Well, 2016, it’s been fun — by which I of course mean the complete opposite of fun. So here’s an open thread to say good riddance to 2016. And to look forward with trepidation but perhaps also a little hope to 2017. No trolls, Trump fans, MRAs, etc.
If you’re going out, be safe. If you’re staying in, curl up with this lovely Dumpster Fireplace to celebrate the end of this dumpster fire of a year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCLXGkYg9uY
2016 was the hardest year of my life.
2017 looks pretty good, though the situation down South makes me think I need to start mandarin lessons.
2016 was weird.
I think I really got stuff done: started psychotherapy, got my candidate’s thesis done, learned some self-respect… But I can still easily slide back to the feeling that I’m trash. I was supposed to work on my master’s thesis today, yet got nothing done. And the state of the world politics worries me a lot. And money; I worry about it constantly. I stopped going to work to have more time for my thesis, now my savings are almost spent…
Usually when looking back I can imagine a timeline, often with some gaps (I have amnesia, ’cause of trauma), but still. Now it seems that all my experiences this past year are separate, like tossed in a basket and shaken. I pick one up and try to place it somewhere in context, and it takes a while before it majes sense. Did all that really fit inside one year?
And I look so much older now. Tiny wrinkles all over my face and the whites of my eyes are not that bright anymore. In just a year that’s quite a change, rven though I know it had to happen and happens to all.
I’m reserving “Sub-Woofers” as the title for my all-dog remake of ‘Das Boot’.
@Alan
Aight, that was amazing ?
Well I had a mostly shitty year, I spent the first half being put through the ringer by the Department for Workhouses and Pensions as they forced me to jump through hoops to prove I am still unfit for work. Hilariously though I ended up being judged even more unfit for work and had my benefits raised so now I am merely ” very poor” and not “I have to pawn some stuff to afford food poor”. Then just as I was beginning to relax I came down with pleurisy. And finally I recovered from that, only to then get flu. Huh-zah.
On the upside, I discovered this site and found an awesome community. So it wasn’t all bad.
There have been many deaths in my family in 2016. No more in 2017, k?
I’m making a big pot of black eyed peas with pork bones. My husband commented last January that I hadn’t made them for New Year’s Day.
Me: But I thought you didn’t like them.
Him: That’s not the point!
For those of you who don’t know, BEP are a traditional dish for celebrating NYD among many African Americans.
Our older son is settling down at the board and care home we found for him. It’s only a half hour walk from our house. Younger son will be going back to high school tomorrow; with luck, showered and wearing clean clothes. Husband got two days off in a row; can’t remember the last time that happened. Running a small business is quite demanding.
And I have a family, a place to live, and food to eat. That’s enough to satisfy my essential hobbit nature. The purpose of life is to live, and I’ve got that covered
And bluddy, bluddy 2016 simply can’t leave well enough (bad enough) alone. Somebody that everybody loves had to die on Dec 31st.
William Christopher – Father Mulcahy from M.A.S.H. – died on Saturday morning. Apparently, he was just as nice off camera as on. At least he had a good long life behind him unlike too many of the others gone in 2016.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jan/01/william-christopher-father-mulcahy-mash-dies
@mildlymagnificent
Of course, it would. As I told the husband when I found out about Christopher’s passing, “2016 juuust had to flip us one final finger, didn’t it?”
Can we mulch years? I want to mulch 2016. And put it in a machine for mulching things that are already mulched.
Well, FML….
16 hours into 2017 and mom is having an emotional meltdown (she’s 82, I’m 46).
Lost my appetite eating my fancy nachos
I don’t think they’ll be any good reheated.
She’s throwing things around upstairs and I have tons to clean up.
I’m scared
Scared? Right now … or that this is going to get worse before it (if ever) gets better?
Is this her house, yours or joint … really, the question is do you know any relatives, friends, neighbours, doctors, church members who live nearby and who could help you out right now. Yours. Or hers. Whether that’s to get you to somewhere where you won’t feel so scared or whether they have some capacity to deal with her that you don’t have just now.
Is it possible for you simply to walk out of the house and go somewhere you could calm down and go back later when you feel better able to cope? (Some people do this when children get too hard to handle just to get through the next half hour.)
Sorry I can’t help much. Maybe others will have something better to offer.
@mywall
Congrats on the new job. I hope it works out for you!
Oh, thank you mildlymagnificent for the advice and it’s good.
It’s her house. I moved in to help take care of my father, who is now in a home. She has these meltdowns about once a month, although, holidays, this is number two.
Usually I have my keys, wallet, etc. in my room if I have to let myself out. She was trying to break down my door before, but I have one of those security rods. I didn’t have my stuff downstairs to sneak out either.
