subbes

have you, like, really considered a Mac like, in depth, man

I have spent 14 hours today up to my elbows in Balsamiq. It is making a hideous task - a major re-architecture and UX overhaul of a messy learning management setup - less terrible. I still came close to smacking someone when I examined at the existing report generation module. Up until now I had only been looking at it out of the corner of my eye, out of the hope that if it didn't know I was looking at it, it wouldn't shine its full nightmare gaze on me like a college-sponsored Medusa. My god... it's full of awful.

Your housecarl can die - Shammack managed to get Lydia killed by a bunch of thugs in a watery cave somewhere. Somewhat relatedly: the metaphysics of morrowind

At my shop it turns out we're going to have to integrate with the state's new case management system, which will be fun (NOTE: NOT FUN) since we have no tech specs for it. And as I griped on Twitter this morning, my machine grinds to a halt trying to run SQL Server Management Suite, Outlook, and Google Chrome at the same time. Heaven help me if I pop open something as resource-intensive as Notepad.

oh wow wait, $1,500? Was it totally worth it? I mean, Ken Levine, whee! but that's quite a chunk of change. (IGNORES FACT THAT HER RECENT TRIP TO VISIT HER PARENTS AND CHUMS COST $1,250.)

o_O Bah. It's depressing when your chum's fans surpass your own accomplishments.

ALLOW ME TO REMOVE YOUR CONTACT LENSES FOR YOU, PUNY HU-MAN

Presented without comment:

yeah but you rather have to be a renowned surgeon to carry THAT one off

The similarity between grapes and eyeballs makes the horror stronger.

I was prescribed Lorazepam (Ativan) and it worked q well for me when combined with 3 gin and tonics. They don't recommend mixing booze with benzos, but I felt okay doing it because I've done it before, at home. Having paid a little extra for a bulkhead seat (with no-one reclining into my face) made it easier to drop off to sleep.

For my sins, I ma back in the US. TOP TIP: Take drugs before you get on the plane, then drink booze while in the air. The hours will pass like minutes.

(or "plain," if you will)

Not to worry, I requested a special vegetarian meal on the plane.

She slipped me a deadly mickey. (I have arrived. England is colder than I remembered. My parents' bathroom includes a "Harvest Gold" bathtub.)

Unrelated to iTunes, sorry: I'm getting on a plane tomorrow and flying back to Blighty for a week. If you never hear from me again, assume a plane crash or murder by tramp.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Oooh. If you have any spare, I know a certain ex- YS editor who might would like one.

Yeah; they patrol the streets during the night, while the OccupyLA people are asleep.

And I'm going the opposite direction! Heading back to the Old Country for 10 days at the beginning of November to visit my parents; look out, Warwick & Oxford.

I meant the classic panic attack: that bit where your heart's beating so fast you think it's going to explode out of your chest, you can't breathe except by hyperventilating, the entire pit of your stomach and length of your spine has suddenly been doused in ice-cold water, and jesus christ i am having a heart attack I am dying right here and dammit I never finished Sonic 3

I don't really have any good advice for dealing with panic attacks as my usual response is a sublingual administration of 1mg of lorazepam. However, I've also had good results with cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques (common abbreviation is CBT, but if you google that with SafeSearch off, you might get the OTHER kind of CBT) and mindfulness/meditation. This is all for naught though because I'm still wrestling with the spectre of Future Death and therefore have no proven solutions.