Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Friday's chat 11/3/06

I figure since it's a minute to Friday, I can go ahead and tell the horribly funny encounter I just went through that broke in my weekend...

To cut to the chase, I moved into my new condo a few days ago, and it rocks. I might elaborate later, but for now...

I found out tonight that my neighbors across the strip have a dog. A really mean sounding one when it barks.

So I stepped outside to walk to the main complex to use their computer because I don't have internet yet. (Yeah, that sucks). Anyway, the dog started barking, like I was some crazed intruder.

Is it inside, is it outside, will the neighbor let it loose?

I ran. What was I thinking. In my attempt to get *back* inside my condo, I fell twice, pulled out one of my soccer injuries, and then just limped up the stairs. I think by that time I knew the dog wasn't going anywhere. :p

Nonetheless I grabbed my car keys and drove.

I drove across the parking lot to get to the computer.

You can laugh. I am.
Learning experience? I better not get chased by anything real in life. There's no hope.


How's everyone's weekend shaping up?
Jen
-who wonders if she misses the roaches-

Yikes! Reminds me of that thing that happened to me when I was a kid. My parents lived (still do actually) in a residential area. Small curvy streets with nice houses on both sides. Since only people who live there drove around, children were very often playing out on the street. So was I. Plus there was a big park on one side of that area, so kids spent most of their summer afternoons there.

Anyway, one evening, I was walking home and I passed by a house where I knew there was a rather mean dog. It was one of those small-ish white dogs full of hair, with really mean-looking teeth and a horrible barking sound. I knew he'd already bit some people in the neighbourhood, so I didn't like him at all.

I passed by the house, and the gates were open. Darn. The dog was out. Barking. At me. I ran. I ran SO fast, so very fast. Of course, the dog, seeing me running for my life, ran after me. Dogs feel it when you're scared of them. One of my neighbours was in his garden, and he was laughing his head off when I got into my parents' garden. Grumble grumble.

Anyway! Weekend's looking good here. Sure, it's the end of my mid-term break, but tonight I'm going to a party to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday, so it should be fun.

Hope everyone else is having a good time!

Kae (who hopes she's back online for good now that the first part of the schoolyear is over and done with! - yes, yes, that includes writing fanfic... eventually)

Well, this is a blatant 'poor me' post. Why? Because it looks like I'm facing a weekend of pain.

Last night (why do these things always happen at night?) a tooth that's waiting to have a crown fitted suddenly decided to erupt into deep, throbbing pain. So, this morning, I phone my dentist. The nice receptionist says he doesn't work on Fridays.

Okay. Deep breath. I began ringing around all the dentists in the area, and finally found a private practice that would see me. He was very pleasant and helpful, but obviously couldn't do much because this was an emergency appointment, he had other patients waiting, and I'm someone else's patient.

The good news is that he gave me some antibiotics (my first ever!) and said they'd help with any infection that's causing the pain. The bad news is that they take 24-48 hours to start working.

So wish me luck trying to get to sleep tonight, and tomorrow night, and trying to concentrate at choir rehearsal this evening, and trying to enjoy the theatre with my friends tomorrow evening, and being sociable with my sister and family on Sunday...

Yvonne

It doesn't even have to be that. Dogs are predators. It's pure instinct and reflex with them to chase something that runs from them, just like their prey does in the wild.

As for your neighbour laughing - know what I'd have done to the git. Stupid

Why is it people find someone being afraid of something amusing? It's like if you're afraid of spiders and you ask someone to get rid of one for you. Almost without fail their response will be, "That? It's tiny?" Yeah, well, gee, that makes me feel so much better. Everyone's afraid of something and they wouldn't like someone laughing at them if they show fear at their phobia. I usually make a point of finding out what someone who says that is afraid of then do the same to them next time they exhibit it. "Come on! For pity's sake, it's only 20 flights up. Geez!"

I'm not generally afraid of strange dogs, although being wary of some is no bad thing. And it's certainly no fun being confronted by one if you are a little anxious about them.

I was once walking home from school through some woods when two dogs came ambling towards me. I have no idea why the larger of them attacked - perhaps the other dog was a bitch and in season and the attacker a male who felt threatened. Or maybe he was just a mean one.

Anyway, next thing I knew he was leaping for my throat, snarling. I somehow instinctively managed to get my schoolbag up between my chest and it and just whacked it a few times until it changed its mind and ran off.

Like I say, not scared of them - but it was still an unpleasant experience that left me shaky for a bit.

