hirondelle

I am sure you have heard of them. 36 questions that make you fall in love with a stranger. If not I can't be bothered to type out and accurate explanation, so you can go here http://36questionsinlove.com/  :

I like a bit of self exploration - so I enjoy answering this type of question.  I thought if I could post them here you might answer a question or two yourself if you are bored. 

Don't feel like you need to answer them all at once, becuase that would be a lot to write and read.  Pick a few here and there. We can fall in love slowly. 

On 5/1/2020 at 1:21 AM, fox said:

Stopped things with the gentleman friend and then was witness to a barrage of messages ranging from vitriolic to begging. Lots of what looks like emotional and guilt manipulation (if I was reading it for anyone else; for me, I feel guilty. ...I haven't replied, though. I don't think I can now). Ugh. I really liked him. (But there were flags I didn't love, and my mental health isn't great right now, with all of the everything, so I'm taking a step toward me instead. I need to be healthy for me, and the boys. I do not NEED to be in a relationship.) ...it was a lot to read. 

Love you @fox

Ah ok awesome - thanks for the info @Dulcet.  I always thought food stamps were literally stamps, we did't have them in the UK when I was a kid.  The govt just supplemented income and didn't control where you spent it.  You could use it for beer money if you want.

@Dulcet what is Link money?   

On 4/3/2020 at 1:15 PM, Aliea said:

((Is anyone about who wishes to play? Quarantine is boring and need some creative input!)) 

I'm so sorry @AlieaI'm doing so much content writing for work at the moment I don't think I have anything left for creative writing here. Still around to post updates and share love though. 

3 hours ago, Moonhawk said:

I'm going stir crazy, try to play video games and keep myself busy with the kids but with just one tv in the living room the kids drive me crazy they have their own tv in each room but they want the big tv. I need a bigger house or finish their living room(play room) upgrade. By the time I'm done with work I just don't have the energy to work on their living room. Just have to commit before I loose my mind. Sorry rambling along so tired of this crap feel like I'm in a bad apocalyptic movie that doesnt end

Love you Hawkboy

On 3/29/2020 at 6:19 AM, Moonhawk said:

Tiger king like the rest of the world. So entertaining 

I watched the first episode to see what the fuss was about and that is it.  I am drawing a line in the sand, lol.  I COULD totally watch it all but I am electing not to - just so I can look my imaginary great-grandchildren in the eye and tell them "No I DIDN'T watch Tiger King while the world burned" 

Thank you for checking in on us guys  I am doing ok, I am fortunate - able to work from home and trapped inside with a guy I love and v entertaining animals.  I can afford Netflix.  Life is alright.

I am struggling with anxiety and worried that I am (or the situation is) doing some damage to my mental health. But I was wobbly to begin with so not sure how much I can blame it on 'the rona'. 

9 hours ago, Aliea said:

Safe to say its been a very long time since Iast self harmed, I have no scars... Well no healing ones, got plenty of healed ones. But anyways, been in isolation for the last week and I've been pushed to a point were I left my job and all these are stress points, yet nothing, not a damn thing and I am so happy!!!!!! 

Well done Aliea. I'm so proud of you.

Right?  Lol, though I have all the dick I need tbh.  And toilet paper... I have that covered too #blessed  

11 hours ago, Forest Mage said:

Guess I spoke to soon about someone passing away.   My Mother-in-Law just passed away today.   She was already in the hospital for spinal problems, and we had learned she had fluid in her lungs.   They did test her for the coronavirus but the test for that hasn't come in yet.   I'm thinking it could have been because of the other medical issues she was facing.   

So frustrated because of the virus,  we can be there for my brother-in-law and the rest of his family.   Or there for my sister and niece.   

I am so sorry Forest Mage.  Sending love and strength to you and yours! 

Just kidding  

Ok we have a thread focusing on the negatives in Coronavirus Blues but I would like to explore the possibility that this is change for the good.  Today I posted this image on Facebook...

And my friend commented

"I am happy to live to see such times! This is a potential turning point for humanity." 

And I thought wow that is bold.  I mean I have been seeing a few silver lining posts, talking about the dolphins and monkeys taking advantage our lull in raping and pillaging the planet (these posts are mostly bollocks actually, nature hasn't bounced back that fast - but if we are paralysed for long enough she will.  But any this comment of my friend was the first absolute positive expression of this time.  Mostly people are saying "this sucks balls but at least the air is a bit less polluted".  This was more than that... she was expressing gratitude for this change of events.  She was embracing it.

