I would have broken long before.

I'll admit that waiting this long to lose it has shocked even me. They promise to be done by September.

Seska, yes we formed a neighborhood group after we learned that the workers had claimed to be 'polling the street' for opinions about closures and impact and dust... but that no one we could find in a door-to-door quest had been asked. I reckon they were actually talking to the pavement.

From 11pm until 5am for six nights in a row.

this? I would snap like a twig.

Health~ma to amyth's brother and let-it-be-nothing~ma for Raq.

I think this is why I love this board so much. So many of you have the same problems and same questions I do. I haven't been in an LTR in over 20 years. I've been NGA for over 10. Like Zenkitty, I left a town I said I would never return to, but 18 years later found myself back there and happy to be there. Yet, because of you guys, I don't feel alone, I don't feel hopeless. I may feel occasionally lonely, but only until I come on here and read about all the cool things my friends are doing. I'd like to be in closer proximity to more buffistas, but I really like my town and am loath to leave. I'm making friends, though, with local lj buddies, so my social circle is growing. And while it took time, I had you guys to light the way for me and make me aware of the so much wider world of fandom. It has changed me in ways I wouldn't have guessed years ago and, I think, very much for the better.

And, in totally random news, one of the program coordinators came in and dropped off a basket of garden greens for me: cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, basil and sage. I think I'm going to make a salad for lunch!

Nothing~ma for Raq.

Strength~ma for P-C's brother.

And going back a bit --

And people who tell you it's a good time to take up pottery, or learn Sanskrit, or form a religion (since you have all that free time)? FULL OF CRAP.

I'm not sure I entirely agree. In the sense of "you have time for self-improvement," yes. But if you're interested in a relationship, it's a way to meet people with whom you have at least something in common. Couples have met in crazier places than pottery class.

IOcuteN [link] shows that parenting really isn't for everyone. Also, as in other matters, location is everything.

Thanks for the ~ma. I have a photo shoot for this tomorrow, so we'll see. My money's on cyst also, because otherwise I'd be the only person I know who GAINS weight from a malignancy.

Sox, yuck. Because you totally need that kind of disruption right now.

And if you’re not absolutely positively sure that kids are something you want, you maybe shouldn’t have them?

ITA. I am so glad we didn't have a kid until we wanted one. Sure, we're comparatively old for parents, but a) I did not have my shit together earlier and would've sucked as a mother; b) we got to have lives and do stuff; and c) I just didn't want kids.

As for more than one? I think it's the same as having one in the first place. You either feel like it's right for you or not right for you.

If memory serves, there's only meant to be fireworks for one of the nights.

Eid fireworks seem to last for as long as people can find fireworks to set of.

P-C, much coping~ma to you and your bro. And his GF. I'd wish coping to your parents and sister also, but I suspect they don't want to cope with it.

How completely annoying and frustrating, Sox. Grrrrr

Quick news of it's nothing ~ma for Raq.

Since I was a teen I could never have imagined where I would be 5 years in the future. At this point in my mid 50s I completely accept that no amount of planning or imagining will give me any idea or control over where I will be at 60. I can hope and plan, but life is always filled with twists and turns and things I didn't anticipate. It is fortunate that my Piscean nature makes it easy for me to go with the flow.

Every one of the Buffistas on the lonely hearts bench would be a spectacular mate. If only some of my loved ones made much good choices! You all know I have always been in a LTR. I never planned, expected, or anticipated any of them. I would have bet you anything when I was widowed at 33 that I would never fall in love again. Just had the 20th anniversary of the wedding that I swore would never happen.

Polter! Good on you holding your brother's secret. ~ma for him withstanding the fallout. Hope it doesn't get too ugly.

In the sense of "you have time for self-improvement," yes. But if you're interested in a relationship, it's a way to meet people with whom you have at least something in common. Couples have met in crazier places than pottery class.

I have a very hard time making friends, and don't really have any local ones. I need to listen to this good advice and go out and meet people. I'm going to join a book group or something when I move. Of my semi-local friends, I met them all online, but I've lost track of where are good places to meet people online anymore. I have an enormous twitter follow list of people who mostly live in very far-off places.

this? I would snap like a twig.

I might do, although I'm a heavy sleeper - as long as I can *get* to sleep. I have a much harder time dealing with noise in the day. When I was really ill and basically housebound a few years ago, a neighbour rebuilt their garden for four months. I was a wreck.

screw earplugs, go on holiday. visit some friends or relatives who don't live near construction for a week. or a fortnight, just in case it takes longer than planned.

Nothing~ma to amyth's brother and Raq.

I'm leading a lonely life these days, except for the invisible people. I fear I have a permanent seat on the lonely hearts bench, and I need to find ways to get out more. The state of mind I'm in makes it much easier to be a hermit, though.

We've got nightly freeway construction about a half mile from our house--there are houses a whole lot closer--but our bedroom is on the opposite of the house. When you're in the bathroom you can sometimes hear noises. It's the metallic screeching, straining noises that are occasionally worrying.

At 49, any questions now are about potential grand-children, but for a while strangers felt entitled to ask about potential children. Heck, Utah, kids are practically currency. I sometimes worry about being 70 and alone, but having children would have been worse.

I laugh at the youngsters around me with their great plans of getting a job with so-and-so, and their wife will get a part time job when the kids go to school, and they'll retire at 35 because real estate will make a come-back, etc. One guy I dislike was going on about this, and I asked what he was going to do if one of his kids turned out to be sick or if he was in a car wreck and couldn't work and his wife had to go find a full-time job? He said, "That won't happen," in the tone of voice that says he knows God is looking out for him 'cause he's special. An over-hearing co-worker laughed bitterly.