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The Old Hack

Things that make you sad.

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My circus neighbors keep having problems.

http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/breaking-news-blog/article131659024.html

High Wire performer Nick Wallenda was involved in an accident at Circus Sarasota on Monday.  The high wire act was rehearsing an eight person pyramid stunt twenty five feet above the ground.  Five of the eight fell.  Three, including Nick, managed to remain on the wire until rescued.

Wallenda’s aunt and sister were two of the five who fell. Rietta, his aunt, was sitting on the shoulders of one of the men who had fallen, according to his cousin Rick. His sister, Lijana, had the worst injuries. He and two other family members on the wire weren’t injured.

There were no fatalities.  Of the five who fell, three are still hospitalized.  All are expected to recover.


Read more here: http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/breaking-news-blog/article131659024.html#storylink=cpy

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My father passed away Saturday morning.

I was in Orlando for a conference from the previous Saturday through Wednesday, one of the biggest in the country and one I'd really been looking forward to.  I had the following weekend off until Monday by our usual rotation, so I took vacation days for ThFri and got a five-day Disney ticket.  I went to Hollywood (Star Wars area is there) on Thursday and Epcot on Friday.

I was driving to the Magic Kingdom when my mom called and I was outside the gates when I called her back.  She told me in the early morning he'd had a heart attack and he died.  I kept it together on the phone, and told her I'd try to find out if I could change my flight back.  After hanging up, I started sobbing.  One of the Disney staff came over to see what was wrong.  They were really nice, brought me in to the City Hall headquarters, got me water and kleenex, gave me a little room with a couch where it was quiet enough to make phone calls, and I could have a good cry in private.  I was able to get a flight that afternoon, and Disney gave me a number to be able to use the three days left from my five-day ticket at another time later in the year.

I flew home, and then drove three hours to my hometown.  (I had to stop and think there -- "my parents' place"?  Should it be "my Mom's" now?)  I got there a bit after midnight.  We talked to my sister on the phone for a little while; she has classes to teach, and Dad was a professor too, so we decided teaching her classes and waiting until spring break to come visit would be the best way to honor him.  As long as Mom is doing okay, and doesn't start feeling like she needs us to come, I'll be going back Monday night and be back at work Tuesday.

Mom's been keeping busy, which she seems to need.  She's always had clubs and reading groups and such.  We ran some normal everyday errands together.  It being Sunday there's a lot of things that can't be done yet; Monday morning will be the soonest to call banks and businesses and such.  We skipped church because she wasn't feeling ready to face all the sympathy and attention yet.  I think I'm benefitting from a couple of days here, too; my boss has let everyone at work know, and I've gotten supportive texts from several of them, enough to not feel alone or forgotten, but not intrusive either.

None of the three of us are the sort to take to our beds for days at a time when tragedy strikes.  We grieve and mourn, but quietly and while getting done the things that need to be done.  It keeps hitting me in little ways, and I know it will for a long time to come, but that's an inescapable part of life.  I'd rather have had him in my life and then lost him, than not have had him at all.

I have decided not to let the way it ended ruin the rest of the trip for me.  It *was* a good trip, and I *did* have a lot of fun and learn a lot.  I won't let there be any bad associations, won't let it ruin the planned Orlando trip with my sister in May -- in fact, we've asked Mom to consider if she'd like to join us now that she wouldn't have to leave Dad alone to do so.  I do have those three days in Disney to use up....

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There is not much I can add.  There is nothing quite like the empty feeling right after that phone call when you realize there is nothing that you can do.  I'm glad you were at a place where there was someone to help with the immediate recoil and that Disney and the airline were willing to accommodate you.

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Loren Wiseman died.

O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf of thy servant Loren, and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in the fellowship of thy saints; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

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14 minutes ago, Red Regent said:

Does anyone else just feel... sad, at semi-random intervals, for no adequately explained reason?

