Hil, great news. I'm confident between now and the 11th, another interview will pop up. Your gonna take that math conference by storm!

Shir, sorry to hear the ick has caught you. When I was in school, it always waited until I was on break. Great way to spend holiday, sick. Get well soon.

Seska, enjoy the sites. Hopefully the wine will smooth things out.

There was more. Can't recall. Tired. And a bit nervous about this upcoming week. Oy. Musical. HUGE musical. Big load in. Eating way too much time and mental energy.

It could take a while for the meds to balance him out, Scrappy. In my case, I did get a dosage of antidepressant that pushed me over the edge into mania. Which took a bit of time to sort out.

Each individual has to figure out their chemistry with their doctor. I think if the depressive episodes are really debilitating, having a bit of mania is sometimes a pleasant experience. The time to worry would be if the manias tipped into troublesome behaviors. Productivity is one thing--risky behavior is another (e.g. overspending, gambling, risky sexual behavior, etc.).

Oh yes, I remember. GC, good to hear you have a lactation specialist. My old work mate is married to one, apparently really good, as she was being woo'd by OC children hospital. I think she works out of one in Long Beach. If you need her info, drop me a line. While it might be tiring and frustrating, it still is a miracle and bundle of joy. Try not to focus on the bumps in the road, but enjoy every beautiful moment of the journey.

Chipping in to agree with Cash, Scrappy. It can take a while for the meds to do their job properly and a bit of tweaking may be necessary even after one to years of meds as the body get used to them.

I also support what Cash says. Also, it may take years to find a cocktail that works. Being diagnosed is only the first step. Depending on how close you are with this friend, you could ask him if he would like feedback from you on how depressive/manic he seems. Sometimes it's hard to monitor from inside, and as Cash points out, mania can be FUN.

Okay, this is amusing. I check my bank account/credit card online a few times a week, because I'm paranoid about identity theft. So, I'm looking through the (long) list of credit card purchases* when I see a credit back to my account of $25. I didn't return anything for credit, and the transaction description was "New Card Offer." Didn't say who the merchant/source of money was.

So I was a little suspicious. I called my bank, and the woman asked me if I had signed up -- with them -- for a promo where, if you spent a certain amount of $$ during December, you received a $25 credit. I said that I honestly didn't remember signing up, but that in the business of the holidays, I probably did and forgot. I said that it probably sounded silly for me to be questioning a credit, like, No, I don't WANT free money!, but I just wanted to be sure.

She said that it was from the bank, and it was legit. So, right on!

*(I switched to a credit card that offers reward points. So I'm using it for everything, but treating my transactions as if I used my *debit* card -- that is, I enter them in my check register so that everything I buy with the credit card already has the $$ to pay for it. Then when it comes due, I cancel out the transactions in the check register, which bumps my available balance back up, and then I use that amount to pay the whole CC balance.)

(That's probably not a revelation to anyone but me, but when I thought of it, I was tickled by my soooooper-genius.)

Okay, going to work now.

I check my bank account/credit card online a few times a week, because I'm paranoid about identity theft.

Heeeey, it's like we're the same person.

(That's probably not a revelation to anyone but me, but when I thought of it, I was tickled by my soooooper-genius.)

I don't have any system like that; I just pay my balance in full each month. Which is another reason I obsessively check my credit card statement all the time: to make sure I'm not spending too much in a given month (or if I am, that it was balanced out by underspending the previous month).

Sometimes it's hard to monitor from inside, and as Cash points out, mania can be FUN.

Having had a bipolar father, I'll note that mania is a lot more fun for the maniac than for the people around him and can lead to things like calling one's boss and telling him what's wrong with the company. You might want to find a way to tell your friend to tell his doctor that he seems a bit manic.

ION, I just bit the hell out of my lip.

(That's probably not a revelation to anyone but me, but when I thought of it, I was tickled by my soooooper-genius.)

Hmm. Actually I hadn't really thought of it, and might give it a try.

Speaking of credit card expenditures, I bought the dress. Well, two. One in my size and one larger, just in case. And a bunch of tights, all on sale. But at least I got free shipping!

Am now fighting the urge to buy this necklace to wear with the dress. [link] Being bored and avoidy at work is bad for my spending. Also, I've gotten scarily addicted to getting packages in the mail.

I'll note that mania is a lot more fun for the maniac than for the people around him

Yes, that's what I meant. Mania is often not fun to watch and can be scary and destructive.