Just got back from voting, no wait. It’s about a 10 minute walk from my house to the polling place. They had 3 lanes open for people to check in, only 1 was occupied. I was in and out in under 5 minutes. Longest I’ve ever had to wait was probably 45-60 minutes in 2016 but that was at a different polling place that was always poorly organized.

Might be a typo? A donor phlebotomy technician is one who specializes in drawing blood from donors, I guess as opposed to ones who do the lab work.

I struck up a conversation with a guy at a bar one time, turned out he was an animal control officer and the county shelter had just had a bad outbreak of parvovirus. He said he had spent the whole week just euthanizing dogs from sunup to sundown. He looked rough.

Hospital security guard. Had to help hold down suicidal mental patients so the nurses could put restraints on them. Had to escort counselors from Child Protective Services when they were collecting babies from the maternity ward, so that angry family members didn’t attack them in the parking lot. Had to help wheel bodies down to the loading dock when the mortician came to collect them. Had to stop grieving relatives from trying to rush the ER or operating room when their loved one was on the table.

I quit after walking into the ER one time to see one of my coworker guards getting a wound on his neck examined while the other guard said, “Dude, you just missed the excitement! Lenny just got bit by a crackhead!”

I work with a Burl (short for Burlin) and he’s probably pushing 70…haven’t seen any Horaces around lately, though. For a lady, Constance.

I feel like “don’t try to get with your kid’s best friend’s mom” is also an option that should be on the table.

That said, don’t go the Facebook friend route. The intent is too ambiguous and doesn’t get you any closer to your goal. I’d favor either the direct approach (the classic, “would you like to go out for a drink sometime?”) or tie it to an activity you’d both be doing already anyway (“My son and I are going out for pizza after the t-ball game, would you and your son like to join us?” (I don’t know how old your kids are)).

I have only ever bothered getting certifications if they were a job requirement or when I was looking to pad my resume before making a move.

Ask around, your company may have some kind of tuition assistance or vouchers to cover exam fees for relevant certs.

That it exists.

I have a Coke Zero and a water, but I almost have a water within arm’s reach.

Mid-90s, I used to stay up all night long on Fridays, watching weird cable access shows and infomercials. There was a Highlander: The Animated Series cartoon that came on around 4AM. No one ever believed me when I tried to describe it.

I wish I were more handy or had the mindset for tinkering and doing mechincal repairs. I lack the focus and spatial awareness to look at something, diagnose the problem, and effectively repair it or jury-rig a solution around it.

How old are you? The side-effects or withdrawal symptoms didn’t really become noticeable for me until my mid-30s…I went from feeling fine whether I had caffeine or not, to getting a headache in the afternoon if I missed my morning coffee, to waking up with a headache already that wouldn’t go away until I upped my dose.

For me, it was being able to recognize that my parents were well-meaning but imperfect people and not getting angry about it. There was the normal childhood period when I looked up to them and just assumed they could do no wrong, then the reactionary teenage anger phase of, “Fuck you, old man! You don’t know me!”

It wasn’t until around 26 or so that I had calmed down enough to say/feel without malice , “I am going to live my life the way I want to live my life, you may not understand or agree with some of my decisions, and that’s OK. I’m not required to justify or explain them to you.”

My grandpa drank 14 cans of Diet Pepsi and a box of Milkbone dog treats when he had the Alzheimer’s.

I have a certain “go with the flow”-ness that helps me glide through.

Can you post the list of 56 emotions? I would hate to burn a good story on Anger when Resentment is right around the corner and more applicable.

A 10-minute ovation is not a notable statistic at Cannes. The Beaver got a 10-minute ovation. I dare anyone to remember even one thing about The Beaver without looking it up.

“Come On, Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Fucking hate it. Mainly for the video, but also because it is horrible.

I don’t like to kink-shame but those all sound like horrible people.

We have a mayor, some people complain a out her, others don’t. I sat next to her at the airport once. That’s all I know.