She’s melting down, but she always blames me. Its ugly. If it were diarrhea, she’d see the doctor, but “you think I’m CRAZY,” threatens to kill herself. She’s been drinking a lot today.
I told her through the door she was trying to bust down that I had to clean up the kitchen and she went away. Then came at me and said “what can I do to make you happy”
Total mindfuck…seriously FML.
Every neighbor, family member, church member…as far as I can tell, they all think she is just so nice. And she tells them I’m a monster. So…
I don’t know what set her off this time. I just got up rather suddenly to go use the bathroom. She can’t hear very well. I told her I had to pee. She seems to think she did something to make me mad and I can’t even talk to her ever, and especially not when she’s like this.
I’m sorry. She seems to have calmed down. I need to get a second job and save up and get out of here.
Seems like 2017 might be another sleepless year. 🙁
@Eli
*hugs* if desired, and all my sympathies.
Although that does remind me, having finally gotten a second job is another good thing about last year. Although it’s a mixed blessing, given that I have no scheduled days off anymore. I’ve got part of this week off, but that’s it for a while.
You don’t have to be sorry, eli. You’re in a bad situation and there’s no need to apologize for it.
@Eli
When this happens, has she usually been drinking? Is there someone she trusts, like a doctor, who can convince her to stop? My family has very bad genes around drinking/drugs, and sudden mood swings are common. I doubt you did anything to provoke this. It’s hard to get them to stop, though. Wish I had better advice.
Thanks everyone.
Kitchen is finally clean (I made such a monster mess today). She went to bed early.
yes, kupo. She stopped drinking last year when I was around to witness how terrible she was being to my Dad. She started again a few months ago. A couple of years ago, the doctor told her to stop because of liver values, but she didn’t then. She usually starts at lunch with wine in a tiny little glass, thinking that she’ll drink less, but she just fills it more often. With hipaa regulations, am I even allowed to talk to her doctor about this?
Seems like the sort of thing she’d do to me. I don’t know how I feel about that.
Eli,
HIPAA only regulates people who work in health care or work with health information. You’re allowed to talk to her doctor and say to them that you have concerns. But the doctor can’t tell you anything about your mother’s health or what she says to them without your her permission unless you had legal guardianship over her.
@Eli
I’m an alcoholic. Dry, been dry for years, but it’s there. Always will be. So that is where this is coming from, OK?
Don’t talk to your mother’s doctor, if you are inclining to, until you are in a position where you can leave. Because chances are she’ll see it as a total betrayal and kick you out. She’ll certainly make your life hell on earth in “thanks” for your concern.
Good luck and good wishes.
@Eli
Hugs and sympathy.
Re: The Manatee
Should name it Hugh. Then you could point to it, and say “Oh, the Hugh Manatee” in your best radio announcer voice.
Too soon?
Happy 2017 to everyone, whether they deserve it, or not. Assuming their happiness doesn’t screw up someone else’s.
To Trump: I hope you become a great President.
To the rest of us here: We’ll need a miracle, but hey, it _might_ happen.
2016 was bloody awful. Aside from all the geopolitical stuff, a beloved and elderly pet died, and my alcoholic sister finally went off the deep end, and farmed out her children to relatives/friends, because she’d rather spend her time boozing than caring for them. The upside of this shitty situation, is that my nephew and niece will finally get some peace and quiet/stability in their lives, as each is living with good and sensible people.
Globally, I think we’re in for a rough year. In my country, Brexit is going to start to bite. All the people duped by rightwing populism on these shores are in for a massive wake-up call as jobs disappear or leave for more practically-minded nations. The Middle East is going to carry on being the Middle East. Jason Burke wrote a great piece in the Guardian the other day, about Al Qaeda filing the nutty void that ISIS will leave when it finally pops it’s clogs. Worth a read. The South China Sea? Who knows. It’s a shitstorm waiting to happen. Putin will continue his foreign meddling, and will keep supporting the rise of petty nationalism across Europe. Much of what occurs now, hinges on the actions of an orange, reactionary and sociopathic pensioner, soon to move into the Oval Office. Funnily enough though, I don’t think he’ll last the year. For one thing the position actually involves work. The Republicans will certainly be looking to ditch him at the first opportunity. Maybe impeachment will be involved, or perhaps he’ll be provided with a more graceful exit route. If we aren’t all tiny piles of irradiated dust this time next year, I predict Trump will have moved on. He’ll probably be replaced with a mainstream Republican (which still spells trouble), but at least we won’t be hearing about him 24/7, which is obviously why he ran for Prez in the first place place.
Hello.
Have a happy new year, everyone.
Health and enough resources, successes in your life as many as possible, for those close to your heart and yourself.
Best wishes for the coming year !
Manosphere is going to be happy, it is the year of the Cock.
…
Oh, sorry, i mean the Rooster.
Have a nice day.