FEATURED Morning Pops!

[ABQCOWBOY]

Evening Pops and everyone.

Decided to come home from work early tonight and take a "chill" night. Mind you, my getting home early from work means being at the office less than 11 hours. I worked 13 hours yesterday... beginning to wonder why I bought this house when all I do is sleep here. I worked most of the past weekend and logged 19 hours of overtime!! I suppose the up side to that is I know how to pay for the rest of the Christmas presents I have to buy, as well as Christmas Eve dinner . I was also told by my friend (who is also the office manager) that the boss is looking at giving us the Monday and Tuesday after Christmas off (paid) as well.

It's been pretty awful at work this year working essentially the load for two people. Honestly, I can't wait for this year to be over with. Can I get an "Amen!"?

Anywaaaaayyyy... time to call it a night.
Haven't seen posts from a lot of you lately. I sure hope everyone is okay.

You know, there is always a guy who points out that there is always a bright side...... guess what.........



Man, lots of people not working right now. I'm just happy to be working and able to pay bills. Look on the bright side Jan, you could be Salary and not getting paid for OT. Now that sucks......

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

This thread celebrates the life of a person who made everybody around him, associated with him, better. This thread also celebrates the lives of others, who were close to us, who are no longer with us. To me, that's not a dark thing.

Life is not that bad people. We are alive and that is not a bad thing. There is much, much worse.

Chin up!

Leon, dbrp, Xelda, zrin, Trouty, ksk, RGV, Coach, RWB, Ranching, SW, John, Jan, Corso and Colo, we are at Thursday and just at two weeks before Xmas. I hope that we are all in good health, all those close to us are likewise.

Everybody, bring it home and lets get to Friday1

Peace.....................................

 

[LeonDixson]

This thread celebrates the life of a person who made everybody around him, associated with him, better. This thread also celebrates the lives of others, who were close to us, who are no longer with us. To me, that's not a dark thing.

Life is not that bad people. We are alive and that is not a bad thing. There is much, much worse.

Chin up!

Leon, dbrp, Xelda, zrin, Trouty, ksk, RGV, Coach, RWB, Ranching, SW, John, Jan, Corso and Colo, we are at Thursday and just at two weeks before Xmas. I hope that we are all in good health, all those close to us are likewise.

Everybody, bring it home and lets get to Friday1

Peace.....................................

Well said, ABQ.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Well said, ABQ.

Had a real good example set for me Leon..........

 

[LeonDixson]

Afternoon, Pops and pen pals. Another beautiful day here. The weather this week has been fantastic with sunny skies, cool weather and low pollen counts. Later!

 

[Xelda]

Good afternoon Pops and Popsadoodles. Someone should have turned the couch lantern on to warn me that Coachadoodles is having a rough day. Who ever is in charge, you're fired!

I've been in a bad place myself of late. This year has gone above and beyond in testing my payshuns (don't have any). I hired a company in August to put my roof up and it wasn't done until November. After the roof went up, I found I'm the only person on the block with a brown roof. I'm thinking burgundy and cream for the exterior paint. Inside my garage is the blue and white with a chandelier of sorts. It's a must see but still don't believe for the neighbors.

I bought a new front door and then my intended carpenter's family came down with that virus. Why do these things happen to me? New door is laying in my garage. It's a beauty and would look very nice attached to the house.

Earlier this week, I saw a mid life crisis trotting down the highway with his shirt off. He looked to be deep into his third trimester with quadruplets. I don't think running was good for them or my eyes. I can still picture it like it's burned onto my retinas.

I hope everyone is doing well or getting better. Have a good evening y'all.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I bought a new front door and then my intended carpenter's family came down with that virus. Why do these things happen to me? New door is laying in my garage. It's a beauty and would look very nice attached to the house.

Hell you say! Lookit, it's not every old Broad that has the horse sense and foresight to buy a garage to house a quality made door Xelda. Don't sell yourself short here. That's a classy move there. Only the highend Broads think that way!

 

[Runwildboys]

Good morning Pops and all y'all in Jan's Amen Corner. This has all the signs of one hell of a New Year's Eve send off with the worst year since 2001 and I can make a case for the worst in my lifetime. Doesn't even matter which side of the lock down argument you are on, we're all in the same sorry shape.

