Discussion:
Sigh! That time again...
(too old to reply)
Squirrel
2005-06-14 12:26:10 UTC
Permalink
Squirrel since becoming in between jobs has put on a few pounds. Now
it is one thing to be cute and fluffy but quite another to be a double
pom pom. Have to face it...time to do some exercise.
Any suggestions to what might be a good non-strenuous CHEAP form of
exercise? And no the trees are not letting me climb them at the
moment.
Might be needng a few (whispers <<diet tips>>) as well.

Also tugs please. Went to job interview yesterday, find out prob
tomorrow.
Ta.
Squirrel
fmomoon
2005-06-14 22:34:58 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel since becoming in between jobs has put on a few pounds. Now
it is one thing to be cute and fluffy but quite another to be a double
pom pom. Have to face it...time to do some exercise.
Any suggestions to what might be a good non-strenuous CHEAP form of
exercise? And no the trees are not letting me climb them at the
moment.
Might be needng a few (whispers <<diet tips>>) as well.
Also tugs please. Went to job interview yesterday, find out prob
tomorrow.
Ta.
Squirrel
<g> Squilly, I do believe this is the first time anyone has asked me for
dieting or excercise tips. LOL Seriously, I would say just think before you
eat and walk when you could drive. I find myself getting into trouble with
both dieting and excercise when I am mindless about such things.
--
Princess fmomoon, the Music Witch
Grandma to Sean 4/3/5
Squirrel
2005-06-15 10:22:16 UTC
Permalink
Hmmmm...think before I eat? Squirrel is too hungry to think before
eat. Squirrel rarely drives on account of not have a car. Personally
Squirrel thinks this leads to being even more hungry. The problem with
exercise is that the less one does the less one wants to do. Maybe I
should try reverse physchology and eat as much as I possible can and
absolutely forbid myself to do any exercise at all. (Squirrel has
suspician this will not work out as hoped.)
Have heard that if you imagine yourself doing exercise regardless of
not doing it you can lose a few pounds. Maybe I should imagine lots of
hiking and rock-climbing... which vaguely reminds me ...went to see a
film today called The Light, some sort of romance story set around a
lighthouse. Brilliant lighthouse. Even more brilliant sea...lotsa
sea...and very nice cat in a cat's heaven. Always felt being embraced
by the sea is like having a massage of the soul. (read sea-spray or
mist...no actual swimming involved here- bad for the tail)

Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
fmomoon
2005-06-15 22:58:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Hmmmm...think before I eat? Squirrel is too hungry to think before
eat. Squirrel rarely drives on account of not have a car. Personally
Squirrel thinks this leads to being even more hungry. The problem with
exercise is that the less one does the less one wants to do. Maybe I
should try reverse physchology and eat as much as I possible can and
absolutely forbid myself to do any exercise at all. (Squirrel has
suspician this will not work out as hoped.)
I suspect you're right. :)
Post by Squirrel
Have heard that if you imagine yourself doing exercise regardless of
not doing it you can lose a few pounds. Maybe I should imagine lots of
hiking and rock-climbing... which vaguely reminds me ...went to see a
film today called The Light, some sort of romance story set around a
lighthouse. Brilliant lighthouse. Even more brilliant sea...lotsa
sea...and very nice cat in a cat's heaven. Always felt being embraced
by the sea is like having a massage of the soul. (read sea-spray or
mist...no actual swimming involved here- bad for the tail)
I assure you that thinking about exercise doesn't do a thing. LOL
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
Falling in love helps. :)
--
Princess fmomoon, the Music Witch
Grandma to Sean 4/3/5
Squirrel
2005-06-16 08:11:09 UTC
Permalink
Brilliant lighthouse. Even more brilliant sea...lotsa
Post by Squirrel
sea...and very nice cat in a cat's heaven. Always felt being embraced
by the sea is like having a massage of the soul. (read sea-spray or
mist...no actual swimming involved here- bad for the tail)
I assure you that thinking about exercise doesn't do a thing. LOL

Well apparently if you imagine actually doing the exercises your
muscles start to flex a little as if in response or anticipation so you
kind of subtly are doing the exercises...but you have to imagine
actually doing them not just think of exercise as an object.
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
Falling in love helps. :)

Doesn't much work for Squirrel as this sort of thing never seems to
lead anywhere and usually no sign even of hope. Admittedly it helps a
little if you think it might be reciprocated. Sigh! Squirrel doesn't
want to think of love. Convinced it was one of the evils that came out
of Pandora's box along with Hope.
Sq.
(the loveless and hopeless)
--
Princess fmomoon, the Music Witch
Grandma to Sean 4/3/5
N ELF
2005-06-18 14:21:31 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Brilliant lighthouse. Even more brilliant sea...lotsa
Post by Squirrel
sea...and very nice cat in a cat's heaven. Always felt being embraced
by the sea is like having a massage of the soul. (read sea-spray or
mist...no actual swimming involved here- bad for the tail)
I assure you that thinking about exercise doesn't do a thing. LOL
Well apparently if you imagine actually doing the exercises your
muscles start to flex a little as if in response or anticipation so you
kind of subtly are doing the exercises...but you have to imagine
actually doing them not just think of exercise as an object.
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
Falling in love helps. :)
Doesn't much work for Squirrel as this sort of thing never seems to
lead anywhere and usually no sign even of hope. Admittedly it helps a
little if you think it might be reciprocated. Sigh! Squirrel doesn't
want to think of love. Convinced it was one of the evils that came out
of Pandora's box along with Hope.
Sq.
(the loveless and hopeless)
Squirrel your body requires a certain amount of nutrition to keep going so
if you try to cut back beyond that point it fights to keep going. That is
why balanced meals of small portions and as much water as you can drink
seems to be the most effective at getting weight off. The body will even
slow your metabolism down to keep you from losing weight too fast and you
won't feel like exercising.
There is a whole process your body uses in converting fat back to energy it
can use. That process requires enough water for the liver to use to
metabolize the fat. If you allow yourself to get dehydrated your body
begins shutting things down until you get more water. It shuts down the
least important digestive, mucous production, and so on first to save more
vital systems, according to information available on the internet.
So you can taper back your eating but you can not just stop and crash it
without doing harm.
Your mind also has requirements for what it needs. Assuming you are not
letting the mind be harmed by dehydration - symptoms of confussion and
problems thinking - or lack of food - symptoms of deppression and problems
thinking - or stress which has a whole range of symptoms of its own some of
which can be relieved through exercise and some through expressing emotions
whether through art or talking, doing mental work can help. Art therapy can
help because the mind can express itself through the work allowing it to
release those needs and because the art can be analyzed to understand what
it is saying.
I am saying all of this here because it is the same for all of us and
because it makes what I am going to suggest make sense.

Love is one of the higher needs above food and water - see Maslow's
hierarchy of needs in psychology books or on the internet for more
information. Maslow's hierarchy is usually shown in pyramidal form which
makes it easier to understand. Have you tried meeting with other artists to
discuss your work? As you get involved you might find someone who will
introduce you to that someone special. I wouldn't expect to just walk into
a group and find someone to love but the more people I get to know the more
people I am exposed to who might know someone.
Does anyone here know how many degrees of separation it is supposed to be?
Anyway, each person is separated by a certain number of people from someone
you might want to reach so if you want to find someone who you might want to
date those people are your key. A woman might introduce you to her sister
who introduces you to her co worker whose brother just got out of a
relationship and wants to take someone to the movies. He was not available
two days ago because he was on a sales trip. And so it goes.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Post by Squirrel
--
Princess fmomoon, the Music Witch
Grandma to Sean 4/3/5
Squirrel
2005-06-18 23:58:17 UTC
Permalink
I haven't started the diet yet. I've never been on one in my life. Do
not have that sort of willpower. I drink a fair amount of water it
being one of my favourite drinks. I'm tall, big boned, and well
padded. Nutritionally i'm in no danger of starvation. I'm a devout
omnivore. It is the other things in life I hunger for. Have been in
an art class recently but most people in these classes are female. I
don't remember ever being introduced to someone's sister or brother
beyond some fleeting glimpse in the work place. Only a couple of
times have friends or family introduced me to suitable men. I told one
friend of my interest in her friend. She said she would see what she
could do...next I heard they had got together. It didn't last long but
by then I realised he wasn't quite that suitable. The other guy was
from out of town and only there briefly, and a thrid guy, the only one
my family ever introduced me to, we visited once and I never saw again.
I was young then. There was not much acquaintence made and it needed
more visits to build a friendship or any kind of relationship. I've
rarely met anyone thru clubs. One I was keen on was taken, as was
someone in a class I once did. A tutor from another class I don't know
about his status but he moved out of town after a while. I have never
been able to tell if they were interested or just reasonably friendly.
Wouldn't know interested if it hit me over the head. The couple of
times I have asked guys out on dates...welll one told me he wasn't good
enough for me so I took him at his word as he obviously didn't mean to
try and be. The other we went on a date once and then I never saw him
again much. Partly he had lost his job and I had no other means of
contacting him, partly for more complicated reasons. I've been turned
down for other bizarre but genuine reasons. Nothing ever works.
Conclusion I'm a troll. And no my email name doesn't mean what people
seem to think it does it refers to a character in a story. I don't
meet many people (nor do I want to at this time..too ashamed I can't
support myself yet again)...except through the job which I don't have
at the mo.
jo
2005-06-19 05:05:07 UTC
Permalink
Squirrel, first things fiirst.

A BIG HUG!

You obviously need it. Please keep fighting against those depressions
monsters and don't be too proud of ashamed to aske for help as you
deserve to be happy and deserve to have good thingde come your way.
You are agood person that's had some cruddy things happen to her, but
I'm sure you can overcome those cruddy things as they do not define you
or what you are capable of. You are a person with a big heart worthy of
good folks in your life and good things going on in it and doing things
that matter and have perpose for you.

It sounds like you want a bunch of good things in your life and want to
make some positive changes but don't know how to make them happen.
It's not an unusal situation and is part of the human condition to be
in that situation and to have to figure a way to make things work for
you. Major lifestyle changes are never easy or simple. It is also a
situation that changes over time but never completely goes away. I
don't have all the answers but can offer you is some friendship and
can share with you what I do know from my journey this time around.
Take what you can use and let the rest be until a time that it can be
of use. I'll take no offense as I do the same with what others have to
offer.
Here's goes:

Diets don't work in the long run to control weight, but exercise
combined with a balanced lifestyle motivated aproach to eating does
help, meaning that you aim to eat more good foods than bads ones, if
you want to eat more stuff you need to balance it with more exercise,
and if you want to eat some high calorie item then you need to up your
activity level to burn it off.

Drink a lot of water as it helps clean out any toxins in you system and
helps give you energy and keep you going.

Take vitamins and mineral if you are worried that you are not getting
enough nutrients to do you best.

Your attitude and mental state can have a big role on how things go in
your life and what you attract to you. a cruddy, desperate, or
miserable attitude will attract those things to you whil a positive,
happy, friendly, cheerful attitude will attract those things a people
to you too.

Things happen for a reason, often on a level we don't understand at the
time but are greatful for afterwards. What may seam like a curse at
the time may turn out to be a blessing when seen in the full picture
and in hind sght after things have played themselves out.

Life is too short not to be happy and to be doing those things that
matter and give meaning to our lives.

There is usually a way to get some good out of a situation and to find
a way to get things going in your favor if you just give it some time
to think things out.

Life is full of karma, and folks will get what they deserve in good
time without our needing to work on it. Deal with your own stuff and
let the powers that be deal with the rest and things will work out in
the long run.

Everyone has a prupose in thier life and it is one of their jobs in
this life to figur it our and nobody can do it for them but themselves.

When things are meant to happen they will.

Desperation in folks can be smelt a mile away and will be very
off-putting to most folks.

Manners will help you much in life as will an attitude of gratitude for
what is around you and what is in you life.

Hope this helps for now.

Hugs, tugs, and better days.
-Jo
It's all in how you see things.
Squirrel
2005-06-19 12:51:45 UTC
Permalink
Squirrel, first things fiirst.

A BIG HUG!
Thanks.

You obviously need it. Please keep fighting against those depressions
monsters and don't be too proud of ashamed to aske for help as you

When I ask for help people by and large have almost always turned away,
even if they could have helped.

deserve to be happy and deserve to have good thingde come your way.
You are agood person that's had some cruddy things happen to her, but
I'm sure you can overcome those cruddy things as they do not define you

They seem to...personally I feel they are not intrinsic to me, I could
be different, better, but I do need help and there is no one to help.

or what you are capable of. You are a person with a big heart worthy of
good folks in your life and good things going on in it and doing things
that matter and have perpose for you.

It sounds like you want a bunch of good things in your life and want to
make some positive changes but don't know how to make them happen.

That's right.

It's not an unusal situation and is part of the human condition to be
in that situation and to have to figure a way to make things work for
you. Major lifestyle changes are never easy or simple. It is also a
situation that changes over time but never completely goes away. I
don't have all the answers but can offer you is some friendship

Thanks

can share with you what I do know from my journey this time around.
Take what you can use and let the rest be until a time that it can be
of use. I'll take no offense as I do the same with what others have to
offer.
Here's goes:

Diets don't work in the long run to control weight, but exercise
combined with a balanced lifestyle motivated aproach to eating does
help, meaning that you aim to eat more good foods than bads ones, if
you want to eat more stuff you need to balance it with more exercise,
and if you want to eat some high calorie item then you need to up your
activity level to burn it off.

