Speaking of bad roads. Yesterday on I-35 I saw two cars spin out on the other side of the median and hit the new-style wire guardrail. This was about five seconds apart, and about 300 ft apart. There was another car between then having hit it already. Nasty. I called 911.

sj, I hope the repairman gets there soon.

Erin, I have nothing useful to say about your situation. It's a really rough one.

Landlord just stopped by and pressed the reset button, which did nothing so the repairman will be by sometime this morning. In the meantime lots and lots of hot tea.

But the only thing that's helpful for the kid is to maintain the useful fictions of civility. There's no safe emotional space for a kid who has to choose between their parents, to make that judgment.

It doesn't matter to Micah that his mom was a bitch to D, or has been selfish or manipulative.

This is 100% true. My dad trying to make me hate my mom only resulted in me hating them *both* for a few years.

Erin, from what you've said, you sound like you're pretty good at the stepmom gig, despite being new to it. I think that once D has some time to think about it -- ideally, without the emotional pressure from his ex -- that you two will be able to come to a workable solution that's supportive for Micah.

It sucks to find out one of your parents is a dick. Thankfully(or not) I did not have a lot of pre-administered poison to assist in that discovery, but it still is a rotten feeling. Hopefully, Micah will understand some of his mother's failings/that it's not all his dad's fault without the extra layer that comes when the other parent starts treating him like she treats everyone else.

Erin, I don't have anything useful to add, but I hope this can be resolved with a minimum of pain and stress for everyone. It sounds like a horrendous situation. And I hope you feel better soon!

sj, may the repairman arrive soon and fix the problem.

Thank you for the ~ma, all. The specialist came round this morning, a lot earlier than we expected, and was able to tell us what it was not - not a blood clot - but needs more tests to determine what the problem is. It was so strange, after we got to the ER, she was just lying there quietly, we were talking, and her heartrate was going from 66 to 120 to 70, steadily going up and down. Whenever she sat up or got up, it would climb to 140. The nausea and dizziness mostly went away after I got her away from her screaming tantrum-throwing daughter. And she claims she isn't stressed.

Daughter in question had just had minor dental surgery that morning, and was accusing her mom of faking it to get all the attention. Cursing, screeching, crying, locking herself in her bedroom with music playing so loud she couldn't hear me banging on her door. With her mom crumpled up on the floor, too dizzy to stand, afraid she's having a heart attack. This girl is 28 years old. I don't know what to do, I'm scared her emotional problems are going to cause my sister's health to get worse, but this girl seems hell-bent on destroying her life and she won't listen to anyone.

Still no repair man, and it is really cold. I hope he gets here soon. I also need to figure out how I am getting the CSA today, and the woman who runs it hasn't called me back.

Dear creepy uncle who I try to avoid talking to,

When I sent you that email saying that the "small favor" you'd asked me to do was (a) illegal and (b) likely to get me fired and (c) not possible for many many other reasons, which part exactly was unclear? Also, since you mention having seen pictures of the new baby, you may also have noticed I HAVE A NEWBORN BABY TO TAKE CARE OF RIGHT NOW AND GETTING PIRATED MATERIAL OUT OF THE BBC ARCHIVE FOR YOUR FRIEND IS NOT MY PRIMARY CONCERN SO STOP ASKING.

Seriously, stop asking,
Jess

(Yes, this is the branch of the family that's in a cult. Fortunately for my cousin and unfortunately for the rest of us, it's not a "cut off all contact with the outside world" kind of cult.)

~ma to them as needs it.

sj, layer up if you haven't already! Hat, coat, sweater, all the way.

Break over. TTFN.

Oh Zenkitty, Oh Erin. Fucked up and hard situation resolving~ma to you two, and a handful of health~ma to your sister, Zenkitty.

sj, I hope that repair man will come soon.

And now Jessica's post. Is it The Year Of Crazy Relatives?

ION. Guess who's coming to Israel. Yes, the only man I'm willing to marry, Stephen Fry!

Only. Press has published where he'll be (some conference). Me and some friends called there to check when. They said he's not gonna show. And Yours Truly and some of her friends are all 12 year old fangirls about it.

They're hiding Stephen from me, and my chance of telling him how wonderfully delightful he is. We were planing to take with us some ropes, a knife and some rolls of sellotape big, glittery sings with us (OK, I planned). But nobody tells me where he'll be and when, and while Israel isn't that big, it's big enough.

I'm gonna miss Stephen Fry and it's somebody's fault.