A lack of sleep here, too. This stupid hotel bed has an old mattress so it's bowl-shaped on the side with the clock. I should have remembered that lesson from my days of heavy travel: sleep on the side away from the alarm clock, and just set the clock on the bed next to you. Why not unplug the clock and move it to the other side? Because much of the time, the stupid buttons on the cheap clock are worn out so it's a PITA to set the alarm and time.

Or I could use the cell phone alarm. Ehh.

So the bed has been waking me up since 3:30. Moved over to the other side around 4:00 but it was too late - my brain had already turned on for the day, with a dozen different matters all fighting (not just competing) for dominance.

I can deal with the short sleep today, except for one thing: three-hour drive back home after I'm done at the customer. It's a drive through farmland on a route I've taken dozens of times before so there's nothing new and interesting to hold my attention and keep me awake.

So what's fighting for dominance in the brain? House crap and work crap. For work, I'm looking at anywhere from $10- 25 thousand on molds for a new plastic part and three aluminum parts with no guarantee of breaking even in a reasonable time-frame, let alone making any profit.

On the house (mentioned here previously), we could easily drop $20,000 on the very low side and $60,000 at the upper end to get it fixed up before moving. $60k ain't gonna work since we'd be lucky to get half that back - the only way we spend that much is if we go positively nuts on the place after a decision to make it OUR house and turn it into what we want and not what the market says we should do. I've already told her what I'd like to do if we stay.

But she's set on moving to the country, an idea I don't necessarily oppose since I could make the garage and office / work space I really want, and we could build the off-the-grid home I've dreamed of for years.

To that end, I had one contractor come in to look at siding and windows Tuesday morning. He agrees: just those two things alone will be a big chunk o' money. it's a big old farm-style house with a lot of big windows. On the upside, we punched a small hole in the siding and found that the old wood lap siding is underneath. I'm actually excited about that prospect since that would mean mostly labor for repairs and paint and only a little money for materials.

Talked to my brother about the old windows and we're going to take a much better look at them tomorrow to evaluate the possibility of refurb'ing instead of replacing. We went by his place Tuesday to see what he has done with some of the windows he refinished and updated, and it looks like this may be completely possible for us since our place is a good 50 years newer - less age and damage, and easier to find modern parts and upgrades to fit. Even then, we have to decide what to do with the trim, storm windows, and all the other crap that needs doing - like an overhaul on the garage and all the interior work.

And then we get to start it all over again to design - or find - a place in the country. That's if we can find land or a suitable existing property.

Why didn't you tell her you're not cool with this? Your girlfriend must be important to you, but you don't have to put up with everything, you know.

Well, actually I'm absolutely okay with sleeping at my place. Makes me feel like I'm a free man for a night. :P And as for their awkward conversations - well, I'm not the kind of jerk who will destroy their first meeting in more than a year because I'm uncomfortable. Also, such a women's talk is the kind of cruel torture that you want to endure for sick reasons.

ok this is not like me, but have to do this.............

BING, BONG
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts.......our captain today, Ian, will be cruising at around 135,000 feet"

ok so gamestop (wankers) have 100 games for sale less than 10$ - so off i trot, making sure i on the uk page and I find a game on page 2 !!

Dragon Age 2 - £3.74, goes to read (it even has a bit of dlc incuded) and i am salivating all over my keyboard by now :D

click - add to basket :D

OI YOU !! - yes u the idiot that wants to buy a game - "you have placed an item in the basket that is not available in your region"

wtf............sorry i mean WTF - if its not available because i am a f****ng brit, tell me that before i can put it in the f****ng basket !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BING, BONG

"Thank you for flying Ian's pissed off airways, we hope you had a pleasant flight"

BING, BONG, BING, BONG

"this is your captain speaking - I wonder if gamestop would appreciate a picture of my butt - of course the email would be entitled "Do you sell To The Moon !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Wait, she's "the jealous type" but doesn't see the hypocrisy of sleeping in a bed with her friend that she used to have sex with...? Wtf. To each their own, but it sounds like you have the very short end of the stick in that relationship.

It's not about what you're "okay" with, it's about her putting very unequal demands on you. I'm with AlKim, that's pretty much bullshit.
Maybe because they're doing the favor of not sniffing your IP address and assuming things about you, thus enabling someone vacationing in the UK to still take advantage of their sale. I can see why your situation is frustrating, I just don't agree with your assessment of the solution.

orcishgamer - i would never do it lol - I don't even mind not being able to buy the game. The frustrating part was being allowed to get so close, only to be told no.

I was just venting - I will go back to gifting, that will make me happy again :D

Here's to happiness! It's in short supply anyway! More of it!

I have had around 18 kidney stones in the past 6 weeks. Without any pain medication. And without missing a single hour of work when all I want to do is curl up in the fetal position and die.
If this is what giving birth feels like I'm getting sterilized.

I'm guessing that you're a woman from your comment. I have heard from people who've done both that giving birth hurts more. However, for most women it doesn't last all that long and there's the epidural. Between that and the warm tub at most birthing centers it's not too bad. My ex got screwed by needing Petosin, which increases your contractions in intensity, and her labor lasted 32 hours, she was passing out between pushes at the end. That likely was a much more painful experience.

The fact of the matter is, giving birth fucking hurts for most mammals (I grew up on a farm, so I've seen a lot of animal births as well). Our medical technology makes it less painful and less risky than normal, but yeah, it'll probably hurt worse.

