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I don’t usually voice my diabolical thoughts.

13

Comments

  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    AGREED
  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    I am beginning to find a rhythm that lets me actually work and get stuff done
  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    edited April 2020
    A big part of it is wrapping up in time to pour a glass of wine and watch Amanda Shires and Jason Isbell play every day at five. They're doing twenty to forty minutes every day to raise money for good causes. Yesterday, they played a bunch of John Prine and told stories about him.
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    edited April 2020
    Dumb shit that made me laugh, seen on the internets this morning:

    [Donald Trump, Titanic captain]

    1. There is no iceberg
    2. We won’t hit the iceberg
    3. We barely touched the iceberg
    4. Nobody could’ve seen the iceberg
    5. These deaths mean my plan worked
    6. I’m the best captain ever
  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    So it seems like we picked the worst time in history to decide to get a dog. The shelters are empty.
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    How hungry would you have to be to eat the family pet?
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    edited April 2020
    Smoking is so stupid, but nicotine addiction is a bitch. Back in the pre-virus days, I wouldn't smoke all day at work and not even think about it. I did all my smoking in the evening time. Now I'm smoking all freakin' day. I've also read and heard stories about how smoking is considered an underlying health issue for C-19. Right now I have three cigarettes left, and I'm toying with the idea of not buying another pack when I run out. But can I do it? Do I have what it takes to give up smoking? I tell myself that I do it because I like smoking, but of course I like smoking. I'm a cigarette addict.

    I could chew nicotine gum and see how that works, or I could try to go cold turkey. I stopped smoking for 2 years about 10 years ago. I stopped then because I got a bronchial infection and didn't even want to smoke for three or four days. Withdrawals weren't an issue. This time, I know I'd be going through major withdrawals.

    It's scary to think about.
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    How hungry would you have to be to eat the family pet?
    As far as I'm concerned, not very. I've got some scrumptious looking cats.
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    edited April 2020
    Dude, you can kick it! Do it, Ev! Everyday, you're gonna come in here and pretend we're smokers anonymous. "Hello, my name is Evan and I'm a nicotine addict. I haven't smoked in two days".



    "Hello, my name is Evan and I'm a nicotine addict. I haven't smoked in two weeks".



    "Hello, my name is Evan and I'm a nicotine addict. I haven't smoked in two years".
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    edited April 2020
    Covid Truthers!

    Yep, apparently, that's a thing now. 8-|
  • captqitncaptqitn Posts: 3,624
    Ok, y'all. HOME 18 vinyl is up for sale. Right here on Bandcamp
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    Excelsior!
  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    I had a very surreal experience last night while doing one last scroll before going to sleep. A pic a co-worker (one I haven't interacted with for over a decade) shared on her wall sent shivers up my spine. At first, I was confused. I was like, "Why does Alex S______ have a photo of my Mom and Dad on her wall? WTF is going on?"

    Then I noticed the shopping carts said "Lowe's" and couldn't think of any Lowe's near us. I also couldn't explain why my Dad seemed to have oxygen tubes running to his nose and what appeared to be a portable oxygen concentrator in his shopping cart. Also, my father has been dead for nine months, so he wouldn't have been anywhere social-distancing was an issue. He would, however, put pool noodles on his head for a laugh.

    But everything else about it is uncanny. The shoes, the socks pulled up, the way his legs look, his baggy shorts, the way his t-shirt fits him and falls over his belly, the beard colour and what you can see of his eyes/face. Unfuckingcanny. The beard is too long (though in the end when he was sick it was about that length) and he isn't wearing glasses, but otherwise I would swear it was my father.

    Making it even more uncanny is the fact that the woman in pink on the right side looks exactly like what my Mom looks Same haircut, same style blouse in a colour she wears regularly. Unreal.

    Anyway, apparently this is being shared all over Reddit and social media. Anyway, It was like seeing a ghost. I told my Mom about it and she asked me to send it to her. She was creeped out, too. I am curious of my sister's response, but it might bother her too much. Things are tough these days.

    doppelganger.jpg
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  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    You can't really tell from this pic, but this is what he looked like 12 years ago when he was a lot heavier and had a freshly trimmed beard.
    2008_03_28_dad_in_finished_bathroom copy.JPG
    640 x 480 - 77K
  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    Here's to all our dads.
  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    I would have rather not have lost him last year, but this pandemic would absolutely have killed him; if not literally, psychologically. His central obsessions were protecting his family and worrying about his family. There were negative traits that came with this, but the concern and sense of responsibility for others were genuine. If he had survived this long it would have killed him to have family take him to and fro the hospital three times a week for dialysis. Not only would he have felt like a burden (the last thing he would want), he would have felt as if he was putting others in harm's way. This current nightmare would be the perfect distillation of every anxiety he ever had. He would be in some sort of emotional hell worrying about everyone and this would be made a million times worse because he had been rendered incapable of really doing anything to help anyone else. Again, obviously I would rather he still be alive, but part of me is glad that he didn't have to suffer through this.
  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    It just occurred to me that my profile pic is of me wearing a gas mask. The photo is like five years old but finally feels appropriate.
  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    With my Dad's anxiety came a lot of near-prepper hoarding. More the "Always Be Prepared" Boy Scout than the Doomsday Prepper, but a hoarder nonetheless. Anyway, it turned out to be somewhat of a blessing as my parents' basement was packed with Lysol wipes and a few packs of N95 masks etc.
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    I don't know if I told you about the student who professed her love for me a few months ago after class. Did I tell you guys about that?
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    Nope.