I don't control my environment. I have to fight my environment to even
begin trying to control things like diet...it seems insurmountable. I
am not good with temptation, and all the time the house is full of
foods bad for me. My attempts to change this largely fail. I can not
eat what I feel I should eat without cooking entirely separately.
Often feels like too much trouble. I need food that pyschologically
supports me as well as nutritionally,..foods like ginger etc so that
when I finish eating I feel satisfied, not like I need something more.
Guess what nobody else here eats ginger. Not a big potao fan. Potato
is a staple food here. As is bread which I also am not fond of. Am
thinking miso soup might be good for breakfast, how do I convince my
family that is not weird. I would like to heavily reduce
carbohydrates in my diet which as a food group has never been my
favourite apart from crisps (though not hot potato chips) and noodles.
Noodles not very popular with family. Every part of my life is an
uphill battle.
I do not know how to start. Thought earlier in year had job sussed so
would have more energy to concentrate on other areas, even stopped
eating butter for a while( a love of mine). Guess what those free hot
cross buns at work over easter started me back on butter and have not
been able to stop again. So hard to start so easy to lose that
success. All belly-up again. I have never been able to control my
life because for most of that time I've had almost no income. Just
enough to live on. Not enough to plan to a future on. Not enough to
gain sufficient independence to control my home life. Having a space I
feel happy in and in control of makes me feel so much more able to
manage, but to have had any money at all in last few years, needed to
move in with family. Now I do not even have any income, rapidly
zeroing savings, vanishing dreams, and I do not know how to support
myself or change anything in my life. My dwindling faith in the
possibility of anything getting better has dwindled even more. I
honestly don't have any close enough friends to talk to. The folks
here are the only ones I feel I can talk to and I know this is not a
good forum for it on air. I know you are too far away to help. I just
don't know what to do.

Drink a lot of water as it helps clean out any toxins in you system and
helps give you energy and keep you going.

Yeah usually I drink fair amount of water.

Take vitamins and mineral if you are worried that you are not getting
enough nutrients to do you best.

Along with all the junk food is plenty of nutritionally good food too.
I love my veges, I love my citrus, and I get enough nuts and chocolate
too.

Your attitude and mental state can have a big role on how things go in
your life and what you attract to you. a cruddy, desperate, or
miserable attitude will attract those things to you whil a positive,
happy, friendly, cheerful attitude will attract those things a people
to you too.

True but I feel that is lying to people. I feel that means they don't
really care about me though that is probably true. Certainly not so
long ago this year when I was working I noticed perhaps because I was
that people were a lot friendlier, friends were calling and wanting to
spend time with me, everything was much improved. It is true as the
song goes...nobody wants to know you when you are down and out. For
some reason they think it is catching. That people will think less of
you by association. If I don't smile readily at people maybe that is
because I feel bad and can't face people. A friendly face and spending
some time having fun with someone certainly would make a good deal of
difference, but nobody thinks you want to have fun when you are down.

Things happen for a reason, often on a level we don't understand at the
time but are greatful for afterwards. What may seam like a curse at
the time may turn out to be a blessing when seen in the full picture
and in hind sght after things have played themselves out.

Leaving the job wasn't a bad thing. The problems in the job would
have got worse and I have heard that they certainly haven't improved in
my absence, which is as I expected. I'm just really afraid though
that the shortness of my duration in the job and the knock to my
confidence and energy has seriously damaged my chances of getting
another job. I think I'm seriously having to look at something quite
different, much lower paid and just hope I get that. But how do you
get ahead in life on low wages? I have no assets how do I become
independent? Finance my dreams? Actually get onto what I should be
doing in life? I have already learnt I have little courage, and
nothing to bolster that courage with. Perhaps I should start drinking.

Life is too short not to be happy and to be doing those things that
matter and give meaning to our lives.

People I think give meaning to life. There is no one I feel close to.
I cannot even get a pet.

There is usually a way to get some good out of a situation and to find
a way to get things going in your favor if you just give it some time
to think things out.

Things haven't gone my way for pretty much all my adult life, except
last year I thought things were getting better. Even with my work
closing down I remained hopeful even through the beginning of this
year, and when I got the last job I felt my life had finally changed
and I'd broken through that barrier which had stopped me getting
anywhere in life. A few short months I'm back behind the barrier
again, and all that energy I had slowly been building up bit by bit,
the depression I'd struggled with since the beginning of my twenties
that at times crippled with me that I fought against without medication
and without trying suicide though I often seriously felt like that,
sometimes every day for months at a time and never far away, I thought
at the beginning of this year that I had actually finally left that
cloud behind me, that darkness of despair and complete hopelessness,
and which is now back. I used to believe if I could get through it I
would succeed, but I had not expected to get through it and end up back
quite so quickly. How do I believe again?

Life is full of karma, and folks will get what they deserve in good
time without our needing to work on it.

What did I do that was so bad to deserve this?

Deal with your own stuff and
let the powers that be deal with the rest and things will work out in
the long run.

Everyone has a prupose in thier life and it is one of their jobs in
this life to figur it our and nobody can do it for them but themselves.

I don't know, I kinda felt mine was to hold the magic in life...to stop
it fading from our lives so we would still wonder and feel our lives
have meaning. I kinda hoped I would know what it was like to be happy
as an adult as well.

When things are meant to happen they will.

Desperation in folks can be smelt a mile away and will be very
off-putting to most folks.

Yeah, but how can I ever trust or feel fond of false friends. If
people will only be friends with me when I am wonderful but keep
distant when I am not when they needn't, then I will only smile at them
and hate them. I do not want to be surrounded by people for
appearances sake and hate them. I want friends who will look me in the
eye and say I know your sadness, I realise your pain, I want the best
for you and will support you at least in thought to be the best you can
be, but if you can't manage, I'll still be there and help you if I can,
or at least know you.

Manners will help you much in life as will an attitude of gratitude for
what is around you and what is in you life.

I admit my manners have slipped in life. I stopped caring about others
when I realised they didn't care for me. Not an excuse...esp not for
those who do have manners and consideration for others who certainly I
should try to be better to. Gratitude is something I'm not good on.
However gratitude for small things like a smile or a kind word from
someone who didn't have to I am certainly very gratefull to.

Hope this helps for now.

Thanks for caring.
Hope all is going good in your world, and tugs that you get your new
car soon.
Hugs
Squid

Hugs, tugs, and better days.
-Jo
It's all in how you see things.
jo
2005-06-21 23:28:02 UTC
Permalink
It's taken me a few days to get back to you, Squirrel, due to work and
stuff and I wanted to give my reply justice so here goes:

.

I don't control my environment. I have to fight my environment to even

begin trying to control things like diet...it seems insurmountable. I
am not good with temptation, and all the time the house is full of
foods bad for me.

Sounds like you are talking aout your family and that you live with
them.
These may be some silly questions but I think you wiil need to answer
them to yourself to do better in the long run. Are your folks into
controlling you or ditating what you do and what you eat and stuff?
When you try to change do the people you live with act unsupportive,
threatened, and try to do things to make you 'come back into line' and
try to sabatoge your efforts you try to change things for the better
for your self or to try to improve yourself?
How do they talk to you and treat you and your dreams, hopes,
oppinions, and plans? Do they try to help you try for them and get nice
things happening your way or do they talk trash about them, put them
down, and try subtial stuff to keep them from happening? Are they
happy positive accepting people or negative critical frustrated
poeple? If you had a choice and you met them for the first time would
you want to be around them? Do the poeple around you help to make you
feel better and help to pump you up, or are they putting things down,
draining you emotionally, and making the bad things in life seem all
they much harder?

My attempts to change this largely fail. I can not
eat what I feel I should eat without cooking entirely separately.

If you have some allergies or a wonky metabloism that is what you may
need to do to get what you need to feel better and do better in the
long run.

Often feels like too much trouble. I need food that pyschologically
supports me as well as nutritionally,..foods like ginger etc so that
when I finish eating I feel satisfied, not like I need something more.
Guess what nobody else here eats ginger.

What's to stop you from geting a peice of ginger and adding it to the
stuff you eat, especially if you think it will help you do and be
better? I'm not sure about your way, but ginger root is not that
pricey my way and I'd say give it a try if youthink it will help.
Maybe those around you will like the ginger once they have it a round
and give it a chance to taste it in their food too.
It was that way with the garlic for my son and me. I now take at least
1 or 2 cloves a day and Will takes at least 1 himself and I put a ton
in my cooking now and he likes it and asks me to add it in many of the
dishes and will chop it up himself to put in the stuff he is making
too.
They can't try it unless it's in the house and once they try it they
may like it. If by chance they don't there's no reason that you can't
keep using it if you like it and feel that it's helping you. I have
relatives that really like things I don't like to eat and things I love
to eat and they don't like the taste of and won't touch and that's fine
all around as I let them eat what they like and they let me eat what I
like and we respect our different tastes. I even make a point of
getting things for Will that I know he likes, like coffee ice cream,
hot pepperoni, and hot peppers, which I don't care to eat and he lets
me eat my fresh tomatoes, honey mustard on meats, and pickles in peace,
which he doesn't care for.

Not a big potao fan. Potato
is a staple food here. As is bread which I also am not fond of.

How often do you have the potatoes? If you have the every day you may
be tired of them and need a break from them or a change in the way they
are served. You could also make your portions smaller for them so they
are not taking over you meals and taste buds.

What kind of bread are you eating? If it's white bread it's small
wonder you are tired of them as they are much lower in taste and
nutrition than whole wheat bread or mixed grain breads. The other
things is that you may have an allergy to wheat or some other protiens
in your diet and culd use with a break from them for a bit to help you
system do better.

Am
thinking miso soup might be good for breakfast, how do I convince my
family that is not weird.

Is it possible to try it some week end morning?
Just tell them that you thought it would be a good idea and that you
heard that it was a diet trick of some popular star or famous person,
that helped them and you wanted to see if it would work for you. Most
folks wouldn't think it was weird to try something that helped someone
else do and look better.

I would like to heavily reduce
carbohydrates in my diet which as a food group has never been my
favourite apart from crisps (though not hot potato chips) and noodles.
Noodles not very popular with family.

You could try upping your intake of vegatables and fruits and lowering
the amount of carbs you take and tell them that you are trying to get
more nutrients and factors found only in veggies and fruit to look, be,
and do better to help improve your image and your chance of doing well
in life and on the job front.
You could also check out the Atkin's diet, and do a modified form and
tell your family that you are on it for your health and to do better.

Every part of my life is an
uphill battle.

Life is only a battle if you choose to make it one. How you choose to
see things, choose to take how things are going around you, and chose
to react to what is going around you is how things will react in the
world to you most of the time
.
I do not know how to start. Thought earlier in year had job sussed so
would have more energy to concentrate on other areas, even stopped
eating butter for a while( a love of mine). Guess what those free hot
cross buns at work over easter started me back on butter and have not
been able to stop again. So hard to start so easy to lose that
success. All belly-up again.

It's only belly-up if you choose to let it be that way. so you had a
few road blocks, set backs, and failures, like most people have on the
way to getting on to better things. Most of the most successful and
famous people have had some pretty major failures and set backs on the
way to getting to where they are now. Every child that learns to walk
ends up on their back side a ton of time before they master the tricks
of how to walk and later how to run.
From what you had happen to you you now have some experiences that you
can draw on and learn from if you choose to learn from that. You
probably now have a better idea of how you want to be treated at work
for starters. You now have a much better idea of what kind of work you
want to do and the level you want ot be at to start with while you are
doing it. You also know a ton about how to design kitchens and
bathrooms and such and what mistakes to avoid, and once you get into
doing that kind of job again the new place will not have to train you
up all that much and can get you out there work for them as the last
place did that job for them. I don't know about how things are your
way but my way if a person has some training in an area, especially a
niche area like kitchen and bath design, and like the work then they
are a better bet to take on for that area of work than the person that
knows absolutely nothing about the job and isn't sure if they'll even
like it. It's means less turnover in the long run and a quicker rate
of them getting up to speed.

As for the butter thing, if you like something there'snothing wrong is
saying that you do and to still have it but in smaller amounts and/or
to balance it out by doind a bit mor exercise and activies to help burn
off the calories from eating it.


I have never been able to control my
life because for most of that time I've had almost no income. Just
enough to live on. Not enough to plan to a future on.

Even when things have been rough financially, you've still had control
over your life and choices on what you could do from the options
avaliable. Sure money will give you a few more options but you still
have choices and options and always had. Often, like most people, you
just haven't seen them and that's the hard part seeing the options
avaliable to us and finding the way and courage to act on them. That I
can try to help you with and that is being a good friend. :)

Not enough to
gain sufficient independence to control my home life. Having a space I

feel happy in and in control of makes me feel so much more able to
manage, but to have had any money at all in last few years, needed to
move in with family.


That was a choice too, and at the time a very logical choice that you
hoped would help things go better for you. There's nothing there to
beat yourself over.

