As you will see to the left, I have added a Google ad to the site. I plan to run this for no longer than 2 months as a test. Once that period is over, I plan to test other ad formats to see what sort of results I can produce.

I have finally started addressing my health issues with a doctor. Some will argue that I have gone to the wrong place, but that's for me to work out.

I e-mailed my chiropractor a few weeks ago when my back was hurting really bad, and asked him if we should look into x-rays to check up on how the previous injury was doing. He agreed, so I went in for x-rays last Thursday.

While I was there, he commented on my weight gain. When I told him that I had gained 50lbs. over the course of the last year, he asked if I had a family history of Thyroid issues. I told him that I didn't know for certain, but Diabetes does exist back up Mom's side of the family tree. To maybe offer some more symptoms for him to develop an opinion of the condition, I informed him of the increase in my water consumption, and that I am perpetually tired. And in the e-mail I sent him previously, I explained that while my back was hurting I had a numbness and tingling in my lower legs. He suggested that the numbness could be related to Diabetes, and promptly scheduled me to meet with the other doctor in the office for bloodwork.

When I left the clinic Thursday, they handed me a stack of papers to fill out. These papers were for me to report my health conditions, health history, and family health history to the doctors. I filled them out Thursday evening and returned to the clinic on Friday. The doctor I met with reviewed this information with me, took two vials of my blood, and scheduled me for a return visit on Tuesday to go over the lab results.

I'm not too worked up over hearing about the results, but I am rather disturbed at the thought that I could be Diabetic. I have enough health issues as it is that I really don't care to add that label to my collection. That, and I shudder at the thought of Insulin injections. I am pretty certain too that my cholesterol levels will be rather "out of whack", so I'm already looking for diet solutions to correct that. If you have any suggestion for low-fat/low-cholesterol meals that I can prepare quickly and inexpensively, please let me know.

Regardless of what happens Tuesday, I shall attempt to post an update once I find out anything.

I woke up this morning at about 5:30 local time to the feeling of my bed shaking. I thought at first that it was like that feeling you get when you're "falling" in your sleep, but then I heard my closet doors rattling. I figured at that point that it was just the train yard, so I went back to bed.

When I woke up for the day a little bit ago, I had messages on my computer that I would have never expected. These ranged from "Did you feel the earthquake?", to "Here's a news report about the earthquake you had." The point when I realized this was what I felt was a bit surreal, and I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.

The 'quake was a 5.2 down in south-eastern Illinois, and people as far away as Chicago and Cincinnati reported feeling it. The USGS has some more detail about it, including seismic graphs.

The last earthquake in this area was back in 2000, and was no stronger than a 5.0. I would have been back in Rensselaer then, so I don't remember feeling it. I'm just wondering though, if this increased seismic activity will spur further events in the coming weeks or days.

I've come to the conclusion that "The Learning Channel" needs to be re-badged. Every time I've turned to the channel, I have been greeted by shows like "Flip That House", or "What Not To Wear". While these may be informative and educational programs, nearly all of the shows on this channel are design or fashion related.

I really think that the content of TLC needs to be diversified again, or the channel needs a new name.

People who drive SUVs and trucks just completely aggravate me to no end. Today, I got behind people in both types of vehicles who would dodge the slightest bump in the road, or drive really slowly over a bit of a rough patch, even though they are driving vehicles with enhanced suspension systems.

It's about that time again: The time where my back is in knots and I'm really in pain because of it.

Last night I happened to stumble across the website of a surgical clinic that handles this sort of injury. The procedure for this sort of injury seems pretty straight-forward, but it is unsettling.

It would require an incision in my chest, the deflation of a lung, screws and rods, re-inflation, some staples, painkillers, and a rigid brace for 4 months. All this to treat a fracture like the one in figure A1.

I imagine it'll be a bit different considering this is a 10-year-old injury, but who knows!

I may be throwing away my million dollar idea here, but I need to share it and get some feedback.

Having arthritis and limited motion in my hands, I've wondered if there would be any sort of external prosthetic assist that may help out. Then one day, I saw an article somewhere about a revolutionary helicopter design that used piezoelectric fibers to twist and bend the rotor blades. After pondering it for a little bit, I wondered if it would be able to make some sort of thin and lightweight gloves, using some sort of sensors and microcontrollers to determine what movements were attempted, then make use of specially placed highly flexible piezoelectric fibers to provide assist on the the appendage needing the assist.

Now, what if such a thing could be expanded to something less complicated? What about people who have trouble moving their leg, due to muscle and nerve damage? Could a non-surgical product be developed in the form of say, tight pants, to apply this concept to help that person walk again?

Apparently I unplugged Peru entirely.

