Many Dopers are acquainted IRL, having met at Dopefests, living near one another, and so on.
I live in the same town as Horseflesh does, and have met him at two Dopefests. He visited me twice while I was in the hospital for kidney surgery, and I have seen him once at my place of employment. Okay, some months ago I had a floppy disk that “got sick”. That’s the best way I can describe it. Several so called computer people looked at it and pretty much told be the documents I had thereon were irretrievable. I could reconstruct some of the items, but it would be a long and tedious process.
I mentioned my dilemma to Horseflesh and he said he would give it a look see, so he came by my house later and picked it up. Yesterday he returned it and lo and behold, it was well! I got back over 90% of what was on the disk, and what I lost I still had decent print copies of. Yeah! And on top of that he looked at my computer and offered to come by at a later date and do a “fine tuning”, as it has been running slowly, and I have no anti-virus programs. What a friend! I offered to buy him lunch at the cafe I work at, or babysit the kids, whatever, as he has saved me a ton of reconstructive work
So what has a fellow Doper done for you that deserves a THANK YOU? I love this place!
I have to thank Horseflesh as well. I am going through a not nice or easy break up and he is being my yearlong secret Santa and writing me stories about battling rodents ( don’t ask)
In October of 2002, my dad died. I got the call at the office and came home immediately. My daughter was in school and my husband was trying to get a flight from Baltimore to Jax to drive home with me.
I come here and posted a thread - I needed to talk to someone, to organize my thoughts, to - I don’t know - to be with friends, I suppose. The outpouring I received meant more to me than I can ever say. I’d wander around the house in a haze, then come back to the thread.
The compassion and kindness from everyone who posted and sent me emails helped so much while I paced and fretted. Several Dopers especially touched me, and I feel bad that I never thanked them properly.
Then at one of the viewings, Zappo, who’s pretty much disappeared from here, came and hugged me and was there for me. It was only the second time I’d ever seen him, but he drove all that way for me.
Even now, I’m at a loss to express my gratitude to all.
Shayna and Spiny Norman have been excellent friends. Shayna’s boss wanted to buy her and her friends dinner, and she invited me to go along to a very nice restaurant in Redondo Beach. I was also invited to see Roger Daltry in My Fair Lady at the Hollywood Bowl. Excellent evening!
Spiny Norman and Coldfire went motorcycling with me in the canyons around Malibu.
Quasimodem offered support after I posted about losing my job. Turbo Dog encouraged me to apply for positions that at first glance I would consider myself not qualified for. (I’m still looking for work, BTW. Man, I don’t like being unemployed!)
Rico, cadolphin, Rick, Scout1222, Shayna, Spiny Norman**, and former Doper Melin (did I forget anyone?) came to my Final Supper at Ye Olde King’s Head before I moved up here to Washington.
Nymysys and her husband Dave have kept me company here, and have endured sitting through some of the films I’ve worked on.
Scotticher has been sweet, in spite of her troubles.
And I’ve enjoyed conversations with many, many others in these forums!
Just reading the posts at the SDMB has saved me from many a long day of boredom at work.
In “Real Life”
Recently Thylacine spent over 10 hours with me at the Royal Childrens Hospital when Anne-Marie was sick. Thylacine even went into the room with Annie when she had her lumbar puncture as I simply couldn’t handle it. The entire experience was a nightmare and I cannot express fully how much it meant to me to have someone there who was calm and positive.
So many people have done nice things for me that I can’t even count it. The most recent and long term impact one is that Jadis taught me how to crochet this summer, and it’s triggered a real love/lust for the craft, got me into knitting, and has turned into a passion. Not many people will take the time to do such a thing, but she did. I appreciate that a lot.
If anyone is interested in my work, by the way, I have an LJ for it. Feel free to gush
Well, the most obvious is Airman Doors who fathered my child and married me.
In second place is Zappo who has allowed us to trash his house (twice) giving Dopefests.
In close third are various MADs and Texas Dopers, past, present, future, and soon-to-be past for general friendship, hand-holding and related services.