Sounds like you'd like to have your own place and space and more money.
Those are all worthy goals and very reachable goals. they are also
goals that are one or more good pay checks away, as you well know.
Keep looking for a new job and at also other ways of making an income
for yourself. If you can't find a job maybe you make a job for
yourself that will pay you a decent regular wage, maybe you could
approach the suppliers you know and see if they need someone in their
organizations as a rep or in some other capacity that you can fill and
enjoy. Maybe you can take some of your hobbies and interests and use
them to getting a part-time income too. I know you have skills and
ablities that you can use in many ways to helpmake your life a better
one, and not just on the financial level either.

Now I do not even have any income, rapidly
zeroing savings, vanishing dreams, and I do not know how to support
myself or change anything in my life. My dwindling faith in the
possibility of anything getting better has dwindled even more.

Things seem very bad for you right now but pressure build diamonds and
some how you'll find a way to make things work for you in the end. You
might have to take a few stepping stone to get to wher you want to be
like a part-time job of two or a temperorary job or tow to get wme cash
to help cover the bills for a bit while looking for somewhere you can
be for a longer time. But make now mistake that if you keep with it
you will shine in your won special way. And because you've had other
jobs in the past and id very well at them, then yoknow that you will be
ablt to do another job and should be able to get one. It's just the
finding part that you have to deal with for now.


I
honestly don't have any close enough friends to talk to. The folks
here are the only ones I feel I can talk to and I know this is not a
good forum for it on air. I know you are too far away to help. I just

don't know what to do.

I bet that you had a lot more friends at the job before this one before
the place closed down, and that you lost track of many of them and feel
isolated now. That's normal when you loose a social and support
network, even an informal one. Maybe you can get in touch with some of
them if only to touch base and help feel a bit better about yourself.
As for my not being much help to you, I may be half a world away but I
am listening to what is going on and am trying to be supportive, give
you some ideas to help your situation, and help up your mood so you can
get out and do the things you need to do to get things happening in
your life.
Some times all a pesron need is someone to listen to them and bounce
things off on them, to hel them sort things out so they can find those
options they didn't see before and to get past a ton of emotions so
theycan act in their best interests rather being frozen by anger, fear,
depression, or a bunch of other stuff



Your attitude and mental state can have a big role on how things go in
your life and what you attract to you. a cruddy, desperate, or
miserable attitude will attract those things to you whil a positive,
happy, friendly, cheerful attitude will attract those things a people
to you too

.

True but I feel that is lying to people.

It's not lying to people if you keep thinking about the things in your
life that make you happy and that is what has you smiling. It may only
be a small thing but if it makes you happy then it's a start and all
that matters. If you choose to smile and someone asks you why you are
smiling then you can tell them why, be it that it's a sunny day or the
sky is blue or you just had a treat or you feel someting good will come
your way or the flowers in your front lawn is in bloom or you saw a
cute pet or a happy child. Any reason that makes you feel good is a
good reason to smile and not lying to anyone. besides, unless they can
read minds or practice telepathy with any degree, they won't know much
of your business or what's going on in you head unless you let them
know.

I heard a study that had people 'put on a happy face', smile and
pretend to be happy even when they did not feel happy. What was found
was that after a while the people in the study that were pretending to
be happy and smiling where actually smiling and feeling happy beacuse
they were able to start thinking of and finding thing to be happy
about. they just borroed an attitude for a time and it honestly became
theirs to keep.

I feel that means they don't
really care about me though that is probably true. Certainly not so
long ago this year when I was working I noticed perhaps because I was
that people were a lot friendlier, friends were calling and wanting to
spend time with me, everything was much improved.

See what I mean. You were happy, doing better, and feeling much better
about yourself and your self-esteme was much higher and other could
sense that in your and wanted to be around the happy squirrel that was
more open and out going then.

It is true as the
song goes...nobody wants to know you when you are down and out. For
some reason they think it is catching. That people will think less of
you by association. If I don't smile readily at people maybe that is
because I feel bad and can't face people. A friendly face and spending

some time having fun with someone certainly would make a good deal of
difference, but nobody thinks you want to have fun when you are down.

People tht are down have a way of putting other folks down and nobody
wants to feel down. People also don't care to ba around folks that are
putting themselves down. It's sound like you let exterior things
dictate you level of self-esteme, and value and those exterior things
really don't have any true long term value on who you are or your value
as a person when it's all been done and said.
On your last day are what are you going to wish you did more of :
working for some company, or with people that mattered to you, doing
things to please some boss or doing things to please your friends and
family, running around a shop or running on the beach, in a forest, or
in the mountains, doing other peopel's stuff or doing your own stuff,
crafts, and interests? Like all things in life the choice is yours.
Sure you need some resources, some income, some cash to live, but maybe
not as much as you think you do and money and things are not everything
in th final analysis of what truly matters. Think about it a bit and
you'll see.



Things happen for a reason, often on a level we don't understand at the

time but are greatful for afterwards. What may seam like a curse at
the time may turn out to be a blessing when seen in the full picture
and in hind sght after things have played themselves out


.

Leaving the job wasn't a bad thing. The problems in the job would
have got worse and I have heard that they certainly haven't improved in

my absence, which is as I expected. I'm just really afraid though
that the shortness of my duration in the job and the knock to my
confidence and energy has seriously damaged my chances of getting
another job.

It'll matter only if you let it. Let any new employers the truth that
you left a bad situation and am aiming for something better. Those in
the field will have some idea of what is going on in that place and
shouldn't hold it too much against you, especially when you show them
that you really want to work in the field and learn and try you best
inspite of the nonsense you got in the past.

I think I'm seriously having to look at something quite
different, much lower paid and just hope I get that.

Sounds like you low self-esteme is talking again. You really need to
give that downer a boot and tell it you deserve better and am going fo
it.
If you go for less make sure thatit's only part-time and tmeporary
while you are trying to get into somewhere better and more like what
you want to do.


But how do you
get ahead in life on low wages? I have no assets how do I become
independent? Finance my dreams? Actually get onto what I should be
doing in life? I have already learnt I have little courage, and
nothing to bolster that courage with.

It took a lot of courage to stay in that past situation when things
started to get real harry with a little experience as you had then, and
to do your best to fix up a ton of mistakes from past employees you had
no part in making in the first place, and to stay there when they got
a new mananger and it was a sure things that things would be changing,
and to walk out of there with no job lined up or anything when they
wanted to put you in some low paying slough job you knew you'd hate and
out of what you really wanted to do and felt you were good at.
You say you don't have any courage, but I don't see that at all. You
do have courage and guts when you want or need to find them.


Perhaps I should start drinking.

Please don't do that. You need all your wits to help you now and
drinking only turns off your higher brain functions. Save those drinks
for when you do get that new job to celebrate, which I know you will in
time.




Life is too short not to be happy and to be doing those things that
matter and give meaning to our lives


.

People I think give meaning to life. There is no one I feel close to.
I cannot even get a pet.

Small wonder you are feeling depressed. You need some people in your
life that matter to you and you can relate to and stuff. Maybe you can
hook up with old co-workers or old friends.
Or perhaps see if you can get into some part-time volunteer work to
help keep you busy, make a few friends, make some connections in
finding a job or income opportunities,
and just helping may help your self-esteme do better.


There is usually a way to get some good out of a situation and to find
a way to get things going in your favor if you just give it some time
to think things out


.



Life is full of karma, and folks will get what they deserve in good
time without our needing to work on it


What did I do that was so bad to deserve this?

Nothing that I can think of, but maybe you are paying off a karmatic
debt from a past life of you own free choice to be free of it for good,
or are using thee experience you are going thru now as part of the
learning experiences you chose for this lifetime.
Only the powers that be and your soul knows for sure, but either way I
hope that things come around for you soon and better things come your
way.



Deal with your own stuff and
let the powers that be deal with the rest and things will work out in
the long run.
Everyone has a prupose in thier life and it is one of their jobs in
this life to figur it our and nobody can do it for them but themselves


.

I don't know, I kinda felt mine was to hold the magic in life...to stop

it fading from our lives so we would still wonder and feel our lives
have meaning. I kinda hoped I would know what it was like to be happy
as an adult as well.

Funny thing, when I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I
remember saying that I wanted to be happy. If nothing else back then,
I had enough sense to know that I was still tooyoung to settle on just
one career and set it in stone. There was just too many possiblities
staring out at me and I had much yet to learn before I could decide on
any one or even any group of them. Drove the career councillors crazy
then, but it worked out for the best as I continued in school, taking
the higest accedemic classe I could and aiming for the highest and best
levels I could so that when I started to get some ideas I was able to
follow the pathways to get to them.

It's good to want to be happy in our lives and it's good to want to
have magic and wonder in it and to share that happiness, magic and
wonder we are blessed with. The real trick is to find a way to keep it
and to share it at the same time and to get the resources we need to
live during it all. Maybe that's another test and learning lesson for
this life too. :)

Perhaps you writing will help you find a way to share it and a way to
help you live too. That is, if you can find the courage to share it
with others and to treat it with the value it deserves.


When things are meant to happen they will.
Desperation in folks can be smelt a mile away and will be very
off-putting to most folks
.

Yeah, but how can I ever trust or feel fond of false friends. If
people will only be friends with me when I am wonderful but keep
distant when I am not when they needn't, then I will only smile at them

and hate them. I do not want to be surrounded by people for
appearances sake and hate them. I want friends who will look me in the

eye and say I know your sadness, I realise your pain, I want the best
for you and will support you at least in thought to be the best you can

be, but if you can't manage, I'll still be there and help you if I can,

or at least know you.


Nobody care to be around phonies that are only into appearance, and
that's not the kind of people I'd want to be around you at all.
At the same time folks don't care to be around folks that are always
down as it's draining to deal with that all the time and after a while
thye'll pull back, not because they don't care, but rather out of
self-preservation and frustration as they feel they can't spare any
more of their energy on a person that only seems to be taking and whome
they can't seem to help do better even when they truly wish they could
help them do better.
It's a balancing act of being able to both give and take as each person
you're dealing with needs it and not to end up too much on only one
side of the equation in life.That's what friendship is about. Being
ther for each other and being able to both give and take, and being
able to listen even if there is nothing you can do and just being tht
sounding board and letting the other folk know that is exaectly what
you are.

Manners will help you much in life as will an attitude of gratitude for

what is around you and what is in you life


.

I admit my manners have slipped in life. I stopped caring about others

when I realised they didn't care for me. Not an excuse...esp not for
those who do have manners and consideration for others who certainly I
should try to be better to.

Think of manners as a mirror that if you treat others as you'd like to
be treated then folks will notice and they'll do good things back in
return and the good you've put out will, in time and in ways you won't
expect will come reflecting back.


Gratitude is something I'm not good on.
However gratitude for small things like a smile or a kind word from ...

Even the small things are worth being grateful and glad for. Be it a
good day with wonderful weather to head out the door to run your
errands instead rain and stuff then, having thins stay good until you
get home, expected storms happening at night when your sleeping so you
don't have to be out in it during the day, flowers blooming, an animal
greeting you in a friendly manner and passing your journeys, a kind
word or action from a stranger or a friend, running into a friend when
you least expected it and are most glad for it, a child's smile that
cheers up a rough period of your day and makes it seem a bit better,
finding a rare treasure or treat you've been wanting and weren't
expecting to find, a lead on something good that works out and was not
on your plans for the day.
There was a real rough period in my life when I never thought I'd get
anywhere to where I'm now and I'd make some lists each day. One would
be what things I had gotten done that day, and another would be what
good things had happened to me or had I saw or heard. It was amazing
how much better I felt after I actually made those lists each day and
went over them, and the list of things I wanted to get done for the
next day. I also would make a list of things I wanted to do in my
life, and the things I'd like to see, and the dreams I wanted to follow
at some point in my life.
Each day those lists got longer as I got better and stronger and I
gradually got back in control of my life and got it back on track.
I still have a ways to go but it is coming, and when I find the time I
still try to make those lists and update those lists, and say thanks
for the good things that do come my way.

May some good come your way too. :)

I'm still working on the car but it will come in time, maybe longer
than I thought it would, but most likely at the right time for what is
meant to happen.

