Who is still awake-and what is your topic?

[w8liftinglady]

[havocmom]

1. My heart is broken

for oh, so many reasons.

[w8liftinglady]

4. If it makes any difference-I love you,havocmom

My life is a shithole,too

[havocmom]

6. Thanks, sweety. You are a beacon of hope to me on many days

And that is a grace, believe me.

:hug:

[TomInTib]

12. What???

And I thought you were the Grand Supporter.

Come on, havocmom...

without you, I am Nothing.

Stitch it up, Buttercup,
Tom

[havocmom]

43. LOL YOU know SMALL towns when you are the odd shoe

Well, this odd shoe is facing having to become a hermit in the house to get blood pressure & chest pains under control. Betrayed by people I'v been bustin my ass to help. Gettin beat up bad for raising the bar. Seems they don't want the help they talked me into giving them. Talk is easy. I expect them to walk too. They are all for me jumping through hoops but they won't do their part.

Yeah, I'll be OK; once I make the decision to just bag what I have been working to accomplish for a population that talks one thing and walks in a different direction, blaming you when they slip into mud.

I have music and books. My self imposed cell will be paradise once I enter into it. My DU friends will be my community outlet.

Like w8liftinglady, I do love you guys. You are often the wind beneath my wings... or maybe one of you just keeps farting. ;)

[Lisa]

17. sorry to hear that!

My mom always tells me "this too shall pass", and at the time I didn't think it was much comfort ... but thinking about it now, she was right. Hope that you feel better soon.

[havocmom]

44. Thanks, Lisa. I am old enough to know that

but stupid enough to keep caring about fools who don't deserve it. By fools, I mean populations. Yes, I have reached THAT point of cynicism and it is physically killing me to come to terms with a repeated observation I have spent most of my life denying and working against.

Some people are just a waste of skin and one can't save those hell bent on being self destructive.

Wish there as a CODA group around here. I could use a refresher meeting :)

[Jamastiene]

28. Mine is too.

That's why I'm fitshaced tonight. Of course, my heart is broke for the same reason as always. I've never been the type to have a one night stand, but as of right now, I'd do anything to make up for this sinking miserable feeling. There must be something substantial that can counteract this feeling.

[havocmom]

45. I find poetry and music to be helpful

If that doesn't work for the short term, I occassionally pitch a full fledged fit, throw things and throw things away. It has the benefit of freeing up a lot of closet space :hi: & :hug:

[w8liftinglady]

2. mine is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwGHQ6WyQFU&mode=related&search=

[momster]

3. Insomnia

I sleep okay...I just put it off as long as humanly possible. Procrastination + insomnia? Procrasomnia?

[w8liftinglady]

5. so-I love you guys

[havocmom]

8. Did a great exercise in a facilitator training course...

we made a big circle, then took a quarter turn to the right. Massaged the neck, shoulders of the person we were standing behind. Then a half turn to left - same thing.

It was amazing how much fun that silly exercise was. And how affirming/comforting.

DU has some jerks and the occasional bad week, but most of the time, the regulars here always remind me of the friends I made in that class where we were all interested in honing skills to make the world (or our corner of it) just a little bit better for human beings.

May we continue to stand behind each other and give that comforting touch all humans need now and then.
:grouphug:

[gateley]

7. I'm awake and I'm here so you guys don't have to be alone. :) nt

[EFerrari]

9. I'm watching a doc about Freida Kahlo.

Who dumped Trotsky and went on to more interesting things.

[havocmom]

10. Ever see that movie Selma Hayek made about Freida Kahlo?

Gads, it was a great film.

[EFerrari]

11. It was a good movie. I just never realized that she was

so recognized on her own by the art world.

[Jamastiene]

29. Frieda...

Great movie. We watched that in my Art Appreciation class last summer. Her artwork reflected a lot of her extreme pain.

[Adsos Letter]

13. Just finished reading "The Return of Martin Guerre" by Davis...

and now I have to produce a historiographical study on it...and I just finished reading Crim son's latest post, which got me thinking about some things from my own past...it's an...interesting...juxtaposition.

[MichaelHarris]

14. Football!!!!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=7007464&mesg_id=7007464

[mntleo2]

15. I am just surfing the Net and looking for stuff to read ...

...visited Firedoglake, Daily Kos, DU, nothin' much goin' on and so now I am on my way out of DU to other interests

Cat In Seattle

[Subdivisions]

16. I drive a wrecker on call. Just got back from

hauling the vehicle of someone that was arrested for DUI. Very nice GMC truck. Some people have a lot to lose. Still, they drive drunk and put themselves and others at great risk.

On another note, I'm about to string together several words I can't remember ever saying: It's a hot, muggy, steamy OCTOBER morning here in north Texas.

