Dear Diary/Journal/Bob 3.0

[Syphon the Sun]

I need to learn how to Skype...

Oh, man. Skype interviews are the best. You don't even have to wear pants!

[VelvetElvis]

I need to learn how to Skype...

Oh, man. Skype interviews are the best. You don't even have to wear pants!

But you should, in case there's an earthquake and you fall over and they see your pink frilly underwear.

[LilBee91]

I need to learn how to Skype...

Oh, man. Skype interviews are the best. You don't even have to wear pants!

But you should, in case there's an earthquake and you fall over and they see your pink frilly underwear.

Nah--just make sure they are really cute pink frilly underwear. (If such a thing exists for anyone besides toddlers).

[Gravity Defier]

Congratulations! I can't say I'm surprised. I wish I could help you with skype, but I've never tried it myself. Good Luck!

Thanks. I've done Skype once, forever ago, on a computer that couldn't handle it. Hopefully this one can and hopefully I can find a nice place to do it...like, not at work because that would feel weird. I have about three weeks to find somewhere.

Glad you're not surprised because I'm shocked as s***. So much so, I told my parents about it already.

I need to learn how to Skype...

Oh, man. Skype interviews are the best. You don't even have to wear pants!

Dude...forget about the pantslessness for a second! There is a strangely higher than zero chance I'll be living in Vh1's Best State Ever not just in 2012 but in flipping January of 2012.

[LilBee91]

May I just say how exciting all of this is?

And now I am most sad that I didn't have enough data to submit an abstract for that conference in Chicago in April. I could have been real!

[Gravity Defier]

I could have been real!

Halfway there, any way. But I'm sure we could find at least one other Pwebber to drag to the Chicago area if you came. Assuming I'm there to come to. Even though you're not going because you didn't submit the abstract. Because you didn't have enough data.


Okay, okay, I'm going to jinx myself. I don't even have the offer for the job yet. It's just an interview. I am not going to get excited or scared s***** until I have something more.

:)

[starlooker]

I need to learn how to Skype...

Oh, man. Skype interviews are the best. You don't even have to wear pants!

Syphon, you are officially my favorite for the day.

[Mich]

Finally! A chance to use the "No Pants" emoticon!

...

Oh, right. No one else wanted that emoticon.

[Syphon the Sun]

I'm totally not kidding. It worked for me.

But it's nice living in VH1's Best State Ever. Although I still maintain that as pretty as Chicago is, they desperately need to work on their sewer system. It always smells like poop. (Maybe that's just a "big city" thing.)

Also, Mich, I love the sad trombone. And someone must find a no-pants emoticon. I demand it!

[Petra456]

And we're upgraded from interest to interview.

Super exciting! I'm keeping my fingers crossed : )

[Gravity Defier]

Syphon, perhaps your smelling s*** has more to do with your pants situation than the city's sewer system.

Seriously, it has never smelled that way to me in the 10 days I've been there, in two different seasons of the year, in two separate years.

[Syphon the Sun]

Syphon, perhaps your smelling s*** has more to do with your pants situation than the city's sewer system.

Muggers are scary!

Seriously, it has never smelled that way to me in the 10 days I've been there, in two different seasons of the year, in two separate years.

See, city folk always say that. I assume that means they're used to smelling poop.

[neo-dragon]

If anything it's rural areas that reek of manure.

[Syphon the Sun]

If anything it's rural areas that reek of manure.

Only when you live on the outskirts of towns or in the country. And even then, most farmland doesn't smell bad (it's mostly just the pig farmers and dairy farmers that smell). And as someone who has lived near both a dairy farm and a pig farm, it was much better than the smell of sewage.

[Wind Swept]

Totally bombed my interview, today. So many things I should have said differently... Oh, well. With any luck, the other two candidates will suck more than I did. Or better, it'll turn out I'm way more qualified than they are, so the interview failure turns will be a moot point. I won't find out until next week.

[Luet]

Although I still maintain that as pretty as Chicago is, they desperately need to work on their sewer system. It always smells like poop. (Maybe that's just a "big city" thing.)