I'd have run like the blazes, too, Jen if I was scared of strange dogs. It's no laughing matter! {{{{{hugs}}}}

Oh, Yvonne, I so sympathise and know what you're going through. As you know, I had to wait five weeks for an appointment with a dental specialist to remove a troublesome tooth, lately, and the final two were hellish as it flared up again.

And then, just when I thought it was over - I got the tooth out and the specialist was marvellous. Quick and painless - I've just spent the last week and a half in more pain because of complications. (Turned out as the gum healed around the socket it exposed a little ridge of bone poking through the gum and then some infection got into the socket itself.). So was back yesterday. He had to grind down the exposed bone (still painless, I should add!) and put an antiseptic dressing on the socket. I am ecstatic to say that FINALLY!! today I woke up pain free and feeling mentally bright enough to at last get through the backlog of stuff that's been created meantime.

I was given antibiotics initially by my dentist and I have to say that they did work very fast, definitely made a dent in the pain long before 48 hours, so here's crossing my fingers that the same applies to you, Y. It's a miserable condition I wouldn't wish on anyone. {{{{{{hugs}}}}}}

I'm amazed that your own dentist apparently has no provision to fit emergency patients into their schedule. That's ludicrous! Even for the state of our NHS dentist system these days, that's pretty poor service. :p

And along with toothache always coming on at night - why does it always come on at the weekend, too, so you have to wait days to get it seen to? Is it a law of nature or something?


LabRat

You're absolutely right, Rat. At the emergency dentist's advice, I took an initial double-dose, and already, just an hour afterwards, the pain has settled back to a dull throb. Here's hoping the improvement continues.

Thanks for the hugs, and actually, I feel a bit of a wimp after hearing your story.

On dogs - I used to be a bit scared of them, having had the typical scary-dog experience as a kid, but these days, I'm pretty okay. That said, I'm not very good at petting them - I think my hesitation unsettles them and that just leads to a downward cycle of mutual mistrust.

Yvonne

A chat thread, yea! Love these. Thanks for starting it, Jen.

Ok, here's my news:

I got promoted yesterday!!!!!



This is something I have really been wanting but for various reasons had pretty much given up on. But yesterday it just fell on my head completely out of the blue. Much like one of Jen's roaches, now that I think about it.

So now I get to be a Treasury Analyst.

Now, here is something odd. My old boyfriend - high school/college sweetheart, actually - has been calling me. I don't mind talking to the guy, I am really fond of him, but there seems something off about this. I'm married, he's married (with kids). I've told MrMosley all about it, so I don't mean that I am hiding anything, but he has been calling about once a week, and that is pretty often just to catch up with an old friend. I am wondering if he has hit a patch where is just bored with life and that's why I keep hearing from him. But I don't want him to get any ideas, you know? However, that could be just my ego talking - it's possible he seriously just wants to be friends again! /me confused - advice appreciated!

My sympathies to all with problems concerning teeth, dogs and annoying neighbors.

Happy Friday everyone!!!

This Friday is a particularly excellent one because we're getting bonuses at work today that we weren't even expecting. Yippee! J.C. Penney here I come. Hee hee.

Okay, I had to laugh at this Labby, but I wasn't laughing at you... laughing with you since I HATE spiders... and I've had that exact thing said to me before to.

I can sympathize on both the dog story and the crown story. Yvonne... when I had my tooth absess the doctor told me I could alternate between Tylenol and Ibruprofen to cut the pain. So I took Tylenol once an hour and on the alternating hours I took Ibruprofen... until I could get in to see him. That had to be one of the worse days I've ever had. The pain was so intense it made me sick at my stomach. So I totally empathize with you. Hope you feel better soon.

And as many times as people tell me that you shouldn't run from a dog... tell me... if you were walking up to someone's porch and a dog lunged out of a doghouse on the porch (that you thought was empty) and came running at you (almost at eye level) barking and snapping... wouldn't you run? I streaked out of the yard like a bolt of lighting. I managed to outrun the dog, and not get bit, but it scared the heck out of me. I'm very wary of doghouses that I can't see inside now... Oh, and I love dogs too, been around them my whole life and have two of my own... but still...

What a fun topic! Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

Congrats Mrs. Mosley on the promotion! Yeah!

My sympathies, hugs and prayers to you, Yvonne! Hoping the pain isn't there for you this weekend!

