Couch 217: The Order of the Phoenix couch

Shred them. It'll be cathartic. It's not your problem if he needs copies.

Fall semester starts in about 3 weeks. I am ready to have some structure to my evenings again that studying/homework provides. Right now I have too much time to think and worry. I am taking a couple days off work next week though to do some decluttering that needs done in my house. I have a list I plan to get through (specific closets/boxes) over those 4 days (my 2 PTO days plus my weekend). First up is getting this library room (where I study) whipped back into shape. It's kinda become a catch-all room lately since I'm not taking a summer class and that must stop forthwith!!

Shred 'em. In the unlikely event he gets audited for a return 7 years ago, he can get a copy from the IRS. He may have to pay for it. Even better.

At my pharmacy we used to sell assorted size dressings. Maybe you could try that if you wanted to protect the area.

But the hypoallergenic ones seems like a good idea too.

Like NP said- it's okay to feel whatever you feel about it.

Personally I hate getting texts over emails if it's work related.

I feel like I need to start a thread called "What personal thing did Dr. T disclose this session?"

Today (in a discussion about causes of death related to my uncle) that his grandfather had died of heart failure (at age 102!) but had 8 years of dementia before that.

And that he doesn't like comedians who use sexual content and/or cursing (in recommending a documentary to me).


Monday (in relation to my feeling sad about the loss of my 10-year-old car): How he'd accidentally broken his coffee pot of 15 years and felt it was wrong to throw it in the trash, that he should bury it in a plot in the yard or something.

Oh, and because I know you all miss the Dr. T clothing reports: Short-sleeve button-down top with blue background and big marlins all over it (I mistakenly thought they were dolphins).

I'm about to have a video visit with a nurse practitioner to discuss my menstrual difficulties. I'm nervous. Wish me luck.

Good luck, NP. I hope you're able to receive support.

Are we sure Dr. T isn't going through male menopause?

Even Hemingway would not wear a shirt like that.

I hope your appointment goes well NP.

Hugs, NP, hope it's helpful.

The male menopause would explain a lot, wouldn't it...? I think there's actually a thing called "andropause" that's a male version, but it's a bit controversial.


And good point re: Hemingway. It felt weird talking about death and grieving to a guy dressed for a tropical vacation or fishing expedition. I'd prefer the more subtle zebras or one of his subdued floral prints.

Oooo I can't picture him now. Whatever make you happy is usually my moto. I had to google what a marling was though.

I think as I've grown older I like clothing that doesn't make me stand out and in 2.7 years I've only bought two new clothing items- running shoes and gloves.

Thanks for the support. It was okay. She was nice, but recommended seeing a gynecologist. I don't know why I even thought there was just a magic pill they could give me. I'm not sure I can do this though. This is bringing up some crap for me.

Do these disclosures matter to you in some way? The two I hired did it a lot and I was always baffled to bored by it - I have no idea why they thought I would care. I usually put it down to them being bored and wanting to talk or a very misguided attempt at trying to manipulate me into bonding with them.

I am getting really frustrated about trying to get these videos for my course captioned (for me). The tech department in my department never answered my email, so the ADA office contacted my director, who sent same tech department head an email of her own, which he finally answered (after 48 hours), only to tell me the the school's video service should provide captions. An option I'd already played around with, but the captioning relies on a transcript of the video, which doesn't exist for any of the videos, and which I certainly can't provide. And even if there was a transcript someone has to go in and set the timings for when the words in the transcript, which...no. A buttload of time, and not.my.job.

ETA: And this is why I hate to ask for help.

At my school, that would be a job for a faculty fellow.

We were given links to this for panapto - Captioning Your Own Video for Free | Accessible Technology

Faculty fellows at my school are teachers themselves. I don't know whose job it would be here.

Thanks for the link, but it's the same issue--someone who isn't me has to sit down and type a transcript and caption the videos. It's the only way to get it to meet ADA standards. (Auto-captions like you might get on YouTube or the local news are 80% or less accurate--not high enough.)

Could a work study student do it or teaching assistant? The work study people are usually undergrads for us. Teaching assistants and faculty fellows don't teach at the law school but it may be different for the others on our campus.

It does sound very frustrating.

That's what I thought--student worker--but people here seem hung up on doing it on the cheap, automatically, or making me do it. I imagine I will get the message through eventually.

I know we're quite different in how we approach therapy. For me, I guess I just like getting to know something about who my T is as a person. In the first year or so, he seemed very reluctant to disclose even anything that seemed really mundane to me.


Also, I wondered if he was particularly careful with me because of the ex-MC stuff. Both in the sense of his concern that too much self-disclosure could be harmful (because ex-MC did tons of that), but also wondering if he thought I was some sort of therapist stalker. So it feels he's become more comfortable with me and doesn't think, say, sharing the sort of car he has will make me become hopelessly attached or show up at his house.

However, it also strikes me because it's a change in behavior. It's not like one random thing that slipped out, but the fact that he seems to be sharing something each session. Something tied to what we're talking about, not something completely random. So it's just interesting.

Though he did say early on that he tends to get "chatty" with longer-term clients, so this might just be how he gets in general and has nothing to do with, say, the pandemic. Or me in particular. Or male menopause.

Also, Dr. T referenced "Return to Oz" today, and after reading about it and how weird it is, I want to watch it. Conveniently, it's free to rent on Amazon Prime. Though maybe sounds like a bad thing to watch right before bed?

Is it the Fairuza Balk movie? I saw it as a preteen in the theater. I don’t think adults would have a problem with it, but I wouldn’t advise your daughter watching it unless she’s good with horrifying. I guess the best parallel would be you would expect an Oz movie to be like Gene Wilder’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but Return to Oz is more like the Johnny Depp version.

I should rewatch it myself.

I mostly like mine... what I hate about it is that it's not smaller. I really liked the size of my geo metro. My toyota matrix wasn't too big... But when it was time to move on.. and with the 2 dogs, needed bigger car. so subaru was the winner. Other than having a bigger back side than I like.. It's a nice ride