Members' News

Nice to know you two love birds are still alive and well ! Have a great time together in Coventry, wish I could come too, but I think both finances and work are a little too tender right now for that kind of thing...

Would have been nice to meet you, Kat
Some other time then. I'm guessing once we've finally gotten our affairs in order and eventually decided where we want to move together, we'll have more time and money for leisure travelling (now it all goes toward meeting eachother at least every 2 months). So hopefully we'll be able to attend a con or two - finally.
I've been wanting to meet all you guys for a while now. I've vanished off the boards due to the lack of free time and energy due to an awfull boss I had for a few years. But I do owe thanks to this community, because participating on this board (well, the old one, but the community is more or less the same I interacted with there) contributed greatly to the process of dealing with my depression some years ago. So thank you all.

*I need to learn to keep my sentences shorter

** I rarely have time to participate on the Board, but I am available on Gmail Talk, so if anybody wants to chat sometimes... feel free

OMG, a guy in a yellow suit has just flown past my window.

Ok, so he was in a basket-thingy dangling from a crane, but still, woah !! :shock:

Was he meant to be moving that fast? I would not like to be in one of them at any speed.

I'm not over fond of heights, but I particularly dislike drops.


I do finally have my taps changed. It got to the stage where the plumber was determined not to be beaten. It appears that when the council did my neighbour's one it ended with the bath coming out in pieces!

Well he was moving what seemed like quite frighteningly fast to me, they're building a bridge just across the road from my office (we're right the banks of the Liffey) and the crane is quite enormous...

Good news about those taps, Jacqui, plumbing can be quite atrocious when it goes wrong...

Kat, I'm sure that if he was moving at any kind of swift speed, then the man probably wasn't very happy about it. I've had to harness myself onto rigs before and I'd rather have a tree, tower, or bucket truck to hold onto rather than just free-float around. It always feels better to be under your own control. Especially if you have a crew that likes to play pranks. Nothing that would get you hurt, of course. Maybe just letting an inch or two of line out when you can't get a good hand-hold. I've ruined several good boots that way. When I can't get a good grip with my hands, my toenails automatically shoot out and try to latch onto the tree.

Also, it's amazing what kind of hold your butt can have on a branch. When one is perched on a limb, loses one's balance, and can't find anything to grab with hands, arms, feet, legs, or teeth, then the butt just squeezes real tight. I'm living proof. Took me quite a while to pry my butt cheeks loose from that limb. Especially with me bein upside down.

Another thing I'll not readily do again is to let my dad pull me up a tree with the tractor. We had already gotten the rope in the tree, so he said, "Why not just go ahead and tie into the rope. I can pull you up the tree with the tractor."

That works fine if the person driving the tractor 1) pays attention to the area in front of the tractor so that he doesn't run over a saw that was just minding its own business in the middle of the freakin yard, 2) pays attention to the ground man that is watching me, and 3) pays attention to me when I say, "Stop... Stop!... STOP!!.. STOP THE GODDAMN TRACTOR BEFORE YOU TEAR ME IN HALF!!!!!"

That's why I'm not getting pulled up any more trees. It may be a little easier on the muscles, but my nerves can't handle it.

My mom and sister are up visiting me and they brought me the three Science of Discworld books that my mom ordered back at the beginning of December. I'm excited about it because I have withdrawls with nothing to read and my car is currently iced into it's parking spot and refusing to take me to the library to pick up more books. Unfortunately my family is here for the weekend so I won't get much reading done and I really shouldn't be reading them anyway because I have 4 chapters of my petrology text book to read before Monday because my prof decided to go out of town for two weeks and gave us 6 chapters to read on our own and I chose to read it all in the one weekend my family comes up instead of during the two weeks he was gone. Ah, procrastination.

Welcome back Airman Ba!

::snaps to attention and salutes::


Redneck...all I can say is Ouch! :shock:

BA! YOU'RE BACK!

*dances the deliriously happy dance*

Ba Ba back (sheep)

sorry, I think I have actually managed to O-D on potatoes.

Welcome back Ba. Congratulations on surviving basic.