My only dog story for the weekend is that I'm dog-sitting again. Apparently moving back home after a divorce so my family could "take care of me" really meant that I would be a handy dog-sitter for my dad who apparently travels every other weekend!!

But on the plus side, Dad did give me and my sister free tickets to see Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Saturday night. We're going to make a whole night of it: get dressed up (Maybe even wear a dress!! <g>), go out to an expensive restaurant, etc. I'm very looking forward to it, as I haven't had a real chance to reconnect with my sister since I moved.

Plus I get to rake leaves for the first time (on my own property)--just went out and bought me a blower/vac. Tried it out last night and had great fun! I'm amazed at how enjoyable yard work can be when it's all my own! But then again, this move and this house is having strange effects on me as I caught my self dancing crazily for no apparent reason last night! I'm such a dork!

Julie

Hey! Just wanted to wish everyone a nice Friday - and a good start to the week-end.

I hope all you guys with tooth issues or dog things or neighbors and what not aren't going to be too bothered today... Things can only get better - or so I like to tell myself.

You guys with cool new promotions and bonuses and fun stuff: *enjoy it*!

As for myself... ah... looks like it's going to be a long day. *yikes* I got my new glasses last night (*happy dance*) but after having them on my nose barely an hour now, I've got a headache from hell already. I was expecting it, but I didn't think it would come so soon. I don't know how I'm going to survive a day in front of a computer... For once in my life I wish my job did not include staring at a screen.

I'm *really* looking forward to our "it's Friday and we're having bbq chicken" supper -- it usually comes with an episode of a series we both like (we always save something cool to watch). Tonight I get the season premiere of Stargate SG1 and I am very excited about that!!

Daily builds are ready, so I need to get my butt in gear and do some actual work. Y'all have a great day!

Well, so far, today's shaping up pretty good for me. It's Bagel Friday at work--every other week, on Time Sheet Turn-in Friday, the bosses spring for bagels and cream cheese, so I get to sleep in an extra 15 minutes since I don't have to eat breakfast at home before I leave.

It's a bummer about the dog and teeth issues going on this weekend--makes me realize just how lucky I am that I've never had so much as a cavity, much less a horrible toothache.

Today's gonna be a slow day at work, I can tell--most of my projects are "on hold" or awaiting word from the bosses about what they want to do about them.

Oh, I wouldn't, Y! It's a truly miserable experience, no matter what level it's at or how long you suffer it. It's funny though, isn't it, how we try to force perspective on ourselves at times like this? Through all the weeks of pain I was suffering, the sleepless nights, the wandering around like a zombie (I really do NOT do well if I don't get my sleep <G>), not getting things done (my damn bathroom has been half-painted for three weeks now ), chewing lukewarm food (urgh)...I kept feeling guilty about whining about it because 'there are people suffering far worse than this in the world, for pity's sake!' Yet, we really shouldn't be that hard on ourselves, should we?

Absolutely! I think that's as an instinctive, reflexive action as the dog chasing!

Haven't had time to fully read the rest of these posts - but will do later this afternoon.

LabRat

Ooh, where to start?

• Dogs. I hate dogs. I'm not afraid of them, honestly; I just really, really don't like them. Maybe I got scared by a dog jumping up at me as a kid; I don't know. And I know exactly what you all mean about people thinking it's ridiculous when you back away from a dog that's sniffing all around you and jumping up at you. The number of times I've heard "He only wants to be friendly!" Well, I bloody well don't want to be friendly to it! Yesterday I went out to get the post and the huge, uncontrollable dog from across the road ran over to me. Now, this dog is referred to by some of our neighbours as the 'village idiot'. It's not trained and completely ignores its owners. Normally, I avoid going outside if I see this dog around anywhere, but yesterday it appeared while I was already out. So, of course, I got dirty paws and dog-slobber all over my coat, as well as a huge, horrible dog throwing itself at me while I try to back away. Owner shouts for dog to come away. Dog finally gets bored about three minutes later.
  .
• Toothache - oh, Yvonne and Rat, you so have my sympathy! Been there, know how it feels. Eighteen months ago, I was out in our back garden laying out hoses to water the grass - I was walking down stone steps to get to the lower area, and tripped. Fell forward, flung out my arm to break my fall and then just lay there in agony for a couple of minutes. Got up, couldn't use my right arm, and I was spitting blood from my mouth. I have no idea how I managed to get myself back to the house, and I was very lucky that my husband arrived home ten minutes later. He took one look at me and went pale. My mouth was all bloody, my face scratched and bleeding, and one of my front teeth was half-missing. Literally half. The tooth itself was bleeding badly. My arm, as it turned out, was broken at the elbow, but the hospital could do nothing with the tooth. I had to wait until the following morning to see an emergency dentist, who actually did a fantastic repair on the tooth - supposedly temporary, but I still have it. I love codeine. The hospital gave me Tylenol 3 (30mg codeine on prescription) for my arm, but it numbed the tooth as well. The dentist couldn't understand why I wasn't climbing the walls in agony, until I told him about the codeine.