Two causes come to mind offhand: First, if you haven't been getting much time in the sunshine the past couple of months, then you might have Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is treatable by getting more time in the sun. Second, if this has been ongoing for months or more, you might have signs of Chronic Depression, in which case you may have a biochemical imbalance that you should ask your doctor about.

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21 minutes ago, ijuin said:

Two causes come to mind offhand: First, if you haven't been getting much time in the sunshine the past couple of months, then you might have Seasonal Affective Disorder, which is treatable by getting more time in the sun. Second, if this has been ongoing for months or more, you might have signs of Chronic Depression, in which case you may have a biochemical imbalance that you should ask your doctor about.

To be fair I haven't gotten out of the house as much as I used to so there's that, and more interestingly (to me at least) that's given me a few ideas I can work with.

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1 hour ago, Red Regent said:

To be fair I haven't gotten out of the house as much as I used to so there's that, and more interestingly (to me at least) that's given me a few ideas I can work with.

The advice @ijuin has given you is pretty spot on. If your symptoms get any worse, consult a doctor immediately. I speak from experience here.

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52 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

The advice @ijuin has given you is pretty spot on. If your symptoms get any worse, consult a doctor immediately. I speak from experience here.

 

50 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Seconded.

So very much so.  In fact see a doctor even if going out more seems to help.

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Exercise is supposed to help, too.

I think it's normal to have this happen occasionally, along with occasionally having a day when you feel happy for no apparent reason.  If sad days are happening much more frequently than happy ones, or if either one is extreme, that would be something to talk to your doctor about.

I seem to have the opposite problem, I have some things about me that would fit with clinical depression, except so far as I can tell I don't have the actual depression part.  I know a lot of diagnoses require that you match a certain number of symptoms out of a list, but I've never heard of qualifying without showing the thing the condition is named for.

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This goes along with what I said about today's comic. I noticed on Twitter that David Rockefeller had died at the age of 101, I wasn't sure if he was of the same Rockefeller family that is iconic for American wealth so I clicked to see what people were saying about him. Turns out I was right and he was of that family, but what the majority of people were saying about him was not what I expected, sure I expected some to comment about money or something, but I noticed a lot of people posting this image:

C7YVA-jXQAMiW5b.jpg

And at the same time calling him a traitor to the U.S and that his death couldn't have come sooner. It really bugs me to think that people see the desire for economic and political stability around the world as traitorous.

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It's not the stability that is treasonous--it's the lack of wanting the USA to be on top of the heap that they call treasonous. Internationalism and Globalization are just fine with many, as long as it's their people who get to call the shots.

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Well I just got back from my mother's funeral.

The service went well.  Both my mother's brothers made it there.  Lots of people reminiscing.  More than a few embarrassing stories involving me.

Although this was a sad event, I am not particularly sad.  This was a good day and we can get on with our lives... right after the burial tomorrow morning in 40O F Rain.

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I was wrong.

My mother's burial was this morning and it wasn't 40O F Rain.
It was 39O F Rain.

The Pastor and my sister got stuck in the mud at the back of the cemetery, so I wound up pushing two cars out of the mud today wearing my good shoes.

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Stewart Wieck, one of the founders of White Wolf died.  While the Storyteller system wasn't my chosen RPG style,  it was an important part of the background radiation of my life.  Mr. Wieck wasn't on my face book friends list, but he was on about half my friends list.

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I did a search for my childhood friend a few minutes ago. He lived across the street from my grandparents in Austin and was born about 4 months before I was. We spent every summer together while he lived in Austin, even after I moved to Houston. We bowled together, rode bikes together, and for a short time even went to school together while one of my uncles was in the hospital with a serious injury one spring in 2nd grade (I temporarily moved to Austin with my mother so she could tend to her brother). Anyway, he eventually moved away from Austin and we completely lost touch.

He showed up right near the top of the Google search I ran earlier.

In an obituary from 13 years ago.

He died in 2004, cause not given, at age 41. I verified that it was him by the family listed for him.

To say that I was shocked would be a massive understatement. Absolutely stunned might be closer. I really don't have the words to describe how I feel.

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