Venting Thread, or FML!

[Kareesh]

Here's my mini-rant: we had a "warm week" (double digits F with a few days above freezing) and now it's back to barely above 0°F with snow in the forecast. Wouldn't be so bad but we are about to start our 5th month of cold and I am not used to this!

Even though I am use to this, I'm still completely over winter! I want to get outside my house sometime....

[Ally]

I've never seen snow before. Seems like an odd thing to say when it look like a fair portion of the US is buried in the stuff!

[MeiTow]

Probably a bit late in all this and it's not really a FML but more of a "I Don't Want to Live on This Planet Anymore" situation. If you can, please keep my roommate and his family in your thoughts and prayers. Last Monday his older brother was found murdered and left to, the suspects hoped, be incinerated at a coal power plant in the southern part of the state. He had gone down there to visit a couple of friends over the weekend. Yesterday (Monday, a week from when his body was found) the police issued their probable cause affidavit stating that one of the suspects said they told him to make peace with whatever God he believed in before forcing him to get down on his knees with his hands behind his back and shooting him execution style in the back of the head because he flirted with the female suspect and she "felt uncomfortable" with his flirtations. The four suspects have been apprehended and will be going on trial this week. This, obviously, was very sudden and the family is still in utter floored shock over it all. The three surviving siblings have been overwhelmed this last week with worry, questions, and preparations for his funeral whenever they police decide to release his body.

My husband and I have known our roommate for over 15 years and know his family pretty well too (the deceased lived with us for awhile about 10 years ago) so this has been hard on us all. Please send positive energy and thoughts to them in hopes that their healing can soon start. (amusingly, he was always a fan of wizards. )

Thank you for reading this pretty depressing message.

[Ally]

That is utterly horrific MeiTow, and extraordinarily tragic. I have absolutely no clue what goes on in some peoples heads, and I don't think I really want to know. I'll keep your roommate and his family in my thoughts.

[RMDC]

Too many people being killed for no reason. A similar situation happened to friends of mine years ago. I'll light a candle for his family tonight, Mei.

[rockinwithrammstein]

What a scary world we live in. I will keep the family in my prayers.

[blackmageheart]

Oh MeiTow, I'm so sorry. How awful it must be for you and the loved ones. Death is not a nice thing to deal with, but it must be so so much worse when someone's life has been taken in such a heinous way. You and all the family have my most heartfelt condolences.

I wish I knew what else to say, but I will keep you all in my thoughts. And I will think of the lost one too, sending love from one wizard to another. <3

[kuja.girl]

MeiTow - I don't even know what to say. We had a disturbing set of incidents in town this week (but nothing as bad as what happened to your roommate's brother). When things like this happen I try to remember that people can be both wonderful and horrible - and that for every bad act there's usually someone doing something good... and that we can only try to keep the good out weighing the bad. I don't pray but I'll keep you and your roommate's family in my thoughts.

...and today I am thankful for this thread because I feel like I'm about to have a small breakdown. I'm feeling very stressed and overwhelmed at work and I am worried about my new pets being cold since it is dropping to below 0ºF again. I am keeping the house warm but the little birdies are still shivering a little so I've cranked the heat up for them - I won't like the bill but it's worth it. This next month is going to be nuts and I am going to have to work hard to keep my stress levels down :/

[MeiTow]

Thanks everyone. I'm having a tough time with it and we didn't even talk that much! However, we did have some things in common and thinking about them and the fact it had been forever since I talked to him just makes me mad and sad at the same time. It has definitely forced me to re-evaluate how I spend time with my own family.

Kuja-> I hope your lil birdies can stay safe and warm. We are pretty much getting the same weather here as well so I quite well understand your sentiments. LOL! Try putting some warm nesting material in with them. Maybe some stray crafting cloth, batting, or some such that will help keep them warmer. Also, you might try putting a desk lamp near them that you can keep on so they can be warm. Only shine the light on part of their cage/nesting box so if they get too hot they can move away from it.

[kuja.girl]

Kuja-> I hope your lil birdies can stay safe and warm. We are pretty much getting the same weather here as well so I quite well understand your sentiments. LOL! Try putting some warm nesting material in with them. Maybe some stray crafting cloth, batting, or some such that will help keep them warmer. Also, you might try putting a desk lamp near them that you can keep on so they can be warm. Only shine the light on part of their cage/nesting box so if they get too hot they can move away from it.

You are a mind reader! I just got a reptile clip lamp, put a 60 watt bulb in it and placed it next to one side of the cage. I have been hesitant to get them a nest or to encourage nest building because I don't want babies. Right now they are using their food dish as a makeshift nest... They also fight over who gets to sit in it and get excited when they remember that there is food in it... they are kind of dumb. I also don't know for sure if they are both male, or a male-female pair because one is a lutino and doesn't have the normal markings. Despite all the worries I have, I am glad I adopted them. I'm just paranoid because of what happened last time.

Also I'm doing better than I was when I wrote my last post here and I hope everyone else is too.