In the UK, by the way, guys, you can get Syndol over the counter - that has 10mg of codeine and that really helped with a painful tooth I eventually had root canal work on.

My biggest irritant this Friday? Dealing with recalcitrant authors in a ficathon I've co-organised in my other fandoms. It sounds easy: people volunteer to write stories, you assign them prompts suggested by other people and you give them at least a month (in this case, two months) to write the story. Stories were due on 31st October. Some people asked for a week's extension: fine. Others made no contact at all. I spent an hour last night writing to those authors, and now I'm getting excuses like 'I forgot', or 'I never got the assignment' - with that last one, I'm wanting to yell and ask why on earth she never told us that she didn't get it?

*makes self calm down*

Hope all the tooth-pain goes away soon!

Wendy

There is just no excuse for that. I mean, you know Stuart and I dote on Homer. It's a good thing he's so eager to please and generally good-natured because he's thoroughly ruined. But I don't expect the world to love him. (Homer expects the world to love him and looks baffled when someone walks past him in the street without even saying hello, but that's his problem. <g>)

I'm always careful when we pass someone to keep him to heel and make sure he doesn't jump up if they do stop to talk to him. Muddy paws, if nothing else! The other evening we were out and a man and a young boy were coming down the path towards us. Just ahead of us another man had a fairly large husky, which was obviously still a pup. Off the lead, of course. As they passed the boy, this dog just lunged at him and the owner just yanked it back and wandered on. Not even an apology. And then the man with the boy glowered at us on the way past! Can't blame him for being annoyed though. I'd have been, too. The kid got a heck of a fright. This was a big, boisterous animal.

You and your neighbours should start sending them dry cleaning bills, W. See how they take to that!

Lara - you poor thing! Here's hoping you get used to those new glasses soon and that headache eases up. I had a really bizarre reaction to my last pair of new glasses. Put them on and the entire world was sloping to the left. It was like San Francisco. After a couple of days it all went right again. Pretty strange though, at the time. And it was really hard to walk in a straight line for a spell.

LabRat

Anyone want to help me move this weekend?

malu

I would, if I were anywhere close. I'm interminably nosy about other people's houses. I'm a sucker for all those 'let's help rich people move into mansions' TV shows. I just turn the sound off and look at the houses.

LabRat

LOL! My last pair was awful - when I first put them on, I couldn't look down when I walked, it was like the floor was several feet higher than it used to be. I was so confused and miserable... These aren't so bad, fortunately, the prescription isn't that far off from the last ones. And my headache seems to have gone, thank God!

I'm just a little p.o.'ed cause even though I stopped to see people instead of e-mailing them as I usually do - I wanted them to see how dashing I look today (right!) - no one's noticed the change!! For crying out loud, people, the old frames were a boring shade of... well, chrome. These are *red*. Bright Red. (I'd say "Superman red" but somehow I think someone might come out and bonk me on the head if I say that...) Oh, they noticed the fact I'm wearing a Daily Planet t-shirt, though. Kind of makes me wonder if anyone I talk to actually looks at my face when they do...

*sigh*

Going to spend a nice (sic) afternoon working on my Linux box... (where's the little pucking smily when I need him?) If I don't come back, just assume testing on that thing really killed me this time.

I'd just like to say that Dr Wendy's pain prescription is the best. She told me about Syndol at 3.45pm this afternoon, I went out and bought some immediately, and by 4.30pm was completely pain-free. Not only that, but it's lasted until now - 10.35pm. That's 6 pain-free hours, courtesy of Dr Wendy.

Yvonne

You can get codeine without a prescription in the UK?!?

Labby, looks like you have the Smiley Xtra 4 extension too. Isn't it FUN?


My week was quiet. Until late Wednesday, when I found out that the training I didn't get over the summer is now happening after all, and must be before Dec. 1.


I have tickets to NY, leaving just over a week from now. Wheeeee!

I would so much rather have been there when it was hot than now, when it will be cold and quite likely rainy.