I am going to contextualise by saying 1) she lives on Prince Edward Island which is a place where I imagine it is easier to count your blessings. 2) she is retired and financially comfortable so also it is easy to feel blessed and 3) she is a very committed member of the Baha'i faith and they are always pretty cheerful fuckers for somereason  maybe they know sthg we don't they certainly seem to have nailed the 'grace' aspect of spirituality.

Anyway - it got me longing for a place where we look for the positives.  This should be acknowledged to be in the midst of suffering.  People are dying in large numbers in horrible ways.  People are losing loved ones, people a fearful, people are economically desperate.

And yet there is beauty in the world.  Let's celebrate that here.   

3 hours ago, Moonhawk said:

I tried ebooks and audio books. Nothing like the hard copy of the book. Audio books dont work for me because my ADD doesnt allow me to concentrate on whoever or whatever is being read. E-BOOKs I tried but since I use it on my phone any stupid little notification takes me down the rabbit hole. I go from ohh i need to finish that mission on that game to shopping on amazing to facebook back to the game, then searching bs, bird, stone and who the fuck knows and I forgot that I had started reading a book

 

I am the same with reading ebooks on my phone, but I do love my Kindle paperwhite... no browser, no distracting and very easy to read.  Best Christmas gift in ages - thank you @Timberwolf

Bumping this topic as 3 years have passed and habits change... what do you all read these day, books e-books or a mix of both? What is your preference?

10 hours ago, Deano said:

hey bro, things are serious here now. as of today March 23, 2020 all McDonald's are closed until further notice, pubs restaurants and all football matches have been cancelled. restrictions were put on funerals where only a handful amount can attend a funeral. Schools are now closed, many business gone bust..... its just horrible star. 

saying that, I'm still at work and my family and I are doing okay for now. 

supermarkets shelves are empty, cant get toilet tissues, rice, flour etc. 

Yeah London is being hit hard, just like New York.  Again, maybe they left it a bit too late to take decisive action.  Just take care of yourself and your family Deano and keep us posted when you can - sending love and strength.  Wish we could send you loo roll and a few kilos of jasmine rice.  

On 3/23/2020 at 8:09 AM, Spyder said:

I work at a grocery store, doing customer service and bookkeeping. As you can imagine, business is booming. That also means I work in a petri dish since everybody who may have the virus but hasn't been diagnosed yet is going to come through. We get people coming through in masks and gloves all day every day, and to get in the store you have to use hand sanitizer, but everybody at the store is waiting for the first person who works there to be diagnosed. It's a when, not if, situation. We'll see what happens.

The Governor of Texas, who's all kinds of problematic regardless of the pandemic, said today that he won't put into effect a shelter in place order in Texas because only 50ish of 254 counties have confirmed cases. That's exactly why it should be put in place. You don't wait for something to go wrong and then try to prevent it. You put policies into place to prevent it spreading to people in more counties. I don't understand why this is hard for people to process. If you take drastic measures in the present you prevent disaster in the future. This is going to cause more people to get sick, more strain (and potential overload) on the medical system and ultimately more death. And then people in the state government will claim there was no way to prevent something like this.

Unfortunately, the most infuriating part of all this is my dad refuses to accept the seriousness of the situation. My dad is one of the smartest people I know and pragmatic about everything, and I cannot seem to convince him that this situation is as serious as it is. I really don't understand it. It's like the concept of worldwide pandemic affecting the US the same as it does everywhere else just will not work in his head. I'm fairly certain that the only thing that will convince him this is serious is if somebody he knows is diagnosed and hospitalized, and because of this, I'm really afraid that the person who ends up sick and hospitalized is him. 

Is this a generational thing? So many in the older generation here in America seem to not understand how serious this is or are in denial that things can get as bad here as they did in parts of China or are in Northern Italy. Their grandparents lived through the Influenza epidemic of 1918 so you'd think perhaps at some point in their youth it would have been impressed upon them about how bad this can get. I know they had history books, so they should have learned about it. Yet here we are. People are dying and leaders in America are shrugging, as if to say, "It's just a few sick people." I just don't get it. I really don't.