Link

I replied and told them to get bent:

Christian, Thank you for your "canned response". I can assure you that this is not an issue with my local computer, as I am running with the following specifications: * AMD Athlon 64 x2 @ 2.21GHz * 2GB PC800 DDR2 * 464GB total disk space with 28GB free on the main OS disk Additionally, the ABC.com streaming web server is likely no slouch; I suspect they use a large cluster of servers, utilizing load balancing techniques. As I stated, this drop in performance only started after the Insight to Comcast switchover. Before I provide you with the results of a trace to the site with which I was having issues, I would like to provide you with the result of tracing to the www.comcastsupport.com host at the time these issues were occurring: > C:\Documents and Settings\Tim>tracert www.comcastsupport.com > > Tracing route to www.comcastsupport.com [66.179.151.44] > over a maximum of 30 hops: > > 1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms gandm.gandm [192.168.1.1] > 2 * * * Request timed out. > 3 8 ms 14 ms 13 ms 68.85.178.193 > 4 11 ms 8 ms 7 ms 68.85.176.237 > 5 21 ms 21 ms 20 ms po-10-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.229.110] > 6 36 ms 24 ms 26 ms te-3-1-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net [68.86.90.58] > 7 23 ms 23 ms 23 ms te-0-4-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.57] > 8 26 ms 4294967167 ms 23 ms xe-9-0-0.edge1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.71.248.33] > 9 25 ms 33 ms 25 ms ae-2-56.bbr2.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.68.101.161] > 10 101 ms 52 ms 53 ms so-3-0-0.mp2.Philadelphia1.Level3.net [64.159.0.142] > 11 55 ms 57 ms 58 ms so-11-0.hsa1.Philadelphia1.Level3.net [64.159.0.154] > 12 52 ms 52 ms 53 ms SUNGARD-NET.hsa1.Philadelphia1.Level3.net [63.209.178.190] > 13 115 ms 148 ms 125 ms phlpr10-ge-0-1-0-0.sgns.net [216.83.181.49] > 14 54 ms 61 ms 59 ms 64.238.199.194 > 15 53 ms 54 ms 53 ms phlir3-vl-1.sgns.net [216.183.102.11] > 16 71 ms 52 ms 57 ms 69.48.228.4 > 17 54 ms 54 ms 66 ms 66.179.151.44 > > Trace complete. More recent traces to this domain are showing much lower ping times, though they are still quite erratic. Next, please see the result of tracing to another host which I was experiencng issues with, ns-vip3.hitbox.com. This is a marketing analysis service, which I presume to have been in use by the Comcast website, as I was not browsing any other sites when this host showed in my established connections via the netstat command: > C:\Documents and Settings\Tim>tracert ns-vip3.hitbox.com > > Tracing route to ns-vip3.hitbox.com [64.154.81.197] > over a maximum of 30 hops: > > 1 <1 ms 149 ms 149 ms gandm.gandm [192.168.1.1] > 2 * * * Request timed out. > 3 7 ms 16 ms 158 ms 68.85.178.193 > 4 165 ms 158 ms 161 ms 68.85.176.237 > 5 235 ms * 175 ms ge-1-3-ar01.mishawaka.in.sbend.comcast.net [68.87.230.234] > 6 173 ms 190 ms 172 ms te-3-1-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net [68.86.90.58] > 7 173 ms 177 ms 177 ms te-0-4-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.57] > 8 241 ms 26 ms 23 ms xe-10-1-0.edge1.Chicago2.Level3.net [4.71.248.17] > 9 174 ms 42 ms 27 ms ae-1-51.bbr1.Chicago1.Level3.net [4.68.101.1] > 10 258 ms 241 ms 243 ms as-0-0.mp2.SanDiego1.Level3.net [4.68.128.149] > 11 249 ms 253 ms 241 ms so-8-0.hsa2.SanDiego1.Level3.net [4.68.112.138] > 12 241 ms 240 ms 243 ms unknown.Level3.net [209.247.68.210] > 13 109 ms 241 ms 241 ms ns-vip3.hitbox.com [64.154.81.197] > > Trace complete. Next I will provide you with the results of a trace to the host which ABC provides their content from. This result was gathered directly after the video had "skipped" playing: > C:\Documents and Settings\Tim>tracert ll.static.abc.go.com > > Tracing route to wdig.vo.llnwd.net [208.111.168.50] > over a maximum of 30 hops: > > 1 <1 ms <1 ms <1 ms gandm.gandm [192.168.1.1] > 2 * * * Request timed out. > 3 7 ms 4294967156 ms 8 ms 68.85.178.193 > 4 7 ms 9 ms 6 ms 68.85.176.237 > 5 22 ms 24 ms 4294967160 ms po-10-ar01.area4.il.chicago.comcast.net [68.87.229.110] > 6 29 ms 26 ms 49 ms te-3-1-ar01.chartford.ct.hartford.comcast.net [68.86.90.58] > 7 46 ms 4294967165 ms 4294967163 ms te-0-4-0-0-cr01.newyork.ny.ibone.comcast.net [68.86.90.57] > 8 27 ms 30 ms 25 ms TenGigabitEthernet2-2.ar5.CHI1.gblx.net [64.213.79.245] > 9 32 ms 34 ms 23 ms te4-2-10G.ar2.CHI2.gblx.net [67.17.106.134] > 10 33 ms 190 ms 25 ms 64.215.29.250 > 11 38 ms 37 ms 4294967165 ms cds439.ord.llnw.net [208.111.168.50] > > Trace complete. Given the traceroute results above, I don't see much sense in a ping, but I will allow you the result of pinging for 41 tries: > C:\Documents and Settings\Tim>ping -t ll.static.abc.go.com > > Pinging wdig.vo.llnwd.net [208.111.157.7] with 32 bytes of data: > > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=30ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=23ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=27ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=25ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=36ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=-130ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=185ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=105ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=84ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=85ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=235ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=41ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=-57ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=91ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=-117ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=184ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=184ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=75ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=52ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=71ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=44ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=183ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=189ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=24ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=195ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=187ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=34ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=26ms TTL=55 > Reply from 208.111.157.7: bytes=32 time=28ms TTL=55 > > Ping statistics for 208.111.157.7: > Packets: Sent = 41, Received = 41, Lost = 0 (0% loss), > Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds: > Minimum = 23ms, Maximum = -57ms, Average = 62ms > Control-C > ^C Obviously there is some oddity here, as there are negative ping times. My only guess is that the Comcast hosts that reported the abnormally high pings in the traceroute are causing these same results. Please spend some more time looking into this issue, rather than sending me the standard "we are 95% sure this isn't our problem, so we'll have you check everything else" canned responses. The diagnostic results above clearly indicate there is a much different issue at play. If you need to escalate this to a higher level technician, then please do so. Thank you, -Tim Garrison

