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Cristobal

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So I make my bones in writing/journalism. I also perform comedy on the side. What happened in France this week disgusted every right minded person around the globe. But it really affected me. I'm not a cartoonist or French, but this felt like my people were attacked. I mostly write about business and my comedy strays  more towards Steve Martin/Andy Kaufmann than anything overtly political. But I have done some work to expose corruption and hypocrisies, and there's always a little bit of anger behind any and every comedy bit. So this was a really crummy few days, and things like this can really get me down and throw me for a loop, and I've been dealing with some stuff lately, too.

Anyways, I went to a Rally For France in Center City tonight. I'm not a flag waver or "cause head" and I usually avoid -- if not outwardly mock -- those things like the plague. I almost went to a Ferguson protest this summer, but then I saw someone on the Facebook group planning it talking about the interpretive dance piece he was planning on staging. Like, seriously? Interpretive dance in a dance studio is hard enough for me to deal with on its own. And believe me -- there's a part of me that would very much (VERY MUCH) perversely enjoy seeing someone perform interpretive dance relating to the theme of police militarization. But there were over two dozen "likes" for this and a lot of wanky "right on, man" type comments. I just assumed that would be truly awful.

But I felt like I had to go to this. I almost didn't, since it's horrifically cold. But these dudes died. The least I can do to pay respects is to just go and be cold for a while. And it was right. The crowd was largely silent. It was a really interesting mix of people -- there are way more French speakers in Philly than I thought, and people of all age groups and races. It looked like a lot of people who were there were like me -- not professionally, but the sort of people who usually don't go to these sorts of things for the same sort of reasons why I don't go to these things. We all held Je Suis Charlie signs. A few others held candles. Most people talked among themselves, but somewhat solemnly. It didn't have a funeral feel, but it felt properly respectful.

So that ended a rough 36 hours. I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling so upset and outraged about what happened. And now it's time to move on, and to use that anger in a positive direction.

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So, I was born at 5:59 am on this date 40 years ago. At 6:00, this happened.  It was at the Husky Energy Refinery Plant in Lima, Ohio. The ISO Cracker exploded. I live in Wapakoneta, 15 miles away, and it sounded like standing next to a train wreck and felt like an Earthquake.  It was felt as far away ( if not further) as Jackson Center, 24 miles away. The sound you are hearing is the explosion, ongoing. 

 

So, why did I put it here? Because the evacuation was a success. No injuries or deaths involved.

 

Also, I mentioned the first sentence, because on a personal level, this is something that will not be soon forgotten about. Happening on such a minute, hour, and day as this. 

 

 

 

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My boyracer friend, he just got banned from driving. He was in a 40 zone, and he wanted to over take a couple of cars so he sped up to 80MPH. And then one of the cars turned out to be an unmarked Police car, and started playing the siren. So he sped up to 100MPH and they stopped chasing him because that's too fast for an unmarked cop car apparently. Next day there's a knock on the door, and it's two policemen saying "Is this your car sir? Where you driving it at 4PM yesterday on Reginald Mitchell Way? I'm arresting you on charges of Speeding, Dangerous Driving, and refusing to stop for Police. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something you later rely on in court". So now he's banned from the roads for a year or so.

 

The thing is, right, he's always driven like a maniac. Twelve years ago, when he was 19, he had a bad car accident, and he's been paralysed from the waist down ever since. Never stopped him from driving like a lunatic. I could never quite decide whether his story was a tale of an idiot who refuses to learn from his mistakes, or a story of a determined man who refuses to allow his disability to prevent him from living his life the way he wants to, come what may.

 

But no, he's an idiot. Nice guy... but an idiot. Miracle it's only himself he's hurt, really.

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Guest The Magnificent 7

I don't remember my dreams too often these days, but I dreamed Paul Molitor came out of retirement and got in a fight with a rookie teammate in the locker room.  It was a scary fight, Molitor was throwing punches like Hagler and knocked this dude out cold as about 10 people struggled to pull him off the rookie.  THought he killed him.  THen I woke up.  I haven't the foggiest fucking notion why I was dreaming about Paul Molitor as I have rarely even watch any baseball these days and have no connection to the Brewers or Twins.

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For those that have kids, I need some advice, or something.

 

My daughter is 4 and currently attends a Montessori in a preschool program. She goes 5 days, full days. In May she will be 5 and will thus qualify for kindergarten. When her mom and I split, one of things we decided on was sending her to public school in the fall because the Montessori is way expensive (close to $500 a month) and because we thought she would be able to handle it.

 

Lately though, my daughter has spoken about how she's afraid to go to a different school, how she's afraid to leave her current school, how she's afraid of missing her friends, etc. In addition, she's been doing really well at her Montessori. Despite still having sensory issues, and maybe some emotional issues, she's been progressing really well. That said, sign up for kindergarten is on January 20th, and it was a crushing reminder of how well my daughter has been doing.