Yes, and in Ireland and in Canada. Probably lots of other places, too. Just as well - I couldn't manage without it at certain times


Wendy

Yeah, quick and easy to use. The only thing not fun about it is having to click on each smiley and then preview the post before you can tell what it is! That can be deeply irksome. <g>

Syndol - I'm going to have to make note of that for future reference. Thanks for the tip, Wendy.

LabRat

Ah, Mrs. Mosley, you're a better person than I am. I am certainly NOT someone to give advice for this topic! However, I'll use this forum as my confessional.

For ten months, a co-worker and I have been flirting with each other. We're both married with kids and neither of us would ever cheat on our spouses, but I suspect that if either of our spouses saw a video tape of how we act towards each other, the divorce papers would be drawn up, which neither of us wants. Nothing has ever crossed any line, and most of it isn't anything more than just casual comments ("Morning, Gorgeous!" "You look smokin' hot today.") But there is definitely a sexual charge between the two of us. Still, it's like "Moonlighting." Sexual tension and banter that would completely fizzle if anything ever came of it (which it WON'T). Are we bored, both of us having been with the same person since high school (about 17 years)? Maybe. Is it an emotional release for us while working in a stressful job? Absolutely! Do I feel guilty about my behavior? I just typed "not at all", but then deleted it. Now I'm stuck on "hmmmm..." A chorus from a Panic! At the Disco song is stuck in my head:

Keep quiet
Nothing comes as easy as you
Can I lay in your bed all day?
I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake
The hand behind this pen relives a failure every day

Well, at least it's the weekend. I can indulge my spouse in the kind of treatment that my flirt-mate will never receive. Then I'll go back to work on Monday and see how long I can hold my tongue before the cycle starts over again.

Come on people, confess with me. I can't possibly be the only one out here that has done this.

There's a couple ways to do it that are easier.

Right-click on the smiley in the list and select the option to preview it. It'll open in a tab and you can view it.

Or... get the updated version of the plugin - it'll show you the smiley in the sidebar as soon as you select it in the list. ( get it from here )

Gadfries, Yvonne, didn't they give you anything for pain? I thought it was standard to hand out the strong stuff for tooth pain. In the states, folks usually get something with oxycodone (Vicodin, Percoset, etc.) or something with codeine.
~~

Exactly, LabRat. That's why it's very important for people to teach kids to never run from a dog.

Wow, LabRat. It's amazing that you like dogs now. I'm glad you do!

I hate spiders, too. I'm glad I never came close to a tarantula when I lived in Puerto Rico. I would have totally lost it. Those three inch or so roaches were more than enough for me (and yes, I'm serious about the three inches. If I remember correctly that's about 8 centimeters. Yuck!) Then there were lizards and salamanders and frogs - even purple frogs. Thank goodness those didn't bother me so much.

You were probably also nauseated from the infection, DJ. Again, I'm aghast your dentist didn't call in a prescription for pain meds. I'm pretty sure the WHO's (World Health Orgainization not the musical group) pain guidelines would say this gets narcotics! Doctors have this habit of undermedicating their patients for fear of getting them addicted to pain meds when most people don't have the addictive personalities to even become drug addicts. (I will say that I've seen even non-addictive personalities seemingly get addicted to oxycontin. There's something weird about it.)

It's wonderful to hear about promotions and bonuses. I, on the onther hand, am actively looking for a job. Now if I could just get my printer and computer to work simultaneously so I get print a resume then I'd be good. Hah!

And yeah, DJ, it is normal to want to run from a dog. Oohh.. scary. I don't think I've ever been chased by a dog. I'm glad. I have been bitten by my mother's 'evil' poodle. Mom adopted her when she was around eight, and she came from a puppy mill and had had numerous litters. She was scared to death that everybody was going to hurt her. Mom has really done wonders with her.

I love that show!!

You dance away! Isn't it fun when you can do that?

Wow, Lara, should new glasses cause a headache? Are they the right prescription?

Oh, Wendy, dogs are such marvelous companions!! I wonder if you have really given them a chance. There not all slobber mouths like the village idiot. (I've seen those, too.)

And, oh wow, I'm so sorry to hear you got hurt. Yuck. Glad it wasn't worse.

Yes, LabRat, people need to control their dogs. Even the 'untrained' ones can be taught to leave people alone.