One thing a lot of folks are going to be experiencing is regret that they took those required family gatherings for granted and even dreaded them. Fortunately, I can play my own drunk uncle.

I am trying my best to force that good ole holiday feeling on myself and even ordered this cool fiber optics tree from Hammacher Schlemmer and it has 15 different programmable colors and 23 changing patterns and the first thing I thought of when I turned it on was 'I miss drugs'. Under the right influence, this tree could take me places of magic and wonder.

However, new tree notwithstanding, I just want to get past this Christmas to New Year's Eve and approach that with the feeling we've come through the tunnel and are approaching the light. I really need to work past the feeling I have about my fellow human beings right now because it is anything but warm and I really do struggle with liking people. I am not joking about that. I am not bent to find the good in people.

I need a serious attitude adjustment and am hoping I can create a spark of that through some serious Tinsel Throwdown on my own thinking and focus on the good in people. I tried my Trans Siberian Orchestra therapy because that has worked in the past. That was the last concert my wife and I saw together and it left a lasting impression and I can get a little lost in the story telling and it has a rather strange effect on me of connection to a higher power through a contemporary and at times, metal like, presentation. I will give it another try closer to Christmas day. I really need to get out of this frame of mind.

It's not too late to join my misanthropy based church, but remember the cardinal rule of Run's Chapel of Perpetual Misanthropy: Do it from your own friggin' house.

 

[Runwildboys]

Morning pops,

Man, this time of year, for me, is always kind of rough. Lost a lot. But, it taught to appreciate the people and such in my life. Because trust me, it can all change in a blink of an eye. 2020 kind of makes me laugh to be honest.
And yes, I have lost my mind.

Have you checked your pipes? I lost mine once, and had to snake the toilet plumbing to get it back.

 

[Runwildboys]

Morning Pops and all y'all reading this and if you're not reading this, good morning to you anyway.

Got a call with my buddy Mike tonight and this one's going to be a little fragile as he's just come through the second anniversary of losing his wife and he's hit that dangerous area that I had to navigate. At some point, I looked at myself and thought 'what's wrong with me? I should be better by now. Am I ever going to get past this'? Dangerous territory, my friends, because that word "ever" is in there and that hangs there like a death sentence, that's eternity as we know it.

So, I've thought about how to best approach this because he dumped the grief counselor as I thought he would. Mainly because she couldn't fix him. Even though I told him my mistake not using that and that they're not there to make the grief go away but to help us handle it better and let us know we're not the first people to go through this. Have I shared with you how good I am at handing out advice and so poor at following it? Especially my own.

Coming up on 10 years, February 1, that the light went out in my life and I made the conscious decision not to even light a candle. The fact is I am not "over it" and will never be but I did do the most important thing, and I believe I shared this with the Popsadoodles when it happened as I kind of use you guys as my therapy wall, I forgave myself and stop beating myself up, and I was pretty bloody, for taking her for granted. I made the conscience decision to only take the good memories forward and stop that anchor of regrets and self recriminations.

That saying "time heals all wounds" isn't totally true but it does give us the time to learn how to live with "this is as good as it gets". And time is often the enemy for people like Mike because he feels too much of it has passed and he's not any better. He hasn't let that guilt go that he's still here and she's not and that's not the way it should be.

There's a double edged sword to trying to help someone you care about through some pain you've experienced, the scab can get ripped off very easily because coping means accepting that it's never really going to heal.

Sorry to get this way, again, but I woke up this morning with that first Holiday Hate feeling of the year but I am thankful it did come later this season.

Have a good Thirsty Thursday and for me tonight, it's doubles.

I wonder if Mike feels like he'd be betraying her memory if he allowed himself to experience some happiness. I suppose it's possible he forces himself to constantly think of her, either because he feels like it's what he's supposed to do, or because he's afraid he might start to forget her. Whatever the case, I think you need to talk him back into grief counseling. Maybe he needs a different counselor.

 

[CouchCoach]

I wonder if Mike feels like he'd be betraying her memory if he allowed himself to experience some happiness. I suppose it's possible he forces himself to constantly think of her, either because he feels like it's what he's supposed to do, or because he's afraid he might start to forget her. Whatever the case, I think you need to talk him back into grief counseling. Maybe he needs a different counselor.

