

He got a great speech from my mom though.

go see your mental health specialist if it's free. It'll be confidential and it can only help you.

If you don't go you're crazy. ;)

I'm definitely thinking about it.
I just wonder if the panic attack was a symptom of a bigger thing, like a symptom of the solitude that I'm experiencing right now. I don't know...I'm trying to be introspective about it so I can figure it out on my own.

I used to be depressed when I was in high school. I don't feel depressed now, but if I keep going like this I know it can lead to depression.

Hahaha true. Don't want to be crazy.

I'll look into it.

excellent. :) I think you've made a good decision.

You could be right about that. I've experienced panic attacks at a couple of points in my life, and both times, I'd felt very alone in the stresses that I'd been dealing with at those times. I've found since then, that being able to talk about my stressful times (or whatever) to someone, makes a huge difference.

Panic attacks are a "deadly cycle":

First fear -> Adrenaline/hormonal reaction -> physical effects -> more fear
-> hormonal reaction -> physical effects -> more fear
-> hormonal reaction -> physical effects -> more fear
-> hormonal reaction -> physical effects -> more fear

These are absolutely classic effects. What's happening behind the scenes is that your body is producing adrenaline in preparation for what it thinks is going to be a stressful event.

In caveman times, a "stressful event" meant facing a predator or other danger; and so we adapted this reaction, what some call "fight or flight". Your body is literally preparing for a physical situation where it may be called on to act quickly and with maximum force. Hormones are giving signals: tighten the muscles. Quicken the heart. Stops the involuntary processes not needed, like digestion, and move blood to the head, face, etc.

You are not facing a speech, you are facing a sabre-toothed tiger.

In the case of public speaking, you are faced with a double-deadly situation... you know that people could sense your fear. So you're already in a situation where more fear produces more fear - not just hormonally, but psychologically.

There is a connection between panic and depression; they seem to be different aspects to certain types of brain chemistry. Antidepressants are also generally good for panic, general anxiety disorder, social anxiety, and obsessive/compulsive disorder. This is not to say you should be on meds, but only the head doc should say, for sure, at first. There are other temporary solutions, talk therapy is possible, reading up on coping techniques, etc.

Also, I would mention all this to the prof, they should be more understanding about the situation and help out.

I've missed a session of counselling.
I was convinced that it started at 11.30 today, and planned my morning to this end. I arrived at 11.05 (I am always early, it's part of who I am) to find it had started at 11.00 and I was locked out.

I sat there so smugly on Monday when it was explained that lateness was not tolerated (all part of helping us establish the boundaries we haven't been respecting while drinking) and if you were late by even one minute you missed the whole session.

Very disappointed with myself for such a pointless mistake. Dreading telling HM, although I will because lying won't help.

Still - I walked past two pubs on my way here. And despite the sneaky voice in my head saying I deserved a consolation and after all I haven't been told I have to abstain completely and anyway it would be their fault for being inflexible etc etc etc I have come here and not had a drink. Which is good.

I'll go to the gym when I get back home, which I didn't expect to have time to do today. And hope the unhappy feeling goes away once the endorphins kick in.

Ack SG, hope you feel better soon. Don't beat yourself up over it, it's an easy mistake to make. Like this morning i arrived at my exam having forgotten my student id. They could have stopped me sitting they exam (they didn't). High stakes, but a very simple an easy memory slip. Mixing up a 11:00 and 11:30 start time is easily done m'dear.

@PoL. Depression doesn't always manifest in the same way every time. You have experience of depression, but that doesn't mean it can't still surprise you sometimes.Also, personally, I find it becomes most apparent to me when my interactions with people I am emotionally close to become a little strained. I don't know if you find the same, but if you do, then being somewhere without access to those people may be depriving you of one of those key indicators.

You mention that there are only a few class members and thereby discount fear of public speaking. Fear of public speaking doesn't arise because of the number of people as much as it derives from the context. I've engaged in a fair bit of public speaking in various contexts, from minor presentations in college to speaking at small-medium rallies, through to local radio station interviews. In most cases I start nervous, find my feet and get almost to the end before nerves resurface at anticipating the close. But...the most nerve wracking of all of them, was having to deliver something very small, to a group of classmates/colleagues.

Go talk to the counsellor. It'll help...at the very least it can't be worse. You need to find your equillibrium in this new environment and the isolation sounds like it may be self-perpetuating.


[eta] forgot to mention, but meant to: Undertoads post seems to totally nail the whole panic attack mechanism. His advice is worth underlining.