Hugs, tugs, and better days.
-Jo
It's all in how you see things.
Squirrel
2005-06-23 10:38:04 UTC
Permalink
Hi Jo!
Wrote you a rather lengthy reply to this. Tried to post it and
computer went error and completely lost it. Maybe just as well. Am
feeling my personal life is becoming too exposed. Think private email
is more the forum for my personal problems than the public domain.
Don't think anyone in NZ reads alt.cuddle(hope not) but rather not take
the risk. Besides prob get boring. Alt.cuddle was meant to be an
escape from real life for me, and now i am dragging too much of my real
life into it which also spoils it somewhat for me as rather be a
squirrel without a care in the world...apart from the soddin' trees
standing on my foot! Lets just say in sum that I get some support in
life but not of the kind like I believe in you, you'll make it, and I
do get pointed out a lot of obstacles that I never thought of and never
wanted to know about unless I got to them, there is a lot of confidence
from my father that I will fall off any ladder I climb and get hurt and
lots of other things like that despite my never having got hurt from
falling off a ladder...actually I didn't actually fall....and there is
supreme confidence that I will fail in and not manage anything that I
might actually want to do, that I should be quite happy and grateful
even to remain dependant on my family the rest of my life, and no
expressed interest at all in my getting married or having children one
day and active discouragement of me following any of my dreams. My
mother is better and is at least reasonably supportive of my dreams in
terms of writing or art but uninterested in my forming any outside
relationships and in the prospect of any grandchildren. I really need
to move and find my own space. Money though has always been a very
major obstacle in my life. I have never been able to afford a car and
my savings towards one this year are rapidly disappearing. Nor can I
even get a cat. And the neighbour's cat is currently avoiding me.
Maybe I should get some catfood.
N ELF
2005-06-24 04:58:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Hi Jo!
Wrote you a rather lengthy reply to this. Tried to post it and
computer went error and completely lost it. Maybe just as well. Am
feeling my personal life is becoming too exposed. Think private email
is more the forum for my personal problems than the public domain.
Don't think anyone in NZ reads alt.cuddle(hope not) but rather not take
the risk. Besides prob get boring. Alt.cuddle was meant to be an
escape from real life for me, and now i am dragging too much of my real
life into it which also spoils it somewhat for me as rather be a
squirrel without a care in the world...apart from the soddin' trees
standing on my foot! Lets just say in sum that I get some support in
life but not of the kind like I believe in you, you'll make it, and I
do get pointed out a lot of obstacles that I never thought of and never
wanted to know about unless I got to them, there is a lot of confidence
from my father that I will fall off any ladder I climb and get hurt and
lots of other things like that despite my never having got hurt from
falling off a ladder...actually I didn't actually fall....and there is
supreme confidence that I will fail in and not manage anything that I
might actually want to do, that I should be quite happy and grateful
even to remain dependant on my family the rest of my life, and no
expressed interest at all in my getting married or having children one
day and active discouragement of me following any of my dreams. My
mother is better and is at least reasonably supportive of my dreams in
terms of writing or art but uninterested in my forming any outside
relationships and in the prospect of any grandchildren. I really need
to move and find my own space. Money though has always been a very
major obstacle in my life. I have never been able to afford a car and
my savings towards one this year are rapidly disappearing. Nor can I
even get a cat. And the neighbour's cat is currently avoiding me.
Maybe I should get some catfood.
We parents always have a hard time letting go but I will bet the way to a
cat's heart is through his stomache. I wonder how he would like some tuna
or if he would prefer a little ground beef or catnip. Let us know which he
prefers if you find out, just make sure it isn't Squirrel he gets too close
too. Those claws could make a mess of a tail tip.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Squirrel
2005-06-24 11:21:36 UTC
Permalink
I will bet the way to a
cat's heart is through his stomache. I wonder how he would like some
tuna
or if he would prefer a little ground beef or catnip. Let us know
which he
prefers if you find out, just make sure it isn't Squirrel he gets too
close
too. Those claws could make a mess of a tail tip.

Yee...eesssssss...
They do seem to like fluffy things.
N ELF
2005-06-19 23:33:37 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
I haven't started the diet yet. I've never been on one in my life. Do
not have that sort of willpower. I drink a fair amount of water it
being one of my favourite drinks. I'm tall, big boned, and well
padded. Nutritionally i'm in no danger of starvation. I'm a devout
omnivore. It is the other things in life I hunger for. Have been in
an art class recently but most people in these classes are female. I
don't remember ever being introduced to someone's sister or brother
beyond some fleeting glimpse in the work place. Only a couple of
times have friends or family introduced me to suitable men. I told one
friend of my interest in her friend. She said she would see what she
could do...next I heard they had got together. It didn't last long but
by then I realised he wasn't quite that suitable. The other guy was
from out of town and only there briefly, and a thrid guy, the only one
my family ever introduced me to, we visited once and I never saw again.
It sounds as though your area there is very different from here. There are
more men than women in this area so that may have something to do with it.
I assumed the places you were had a number of women which is why I was
assuming you needed introductions from them to other people. I assumed that
once you made friends or acquaintances with women like those in the art
class they would introduce you to others with simmilar interests and you
would have a chance of meeting guys that way.
I am assuming you are not meeting men and from what you said above that
seems to be correct. So it seemed to me that you needed a way to meet them
safely. It sounds as though you are telling me that is true.
I have to assume you can find more places that allow play there than I could
ever imagine so you can figure out the most likely places to find fun and
people you can have fun with. Isn't that what a date is supposed to lead
too? Elf continues Tugging for good things for Squirrel.
Post by Squirrel
I was young then. There was not much acquaintence made and it needed
more visits to build a friendship or any kind of relationship.
Yes, it does take a lot.

I've
Post by Squirrel
rarely met anyone thru clubs. One I was keen on was taken, as was
someone in a class I once did. A tutor from another class I don't know
about his status but he moved out of town after a while. I have never
been able to tell if they were interested or just reasonably friendly.
As a man I would say we have to be friendly before we get interested. We
are often a little timid too. Well, some of us aren't but most of us fear
rejection.
Post by Squirrel
Wouldn't know interested if it hit me over the head.
Fair enough. Not only is it hard to read but so is the body language that
shows it when people don't say it. This is true for both men and women.
That is why all the time is needed to get to know people but reading up on
body language can help too.

The couple of
Post by Squirrel
times I have asked guys out on dates...welll one told me he wasn't good
enough for me so I took him at his word as he obviously didn't mean to
try and be.
OK....

The other we went on a date once and then I never saw him
Post by Squirrel
again much. Partly he had lost his job and I had no other means of
contacting him, partly for more complicated reasons.
Sounds pretty normal for young people. Men have to go through periods at
times in which we are between jobs, especially when just starting out.

I've been turned
Post by Squirrel
down for other bizarre but genuine reasons.
I suspect that is true for most of us, men and women.

Nothing ever works.
Post by Squirrel
Conclusion I'm a troll.
No more than the rest of the people in this world who suffer the same
problems and have to find a way through them. What you are writing, I
think, is shared by many if not most people at some point so we have to
figure out how to over come it.

And no my email name doesn't mean what people
Post by Squirrel
seem to think it does it refers to a character in a story.
I actually assumed it was some form of a name and had not thought about it
beyond that.

I don't
Post by Squirrel
meet many people (nor do I want to at this time..too ashamed I can't
support myself yet again)...except through the job which I don't have
at the mo.
The shame is something that can be worked on. It changes your body
language, voice tone, emotional outlook which changes how you perceive other
people so you miss signs of what they are thinking about you when they are
thinking good things, and your putting yourself forward into the world.
Have you noticed how some people can hide in plain sight? They put up signs
saying don't come near me with their body language, hair, tone of voice,
physical touch. Have you ever noticed a beautiful woman - physically
pretty - with hair hanging in her face, no make up, slouching, barely
speaking above a whisper, needs a lot of encouragement to join in with other
people?
Elf Tugs for all people who are hiding from others to find accepting people
who want to get to know them and get them out to play and have fun.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
N ELF
2005-06-18 01:59:45 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Hmmmm...think before I eat? Squirrel is too hungry to think before
eat.
Maybe it isn't the time when one thinks that matters but what one decides to
eat? Does it work to brew a cup of tea and while waiting for the tea drink
some water. Once the tea is ready it can be enjoyed and while enjoying tea
one can plan out what one would like next? What would be good after tea?
When the stomache is empty it wants to be filled. Sometimes water and other
liquids can help curb hunger so less stuff that makes one put on weight is
needed. High calorie stuff is needed so the body doesn't rebel thinking it
is being punished but if it is a reward it is even better. A cup of tea and
some walnuts or other nuts perhaps?

Squirrel rarely drives on account of not have a car. Personally
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel thinks this leads to being even more hungry. The problem with
exercise is that the less one does the less one wants to do.
Yes, that is a biological truth. Endorphins and other chemicals are
involved but the way they work is usually just described in dusty old
medical texts.
Squirrel obviously hasn't been in that library recently. Dust can't survive
a squirrel.

Maybe I
Post by Squirrel
should try reverse physchology and eat as much as I possible can and
absolutely forbid myself to do any exercise at all. (Squirrel has
suspician this will not work out as hoped.)
Have heard that if you imagine yourself doing exercise regardless of
not doing it you can lose a few pounds. Maybe I should imagine lots of
hiking and rock-climbing... which vaguely reminds me ...went to see a
film today called The Light, some sort of romance story set around a
lighthouse. Brilliant lighthouse. Even more brilliant sea...lotsa
sea...and very nice cat in a cat's heaven. Always felt being embraced
by the sea is like having a massage of the soul. (read sea-spray or
mist...no actual swimming involved here- bad for the tail)
A warm mist Elf hopes. Not a cold grey day with clamy moisture hiding the
sea gulls over head. Fog horns blat in the distance and the muffled sound
of a bouy bell bounces off the sea. Maybe an ocean liner or two sailing in
circles out there trying to avoid its refelection and not realizing it.
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
There are a great many possibilities - working with non governmental rescue
organizations giving starving people food and blankets, working with animal
rescue organizations, working with the church in outreach, a spiritual
retreat, deciding that as a professional you are going to build up your
portfolio and going to an artist colony or small cabin in the woods - I
spent one summer living in a small cabin with a dog and a mouse that had a
number of little mice and working to support myself during the rest of the
time - the reflection and time spent writing by kerosene lantern I found
valuable.
The big question is, who are you? What is your passion, what are your
talents, what is the right thing to do, once you figure that out I believe
the question becomes, what are the needs around you that you can meet? I
think that is the same question all of us have to answer and usually more
than once and the answer never comes easily.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Squirrel
2005-06-18 12:01:01 UTC
Permalink
Maybe it isn't the time when one thinks that matters but what one
decides to
eat? Does it work to brew a cup of tea and while waiting for the tea
drink
some water. Once the tea is ready it can be enjoyed and while enjoying
tea
one can plan out what one would like next? What would be good after
tea?
When the stomache is empty it wants to be filled. Sometimes water and
other
liquids can help curb hunger so less stuff that makes one put on weight
is
needed. High calorie stuff is needed so the body doesn't rebel
thinking it
is being punished but if it is a reward it is even better. A cup of
tea and
some walnuts or other nuts perhaps?

To be honest the problem is depression frustration boredom etc. I eat
till I feel so full I don't feel anything other than too full.
Basically it helps to block the pain of living. I try to feel better
by eating something nice then if that doesn't work I keep eating till I
don't feel too much other than bloated.

Squirrel rarely drives on account of not have a car. Personally
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel thinks this leads to being even more hungry. The problem with
exercise is that the less one does the less one wants to do.
I tried walking into town as Jo suggested then my feet started to ache.
I thought my foot problems were improving but lately they have been
deteriorating again which is also frustrating as I like walking.

Squirrel obviously hasn't been in that library recently. Dust can't
survive
a squirrel.

Actually squirrels just move it round, toss it up to air but it never
actually leaves.
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
There are a great many possibilities - working with non governmental
rescue
organizations giving starving people food and blankets, working with
animal
rescue organizations, working with the church in outreach,

No, no, and no.

a spiritual
retreat,

no money

deciding that as a professional you are going to build up your
portfolio

giving up on being a professional anything

and going to an artist colony

what's the point...apart from having no money ie zero income and almost
no savings left.

or small cabin in the woods -

What cabin? I bet this costs too. Maybe I should mention I have no
assets to sell either that would fetch anything. I don't even own most
of this computer

spent one summer living in a small cabin with a dog and a mouse that
had a
number of little mice and working to support myself during the rest of
the
time - the reflection and time spent writing by kerosene lantern I
found
valuable.

That is the problem...I have no income and no means of getting an
income. I can't support myself. I'm not eligible for state support
either

The big question is, who are you?