I haven't been to Chicago but I do think NYC usually smells like urine/sewage, especially in the heat of summer. Now, I do live in a rural area with lots of farms and manure, but you only smell them when you are in fairly close proximity. The manure isn't the bad part of the farm smell, something called silage is so much worse. It's some kind of fermented something that smells indescribably terrible. I'd take manure any day over that. Fortunately, you don't smell it often and only when driving by the farms.

[Ela]

The entirety of NYC does not smell like urine/sewage, even in the summertime.

Which makes me wonder what neighborhoods you have been frequenting.

[Luet]

No, not the entirety. It's mostly when you walk over storm drains/grates or things like that. But I do have a very sensitive nose and the smells of cities overwhelm me in general.

[zeroguy]

I just feel like putting this somewhere... I haven't been on pweb in a while. A week and a half ago I was semi-abruptly out of town for what I was told was a hot date oh man, and I've been pretty ill for most of this past week. So, there's that, and dealing with the backlog here and elsewhere from all of the resultant lost time.

Losing almost my entire thanksgiving weekend to sleep and pain was incredibly frustrating. I had planned on using that time off to reduce my backlog on some other things, but it only served to add more s*** to it.

[Luet]

That sounds terrible, zero. *hugs*

______________

I am so anxious, I don't even know what to do with myself. This house buying process is crazy. It's such a roller coaster of emotions. One day we're ecstatic because we sold our house. The next day I'm freaking out because there is some glitch with the mortgage and it's all up in the air again. I feel like a need a 24/7 drip of xanax. And we are leaving tomorrow for Florida, so we won't even be here to handle paperwork or bank issues. Gah. I'm really freaking out. Oh, and my grandmother is flying home with us to live with my mom for awhile because she's doing so poorly.

[Wind Swept]

Start saying your goodbyes, fat cells.

[Young Val]

Dear Bob,

I am sick.

I am stressed.

I am sad about the way my vacation went in some places. I wish I had behaved better. I wish things were different between my mother and me. I wish we could talk like adults.

I wish I wasn't so afraid of my wedding. I wish I could talk about it confidently and comfortably when asked.

I wish I could get rid of the sour taste that fills my mouth whenever I come to post here.

I wish I could stop getting in my own damn way once and for all.

[Rei]

If anything it's rural areas that reek of manure.

Only when you live on the outskirts of towns or in the country. And even then, most farmland doesn't smell bad (it's mostly just the pig farmers and dairy farmers that smell). And as someone who has lived near both a dairy farm and a pig farm, it was much better than the smell of sewage.

I dunno, driving along fields where they've been spreading is not a pleasant aroma.

[Petra456]

Bob,

A couple of days ago my older sister called me and told me while at the dentist getting xrays, they found a lump in her jaw. They didn't know if it was a tooth or a tumor and wouldn't know until they got in there to remove it. If it turned out to be a tumor we would have to wait to get some more test results to see if it was cancerous. There was also a chance of them paralyzing her jaw because it was so close to a nerve. She asked me not to tell my parents because she didn't want them to worry. She called later that night and ended up telling my mom about it because she was scared.

She just called to tell me it was nothing but a tooth and everything went fine.

It's been a while since my family had to deal with any big medical problems, and honestly I was expecting worst because I guess it's just what I've gotten used to.

I got pretty freaked out Bob, and still feel a little shaken even though it's good news.

I'm so very glad it's good news!

[Luet]

I wish things were different between my mother and me. I wish we could talk like adults.

I totally understand this one. My mom and I have such a difficult relationship. Somehow we take everything that the other person says in the worst possible way.

*hugs*

[Gravity Defier]

I'm so very glad it's good news!

Same. :)

[thoughtreader]

bob...
I feel like a screw up all the time.
I strongly dislike (HATE) living here sometimes.

Why do I let the little things cloud the big ones

WHY can't i just let it go.

I suck.

[Luet]

Dear bob,

You know it's a bad "vacation" when all you can think about is how much you want to be home. But I pretty much knew this wasn't going to be any kind of a real vacation. Okay, well it sucks to pay for what you thought was going to be a vacation that turns out to not be one. I'm trying to make the best of it but between taking care of my grandmother and constant emails/calls about the house and mortgage stuff, I'm in a very foul mood. Plus the migraines. I want to go to sleep and wake up in a month when all of this is over. Hrmph.

