FWIW, our family has about 50 acres of lakeshore up here.
No matter how much you love technology and civilization, it's still great to get away from it for a while and detox.
--Patrick
Whine like a baby, now with 500% more drama!
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No matter how much you love technology and civilization, it's still great to get away from it for a while and detox.
--Patrick
Quit wanting and do. It may not mean like much, but it makes all the difference.
All right, it's that time of night.
Imagine living three to four hours away from your family, after living about an hour's drive from them for nearly two decades. You've felt like a stranger in a city that is smaller than any that you've ever lived in; you're doing a job that is supposedly the same one you used to do elsewhere, but it's done oh so differently here - and by co-workers whom you haven't "been through the war" with; it takes you a half-hour to drive anywhere that even resembles "civilization" for you - and even then, it's a cruel imitation; you have one family member within a 10 minute drive - but she's a cousin from the family that you never saw all of them at one time because, well, they lived the farthest away from your grandparents' home; you have this feeling that at some point in the nearer future that you are going to end up out of money because you made some financial mistakes years ago - and you have to take on more debt because things are costing more, including medical expenses that your insurance (thanks to your new job) are more reluctant to pay for than they were in the past; and you somehow feel - despite the internet, despite having a wonderful wife who dotes on you, despite having a car and seven weeks of vacation a year - you are isolated from everyone and anyone that you care about. Oh, and until just about three weeks ago, the weather has sucked incredibly. To the point of life-altering, "I don't wanna live here anymore" level of weather.
If you can't imagine that kind of life... well, I wish I couldn't, either. Unfortunately, I'm living it.
Yes, I'm angry at people. You all caught my anger at my "boss" a few years ago when the whole Act 10 thing went down. But of all the people I could be angry at, I'm most angry at myself, because I feel like I could have done so much more about it. I wanted to see some family on Memorial Day, but between things I did the day before (another family picnic elsewhere in this state), I realized there was no way I could do it.
I'm not as old as @Dave, but I'm damn close. And I don't have a daughter or other children that I can do things with, or talk to. No, I haven't lost anyone really close to me recently, like @GasBandit. But every time I see my father, I feel further away from him. And he's talking about moving out of state on a permanent basis, sometime within the next year - possibly even by the end of this year. Maybe @WasabiPoptart can commiserate about the feeling so incredibly far away from everyone else in your family - but then again, maybe not. I can at least get in a car and go visit people (even if it's four hours).
I don't really know if this is a whine, a rant, an emo blog post, or what. I'm sure someone can put me in my place - that's occasionally what this place is good for, I guess - but for someone who's got it together, I feel like Han Solo trying to urge the Millennium Falcon to "hold together".
I told you, it's that time of night. We went from the coldest damn winter I've even experienced in my two score and six years on this planet to uncomfortable levels of heat that my apartment isn't capable of dissipating.
Imagine living three to four hours away from your family, after living about an hour's drive from them for nearly two decades. You've felt like a stranger in a city that is smaller than any that you've ever lived in; you're doing a job that is supposedly the same one you used to do elsewhere, but it's done oh so differently here - and by co-workers whom you haven't "been through the war" with; it takes you a half-hour to drive anywhere that even resembles "civilization" for you - and even then, it's a cruel imitation; you have one family member within a 10 minute drive - but she's a cousin from the family that you never saw all of them at one time because, well, they lived the farthest away from your grandparents' home; you have this feeling that at some point in the nearer future that you are going to end up out of money because you made some financial mistakes years ago - and you have to take on more debt because things are costing more, including medical expenses that your insurance (thanks to your new job) are more reluctant to pay for than they were in the past; and you somehow feel - despite the internet, despite having a wonderful wife who dotes on you, despite having a car and seven weeks of vacation a year - you are isolated from everyone and anyone that you care about. Oh, and until just about three weeks ago, the weather has sucked incredibly. To the point of life-altering, "I don't wanna live here anymore" level of weather.
If you can't imagine that kind of life... well, I wish I couldn't, either. Unfortunately, I'm living it.
Yes, I'm angry at people. You all caught my anger at my "boss" a few years ago when the whole Act 10 thing went down. But of all the people I could be angry at, I'm most angry at myself, because I feel like I could have done so much more about it. I wanted to see some family on Memorial Day, but between things I did the day before (another family picnic elsewhere in this state), I realized there was no way I could do it.
