Depression.

I've never suffered from it myself, of which I'm unbelievably glad, but sometimes it feels like it's an infectious disease and I'm a healthy carrier.

Agreed.

As long as you are unbelievably glad that you don't suffer from it you should be immune, and perhaps cure a few stricken by it too. :)

Edit: Or hold on, you're saying you're happy but make others depressed? I don't believe it!

I hope so but it's difficult when I do all I can and it never seems to be enough.

No - it's just that way too many people I know are down with it.

But yes, ever wondered what the Black Breath really was?

Agan--maybe you're a foul-weather friend like me! (Well, not lately, but for a while there...)

Well JK Rowling's dementors the embodiment of depression. Churchill called it the Black dog. Don't take it personally - it isn't you and it is a complex medical problem that friendship alone cannot solve. However do be aware that depressives often isolate themselves so try and hang in there. One practical thing is to encourage physical activity as it releases endorphins which are natural mood lifters. And encourage them to get help.

http://www.befrienders.org/index.asp

Sorry if this is melodramatic but I know more young people who have died as a consequence of depression than from any other illness or accidents... :(

I believe that the 'her' that he was referring to was me... If that makes any sense.

I'd like to assign kids.

Well not kids, but their ability to be constantly playing musical disease chairs.
My niece comes home from school with something about twice a year.

Luckily I've only caught something once, but grrr.

Well– I assign hearing that everyone's supposedly chronically depressed. It makes me feel as if everything I do in life is useless and irrelevant.

But I just won't believe that. I firmly believe it's only a tiny minority, and that the great majority of people are capable of leading good, happy lives and enjoying themselves. (Seems to be true, in my experience.)

And please, no-one try to convince me otherwise. This is one of the beliefs I need.

Okay?:)

(Understand– this a thing I'm hypersensitive about... and actually, have wanted to get off my chest for a while.)

Yes. OK. I see it now.

That I have to write my undergrad thesis on a piece of German (or Germanophone in general) lit. Or, rather, that our library has a dearth of contemporary European or Asian lit. And the Goethe Institut is far away. :(

Urgh, thesis hell. I thought you were two batches younger! Anyway, I wish you well! :)

Good.

I agree with you completely. Most kids are most bothersome, I can think of only one exception to that rule.

I can think of one particularly annoying child. He's worse than Alien, and so is his cousin.

Rain on a night I'm supposed to be dressed formally, and had intended to wear my hair straight.

People who use other people.

Saying goodbye to somebody you love.

If we are going to assign ill-behaved children, then we ought to also assign their parents.

People who send you text messages about what a lovely trip away they are having as you clear up the mess they have left...

Wow, a text message? That's even worse than a phone call to the same effect. That's like saying, "I'm having a great time AND I don't care enough to actually call you!"

Admittedly they were on a cross channel ferry - but this is my sister who has full citizenship of Planet Me and may indeed regard herself as centre of the Universe.

People who think all behavior on the part of children can be blamed on their parents. Have they never heard of children from the same family behaving differently? :rolleyes: Because I know two excellent examples...

People who misread what I wrote. ;)

I like kids. They are fantastic.
It is their not-fully formed immune systems which I assign to Mordor. xD

Obviously not.

Of course this presupposes consistent parenting. I am not talking about conscious unfairness rather that with the first child everything is new whereas when second child reaches that stage they have more experience but less interest. Yes I may be a biased younger child (though I do appreciate that younger ones may benefit from having space to do their own thing) but I have also observed my contemporaries with their kids). The first child is a little god with hot and cold running parents on tap ... when the second one arrives the start saying " well it is the toddler that needs the attention"... :rolleyes: .
Birth order is fascinating psychologically ....

I'd like to assign foxes - especially the one who visited our garden last night and lynched all but three chickens. May it be taken to the Houses of Lamentation (whatever that is), where it shall be stripped of its stinking fur, its flesh devoured, and its shrivelled mind (if it has such a thing) be left naked to the Lidless Eye forever!

Also in the same category are loose dogs, raccoons, possums and mink.

Especially mink.

British terrestrial TV station "ITV":(

Absolutely shocking channel, that has really gone down the pan over the last 20 years.

Dumbing-down, quiz shows, dire comedy shows, reality progs and anything to do with celebs & ratings is all this bankrupt shadow of its former self can offer!

I reckon even the Witch King would be screaming for a quick death after just an hour watching that tat!