    By the way, my dad died two years ago. He had emphysema, the result of a lifetime of heavy smoking. He could hardly breath and was constantly hooked up to oxygen. Any little thing that decrease his ability to breathe put him near death. Covid would almost certainly have killed him.
  • Jurf_WurburJurf_Wurbur Posts: 5,475
    Ev, I would like to hear this story.
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE BRIEFING
    by DAVE EGGERS

    (Enter PRESIDENT TRUMP, VICE PRESIDENT PENCE, DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DR. DEBORAH BIRX, and SURGEON GENERAL JEROME ADAMS. They all stand in close proximity to each other and touch each other and their faces repeatedly. Also, ATTORNEY GENERAL WILLIAM BARR stands holding a folder.)
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    Yeah so,
    one of my students stayed after class to let me know that she was having feelings for me and was wanting to see me outside of class. She's not unattractive, but she has six kids and, y'know, she's my student. I told her that I thought she was nice but that anything more than a teacher - student relationship would be impossible since I could lose my job and strict policies about that kinda thing and blah, blah.

    A few weeks later, she stayed after class again and gave me a note saying she'd wait for me and that she knew I'd wait for her and that she knew I liked her, too. Crazy shit. I handled it like I handle most difficult things in my life - I pretended it never happened.

    Not long after, she stayed after class AGAIN to talk to me about the note. "Mr. Evan, what you think my note?" (2nd language students often have problems with prepositions) Again I mentioned strict policies and wanting to keep my job. "We have to keep our relationship professional. I know it's difficult, but anything else is just not in the realm of possibilities."

    Not long after THAT, she gave me another note after class about how she thought she was in love with me and that she had the feeling that I loved her, too, but she understood the situation and wouldn't bring it up again.

    "Perfect, she's not going to bring it up again."

    Then it was spring break and the school closure.

    One of my new responsibilities is contacting my students by phone to make sure their kids have access to technology and aren't having any problems using the At-home Learning Hub. I had to call that student, too.

    She sent me a long text yesterday saying how much she loved and missed me and really wanted to see me. That she knew that I couldn't believe someone could love me as much as she does, but that I should accept it.

    I finally texted her what I should've said from the very beginning which was, "I'm sorry you're having these feelings. I think you're a nice woman, but I don't love you."

    So now she's instructed me to remove her name and number from my list of students and to never contact her again about her kids or school.

    I'm a lonely guy. I haven't even tried to go out and meet anyone since my marriage fell apart. The only women I ever meet are the ones in my classes. There have been students in the past that I've had little crushes on, but I've never told any of them.

    It was hard to reject this woman because honestly, it would be nice to have someone to mess around with, even one with six kids. And, it was also nice to know that someone wanted me.

  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    I've already fallen off the wagon.
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    edited April 2020
    I've already fallen off the wagon.

    Did you call that student and told her "yeah, alright"?
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    No, I had a smoke this morning.
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    I have 5 more years before I’m eligible to retire with a pension. I’m not going to mess that up by getting involved with a student.
  • moetownmoetown Posts: 3,276
    edited April 2020
    I just read that the great state of Texas ranks last in the number of Covid-19 tests given per capita.

    And now we have the Gov issuing an executive order to reopen businesses.

    "We’re not going to open up everything immediately, but it will be done in phases, but we need to get started, and I hope that’s the first week of May, barring any unforeseen big spikes," Patrick said on the call.

    Abbott says he has been in constant contact with President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to discuss how to proceed with beginning the process of allowing businesses to open up again.

    I don't think this is going to turn out well.

  • matthewmatthew Posts: 419
    By the way, my dad died two years ago. He had emphysema, the result of a lifetime of heavy smoking. He could hardly breath and was constantly hooked up to oxygen. Any little thing that decrease his ability to breathe put him near death. Covid would almost certainly have killed him.
    Sorry to hear that. I can't remember, was he still back in Portugal? When was the last time you saw him?
  • LefunesteLefuneste Posts: 7,989
    My dad returned to Portugal when I was in my early 20s. Last time I saw him must have been in 2014. I had planned to see him again in the summer of 2018, we bough the tickets and everything, and then he died a couple of months before we were supposed to travel. We went anyway, and had a Portuguese vacation. I saw some family while down there, and realized that I don't particularly care for most of them, if not all of them. Now that my dad is dead, the connection linking them to me is kind of broken.
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