OMG thank you for posting, I messaged you on all the things and you didn't reply so I was worried. Yeah a lot of govts were caught with their pants down but I fear America's complacency and the arrogance of your leader could make the Italian shitshow look like a walk in the park. I hope I am proved wrong because the people of America definitely don't deserve to pay for their leader's stupidity.  I can understand your dad a little because the media and social media is obscuring the reality with bullshit that is causing people to make poor decisions and panic.  It is a dreadful virus and we need to do what we can to slow transmission for sure. But all the panic and hysteria is something that the older generation maybe rebel against.  I just heard my 87 year old mum popped to the shop for lager and ice-cream despite having my cousin do all her weekly shopping every Sunday so she can stay home and keep herself safe.  Mum lived through WW2 so she probably thinks she earned the right to do exactly what she likes.  The attitude might kill her, but maybe also it is why she is here today.  Shit's complicated. *hugs*

On 3/22/2020 at 4:44 AM, Kenai said:

I've been staring at this post for a while.  Life is being cunty over here, and I am so tired of typing it all out. But I'm going to.  Warning: its long and dramatic.

So around the start of the month, jerk that I married (short form jerk, and trust me, he's earned the moniker) punched the kiddo in the jaw.  He of course claims both that he didn't do it, it was an accident and it was only a light tap.  Jarek has been adamant that he did. 

I told chuck to leave, he refused. I told him fine, whatever. I need space, J and I are going to hotel while I think.  (at this point I wasn't sure if it was an accident or not.)  He again refused.  But he agreed to take me to the library for a few hours so I could run around and watch J there while he stays at home. 

I agree, and once he leaves I immediately called my friend.  Told her "hey.. you know that phone call I promised to make if I ever felt in danger?  This is it."

She was at the library in like ten minutes and had already arranged with the domestic violence people in town to get me in a hotel. 

Stayed there for two nights and then called chuck.  Told him if he left the house voluntarily while I tried to get into a shelter, I wouldn't have to do a protective order.  He agreed, so I went home with Jarek.

For everyone screaming at me "DON"T TAKE HIS WORD", you were right.  He showed up that night, TWICE.  So I filed the request for a protection order.  Judge granted a temp one until the hearing.  The next day, while we were waiting for it to be served, he showed up again and tried to break down the door.

 

Next ten days were uneventful.  I turned down the shelter because I wanted to keep J in school and the closest one was an hour away.  (Stupid mistake in hindsight I suppose). court hearing comes up, and the judge denies it because it wasn't imminent harm, and he equated a punch to the face to a six year old to a spanking. 

went back to the hotel because chuck refused to stay out of the house.  That didn't last long.  The virus news was getting worse, there were a lot of travelers going in and out.. and jarek's a runner right next to the highway.  I went back to the house the day I chased Jarek down the very busy streets 5 times in less than three hours. 

I'm watching Chuck like a hawk, and I have an interview with the housing board on the 24th.  They're optimistic they can get me in an apartment by the 1st.  It's just a matter of lasting until then.

Wow, Kenai that is a LOT.  I am proud of you for battling your way through that - fingers crosses for the housing board interview.  The only way out is through!  

On 3/22/2020 at 4:18 AM, Phoenix said:

Hey, I'm generally Facebook-unplugged (I pretty much only get on to message Autumn and a couple others), but I just so happened to see Tracy's call for updates, so I'm checking in.

I think we're in better shape than most in the US, as I'm still doing my thing and my father's able to work from home (and it sounded like he needed the break anyway). Both my parents are older and my father is a smoker and a diabetic, so it may not go well if either of them get sick. I don't really have a lot of anxiety over it, though. We're all just doing what we can here, and I can't control anything beyond that. I have some lingering health issues that can wait until after we're out of quarantine, and my therapist will be able to work with me over the phone for a while. I suppose it could change in a heartbeat, but honestly I'm not all that uncomfortable right now.

I don't know if this will be unpopular or not, but I'm actually seeing this as an opportunity for growth. For me, personally, and for this country, which has been sick in its own way for a while now. I just wish so many people weren't in danger.

Glad to hear you are doing ok, and arent getting too stressed.  It is an oppurtunity for growth and change... as long as we can cling to our lessons once it is over, rather than simply breathing a sigh of relief and reverting back to our old ways.

Audible have just made a bunch of titles free to help during what is turning into a global lockdown. Mostly literary classics and kids books. Follow the links and enjoy!

Literary classics

https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122353011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-4

Littles

https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122358011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-0

Elementary

https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122356011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-1

Tweens

https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122355011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-2

Teens

https://stories.audible.com/discovery/enterprise-discovery-21122354011?ref=adbl_ent_anon_ds_ds_dccs_sbtp-0-3

My boy Russell has some thoughts too...