{{Cashmere}} Lack of sleep makes all the other stuff so much worse. No letting the universe win though. Snarl at it some. Kick it in the shins.

How do you get outside yourself and judge how you are coming across to people?

A most difficult process. But a huge step to see that he needs to do this. I think it would be very tough to take on the role of being his reality check as a spouse. Encouraging him to keep a journal of personal encounters to more carefully examine them himself might help.

There have been a couple times in my life where I was perceived as a person I am not and it was very upsetting. I think I would have been too defensive to easily accept help with it and had to work it out myself. (being defensive one of my issues)

That book looks really interesting Andi.

I personally think that being able to construct a sentence in which the noun and verb agree is a necessary first step to critical thinking, so I wasn't able to get through the rest of Aimee's classmate's post.

Raq is me. I couldn't get past the first sentence.

But, interesting discussion. Somewhat related, I was having a discussion about critical thinking with my dad on my birthday. He said that he and mom always tried to teach us critical thinking, and they respect where we've ended up, because of that. And, I gotta say, watching my parents critically re-think issues and leave the fundamental Baptist environment because of it makes me prouder than anything else as a daughter. I've watched my parents live what they believe, but not get so wrapped up that they couldn't learn and grow as humans.

Sounds like Aimee's professor and classmate could learn something from them.

ION, guess what's on my schedule for the day??? MORE peppermint bark! W00T! Two more batches, and I'm done. I think. I hope. Till after Christmas, anyways.

Cashmere, how is your back doing? Are you still thinking about the surgery, or when the shot kicked in, did that make you decide to wait some more?

My doc's office called yesterday. But I missed the call. The voicemail sounds like they do not have their act together. I've spoken to THREE people in the office since my injection for follow up. My pain has returned but it's not as severe as it was--I can function with only bits of down time during the day. I've gone over this with at least two office people, explaining pain levels and where it's presenting.

The voicemail yesterday said I could schedule a third injection (D'UH--the last one WAS my third and last injection possible) or speak to a surgeon.

I'm going to call them back today (or possibly tomorrow if my brain isn't working too well or I'm extremely cranky). I'm just going to go in and consult with a surgeon over my MRI. See what he says. I could, possibly, go another few weeks and see if they pain gets worse. They may suggest another round of PT as well as other therapies before they resort to surgery.

Ugh. Pain and lack of sleep not a good combo. I am anti-surgery usually, but it certainly needs to be considered.

vw! I got your lovely card. Thank you. I love seeing you and Toto looking so happy. I didn't do cards this year. I'm thinking I might do New Years cards instead. Or it might get bumped to Valentines.

Somewhat related, I was having a discussion about critical thinking with my dad on my birthday.

There was no critical thinking in my family. I had to pick it up on the streets.

vw! I got your lovely card. Thank you.

Yay! You're welcome. I got 20 out then craziness. I have about 60 more to do. Whoops! They might get out before Christmas, but they're probably not gonna get to their people by then.

You can have liquids if they are in 3 oz bottles (or less)-- as in the bottle holds 3 ozs or less, in a 1 quart clear plastic ziploc bag and 1 bag per person.

Bah, I say! I have Lush 100ml bottles I thought would pass muster... they're like 3.3 oz. I fucking hate flying. Also, I fucking hate people who cough on me and get me sick. Also, I hate offices that WON'T RETURN CALLS OR EMAILS FOR OVER A WEEK!

Snarl.

That book looks really interesting Andi.

Having AD/HD Inattentive type, I read it, hoping for some clues about a very specific issue. I have to say that while I was reading it, I kept thinking "Oh, I wish ___, ___, and ___ would read this because they need it too."

The specific issue I was after for me wasn't really covered, but it may well not be in the scope of the book. I have to say, that if one is looking for clues in advance that a particular man hates being told what to do by women, and thinks that his manliness exempts him from needing to actually learn how to do a new job if the only person available to train him is a woman, and therefore will make complaints about how pushy one is being when one says things like, "It's _ o'clock, now is a really good time to _____, and this is the correct way to do it," - that book simply won't help. But then, the book is designed to help people eliminate their own inadvertent asshattery, not so much to help them avoid the asshattery of others. There are other books for that.

I think I was hoping to find that there were social cues that would tell me, "This guy is a jerk under his half-decent facade, so do not treat him like a normal human being."

ETA: a little clarification.

Hm, why does the TSA site say 3oz and the American Airlines site say 100 ml? [link]