I am a very social person, but I like my alone time. It's why I often get a room by myself at the F2F. If I need to, I can escape to decompress when I am overwhelmed by the foamy. If/when I get married, the future Mr. Vortex will have to realize that there are certain times I need to be alone, and he will just have to deal. I had a conversation with a good friend about that yesterday, and I was like "oh, yeah, totally -- first fifteen minutes after you get home, maybe 1/2 an hour before bed" he said "why doesn't my wife get that?"

Had something confiscated at the airport recently? You can buy it back!

The Pennsylvania Department of General Services is auctioning off all the knives, lighters, knitting needles and Leatherman tools surrendered at a dozen airports, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty.

The department began the program two years ago, reaching out to the airports and picking up the items. Switchblades, hockey sticks and pucks, a fishing trophy with a large hook, nunchucks, a sausage grinder and six-foot electric palm tree have all come into their possession.

"We have a number of wedding knives that honeymooners used on their wedding cake; some of the knives actually have the cake hardened on them. And we once got a container of about a dozen fuzzy handcuffs," he said.

Since new restrictions went into affect on airlines after 9/11, new businesses have sprouted up to accommodate people who accidently bring prohibited items to airport check points. Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Ann Davis said the T.S.A. doesn't keep track of how individual airports dispose of surrendered items, but Pennsylvania's operation is definitely a big one.

Alone time. live in a place that is about 400 sq ft. in a place that felt like middle of nowhere. Alone time is a head space place. Dh used to need silence to work. he was going to grad school - so when it was paper time - I stayed in the bedroom and read. - but yes I would get up and get a cup of tea. however if you hadn't said a word, I wouldn't have said a word and the 15 min we spent argueing wouldn't have happened. Alone time with an SO takes some working out, but you'd be amazed. DH is less interested in alone time, but we seemed to have found a fairly easy compromise. even before he traveled so much .

Oh, and cereal back to the Jesus minimum wage discussion -- I'm pretty sure I'm on firm theological ground in my belief that Jesus would have been a union carpenter if they'd had them back when.

This is what my minion kept shouting back when Alan Keyes was running around Illinois saying that Jesus wouldn't vote for Obama. "Are you freaking kidding me? That man was a union Democrat!"

Today has been a good day, and a bad day:

Good It's pay day and my gross pay was almost $5000 more than usual - and I get to keep it! (It nets to about $3500 extra). It's because I wasn't reclassified properly earlier this year.

Bad Our HR staff are frelling me around about a position for which I was interviewing candidates. One person says "offer the job to candidate A" (who was the only candidate) and the other person says "why did you only interview 1 person?"

GHA!

Health-ma, Toddson.

Vortex, I have a friend with much the same issues. She has what seems to be a pemanent man in her life, but one reason they haven't gotten married is the issue of alone time. I suggested they buy houses next to each other ... they may be considering it.

And thanks again for your help and concern.

In my extended (non-blood) family there are two very long term couples who have separate apartments in the same building - in one case, my uncles R and L lived in apartments across the hall from each other for 30 some years. That's always seemed kind of ideal to me.

Yeah, I'd be totally into the apartments across the hall set-up. That or three bedrooms. I've known couples who live in a studio together, and just the thought of it freaks me out.

Boy and I were just talking about how we're both going to need our alone time when we live together. I told him I need to not be talked to when I get home from work, for a couple of hours, probably, and he wanted me to know that when he goes for two hour walks it's not cos he's picking up hookers. I told him it was okay so long as they weren't skanky hookers.