He's stuck in this perpetual loop because he refuses to do two things that his counselor and I recommended and any other counselor will suggest the same.

I think I mentioned this but I was unable to even make the break until I sold the house. I was driving down from OK every weekend and the dogs and I were miserable and I did that for 22 months and my family and neighbors wondered what I was doing. I was paying for that house and the upkeep and hated going in it. He said he's going to sell it but hasn't done anything about that yet and he's alone in a 4500 sq ft house with her ashes in an urn on the mantle, the other problem. And all of her stuff is still in the same place. It sounds hard but he must remove all doubt that she isn't coming back. This is one time that hope is the enemy.

Now he's moved it to tomorrow night because he knows I am gonna chew on him because it's time for sympathy to take a back seat and let some tough love in to take over. I had my older son really get in my face to snap me out of the fog and get moving on selling my house and that was really the first time I felt I was making progress. The pattern doesn't break itself, it just becomes so easy just to do nothing. That's what creates the Groundhog Day Effect and I know exactly what he's talking about when he uses that reference and it isn't a bad place to be but it's not a good place to be either.

 

[CouchCoach]

Lol, I think of some of the things we ranted about, good Lord it was fun. Outside the lines is the place to be.

Those of us that started that should feel proud because we made that a better place by letting others know we could talk about anything and we started to get to know one another better and some even felt comfortable bringing their problems and troubles into it.

This is a good place to hang but that old forum got special, like this thread is special. We had a more proprietary feel over there and actually helped the mods police it when tempers were flaring.

When I first came over here, I didn't like it, felt foreign and unfriendly but once most of our crew moved over and I got the hang of the Off Topic Zone, I started to get acclimated. Bunch of good folks here just like there, just took a little longer to fit in. Some funny posters here too.

 

[G2]

Morning Pops and friends, happy Friday!

Pretty happy about having a couple of days of R/R....

 

[G2]

Those of us that started that should feel proud because we made that a better place by letting others know we could talk about anything and we started to get to know one another better and some even felt comfortable bringing their problems and troubles into it.

This is a good place to hang but that old forum got special, like this thread is special. We had a more proprietary feel over there and actually helped the mods police it when tempers were flaring.

When I first came over here, I didn't like it, felt foreign and unfriendly but once most of our crew moved over and I got the hang of the Off Topic Zone, I started to get acclimated. Bunch of good folks here just like there, just took a little longer to fit in. Some funny posters here too.

The Cat in your Avatar, is the bottle empty of full?

 

[G2]

Christ I can't type........

 

[CouchCoach]

The Cat in your Avatar, is the bottle empty of full?

It's full, you can't see it but Otis has a little butler bell he rings when he needs a fresh one and then he allows me the remote for 5 minutes and it gets to stay on that channel because he's not really watching it, he's just reading the captions.

I used to have a Homer Simpson avatar that the Gipper made for me but I couldn't use it over here so I went on a search and Otis captures perfectly how I feel watching the Cowboys try to play football. It is a mix of disgust, resignation and stupor. Now that applies to the news and current events as well.

 

[CouchCoach]

Christ I can't type........

He doesn't care, He can read you thoughts which is why the odds on me getting into Heaven are 4 to 1. If I do get in, I'll be on probation for the first 1000 years.

 

[G2]

He doesn't care, He can read you thoughts which is why the odds on me getting into Heaven are 4 to 1. If I do get in, I'll be on probation for the first 1000 years.

My arm caught on fire reading this.

 

[G2]

It's full, you can't see it but Otis has a little butler bell he rings when he needs a fresh one and then he allows me the remote for 5 minutes and it gets to stay on that channel because he's not really watching it, he's just reading the captions.

I used to have a Homer Simpson avatar that the Gipper made for me but I couldn't use it over here so I went on a search and Otis captures perfectly how I feel watching the Cowboys try to play football. It is a mix of disgust, resignation and stupor. Now that applies to the news and current events as well.

I was hoping to get more comments on my Avatar. There's a hidden Gem.

 

[Xelda]

I was hoping to get more comments on my Avatar. There's a hidden Gem.

Is it a gummy bear on top of one of the bottles?