[thoughtreader]

Bob,
It has been 2 months since Cleo was diagnosed with lymphoma, We are currently treating her with Prednisone. Mainly because that is all we can afford (stupid money). And according to all the info I've found and the vet she should be just about dead...

Prednisone alone : This medication is a steroid and can be given in pill form daily at home. The average survival time for patients with lymphoma treated with prednisone only is 60 days.

I'm really happy she is still with me and seems to be doing great. All of her lumps went away, but one came back when we lowered her pred dose but I upped the dose the second I noticed the lump and it hasn't gotten any bigger and no more lumps have popped up. All those terrible hot spots from the cat food are gone (her hair isn't growing back but she seems happy so I don't care if her tail looks funny). She has been playing a lot lately and is eating great. She still loves going on walks, and even went on a short run with us a few days ago. She keeps taking all her toys out if her toy box. Its great to see.

Ever since she was diagnosed I have been trying to treasure each moment I have with her, but now that she has surpassed the normal survival time it just feels even more special because its time I wasn't expecting to have and I'm hoping I have a lot more time because she seems to be doing so good.

I love her so much

Teresa

[starlooker]

Teresa -- I'm so, so, so happy about Cleo.

Dear Bob,

I'm very scared. I'm terribly scared. I'm very, very, very, very scared.

Yes, stupid money stuff.

Me

[LilBee91]

Hey Bob,
Boy of Interest is thinking about joining the Coast Guard Reserves. I don't like it. I'm thankful for the military and those who serve in it, and I know the Coast Guard isn't the most risky of the branches, but I don't like it being my best friend on the line. Selfish, I know. But still.

[powerfulcheese04]

Dear Bob,

I want the realtor to get back to me with official word that our application to rent the super cute little hosuse we're in love with got accepted!!

We put the applicaiton in Saturday. Our realtor and the owner's realtor thought our applicaiton looked great and didn't see any problems. Just needed approval from the owner (who is related to his realtor). It sounded good last night. Just needed final approval of the pets (I'm assuming he approved the application, our realtor mentioned our pets, and his realtor decided to ask again to be sure.)

This afternoon, our realtor sent an email saying "Do you want your move date to be December 27th?"

I'm assuming that means it's all set to go... I just want it said explicitly!

[Luet]

bob,

As if this "vacation" couldn't get any worse. On Friday afternoon, my SIL stopped at my house to find a paper that we needed to copy for the mortgage crap. It was very nice of her to do us this favor. I asked her to call as soon as she got there so that I could tell her where it was. Instead, for some reason, she decided to randomly look around the whole house for it. This included going into our bedroom which is kept closed to keep the cats out of it. While she did this, one of the cats got in and she must not have noticed.

Skip ahead to Sunday when my mom went to check on the cats and do the litter box, etc. She found that Monkey had been closed into our bedroom for two days. With no food, no water and using our bed as a litter box. That is a LOT of pee and poop. I had her throw out the comforter, duvet cover and blanket (they were soaked and shredded from Monkey trying in vain to cover her business). And then put the sheets and mattress pad into the washer for me to deal with when I get home. My mom thinks that it only got as far as the mattress pad. I'm really hoping that the mattress is clean. So, I ordered a new comforter and all, which won't get there until a few days after we get back. So, it will be a cold first couple nights.

We aren't going to tell my SIL because I don't want her to feel bad. But a) I feel SO incredibly terrible for Monkey. She was already I'm really skittish cat and now I'm afraid she's going to be even more traumatized. And b) I had to spend a lot of money that we really couldn't spare on replacing all that stuff. Not to mention coming home to a torn apart bedroom.

But I did get to go birding all day yesterday! I don't know how many new birds I got yet. I have to spend the day going through my 800+ pictures and trying to ID them. But I got at least 15 new ones. So, yay for that!

[Jayelle]

Oh man, Nomi. That is so sad. Cat pee is the absolute worst, and your poor kitty!!

[Wind Swept]

Hey Bob,

I just finished rereading Ender's Game for the first time in slightly more than a decade.

Yay.