My mom.
She is getting old, no, she is old.

I had a bunch of stuff written out, but changed my mind. Let's just leave it at the fact that she is old, there have been trips to the hospital and I see that getting more frequent not less.


I also get stress when I see people I care about stressed, I know I can help, but I don't dare offer.

My Mom just turned 83, I understand. I'm always wishing I could do more for her.

My career.

I have a job. It is a good job. The money is enough for now. It isn't horribly stressful, but it is just a job. I want a career. I have spent the last 8 years trying to figure out what I want that career to be, and I have come up with zilch. People say go back to school. That's great advise. What the hell am I supposed to major in? It feels like I have tried it all and come up blank.

My heart goes out to all of you with aged parents. My mom passed away at 83, in 2001. Now I look after my 90 year old aunt, who thankfully is still in relatively good health, but is definitely slowing down. I see us sharing an abode before too long... but it has to have a pool and a tiki bar.

What stresses me out is uncertainty, and feeling like I'm not in the position to make the decision I have been leaning toward for some time now. And also wondering if what I do want is impossible.

Ever read "What Color is your Parachute?" Or taken aptitude or interest testing? They can be good guideposts.

People who think that somehow they are entitled...
No sense of accountability, no responsibility for their bad decisions and lack of self control.
Always someone else who has done them wrong so that things are not going just the way they had planned their life to be.

always makes me think of this song...

Aptitude tests say that I am pretty much all over the board. I took an interest test for college and it was pretty much a joke. I'll check out my parachute though. It can't hurt. Thanks.

Stress Test


I am not sure exactly how it works, but this is amazingly accurate.

The picture below has 2 identical dolphins in it.



It was used in a case study on stress levels at St. Mary's Hospital.

Look at both dolphins jumping out of the water.



The dolphins are identical.



A closely monitored, scientific study revealed that, in spite of the fact that the dolphins are identical; a person under stress would find differences in the two dolphins.

The more differences a person finds between the dolphins, the more stress that person is experiencing.



Look at the photograph and if you find more than one or two differences you may want to take a holiday.

CLICK for pic

Grizzly tracks stress me out. Fresh ones, that is.

I think the one on the right looks more like a tuna.

Really? They looked the same to me.

I must be really stressed because one of those dolphin's looked like...well I saw a lot of differences! I do need a vacation. One without kids. Money is always an issue. Noise. Heat. Messy house. Piles of laundry. Blah blah blah.

Like Haven my stress is all rooted in my career. Since I was about 12 or so I have wanted to work in a museum. One of the biggest reasons I went to the college that I did was for their Master's program in Museum Studies. Well despite having some experience under my belt it's not enough to get into the program.

Now here I am with a degree in History in a economy that sucks, working at the same crappy store that I have worked at since I was 16 trying to make enough money to pay my bills and find time to do more volunteer work.

Not only that but my boss has "promoted" me to the customer service office. Which is someplace I really really REALLY don't want to be because of the high amount of bickering, b***hing, and backstabbing that goes on among the others in the office.

The only bright spot is that I have a second interview coming up this week at a museum for a volunteer position working on a project that sounds really cool. If I get it, then I will be able to change my availability so I will no longer work in the service office and go back to being a lowly peon on the main floor.

But as it is now, every time I get off a shift from the service desk I come home and pop open a drink. It is not a good habit to be forming.

I have no stress at all. Looks like I'm the only one right now...

Best of luck on your second interview. I had that bad habit at my last job... I figured it was time to find a new job when it started happening before I went to work, not just after.

I have a career.......I think. And sometimes it's not all it's cracked up to be. It's ends up just being just another job, a job to pay the bills and live the lifestyle that I am content with. When I changed careers, at first it was great! I was like Yee Haw! Good money, work that I love. Blah, blah, blah, blah.

I love the work that I do, but working for the military sometimes is like a pressure cooker. Being burnt out is a given on any given day. We are told all the time that the job we are doing is making a differnce especially in these times of war. After awhile it ends up being Blah, blah, blah, blah.

If I did do what I really wanted to do, I would have no money, would barey be able to survive. Etc. Etc.

And yeah, I do that quite often. Even with my "dream" job.

Me too. Money is good, but I have no life, no normal life.

I wish I could do what this guy did. I don't have the guts. Luckily, I still have access to alcohol!!! :D

Right now stuff isn't going too well (ms, it's a drag), and apart from not being able to do the simplest things for about two months already (like cooking myself dinner for example, which I'm seriously missing!!), I walk like a retard and am tired all the time.
I'm slightly worried that trying to keep up with work right now, will hurt me in the long run.
What really stresses me though, is the worried look on the faces of my family members.