Isabella Love

You all are wonderful. Thank you!

John F Dean wrote:I just re-read your original post.  Keep an eye on that thumb. It was used to complete a circuit. I have no doubt some tissue was damaged.  

I'm embarrassed to admit this, as I'm a healthcare worker (but hey, I catch babies, not electricity!)...but, what should I keep an eye out for? I mean, the thumb is sore. There's a small red spot that looks like some kind of strange circular burn, but it doesn't hurt when I touch it. My thumb feels sore when I move it, though, especially in the joint area. Will we have to amputate?! j/k obviously, but I can't help but feel a little nervous now, lol.

John F Dean wrote:Give management lots of credit ... I am amazed at how fast the response was.

You are right. I absolutely thanked them for their timely attention to this issue. And then I boiled water on the new stove top and made myself a wonderful cup of coffee. :)

Thank you so much, everyone, for such great responses!

Management replaced the stove immediately. I'm feeling very grateful right now.

Happy New Year!

I'm talking about an electrical current, of course.

I rent an apartment. It's an old place and lots of things are broken. Now I think my stove is hot. No, not that kind of hot. Like, there's something wrong with it and it's live. Hot. Live. Not grounded?

Anyway, ever since we moved here over a year ago, I have had to flip the breaker switch to completely turn off the stove/oven. Otherwise, the oven stays on permanently, or goes on and off by itself. I'd worry that it was haunted if I worried about those things, but I don't, so I just try to remember to flip the switch and then I kick my own ass when my electric bill is through the roof.

But yesterday. I dunno. I'm actually pretty scared to use my stove now. Which isn't good because I have three hungry kids to feed three times per day, and I cook. A lot.

I think I got shocked last night. But...I've never been shocked before, so I don't know what it feels like. I was washing the top of the stove with a wet wash cloth, and right as I slid the washcloth by the actual burner itself (the coiled electrical burner ring thingy), I felt a severe sharp pain in the side of my thumb, and I thought I sliced my thumb open.

Now. I've never gotten shocked by electricity before, but I *have* sliced numerous fingers/thumbs open, and I do know what that feels like. And that's what it felt like. So I grabbed my thumb, applied intense pressure and frantically asked my daughter to get me a bandaid.

But when I got brave enough to remove the pressure and inspect the wound, there was...nothing there. Just a tiny red spot. No blood. No broken skin.

Then my thumb started hurting every time I moved it. Not horribly painful. Just, like, aching? Like a sore joint or a sore muscle in there. It still hurts the same way this morning.

I quickly flipped the breaker switch off after it happened because I thought the only thing it could have been was an electrical shock, but like I said, I've lived here over a year and I use that stove/oven every single day and this has never happened before.

Maybe it really is a poltergeist.

What do y'all think it was? Is there some way to find out (besides waiting to get shocked again) if the stove is unsafe?

Jack Edmondson wrote:What are truck nuts and why are they a thing?  Are you talking about hanging threaded nuts from the bumper of trucks?

You'll have to google truck nuts, Jack. It's such a thrill, seeing them for the first time. I simply can't take that pleasure from you.

Can someone tell me what the flags mean? Did I violate any forum rules? If so, someone let me know and I'll fix whatever I screwed up, lol.

Hi!

I've got three kids. My youngest just learned to walk. I've been divorced for two years now, after a nine year marriage. My oldest told me that it might be time to find some friends or go on a date or something. She's got wisdom beyond her years, so I'm gonna give this a try.

I can't relocate. That's been my biggest problem in finding like-minded friends. I'm not all that far from Tampa, and I'm not all that far from Gainesville, but I'm far enough to make the gasoline too expensive, and we're all longing for someone who at least understands why I bring my own cloth bags to the grocery store, ya know? It's very red here. Truck nuts are still a thing. Truck nuts are still a thing, y'all. But it's also gorgeous here. There are springs, and the river, and the gulf is not far. State parks, hiking trails, lakes, good fishing, lots of deer. It could be paradise--just add hippies. ;)

I mainly keep to myself and honestly have no drama. Well, except that my extended family votes republican, but we all still love each other, so we live and let live. My children's dad/ex-husband lives two hours north of us. He's not a bad guy and we co-parent well enough.

