I was a small, scrawny nerd in a tiny, highly rural town (just over 5000 pop, my graduating class was around 120) in south Texas who didn't like sports, drinking, hunting, or farm/ranch stuff. I was about as un-masculine as you can be without being actively feminine and in Texas that makes you fresh meat.
Add depression, an extremely visible emotional reaction to pretty much everything, a very low tolerance for pain, and extremely conservative religious parents that prohibited almost all the things most kids my age found fun and a "just don't react and they'll stop" approach to their kid being bullied (nevermind that not reacting was not easy for me, and my particular bullies were not the type to quit even when I managed), and I was basically the ideal target.
I suspect because I was bullied so much by my brothers growing up I wasn't afraid of high school.
It helped that my dad was always telling me to stand up for myself against them (usually after mom yelled at me for instigating them).
My mom was the one always saying "just don't react and they'll leave you alone" which as stated didnt work.
Dad was always saying things like "man up" or "toughen up" and generally not being helpful or sympathetic. And at the same time telling me not to fight back because two wrongs don't make a right.
my mom took that kind of doublespeak to unheard of levels. Extremely confusing to me growing up. You have my sympathies.
And my clothes, those too.
if these evacuations work in any way like the ones on this coast, if you do not pick up your kid in a reasonable amount of time, you are in no small amount of trouble.Yep... stupid people...
El Cerrito High got a bomb threat, so they were trying to evacuate the kids and bring in the police and the bomb squad...
...and of course concerned parents flocked to the school and blocked up all the roads, mussing up the whole operation.As I tell my kids, "If you're not helping, you're in the way, so leave."
So the announcement specifically said:
(1) We have evacuated your kids to another school half a mile away
(2) We cannot release them to your custody until the school day ends, so DON'T COME TO THAT SCHOOL EITHERDidn't matter. Hundreds of parents showed up at the bomb site.
weird...
And yeah, my father was no great help. "If you are in a situation so bad that you need to fight, then you'd better d**ned well kill the other guy. Because if you're not fighting for your life, then you shouldn't be fighting. Nothing you own is worth fighting over."And he was serious. If I was ever in a fight, he expected me to kill my opponent.
My dad was kind of weird.
I found this philosophy in my marital arts training as well. I largely agree. I can replace stuff. I cannot replace my life.
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WW has his final round interview today at noon. They want him to make a three minute presentation on one of three programs in the department he would be the director of, as if he were pitching it to a potential funder. He's nervous.
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I was bullied in primary school, which I think is middle school? I was a non-athletic nerdy kid, who usually had his head buried in his Gameboy. :P It was worst when my older brother joined in/guided them, which lasted right until my last year, when he moved on to secondary school (high school).
In secondary, I stood out to my business studies teacher, who picked me out to run the school tuck shop. Once I was the guy who controlled the sugar supply, the bullying ended pretty quick. I was lucky though, I have no doubt it would have continued had that not happened.
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WW has his final round interview today at noon. They want him to make a three minute presentation on one of three programs in the department he would be the director of, as if he were pitching it to a potential funder. He's nervous.
Back straight. Chin up. WW, you can do this.
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I found this philosophy in my marital arts training as well. I largely agree. I can replace stuff. I cannot replace my life.
And yeah, my father was no great help. "If you are in a situation so bad that you need to fight, then you'd better d**ned well kill the other guy. Because if you're not fighting for your life, then you shouldn't be fighting. Nothing you own is worth fighting over."And he was serious. If I was ever in a fight, he expected me to kill my opponent.
My dad was kind of weird.
Did you mean 'martial' rather than 'marital'?
Oh. No, you didn't. I see.
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In other news:
Dear madam,
I am not sure why you came into work today wearing wet-look leather leggings, but zounds, I'm glad that you did.
And he was serious. If I was ever in a fight, he expected me to kill my opponent.
My dad was kind of weird.
Before I was even old enough to drive, my dad once told me that if I'm driving and I see police lights coming up behind me, I should either pull over right away or make sure I could outrun them.
In other news:
Dear madam,
I am not sure why you came into work today wearing wet-look leather leggings, but zounds, I'm glad that you did.
Hnnnnnngggggggg
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In other news. It’s finals week and I only have 1 left! Sadly it is at 8am tomorrow and I am praying that my alarms actually wake me up because I will have to catch the 1st bus to get to campus just in time.
Yes, I’m 32 and in college. I went for a year back when I just got out of high school but had to drop out because of life. Now I’m trying again because it’s getting to the point where you need a Bachelor’s degree to even get a minimum wage job where I live. It took jumping through hoops and knowing the system but I am managing to get the state to foot the bill.
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TIL there are approximately five ways to spell "Gatsby."
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TIL there are approximately five ways to spell "Gatsby."
I know we disagree on most things, but there are times I am in awe of your patience.
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Sometimes you hear something from your upper management that makes you realize they actually understand a few things:
"A customer won't spend 2 minutes checking your documentation, but they'll spend 5 minutes writing a bad review of your product."
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TIL there are approximately five ways to spell "Gatsby."
Now I want to find a savvy baker in your town to make a Gatsby Cake Wreck and have it sent to your class.
In other news:
Dear madam,
I am not sure why you came into work today wearing wet-look leather leggings, but zounds, I'm glad that you did.