Redkneck. For some reason I get an image of you as a cross between Woverine and Beast clinging to a tree. :lol:

Ba, welcome back

And jaccairn, I think that's the sweetest, nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. *sniffs* Wolverine has always been my favorite comic book personage.

Edit: growing up everyone called me "Monkey Boy" because there wasn't anything I wouldn't climb or attempt to climb. I guess my job is pretty well suited for my abilities.

Yay!!!

::throws a welcome-back pie at Ba::

Faerie, congrats on the new books and on seeing your folks :smile:

Redneck... I envy your prehensile butt. Honestly!

Welcome back, and congratulations (-:

Just bought myself the DVD of Hogfather for 10€ woohoo !!

I'm back at home job searching. My luck isn't holding out. The agency left me a message on my answer phone to say the company don't want me back! supposedly nothing i had done. They had offered the job to someone else before me and then hadn't waited for an answer. Then they waited for me to settle in, work really hard and tell me (no scrap that, they didn't tell me as they didn't have the decency) to bugger off cos this person will be cheaper than me since they are not through an agency. I must be worthless. Totally worthless.

Just got to look for something else.

Welcome back Ba. Glad you are ok and haven't been hit by low flying pies....

Not worthless, Missy...worth too much! Remember, when dealing with anyone on a professional level, whether they are a colleague or a customer...they are all idiots! Complete buggery idiots. It's a statement that has served me well over the years, and been proven over and over and over and over...

It just wasn't the right job for you.

*hug* that sucks, honey, and they are bastards, not just to do that but not even to tell you to the face. That's just low.

Missy, if that's the way they are, I think there must be a better job waiting for you out there. Imagine how it'd be to work for such indecent *coughidiotscoughassholescough* people.

And don't go for that "I'm worthless" way of thinking either. It'll do you no good, in the end effect it will bring you down even more. And people you come into contact more often than not reflect how you feel about yourself. So, as self-help book as that sounds, if you convince yourself of something, it will invariably come true. It's up to you, and noone else, to decide, which way you want it to go.
I know you know it, but for my part, I knew it too, but it took somebody else telling me that to stir me out of it.
And if it came across as preaching to you, that was not my intention.

Now, that said, which car is your ex-bosses?
*hides a big pipe behind her back, looking innocently in the sky, while whistling out of tune and checking the pockets for matches with the other hand*

Interview today went well.

I took all your comments on board and was as up beat as i could be. I think i did really well. We laughed alot, she agreed with pretty much every comment i made and she kept saying "when you are here....sorry if you get the job" So it sound quite good.

Only thing is, its a massive pay cut. £3k to be precise and thats going to cut our cash down and make us struggle. Dave has said to go for it if it is offered cos it is a good company, a very good company. But i don't want to let him down. It's not a competition but i would like to pull my weight and pay my share and earning that little is not something i was expecting.

I don't want Dave to suffer for my bad luck.

I don't know what to do. Do i stay looking and possibly miss the bills for a few months or take what i can so we struggle til i can get something better in the company?

That is if i get the job anyway. I might not be right for them.

Meh, I don't know the exact state of your finances, but I'd say go for it. Even if you find something better paid in a while and leave, a reference and experience in a good company is worth its weight on a CV, it's not just about cash in pocket today, although it is of course important... Do you have any other offers going that would pay more ? If the answer right now is no, then jump on it, you've seen how easy it is for them to let you go if they find "better", just remember that you can do the same just as easily.

Welcome back Ba.

Hey Missy you can do everything! That shitty company just made a loss. Look forward, put them behind you and go with what feels right.

My news nothing much - I'm starting to stress. Meeting friend next week! Aarrgh there's a spot! And what do I wear? The usual stuff.

Today, I'm going to a Free hugs session, followed by a Freeze (2 different groups of people organising) this, I hope, will be fun.

Well, those two events totally rocked, Free Hugging is so much fun, seeing people's different reactions to it is amazing, some totally get it and jump on you and hug you and laugh and smile, some think you're some kind of pervert or trying to pick their pockets or whatever, or that you're looking for more than a hug, but most people, even though they were maybe to shy to join in walked past with a smile on their faces, so that was rewarding in its own way.

