response 19 of 594:

Jun 26 12:12 UTC 2003

re resp:17: I am quite willing to pay for day care, if that's what's 
needed.  I am already paying more than double the FoC recommended child 
support, which was supposed to be compensation to her for watching John 
mroe than half the time.  (It's a miniscule amount of money.)  I am not 
willing to pay for her boyfriend to be alone with John.  I'm willing to 
pay quite a lot to prevent him from being with John.

I am also willing to leave work in order to watch my son for an hour, 
or an afternoon, or whatever else is needed.  The mediation agreement 
specifies we'll give each other the "right of first refusal", which 
means she has to ask me first.  But she doesn't do it.

re resp:18: Thanks!

Divorce is the most disillusioning experience I can imagine.

response 21 of 594:

Jun 26 17:12 UTC 2003

IBB i found out that a guy i like is already taken =( oh well i'll move on.

response 23 of 594:

Jun 26 18:55 UTC 2003

been there. <brandishes the t-shirt> my condolances, Sarah.

response 25 of 594:

Jun 26 23:44 UTC 2003

I'm giddily in love, but he lives four hours away from where I am right now.

Bummage.

response 27 of 594:

Jun 27 02:06 UTC 2003

speaking of daycare, we will have to have our daughter go to one.  
Julie likes the one she found, thankfully, and it would be a temporary 
arrangement most likely if all goes the way we want it to, i.e., she 
gets to participate in the Community Jobs program and gets an 
afternoon assignment.

response 29 of 594:

Jun 27 12:56 UTC 2003

Parents do that more often than daycares do.

response 31 of 594:

Jun 27 16:51 UTC 2003

I wonder if there is any chance of renegotiating the mediation agreement such
that Andrea agrees to allow David to spend time with John II.  I have no idea
what she is afraid John might do to David.  In exchange, John II could agree
in writing not to say or do anything about John III spending time unsupervised
with the man he is already living with anyway.  Again, I have no idea what
John II is afraid might happen to John III.  Would he be fed vodka for lunch?
Are recovered alcoholics dangerous people, any more than recovered smokers?
Andrea is clearly violating the spirit of the agreement regarding David, if
he was supposed to visit 'whenever he wanted'.  

response 35 of 594:

Jun 27 21:56 UTC 2003

I have neighbors with a genetic tendency to alcoholism.  The adult son has
let it run his life and has been in and out of treatment programs.  He is a
very very nice guy who would never hurt anyone (except of course himself).
His sister, a doctor, says she knows there is a family problem, and she
therefore avoids alcohol.  Other relatives have had various other drug
problems.  The fact that you are unable to control yourself once you start
drinking does not mean that you cannot keep yourself from starting.

I think it might be harder to quit smoking than alcohol, judging from a couple
of other neighbors and how often they have quit.

response 37 of 594:

Jun 27 23:34 UTC 2003

It is both more and less likely for kids to start smoking if their parents
smoke.  It's easier to get cigarettes & associated necessities, certainly,
but you also get to see first hand just how disgusting it is.  (, he said from
personal experience.)

response 39 of 594:

Jun 28 02:21 UTC 2003

        I've got a Sport's illustrated Swimsuit screensaver installed. It shuts
down the computer anythime I walk into the room.

response 41 of 594:

Jun 28 05:34 UTC 2003

Perhaps slynne and i could be true loves?
My father smoked until I was 11.  He tried various means of quitting (pipe,
cigar).  I don't know how my mother ever married a smoker.  She and both my
brother and I detested the smoke, which made us ill.  Perhaps I would not be
allergic if I had not be continuously poisoned during my childhood.
My father refused to believe his vice was making us all sick.  He did quit
when the doctor told him it was necessary to cure his ulcer.

I find a true friend to be much more useful, longterm, than a true love.