Wow - as an American, I'm familiar with ITV only as the maker of such great shows as Agatha Christie's Poirot, Inspector Morse, and Foyle's War, and I've always had this image of it as some kind of glorious, high-budget PBS. It's sad but somehow strangely comforting to hear that actually it shows the same sort of rubbish as most of the channels here.

I share your views, and yes the programs you mention are of very high quality, but were made years ago, and are often repeated on ITV to give the channel some credibility that it offers "quality drama" when in actual fact they're just showing repeats

Being in a hurry.

Studying.

Having no self-discipline whatsoever.

:D

Aieeeee! ^that smiley!!! or, in other words, my apparent carelessness about my situation!

Catching a cold from your best friend, who says it's just allergies. Right.

Having the cold depress your immune system enough so that just when you think you're getting over the cold, you catch the swine flu from some clerk who shouldn't've been back at work yet. Lovely.

Having the flu pass, but leaving in its wake a secondary bacterial infection in about 75% of your respiratory system. Just peachy.

Having THAT finally begin to pass (we're now well into week three of illness, here, coming up on four), and realizing that your stuffed head is clearing, but your sense of smell isn't really coming back, and the bacteria are threatening to proliferate, again. Time for the hated antibiotics.

And dang it all, the lilacs are beginning to bloom in earnest -- and I can't smell a darned thing! Bad enough that food has little taste. Grumble.

Here's hoping this is all over with and my nose is working properly again by the end of the month, when we're going on vacation. Sigh.

The phone rings.

Fea, not recognizing the number, answers it, hoping against hope it might be an employer contacting her about a job.

"Hello?"

"Hello. May I please speak to Susan?"

Fea, whose name is not Susan, who lives with no Susans, and who, in fact, only actually knows two Susans off the top of her head, neither of whom other people tend to know, and both of whom live at least a hundred miles from here, says, "I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong number."

The woman asks, "Is this [she reads Fea's phone number one digit at a time]?"

"Yes," Fea responds with infinite patience, "However-"

The woman interrupts. "Well I have this number in front of me, and it says it is Susan's, so it must be Susan's number."

"That is my number," Fea responds, rolling her eyes at Nienna, who is giggling, "but I am not-"

And then the line goes dead, leaving Fea to hope the woman realized that Fea was not lying when she said there was no Susan to be found in her vicinity.

Whoever you are, madam, I hope you find your Susan and stop calling me.

I hope Susan isn't an absentee slumlord. One of our previous numbers had been pulled out of thin air and given to the tenants of some crook who didn't want to be bothered to fix their apartments. Those poor people refused to believe we weren't him, and I can't blame them for being angry, but we got tired of the late night calls and the swearing.

Having a number that was one digit off from a local cinema was much better. Though people did get annoyed when we couldn't tell them what time a movie was playing.

Cold callers & junk mail advertising junk food, shoved through our letterbox every friggin' day

Having to revise for tests- they aren't even important! They're just made by the school to prepare us for our mock GCSEs.

British Telecom's fault report "service" line.

Landline is out of order. You can hear it ringing if you dial in but it doesn't ring in the house.

I followed the instructions in the phonebook - tested the line with 3 phones to be sure the problem was not with the equipment. And then I rang the number indicated. 3 times the automated service told me that there was no problem on the line. Forutht attempt it suggests I call another number or check a website..

The fifth time it admitted there was a problem and then hung up on me because I didn't enter my mobile number for a sms update quickly enough.

I try later and it says there is a fault but they are waiting for more information from the line user .... how they are going to get that I don't know because the system didn't ask before it hung up on me.

Try this morning and actually get through to a real person. Yay! Point out that system is spectacularly unhelpful though appreciate that this is not their individual fault. Point out that elderly, frail father is alone in house, can't use mobile, isolated without landline. Give mobile ot get update.

Still would like to get someone by throat and explain that if you phone is not working it is not very helpful to have a system that requires multiple phone calls and internet. You are either using someone elses phone or a mobile, or god help you a call box.

Oh and the phone still isn't working. *head desk* .

My schedule for the next semester, which dictates that I have to be in school from seven in the morning to six at night on Wednesdays and Fridays. Why some of my subjects just aren't available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays escape me. And my Cheerleading p.e. class. As if my hell-sent sched isn't enough, the only thing I managed to get for p.e. was cheerleading. :(

The train that decided it was a good idea to sound it's whistle/horn for a solid five minutes at 8:30 am.

I assign this entire week. It's brought a house repair issue, stifling humidity, and illness to everyone in the house.

Pages and pages of coursework so late in the year.