I'm concerned that my brother may be losing it or something. He's convinced that his dog is sick and I don't think there is anything wrong with her besides that she is thirteen. But when he met her she was ten so it isn't even that much of a Sunrise, Sunset thing. He's lost his shit with this whole recession thing(which I understand) but compared to many he is actually lucky but he's not coping well at all. I'd like to help, but he won't listen to me, and honestly? He's so gloomy and dire 24-7 that I am beginning to dread the sight of him.

But when I've gone to actual blood drives, it's been great. Maybe the mobile Red Cross people are better than the ones in the building.

I feel so well taken care of, that my friend found a drive so close to my house...and NOT in a medical environment. The 'hospital smell' alone can be a problem.

Thanks for the encouragement Beth. Blood is, indeed, life. Focusing on the giving aspect...rather than what is being taken from me...is really helping.

Seska, sponsorship is a great idea! If I make it through this in such a way that I can do it again, I'll definitely do it.

Working on it, Nora. He did ask me "When are we going to New Orleans again?"

keep me posted.

Ok - I'm irritated. I do not take stalking lightly; It's scary, it's harmful, and people who do it don't get punished nearly harshly enough.

So my co-worker has been freaking out lately about an ex that she used to have a PPO on and has been telling everyone in the office about how he's threatened to kill her and kidnap her son etc etc etc. She had me block him from Face Book, she passed out his picture for everyone to see what he looked like so we could keep him out of the office.

So dude was just up here. And what does she do after I chase him away which she asked us to do? She goes after him, brings him back into the office to talk to him, berate him for lying to me - asks him to apologize to me (I told her no thanks - I don't want to be involved anymore than I already am), tells him she's blocked him from FaceBook, yadda yadda yadda, and THEN!!! Takes he roses he brought her and says to me, "I'm not throwing them away because I like roses and these are pretty. That doesn't mean I'm accepting them from him."

Uh, yeah it does. I mean, she told us that this dude threatened to kidnap her son from his school and that she had to move last year because he kept coming to her house and he has been doing this once a year for the past 10 years etc etc etc and she doesn't start another PPO and asks him back into this office to yell at him and tries to get me to interact with him?? Eff that sweetheart.

Oh Loward. Drama Queen to the max. That is just crazytown.

Right? I think she's keeping the damn roses on her desk so people ask her where they came from so she can freak out.

And just now she came to me telling me that I don't need to be telling people where the roses came from when people ask me. It is not my job to fucking lie to my other co-workers for you.

Oh man. What a train wreck!

I'm with Nora. Drama queen on overload.

Don't lie for her Aims, but don't play into the crazy either. Somebody asks you where the roses came from? (and why would they, really) my answer would be, 'Ask Crazy Mama, it's not my business.'

It's so sad when an energy vampire succeeds in sucking everyone in. What a waste of oxygen.

Egad. But then, when I was a kid, there was a big local deal involving a man who stalked and killed his ex-wife. And then insisted on visitation rights for their daughter.

(I knew the daughter slightly -- her mother's parents got custody, and they were members of our church. Between regularly visiting her father in prison, and living with grandparents who weren't quiet about their (understandable) anger with said father, it's surprising she wasn't an even worse psychological mess.)

And if she doesn't want to destroy the roses, at least find a nearby nursing home that roses can brighten up. Let somebody get some good out of the drama.

job searching question for the hivemind:

Tom had a phone interview with a company from New Orleans last Thursday morning. He thought it went well, he was asked to email his salary requirements, and we haven't heard anything from them since. Would it be appropriate to follow up with the HR liaison with an email along the lines of:

I just wanted to touch base with you regarding any follow-up you might require in considering my candidacy for a position with [Company]. I know that a half hour on the phone isn't much time to get a good idea of where I fit in with the company, so I wanted to reach out to see if there was anything else I can help you with. I also would like to note that there is certainly room for negotiation as far as my previously stated salary requirements. Being from out of state, my requirements were based on some research but are not definitive numbers.

I also wanted to ask what your thoughts on the hiring process timeline might be? Any information on that would be most appreciated, thanks!

Thoughts? We are really, really going crazy. Not least of which because the last job he applied for, that called HIM out of the blue and scheduled him for an entire day of interviews NEVER GOT BACK TO HIM ONE WAY OR THE OTHER.

He's convinced that his dog is sick and I don't think there is anything wrong with her besides that she is thirteen. But when he met her she was ten so it isn't even that much of a Sunrise, Sunset thing. He's lost his shit with this whole recession thing(which I understand) but compared to many he is actually lucky but he's not coping well at all.

I'm sorry. It could be he's projecting his concerns about his economic health on the dog. It's pretty easy to do. I got my cat a couple of weeks before my dad died, and the time leading up to the anniversary of his death I kept thinking something was terribly wrong with the cat, even though I could objectively see that he was fine. Brains = weird.