2337 replies to this topic

[KingPridenia]

If she was still alive, my grandmother on my mother's side of the family would have turned 91 at this time on October 14th, 2014. Weather permitting, I would like to visit her gravestone and do something to pay my respects to her. I just don't know what would be appropriate and just typing this is very hard for me. It's just so hard looking back at the days I'd sit on the foot of her bed watching old game shows with her on Game Show Network. It pains me to think about those days because it reminds me of how much I loved her and how I bonded with her through watching game shows. Then 7-8 months before her death, we were up in a small plane flying around Pennsylvania. It was a really wonderful time; it was the first time I experienced aviation.

 

So when December 5th, 2014 rolls around (exactly 10 years after my grandmother's passing), what could I do? I am overdue for visiting the cemetery she's buried at, but I feel like something more needs to be done. I just fear having a complete emotional meltdown. I had one when one of my friends passed away in his sleep and I actually had to be removed because I was so upset I was actually making his mother and family really upset. It's just so hard to be able to look at death in the face.

[Aevin]

Unpleasant Story

We woke up at 7AM to the sound of a 5-6 year old child screaming downstairs. This wasn't a "kid throwing a tantrum" scream, but a high-pitched scream of pain and terror that lasted for several minutes. We heard a man screaming at him to stop. The man screamed "F** you!" at him, and the kid stopped screaming just long enough to shout the same thing back at him. Then, we heard the sound of hard, heavy blows, brief sobbing, and then the screams stopped. A woman came in and yelled at the man for a minute, and I think he ended up leaving. For a minute, I thought the worst had happened to the kid, but then I heard him/her coughing loudly, (their throat probably raw from all the screaming).

 

We ended up calling Child Protective Services. I never like to interfere with other peoples' lives, but no kid should have to deal with stuff like that. This isn't the first time we've heard commotion and swearing, either. I'm not naive enough to think one call is going to make a world of change, but ...  I just hope it helps that kid somehow, even just a little.

 

I just can't get this whole thing out of my mind. That poor kid ...  It brings back some pretty upsetting associations. It feels like my whole day is ruined, and I can't stop crying. But it feels pretty dumb to complain about a ruined day given what that child has to deal with.

 

Sorry ... this is pretty heavy stuff for a "lounge" area where people are supposed to be able to relax.

[Russ]

Response to said unpleasantness

Yikes. That's... never a fun situation to be in. Something similar happened to us a while back. A few doors down, there was a creepy guy, his kind Russian wife (we suspect she was a mail-order bride), and their daughter (who was around 7- 8). He always kept the blinds closed, but we'd hear heated arguments coming from upstairs some nights, sometimes with the wife shouting, followed by the daughter crying. One day, we were playing in the street (I was around 14 at the time, if memory serves), and we heard LOTS of screaming. The wife was shouting "STAY AWAY FROM ME!" and the daughter was screaming. I ran home and told my parents, who immediately called 911. Police showed up, rang the doorbell. Nobody answered, they shrugged, went "nobody's home" and never followed up on it. The family moved away shortly after that.

All I can really do is hope your situation goes better than the one I saw. No child should ever go through something like that.

[HavoX]

Unpleasant Story

We woke up at 7AM to the sound of a 5-6 year old child screaming downstairs. This wasn't a "kid throwing a tantrum" scream, but a high-pitched scream of pain and terror that lasted for several minutes. We heard a man screaming at him to stop. The man screamed "F** you!" at him, and the kid stopped screaming just long enough to shout the same thing back at him. Then, we heard the sound of hard, heavy blows, brief sobbing, and then the screams stopped. A woman came in and yelled at the man for a minute, and I think he ended up leaving. For a minute, I thought the worst had happened to the kid, but then I heard him/her coughing loudly, (their throat probably raw from all the screaming).
 
We ended up calling Child Protective Services. I never like to interfere with other peoples' lives, but no kid should have to deal with stuff like that. This isn't the first time we've heard commotion and swearing, either. I'm not naive enough to think one call is going to make a world of change, but ...  I just hope it helps that kid somehow, even just a little.
 
I just can't get this whole thing out of my mind. That poor kid ...  It brings back some pretty upsetting associations. It feels like my whole day is ruined, and I can't stop crying. But it feels pretty dumb to complain about a ruined day given what that child has to deal with.
 
Sorry ... this is pretty heavy stuff for a "lounge" area where people are supposed to be able to relax.

Response

That's horrible. I hope that asshole gets caught and convicted of child abuse.

[Aevin]

Russ and HavoX: Hearing your thoughts on the matter helps more than you'd think in calming me down. Thanks for your responses.

[Eddy]

Unpleasant Story

We woke up at 7AM to the sound of a 5-6 year old child screaming downstairs. This wasn't a "kid throwing a tantrum" scream, but a high-pitched scream of pain and terror that lasted for several minutes. We heard a man screaming at him to stop. The man screamed "F** you!" at him, and the kid stopped screaming just long enough to shout the same thing back at him. Then, we heard the sound of hard, heavy blows, brief sobbing, and then the screams stopped. A woman came in and yelled at the man for a minute, and I think he ended up leaving. For a minute, I thought the worst had happened to the kid, but then I heard him/her coughing loudly, (their throat probably raw from all the screaming).

 

We ended up calling Child Protective Services. I never like to interfere with other peoples' lives, but no kid should have to deal with stuff like that. This isn't the first time we've heard commotion and swearing, either. I'm not naive enough to think one call is going to make a world of change, but ...  I just hope it helps that kid somehow, even just a little.