My kids and I rent an apartment currently. It's not ideal. I'm a part-time freelance content marketing writer, and I homeschool my two older children while caring for my baby. I'm also a Licensed Midwife, but I don't practice right now because my kids need me and delivering babies at two in the morning is not really a family-friendly career--especially for a single parent. Besides, I can make a lot more money as a writer, assuming the economy doesn't collapse. If it does, well, people will always be having babies and I keep my midwifery license current.

I'm working hard to save money to buy a chunk of land (2-5 acres) and a travel trailer. We want to live in the travel trailer while building a cottage. After 9 years of questioning my ex-spouse's love for me, I'm actually pretty happy living with just my kids, and I've unfortunately become a bit cynical when it comes to romantic love. But I must admit that I'm longing for adult conversation, someone to light a fat one with on Saturday evenings (but only on Saturday evenings, ya know?--we've got shit to do), someone who wants to raise chickens and goats and fruits and vegetables. Someone who loves kids and believes in kindness first and peaceful parenting. Someone who likes to laugh but knows when it's time to get serious.

I'm physically attracted to both men and women, especially hardworking men and women. I can spot laziness a mile away, and if that's you, we just won't get along, no matter how philosophical, spiritual, or loving you are.

When the zombie apocalypse comes, will you be running away to save yourself, or will you risk your own safety to protect children, women, and the elderly? Think about that good and hard. If you're in the first camp, please don't respond. Again, we just won't get along.

Two years ago, I watched my father die of a rare form of cancer. It was vicious. He suffered hard for two and a half months before his heart stopped--but it was the longest two and a half months I've ever experienced. He was surrounded by his wife (my step mother), his oldest daughter (me), and his youngest daughter (my 13-year old sister). Halfway through, he couldn't go to the bathroom by himself. My little sister suffered a hell of a lot more than he did. If you were in my father's shoes, and you were given two months to live, and you knew there was no treatment, and you knew that your family would see you go like that...would you have slowly faded away, or would you have taken the whole bottle of morphine and saved your family the suffering? Hard to know without being in that situation, I know. But I can tell you without hesitation that I would have made peace, said good-bye, and taken the morphine. We'll get along better if that's you, as well.

Re-reading this post, I sound a bit dark, but my life's circumstances don't define who I am. I actually love to laugh. I love playing with my baby and cuddling with my cat and bringing my kids to the springs. I'm excited to have a yard again (hopefully in the near future) so we can adopt a dog or two. When I love, I love hard. When I work, I work hard. I do nothing half-assed. I'm intense and I'm an open book. You'll never have to wonder if I'm angry or not.

I'm definitely looking for platonic friends, and I am beginning the search for a partner, but I am not looking for any hookups along the way. Not my thing; just doesn't work for me. I can't seem to separate emotional connection from physical connection. So, there's that.

If you think we'd get along well, send me a purple mooseage and I'll give you my email address so we can write back and forth. I don't have a smartphone by choice, so I don't really text (it takes forever on a flip phone without a keypad).

~Melissa

P.S. I cook everything from scratch.

Hi Dez! You are super cute! I love your sense of adventure. If you ever wanna come to Florida and befriend a ready-made family of four (myself and my three fantastic kiddos), let me know!  

If Florida's a bit too far but you'd like a pen pal, send me a purple moosage and we can email back and forth. I read through a couple of your bootcamp journal entries, and you seem to like writing. I do, too! And I really love long, descriptive, personal letters from friends who also love long, descriptive, personal letters. In a modern world full of choppy sentences and bullet-points, longform letters seem like a thing of the past. I like reviving them.

Take care, and good luck with your search!

For families with young children (who cannot reasonably leave their children behind, as in the case of nursing mothers, etc.):

Feed everyone and charge accordingly (so nobody rides for free). If a partner/sitter is bringing the kiddos, the partner/sitter and the kiddos are expected to eat with the group. It has been my experience that, if there are young children (speaking of which, designate an age range for "young children"), the partner/sitter is too busy looking after them to sneak in some free learning. But yeah, the whole kit and kaboodle will eat your food if it's there...so just assume as much and charge for it.

Other than the situation above regarding young children, I wouldn't allow someone to bring a non-paying partner/spouse/friend. Like, you can't be away from them for two weeks? Really? Then both of you need to pay to take the course.