That’s so sweet of you, EmAnJ. 
It was all for a purpose in the end. The experience made my day.
My wife has lost her fucking mind. She’s demanding that everyone be together on Friday in case the black hole comes and sucks us all up, so we’ll all be together in eternity. :rolleyes:
I"m so glad you were there for them, EmAnJ. The kindness you did will be remembered for a very long time.
ptr2void Do you have pets? If your wife sends me lots of money now, I promise to take good care of your pets if you get raptured or something.
EmNJ if you know where those kids live maybe some Dopers could help Santa come to their house…
Darn, too late to edit. I got the end of the world thing mixed up. The rapture is going to happen on the 23d. Time will end on the 21st.
And I’m sorry for making fun of your wife. You must love her a lot to put up with that sort of thing. Maybe you could try to have a nice family dinner with lots of chololate cake?
If only! But no, I have no idea where they live or even what their last name is. I’m just glad they got to meet Santa and each get a gift today.
OK, now I’m more than a little ticked off. How the heck did a very old Skype account get linked to my messages?
My small rant: Today, I tell my husband explicitly, “Hey, I really, really need some quiet alone time. I need to finish up some work and I could use some time to myself. Can you get your work done downstairs?” He agrees (has been complaining about needing to get work done all day anyway) and toddles off downstairs while I put the children to bed. So I come out, grab my laptop and pile of stuff to read for work and start reading in the living room. He walks in, grabs the remote, puts on his headphones and turns on the bloody TV. Then looks at me and says, “Oh, do you mind if I sit here?” Dude, I said I needed ALONE TIME. That means no one else is there. It doesn’t matter why I need it, I need it and you agreed to it, so go away. Dammit. Now I’m really aggravated and I still haven’t gotten my fucking alone time. I shouldn’t be so ticked but I am. And I know that part of it is because of my larger rant.
Larger Rant: My friend who had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer died the day after my birthday. We went to her memorial service last week. The world is a must poorer, shittier place without her in it. The woman was the absolute nicest person I have ever met in my life, so much so that at first I didn’t like her much because I couldn’t believe that anyone could actually be that nice. But she just was. She was the second person to see my son after he was born, the one who told me that babies were like incredibly demanding pets until they got an opinion and that everyone needs to have chocolate every day. She was one of those people who went out for a stroll and came home with a dozen new friends she’d invite over to dinner the next day. She was in her late 60s and played football with her grandkids, wasn’t afraid to get covered in mud and by the time she finished a project she had a half dozen more than she’d already started. I miss her. I didn’t see her a whole lot, but I miss just knowing she was in the world. And now she’s not. And I hate it.
So I’m upset and I’m prickly and I want everyone to get the fuck away from me and they just won’t.
My maternal grandparents did that, we refer to theirs as “The House of the Rising Secrets”. I don’t get it either, but if it works for them and so long as it’s not being used to hide unacceptable behaviors, different strokes…
Some people that don’t need alone time just don’t understand about it. Sorry about your friend- I’m going to be in the same boat about one of my good friends in -a few months?- and I am dreading losing her. Fuck cancer.
So glad you were there,** EmAnJ**.
Lack of understanding of “Do Not Disturb” is why I can’t spend too much time with my mother. Mom, we may finally have reached the stage where we can interrupt each other, rather than you interrupting me all the time, but it would still be much nicer if you could comprehend “do not interrupt the cook” when the cook / person scanning your old pics / person trying to have a phone interview is someone other than you.
I most definitely cannot be there if I’m interviewing or having a work-from-home day. The concept of “work from home means I need to be at the computer, I can’t go to buy bread just now” is too complex. She thinks it’s selfish of me to refuse to go out when I’m already dressed anyway and she isn’t; I think it’s not my problem if I happen to prefer being dressed and she happens to prefer being in her nightshirt.
Good for you and for the FD, EmAnJ.
Alone time is exactly why I want a house that has a small private room for me, a small private room for mrAru, our bedroom, a guest bedroom with a small sitting room, and then the large common kitchen/dining/family room with an attic the whole size of the house lined with bookshelves as a library. Everybody can go hole up in their private space, or hang out in the common public area. Of course this is never going to happen, unless we win a lottery or suddenly discover an unknown rich relative dying and leaving us everything …:dubious::rolleyes:
Fuck modems. Fuck VoIP. Fuck this piece of shit computer. Fuck this phone. Fuck resetting the modem, because I only did that ten times this weekend. I also checked all my wires to make sure they were ok.
And fuck Comcast because NOW I have to call them and see what help I can get, because I was unable to use the phone last night too and this morning when I actually NEED the goddamned phone.
Fuck all this bullshit about the Mayan calendar or any Nostradamus-type-noise about the end of the world. I am so sick of it that I want to slap someone in the mouth, while i am holding a coffee mug.
I have two wonderful cats, but worry not; if this is a rapture event, as an atheist (as much as she likes to declare that I’m really not) I’m sticking around! 
My step-daughter, step-grandson and I made tinfoil hats at dinner last night, much to her chagrin. We’re “being mean” to her.
I suggest finding a Comcast CEO and expressing your feelings. With a coffee mug.
This gave me a fit of giggles. It’s good to know that you get along with your stepdaughter and her son.
I already did my part - donated a gift to the Salvation Army, and have the Food Bank on my list of donations for this week. 
It’s a ‘Jump to Conclusions Mat’.
So sorry Saje. That really sucks.