tough day -- anyone else?

[dotdash]

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Husband on call. Kids running around like nutballs. Roof leaking. Dog peeing on the beds. House a mess. Checkbook spewing red ink. Transmission shot on car.

Can anyone beat that collection of stress? Or offer a good joke involving a rabbi, a priest and a buddhist in a bar?

 

[faith2]

sorry I do not have a joke, and I can not beat your collection of stress. I can tell you at least you have a husband that loves you, and is doing what he has to do for the family survival outside of the home and you are doing what is needed inside the home. When I am really stressed I go to the gym, which is everyday. Maybe you can find some time to get a small hobby, and find some me time to do it. Another stress relief is making computer friends on SDN. I hope things get better.

Husband on call. Kids running around like nutballs. Roof leaking. Dog peeing on the beds. House a mess. Checkbook spewing red ink. Transmission shot on car.

Can anyone beat that collection of stress? Or offer a good joke involving a rabbi, a priest and a buddhist in a bar?

 

[Velocity]

I think I can beat it.

A post-doc in our lab dislikes her job. She works extremely long hours and receives very little praise for it. Within the past few months she's developed some health issues resulting in fatigue and abdominal pain, and there's a chance that she will need to have her uterus surgically removed to restore her health. She's been with us for almost a year, and in order to work here she had to move across the country from her husband and her young daughter. Her daughter calls her daily, often asking her when she'll come home. To top it all off, she's an immigrant seeking citizenship and must keep this job (or transfer to one just like it) in order to avoid deportation, and she's also a foreign medical graduate who would like to become a practicing physician here. So in addition to working her insane hours and focusing on her experiments, she's trying to study for the USMLE Step 1.

You have your health, and you have your family. I know it doesn't feel this way, but everything else is just a passing detail. Things will get better. Take heart.

 

[dotdash]

Thank you both for your responses. Velocity, I worry about your post-doc -- what a tough situation to be in. I feel foolish for complaining and probably should better have spent my time counting my blessings...

 

[Velocity]

I re-read what I wrote today and just wanted to add that I wasn't attempting to take away from what you're going through or diminish it - it sounds like you're in a rough spot now, as well. I just brought that story up as a sort of reminder to all of us. We all take our health and our relationships (significant others, family, friends) for granted, up until we lose them or have them threatened. In truth, I think that those two things are the most important things that one could have in life. We all get caught up in the details of everything else and become frazzled by it, but try to remind yourself every now and then of what's important, and not to take everything else so seriously 🙂