The Time Sink

Good morning. Today's post here is simply a pointer back to Saturday morning's post on the blog about depression (that's the permanent link once I archive over there; the temporary link to the post on depression is here). ...and it's intended to serve two purposes: to highlight the issues of sub-clinical and clinical depression here on these pages and to give Google one more place to spider and link back to posts about depression and what to do about it. Shameless? Yes I am.

...but it's not a light issue for me, nor for the lady whose post sparked several people's responses on their own pages. Sue is a PHP Queen of the first water, and a fellow Cemetery Blogger. She's also good people, the kind you hook up with on a project and then stay with because you just enjoy their company. ...but things sometimes aren't so enjoyable for her, and she wrote about it the other day. It's pretty raw if you haven't been there to read, but it's very, very real. My time on the streets validates all of what she says; I've seen depression at all the levels and all the stages. ...and I've dealt with it myself.

Several of us responded in Sue's comments, and there were three of us who were in a position to add to our comments and emails with posts of our own. Dave Farquhar lead off with a piece about the effects of diet and nutrition on depression; I followed with my thoughts on inner dialogs of people with depression; and Brandy Reed came through with her story of a mis-diagnosis of post partum depression and how the proper tests and medication took care of both her underlying problem and her depression.

The common thread here was how three different people with similar problems used three different therapeutic modalities to successfully treat depression (yeah, going for the medical searchers there). ...and all three of us are relating stories of real experiences with depression and how to deal with it.

There will be more linkage as others add their words into the mix. One weighed in last night; I'll be linking her story later in a different venue. I expect another ex-pre-hospital care specialist to add her perspective in within a day or so.

...and both Brandy and I will be adding permanent sidebar or story links as we try to make some attempt to disseminate information about something that at times is either denied, ignored, mistreated or hidden away. There is no need. Depression is treatable. The triad presented in response to Sue's post is from people who are not professional health care workers, but simply people who have dealt with various forms of depression and beaten them back.

Things may be a little light over here on the "daily and tech side of things"; I'm in a jury pool and currently in the box getting questioned with the others from the 'first pick'.

The lesson from today is that it is a bad thing to walk back to the office from the courthouse in my dress shoes...

The bailiff today:

This cop I know got in all sorts of trouble with his wife the other day. Seems she found him out in the garden with a box of Honey Nut Cheerios... Yeah, he thought he'd found a box of doughnut seeds and was planting them!

Same bailiff:

So there's these two robins hanging out in the tree and the visitor says to his friend, "Why did you build your nest so far out on the branch? I mean, it's way exposed and totally in the sun all afternoon." ...and the first robin says, "I built it here so I could just kick it and bask in the sun all afternoon. See? Can't you just feel the warmth of those rays?" ...and so they both laid back and just relaxed in the sun. ...and this big ol' tomcat, who'd been watching since they showed up just under his nap place, jumped down and gobbled them both up!!! ...and as he curled up again to continue his afternoon nap, he was heard to say, "Man, I just love baskin' robins..."

...and a little while later I was no longer on the panel. Something about a twenty year street medic not being able to be impartial about a murder case involving drugs and a firearm. ...and who knew two of the officers.

Ummm... Yeah. Friday.

Ha! Get to bed a little late 'cause the today is supposed to be low key. Get up to find things have changed and free time is no longer on the schedule. Reset. Try for cognitive thought. Reset with coffee...

...better (the coffee, not the plans). Two boys, two locations, two parents, two cars. Okay. Reset. Oh, there'll be another kid dropped off while Shelley is off on the first run. Okay. Reset. Breakfast on hold for emergency housecleaning.

Breaktime? Clear for maybe thirty minutes? Cool. Go blade. Return. Phone. "Dad, the pickup time changed". Reset. Time to pickup: ten minutes. Driving time: ten minutes. Shower time: five minutes +/-. A+B<=>C. Towels on car seat to handle sweat issue from exercise. Return. Shower?

"Dan, Brad needs a snack at the game..." Reset. Towels back in car. Return. Shower. Reset. Game called for time limit. Standby.................

Drop off kids. Reset!!! Lovely slow dinner with Shelley. Ice cream after. Slow time in bookstore. Drop by Hallmark store (many laughs). Go grocery shopping. Go by home... Pick up kids...

I gotta' say, these holiday weekends can just take a break for a while <g>! Today started out slow enough, but more or less kicked into high gear by mid-afternoon. Now it's a bit late and there's still work to do!

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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic."
Arthur C. Clarke, "Technology and the Future"

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