Nobody

What is your passion,

disipated

what are your
talents,

have none

what is the right thing to do,

die

once you figure that out I believe
the question becomes, what are the needs around you that you can meet?

am not needed by the world or anyone.
I
think that is the same question all of us have to answer and usually
more
than once and the answer never comes easily.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
N ELF
2005-06-20 00:58:05 UTC
Permalink
Post by N ELF
Maybe it isn't the time when one thinks that matters but what one decides to
eat? Does it work to brew a cup of tea and while waiting for the tea drink
some water. Once the tea is ready it can be enjoyed and while enjoying tea
one can plan out what one would like next? What would be good after tea?
When the stomache is empty it wants to be filled. Sometimes water and other
liquids can help curb hunger so less stuff that makes one put on weight is
needed. High calorie stuff is needed so the body doesn't rebel thinking it
is being punished but if it is a reward it is even better. A cup of tea and
some walnuts or other nuts perhaps?
To be honest the problem is depression frustration boredom etc. I eat
till I feel so full I don't feel anything other than too full.
Basically it helps to block the pain of living. I try to feel better
by eating something nice then if that doesn't work I keep eating till I
don't feel too much other than bloated.
Squirrel rarely drives on account of not have a car. Personally
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel thinks this leads to being even more hungry. The problem with
exercise is that the less one does the less one wants to do.
I tried walking into town as Jo suggested then my feet started to ache.
I thought my foot problems were improving but lately they have been
deteriorating again which is also frustrating as I like walking.
Squirrel obviously hasn't been in that library recently. Dust can't survive
a squirrel.
Actually squirrels just move it round, toss it up to air but it never
actually leaves.
Elf runs back and forth opening windows to let the dust out. Not sure if
that will work to actually get the dust to leave but worth a try.
Post by N ELF
Post by Squirrel
Anyway as far as diet, exercise etc maybe what Squirrel needs is an
actual change of life...any suggestions for a life change? (damn
automation of lighthouses!)
There are a great many possibilities - working with non governmental rescue
organizations giving starving people food and blankets, working with animal
rescue organizations, working with the church in outreach,
No, no, and no.
a spiritual
retreat,
no money
Elf did not realize money was required. Elf sits down to think some more.
Post by N ELF
deciding that as a professional you are going to build up your
portfolio
giving up on being a professional anything
Oh, Elf gives Squirrel a big hug to help her get through this period and to
let her know that he is still TUGGING for her to get what she wants.
Post by N ELF
and going to an artist colony
what's the point...apart from having no money ie zero income and almost
no savings left.
Since anything requiring money is obviously out it would seem that looking
for a job to make more money being number one would take up a lot of time.
The time left after contacting employers is still free to be used. The
question would seem to be how to best use this time.
In a simmilar situation Elf has used the time as a time of preparation.
The idea is not to spend money but to make ones self more knowledgeable and
marketable on the one hand and on the other hand to spend time in getting to
know ones self better. You are the only tool you have to act upon life and
get what you want from it. As this happens the time you can spend learning
and discovering more gives you an edge those who do not have the time do not
have.
Post by N ELF
or small cabin in the woods -
What cabin? I bet this costs too. Maybe I should mention I have no
assets to sell either that would fetch anything. I don't even own most
of this computer
I do not want you to spend more than you absolutely have to to pay your
bills and what you need to live on. As you say, all other money has to be
saved as you do not have any coming in.
Post by N ELF
spent one summer living in a small cabin with a dog and a mouse that had a
number of little mice and working to support myself during the rest of the
time - the reflection and time spent writing by kerosene lantern I found
valuable.
That is the problem...I have no income and no means of getting an
income. I can't support myself. I'm not eligible for state support
either
So it becomes more and more important to find a way of supporting your self.
In order to do that you need to find someone willing to pay you for what you
can do. That means you need to figure out what they are paying for and how
what you can offer fits into that. That means you have to follow every
possibility including possibly working for yourself. So one of the things
you have to do is try to make acquaintances when you can, another is to
gather every scrap of information you can and save what you can remember for
later use, another is to find what you enjoy enough to spend long hours at
it working.
The one thing you do have is time to explore what you can do and to reach
out to others and see what they are doing and what they need to have done.
You may find things you did not know existed but even if you don't you will
find things you might be able to use for other purposes. The Harry Potter
series is a good example of this. She had a new baby, would have a cup of
coffee making it last as long as possible as she sat and wrote trying to
find a way to bring in money to support her family, according to press
releases I have read. In the end, all any of us have is our creativity for
work and play and making the world a special place for ourselves and others.
Post by N ELF
The big question is, who are you?
Nobody
Everyone is someone and everyone is different. You like some things and
dislike others and can make things happen to make life better with or
without money. I have never known money to be guaranteed so it has to be
searched for and your gifts for doing that are inside your being. In a
hunter gatherer society some are better at finding roots and berries and
some at finding fruits. A person good at finding fruits has different gifts
from one gifted at finding roots. The you I speak of here is what you have
been given by those women who came before you and survived because they had
those things. It is now up to you to learn what you inherited and use it
and find how to survive and pass it on. You are the only one who can do
this because you are the only one who can develop what you have been given.
Post by N ELF
What is your passion,
disipated
what are your
talents,
have none
We all have some and need a place to use them. So far the place to use
yours at the moment has not appeared just as during spring and summer the
place to harvest fat juicy potatoes has not yet shown up. They must grow to
be harvested and we have to keep from starving in the meantime. Isn't that
why we celebrate harvest time?
Post by N ELF
what is the right thing to do,
die
once you figure that out I believe
the question becomes, what are the needs around you that you can meet?
am not needed by the world or anyone.
You are needed by many of us who are Tugging for you for us you matter and
you make us more than we would otherwise be. Haven't you noticed that we
turn to you for help getting through what we must do? Together we are all
stronger than if we try to do things separately and all of us out here need
other people because there are limits to what we can do alone. If we are to
survive we need help from others to handle the big things and your strength
in keeping our spirits up helps us do more in our own lives. You living so
close to the hard things might know this even better than we do. You matter
to me and I believe you matter to others here. We can not reach across the
ocean physically so we can only try to offer support and tugging and try to
help keep your spirits up with TUGS and HUGS and maybe some stories to cheer
you.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Post by N ELF
I
think that is the same question all of us have to answer and usually more
than once and the answer never comes easily.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Squirrel
2005-06-20 09:54:18 UTC
Permalink
Oh, Elf gives Squirrel a big hug to help her get through this period
and to
let her know that he is still TUGGING for her to get what she wants.

Thanks

Since anything requiring money is obviously out it would seem that
looking
for a job to make more money being number one would take up a lot of
time.

I so hate looking for work. Some people have phobias about spiders, I
have phobias about looking for work. The more I look the more I expose
myself to rejection. Having a job is fine. Looking for it is fear
no.1. I did get an interview recently but didn't get it don't know
why. Thought I was suitable. Never understand why I don't get jobs or
why I even get the ones I do. Doesn't seem related to how the
interview goes on the whole. I know one I went to I felt so bad that
I could not raise a smile the whole way through but I got it the very
same day. I always think about all the possible negatives and
everything that could go wrong.
My cv is ready, I find these days I get a reasonable hit rate for
interviews for applications so my covering letters aren't too bad on
the whole, but I feel totally inadequate. I have to whittle things
down in small stages like put the stamps on the envelopes, and the
addresses on, and gradually whittle down the task into actually
managing to write the application. I've never gotten a job thru
doorknocking and almost never through people I know.

The time left after contacting employers is still free to be used. The
question would seem to be how to best use this time.

Sleeping seems a good option. It helps pass the time and quashes the
fear, at least to some extent. Or I eat lots to bolster my energy
levels to a state I can function in.

In a simmilar situation Elf has used the time as a time of preparation.
The idea is not to spend money but to make ones self more knowledgeable
and
marketable on the one hand and on the other hand to spend time in
getting to
know ones self better.

Aaaarrrggghhh!!!! I always hate myself when I am unemployed, and it
certainly is a time I don't want to spend too much time getting to know
myself better.

You are the only tool you have to act upon life and
get what you want from it.

True. Ill-fitting tool, but a tool.

As this happens the time you can spend learning
and discovering more gives you an edge those who do not have the time
do not
have.

I close in, and just about everything I touch turns to shit.

I do not want you to spend more than you absolutely have to to pay your
bills and what you need to live on. As you say, all other money has to
be
saved as you do not have any coming in.

Too be honest I freaked the other day and splurged because I thought it
does not matter. I am going to have to use my savings to pay my credit
card anyway, it matters little whether it runs out sooner or later.
Just seems no point in eking it out. When it is all gone then I have
to get a job. No choice. Do or die.


In order to do that you need to find someone willing to pay you for
what you
can do. That means you need to figure out what they are paying for and
how
what you can offer fits into that. That means you have to follow every
possibility including possibly working for yourself. So one of the
things
you have to do is try to make acquaintances when you can, another is to
gather every scrap of information you can and save what you can
remember for
later use, another is to find what you enjoy enough to spend long hours
at
it working.
The one thing you do have is time to explore what you can do and to
reach
out to others and see what they are doing and what they need to have
done.

I can never reach out. I am afraid of them.

You may find things you did not know existed but even if you don't you
will
find things you might be able to use for other purposes. The Harry
Potter
series is a good example of this. She had a new baby, would have a cup
of
coffee making it last as long as possible as she sat and wrote trying
to
find a way to bring in money to support her family,

I think you try harder when you have kids to support or any dependents.
I have been writing a story and it has flowed surprisingly well, and is
getting reasonably close to finished. I know most of how it goes and
how it ends, but I don't think I could take it in to anybody because it
is a very bleak story. One of the coldest and hardest I've ever
written. I think it would upset people, and certainly I don't want
people coming and telling me what they think. You wouldn't like it.
And not just because it features no animals. It is about being able to
forgive oneself. No it is not autobiographical, not at all, but it
contains some strong opinions i have about some things.. on morality,
and religion, and our ability to recognise the bad in people. There
are reasons I drive people away from me and stories like this are
certainly part of it. I once said to one of our cuddlers that it is
the ordinary people I fear more than the tyrants and that still holds
true. They have no power without the support we give them.

releases I have read. In the end, all any of us have is our creativity
for
work and play and making the world a special place for ourselves and
others.

At the moment I feel no space of light and joy, no squirrel stories
come to mind.

I have never known money to be guaranteed so it has to be
searched for and your gifts for doing that are inside your being.

How do I make that search a good thing? I feel at my weakest and most
vulnerable, and at my worst when searching.

You are needed by many of us who are Tugging for you for us you matter
and
you make us more than we would otherwise be. That is sweet. Haven't
you noticed that we
turn to you for help getting through what we must do?
No.

we are to
survive we need help from others to handle the big things and your
strength
in keeping our spirits up helps us do more in our own lives. You
living so
close to the hard things might know this even better than we do.
I know there are those much worse off than me. I realise to some if
the worst problem is not having a job it doesn't seem like much, but to
me it is everything because I have so little else to fall back on in
terms of self esteem and identity You matter
to me and I believe you matter to others here. We can not reach across
the
ocean physically so we can only try to offer support and tugging and
try to
help keep your spirits up with TUGS and HUGS and maybe some stories to
cheer
you.

Yep stories sound good. Tell me a story.
Sq.
--
N ELF
2005-06-21 04:45:27 UTC
Permalink
Post by N ELF
Oh, Elf gives Squirrel a big hug to help her get through this period and to
let her know that he is still TUGGING for her to get what she wants.
Thanks
Since anything requiring money is obviously out it would seem that looking
for a job to make more money being number one would take up a lot of time.
I so hate looking for work. Some people have phobias about spiders, I
have phobias about looking for work. The more I look the more I expose
myself to rejection. Having a job is fine. Looking for it is fear
no.1. I did get an interview recently but didn't get it don't know
why. Thought I was suitable.
You may have been very suitable. I have had to hire people from a stack of
employment forms all of which showed them as qualified. When you can only
hire one person out of 20 it is very hard. You know if the person you
finally do hire doesn't work out you will spend much time kicking yourself
because you missed the one you should have hired. You have had to tell 19
people you couldn't hire them even though they are qualified and the most
you can do is keep their application on file. Probably if you try to hire
them later they will already have a job too.
Much better to let a personnel department have those headaches.
There is one thing worse. Having to lay someone off when they are not at
fault and you know they deserve the job but there isn't any money for that
position is the pits.

Never understand why I don't get jobs or
Post by N ELF
why I even get the ones I do.
Sometimes it is because the coin landed one way rather than the other but, I
suspect more often, it is because your personality fit with those already in
the organization. I believe a good boss tries to pick people who have a
strength that can off set another's weakness. He needs a team to get the
job done and everyone has a weakness that has to be compensated for by
someone else's strength.

Doesn't seem related to how the
Post by N ELF
interview goes on the whole. I know one I went to I felt so bad that
I could not raise a smile the whole way through but I got it the very
same day.
It partially depends on what they are really looking for beyond the basics
in the job description. In this country they might be trying to have a
diverse work place and have plenty of men but few women but they can't
advertise for women only because that would look like discrimination. If a
court ordered more women be employed would you want to put that in your job
description? So many things never spoken go into hiring people no one ever
knows for sure. Each person can only try to be as fair and impartial as
possible and do the best they can.

I always think about all the possible negatives and
Post by N ELF
everything that could go wrong.
Does it work?
Post by N ELF
My cv is ready, I find these days I get a reasonable hit rate for
interviews for applications so my covering letters aren't too bad on
the whole, but I feel totally inadequate. I have to whittle things
down in small stages like put the stamps on the envelopes, and the
addresses on, and gradually whittle down the task into actually
managing to write the application. I've never gotten a job thru
doorknocking and almost never through people I know.
I think it is mostly when you are going for the better paying jobs you will
find people you know help. People will, by that time, know how good you are
and want you for the positions only few people can handle. People who know
your reputation in a field and respect you and your abilities will more
likely hire you for the higher paying jobs like setting up a new department
or company.
Post by N ELF
The time left after contacting employers is still free to be used. The
question would seem to be how to best use this time.
Sleeping seems a good option. It helps pass the time and quashes the
fear, at least to some extent.
Sounds like a good use of time to me. Any person has a certain amount of
energy and needs a way to recharge and deal with fears. Sleep works, sugar
works for a while but then you use it up and your body has - how should I
put it? withdrawal? - a drop in energy.
If you can find a way to do it, doing something fun also recharges the
emotional batteries. A walk in the woods or down a dirt road in the country
where I can see deer bedded down off to the side during the heat of the day
or a roadrunner hunting. A roadrunner is a large bird that eats snakes and
lizards. I have had the unbelievable experience of stalking up to one
sitting in a bush and stroking its very soft breast before it took off in
flight. When it flew there were wings on each side of my face with a
feeling of being closed in a very soft magical box. It was a fantastic
feeling and the pinnacle of the experience of being careful enough for the
bird to trust my touch. A peak experience.