I'm not as old as @Dave, but I'm damn close. And I don't have a daughter or other children that I can do things with, or talk to. No, I haven't lost anyone really close to me recently, like @GasBandit. But every time I see my father, I feel further away from him. And he's talking about moving out of state on a permanent basis, sometime within the next year - possibly even by the end of this year. Maybe @WasabiPoptart can commiserate about the feeling so incredibly far away from everyone else in your family - but then again, maybe not. I can at least get in a car and go visit people (even if it's four hours).
I don't really know if this is a whine, a rant, an emo blog post, or what. I'm sure someone can put me in my place - that's occasionally what this place is good for, I guess - but for someone who's got it together, I feel like Han Solo trying to urge the Millennium Falcon to "hold together".
I told you, it's that time of night. We went from the coldest damn winter I've even experienced in my two score and six years on this planet to uncomfortable levels of heat that my apartment isn't capable of dissipating.
I'm sorry @jwhouk. I do understand how it feels to be isolated either as far as civilization or having family around me. I grew up in a place that didn't even have its own zip code. Then, in California, even though I had my in-laws relatively close (about 100 miles to the north) it wasn't the same as having my own family and friends nearby. Here in HI I've got some friends who are like family, so it isn't as bad. I don't know what your social life is like, if you have one, but perhaps finding a few people you have things in common with would help.
My hometown itself probably has about 1200 people. The entire township (as of 2010), which consists of several small towns, has a total of 6000. I was related to 75% of the people who lived in my part of the township. The ones I wasn't related to were friends of the family. So I really do feel your pain there.
Never grew up with a real sense of *family*. My grandparents were closest, and that was a three hour drive. Five to other grandparents and aunts and uncles. Any relatives even close to my age were so far away (WV to FL), that they may have well not existed. Saw some briefly in '75 and then not again until '95.
All those get-togethers you have on Thanksgiving and Christmas? Never happened. Not any that I was old enough to recall.
All those get-togethers you have on Thanksgiving and Christmas? Never happened. Not any that I was old enough to recall.
I literally feel the antithesis of everything you just said. there is no other way to say that politely. I will sit on the beach with a fruity drink in one hand and my phone in the other.
No, no. It's ok, I get it. I like being able to look something up no matter where I am. I enjoy having a GPS/flashlight/map/compass/camera/walkie-talkie/clock/reference manual/etc. in my pocket while I'm out hiking or camping. But there are times when I want silence. And by that I don't mean merely the absence of noise, but rather the absence of one or more stimuli in general. You can "silence" your eyes by going into a closed room and flipping off the light. Suddenly, your brain's visual centers have nothing to process, and your attention can turn to other things. It's a bit like reallocating your stats for a while. Your perceptions change. Slide your phone to off, and it's a bit like detaching your tether during a spacewalk…risky, but liberating. While the phone is on, your brain busies itself thinking up all the things it needs to do. Shopping lists, task lists, chores, social contacts, and lists all whirl around with their need to reconnect to the Internet, or dial up a friend, or check with Bob about that project, etc. Once the phone is turned off, however, you pinch off that avenue, and the majority of these things running around in your head will die, deprived of their ability to refresh their urgency.
I dunno. Maybe it's just a thing that happens to noisy, "busy-brained" people (the "million miles an hour" folks), but those days without the mental din are really something to look forward to.
--Patrick
you people scare me...straight up. I tried one day to go without my phone, purposefully left it behind while at the beach. Worst day of my life, my mind went blank after 10 minutes, and within an hour of getting no stimulation I started to get aggressive and grouchy. I am pretty sure I have severe ADD, Years of hard work and hard school have left me grasping for work to keep me mentally stimulated. Reading is ok, movies are a bit better, video games almost get there, but doing things I have no experience in or attempting something on the next difficulty level in a hobby is the only thing that brings me real satisfaction anymore.
I understand completely, Bones. My computer is where I go to detox, and while I do enjoy peaceful communes with nature, I prefer them in the limited, 20-minute block version where I can go back to my electric hum.
