mthor

Although, on reflection, I think that infants are worse. Maybe because we're hardwired to respond to that particular cry of distress.

Yes, toddlers seem to have a gift for finding the exact pitch that makes the bones in your skull vibrate. And the way that they can sustain it is amazing - there's a technique, I think it's called circular breathing, used by wind players to achieve that kind of duration. It requires a certain amount of practice, but toddlers seem to use it reflexively. Science should investigate this.

The son in law and I were doing the grocery shopping yesterday with Dexter and DeeDee in tow. It was a trying experience; it never ceases to amaze me how many shit products are endorsed by Mario, Pokemon, and the Disney princesses. About the time my jaw had ratcheted into permanent "No!" mode, we passed a woman with a haggard expression on her face and a screaming infant strapped to her chest. The son in law shook his head, and said, "you know, I'm not sure which is worse - having them like that or running around." An interesting question. If you have kids, what is the worst age group to go shopping with? If you don't, what is the least possible to tolerate? For myself, it's toddlers - they're both loud and mobile, and you can't buy them off easily. Even if you confine them to the cart,their little tentacles can shoot out to ten times their normal length and sweep a shelf full of pickle jars to the floor. (Need I specify glass? It's no fun if they don't shatter.) But that's just my opinion. What's yours?

@TrigunBebop

2 scoops of vanilla ice cream hot fudge peanut butter topping chopped peanuts whipped cream

I'd be more interested in what the Vatican has in the vaults. It's not as if there's anything at Area 51 now anyway.

I'm sick of waking up with a headache.

Your hypocrisy is showing.

Most of the Karens I knew couldn't afford Starbucks. Coffee didn't seem to be as popular as betel nut, anyway.

Burma is not exactly a major hub for car design, and it's hard to design cars when you're living in a refugee camp.

Go talk to your voices.

Bigot. Ignorant, self-centered bigot. You see a funny language name, and don't know why someone might take offense at you blatantly treating it as a possible source of jokes. Yet you're the one screaming about racism and oppression when you feel you've been wronged. Google Karen. I doubt that you have the capacity for embarrassment or shame, but at least you'll be less ignorant.

No shit, moron. What was it, last week, I told you to stop using Karen as a slur? When I mentioned that the Karen are an oppressed Burmese ethnic group? Google Karen, you insensitive slug. Much compassionate. Much wokeness.

Well, the thing is, if you're going to do it, do it right.

You have more urgent matters to deal with than a feral kitten. You have a human child who depends on you, and if you're actually as ill as you say you are, you owe it to her to take care of your own condition before you worry about feral kittens. Save your money for the ER bill instead of spending it on a feral cat.

You may want to call her back. This is not going to sit around waiting until next Wednesday. If you were diabetic and you couldn't get your sugar under 500, would you wait almost a week for your endocrinologist? If you had a heart condition and started having palpitations, would you wait almost a week for your cardiologist? You have a chronic illness, and you are having an exacerbation. Please treat your brain with the same respect you'd show your heart or your lungs or any other part of you.

No, it's just years of conditioning.

Meh, maybe. I'd rather err on the side of caution. And it's been my experience that mental health care workers can be pretty cavelier about the discomfort of their clients. Not all, but enough to make dealing with them pretty much a crap shoot.

if you're out there somewhere, dude: Happy Birthday!

I mean, whatever. I've never worked in outpatient mental health, so maybe she's right. But I hope you got her name in case she's not.

What a twatwaffle. A hallucination is kind of uncontrollable by definition. Did you tell her that it's interfering with your work?

No. I said I used the bathroom.

I can't make the decision for you. I can only tell you what I think. What I think is that it's not going to get better by itself, and that even if it just stays the same, it's going to be damn hard to work with the distraction. And if it gets worse, you're going to wind up in the ER anyway. I understand about the bill, but I don't want to see you go off the deep end, either.

I don't think that it's a good idea to wait. Is anybody answering the phone there?

KEEP CALLING!!! Go to the ER if you have to. You've got the FMLA to protect your job. Look, I may be overreacting, but I think this is an emergency. If nothing else, it's interfering with your ability to perform at your job. And I'm concerned about it escalating.