The freeze was kind of weird, but still fun, people just didn't know what was going on, if it was a street act (one guy even dropped some money beside the frozen people, it went towards the drinks !) or if we were protesting (a garda (police guy) went walking around asking the unfrozen people if they knew us, what was going on, if we were protesting... it was weird but funny) and when the freeze stopped everyone cheered and clapped... The group of people doing both of the events were really lovely and fun, and we went for drinks later. Hugging really tires you out, but it's really worth it, my cheeks just ache from smiling so much !

Ah, the Great One has returned! Though I really *must* note that technically, I currently outrank Ba. Granted, we do not serve in the same Air-Force, so our difference in rank is quite irrelevant - but I can't help but hope that somewhere, in some parallel universe, a parallel me is giving a parallel Ba gate guarding duty.
;-)

I have terrible, terrible computer problems. To the point that I may lose some powerpoint presentations I had made last year. They might not had been much, but still...

Luckily I am too scatterbrained to format camera memory cards so my US photos won't suffer. In any case, I have just about had it with XP and I will do my best to switch to Linux.

Good! If you get stuck anywhere, message me and I'll try to help! My problem is the other way around - I have to install XP for some reasons and am definitely not looking forward to it.

The techie yesterday said that it's either the hard drive or the OS. My money is on the OS because I had ran a CheckDisc and nothing showed.

I *have* to install XP again. It's a matter of compatibility with my parents' and sister's projects. So, I'll have a machine with dual boot. I even got a book on Ubuntu for Non-geeks, which is very educational, and magazines on Linux with articles on how to set up a VirtualBox, from which you can run windows.

Go on, join the community. Be a Penguinista.

I am counting my blessings at the moment. I got the lower paid job. A lady in my street has been out of work since November! i would be suicidal if that was me now. I had to call the job centre on Monday and i have never felt so ashamed. I know its there to help but to be told i should apply for benefits was just awful. There is still a thing in my head that says if you don't have a job you are worthless. I know that may offend some people but i was brought up around kids whose parents were always on the dole and had all sorts of stigmas attached to them in society, they didn't care. It was free money and that was all that mattered. I can't do that. I just can't.

So i start on Monday. 0900 til 1730. It's not good wages but it will get us through. So i am feeling proud of myself. I have been out of work for a little over 2 weeks and i have had 7 interviews and 2 job offers. I have worked really hard to get here so even though its not what i want, its something i needed to do and have done it.

Thanks for all your kind words. You are right. I'm not worthless. I'm a bloody hard worker and the sooner i prove that the quicker i will move up the career ladder.

Thanks and i hope everyone elses problems sort themselves out soon as you all deserve wonderful lives.

Well done missy and Avgi... Although I barely understood anything the Avgi said it sounded good?

I have been trying to work from home but its been driving me crazy, with no one to talk to and only the computer for company. Everyone I know says wouldn't it be great if your could just work from home in your pjs and stuff but I'm here to say that unless you like no social intercourse its not all its cracked up to be... I mean a little human contact makes the world a better place...

Even Rinso's 'co-workers'?

Rinso's 'co-workers' would probably cheer but even Rinso would probably miss talking to them...

Hey great news Missy! (If you are ever unfortunate enough again to be out of work do not feel ashamed at approaching the jobcentre etc. I do understand what you are saying, but you pay your taxes etc while working. You are more than entitled to any benefits you can get).

Hope things go well for you today.

Spiky agree with you on the working on home thing - bbbooorrrriiinnnggg!
Folk think I'm mad when we are being optimistic and winning millions on the lottery, when I say I would still have to work - tis the social side that would be missed.

My news - have met face to face my online interest, and well, :smile::smile::smile::smile::smile::smile:

Things are good! irate:

Congrats, Missy. I know it feels good to contribute, even if it is less than usually.
And I agree with Rewr on the job centre thing, you keep them in business while you work, so why not use that when you need it to tide over the hard times. People who haven't worked a day in their lives and consider living on the dole the easy life should be ashamed (although they aren't), not you.
Unfortunately, I think you get people like that in any country, that has any kind of set social order (I think the phrasing sucks here, but it's Monday morning, so...).