[leftist_not_liberal]

33. Crazy ain't it?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=1989989&mesg_id=1990047

Hey neighbor. :hi:

[Subdivisions]

37. Back atcha, neighbor! And a big WELCOME to DU! n/t

[Lisa]

18. I'm on the west coast, so it's still only about midnight

Finishing up responding to a backlog of e-mail (though not one from the person I was hoping to hear from, alas!). And I wanted to add a new post to my journal.

[tomreedtoon]

19. I'm always awake overnight.

I work an overnight shift. The only reason I'm typing this now is that I've got most of my work done.

I envy you people who can get backrubs and junk like that. I live in a part of the country where there are no group therepy things or group anything things, especially not for people who work in the middle of the night. There used to be water-spray massage machines at the mall, that gave great back massages, but those have disappeared. And the concept of paying a prostitute for a "massage" that doesn't massage the parts of the body that need massage is abhorrent to me.

Best I can do is rub my spine against a corner of the wall, like a bear. That's what suffices for massage.

[Name removed]

20. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[orleans]

21. awake, exhausted, turned off the a.c. awhile ago--thinking damn! ac in october?

posted a couple global warming videos in the video forum.

[Up2Late]

24. Yep, me too (a.c. in October) but I'm in Georgia, so it's not that unusual. but...

...I heard on "Prairie Home Companion" tonight (I think) that it was in the 90s in Minnesota today and tomorrow! That's just nuts!

[Up2Late]

22. Me! Topic: fixing my F*cking computers!

I'm on my #2 computer in the kitchen right now because for about the last 2 weeks my main computer has been almost completely un-usable (it freezes when I try to open "My Computer" or just about everything else) and I finally just re-formated my #3 computer (an old Win98se computer that I use to stream audio off the internet) because the programs that were supposed to fix all the hard-drive problems didn't, but it's slowly coming back to life.

And then there's my normally very sweet, 9 year old female found cat, who keeps terrorizing my new 6 month old stray/wild female kitten when ever I turn my back on them. I guess I expected there would be trouble, but this kitten just showed up in my old birdbath in my garden not quite 2 months ago, and she is just the sweetest little kitten ever...

If you want to see a video I made of her a few weeks ago, check it out at this link: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yfuzlbBDFY>

[PDJane]

27. Tuxedo kitties are great.........

My son has a giant economy size tuxedo kitty.......and a little grey thing. They're sort of like mutt and jeff. He bullies her, but she manages to hold her own. (She will bite his ass if he gets too pushy.)

[Up2Late]

30. Yup, I've got a male "...giant economy size tuxedo kitty..." too.

...I think it might be her Grand-father or Great-Grand Father. He's about 9 years old too, and was almost waiting for me when I moved into this house in 1998 and he's the best!

I had just found my little white female that summer, and really didn't want a 3rd cat, but he wouldn't put up with being ignored. I eventually gave in and took him in, in about 2000, after he was injured in a cat fight with an even bigger cat (he was about 14 pounds, the cat that bested him was at least 16 to 18.

He's pretty nice to the new kitten thankfully.:-)

[PDJane]

32. Fluffy isn't.

That damn cat is 18 lbs if he's an ounce.......and he's lost weight! This is a bloody bruiser of a cat. I somehow think some maine coon snuck in there somewhere, he has those bobcat ears, and he barks...scared the hell out of the repairman, who said, accusingly, "it says you have no dogs." When he turned around, he was incredulous!

[havocmom]

42. My daughter rescued a barking cat. Great cat, but you's swear there was a dog there

Cats are smart and adaptive. Maybe street-wise cats learn to bark.

Have read (and noticed) most, if not all, really feral cats don't mew after infancy. The cats we domesticated learned we are noisy communicators so they make noise to us. Maybe clever street kitties bark like the big dogs they encounter?

Had a cat who would race to the phone when it rang, stand over it and loudly say Hallllooowwwww. It unnerved more than a couple visitors.

The barking cat was a first class watch dog too. He would snuggle and tuck us all in at bedtime, then he patrolled. Window to window... through the pet door regularly to sweep the back patio. If any other cat, coyote, dog, big lizard, or human prowler was spotted, he would growl then bark a warning if the growl didn't chase off the violator.

He was 17 pounds of solid muscle, not real tall. There was no way any vet could get hold of the scruff of his neck, he didn't have a millimeter of loose skin in his prime. He was a barking, junk yard tank.

Gads, he was a great cat.

[Up2Late]

46. My big Tux cat is something like 16 pounds now, he's seems to eat all the food....

...I put out now, and he doesn't get out as much as he used to, but he's still almost solid muscle.

He's never barked but he does trill, sort of unusual for a male cat, and I swear, he almost speaks with his trills. He's really good about only using scratching posts (not the furniture) but he's torn all of them up down to and into the wood. I swear, in this one spot, he's torn away 1/2 an inch of wood from the dry Yellow Pine 4x4 that holds up the cat climbing tree.

