Squee! New work laptop is on it's way over. They are still waiting for software (Filemaker Pro and Vectorworks, the two I need the most), but SQUEE! Get to play with while on furlough/time off until next Tuesday.

ION- Why do I have the "Young Frankenstein" version of "Putting On The Ritz" stuck in my head? I haven't watched that movie in AGES!

Happy birthday David, indeed!

(What? What am I doing here, again, instead of studying? Pfft. Petty questions!) But yeah, storming on again. Because something's bothering me, and I don't have anywhere else where I can process it through, and it's weirding me out.

It's about boys. Yes, I'm all Dear Abbying you. No, not about that part they have that moves on its own free will.

Remember I talked about the really cool guys from some of my classes that suddenly became oh so very nice and cool to me? Well, it's still going on, to extant that one of them is really treating me as a close friend. Not in an opening up thing sort of way, but as in going above and beyond to try and help in whatever he thinks he can help me with, without me asking him to do anything at all.

And it's not that he fancies me or anything in that fashion; he's very involved with someone else for a few years. And... I find myself more confused than flattered. He's being so sweet, and I'm just trying to move him from "nice acquaintance that I know from class" to "possibly cool friend" drawer in my head, and like a bad gear, I get stuck.

I'm not used to guys waking up after 8 months and starting to treat me like a human being all of the sudden without a hint of a crush. I'm not used to people being that nice, generally speaking. I feel like I should shift drives more easily, but... but. I'm just not used to it, and I get stuck: not sure how to respond some sentences, how much to open up (if at all), how much to say, what to say, how to respond to all of the sweet things he does of the way he shows he respects me. It's just like all of the sudden he decided he wants me as a friend in his life. As long as the conversation is related to uni, I can talk nice, be utilitarian and helpful. When it comes to make a bond, all of the sudden? Hello, stuckiness.

I'm confused as to what the question is. Do you not usually have guy friends, Shir?

I have, but none of them woke up out of the blue after months to start a relationship. I stand confused. It's not a question, more a thing I have to process. I wish I could have done it more naturally or on my own, but I'm me.

Happy birthday David!

and you are over-thinking , shir. if you want a friedn -- talk about food, or hiking , or other stuff you like to do . If it works, the other stuff happens. Some times people are busy and don't really notice what is right in front of them

Oh, beth - I talk. But it doesn't feel natural at all when I do, and then I get stuck and reverse back to think I know I'm good and fluent and funny talking about. Not the whole trying-to-built-a-comfort-zone thing.

I agree with beth. I also think this guy realizes the school year is ending and he wants to keep you in his life.

Daisy Jane. Start by asking for all three weeeks. Just be frank and say you love this job and don't want to risk it, so if they can't help you they can't help you. But it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so please find a way to work it out if they can cause you would really like to do it. And you don't expect paid leave, and are totally open to working overtime to catchup before and after. Let them decide if they want to offer less time or no time or whatever.

Yeah, I agree with Typo here, DJ. That's exactly what you need to say.

Don't use the word "deserve" but at the same time make it clear you are not feeling entitled to this. You know you have not been there long enough to have earned three weeks of leave in a row, but it is something that is super important to you, so if they can make it work you are ready to do what they need from you in order to make it work.