I'm sorry you haven't been treated for pain, stones are a completely valid reason for Hydrocodone or Oxycodone, which is cheap as hell anyway, get a doctor to prescribe a few days worth.

I have a huge bottle of the pain killers (norco). The first time I got one I went to the ER (thank GOD for insurance) and the gave me morphine and then prescribed me pain killers. I just don't want to rely on them when it's becoming an almost daily thing. Especially when I'm at work six days at week and don't function well on them.

Thankfully I should be getting surgery soon to get what's causing me chronic kidney stones fixed.

I won't know whether I got the AFROTC Scholarship until the Spring. Fingers crossed,

I've been needing to release a good bitchfest for awhile now, and this seems to be the place.

First off, I'm fricking sick of diabetes. I've had type 1 (the un-curable kind) for 16 out of my 17 years. I try the best I can to keep it under control, but it's still never good enough for the Doctors. I know they're just looking out for me, but it's a lot easier to say than do, especially when you're a teenager and your bloodsugar is even *harder* to control due to hormones, which the doctors themselves have told me. Better yet, at my last appointment, they told me my new target number is 80. The past 16 years, my target has been 100. 80 is a low sugar to me, I need to treat that. Instinct and adrenaline kick in, and I treat it. I can't help it, when my sugar is like that I get really confused, a rubbery feeling in my legs, and I feel like I'm gonna pass out. Why in the hell would they tell me to "Force yourself to think it's normal, cause it is. You can drive at that number." Drive?! Hell, I could not. I'd cause an accident.

Second, I wish my anxiety and depression would go away. For the past five years I've struggled with an anxiety disorder. It used to be a lot worse. Anything and everything would make me shake, get very nauseaus, and just freak out. Some days at school were a living hell, they wouldn't let me go home and chill out, so I sat in the nurses office all day, nauseaus and shaking. It hasn't been as bad recently, but I had an attack a few weeks ago that made me pass out for the first time, so it's getting pretty scary. Worse yet, it was affecting me so much when I first got it, I actually lost friends over it. Ever since July I've been getting depressed. It comes on gradually, feeling guilty about something stupid. About an hour later, I'm full blown depressed about anything and everything. I pretty much just sit and stare at the wall till I fall asleep, trying not to bawl my eyes out.

This last one is a bit stupid, but I feel it's a valid complaint anyway. My school's homecoming is just around the corner, and it's bugging the shit outta me. All of my friends are going to the dance and have dates, and I don't. Usually this wouldn't bug me, but it really is this year. It's my senior year, and I just want to go to the dance with a girl with my friends. The next bit here is going to sound a bit egotistical, but I really don't mean for it to be. I don't understand why I can't get a date. I'm a decent looking guy, I have excellent hygiene, good personality, etc, I just can never get a date. Like I said, this one is a bit stupid, but it's been bugging me all the same.

Tl;dr, Diabetes, Anxiety and Depression suck, and women need to lower their standards.

Thanks for reading.

Try Ultram (generic name is Tramadol), they act like a narcotic but they lack most of the addictive qualities and after the first week you can remain pretty functional. It does sound like surgery is the right answer for you, but unless your job includes complex mathematics or something you should be able to do it while using Tramadol for a few weeks until you get it all taken care of.

You can save the stronger narcotics for bedtime so you can actually get some rest. Since they lack the addictive qualities of narcotics, it's a cinch to get a prescription for these.

No one should have to live with chronic pain, it will fuck you up something awful longterm. Get it treated, for your own sake and the sake of those that care about and rely on you.

Guy called back with some estimates for a bit of renovation work:

- Garage: new siding, one window, new "people" door (it's a detached garage), plus whatever fix-ups might be needed. ~$6,300. High, but I can live with that, though it should be noted that I can get a complete steel garage kit for about that much.

- On the house: 5 basement windows (non-opening), and a larger window for the attic. ~$3,500. Ouch. DIY is half that much.

- House itself, living areas: all the windows upstairs, matching storm windows downstairs, a couple doors, remove one door and put a window in a different spot, plus insulated siding and the requisite fix-ups: ~$45,000. Holy crap! I can only imagine the estimate if we lived in a high-cost area.

So, uhh... the wife and I are gonna get some serious DIY skills over the next couple years. Gonna start on the garage, where we can screw it up, tear it off, and try again until we get it right, and then move on to the house. My brother, with lots of pro and DIY experience in this stuff (I've helped a lot so I at least know what to ask), can guide us along. Also going to tear off some siding on the side of the house away from the street, to get an idea of the condition of what they covered up those many years ago.

I told my wife, flat-out, that if we spend that much just for exterior stuff then there is no way that I am moving afterward - I'd be here for the long haul and that the money would go toward making this into an absolute gem of a home that I want, and not spent just to sell the place. Her end of the phone conversation got kinda quiet but at least she knows where I firmly stand.

The good news is that she didn't balk when I gave her the very rough estimates on the molds for the aluminum parts. This is likely because my first mold has paid off big-time (12-month ROI when I planned for three years), and the second one is about on schedule (3-year ROI). I'm thinking 12-24 month ROI on these next molds if all goes well, but it's always a planned crapshoot.

I wouldn't worry too much about that. Frankly, I don't understand what drew my girlfriend to me three years ago, but I'd guess the widely accepted fact that women are a mystery applies. A friend of mine only recently met his first one (he's 22 like I am, a decent bloke whom women should have to reason to avoid IMO) and he made about as much effort as I did, as in none. The only thing that had changed prviously was that he moved to study among complete strangers; perhaps you could do with a change in scenery in the coming years.