I think my mother is going off the rails again. Or else, she never quite went back on the rails after she ended up in the psych ward last October.
She and my dad are separating, and she lives in an apartment in another part of town now. She talks to my dad a lot on the phone, and my dad says she’s been saying weird things. She called my dad late last night only because she went out on her balcony and smelled a skunk. Umm, why would she call about that? It’s not like she needed advice because there was a big fierce stinky skunk right on her balcony or anything.
Oy god I don’t know what’s worse. Arguing with smug anti-abortion men about just exactly how hard pregnancy is or arguing with anti-vax nuts about their belief that vaccines cause everything from autism to toenail fungus.
So I’ve embarked on a massive Facebook “unfriending” mission.
Nothing is wrong, I’m simply spending far too much time and mental energy online. I realized that the majority of these Facebook “friends” don’t give much of a crap about me In Real Life, so why am I so concerned with keeping track of all of them? My brain feels cluttered. So I posted a message about how I’m spending too much time online and I honestly don’t remember how I spent my free time before the Internet. Therefore I’m going to restrict my Facebook to just my closest family and friends - I said to not feel offended or take it personally, I still like all of you, I just want a life back. I set that status to “Public” in case somebody actually misses me and looks me up, and started slowing hitting “Unfriend” on people.
I started with people who I’ve never even met In Real Life or only met once. Then people who friended me but never even said Hi after I accepted the request. Then people who never interact with me. But OH MY GOD it’s causing me anxiety! I feel like I’m personally insulting all these people that I really do like and do say hi to if we pass in the mall. I feel like I’m writing these people out of my life - which I’m not, I’m simply whittling down my FB - but why should I care? It was nice to catch up with people from my past but we don’t call each other or hang out. I just don’t feel the need to have them on my Facebook anymore.
Plus the (lack of) privacy settings on Facebook weird me the fuck out. I think it’s creepy that everyone can see when I comment or “like” someone else’s status. I spent days adjusting everyone’s settings so that I only see other people’s status updates, but I don’t know who can see what I do myself.
It’s weird. Before Facebook I rarely saw or interacted with these people. Why am I getting anxiety now?
My husband wants to try to quit smoking. Great! So I call the insurance company to see what they will cover. Up to $500. Sweet! The downfall? I have to pay up front and then send the receipt in to be reimbursed. The first month of Chantix is almost $200, which I don’t have. I guess we’ll have to try to save up before the end of the year (deductible reasons). Or maybe he can just quit cold turkey like I did years ago…
As mentioned upthread, cervical radiculopathy is driving me nuckin’ futs. The chiropractor and I have done all we can, so the next step is MRI in a few days.
In the meantime, if it weren’t for the gym sauna, liniment, analgesics, a compression glove, and sleeping pills, I’d have chainsawed my hand off by now and been sent to the psych ward.
A mayor of a small town in my province is getting a lot of disapproval - not because of the usual corruption charges, but because he remorselessly enjoys running over stray cats with his car. :mad:
I wanna throttle my husband! He needs a newer car and has for ages. Right now, our budget allows for $250 a month to be spent on a car. This number includes insurance. I’m the one who deals with the money, so I know what’s realistic for us. We’ve been discussing this for months, and he keeps wanting to bump the budget up and up and up. He went ahead and got preapproved for a car loan this week and now he is itching to go pick one out. My mom is coming over to watch the kids tomorrow morning so we don’t have to schlep them all over town on our search. NOW he decides that he wants to spend $2k more on a car than we have ever discussed because “oooh shiny!” When he was running numbers on payment calculators, he never once took insurance into account, even though I had been explicitly reminding him to do so, as the $250 number is pretty damned firm. Now, I’m the bad guy (as always!) because I had to tell him that it wouldn’t work. He’s pouting on the couch right now, saying “FINE! If I can’t get the car I REALLY want, then I’m not gonna buy one at all!” That’s perfectly fine with me, because if he would just wait nine more damned months, my car would be paid off and we’d have a lot more flexibility.
I was walking through a supermarket parking lot today and saw a big-ass SUV with a “Catholic Radio 920” window sticker. Right next to it was another sticker reading “This vehicle protected by Smith & Wesson”.
I was a bit startled, since listeners to that station with multiple stickers are generally prone to advertising their anti-abortion convictions. Not this guy, though - his vehicle was festooned with gun rights stickers, including “Stop Crime - Sh00t First” (with bullet holes for the Os), and “What Part of Don’t Infringe My 2d Amendment Rights Don’t You Understand?”
He also had a handicapped placard hanging from the rear view window.
We went to see Pat Benatar in concert tonight (she is fantastic! What a voice!). When my husband told some co-workers what he was doing tonight, their response was, “Who’s that?” Goddammit, she’s only
My sister and BIL went to her concert a couple of weeks back when she was here in Minnesota.
Not really a rant…
We had a wet spring last year, then a bad dry spell that threw us into drought. I made a deal with the Weather Gods that I would make no complaints about the rain this year.
This year we had a very wet spring. The rivers are still high. The near constant rain only ended about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, they pretty much ended. Was starting to look like Climate Change meant we would get Monsoon Season from April to June and then Dry Season July to September, which isn’t real good for farming. So, despite the high rivers, we were starting to need some rain. Unfortunately, the forecast was showing nothing more than a 10-20% chance of scattered thunderstorms as far out as they could forecast. Some of the grass was starting to dry out and go dormant.
So last night I prayed and exhorted the Weather Gods for rain. I sent my voice in resonance along the winds. Rain! I asked for rain overnight, a third of an inch at least, please, overnight if it’s not too much to ask. The forecast said 20% chance of isolated showers. I honestly expected nothing.
Woke up at 5am to booming thunder and heavy rain. A line stretching from just north down into Iowa. It expanded and dallied over the top of us. I went out on my deck to say thanks, then showered up and went for a drive in the rain. I walked in it without an umbrella in gratitude. I drove and sang with a huge smile on my face.
Got home and checked the official amounts from the airport 5 miles from here.
Wow I’m really glad to hear that. My husband and I went to see her in 2001 I think and it made me so sad because her voice was in rough shape. She had a couple audience members join her on stage for Hit me with your best shot and they sounded better than she did.
I never even considered that it might have been just an off night. This post makes me happy
