Couch 227 - The Safe Couch

Artie, is there sea or lakes or rivers near you? Do you wild swim?

My oldest nephew turned 19 yesterday. I can't believe how fast the time has gone since he was just a little boy. He has matured a lot in the past couple of months. He's had to with all that his family has been through. I can't believe he has one more year of being a teenager and then he will be in his twenties. Makes me feel old. I actually am starting to see him as old too. I wished him well in his birthday card and added "old man" as sort of a joke, but maybe not so much of a joke. He's growing up. It's crazy that my sister has a 19 year old and a three year old and three in between!

Kids do grow up fast don't they? I was just yesterday looking at my son's pictures that I have on the wall in my office, from toddler all the way up through high school, and thinking while I certainly love and respect the 22 year old man that he is now, oh how I also miss the sweet, happy, loving little boy that he used to be! It brings tears to my eyes sometimes how much I miss the little boy that he was. I think this is why all of my friends who are grandparents now, look so blissfully happy in pictures with their grandkids, because it's sorta like having their own kids being little again maybe? I don't know as I'm not yet a grandparent.

“How awful it was, thought Tessa, remembering Fats the toddler, the way tiny ghosts of your living children haunted your heart; they could never know, and would hate it if they did, how their growing was a constant bereavement.”
― J.K. Rowling, The Casual Vacancy

Well, there are man-made lakes in town but they don't allow swimming. I don't know about the natural lakes in the mountains, except that they're probably cold! But no, otherwise I'm in the middle of the desert. I know, strange place for a water lover to be, but as much as my soul loves being in the water, there's just something about the desert that calls me as well.

When I was in jr high/high school my church youth group would go on float trips every summer and I sure used to love those... I'd be swimming next to my canoe more than I would be in the thing on some trips!
I don't live back there anymore though because I hate cold and snow.

How cold is the North Sea? There was a natural spring in Austin, Texas, where I used to swim, that was about 70 F. I’d get in and almost pass out from the cold, but after that it would be invigorating.

But I bet the North Sea is colder.

No, I'd say he is more an expert with mood disorders which Schizoaffective has a mood disorder with it. It's like a mix between Schizophrenia and depression in my case. It can be a mix between Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but I don't have bipolar disorder.


I'd probably have to go to Los Angeles to get a specialist on Schizoaffective disorder but that's like 2.5 hours away one way, so it's not very practical. I probably need to go to UCLA or USC hospitals or one of those. I can't find any specialists around here. Even my Pdoc had me misdiagnosed for a long time.


Dr. K is a big proponent of CBT. Which is okay but I'm not a huge fan of CBT. He says you can control your thoughts but I'm not so sure. That is my homework for the next couple of weeks. To read something positive or say aloud something positive when I have negative thoughts or the demon has negative thoughts. It sounds hugely stressful and a huge energy drain but I am willing to give it a shot. I'm just not sure that I can have that kind of energy to control my thoughts. To me that sounds more psychotic. After all thoughts can be rather spontaneous. I'm not sure I know what he means. It was a very confusing session. I think more sessions will need to happen before I understand what it is that he is talking about.


Kit

comrademanatee! respect!

Generally speaking in the u.s., federal law does not require paid sick leave. There are some states and some cities that have various requirements in place. There also are different forms of leave - some employers give X number of days off for whatever - they don't monitor why -just the number.

I only do it to impress you.

Just got home from my first swim at the gym. I swam laps for an hour, then sat in the spa for a few minutes before coming home. It was lovely!! I haven't swum in an indoor pool in many, many years and remembered a couple of the benefits: constant (perfect) water temp, and you don't get sunburned! I even had the whole pool to myself for probably 20 minutes. I'm going to go at several different times at first just to see when the slowest time is for the pool. I'm so glad I made myself go yesterday.

The lack of paid sick leave is a huge issue for restaurants and other places involved in producing or serving food, so employees are essentially forced to come to work sick and then can spread along those illnesses to each other and customers. Same with retail. Really, it's a problem for many reasons.


It's especially bad that in a healthcare setting they don't have it, Chihiro.