Couch 248: Curiouser and Curiouser

oh yeah after call work is a status we can put our phones in to temporarily stop another call from coming in

Is there a time limit for it? Like do you have to put the phones back in active status after a few minutes?

technically they don't want us to use it at all, but good luck with that. lol

I have certainly come a long way from my phone-breaking days in the early 1990's when I used to work in Telecom. I was young then, and boy was I a mess. I don't know how I didn't get fired. I used to break phones slamming them down so hard, once I threw my heavy binder across the room and almost hit a coworker in the head with it (we STILL joke about that), once I got snooty at a rude Bell Company caller and got called up to mahogany row for a lecture, etc. Back then we didn't even have headsets at first, so we had to prop the receiver on our shoulder to talk to the caller while typing. At some point they finally sprang for headsets. This was before the company I worked for got an IVR or whatever, and we had these huge extension things with tons of buttons that lit up on our phone one for each line that could come in so we were constantly picking up calls that other people had on hold. It was wild back in those days.

It's funny to think how we really were a family back in those days, my coworkers and I. We were all young and kinda "growing up" together, we'd go out country line dancing/drinking on weekends, etc. I'm still friends with a bunch of those old coworkers, although mostly just on facebook since I live so far away now. I get together with some of them when I go back to the midwest.

haha I remember when I used to work midnights, I'd go into the executive conference room and snag one of the big, super-comfy chairs and roll it out to my desk so I could work in comfort. Sometimes I would fall asleep and when the phone rang I'd jump and be like "xxx this is artie can i help you!" in a breathless voice hahahaha

first glass of wine went down pretty quickly i'm all chatty now hahaha

Really kids nowadays couldnt do our jobs the way we used to do them. Not to mention walking uphill in the snow 5 miles. But seriously, we had to PUNCH CARDS today to run a computer program tomorrow!

Shoulder phones sound brutal!

out partying all night then showing up for work the next morning hungover in the same clothes did that more than once

When I was in college, I worked for the Days Inn Reservation Center. At least for the most part people weren't calling in with issues, but it did get tiring having to be in customer service mode all shift.

Cool whip!

My dental appointment was done in the evening. I was out of his office in under 40 mins. I had already walked a bit when I looked at the time.

There was zero judgement or shaming from him. Which was causing 100% of the anxiety. He was his usual cute self. Just the basic exam, hygiene and the wisdom teeth talk. (I still have two that could cause issues later on.)

It might be odd but I tipped him £7, which he was genuinely happy about even if it’s not a large amount or something that’s expected . I liked that he kept telling me not to worry and stopped when I accidentally gagged 😂 . He also kept asking how I was.

I know that he must have been working for a few years, but he’s still young enough to likely also still have some student debt too. It’s his small practice so he was dealing with the payment too.

😮.

Glad you had a great time Art.

How are you feeling today ?

What do you suppose the main reason is why?

Helicopter parenting, stranger danger or the social media.

I’m reading It by Stephen king. It seems wild that kids could go out for hours on their bikes unsupervised.

Hi Cake,

Thanks for checking in.

I'm feeling drained and overwhelmed, but grateful that I see R tomorrow.

We uncovered a new layer on Monday (or I acknowledged it properly for the first time) and it's been a rough couple of days.

Monday was the third anniversary of getting the news about Steve, so I had an extra session, which went off in a different direction than I had ever imagined.

I got my hair cut this morning. I went back to a buzz cut. I feel 50 yrs old again! Plus its much much cooler.

When I retire - I am just shaving my head and being done with it altogether. I keep it fairly short now.

You kids get off my lawn

hahaha. I would be more like the Bob Newhart style "Stop It". I will say that therapists have to have at least some capacity to watch people do the same thing over and over and over without snapping or interfering or walking away shaking one's head. I already have to heavily censor what I respond here almost every time.

that is one of my favorite books. I've read it numerous times. I also really like The Stand.

when I was a kid, probably 6th grade, in the summer we'd stay out all day on our bikes and nobody had a clue where we were. I didn't want to be at home. We rode for miles and miles! One time we discovered this patch of woods that had trails through it, and at that point we started heading there a lot of the time. Somebody had built a makeshift tree house in there, and we'd climb up in that, until the day we heard teenagers up there, smoking and stuff so we never went back. I was a nerdy kid. haha. I used to love riding my bike back when I was a skinny little thing and the seat didn't hurt so much haha! that was back in the early to mid 1970's.

It seems wild to me that parents can get their child taken away for letting them walk to school or play unsupervised in the front yard. Could something bad happen? Sure. I got hit by a truck in the 4th grade while riding my bike. I'm still glad I had some freedom as a kid.

I love using just a dot of shampoo. I found a shampoo that smells like what i used as a teenager, it was emerald green and had a starbucks type flowery lady on the label.

i found a strawberry-coconut shampoo that's my current favorite. smells soooo good.

I remember a shampoo bottle like that in my Grandmas and aunt house when I was a child. It was some sort of herbal essence. Or something.

I use Aussie shampoo for the coconut smell. It’s very light and airy. Then I use a body wash that smells like shea butter. The combination of the two makes me feel like I’m on a beach.

Hugs to you, Lost. I hope your session is helpful to you tomorrow. I'm sorry you're dealing with so many layers of grief.