An open thread for personal stuff.
As usual for these threads: no trolls, no MRAs, no I’m-not-really-an-MRA-buts, no being jerky.
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Open Thread for Personal Stuff: February 2015 Cat Wearing Box in a Sink Edition
WWTH good luck! And more hugs to more people who need them:
http://terriblycute.com/files/2012/11/Animal-Hugs-05.jpeg
@Argenti, sorry if I brought things up. I’m really glad you’re back 🙂
S’ok, you brought cute primates hugging!
Aw hell. No one told me I had to re-up for ObamaCare every year, and I couldn’t remember my password and I got locked out of the website, so now I have to call someone.
Stupid Thunderdome medical system.
Grumble, grumble.
@Argenti, yeah, just driving up to my folks’ place over Christmas was enough to try the patience of a saint, especially when A decided it was fun to whoop really loudly, Beloved had a headache, S was napping and I was trying to drive.
And then we managed to make my mom cry. Go us.
I’ve been down ever since.
So he really was plotting your demise? Mental demise anyways…
Car trips are the worst, even as an adult I turn into a puddle of bored 45 min in. Dealing with 2 two year olds… *pours Falconer a shot* you’ve earned it.
I’m not sure there’s anything cuter than this itty bitty weasel playing with someone’s hand:
I don’t know. If there is, I’m sure we’ll ferret it out.
Ba-dum tish!
A has thrown up four times today since 6 a.m. local time, and I ain’t feeling too hot myself.
I’ll just help myself to some of the hug barrel, and some for A.
So, yeah, I just got really, really, really, really, really lucky. I’m kind of still in the “oh my” stage.
I lost traction on some ice left by a friendly winter storm in my little car, over corrected, and ended up in a snowbank with a great big pine tree all of six feet away from me.
Things that went in my favor:
1) I was able to steer once I hit the snow, and was able to make it go sideways to make the most of my nifty snowbank for breaks. With the combination of that and a lot of luck, I hit the BEST spot I could have gone in the ditch at. Fifty feet farther along, and I’d have met a fire hydrant. Fifty feet less far, and I’d have met a big honking tree stump.
2) Seatbelts are miracles and I was wearing mine.
3) I was already going 5 mph under the recommended speed for that turn when shenanigans happened.
4) I wasn’t on any mind altering substances, because I don’t do those.
5) My car stayed right side up
6) The impact was gentle enough that no airbags were deployed.
I was completely uninjured, and my car just has a lot of snow packed into its suspension and one tiny little dent and a couple tiny little scratches… and a couple twigs that it’s keeping under the hood as souvenirs.
But, yeah, I just got really, really, really lucky.
The thing I’m most tempted to blame my loss of control on (other than I wasn’t cautious enough, which is THE biggest factor) was the fact I raised the psi in my tires to the FORD recommended 32 PSI from 26 PSI after I changed a flat… and I think that made a heck of a difference with my traction.
But, yeah, I just got amazingly lucky.
Amazingly.
…and I think I’m going to let some air out of my tires. I want my traction back. A shorter tire lifespan is okay, but I want some traction.
Guys, I’m so, so, so glad to be alive.
Also, I think I’m going to let the other guy who lives near the station be designated driver for the next bit for all priority calls, because it might be a bit before I’ll really want to drive faster than 35 mph…
Congratulations on not dying, Contra!
@gilshalos
High five in pizza lunch! That is a major victory. I have been in your shoes and offer my full cheerleader* support.
If you don’t mind me asking, are you seeking any help currently?
*I have never actually been a cheerleader, so imagine it something like late-twentysomething thick-cut girl just kind of bopping around and rattlig off encouraging not-quite-rhyming rhymes.
I spent yesterday taking care of my husband, who has caught the flu that I am still recovering from. Two sick peas in a very snotty pod. We watched a lot of Doctor Who and took turns taking our temperatures. It was sweet, in a very fever-addled way.
Hooray for Contrapangloss being alive!
Very glad the accident wasn’t worse, contrapangloss!
@Contrapangloss: I’ve been driving for 50 years and have had a couple of similar experiences — it really does shake you up. A couple of years ago I dozed off on the interstate and woke up to find myself headed straight for the guard rail. Luckily I was able to steer enough to go into the guard rail sideways so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. But it happens terribly fast. Luckily I had used the rest room recently so no accidents of that sort.
All I know about Alaska winter road conditions comes from my in-laws (who lived in Seward at the time) getting trapped in Girdwood by avalanches. They didn’t get their vehicle out for a couple of months. But the thing about driving in snow country in general is that it’s very hard to know what speed is safe in any particular set of circumstances, and sooner or later you miscalculate. It’s particularly difficult when, because of the plowing patterns, you are constantly passing through areas that were plowed/salted/sanded at different times, so the slipperiness of the road is constantly changing.
In any case you came out all right, and all of us who enjoy your comments can be very grateful for that.
@contra, you got way luckier than I did, once upon a time. I’m glad there wasn’t much hurt.
I have spun on ice three times that I can recall, and in all cases I wasn’t going very fast, and I didn’t leave the roadway. Big whew.