I can't sleep unless my computer is running, I actually can no longer sleep in a quiet room.
GasBandit
Staff member
I have that problem too, but not ADD - just tinnitus.
Thing is, now my computer is SUPER QUIET, so I had to find something else to make noise.
Cajungal
Staff member
The power went out briefly last night, and I was surprised at how eerie the silence felt. I'm used to the hum of the fan, at least.
fade
Staff member
You people with your huge 1200 person towns. I grew up in a rural area, and the nearest town had a population of 300. My cousins and grandparents figured into that 300, but we still never saw them. My dad's a homebody.[DOUBLEPOST=1401318468,1401318406][/DOUBLEPOST]We did have a library, though. Sounds corny, but thanks to those books, every day I went somewhere new. I used to read constantly. Kind of makes me sad that I don't have the time to do that anymore.
RARG. ARG. STUPID. FUCKING. THING. WHY. ARE. YOU. SO. DIFFICULT.
Well, there's a term for "penis" you don't hear too often.
(I'm kidding- I hope whatever is actually is cooperating.)
I just found out about a symposium being held locally that I really want to attend. Registration is closed. 
GasBandit
Staff member
Well, there's a term for "penis" you don't hear too often.
(I'm kidding- I hope whatever is actually is cooperating.)
Warning: this is an incredibly spoiled first-world whine. Like, really bad.
When my brother graduated college, my dad got a new car and gave him the old one. 6 years later, that car is running fine. All throughout college, I was told that I'd get the same thing. This has been great because I really like my dad's car, and I think its a car that would last me a long while. Now though, my mom decided my dad's car is still good enough for him to keep so now I'll be getting an old car to "last a year or two" before I can buy my own. I'm going to see the car this weekend so it might be better than its been described, but I'm doubtful. I know I'm still very lucky to be getting any car for free, but I'm just so pissed that I'd been told one thing for years and now they changed their mind when its time. And its not really a money issue as my mom somehow finds a way to go on vacation for 6 months a year without having to work.
When my brother graduated college, my dad got a new car and gave him the old one. 6 years later, that car is running fine. All throughout college, I was told that I'd get the same thing. This has been great because I really like my dad's car, and I think its a car that would last me a long while. Now though, my mom decided my dad's car is still good enough for him to keep so now I'll be getting an old car to "last a year or two" before I can buy my own. I'm going to see the car this weekend so it might be better than its been described, but I'm doubtful. I know I'm still very lucky to be getting any car for free, but I'm just so pissed that I'd been told one thing for years and now they changed their mind when its time. And its not really a money issue as my mom somehow finds a way to go on vacation for 6 months a year without having to work.
A newly hired lady in my office wears way too much fucking lotion. It is a combination of rose oil, lanolin, cloying sweetness, and rot. I sit 30 feet away from her, she is in a large office with a door, and I'm in a cubicle with 8 foot walls, and it is the only fucking thing I can smell.
Cajungal
Staff member
I understand that people are free to wear whatever lotions/perfumes/etc they want, but when you're in close quarters, it's nice to take others into consideration. People with allergies are tormented by that stuff. In high school there was this girl who'd prop her legs up on her desk and slather her legs with cherry blossom lotion. Not only was it super inappropriate (thanks, Biology teacher, for not calling her out on that...) but it stunk up the classroom. I am a fragrance free fan.
GasBandit
Staff member
Yes. Also I just got an e-mail from someone at The Dr Pepper Snapple Group, whose signature reminds everyone she e-mails that there is no period in Dr Pepper, that it was dropped in the 50s. Useless information, and now you're stuck with it.
figmentPez
Staff member
Because you can't spell Dr Pepper without Derp.
Awww... I like Diet Dr Pepper. It's the only diet soda I like. Preferably Diet Dr Pepper Cherry.
(and thanks to GasBandit I had to stop myself from adding the period after Dr)
fade
Staff member
Do you think it's medicine, phd, or one of the rest? I'm betting chiropractory. I bet he gets all offended when people call him "mister", which Mrs Pepper found endearing when they first got married, but now she just rolls her eyes. They went to counseling that one time she couldn't take it anymore and burst out "Aw Morty, you're just a chiropractor." His first name is Morty in case you were wondering.