Or I eat lots to bolster my energy
Post by N ELF
levels to a state I can function in.
In a simmilar situation Elf has used the time as a time of preparation.
The idea is not to spend money but to make ones self more knowledgeable and
marketable on the one hand and on the other hand to spend time in getting to
know ones self better.
Aaaarrrggghhh!!!! I always hate myself when I am unemployed, and it
certainly is a time I don't want to spend too much time getting to know
myself better.
Ok. That is up to you. I know what works for me but respect what other
people feel is best for them too. If you ever do want to explore your inner
self there are a great many books that can help guide that journey and each
journey is unique.
Post by N ELF
You are the only tool you have to act upon life and
get what you want from it.
True. Ill-fitting tool, but a tool.
As this happens the time you can spend learning
and discovering more gives you an edge those who do not have the time do not
have.
I close in, and just about everything I touch turns to shit.
I do not want you to spend more than you absolutely have to to pay your
bills and what you need to live on. As you say, all other money has to be
saved as you do not have any coming in.
Too be honest I freaked the other day and splurged because I thought it
does not matter. I am going to have to use my savings to pay my credit
card anyway, it matters little whether it runs out sooner or later.
Just seems no point in eking it out. When it is all gone then I have
to get a job. No choice. Do or die.
In order to do that you need to find someone willing to pay you for what you
can do. That means you need to figure out what they are paying for and how
what you can offer fits into that. That means you have to follow every
possibility including possibly working for yourself. So one of the things
you have to do is try to make acquaintances when you can, another is to
gather every scrap of information you can and save what you can remember for
later use, another is to find what you enjoy enough to spend long hours at
it working.
The one thing you do have is time to explore what you can do and to reach
out to others and see what they are doing and what they need to have done.
I can never reach out. I am afraid of them.
I may be wrong but, I am hearing you writing about forests and trees and
gardens often. I remember olive trees and a great party you created for us
with gardens if I remember correctly, I do hope your hat and scarf are
getting along better these days, and your love of ocean creatures and your
interest in wildlife on land and a lot of nature. On the other hand I think
you must live in a city to get to work without a car and I remember your
mention of sales work which would require people coming in. It seems as
though you are working in one world and enjoying a different one. This is
just what I believe. I may be right or wrong. If you are more at home in
the natural world is it possible for you to get involved with people from
that world? That way you might feel comfortable while having fun?
There are many groups on the internet that are free. Yahoo groups have
whole categories of groups you can access by web page. The last time I
looked you could access the directory from the www.yahoo.com page.
This is just a thought in case you might want to explore and read for a
while before saying anything to them.
Post by N ELF
You may find things you did not know existed but even if you don't you will
find things you might be able to use for other purposes. The Harry Potter
series is a good example of this. She had a new baby, would have a cup of
coffee making it last as long as possible as she sat and wrote trying to
find a way to bring in money to support her family,
I think you try harder when you have kids to support or any dependents.
I have been writing a story and it has flowed surprisingly well, and is
getting reasonably close to finished. I know most of how it goes and
how it ends, but I don't think I could take it in to anybody because it
is a very bleak story. One of the coldest and hardest I've ever
written. I think it would upset people, and certainly I don't want
people coming and telling me what they think. You wouldn't like it.
And not just because it features no animals.
So you picked up on my love of nature. Not surprising I guess considering
my life is so wrapped up in it.
I live in multiple worlds really. I have spent Christmas in a house with 6
people and 12 dogs and other years with no animals. I can live in very
civilized polite society and know which fork to use at dinner and talk
someone's ear off but I can also spend weeks hiking up mountains.

It is about being able to
Post by N ELF
forgive oneself. No it is not autobiographical, not at all, but it
contains some strong opinions i have about some things.. on morality,
and religion, and our ability to recognise the bad in people. There
are reasons I drive people away from me and stories like this are
certainly part of it.
That is reasonable and in a different way it is true of all of us. We each
have people we feel very comfortable with and people we don't. I can accept
opinions and people very different from what I feel comfortable with but I
do have a core just as you do that feeds my likes and dislikes. I enjoy
Maslow but not Glasser for instance. Maslow studied healthy people and
wrote about what they did while Glasser believes there is no such thing as
mental illness just irresponsible living. Since I know a little about the
chemical basis for some diseases and know medication can mean the difference
between people living a happy life or a fear filled life I totally reject
Glasser's hypothesis.
Since I have never read your story I do not know what I would think of it
but I do know that if you allow others to read it they will comment on it
and, right or wrong, try to be critics. If you do not want to hear negative
comments it is probably wise to be careful who you allow to read it.

I once said to one of our cuddlers that it is
Post by N ELF
the ordinary people I fear more than the tyrants and that still holds
true. They have no power without the support we give them.
releases I have read. In the end, all any of us have is our creativity for
work and play and making the world a special place for ourselves and others.
At the moment I feel no space of light and joy, no squirrel stories
come to mind.
As time permits we will still be having fun in the Meadow and hoping you
will join us and when you feel you can post the stories you enjoy. Come
along on our adventures and see what happens. One never knows.
Post by N ELF
I have never known money to be guaranteed so it has to be
searched for and your gifts for doing that are inside your being.
How do I make that search a good thing? I feel at my weakest and most
vulnerable, and at my worst when searching.
Elf gives Squirrel a Hug to help her continue searching. Here's to the
finding of the treasure at the end.
Post by N ELF
You are needed by many of us who are Tugging for you for us you matter and
you make us more than we would otherwise be. That is sweet. Haven't
you noticed that we
turn to you for help getting through what we must do?
No.
Yup, we all need other people. You have helped many of us here and made the
Meadow a better place.
Post by N ELF
we are to
survive we need help from others to handle the big things and your strength
in keeping our spirits up helps us do more in our own lives. You living so
close to the hard things might know this even better than we do.
I know there are those much worse off than me. I realise to some if
the worst problem is not having a job it doesn't seem like much, but to
me it is everything because I have so little else to fall back on in
terms of self esteem and identity You matter
to me and I believe you matter to others here. We can not reach across the
ocean physically so we can only try to offer support and tugging and try to
help keep your spirits up with TUGS and HUGS and maybe some stories to cheer
you.
Yep stories sound good. Tell me a story.
Sq.
--
It is almost midnight here tonight so I will have to come back with that
story but yes, a story sounds good.
Elf begins weaving his story as he wishes Squirrel a good night and grabs
some sleep himself so he can come back with a clear sentence.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Squirrel
2005-06-21 10:11:24 UTC
Permalink
It partially depends on what they are really looking for beyond the
basics
in the job description.

I always think about all the possible negatives and
Post by Squirrel
everything that could go wrong.
Does it work?

No. Habit bred in me from an early age. Not good on posatives.

I think it is mostly when you are going for the better paying jobs you
will
find people you know help. People will, by that time, know how good
you are
and want you for the positions only few people can handle. People who
know
your reputation in a field and respect you and your abilities will more
likely hire you for the higher paying jobs like setting up a new
department
or company.

The first job that broke the unemployment rut for me was one I got thru
someone I met in a bar, prob thru the mediation of my boyfriend at the
time (pretty nearly the only one). It was casual only but their
reference helped me get more work and full-time eventually. It is
funny how much difference a person's support makes.

Sounds like a good use of time to me. Any person has a certain amount
of
energy and needs a way to recharge and deal with fears. Sleep works,
sugar
works for a while but then you use it up and your body has - how should
I
put it? withdrawal? - a drop in energy.
If you can find a way to do it, doing something fun also recharges the
emotional batteries. A walk in the woods or down a dirt road in the
country
where I can see deer bedded down off to the side during the heat of the
day
or a roadrunner hunting. A roadrunner is a large bird that eats snakes
and
lizards.

And gets chased by Wile Coyote

I have had the unbelievable experience of stalking up to one
sitting in a bush and stroking its very soft breast before it took off
in
flight. When it flew there were wings on each side of my face with a
feeling of being closed in a very soft magical box. It was a fantastic
feeling and the pinnacle of the experience of being careful enough for
the
bird to trust my touch. A peak experience.

Sounds wonderful. A marvellous experience.
Me, I took the day off today. Was too nice weather and as weather is
set to change later in week to cold mid-wintry weather thought it was
too nice to not make use of. So went and paid internet bill then went
to the beach. Have been away from the sea too long. Been a bit too
nervous since boxing day. Surprisingly it was very busy. Used to go
heaps in the early part of the week for a walk by the sea and usually
pretty quiet, but lots of people, kids and dogs out this afternoon,
even a couple of surfers (brave)
Was very turbulent the sea today. Absolutely wild and wonderful. Took
stroll along the promenade. Watched little kids running up to the sea
and screaming, because it was so wild, and they were a little bit
scared but loving it anyway. Also a little dog walking on the
furtherest end of its leash that it could go.. away from the sea...its
owner told me it didn't like getting wet (not even its paws). The
afternoon was sunny and very mild for the turn of winter. Felt
envigorated and caressed and massaged by the sound of the sea and the
spray rising from the rocks. At the end of the promenade followed the
road and walked a little way up the cliffs. Felt strong and like I
could go further but decided it was really important to save some for
another day.(used to go once a week for a walk along the cliffs to
Taylor's Mistake and back but not terribly fit at mo). Went back down
the road to cliff end of promenade and had a nice pot of tea and a
cupcake, sat at one of the outside wooden tables and watched the sea.
Soon found myself very popular with the sparrows, so scattered a few
crumbs. Sparrow is mus in Dutch. Wonder if it is suggesting a kind
of mouse with wings? Walked back up the promenade after my tea.
Watched a few more people. Caught the bus back to town then went biked
home. I love the sea. It is so wonderful and envigorating. The sea
is my friend. At least from the safety of the shore. Felt safe from
that other kind of sea today anyway. No water missing for a start.
Think the moon is almost full tonight too.
Post by Squirrel
Aaaarrrggghhh!!!! I always hate myself when I am unemployed, and it
certainly is a time I don't want to spend too much time getting to know
myself better.
Ok. That is up to you. I know what works for me but respect what
other
people feel is best for them too. If you ever do want to explore your
inner
self there are a great many books that can help guide that journey and
each
journey is unique.

I think I know myself reasonably. Spend too much time exploring my
inner self anyway usually away from books.

I may be wrong but, I am hearing you writing about forests and trees
and
gardens often. I remember olive trees and a great party you created
for us
with gardens if I remember correctly, I do hope your hat and scarf are
getting along better these days,

um, yeah the hat has taken off and the scarf is sitting rather smug.

and your love of ocean creatures and your
interest in wildlife on land and a lot of nature. On the other hand I
think
you must live in a city to get to work without a car and I remember
your
mention of sales work which would require people coming in. It seems
as
though you are working in one world and enjoying a different one. This
is
just what I believe. I may be right or wrong. If you are more at home
in
the natural world is it possible for you to get involved with people
from
that world?

Maybe that is an idea. I am a city slicker, but I have always been
happier outdoors in more natural environments. Have been mulling
along those lines.

That way you might feel comfortable while having fun?
There are many groups on the internet that are free. Yahoo groups have
whole categories of groups you can access by web page. The last time I
looked you could access the directory from the www.yahoo.com page.
This is just a thought in case you might want to explore and read for a
while before saying anything to them.

So you picked up on my love of nature. Not surprising I guess
considering
my life is so wrapped up in it.
I live in multiple worlds really. I have spent Christmas in a house
with 6
people and 12 dogs and other years with no animals. I can live in very
civilized polite society and know which fork to use at dinner and talk
someone's ear off but I can also spend weeks hiking up mountains.

I think I would have hiked up more mountains if I had been less rotund.
Not strictly true as I used to complain going up them as a kid. Only
about the up part. Didn't mind the down or the flat or the up and
down. In fact can or at least used to be able to walk for miles and
miles along the flat. Didn't mind going up on all fours either. Only
going up and up, and up. Only when I got fitter did I not mind but
that was long ago. Think I would like to do a 4 day walk with my bro
sometime. Have been thinking of it for some time. Maybe. I know a
walkway which is really nice...or at least the first part of it is thru
magical land. I can hear a dragonfly calling me back.

That is reasonable and in a different way it is true of all of us. We
each
have people we feel very comfortable with and people we don't. I can
accept
opinions and people very different from what I feel comfortable with
but I
do have a core just as you do that feeds my likes and dislikes. I
enjoy
Maslow but not Glasser for instance.

Don't know them.

Maslow studied healthy people and
wrote about what they did while Glasser believes there is no such thing
as
mental illness just irresponsible living.

I think we over-prescribe medication. I think many who claim to need
it or are prescribed it don't actually need it and it harms them
instead. However I do believe that some people suffer genuine chemical
imbalances and can go off the wall because of it. These people, much
as they would like to believe they don't need it do need the addition
of chemicals to keep on an even keel and to function normally.

Since I know a little about the
chemical basis for some diseases and know medication can mean the
difference
between people living a happy life or a fear filled life I totally
reject
Glasser's hypothesis.

I think with some people that when their bodies automatic response kick
in to stimuli that with some people their body produces an over
response, and they can't control the level of that response so even for
small things they get a huge surge of adreniline or anxiety.

Since I have never read your story I do not know what I would think of
it
but I do know that if you allow others to read it they will comment on
it
and, right or wrong, try to be critics. If you do not want to hear
negative
comments it is probably wise to be careful who you allow to read it.