@contra–
So glad you are safe! That is still scary as hell, regardless.
I am from the doormat to the Deep South and any time there is even a threat of snow, everything shuts down–seriously, schools close and there is a bread-and-hot-chocolate rush at every grocery store. No one drives in snow here, myself included.
So. I’m afraid my chances at the job are completely blown. The snow was making visibility terrible. Then someone gave me the wrong directions and I ended up at the wrong building after walking for twenty minutes in the ice and snow. It’s a huge corporation and they have several satellite buildings around the headquarters.
So I’m waiting here in the lobby for either the receptionist or my employment agency to still get a hold of someone and see if they’re still even willing to talk to me.
I need a job, like now. I’m behind on my rent. So you can imagine how freaked out I am right now. It’s like everything bad that could happen did.
Oh god, why did I ever come in to work today.
I haven’t had lunch because my stomach feels too bad. I just want to go home.
http://36.media.tumblr.com/3ea653310f93220edc18e4d81b8beb53/tumblr_njb2roEzT71qe81uzo2_500.jpg
This cat has everything I want right now.
Here, WWTH, share my warm fuzzy sunlit blanket in a totally platonic fashion.
It doesn’t necessarily mean your chances are blown, WWTH. They might assess how well you handle unexpected, stressful, terrifying situations, and take your ‘grace under fire’ into account.
Good luck!
Also, hugs, if you want them.
Good luck, WWTH! Hope things work out alright.
I like grumpyoldnurse’s reading of the situation, WWTH. Best of luck and fingers crossed for you.
I also need a job. Badly. I quit my job at GameStop right before GamerGate hit (thank all things holy) for various reasons, including but not limited to having a hoard of stalkers, getting robbed three times over the course of one holiday season, and being told my depression disqualified me from promotion. Obvs, it left a pretty bad taste in my mouth. I’m not really excited about having to get another retail job, but I don’t have a degree so I don’t know what else to do.
Does anyone have ideas?
Here are things I am good at/enjoy/am passionate about:
-Art and painting
-Writing/books/reading/editing and beta reading/word nerdery in general
-Pets, particularly dogs (I also know how to groom)
-Wildlife and nature
-Mental health, ADHD advocacy, and recovery
-Helping people
Can anyone think of anything? I have thought about trying to get back into grooming or vet teching, but it’s hard for me to handle abused/neglected animals. I also thought about trying to sell art, but I get sooooo nervous sharing creative stuff.
So basically, if anyone knows of a job that is pro-hippy bullshit and not soul-crushing and that doesn’t require a degree, I would love to know what that is.
@ WWTH – good luck, and keep us posted. Hopefully they’ll understand about the weather, and be willing to reschedule.
@contrapangloss – Wow, that’s scary. I’m glad you weren’t hurt, and managed to find the section of the snowbank without obstacles. It’s been too cold to salt the roads, so snow gets caked into tires, which is making the driving really slippery. My brakes have pretty much stopped working. The other day I ended up nosing into a snowbank trying to get out of the way of a police car. Luckily just the bumper went in, but it was unsettling, losing control like that.
Sweet dinosaur-riding creationists, this snow WILL NOT END. We’ve got 53″ on the ground already and another storm is coming Thursday and maybe another one this weekend and my muscles are all knotted up from shoveling and there’s nowhere left to put it and when I look at a weather map, I can no longer tell the difference between the temperature and the expected snowfall.
I’d wave a white flag, but no one would be able to see it.
Falconer – hope you can go home and get some rest. This flu that’s going around is nasty. The stomach part is short-lived, thankfully, but it leaves you tired for awhile. We’re just coming off three solid weeks of lots and lots of laundry, flat ginger ale, and “Fireman Sam” marathons. Twin #1 came down with it during the Super Bowl. He threw up right as Rob Gronkowski was catching a touchdown pass. We both yelled “GRONK!” at the exact same moment.
I lol’d.
In the early days, silly me, I had this assumption that my infants would stop drinking when they were full. Nope. They started spitting up right after feedings and kept spitting up until we wised up and started using smaller doses.
The first time my infant son spit up half of the formula he’d just drank, it went urp-SPLATT!! which was a great amusement to me while I was scrubbing it up.
The flu has passed on, but my boy has infections in both ears.
@Falconer – two spit-uppers? Lucky you!
Only one of mine was a spit-up baby, but he’d go through at least 7 or 8 outfits a day. I have film footage of him playing a toy xylophone, going “dink….dong….ding…..BLAAAAAAP!” right on the beat. Then he continues on as if nothing happened. It never fails to bring the lulz in our house.
Hope your boy’s ears clear up and he feels better soon.
@WatermelonSugar Those are all good skills. Dogwalking or pet-sitting? Tutoring? Fiverr gigs? Freelance editing? Are you good at painting portraits, pets, or houses? You might be able to find some commission work. Or sell your art on Etsy, or design stuff on Zazzle. You won’t get rich off those sites, but might be able to make grocery money or pay the rent.
By the way, I’ve been meaning to ask you – is your nym from Richard Brautigan?