 

I just can't get this whole thing out of my mind. That poor kid ...  It brings back some pretty upsetting associations. It feels like my whole day is ruined, and I can't stop crying. But it feels pretty dumb to complain about a ruined day given what that child has to deal with.

 

Sorry ... this is pretty heavy stuff for a "lounge" area where people are supposed to be able to relax.

Response

That is absolutely terrible... I do hope that child gets a lot more help and support. Nobody should go through something as bad as that.

I honestly imagined that scenario just now and... argh that's horrible. I do hope for the best of that child and I hope something is done with that man as a punishment.

[KingPridenia]

That story was really disturbing, Aevin, not going to lie. That would be out of my comfort zone to witness such a situation.

 

Anyway, I love this one Hey Arnold episode where Wolfgang and Edmond are screwing with Arnold and Gerald on Friday the 13th. Once they figure out it was them who set up all the "bad luck", Arnold and Gerald confronted the bullies. Once Wolfgang lifted Arnold up and drew his arm back, a whole bunch of black cats appeared with Arnold's grandmother on the roof making a cheetah or jaguar cry. I love this exchange too:

 

Arnold: You really shouldn't treat people like that. Some day, it just might catch up to you.

Wolfgang *grabs and lifts Arnold up, about to punch him*: Yeah right, like that'll ever happen.

Arnold: I wouldn't be so sure about that...

*a bunch of black cats appear*

Edmond: Uhh, 11, 12, 13. Thirteen black cats on Friday the 13th, Wolfgang.

Wolfgang: Thirteen black cats on Friday the 13th? That's like the worst bad luck you could have! That's like, a gazillion years bad luck!

Arnold: Gerald?

 

The rest of the exchange involves Gerald throwing a bucket of fish on Wolfgang at Arnold's command. Then Arnold's grandmother shows up and makes a snarl, scaring Wolfgang into his house, begging his mother to lock the door as the black cats are in pursuit of him. Hey Arnold is such a great cartoon; I really miss it.

 

In other news, tomorrow is round 2 with the new therapist. I compiled a list of topics and told her she could pick from them for suggestions of things to discuss with me.

[Astromeow]

Worst day of the year for me


Let's see if I get fired

[Moonbread]

So I've just enrolled in the final Veterinary Assistance class I have to take before I can be qualified for the position at a pet clinic, but there are also a couple other classes that have caught my eye... Mainly, Handling Medical Emergencies and Spanish for Medical Professionals.  The way things are handled, I could enroll in one of them next month, and then enroll in the other in December; and this would be ideal because I'll be able to put full focus on one class at a time.  I'm just not sure the order to go in- Taking Spanish for Medical Professionals first would be nice so I'd get an earlier start on it and would have more time to practice the language, but being able to handle medical emergencies is a skill a lot of people don't regularly have and what happens before people are put into the care of 911 services and hospitals is really important, and would be really good to have asap.

 

I also need to find a new job.  A bakery or something similar might be my best bet, since the pet store didn't work out since they couldn't afford to hire anyone (otherwise I'm sure I'd have been hired), and there isn't much in animals around here.  It would just be good in the meantime until I can get a job at one of the pet clinics around here, and even if a temporary job I get isn't animal-related, it would be better than not having a job at all, because that would just make me look lazy.  ...Which I have been for the past couple weeks.

[MarinaraSauce]

I'm going camping this weekend, which saddens me since I wanted to play more Islands of Zelda and work on Tale of Greifland. 

[HavoX]

Aww man, that sucks, dude.

 

 

I have memories of camping when I was in the Boy Scouts. Some of them were good... others, not so good.

My best moment was when I caught a fish, and ate it for supper; it was delicious.

 

I want to go fishing again someday.

Edited by HavoX, 18 October 2014 - 07:58 AM.

[Eddy]

News is going around here that a hurricane is coming to the UK tonight. I believe it's "Hurricane Gonzalo" or something like that and it already wrecked Bermuda. I also heard that the hurricane is going to weaken as it goes through the Atlantic but it's still going to be pretty bad.

 

The good news it that the hurricane will only hit Northern Ireland, Scotland, Northern England and Wales, meaning London will be safe, so I'm really relieved about that.

[MarinaraSauce]

I've been playing Pokémon Pearl, and my friend decided to give me an egg and not tell me what was in it.  It turned out to be a Houndour with Ember, Fire Blast, Dark Pulse and Sludge Bomb.  I named it after him, but I now realize I should have named it "Winning".

[HavoX]

News is going around here that a hurricane is coming to the UK tonight. I believe it's "Hurricane Gonzalo" or something like that and it already wrecked Bermuda. I also heard that the hurricane is going to weaken as it goes through the Atlantic but it's still going to be pretty bad.

WHAT. I didn't realize until now that hurricanes can hit the UK!

Good for you that you're unaffected, but I feel bad for the others...


EDIT: I looked it up, and you are correct; it is Gonzalo.

Edited by HavoX, 21 October 2014 - 07:57 AM.

[David]

The storm is not in hurricane status; it was just strong enough to contain a lot of the strength in its current storm status. Think of it more as really strong storm or remnants of the hurricane.

And I'm pretty sure that London was still affected by the storm. Most of Central Europe and the UK will be effected by 50 mph (80 kph) and lots of rain. I do hope that everyone in Europe is fine, though.