[Didereaux]

35. need a chuckle look at these...

well okay, maybe chuckle is to strong a word, grin maybe okay okay slight curling of the lip then! sheeesh

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12461951@N03/


about three pages of diversions.
;)

[DemGa]

23. I can't sleep when I need to

so I'll try to "fix" my sleep problem tomorrow night.

[kas125]

25. I'm here, watching a documentary on LINKTV about veterans

Poor kids who joined at seventeen or eighteen and who come home from that insanity to cities with 48% unemployment and are homeless. I am finished crying and now I am so angry my head is about to explode. And I'm wishing Phil Donahue would run for president.

[PDJane]

26. I'm wide awake, and have been for several days......

it's the usual change-of-meds thing, and I'll get over it soon, I hope. On the other hand, I'm not depressed at the moment...although if I keep reading things like "shock doctrine, I don't know how long that will last.

[Up2Late]

31. I know what you mean...

...I take Dexedrine for ADD and took it kind of late today (which is probably why I'm still up).

Damn, it's 5am! I need to get into bed, once I lay down I'll be out.

[taterguy]

34. How could I encourage more people in my town to use bicycles for basic transportation?

I'd really like to know

[Subdivisions]

36. Create and then sell a line of bicycles designed

for fat, lazy asses. It might help if they were totally enclosed with heat and a/c. Better put four wheels on it too because some folks can't manage just two. That's it.

Oh...one more thing...might want to put a motor on it too with some sort of tank for fuel and a button to make it go faster.

[taterguy]

38. Brilliant :)

[fed-up]

39. find funding for bike lockers or a guard/find someone to add motors-here in

we are known as a very bike friendly town, being in the valley means no hills :)

City of Chico, CA built/bought? bike lockers for city employees to use

one of the biggest problems in this town is theft of bicycles

some people have suggested that they hire a guard to monitor the bikes that are parked on campus, maybe check them in/out like one does at a ski lodge-we need bike lots, similar to parking lots, and covered ones would be great in the winter

the other thing is that people are getting lazy or have too far to commute-a neighbor of mine added some kind of motor to his bike-a great idea for those that don't want to provide all the energy if they need to commute more than a couple of miles

also see about getting funding for bike lanes-drivers are getting more and more careless these days as the world goes to h*ll and lanes dedicated to bikes makes them feel much safer

here is a sample of what I found when I googled: chico bike friendly

http://www.bicyclefriendlycommunity.org/press_chico.htm

Chico is the eighth community in California to receive the BFC award. Palo Alto received the gold-level BFC award; Folsom, Santa Barbara, and Stanford University have won the silver; and Brentwood, Mountain View, and the Presidio have been granted the bronze. Chico's bronze-level award suggests there are still significant opportunities to do more to encourage bicycling. The League looks forward to working with Chico to achieve an even higher level of designation in the future.

The League's BFC reviewers were impressed that Chico boasts a 5.2% bicycle mode share, one of the highest levels in the country, and about five times the national average, according to the 2000 Census. By requiring that new development in Chico accommodate bicyclists, and utilizing funds generated from development impact fees to support bicycle facilities throughout the community, Chico clearly shows a long-term commitment to improving the community for bicycling.

Another of Chico's outstanding features for bicyclists is Bidwell Park, one of the largest municipal parks in the country. It not only welcomes road and mountain biking but, because the Park cannot be easily traversed by car, its limited motor vehicle traffic makes bicycling even more attractive. The wonderfully scenic Wildflower Century, sponsored by the Chico Velo Cycling Club, is in its 23rd year. The ride has expanded to offer rides of varying distances and participation has grown from 60 riders to 3,000, coming from near and far.

League staff and reviewers consider several factors before granting a community BFC status, including:

The physical environment for bicycling -- on-street facilities, trails, parking etc.
Education programs to promote a "share the road" ethic among bicyclists and drivers
Promotional initiatives to persuade people to ride or ride more often
Enforcement of traffic laws for both motorists and bicyclists
Future plans and evaluation techniques to improve conditions further



below are links to bike routes around town/surrounding areas
http://www.chicocommute.com/Bikes/index.html
Chico - Commute - Bicycling - Home - Bicycling



local bike club
http://www.chicovelo.org/
We at Chico Velo think our town is pretty nice for cycling -- we think some of the best in California. So nice that even our City Council has worked to make Chico the nation's most bike-friendly town by the year 2000 (we succeeded!).


The reasons for our town being so good for cycling are numerous. Located 90 miles due north of Sacramento, our town is nearly flat (the biggest hills are the freeway overpasses). But Chico is also nestled at the base of the foothills leading up to Mt. Lassen, so we get the best of both worlds when it comes to cycling -- flats for commuting and easy rides, and challenging mountainous rides when desired (with plenty of logging roads within a short drive for mountain bikers).

[taterguy]

41. Great suggestions, thank you

[fed-up]

40. maybe you need to post this in environmet? I almost didn't click through this thread nt