Maybe it's true that people don't pay much attention. Several years ago, I had hair past my butt. On a dare (I was ready anyway.), I got it cut into a bi-level - one side was at the level of my ear lobe, the other was just at my shoulder. You'd think at the very least people would have noticed that, wouldn't you? It was really pretty funny because of all the comments I'd always had about my gorgeous, long, curly hair. Then about 2/3 of them didn't notice when two feet of was gone. And that's a lot of hair.

At one time, you get codeine over the counter in the States just by signing for it. It was technically cough syrup, but it was still just codeine, so if you desperately needed something, then you could get it. No more. We can't even get Sudafed (psuedoephedrine) anymore without signing for it and showing ID.

Well, Rivka, try to have fun in New York.

What's a Smiley Extra 4 extension? How do I get it? Never mind - I'll try what Lara suggested.

Oh, what a fun thread.

I had the same thing about 6 months ago. I had my hair somewhere at my waist and cut it off in layers (at the front it was really short, at my back still over my shoulders) and NOBODY noticed.. only my best friend said to me: there's something different about you.. and it took her about half an hour to figure out what.. my hair was about 20 centimeters shorter!

Hmm and about my weekend.. There's gonna be a lot of studying in it unfortunately.. i wonder why i even have time to post here.. i should be studying..

Lara - thank you! <g> I installed the new version and it worked beautifully. Yay! Which just proves, if something is bugging you, you should whine about it to FoLCs. They'll usually have a solution. <g>

I think I was born loving dogs. I'm the type of person who can't imagine not having the company of one in my life and is utterly miserable without them.

When our German Shepherd, Khan, came to the end of his life, some years back now, we had to wait two weeks before we could pick up our new puppy, Max. I swear that was the worst two weeks of my life. I just couldn't stand the silence in the house. It was sheer torture.

I remember back when I was quite a young kid, my parents decided we weren't going to have another dog. They had to change their minds because I sunk into such a deep depression without one! I can still remember how I felt when one night my brother snuck into my room and told me he'd overheard our parents discussing getting a new dog after all because they were worried about me. It was kind of like only much bigger. <g> That dog was Patch. A labrador cross who became my childhood companion and best friend for many years. Although he was the family pet, we bonded instantly, love at first sight, and he was always really mine. I took him with me when I got married and he was a real character. I still miss him.


LabRat

Ok, it's not Friday anymore, but a couple quick responses.

Yep and yep, too. I have a high degree of astigmatism, this time that's what's gotten worse, not the myopia.. and whenever they change the "roundness" in the lenses just a little bit, it's like for the first day or so I'm looking through the end of a coke bottle (a glass one!) - it's deformed a little bit. Hard to explain.... it's all good now, though and I'm a happy camper again.

Well ok, that is way too obvious for people to miss, now. Mind you, guys usually miss anything unless you tell them to notice, but girls tend to see these things. At least, in my experience.

Perhaps people still do notice, but some just don't mention it. Or they are hesitant to say anything because they think they *should* have noticed before and they'll look like idiots for waiting until now to bring it up.... Enough with the theories anyway.

Well, you know... If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have gone looking for an updated version at all.. I didn't even have this on my home machine - I have it a work, go figure! - and when I said that you should right click and pick the option, I didn't know what the option was called, so I went and downloaded the plugin to find out and give you the right name for the things, only to find out there was a nicer version of it. hehehe! So, in fact, if it hadn't been for you, I wouldn't even have known.

At least they still recognized you!

From the middle of 7th grade (I was 12) until my last year of high school, I had been growing my hair. When I was 17, it was about waist-length.

Then, April of 2001, I got it cut to a chin-length bob. I went into school the next day, and in my chorus class people were commenting on the "new student."

Although I'm not sure if I'd put my contacts in that morning or not, which could've been another reason they wouldn't recognize me--I wear my glasses EVERYWHERE, and rarely wear the contacts.

As for Friday--which was, of course, yesterday . . .

I was on my way home from work when I felt something vibrating on my right side. It turned out to be my cell phone, which was in my right coat pocket. I fished it out, only to see that I'd missed the call from my friend Jason, who I've known for about a decade from church.

So, I called him back, and he said he was getting together with a few friends to watch a movie or something, and did I want to go. I hadn't had a night out for ANYTHING in ages, so I readily agreed. I told him I'd check movie times and such while he called one of our other friends, and then he'd call me back.

I got home, then he called me back to say we were meeting at one of the local buildings of our church at 6pm, which was about a half an hour away from the time that it was. So, I told him I'd see him there, and started on my way.