I think as a story it is not bad in its writing. Reading back thru it
I am finding few adjustments being needed for a first draft. The
negative comments will be more on its content. It is not sunny or
light, despite its title "Too Close To The Light", and there is barely
anything that lifts it. It is set in war, and it is a war in which I
consider the bad side is winning. It is about a person who does a deed
and cannot forgive themselves for it, and they feel they have lost
their soul. I stress it is not autobiographical. And the main
character has different beliefs to me as do all the characters more or
less in the story.
Post by Squirrel
At the moment I feel no space of light and joy, no squirrel stories
come to mind.
As time permits we will still be having fun in the Meadow and hoping
you
will join us and when you feel you can post the stories you enjoy.
Come
along on our adventures and see what happens. One never knows.

Elf gives Squirrel a Hug to help her continue searching. Here's to the
finding of the treasure at the end.

Thanks. I do appreciate your support.
Post by Squirrel
Yep stories sound good. Tell me a story.
Sq.
--
It is almost midnight here tonight so I will have to come back with
that
story but yes, a story sounds good.
Elf begins weaving his story as he wishes Squirrel a good night and
grabs
some sleep himself so he can come back with a clear sentence.
--

Cool! Hugs back!

Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
N ELF
2005-06-23 01:57:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by N ELF
It partially depends on what they are really looking for beyond the basics
in the job description.
I always think about all the possible negatives and
Post by Squirrel
everything that could go wrong.
Does it work?
No. Habit bred in me from an early age. Not good on posatives.
I think it is mostly when you are going for the better paying jobs you will
find people you know help. People will, by that time, know how good you are
and want you for the positions only few people can handle. People who know
your reputation in a field and respect you and your abilities will more
likely hire you for the higher paying jobs like setting up a new department
or company.
The first job that broke the unemployment rut for me was one I got thru
someone I met in a bar, prob thru the mediation of my boyfriend at the
time (pretty nearly the only one). It was casual only but their
reference helped me get more work and full-time eventually. It is
funny how much difference a person's support makes.
Sounds like a good use of time to me. Any person has a certain amount of
energy and needs a way to recharge and deal with fears. Sleep works, sugar
works for a while but then you use it up and your body has - how should I
put it? withdrawal? - a drop in energy.
If you can find a way to do it, doing something fun also recharges the
emotional batteries. A walk in the woods or down a dirt road in the country
where I can see deer bedded down off to the side during the heat of the day
or a roadrunner hunting. A roadrunner is a large bird that eats snakes and
lizards.
And gets chased by Wile Coyote
I have had the unbelievable experience of stalking up to one
sitting in a bush and stroking its very soft breast before it took off in
flight. When it flew there were wings on each side of my face with a
feeling of being closed in a very soft magical box. It was a fantastic
feeling and the pinnacle of the experience of being careful enough for the
bird to trust my touch. A peak experience.
Sounds wonderful. A marvellous experience.
Me, I took the day off today. Was too nice weather and as weather is
set to change later in week to cold mid-wintry weather thought it was
too nice to not make use of. So went and paid internet bill then went
to the beach. Have been away from the sea too long. Been a bit too
nervous since boxing day. Surprisingly it was very busy. Used to go
heaps in the early part of the week for a walk by the sea and usually
pretty quiet, but lots of people, kids and dogs out this afternoon,
even a couple of surfers (brave)
Was very turbulent the sea today. Absolutely wild and wonderful. Took
stroll along the promenade. Watched little kids running up to the sea
and screaming, because it was so wild, and they were a little bit
scared but loving it anyway. Also a little dog walking on the
furtherest end of its leash that it could go.. away from the sea...its
owner told me it didn't like getting wet (not even its paws).
Licking sea water from ones paws must taste terrible. Yuck.

The
Post by N ELF
afternoon was sunny and very mild for the turn of winter. Felt
envigorated and caressed and massaged by the sound of the sea and the
spray rising from the rocks. At the end of the promenade followed the
road and walked a little way up the cliffs. Felt strong and like I
could go further but decided it was really important to save some for
another day.(used to go once a week for a walk along the cliffs to
Taylor's Mistake and back but not terribly fit at mo). Went back down
the road to cliff end of promenade and had a nice pot of tea and a
cupcake, sat at one of the outside wooden tables and watched the sea.
Soon found myself very popular with the sparrows, so scattered a few
crumbs. Sparrow is mus in Dutch. Wonder if it is suggesting a kind
of mouse with wings?
Sounds neat.

Walked back up the promenade after my tea.
Post by N ELF
Watched a few more people. Caught the bus back to town then went biked
home. I love the sea. It is so wonderful and envigorating. The sea
is my friend. At least from the safety of the shore.
That sounds like a great place to spend time.

Felt safe from
Post by N ELF
that other kind of sea today anyway. No water missing for a start.
Think the moon is almost full tonight too.
A high tide night?
If I remember correctly, each phase of the moon affects the tides a little
differently.
Post by N ELF
Post by Squirrel
Aaaarrrggghhh!!!! I always hate myself when I am unemployed, and it
certainly is a time I don't want to spend too much time getting to know
myself better.
Ok. That is up to you. I know what works for me but respect what other
people feel is best for them too. If you ever do want to explore your inner
self there are a great many books that can help guide that journey and each
journey is unique.
I think I know myself reasonably. Spend too much time exploring my
inner self anyway usually away from books.
I may be wrong but, I am hearing you writing about forests and trees and
gardens often. I remember olive trees and a great party you created for us
with gardens if I remember correctly, I do hope your hat and scarf are
getting along better these days,
um, yeah the hat has taken off and the scarf is sitting rather smug.
and your love of ocean creatures and your
interest in wildlife on land and a lot of nature. On the other hand I think
you must live in a city to get to work without a car and I remember your
mention of sales work which would require people coming in. It seems as
though you are working in one world and enjoying a different one. This is
just what I believe. I may be right or wrong. If you are more at home in
the natural world is it possible for you to get involved with people from
that world?
Maybe that is an idea. I am a city slicker, but I have always been
happier outdoors in more natural environments. Have been mulling
along those lines.
That way you might feel comfortable while having fun?
There are many groups on the internet that are free. Yahoo groups have
whole categories of groups you can access by web page. The last time I
looked you could access the directory from the www.yahoo.com page.
This is just a thought in case you might want to explore and read for a
while before saying anything to them.
So you picked up on my love of nature. Not surprising I guess
considering
my life is so wrapped up in it.
I live in multiple worlds really. I have spent Christmas in a house with 6
people and 12 dogs and other years with no animals. I can live in very
civilized polite society and know which fork to use at dinner and talk
someone's ear off but I can also spend weeks hiking up mountains.
I think I would have hiked up more mountains if I had been less rotund.
Not strictly true as I used to complain going up them as a kid. Only
about the up part. Didn't mind the down or the flat or the up and
down. In fact can or at least used to be able to walk for miles and
miles along the flat. Didn't mind going up on all fours either. Only
going up and up, and up. Only when I got fitter did I not mind but
that was long ago. Think I would like to do a 4 day walk with my bro
sometime. Have been thinking of it for some time. Maybe. I know a
walkway which is really nice...or at least the first part of it is thru
magical land. I can hear a dragonfly calling me back.
Sounds like a call that needs to be answered.
John Muir used to do that in this country long ago. He is the one the Muir
Woods near San Francisco were named after.
He would take some food in his pockets and just set out walking to see the
natural world.
Post by N ELF
That is reasonable and in a different way it is true of all of us. We each
have people we feel very comfortable with and people we don't. I can accept
opinions and people very different from what I feel comfortable with but I
do have a core just as you do that feeds my likes and dislikes. I enjoy
Maslow but not Glasser for instance.
Don't know them.
Maslow studied healthy people and
wrote about what they did while Glasser believes there is no such thing as
mental illness just irresponsible living.
I think we over-prescribe medication. I think many who claim to need
it or are prescribed it don't actually need it and it harms them
instead.
Yes, and some of them use it as a crutch or addiction and should be taken
off of the medication when they don't need it.

However I do believe that some people suffer genuine chemical
Post by N ELF
imbalances and can go off the wall because of it. These people, much
as they would like to believe they don't need it do need the addition
of chemicals to keep on an even keel and to function normally.
That is very true.
Post by N ELF
Since I know a little about the
chemical basis for some diseases and know medication can mean the difference
between people living a happy life or a fear filled life I totally reject
Glasser's hypothesis.
I think with some people that when their bodies automatic response kick
in to stimuli that with some people their body produces an over
response, and they can't control the level of that response so even for
small things they get a huge surge of adreniline or anxiety.
Since I have never read your story I do not know what I would think of it
but I do know that if you allow others to read it they will comment on it
and, right or wrong, try to be critics. If you do not want to hear negative
comments it is probably wise to be careful who you allow to read it.
I think as a story it is not bad in its writing. Reading back thru it
I am finding few adjustments being needed for a first draft. The
negative comments will be more on its content. It is not sunny or
light, despite its title "Too Close To The Light", and there is barely
anything that lifts it. It is set in war, and it is a war in which I
consider the bad side is winning. It is about a person who does a deed
and cannot forgive themselves for it, and they feel they have lost
their soul. I stress it is not autobiographical. And the main
character has different beliefs to me as do all the characters more or
less in the story.
Post by Squirrel
At the moment I feel no space of light and joy, no squirrel stories
come to mind.
As time permits we will still be having fun in the Meadow and hoping you
will join us and when you feel you can post the stories you enjoy.
Come
along on our adventures and see what happens. One never knows.
Elf gives Squirrel a Hug to help her continue searching. Here's to the
finding of the treasure at the end.
Thanks. I do appreciate your support.
Post by Squirrel
Yep stories sound good. Tell me a story.
Sq.
--
It is almost midnight here tonight so I will have to come back with that
story but yes, a story sounds good.
Elf begins weaving his story as he wishes Squirrel a good night and grabs
some sleep himself so he can come back with a clear sentence.
--
Cool! Hugs back!
Elf seems to have fallen asleep on a covered bench and very close to
Independence Day in our Nation's Capitol.
He might wake up with a bang.
Wonder what the little magical folk will do.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Squirrel
2005-06-23 10:48:44 UTC
Permalink
Hi Elf!

With magic, I don't mean magic tricks and I don't mean fairies and
pixies, I just mean a sense of wonder, an awe of a place or something,
a sense of beauty and the value of things. You know really what I
mean. Just a very indefinite word.

Independence day huh? Reminds me must get something for my cuzzies
birthday.

So tell me a story please, pretty please!!! Something with a
beginning, a middle, and an end. One you make up or one you like, with
or without magic (of any kind by any definition)

Sits back and listens.
N ELF
2005-06-24 05:50:13 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Hi Elf!
With magic, I don't mean magic tricks and I don't mean fairies and
pixies, I just mean a sense of wonder, an awe of a place or something,
a sense of beauty and the value of things. You know really what I
mean. Just a very indefinite word.
Independence day huh? Reminds me must get something for my cuzzies
birthday.
So tell me a story please, pretty please!!! Something with a
beginning, a middle, and an end. One you make up or one you like, with
or without magic (of any kind by any definition)
Sits back and listens.
This would be a better place for this than women knocking on wood so here
goes:
Elf for some reason remembers a wooded
park in Washington, DC where the asphalt covered paths run up, down, and
around steep hills. A stream or creek runs through the park and probably is
the water course that began to cut it from the ground originally.
It is the type of place where fairies and other small magical folk play
running through the fallen leaves looking for new plant growth pushing up
through the black soil. Poison ivy is no less celebrated than little trees
as no plants are harmed. Of course an immunity from the itchy bumps brought
on in humans by the oil getting on their skin helps.
Catching a ride on a passing chipmunk makes movement even easier although no
one has asked the chipmunk what he thinks of the deal. Elf guesses that as
light as the little folk are he doesn't notice much and they can repay the
favor by going up in the trees and shaking down nuts and fruits that would
otherwise come down weeks later. A little belly can get very empty in those
weeks without help.
Elf walks down the path slowly because it is too slippery for skate
boarding. Elf tends to like to stay upright so yes, too slippery.
Cicadas trill non stop at certain times of the year here but it is still a
little too early to hear them. That comes on long hot nights when one can
stretch out under a tree and talk with a girl friend about the 4th of July
plays performed on the Mall if he remembers correctly. Oh Shakespeare
Shakespeare where for art though.
It is cool among the trees and there are little covered benches where one
can sit down and rest. Elf sits at one of these and and waits and watches.
This whole area is steeped in history because of all the battles before and
after the British burned the city so it is not surprising to see mists
swirling and wonder if they contain ghosts of former leaders.
There was George Washington who lived within a days drive, well less than
that really, on a plantation with his wife Martha who spent many years alone
during the Revolutionary War. George had applied to be an officer in the
British Navy but was turned down. There were many of the intellectuals of
the day who wanted war with Great Britain and some were printing pamphlets
to put forth their views.
Mount Vernon is not that far from Monticello and they are only a days drive
now from Philadelphia but in those days when one only traveled between three
and ten miles an hour with great bursts of speed up to thirty miles an hour
which is a horses top speed gallop, and roads were often little more than
mud ruts, it could take many days to make it even from Monticello to the
Nation's Capitol in Philadelphia. Independence Hall and some other
buildings served as the meeting halls for the leaders of this time.
Thomas Jefferson was able to spend time living in rooms nearby and write the
Declaration Of Independence while Ben Franklin ran over to France to
persuade the French to join with us against their old enemies and George
Washington put fighters together. Washington got the worst of it physically
because he was out in the field enduring winter weather and taking boats
across freezing cold rivers like the Potomac with ice chunks floating along
side. Franklin had to dance in warm living rooms drinking and partying and
Jefferson could sit by the fire while writing. I think then that Washington
was happiest to see the spring weather along with his troops who did not
have enough boots so wrapped their feet in rags as protection against the
snow and cold. They sometimes left a trail of blood in the snow from their
damaged feet.
They rarely had enough to eat but this far through the summer some crops
would be begining to ripen so they would be able to eat some berries and
vegetables and of course, fiddlehead ferns, dandelions, and milkweed.
Squirrel might want to try some of these one day and if she does she needs
to remember to boil them in two changes of water for safety from the toxins.
Acorns are even more toxic and have to be boiled at least twice without
fail.