I can’t forget the #straightdope people at all, either. (Thanks to brianjedi for the book!)
And, of course, all the Dopers who have held my hand, offered encouragement, and made me laugh. [sub]Note to self: Don’t read Pit threads in the library. You sound like a water buffalo giving birth. :D[/sub]
I have a lot of pals via the SDMB boards and they each do something for me on a regular basis. My list, if I were to post it, would be long, and they know who they are. Right now, I am singling out Horseflesh because recently, I’ve shared some things that he has a unique veiw on. His advice on these personal matters have really kept me going and it’s very hard for me to share some of the things I have but honestly, all my friends here are wonderful, and I know I can count on them in the future to keep me going, as well.
I enjoy being here on the boards and reading everyone’s posts. I comment far too much but my pals like me anyway…
Back at the end of 2002 I got about three pages of unanimous support in a Pit thread I started about my horrible, horrible breakup. I think it was the longest-running NICE Pit thread I’ve ever seen.
MADs have helped Dave (three times) and I (once) move. This summer, Lucretia and **Bluesman, av8rmike, Tranquilis, Zappo ** - who am I forgetting - Hamadryad - helped us immeasurably. We could not have done it without them.
Oxymoron put us up during NYDope last year, and this year, his SO gave us the use of his apartment for the weekend. Lovely!
This past summer, I drove home to visit my family after a year. I stayed the night with Jessity in Ohio, Tiburon in Illinois, Elenfair and lno in Minnesota, and on the way back through with Kyla and bristlesage as well as all of the above (except Tiburon). While I was home to visit, Canadian Sue had my husband and I over for dinner, and lolagranola came over as well.
Sinshine, I have known for about 15 years, and she has been one of the most wonderful constants in my life. I stayed with her the week prior to my wedding, when I had to be in Vancouver for my Fiancee visa interview.
Hamadryad: where to begin. When I moved here and fell into a pit of despair (northern Maryland), Hama kept me sane, she kept me laughing. I owe her so much for that.
Last, but my no means least, is my husband, Weirddave. There are no words to describe what he’s done for me.
I need to thank mostly aesiron, but also several others from chat who finally convinced me to get enough balls to ask out this cute girl. I didn’t really get the answer I was looking for (but at the same time, didn’t fall flat on my face as I was expecting.) But perhaps now I will start to get more cinfidence in these sorts of things.
Wow, I don’t know what to say. It’s just my nature, especially when it comes to computers. The IT guy in me can’t stand to know there’s sick or naughty computers out there that a little bit of love or a whole lot of hammering would fix.
I also try to help my friends out any way I can. That’s what friends do, which I learned that a long time ago. I care about all my Dope friends and any that are in trouble or hurt I am concerned about.
Baker, lulu, and Sanguine, you have my humble . Baker I hope you fully recover from your surgery, and I can again stop by the cafe to enjoy your wondrous foodstuffs. I look forward to dropping by again and wasting several hours talking about our favorite authors. luluBahrain, you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. Together we shall defeat the Rise of the Rodents, and sing songs of victory over their tiny, twisted, smoking bodies. Sanguine, you hang in there. I’ve learned from my mistakes, I intend to pass that on to anyone who is in the same situation.
And thanks to all my Doper friends who have informed me, enlightened me, and made me laugh. You guys are the best.
:rolleyes: That should be, “Baker, lulu, Sanguine, you have my humble thanks. Or welcome. Or…well, you know what I mean.” Must be the wine getting to me.
Where to start? Baker, SanguineSpider, EddyTeddyFreddy, BellaDellaItalia and FairyChatMom are the fine women that keep me coming back to this board, and for that they deserve my sincere thanks! I don’t post as often as I used to, but I always read their contributions to the board. If not for the likes of them, I would have been gone long ago.
I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately, and aesiron has been more than patient when dealing with me and has managed to cheer me up. I hardly even know the guy, but I already think he’s a wonderful person.