He showed up later than 6pm, but that was ok. We decided to go to the $3, which shows movies that have been out of the first-run theaters for a while, and saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. I'd never seen it before, and I liked it, especially the water wheel, and how EVERYBODY stopped what they were doing EVERY time that it went by.

After the movie, we all decided that it wasn't enough movie for us, so we stopped at a McDonald's and went to my house to watch She's the Man with my family's screen and projector.

By then, it was about midnight, so everybody else went home, and I stayed up for a little while longer to read some more of The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey (for the third time in my life) before going to sleep.

All in all, it was a pretty great Friday. Work wasn't as slow as I thought it would be, but it was still a little bit.

Today, I'm being industrious. I actually did the research I'd wanted to do before the election on Tuesday, so now I can honestly say that I'll be making an informed decision. I've done my Dutch class homework, and prepared for church tomorrow.

Now, I just have to take a shower and go out to fill up the gas tank in my Bug, so that I'll have enough gas for next week, then I can record as many audio fics, read as many fanfics or chapters in the book, play my guitar, or write as many chapters of fanfic as I want.

I should probably fold and put away my laundry too . . . although I don't HAVE to. I could do it tomorrow . . .

Can you tell I'm a procrastinator?

Hah!!
I've been putting off DOING laundry for umpteen days now. I am trying to make it to next Friday when my roommate's parents come to visit...they are donating a washer/dryer to us (yay), but I don't think I'll make it...time to scrounge up the change for a two dollars a load!

I need to type less til I get the internet Tuesday...I'm freezing my butt off on the porch while I steal my neighbors' wireless. <g> I'm bundled up in my granny's afghan and my hoodie while I listen to my arch nemesis bark at passers-by. I think I've finally determined he's not getting out of his home, so I started parking in front of my building again.

Jen

The best advice I ever got about laundry was from my mother-in-law. She said, don't stand there ironing an entire wash for hours. Just put clean washing away un-ironed and iron things individually as you bring them out and use them.

Makes sense when you think about it; why iron everything in bulk just for it to sit on a shelf behind closed doors when you can just fold it and iron when and if?

Saved me endlessly boring hours over the years that did. Course, might help that I used to loathe ironing with a vengeance and would have welcomed any excuse not to do it...


LabRat

That advice would be helpful--if I actually ironed anything, that is.

Me, I just take it out of the dryer, and let it sit for a week or more in the basket, taking out each piece of clothing as I want to wear it.

I usually end up folding/putting away the laundry (never ironing--even though some of my clothes probably should be ironed) on Sunday afternoons, right before I wash the dirty clothes. 'Cause I only have the one basket, and carrying the dirty clothes downstairs without the basket is tedious.

Exactly. Ironing is against my religion.

Rivka, you're a hoot!

Why do people always laugh when I say that? It's a very important tenet of, um . . .

. . . thereligionwhichhasnotyetbeennamed.

It is, in fact, the main tenet. It's a simple sort of religion. No rituals, and just the one rule.

Yup, that too. Which can seriously cut down on the putting-away-in-the-wardrobe time, too. Every little helps.

LabRat

My hubby does the laundry, but he refuses to put it away - mine, anyway, he does put his own away. So he dumps mine over the back of a chair in our office and three weeks out of four, I never get around to putting it away. I just pull stuff out of the stack as I need it. Why do I even bother with a closet?

LOL. I usually pile mine up on the recliner in the corner of the living room and then when it gets too tall a pile, dump it on top of the charity box in my office up here. I usually find it doesn't take too long to diminish and turn into the 'needing washed in the laundry box' category instead.

Course the only hazards to that is a/ you have to shake things vigorously before you wear in case any sneakius horribilus (aka spiders) have sneaked in meantime and b/ Homer's love of stealing socks (or my nighties for some reason) out of the pile and running off with them so you'll chase him. :rolleyes:

LabRat (who doesn't feel so much of a slob now. )

Omigosh. I do SO much laundry. Like three loads a day. If I didn't put it away, we'd be buried in it. So I do put it away, but I'm with rivka et al on the ironing. One piece at a time, and then only for special occasions. I'm talking funerals, weddings, baptisms here. If it's not a sacrament, I don't iron for it.

It made me insane when my kids were babies how many baby clothes they had (mostly given as gifts) that had to be ironed. Who's going to iron for a three-month-old? Who has TIME to iron with a three-month-old? And the minute you break down and iron that frilly little whatever, you can bet she'll mess it up in the first three minutes it's on her itty bitty body.