Rewr, I'm glad it went good, and good luck with it in the future!

I just had to log into the board...

This is an important occassion as it doesn't happen very often and I remembered my password on the first try...

It should be a good day.

I have a similar view on this issue, Missy. I can't imagine myself living on welfare payments because I *know* that somewhere down the line some poor sod has a part of his paycheck cut out to make this "free" money.

There is no such thing as free money, or at least that's how I view it.

Good luck with your new job, lower paid though it may be. I'm sure you can climb up and get a better salary eventually - just do your best.

Work

Well I’m back and I will be ranting today but from now on I will be writing more I promise.

Well I had an ok day at work and my mum and I went out for tea and a film. Well we got back and I got the mail like I always do. There was a private and confidential letter addressed to me and it was my report for my visit from occupational health because I am dyslexic and dixprasic. It got me really annoyed and as I have faced predeceases in my life. It was taken strait from a textbook and it is so not like me. I love my job and the people I work with as my colleges sure the clients can be a pain but when they say thank you if you get them a job it makes it all worth while. Well I have a meeting with my manageress and Human Recourses on Friday so I will be taking my mum along with me. I just hope they agree that the women who sent the report got it all wrong. The main thing that really annoyed me was that they spelt my name wrong and when that happens it brings back bad memory’s of when I was living in England and attending school there. I just hope that we can sort this out and that I don’t have to change jobs due to it. My employer knew about this when they gave me the job but i'm into my 7th month of employment with them and they are just doing something about this.

In happier news I’m still with my boyfriend and we are closer than ever also I have been asked by my Best friend if I will be godmother for her little boy and I of course said yes. She’s like my sister so of course I would say yes. My 20th birthday is coming up and I only have 11 full months left of my contract until I can get my dream job. Yay for me.

Will write soon

Peapod

welcome back Peapod :smile:

(So the people who decide what kind of job you can have because of your dislexia are also the ones who cannot spell your name... irony! :tongue

Well long day at work and I am writing my reply to the report. It looks like its not going to be too bad as I was talking to boss woman on the phone to day and she sounds as happy as ever which is good. In the middle of begging for holidays before the end of the month, as that’s when we get our new holiday allowance.

At work I'm still trying to get used to the new name of the place as we changed it at the end of November and we haven't got everything changed yet. It still confuses people and we are still awaiting paper work from the main campus, as we are just a satellite centre. Oh and I agree with the comments on the people who haven’t worked a day in there lives we see them every day at work and sometimes we see families that haven worked for generations. One of my co-workers summed it up in one little phrase which is "can't work, won't work" and this is so true.

Officially today I've accepted a promotion to go to Sioux City, Iowa and be an assistant store manager. It's a lot more money and a big step up, but I still can't be too thrilled about it. I don't know a single soul down there, I have a lot of good friends up here etc etc. Plus the work itself is going to be more annoying. I'm going to be spending less time setting up book displays and dealing with the inventory and spending more time doing scheduling and bookwork.

It's probably not something I'll enjoy as much as what I do now, but this way I'm only a couple years away from having my own store. I was also informed that I may be the youngest person to get this job in Barnes & Noble history. This amuses and worries me.


Still, they pay me to play with books. All is well with the world.

Congrats nester.

Books are good. Doing the books is bad. Cooking the books is illegal.

Life is a conundrum.

That made me smile, Spiky. Which was good. I've been in a funk for the last while. Even since I got sick I've been going down hill. I haven't laughed in well over a week. Not even a good chuckle. I intended to call a psychologist friend of mine, but let the time get away from me. He brought me through a rough time in college.

Not to pull in a bad mood or anything, but I used to have a real problem with suicidal tendencies. I haven't had a problem with them for several years now until recently. I don't know what's the matter. I just keep feeling completely useless to myself and humanity as a whole. I locked myself in the house from Friday afternoon until almost noon today.

I guess I've just been lonely for the past several years and it's just really gotten to me lately. Most of my friends are gone, dating, married, or have something going all the time. I don't get to interact with any girls my age. Om would say that there is a specific cure for my problem (at least she has before), but I don't know if there is.

