Last week when my ex sat in my counseling session, she gave me a Biblical reason why she chose divorce. She was doing a devotional and the overall lesson was that God will be with you no matter what decision you make. She felt that was God telling her it was alright to file for a divorce. I have to accept that as her answer, but I bet she probably misinterpreted the overall message of the devotional. I’d like to see what it actually said. Using her rationale, you can justify any sin. For instance, I might be faced with the decision to slap you in the face. I know doing so would be a sin, but since God will be with me no matter what decision I’m going to make, I’m just going to go ahead and slap you. Or, you can say that the unlocked bicycle left outside a store would be nice to have and you’d like to steal it. Stealing would be a sin, but even if I took the bike, God will be with me, so I’m just going to steal that bike.
I did ask the ex if she spoke with someone who was an expert in biblical interpretation, like our pastor or any pastor. She said no and verified she only relied on her mom and sister for biblical advice.
Something else that bothers me that I have to accept is her decision to not give me a second chance, that she made divorce her very first option. I told her that I don’t think we can honestly look our children in the eye and tell them we did everything we could to save our family from breaking apart. For instance, we didn’t go to a single counseling session. Her reply was nothing but silence. It’s hard to accept she didn’t speak to our pastor or any pastor about such a decision regarding her faith.
One other thing I know I have to accept but not like was her belief that I wouldn’t consider a separation. She brought that up towards the end of our marriage in one of our arguments. I do remember her bringing it up out of the blue and I responded with a no. That was because I thought separation is the last resort before divorce, and we haven’t even tried counseling. If we tried counseling and that didn’t work, then yes, I think separation is a viable option. But going straight to separation just wasn’t logical in my book.
Sometimes I miss my old house and all the cool stuff I had that made me happy. That’s why I’m posting this sentence that I found, “The more you have physically, the more you have to lose, and thus, the more worried you become about losing it all.”
Posted inPersonal|Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Thursday, July 27, 2023
The professor, an expert on the opioids crisis, was placed on paid administrative leave and investigated, raising questions about the extent of political interference in higher education, particularly in health-related matters.
Trump has a rally planned in Erie, Pennsylvania on Saturday and the city’s mayor wants the former president to pay in advance. That’s because Mayor Joe Schember says the city still hasn’t received the $35,129 Trump owes from his 2018 rally at the Erie Insurance Arena.
I’m slowly learning I have to prioritize myself. That’s hard to do because I don’t like being selfish, but perhaps taking care or prioritizing yourself is different from being selfish.
It’s not that I just want to see my kids, I want to raise and parent them in as normal of an environment that I can create. Currently, the teenager has been a challenge. She doesn’t want to stay any nights at her father’s house anymore (right after I bought her a new bed). She wants to focus on quality time as opposed to quantity. If I force her to stay with me and follow what’s in the divorce decree, she’ll just resent me. But, at the same time, my ex and I are the parents and we should be setting the rules. My life is falling apart. Correction, my life has fallen apart.
I hope the steroid epidural starts to kick in. It’s extremely challenging just to sit down or get up. Now, I’m having trouble walking. Bending over is almost impossible. Heck, things are so bad I had to purchase a pair of those reacher extender thingies that many elderly people use. Thankfully driving isn’t a problem, but getting in and out of the car is.
I had brunch with a friend recently. His entre was an egg sandwich, but he ate it with a milkshake. Not only do I question the consumption of that frozen dairy product in the morning, but I don’t think I could consume a milkshake with a breakfast meal. There has to be some sort of unwritten rule about this.
If you previously traveled to Europe without a visa, you will now need to apply for authorization through the European Travel Information and Authorization System, or ETIAS, before visiting.
Once you are approved for travel, the authorization entitles visitors to stay in European countries that require ETIAS for up to 90 days within any 180-day period and travelers must be in possession of a valid ETIAS during their entire stay.
With the attorney general’s impeachment trial set for September, supporters have risen to Paxton’s defense, fueled by the deep pockets of oil-rich West Texas donors.
I almost had a real conversation with my ex about everything. She agreed to sit in on one of my counseling sessions. However, I could only ask three questions and had to follow some rules. Here was the format of our “conversation” per my counselor:
“We will cover your 3 questions first. She will answer your questions without any follow-up questions from you. Hopefully, some of your questions will be answered in her letter. She will then read her letter. She doesn’t want any answers or questions from her letter.“
I felt like this was basically me attending a Zoom meeting but being put on mute the whole time after I asked my questions.
Overall, I think this will be the start of something to build on. It wasn’t a real conversation or the civil discourse I was hoping for, but I got to hear and express just about everything I wanted. There are some loose ends, disagreements, and hurt feelings, but for the first time, I really feel I can let go of some of the heavy things I’ve been carrying.
Posted inPersonal|Comments Off on Bag of Randomness for Tuesday, July 25, 2023
A girl on a dating platform was asking me about pets. After I let her know I have and prefer small dogs, she asked this unique question, “Why are small dogs a good fit for you, and how are they similar to your personality?”
My nerve pain comes in flashes, and I haven’t been able to identify any particular movement which causes it, except for pushing a shopping cart. I know that’s weird, but something about how I push a shopping cart, even if it is empty, triggers my nerve pain.
I saw my neurosurgeon on Thursday to go over my latest MRI. All signs point to another back operation with additional hardware being added. But first, he wants to run some neurological tests and for me to get a second opinion. In the meantime, he wants me to get a steroid epidural because of the acute pain I’ve been in. I told him my pain management doctor won’t be able to schedule one for me until mid to late August because of insurance and the doctor’s vacation. Speaking of insurance, I’m over my deductible but it starts over next month. My neurosurgeon told me he would schedule one for me ASAP. I thought that meant five to eight days because, in my experience, that’s the fastest I could get one scheduled in the past. On the drive home, I got a call from a pain management doctor’s office asking if I would like to have a steroid epidural the next morning either at 7:30 am or 8:30 am. Man, he really did mean he could get me one ASAP.
Until today, I didn’t know the difference between a king and an emperor.
An empire can have many kingdoms within it; the emperor rules the entire empire while kings (or queens) rule smaller kingdoms within the empire. While the king (like the regional manager) has total control over his territory, the emperor (like the CEO) is the one who makes the final decision for the entire region.
Self-healing metal is still just science fiction, right? Apparently not. Scientists on Wednesday described how pieces of pure platinum and copper spontaneously healed cracks caused by metal fatigue during nanoscale experiments that had been designed to study how such cracks form and spread in metal placed under stress. They expressed optimism that this ability can be engineered into metals to create self-healing machines and structures in the relatively near future.