Recently our iron broke - a big piece of the handle cracked and fell off. I mentioned to my husband that we needed a new one. His response: "Why? You never use it anyway." I made like I was mortally offended, but the truth is, that was two months ago, and I haven't replaced the iron yet. Haven't missed it.

Caroline

LOL!!! That is so funny and so *me*! Although now that I think about it, I have been to both a wedding and a baptism in the last month and didn't iron for either one!

I have been without an iron for about 4 years now.

If something really needs to be pressed, that's what the dry cleaner is for.

Fortunately, except for the few things I have that are dry-clean-only anyway, very few things need to be pressed.

*gets shifty-eyed look* Dry cleaners? What dry cleaners?

I usually just shove it into the cold water wash with the rest of my clothes. (which is the only wash I do, and I shove EVERYTHING into one load per week)

Excellent way of doing laundry. And at 2 dollars a load, it's for sure the only way I do it!

On the topic of ironing, since everyone's hit it...I specifically shop for clothes that don't need to be ironed. I ironed once last year for a job interview. And the darn shirt wrinkled the minute I put it on anyway. That shirt no longer gets ironed.

Jen

Nowadays they make shirts that don\'t wrinkle . Sign me up, because I really have no plans to pick up an iron ever again, sacraments notwithstanding.

I didn't say that I dry-cleaned everything with a label that requested it.

I said those few items that actually REQUIRED dry cleaning. I have a few. All very dressy, and not worn very often.

Which is good, because they tend to hang out at the cleaners for weeks, until I get around to picking 'em up.

Hmmmm. I iron every week. The apartment house where I live has laundry facilities for everyone who lives there, and we own our apartments, by the way, we are not tenants. We don't pay extra for using the washing machines, dryers and other things. There are also two irons there which everyone can use, and I make use of one of them every week, as I said. I iron my pants and shirts and I mangle my sheets. However, dry cleaning is moderately expensive (or so I think anyway) so the only things I tend to have dry cleaned are my coats.

To return to the teeth and dentist business, I'm rather scared of going to the dentist myself. Fortunately my teeth are pretty good, though I have a lot of "shallow fillings" that were put there in the sixties - that's when the dentists here in Sweden put their dentist drills to any tooth which had the smallest imperfection. Anyway, I was scared of having an anaesthtic - I hate how my mouth becomes all paralysed somehow when I've had one! - so I had all those fillings from the sixties without an anaesthtic. That hurt.

Anyway, I hadn't seen a dentist for about ten years, when I started feeling twinges in my lower left jaw about a year ago. Those twinges came rarely and disappeared quickly, but they started getting more frequent, so last summer, during my long summer vacation, I decided it was finally time for me to go the dentist again. Well, I had one cavity, nothing major, and I had an anaesthetic and left the dentist's with my mouth feeling all dead and definitely looking oblique. Good thing I didn't have to go to work looking like that!

Ann

I did love the Smiley Xtra 4 extension! You could say for my posts that I love smileys and this extension turned it so easier!

Thank you rivka and Lara for the tips!

It has even a Superman smiley!!

Andreia

Ha ha ha! Glad to know I'm not the only person who shakes her clothes before wearing them... if I take it out of a drawer or a closet shelf, I always shake first.

Hee hee.

This thread has been hilarious fun to read. Wish I had been around this weekend to participate - I was out of town.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

-- MR

Yvonne, did you survive the weekend?

Hey Rivka! Yes, I did, and thank you for asking.

As the antibiotics have started to work, I've been able to cut down on the painkillers. Saturday, I woke up pain-free but started to get serious twinges by around 11am, then on Sunday I was able to go without painkillers until around 6pm, and today, it's 10pm and I've yet to take my first painkiller.

That said, weird things seem to be happening around my face. I can only imagine that the infection is sort of seeping around my face as it dies away - my eye sockets were tingling earlier, then my tongue, then the right-hand side of my face, and just a second ago, the side of my nose. It's *very* peculiar. Referred pain, perhaps? Except it's not painful - just tingly, like you might feel as an injection from the dentist begins to wear off.

Anyway, the main thing is that I'm not climbing the walls any longer and I may even dare to go to bed without taking any pills whatsoever.

Yvonne

I think that's actually a side-effect of the codeine.

It has a name, and if I remembered what it was, I could Google it.

Glad to hear you're steadily improving!

Fun reference to Superman on Gilmore Girls this evening!