To be continued another night as all the listeners seem to be nodding off
for now. Elf gets up and stretches his legs for a moment and gives those
needing them
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
N ELF
2005-06-15 04:12:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel since becoming in between jobs has put on a few pounds. Now
it is one thing to be cute and fluffy but quite another to be a double
pom pom. Have to face it...time to do some exercise.
Any suggestions to what might be a good non-strenuous CHEAP form of
exercise?
Elf has been known to walk around in a swimming pool from time to time and
swim in fresh and salt water. In fresh water one can see around one but in
salt water if one tries to enter the surf from the beach by walking in one
gets tumbled like a washing machine does. Maybe one should pack a little
laundry and soap with one so one tastes bad to sharks and other creatures
wishing to taste.
Once one has dived through the surf and gotten out far enough one can tread
water and bob like a cork in the waves rolling under one before breaking on
the beach. Ummmm, the waves break not the Cuddler.
Some how Elf finds it unlikely Squirrel wants to go swimming in mid winter
though.
Maybe a sketch pad and pencil and a walking stick along with a traveling
companion for safety? Wasn't it Ansel Adams who did all those landscape
photos after hiking who knows how many miles? Where I grew up it was not
uncommon to see artists with their easels set up along country roads in
summer in the north and all year round in southern states.
Does one need an easel to sketch? If not, exercise could be fun.

And no the trees are not letting me climb them at the
Post by Squirrel
moment.
Might be needng a few (whispers <<diet tips>>) as well.
Also tugs please. Went to job interview yesterday, find out prob
tomorrow.
LOTS OF TUGS for you to get the job you want.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Post by Squirrel
Ta.
Squirrel
Squirrel
2005-06-15 10:32:50 UTC
Permalink
Elf has been known to walk around in a swimming pool from time to time
and
swim in fresh and salt water. In fresh water one can see around one
but in
salt water if one tries to enter the surf from the beach by walking in
one
gets tumbled like a washing machine does. Maybe one should pack a
little
laundry and soap with one so one tastes bad to sharks and other
creatures
wishing to taste.

Blegh! Wouldn't want to swallow any sea water either. Salt is bad for
the fur, esp in water form and esp if cold which pretty well always is
here even in summer.

Once one has dived through the surf and gotten out far enough one can
tread
water and bob like a cork in the waves rolling under one before
breaking on
the beach.
Some how Elf finds it unlikely Squirrel wants to go swimming in mid
winter
though.

Yep!

Maybe a sketch pad and pencil and a walking stick along with a
traveling
companion for safety?

That is a good idea...esp for warmer weather. Problem is lack of
walking companion. None of friends particularly active.

Wasn't it Ansel Adams who did all those landscape
photos after hiking who knows how many miles?

????

Where I grew up it was not
uncommon to see artists with their easels set up along country roads in
summer in the north and all year round in southern states.
Does one need an easel to sketch? If not, exercise could be fun.

Prob not...just a stiff board a coupla paper clips and some water
colours or ink.
Wonder if there is anyone I know I could borrow a dog of.

LOTS OF TUGS for you to get the job you want.

Thanks!
Hugs to you too.
Sq.
--
jo
2005-06-15 22:13:43 UTC
Permalink
Squirrel, I hope you get some good news on the job front real soon.

As for the wieght stuff I have a few ideas that may help.

You could take a peice of chocolate treat that you like ( like dark
chocolate and orange) and tie in on a very long pole then tie the other
end of the pole to your head. Next you try to get the treat. If you
can easily get the treat you are using too short a pole. If you are
chasing the treat all about but can't quite get it then you have it set
up right. chase treat around for one week on a regular basis then at
the end of the week remoe pole and get treat then replace treat at the
start of the next week for that week's exercise.
This is known as the carrot and stick exercise plan. :)

You could try to have a limited diet of what you're allowed to eat
for a few weeks, like the vemy diet you are allowed to have vegetables,
eggs, meat, and yogurt.
In your case a NAVY diet might be in order, with you being allowed to
eat nuts, apples, vegetables, and yogurt. And, of course, all the water
you want. :)
Hopefully, in a few weeks you should be feeling a lot more shipshape.
( And most likely wanting something different to eat for a bit.)
Don't stay on these limited idets for too long though as They are not
all that balance normally.

There's also the poverty diet plan, where you limit your budget
drastically, where you get by on only a few good items on sale and walk
everywhere you need to go and do as much of your chores as you can by
hand without the use of machines or the like. In other words use a
little money as reasonablely possible and as much human power as
possible.

Hope these ideas help you do a bit better.

Hugs, tugs, and looking good too.
-Jo
It's all in how you see things.
Squirrel
2005-06-16 08:23:10 UTC
Permalink
Squirrel long worked out that if you take the stick down and eat the
treat you don't need to chase it (besides the tail thinks it is too
undignified)
Problem is...starting the diet in the first place.
Problem...don't control the household budget = the house is always full
of food esp lots of bad stuff which Squirrel eats anyway regardless of
whether like 'cos Squirrel's body thinks is on a see-food-and-eat diet.
I think must go on a diet then I get hungry and think no one loves me
anyway...why do I have to join them and deprive myself...after all what
am I saving myself for anyway? Eating is kindof a way of still
checking you're alive anyway. Am kind of thinking of shifting towns
anyway 'cos I'm sick of seeing people who know I've failed yet again.
Although still need an income for that. My paintings are all turning
out crap at the mo too...can't seem to concentrate. Can't seem to do
anything. And it is cold.
N ELF
2005-06-18 03:01:22 UTC
Permalink
Post by Squirrel
Squirrel long worked out that if you take the stick down and eat the
treat you don't need to chase it (besides the tail thinks it is too
undignified)
Problem is...starting the diet in the first place.
Problem...don't control the household budget = the house is always full
of food esp lots of bad stuff which Squirrel eats anyway regardless of
whether like 'cos Squirrel's body thinks is on a see-food-and-eat diet.
I think must go on a diet then I get hungry and think no one loves me
Blood sugar drops will do that too you. Your body is designed to feel bad
if you do not feed it so it makes you go find some food and get some more
energy. ATP to ADP for instance. Adenosine tri phosphate Adenosine di
phosphate if I remember my biology correctly anymore and that was so long
ago I won't swear to it.
Post by Squirrel
anyway...why do I have to join them and deprive myself...after all what
am I saving myself for anyway? Eating is kindof a way of still
checking you're alive anyway. Am kind of thinking of shifting towns
anyway 'cos I'm sick of seeing people who know I've failed yet again.
Although still need an income for that. My paintings are all turning
out crap at the mo too...can't seem to concentrate.
That is too be expected. That is why art therapy works and Elf wonders if
what they are saying is bad or different from what you expect? Elf doesn't
know but he suspects Squirrel is the specialist here and can use what she
knows to help other people. There must be millions of people who could be
helped by what Squirrel knows as just in this country over 5 percent are
unemployed.
I am not saying Squirrel knows all she needs to know, I am saying she knows
things others of us do not know. I don't know enough nor does anyone else
so we spend much of our lives doing research - I was in grad school studying
for a Masters for my part - so the dividing line between success and failure
is always moving and a lot of failure is expected.
We all fail, we all learn to accept that and try again until we succeed or
we have to get away from research. We have to fail in order to succeed
because we have to eliminate the incorrect answers to keep people from
dieing. How many times did people fail developing polio vaccines? How many
astronauts were killed in space programs to make space travel possible?
Life is based on failure. The only difference is whether that failure is
accepted and used to make a sucess.

Can't seem to do
Post by Squirrel
anything. And it is cold.
--
Elf gives warm Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
Sir Alex
2005-06-17 09:59:50 UTC
Permalink
You can always jog or run. It doesn't require any equipment other than
a good pair of running shoes, and you can do it in any of a number of
places.

As for diet, you have to condition yourself to have a whole new
attitude towards food. If you have been raised to think of food in
terms of reward for being good or its denial as punishment for
wrongdoing, you need to replace such habits of thought. Food should be
thought of as nourishment, not as reward or punishment.

I used to eat like a horse, but nowadays I find I don't need as much.
So I learned to cut down on -- or do without -- junk food like potato
crisps.

Best wishes with your job situation!

**Hugs** for all you contribute to Cuddleland,


----Alex Kovnat, KiTA
Akovnat @ aol . com
N ELF
2005-06-26 19:04:23 UTC
Permalink
Elf for some reason remembers a wooded
park in Washington, DC where the asphalt covered paths run up, down, and
around steep hills. A stream or creek runs through the park and probably is
the water course that began to cut it from the ground originally.
It is the type of place where fairies and other small magical folk play
running through the fallen leaves looking for new plant growth pushing up
through the black soil. Poison ivy is no less celebrated than little trees
as no plants are harmed. Of course an immunity from the itchy bumps brought
on in humans by the oil getting on their skin helps.
Catching a ride on a passing chipmunk makes movement even easier although no
one has asked the chipmunk what he thinks of the deal. Elf guesses that as
light as the little folk are he doesn't notice much and they can repay the
favor by going up in the trees and shaking down nuts and fruits that would
otherwise come down weeks later. A little belly can get very empty in those
weeks without help.
Elf walks down the path slowly because it is too slippery for skate
boarding. Elf tends to like to stay upright so yes, too slippery.
Cicadas trill non stop at certain times of the year here but it is still a
little too early to hear them. That comes on long hot nights when one can
stretch out under a tree and talk with a girl friend about the 4th of July
plays performed on the Mall if he remembers correctly. Oh Shakespeare
Shakespeare where for art though.
It is cool among the trees and there are little covered benches where one
can sit down and rest. Elf sits at one of these and and waits and watches.
This whole area is steeped in history because of all the battles before and
after the British burned the city so it is not surprising to see mists
swirling and wonder if they contain ghosts of former leaders.
There was George Washington who lived within a days drive, well less than
that really, on a plantation with his wife Martha who spent many years alone
during the Revolutionary War. George had applied to be an officer in the
British Navy but was turned down. There were many of the intellectuals of
the day who wanted war with Great Britain and some were printing pamphlets
to put forth their views.
Mount Vernon is not that far from Monticello and they are only a days drive
now from Philadelphia but in those days when one only traveled between three
and ten miles an hour with great bursts of speed up to thirty miles an hour
which is a horses top speed gallop, and roads were often little more than
mud ruts, it could take many days to make it even from Monticello to the
Nation's Capitol in Philadelphia. Independence Hall and some other
buildings served as the meeting halls for the leaders of this time.
Thomas Jefferson was able to spend time living in rooms nearby and write the
Declaration Of Independence while Ben Franklin ran over to France to
persuade the French to join with us against their old enemies and George
Washington put fighters together. Washington got the worst of it physically
because he was out in the field enduring winter weather and taking boats
across freezing cold rivers like the Potomac with ice chunks floating along
side. Franklin had to dance in warm living rooms drinking and partying and
Jefferson could sit by the fire while writing. I think then that Washington
was happiest to see the spring weather along with his troops who did not
have enough boots so wrapped their feet in rags as protection against the
snow and cold. They sometimes left a trail of blood in the snow from their
damaged feet.
They rarely had enough to eat but this far through the summer some crops
would be begining to ripen so they would be able to eat some berries and
vegetables and of course, fiddlehead ferns, dandelions, and milkweed.
Squirrel might want to try some of these one day and if she does she needs
to remember to boil them in two changes of water for safety from the toxins.
Acorns are even more toxic and have to be boiled at least twice without
fail.

To be continued another night as all the listeners seem to be nodding off
for now. Elf gets up and stretches his legs for a moment.
http://www.holidays.net/independence/declar.htm
When he sits back down he looks towards the reflecting pool's direction to
see if the fireworks have started yet.
http://www.pbs.org/capitolfourth/fireworks.html
Nothing seems to be going on in the sky but in the woods the magical folk
are setting a table with chairs and drinks for those who want to be
comfortable as they listen.
Elf thinks of a story but before he can tell it a small voice at the table
of wee people speaks up. "Elf is taking too long to tell the story and
besides it is a story of many different people from different countries not
just Americans". "If the French people hadn't come to the rescue things
would have been much worse for the Americans and America now is made up of
German, French, British, Russian, and a great many other people's"
Elf realizes the small child is correct and that America is celebrating a
birthday not just of a land but of the government of all the people in that
land. The country may once have been one group of people fighting another
but now it is of many groups of people banding together to live together in
Peace.
--
Hugs
Roger
N Elf
Carrier of a Tickle Sword, long bow, and magic.
The magic is in Meadow and Dream Tree.
http://www.geocities.com/soft_owl
http://concept.blog.com/ is going to be a rather technical Blog on
geography
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