 

So now I'm afraid of my daughter going to a different school. I've long thought that I have a stronger, deeper and more emotional connection to my daughter than her mom does, and so everything my daughter feels, I feel more than her mom does. I'm really not sure what to do. My daughter still doesn't even know she'll be going to a different school next year; however, she also doesn't understand that her best friends in her class this year won't even be in her class next year if she returns to the Montessori. There's still the familiarity with her current school and I'm not sure how she'll handle the change.

 

For my fellow parents on here, how did you handle having your kid go from a preschool type situation to a completely different school? I'm also worried about her taking the bus. I mean, I drive her to school every day right now. I can kinda get in her head though, and it's a really scary feeling to be that little, on a school bus, not knowing where to go, not having a teacher get her out of the car and walk her in like what happens now, etc. I'm worried she'll freak out, or get lost, or will feel alone on the bus, or she'll break down crying on the bus, or she'll cry for me or even her mom...Man, there's a lot to worry about and I just don't know what to do.

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I don't have kids but have dealt with a lot kid-related issues:

For me, it depends on how severe her sensory issues are. How resilient is she? Going to a new school is generally tough for every kid. But it's also not catastrophic and is not something a child really needs to be sheltered from. This is the kind of stuff 5-year olds do all the time. Kids younger, even. The part about riding the bus is a bit of a concern - so you either ride with her the first couple days or you drive her so she knows where to go. Will she cry? Probably. Will she still be crying a week later? Nope. She made good friends when she was 4, she'll make new ones at a new school when she's 5.

TL;DR - let her go to the public school unless her sensory issues are severe.

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Five car payments to go.  Will be nice to free up some extra funds...will be able to put a lot more toward my credit cards once that's out of the way.

(Only goes here because I'm probably jinxing myself and will bust up the vehicle before it's finally paid off.)

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I don't have kids but have dealt with a lot kid-related issues:

For me, it depends on how severe her sensory issues are. How resilient is she? Going to a new school is generally tough for every kid. But it's also not catastrophic and is not something a child really needs to be sheltered from. This is the kind of stuff 5-year olds do all the time. Kids younger, even. The part about riding the bus is a bit of a concern - so you either ride with her the first couple days or you drive her so she knows where to go. Will she cry? Probably. Will she still be crying a week later? Nope. She made good friends when she was 4, she'll make new ones at a new school when she's 5.

TL;DR - let her go to the public school unless her sensory issues are severe.

 

Her sensory issues aren't that severe. She has the usual SPD things some kinds have with clothing (socks and underwear in particular), so her clothing in the winter time tends to be soft, fleecy clothing. She's gotten better with loud noises, and her gross and fine motor movements have improved. She really has trouble sitting still though, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her diagnosed with ADHD at some point. Hell, I was diagnosed with having ADHD a few years ago and I'm the least hyperactive person I know, so I wouldn't be surprised if I passed that gem down to her.

 

I don't know, I can just see her being scared without me taking her to school and I also worry about her being on a bus with 5th graders. I never rode the bus until middle school, but that was because there was no bus service for elementary school, so my dad drove me to school or I walked because the school was a short distance from home.

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Of course she'll be scared without you the first couple times. You can do stuff to mitigate - like riding behind the bus in your car once or twice, then moving that to bring where she can't see you on the way but you meet her there, etc. Being scared isn't a catastrophe and it's not something that kids should always be shielded from.

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Guest The Magnificent 7

Have we ever had an intervention on DVDVR before?  If not, now may be the time.

 

What kind of lame dream analysis is this?  I expect better from you.

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I turned in my notice at my job yesterday. 

 

My level of anxiety was rising and I just sort of realized slowly that I wasn't happy there. It was a little stifling working for the church.

 

I don't have anything lined up, but I've got almost two months to find something. I might end up taking less money to go somewhere, but it's okay. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been awake since Wednesday 10 am. I worked 4-8 that day. Stayed awake. Opened Thursday starting at 7:45 in the morning. Went to pick up my manager around 2:30 so he could be at work at 3. I filled in for 2 call offs. A 4-8 and 8-close. So basically I worked from 7:45am to 12:45am with 30 minutes to go home to eat dinner around 4. On no sleep the night before, no less.My manager filled in for me at that time. I'll probably be up all night, due to having to open again this morning. It's going to be interesting, because our new Director of Operations (A notch below our franchise owner) will be there at open and will be observating throughout lunch. If you don't hear from me during the weekend , it's because I died until I have to work Sunday close. I have anxiety and depression issues.

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Been sick in bed for two days. Nothing major, just a cold. I wouldn't normally even call off, but my department is serious about staying home if you're sick. So I'm catching up on some gaming, watching tv and napping again today.

Wish I felt better, but it could be worse.

Stuff...

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My workplace changed its annal evaluation process last year and my usual average marks don't conform to it.  So my supervisor tells me that I'll have some semi-annual staff evaluation today.  But she was pretty flexible with the time and now it's been moved to Monday.

 

I guess if I was in real trouble, the appointment would have been more concrete so they could fire me on a Friday with little fanfare. No need to drag me in on a Monday to fire me.

 

Then again, who knows.

 

The whole thing is so contrived these days.

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