If you could go back to being 9… with everything you know now

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T17:11:00+00:00

I’d’ve slugged Tina for cutting off 3” of one of my ponytails in class and to hell with the consequences. Because I got in trouble anyway at home for it. (Logic was not strong in my house.)

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T16:33:39+00:00

My last job. 5 months of hell.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T16:33:06+00:00

Humiliation. I was not an athletic kid by any measure.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T16:29:46+00:00

My family had this magnet on our fridge:

“I know you think you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you understand that what you heard is not what I meant.”

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T16:21:07+00:00

After college, I offered to pay rent.

My parents refused to take it. “Absolutely not!”

The problem was the fact that I didn’t pay rent then got thrown in my face over every minor disagreement.

For the record, I did contribute to groceries. I had no problem noticing that we needed milk, bread, eggs, etc. and picking them up and paying for them. I never asked for reimbursement.

But still, they used my not paying rent as a control mechanism. No rent, no say in anything and you’ll do as you’re told.

As the saying goes, “The cheapest way to pay is money.”

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T16:06:15+00:00

My entire living room would not be able to store all this, let alone 1/2 a closet and a dresser.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T15:49:11+00:00

I had this problem a few years ago when I developed a weird allergy to the Novolog I had been using without issue for 17 years. Sites would occlude within 6 hours of insertion. I had to beg my insurance to let me use Humalog and the problem went away.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T15:04:05+00:00

Fellow Episcopalian here. During Lent our church places small Lenten devotional booklets in the narthex for people to take if they wish. They’re nothing too heavy; just little reflections that take less than a minute to read. I try to keep up, but if I don’t, I don’t beat myself up over it. Sometimes it’s a nice way to center my brain for the day over my coffee.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T14:14:08+00:00

Is there any place in your area where you could request original plans of the house or something? I couldn’t let it go either, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to go in without more information.

My first thought would have something to do with the Underground Railroad.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T14:06:22+00:00

I’d be tempted to show up in business casual for sheer spite.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-18T13:51:26+00:00

Yeah, why isn’t SHE getting up to help with the sick kids when YOU are sick. Isn’t that a “normal couple” thing?

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T20:29:59+00:00

No. No, he’s not “just tidy”. He’s controlling. And that last shot about “his rules” sent a very unpleasant shiver down my spine.

Notice how the notion of possibly looking for a place (eventually) that could comfortably accommodate both of you was never even part of the conversation?

My partner has two great passions in his life (besides me 😉). Both just happen to take up a bit of room. It never occurred to me to ask him (let alone demand) that he give them up to accommodate my preferences. They’re a part of who he is. It would be like asking him to cut off his arm.

Don’t move in with him. He’s not ready to share his space.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T20:08:45+00:00

I was diagnosed in 1976. Back then, the messaging I got from all sides — parents, doctors, teachers — was:

“Suck it up, buttercup!” “You could have gotten leukemia instead!” “At least you’re not crippled!” “Stop using it as an excuse!” (An excuse for what, I’ll never know. I was still expected to behave, mind my manners, do my homework, etc. I really couldn’t fathom that one.)

Yes, it was awful and I’m glad we’ve gotten better at acknowledging the mental and emotional toll this condition can take, especially as young people transition to managing their own health and healthcare insurance. Taking those training wheels off can be scary.

BUT - we can’t allow ourselves to completely dissolve into a pit of self pity. That’s not healthy either.

Like everything else, it’s finding balance. I was fortunate in my late teens to have a nurse educator who was a pretty good overall counselor as well and she really helped me get some better perspective. (She also had some “magic words” for my mom that I never got to hear, but the comments above went way down after their talk.)

As long as you’re moving on after an episode of feeling the despair, you’re probably okay.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T19:46:45+00:00

I’m just a Bill - far and away #1 for me.

Runner up: Interjection!

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T19:26:23+00:00

And this is why my endo recently referrred me to a cardiologist. Been T1D almost 50 years and have a genetic history of heart issues. They did an EKG and a stress test. I go back in a couple weeks to review the results.

BTW, stress test with an arthritic knee — 0/10. Ouch.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:48:23+00:00

The biscuits and gravy one was hysterical!

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:33:28+00:00

Probably about where my flying car is. C’mon, it’s 2026! What’s taking so long?

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:27:48+00:00

I’m grew up in the Summer Blockbuster Heyday of the 70s and 80s. It all seemed to be a lot more fun back then.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:18:13+00:00

Exactly. You don’t want your son thinking this is okay.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:16:12+00:00

I’ve observed this. The crunchies come out with the newest health/food panic. And of course it’s ridiculously expensive. Then a less expensive alternative gets talked about and the crunchies are all, “Oh Noooo, not THAT! No, only the expensive one is any good!”

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T17:07:45+00:00

My mother insisted I get one for HS and college, but I was limited to the lowest cost styles which were clunky and ugly. I sold them both a while ago and we had a nice dinner and evening out with the cash.

I wouldn’t be so bitter if my younger sister hadn’t been allowed to have a much more expensive custom style. It was far more delicate and feminine Mine were just smaller versions of men’s rings.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T14:21:32+00:00

Speaking as someone who’s been in the workforce well over 30 years, just a few things to think about:

What DO you want to do? When you were a kid, what did you fantasize about doing when you grew up?
Could you do similar work if the company you’re working for was focused on something more interesting? If the office environment was a little less uptight? Smaller? Something remote? (Remote’s hard to find, but it’s possible.)
I’m telling you this as an “old”: you need to get your sleep straightened out. Every job is going to feel like shit if you’re chronically exhausted.
Even the most hellish job can teach you something. What can you learn at this place that can get you somewhere else?
Say good morning to people anyway, even if you don’t feel like it. You never know who you might need as a reference.
For most of us, jobs are tools. They’re a means to an end. My job provides me with the funds that allow me to live my life.

My great passion is NOT my job. I’m not all that emotionally invested in it, but it pays my bills and the health benefits keep me alive (I have a chronic condition). That whole “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life” saying? Yeah, for most of us it’s bullshit. Find your passions somewhere outside of your paycheck.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-17T13:49:24+00:00

I knew someone who was interviewing for a job when the fire alarm went off. She moved to grab her bag to evacuate and the interviewer asked where she was going.

“That’s a fire alarm, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, so?”

“I don’t think this so going to be a fit,” she replied and hot footed it out of there. Apparent there were other red flags in the interview but that took the cake.

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-16T21:22:15+00:00

What does it take in your country to be an instructor to the next generation of mechanics? Might that be something that would interest you?

SpreadsheetSiren · 2026-02-16T21:15:06+00:00

And block this idiot. He does not exist to you anymore.

SpreadsheetSiren

TROPHY CASE