Best posts made by Quinn

I've met a lot of fellow mushers over the years in the US, UK, and Canada, and in all but two situations they've all been fine. This was back when meetups were pretty common and in my group of friends I was the one everyone invited over to meet their parents to show them that see, the people they talked to on the computer were perfectly normal! Honestly I have a lot of great memories from the good old days. Except for these two:

The first I went to visit someone I'd been playing with for years and he was cool and I met his girlfriend and we all hung out and had a fun time and then on the way to the airport he was like this wasn't how I thought things would go I was thinking maybe we'd end up having sex in a phone booth or something and I was like oh look I'll just get out here. Pretty sure I barely talked to him after that it so freaked me out.

The other I went with my then boyfriend to meet up with another couple we mushed with. My PC was in a romantic relationship with the guy's PC, but it's all IC so whatever. The meeting was kind of coincidental as it turned out we were all just going to be at the same event that weekend. So we get there and we meet up with them and we shake hands like normal people and the wife in the other couple goes "Handshakes?! I thought for sure with these two it would be hugging and making out!"

It was so awkward and we got out of there quick.

After working on Firstclass for 20 years let me tell you it could be worse.

We have a wall of free snacks at work so usually my stressed/depression meals are me going and getting every bag of Cape Cod potato chips and telling myself I will eat one a day and then eating all of them as fast as I can so I can feel bad about it.

You can doodle with Mo Willems every day at 1 on his YouTube channel!

When I was seven years old I was in my first swim meet. It was at summer camp and I was so excited because I was a GREAT swimmer. They lined us up on the edge and I was the furthest from the referee and he was an old man with a very soft voice and there were several matches going on at the same time. I saw him raise the whistle but not blow into it and say something, but the only part i caught was "jump into the water."

So I jumped!

And about halfway up into the air I realized no one else was jumping and that he'd just been explaining 'when I blow this whistle, jump into the water.' The splash was so loud when I hit the water. EVERYONE turned to look at me as I stood there (it was the shallow pool) with my arms hovering just above the water totally uncertain as to what I should do. Do I get out? Do I just wait? The guy gave me such a look then blew his whistle and everyone else jumped in. I gave everyone a head start but still won. Except the woman timing me couldn't figure out how to stop the stop watch, so we all had to do it over.

I waited for the whistle blow the second time and ended up with a gold medal! But that feeling of dread and then everyone turning to look at me STILL makes me cringe.

I had an antibody test thanks to my town doing random sampling. However, it was just a finger prick and I have a friend who actively works testing the tests (her lab has done about 40 of them because they do clinical trials and need to be absolutely sure their subjects have or have not had it) and she says that those ones are really unreliable. That the only ones that don't give false results most of the time are the ones that involve an honest to god blood draw.

Of the over 600 people in my town they tested I think only 40 showed up with antibodies. So either we've been really good at social distancing in a state that's been hit pretty hard, or those tests weren't great.

I honestly wish Daisy scouts were that interesting.

My oldest was THE BEST at cookies! Like a god damn maverick. She asked to bring her form into school for her kindergarten teacher to order a box of thin mints. When we picked her up that day I asked if she gave it to her teacher and she said, "Yep! And some other people!"

She'd sold like 67 boxes. IN A DAY. She ended up with nearly 500 by the time we were done.

But because of COVID all the prizes are delayed. Stupid COVID.

@Ominous Oh do I have a treat for you--each Daisy Scout gets a website and you can just order them online and have them shipped to you! Cookie time next year even if we're quarantined we are hitting people up hard through email.

Post office jobs are not steady anymore if you're in the states. Like, I definitely would not take that one with what's currently going on and how I wouldn't be surprised to see a Trump second term.

fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck we are all so fucked.

RIP RBG

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/18/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-dead/index.html

I don't dislike dogs, but I do dislike dog owners that either let their dogs run without a leash or even on a leash let them jump all over people. My youngest is terrified of dogs since my mom's dog bit her when she was handing it a snack when she was two (not the dog's fault, she should never have been given the treat to do it and I was pissed when I figured out what happened). So when those "s/he's friendly!" people smile as their dog approaches my screaming child, I am never pleased because it seriously traumatizes her every single time. She's not screaming to be cute people, she's screaming because she is legitimately terrified of your dog, it doesn't matter how friendly it is.

The other day I was walking down a little path by our house and a big dog who was not on a leash ran up to me, then stood up and put its paws on my chest. "He's very friendly," his owner said with a smile as it left paw prints all over my shirt. He stopped smiling when I told him to put it on a leash.

@ganymede Students will always complain about grades where they don't get A's. @Aria definitely has a reason to complain, but as someone that has been teaching for over a decade now (god I am fucking old) so long as you are clear in your responses as to why points are lost there's usually not room for argument.

I mean they still will argue. Last round of papers I got a four page email from someone about how they should have the two points I docked back (they didn't get them back). It's a fine line to walk with "I understand things are rough for everyone right now so here is some empathy and wiggle room" when there are students who will send you sob story after sob story and you will move deadlines and they still will not meet them and then not understand why they failed why are you so mean, but there's only so much you can do.

In a year or two you will get an email from someone saying you were the reason they became a better writer or better at what they do or are why they graduated or decided to go back to get a degree. And you'll feel like it's all worth it.

Until evaluations roll in. Because 9 out of 10 will be glowing but you will remember that 1 that rates you as the worst and blasts you.

It's still worth it. Probably.

In the beginning I feel like I coped pretty well and made sure everyone was busy and things like that. As it's dragged on I've mostly relied on retail therapy, which isn't great for the credit card.

Oh, yeah. We've eaten out every day for like two weeks for at least one meal. Take out of course, I wouldn't go inside to eat anywhere anytime soon.

I think it's just like. We're inside pretty much all the time. Yes I could cook the pasta like I have so many times before, but also I could spend money and get something that's not IN the house instead and we can pretend for a little while that the world isn't fucked.

@ifrit You know it's not a Doctor Who episode because it wasn't based in Cardiff or Victorian London.

I REALLY want to garden but we have to figure out our outside space first. This house is old, so it's likely that there's some lead paint chips in the ground from the siding at some point (it's got vinyl siding now but that was clearly slapped over some old wood shingles) so planting in the ground is very iffy. We get SO MUCH SUN on the side of the yard that has some grass that I really want to build a raised planter, but it's also the only yard space my kids have to play in right now until we can find the money to tear down the huge old garage in the backyard that I hesitate to take up more space over there.

Also so many chipmunks and bunnies. We planted tulips the first year we were here and we have not seen ANY of them because as soon as they come up they get eaten! Even fox pee doesn't keep them away!