Well I’m off work ill today. I have a sore trought and it’s not good when you’re a receptionist and we had no Internet at all yesterday. So that was interesting.

Well had my meeting with HR and the Boss woman. Well I may be moving up to Fife to the main campus of the college. I really don’t like this idea, as I will be away from my friends and family and my boyfriend. This is adding so much stress to me I have decided to look for a new job in the industry I really want to work in. well I just want to get out of there now as this has made me really unhappy. They extended my probationary period to another 4 months. That’s why I'm looking for a new job.

redneck I hope you fell better soon.

Nester well done and go for it you can do it.

Redneck. I'm depressed and I've spent a week in a psych ward because of it. I don't know your age.I'm 33 and a freak,since I'n not married,dating nor have I any kids. I feel the isolation as well. My only salvation through that has been my contempt for the mould society thinks it can press upon me. I feel I'm above it.Call me haughty or full of myself.

Take care red, talking about it is probably the only way to get better, it's tough, I think many of us here have suffered depression of one kind or another at some time, you're not alone, feel free to talk here, or to your friend, but do talk, that's more or less all I can advise on the subject.

Sunna, I'm not quite as big a freak as you, I'm only 29. (Wow, that actually made me giggle).

Thanks Kat. I forgot to mention that I haven't had a smoke in almost a week. It's getting pretty hard. I want to quit smoking, but I love it.

Good luck, Peapod.

Redneck, I can't say I know how you feel, because no one but you can. But I understand, especially about the suicidal tendencies. This time last year I ended up standing on a bridge looking down at the water before I got a grip on myself and snapped out of it. I haven't had a boyfriend in over five years as men tend to see me as a sister/friend rather than a girlfriend. All my friends are married or have children or have moved away and I always feel like they have a better grip on their lives than I ever will. But now, I am happy. I have my health (sort of) and I know there are people out there who think of me every day. There are no real words of comfort I can give you other than for you to hang on, take it easy and that things generally do get better if you give them a chance.

Good Luck with the whole not smoking thing. I really, really, really wish you luck. So far this year I've given them up three times...but I have faith that if it's the right time for you, you will kick the habit! (and then you can let me in on your secret )

Redneck, hopefully Avgi's present will help somewhat with the funk - and yes, we suck thoroughly for holding onto it for so long. I'm mailing it today, along with a Ceann CD, which is something that can't be described, you just gotta listen to it!

I've been feeling much better today. I don't know if it's the sunshine, getting out of the house, or what, but I've actually been smiling and laughing. Not quite up to my old cheerful self again, but closer.

Mazekin, I know the feeling of sibling/friend thing. I was talking to a couple of ladies the other day and they made an astute comment about me. They were both in their late fifties to early sixties and it was the first time I had ever met them. We were at a diner when I saw them and just started a conversation. When they asked if I was married or seeing someone, they were quite surprised when I told them I wasn't.

One of them, Diane, said, "You're not shy, being able to talk to a couple of old ladies like you did. But I can tell you must be bashful around younger women." And that fits me to a T. I'm not shy, I can talk to anyone. But I am bashful when it comes to attractive women my age. I just never know how to turn a conversation from being just an opener into a plea for a date, other than just saying, "You want to go on a date?"

Mowgli and Avgi, thanks even though I haven't gotten it yet. Still makes me feel better.

Hsing, when I read that I tried to think of what you could do to cheer me up. I came up with you doing the hamster dance while singing the llama song. That definitely cheered me up. Thanks.

And if that doesn't do it, try lolcats.

I now have internet at home, which is so much better that squatting the mysterious unsecured WiFi network coming from somewhere around here that we could get for a few minutes at a time.

When that doesn't work there's always kidnap.

Do you have any hobbies that would put you in the way of the ladies in a non-threatening and relaxed way? You could try dancing, they're always looking for blokes to partner women in ballroom/salsa dancing classes...

