Dear So and So

[Catrin]

Catrin, are you doing OK?
I've never heard you say you're depressed before...

Yes I am, just dealing with the consequences of some choices I made that have come to a head. I used to have major problems with depression but not for a long time - and I know myself well enough to know this is "just" situational. Bike endorphins and sunshine will help. The details don't matter, but it helps to have a place where I can acknowledge it and keep moving forward as I do what I need to do. Amazing what a difference that makes.

[OakLeaf]

((((((Catrin)))))) Hang in there, hope you get some good bike time soon.

[indigoiis]

Catrin, I feel for ya. Bike time will definitely help. And thanks for the suggestions!

I started using simplynoise.com yesterday after I posted that... and man, as dubious as I was, it really helps. I also moved my monitor to a different part of my desk so now I am facing the cube wall where cubemate is on the other side. I put a mirror above my monitor so that I can see people enter my cube. I hope it works. It seems to be working a little so far.

She swears a lot too. Loudly. That, I still hear.

But I feel kind of badly because I think she really does have Tourette's.

I wish she would get a bike. It would probably help her.

[alexis_the_tiny]

(((((Catrin))))) Feel better soon. Depressed is a sucky place to be in.

Indigoiis, that burping? Sounds like my parents on a bad day. They both have GERD and a bad day goes like "Urp. Excuse me. Urp. Urp. URRRRP. Urp. Urp" with the occasional dry heaving thrown in. Oh and the hiccups too. It happens so much I've gotten used to it. But yes, definitely noise-cancelling earphones help. I believe somewhere out there exists these ear plugs with white noise, those might be helpful too. And discreet.

[Owlie]

(((Catrin)))

[emily_in_nc]

Dear 61% of the voters in my state:
You suck. You really suck. I've never been this ashamed of where I live. Blergh.

Ridiculous, isn't it? Still, I was very proud to see that Orange County voted NO by 79% to 21%. And the entire Triangle (Wake, Durham, Orange, and Chatham) voted NO. Since I'll be returning to that area before too long (I hope), I'm proud to inhabit a tiny bastion of sensibility in a sea of ignorance and fear.

Hope your family issues are behind you soon. You have really had more than your share to bear in that department!

Where are you moving, if you are willing to say? PM me if you like!

[SadieKate]

Dear 61% of the voters in my state:

You suck. You really suck. I've never been this ashamed of where I live. Blergh.

Dear Blue - I'm very glad to know you're part of the 39% who understood the widespread ramifications. Hang in there with the BIL.

~SK

[Veronica]

Dear Coworker;

Do you really think you have been "given" a "bad" group of kids for the last four years? Seriously, I am tired of hearing that I have all "the kids who care", "all the supportive parents", "all the kids who can think". And that it's been this way for four years now.

Maybe it's not the kids. Whenever I tell you about something cool going on in my class, you say, "Oh, my kids couldn't do that." Have you tried? Yeah, we talked about Pythogorean Theorem in class the other day. Most of the kids didn't get the formula, but they loved seeing it work when they drew out right angles with sides of 3 and 4 and 6 and 8. So what if it's a 7th grade standard. It's your job to teach them to think. That means pushing them out of their comfort zone.

When we meet to divide out classes for next year, you better voice your concerns. You're the one who thinks things have been done unfairly in the past. Although I took two of your "bad" kids from last year and have turned them around and you have repeatedly said some of my students would drive you batty!

Veronica

[Crankin]

Oy.
I hear my own voice from year's past.

[indysteel]

Dear in-laws, when you call and no one answers, please just leave a message and your son when call back at his earliest convenience. Do not keep calling back at half hour intervals. The fact that you leave a message that merely states you will be calling back in a half hour is annoying. It's even more annoying that you leave a message stating the same thing with each call. I know you may find this difficult to hear, but he/we sometimes have other things to do than chat on the phone with you. You two need a hobby.

[limewave]

Dear in-laws, when you call and no one answers, please just leave a message and your son when call back at his earliest convenience. Do not keep calling back at half hour intervals. The fact that you leave a message that merely states you will be calling back in a half hour is annoying. It's even more annoying that you leave a message stating the same thing with each call. I know you may find this difficult to hear, but he/we sometimes have other things to do than chat on the phone with you. You two need a hobby.

That is annoying . . . along the same lines:

Dear Inlaws,
Do you really have to call every day the second DH walks through the door? You guys work together all day long, can't the work take a break for 60 minutes so DH can have a chance to see his kids for a few minutes before they go to bed? I know its difficult to believe, but "the business" will not fall apart if you wait an hour to call. Sheesh.

Dear DH,
Is it that hard to tell your dad you'll call him back after the kids are in bed? That's all I'm asking. The kids are only conscious for a handful of minutes by the time you get home (if you even get home before their bedtime). Can't you spend that precious time with them? It's really not that much to ask and it means the world to them.

~Limewave

[lph]

Dear DH,
Is it that hard to tell your dad you'll call him back after the kids are in bed? That's all I'm asking.

Oh, that sounds familiar... My always-helpful, always-polite dh is forever coming home late even if we've arranged a set time "because he met x in the door" or "got a phone call as he was leaving". I have never understood why it is so hard to just say "Sorry! I was just leaving. Can it wait until tomorrow?"

*sigh*

But then, I'm the cranky one who won't even pick up the phone if I don't feel like talking. Send me a message, that's why mobile phones were invented.

[indysteel]

But then, I'm the cranky one who won't even pick up the phone if I don't feel like talking. Send me a message, that's why mobile phones were invented.

In the last couple of years, I've gotten really hostile when it comes to talking on the phone. I used to sort of enjoy it on some level when I was single, but now I just see it as intrusive. I rarely call anybody and I rarely get calls myself. So, when the phone rings, I know it's likely my inlaws. Not that I begrudge them talking to their son, but they're just so dogged about it.

[lph]

It IS intrusive! When the phone rings, for some reason you're expected to drop anything else you might be doing, stop talking to whoever you're already talking to - who might even have taken the trouble to actually come over and visit in person, turn off any music you might be listening to or movie you might be watching, hop to it and take the phone, to talk to whoever fancied chatting with you right now, because they're bored in a car or something.

Heh, no wonder no-one ever calls me.

[OakLeaf]

That's the beauty of cell phones - ringtones specific to the caller. Even if you have a landline, you can forward all calls to your cell and get that functionality.

My phone lets me route numbers straight to voicemail. DH's phone doesn't, but this (.wav file) is the ringtone he's assigned to numbers from known spammers.