It would be answer if it was that kind of work.
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TIL there are approximately five ways to spell "Gatsby."I know we disagree on most things, but there are times I am in awe of your patience.
What's to be impatient about?
Hi, everyone!
Three of the four fluorescent lights in the garage office are close to burning out. I put in a work order. Let's see just how long it takes for them to be replaced. I'm betting at least a month.
Which only means that 3 of 4 are flickering incessantly, leading to a headache, possibly even an ocular migraine.
I have a headache right now, but it's neck/shoulder related.
Are the cameras operational? Do they actually record?
"I don't know! Some kid with a BB gun came flying through on a bike and shot out all the lights!"
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After dealing with our buzzing, flickering kitchen lights once too often, I replaced them all with LED strips.
A decision I will never regret.
And speaking of electricity, the solar people just called: PG&E finally agreed to come out on the 8th, so I should be running on solar by the 9th!
Fingers crossed, and woo hoo!
Are the cameras operational? Do they actually record?
"I don't know! Some kid with a BB gun came flying through on a bike and shot out all the lights!"
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TIL there are approximately five ways to spell "Gatsby."
Well, I found out today that around 80% of 17-21 year olds spell 'Hampstead Heath' as variations on 'Hamster Death'.
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Geez, I'm worried about my solar company.
They're a tiny little private outfit, competing against all the "big box" solar places around here. And they're amazing. The site manager calls me every time he gets an update so I know as much as he does. And he's been working his butt off to get PG&E to behave themselves and come out.
And the last two times he's done work, he's asked, "Uh, if it's possible, can you give us a check the moment the inspector signs off on it? We have payroll coming up and..."
I'm worried that they're close to bankruptcy, and it makes me sad because they're really nice people who do really good work.
But in a modern age of big box stores and "price is everything", that doesn't seem to be enough to keep a company afloat any more.
Ah, well, at least they got MY business...
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Good luck WW!
If anything happens with the lights, I call building maintenance, who charges us $70, then fixes it on the day itself. The only problems I've encountered was something with our own contact points which we need to get the contractor to fix and an inappropriately installed halogen bulb which hung out of the socket, which building management was happy to redo the installation (since they screwed it up in the first place).
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How muddy, wet, and cold was it today?
So muddy, wet, and cold that at lunchtime I went up to the Target two miles from our jobsite and bought new pants, shoes and socks, and by the time I got off work at 2:30 you couldn't even tell.
Heavy duty wash it is!
On the plus side, tomorrow is supposed to be 61 and sunny, so *yay*
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How muddy, wet, and cold was it today?
So muddy, wet, and cold that at lunchtime I went up to the Target two miles from our jobsite and bought new pants, shoes and socks, and by the time I got off work at 2:30 you couldn't even tell.
Heavy duty wash it is!
On the plus side, tomorrow is supposed to be 61 and sunny, so *yay*
It's barely May yet and we've been almost 4 weeks without rain, so our uphill neighbor is dutifully flooding our yard.
It DOES get really frustrating to be working on emptying your back shed and having to wade through mud...
...during a drought!
(OK, we're not in a drought this year (yet), but I don't expect to see another drop of rain before September, so having the back side of my back yard be suitable for growing rice is... irritating.)
Time to check out the pair of pillows I bought today, one larger and one smaller.
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NH has drought. We have flooding.
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I would sell you all for one week without rain.
And a cheeseburger.
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My Mom just passed away before 7 PM est today.
I am so very very sorry. My deepest condolences.
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My Mom just passed away before 7 PM est today.
I know what it's like. A sense of relief that it's over, combined with the grief that she's gone, combined with the guilt over feeling some relief.
Take it slow. Take it easy. Feel free to vent. We're here for you. Some of us have been through it a couple of times and know what it's like.
Grieve in your own way, and don't let anyone tell you it's wrong.
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Sorry man, my condolences!
Please accept Freehold's credit card number in lieu of flowers.
I’m sorry Sharoth.
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Sharoth, John mentioned the news on DaWtL. I'm so, so, sorry, my friend.
We understand both the struggle and the end of that struggle.
You and your family are loved and prayed for.
I'm so sorry for you loss Sharoth, take it easy.
I'm so sorry, Sharoth. Big hugs, prayers, if you lived closer I'd bring cookies. Other than that, if you put what NH, Cap, and Tac all said and put it in a blender, poured it into a frosted glass and added a measure of rum, well... yeah.
I'm not good at grief.
I do anger interspersed with snot-crying and getting really maudlin over photos and memories, and then I go bake something.
My Mom just passed away before 7 PM est today.
So sorry to hear this, Sharoth. Please accept my condolences and well wishes for you and the rest of your family.
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I have three pairs of shoes completely encased in mud and rock silt, including the pair I bought on lunch break.
Leaving me with one pair of shoes that aren't.
Which is the first time in my life I've had more than one pair of shoes.
Stupid g$~*$%n f+%#ing rain.
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Boss in the winter: I'm scheduling all the wall and paver edging jobs in the spring because you can work in the rain
Co-worker: Sounds great to me!
Captain Yesterday (seeing all of those curves and realizes he's the one that's going to be cutting them): D'oh!