We are Family

[curt]

We don't need another / a new discussion to prove it.

It is as it is.

Let this "fred" (discussion thread) live under the theme .......

long live this family

brothers, sisters, brethern, dogs, cats and birds, ants and flees, water and air and gas and Clare and Jim and him and the window Simm (??) and you and me and he and she and we and them and us and puss (???) and fish and the dish (it's on) and paper and pen.

Yip.

[hannah j]

"your brain seems to still be functioning at a much higher level than most folks without brain injuries." as Pan said.  As we don't know the particulars, I may be out of line saying what incredible recoveries i have seen from strokes.  My father was a believer in doing what ever you can with whatever seemed impaired.  So even with impaired speech keep talking. Talking to animals is great, they don't judge. Obviously we will be here for whatever you write, and I mean whatever.  I probably agree with Pan about the ciggies, but withdrawal from nicotine is a bitch.  Patches probably in order, or gum, which also might be therapy.  If you have impairment with your hand, my dad used a squeeze ball from the first day.   Hugs from the heartland, write if you need anything!

[Cal]

 

I agree about ciggies .... I've got emphysema heading down the tunnel towards me ...

 

But quitting nicotene is not something I want to deal with in this life time ..... After 8 years on gum (steadily increasing gum & decreasing the ciggies) I have now managed to stay off tobacco for almost a year.  But mornings now are sad affairs - that first cup of coffee is just downright lonely without a cigarette.  And I think I funded my dentist's kids going to private schools during the process & my jaw has a Clint Eastwood line to it.

 

What kind of incredible communication infrastructure have you USA'ns got that you can post to RBC from hospital shortly after having a stroke .... ?  My blackberry does emails but internet's pretty well illegible on that little screen ....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hannah j]

i can see i am going to have to get a smartypants phone one of these days.

[BO]

Fucking A, Waldo. You really need to quit scaring the shit out of us. 

We love you way too much to lose you. Please get well, my friend. 

[hannah j]

ditto

[Robin]

Not so good at bloggin', but like to lurk.... and I know me bro will see this, while he won't tolerate my fluttering about his hospital room squeeking "oh, dear, oh my...  oh, do put out that cigarette!, oh, oh....  my my..."   Nope -- but at least he can't give me the evil eye here on this blog, and he can't glare me into silence when I post here... .HA!!  Take THAT, dear Waldo!!   You RB- ers are top notch...including you, Mr. GB Wordsmith Waldo Weaver of Wordpictures.   Yeah, get your self rewired and healthy.   I love you too.    (flutter, wring, tip tap... flutter....)   

[hannah j]

glad to see you come out of the woodwork!

[pan]

Ms. Medusa has been asking me for updates - she doesn't even like to lurk, prefers to just get an oral update on this little community from me.  There be quite a few of us who care quite a bit for that wily rascal Waldo.

[Cal]

Was hoping for an update when I got home today ... no one heard any news?

 

Waldo's last post taught me I ddidn't know what 'tautology' meant although I thought I did ... and that I don't know the correct word for what I thought it was.  Anyone know the right word for a phrase like "Just like that" where "Just" is a kind of pun on 'justice' rather than a different way of saying "Simply like that"?  Is there a word for it?  Is it 'just' a pun?

 

 

[pan]

Now the Not Sees have become rather overt in the Black Shirt approach - attempting to smear Ms. Medusa through their position on her tenure committee.  Reported to us by the student representative on the committee (who was very distressed by what she had witnessed), "we need to find a way to bring up the collegiality issue in the report even though, according to the University standards she is way over qualified for tenure" (even though there is nothing, zilch, nada, that would be considered non-collegial by any rational human being)......"Theatre season ticket sales are down from 300 to 50 and that is because Modern Dance is too abstract for our audiences" (never mind the fact that the Dance Concert costs much less to produce and netted nearly as much in ticket revenue as each of the plays last year - the audiences are staying away from Theatre productions because, at best, they are never more than mediocre.......and, nevermind the fact that M.M. and I tend to create theatrical productions that use words and other elements that aren't considered "dance")......"70 costumes for the Dance Concert is absurd" (nevermind the fact that the individual choreographers are doing much of the work - I costumed my own piece except for asking for white dress shirts to be pulled from stock, the ballet choreographer did the measurements of his cast, etc. - and the Vindictive Bint has never done much to support the Dance Concert costume even though she is paid to do that)....."The publicity materials for the Dance Program don't include Theatre" (Even though the Bint didn't allow a single cent to go towards recruiting of dance and M.M. runs everything through channels, including writing for a grant to support recruitment efforts and then developing a logo for Dance)  

The entire Department is staffed with lazy fat fucks who complain that "nobody understands what we do" and "we don't have the resources" who have scapegoated one thing and one person after another for their less-than-mediocrity because they can't get their fat asses out of their specially designed, extra-supportive, reinforced chairs.  Even students who are hired as work-study laborers complain about how fucking lazy these complete assholes are.

I didn't sleep well last night.  Every bone in my body wants to defend my wife and partner but there ain't a thing I, or she, can do.   Josef K indeed.

[Cal]

 

That is bad stuff Pan!  It's difficult to know how to deal with it.  In younger days I just walked out on situations like that with a loud & satisfying "FU".  It was a privileged thing to be able to do I realize now.  What was remarkable back then was that I managed to become so successful doing my own thing the the MF'kers ended up paying me three times my previous rate as a contractor to help them out.  It was a classic 'thank you for getting rid of me' story.  In August I had a huge blow out at work & landed slap bang in the middle of someones corporate polictical agenda.  Big meeting arranged where that senior manager together with the Health Manager & HR manager gave me the 'really good news' that they had the perfect solution to everything - that I immediately resign & begin work for them as a contractor .... with a 6 month contract & 'as required' after that.  Much talk about how unsuited I was to corporate life, how much I'd enjoy working from home, how much they didn't want to lose my skills .... blah, blah, blah.  It was SO scary.  Yes I would very much have liked to return to self-employment, but these are not the right economic times for that & I am not the right age & do not have any other means of financial support.  I was sent off on holiday for 3 weeks.  When I came back I just simply said "No thanks, I want to keep my job" & refused to sign the resignation letter.  Fortunately they had no formal complaints on me & will have to go about building a case if they persist in wanting me to go.  I have to go for a medical next week - pretty sure that's part of seeing what they can find on me.

What does one do?  So far I have just put my head down to working at anything I know will improve my marketable skills outside the company.  And getting legal advice.  And getting a lot of practice at ignoring the fact that I spend my days with people I absolutely do not like working for without showing it too overtly.  Has the world changed radically from my idealistic youth when working was a gas because I enjoyed my colleagues & the job?  Or is this just a function of age & loss of sex appeal.  Or both?

Keep posting about your situation & what you do.  There has to be something people can do in situations like that ... doesn't there ... ?

 

[Cal]

Dissatisfaction is guaranteed

 

"Euro survey shows UK to be home of scholarly discontent and regret. Matthew Reisz reports

British academics are by a large margin the least satisfied in Europe - and the most likely to wish they had pursued other careers - according to a survey of more than 13,000 respondents from 12 countries."

What 'other careers' I wonder .... drag racing ....?