A long time ago I read an article that said if you want something to happen in your life you just start by deciding on what it is you want to happen, Like if you want to get married, you just decide that is what you want to do. I did that, and within a couple of months I did meet my future ex husband, and I knew I wanted to marry him. I'm not sure that was a coincidence.
Now I find myself with a boyfriend who is way too much like my ex, to that point that he might be gone for good already. I was talking to a friend online last night and he told me I need to figure out what it is I do want in my life. I guess things really don't change much and that really is the basic thing we need to do, figure out what we really want, that way we know it when we get it.
I have felt the world trying to make me do something, what it is I don't know, but things are falling away from me, My Solomon disappeared at Christmas, Butch died last Thursday, Wednesday Tim hit my neighbors parked uninsured car with my uninsured car and ran away, He told me he wants to make things right but, well, I'm not holding my breath. The neighbor brought me a damage estimate, he wants me to pay $2000 for the repairs to a 1989 car. I want something good to happen soon, I'm sick of bad news.
I really wanted to go out tonight but I worked overtime for the third day this week and I'm way way too tired, so maybe I'll just take a bath and get some sleep and try to have fun tomorrow, it is my last day of the week and Game night so there is a good chance i can scare up some fun then.
As for dating, that online friend said maybe I should take a break from that, my sister says that too. I kind of thought that having Tim move in with me was a break from dating, and that I have actually not "dated" in nearly five months. I am still hoping Tim and I can work our way back together, this mess with the neighbors car isn't the end of the world, I've had worse betrayals in my life, but realistically my hope is faint, I'll know by the 17th if we have a chance.

Kat, congratulations.

Spiky, that's really why I got back into theater. I was hoping that I would either meet some girls or some people that could introduce me to girls. And dancing scares me only a little more than Russian Roulette. I've never even gotten drunk enough to get on the dance floor. When I'm drunk enough to dance, I've already passed out.

Hsing, the way it happened for you is the way I've always wanted it to be. I don't particularly care for the dating game. For one thing, I suck at it. Completely. As far as illustrating the dance, see the above mention about dancing.

TamyraMcG, sounds like you need the hamster dance more than me. It's yours if you can get Hsing to perform it for you.

Well off work ill again. I was ill a few weeks ago with a thought infection and it seams like its back. It’s just as bad if not worse as last time I didn’t have a cough until about day 3 but my cough started on day 1. Going to see the doctor tomorrow and see what he says but at the minute I’m just lying in my bed all warm and cosy working at my laptop which has its own table at the base of my bed.

Well I’m going to do some job hunting to day and see what that turns out like and redneck I’m glad your felling a bit better. Me and my partner meet though a get back to work thing we hung out for a couple of weeks at lunch then on day he just asked if i wanted it to be more than just friends and it was the best decision ever. I never liked the whole dating thing. Even though I’m still young I fell that I’m getting left behind some times. All my work colleges are ether marred have kids/grandkids or have a partner that they live with. I am happy though I just hope I can get a new better-paid job and live happily for the rest of my life. I don’t care about material things I think it the way I was brought up but I love my life at the minute. And TamyraMcG I’m sure everything will work out.

Thanks Guys, I did find some fun tonight, I stayed up all night in fact to get all of it that was there, I had an okay day at work, I made arrangements to get the 17th off,that is the day Tim is supposed to see the judge, I'm going to be working the 6th of April for the friend who is working for me that day.
James called me to tell me we were going to have Gamenight at 8, so I got a few hours of internet before that , we played Ticket to Ride, I was close to getting my third route but James finished before I could do that, Dave won handily though. That is a pretty fun game.
Then it was karaoke at the Eagles, I was James DD, we made a beer run on our way back to the Launderette, then we played some Rock Band, I tried drums but I suck, Scott and Craig came from karaoke and joined us. Scott manages and lives at the Launderette and Craig is the karaoke DJ, we played(we I watched) until 4am. No alcohol passed my lips, I don't need that right now, I'm still waiting to hear from Tim and I'm too fragile to start that stuff.
James is leaving Good Friday, he already has three job offers in Korea. He hates leaving us, but we all know he needs to do this and that Park Rapids isn't the best place for him. i hope we can continue our ties with out him, they are worth it. I don't know if I'm more upset about possibly having lost Tim or James leaving, I think it might be for the best if Tim does stay away. I'm going to be doing my very best to keep my heart from breaking into too many peices, I might just need it again.