sigh

I got a reply, but it's the usual "no our problem" BS.

Dear Tim, Thank you for your message concerning the Comcast High-Speed Internet service. I understand that it can be frustrating when your Comcast High-Speed Internet service does not seem to be operating to standard. There are a number of possible causes for the sudden drop in download times and Web page access rates, including*: 1. Lack of memory, such as insufficient RAM, or low available hard drive (disk) space 2. Size of the host server 3. Full tracking files on the hard drive LACK OF MEMORY One cause of perceived slow speeds is lack of memory, such as insufficient RAM, or low available hard drive (disk) space. If you are running other programs in the background when connected to Comcast and the Internet, they may be taking up additional resources needed for sufficient speeds. If you have more than one browser installed, or are running more than one browser, this can also take up additional memory. Our suggestion is to close some of these programs and then proceed. SIZE OF THE HOST SERVER The capacity of individual host servers across the Internet will impact your ability to transfer data. Larger servers with higher processing speeds will provide faster downloads. Once you leave the Comcast network, you will be limited by the capacity of the server that manages the information you are requesting. CHECKING THE TRACKING FILES (Cache and History) While browsing the Internet, your computer uses cache and history files to store specific information about a Web page on your hard drive. These files enable the browser to find the same pages more quickly when you access them later. The cache file stores page information for quick retrieval; a cached page is accessed more easily than the original page; frequent updates by the browser ensure you are getting the most recent version. The history file stores a running list of the sites you have visited in a given time period. Please remember each time you access a new page, new information is added to your hard drive that uses valuable space. Therefore, the cache and history files should be cleared on a regular basis--daily, if you visit a number of pages. Allowing information to accumulate in these files will slow your download speed. If you are not sure how to clear your cache, history, and cookies, I have included the link to our help site that contains the instructions with helpful, easy-to-understand illustrations. Please click on this link to view the detailed instructions clearing your cache and cookies with graphical illustrations: http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.jsp?name=17896&cat=Browser&subcategory=Internet%20Explorer&CM.src=esupm To improve the overall performance of your computer, I would suggest you follow the link I provided below. There are a few different things you can check, and test on your computer. http://faq.comcast.net/faq/answer.jsp?name=18159&cat=Computer%20Setup&subcategory=1&CM.src=esupm If after your Internet Explorer has been reset, cache, history, and cookies cleared, and you have checked all the items located on the previous page, please send us an e-mail or chat message to a customer care specialist for further troubleshooting. To make this session as quick as possible for you, I suggest you have the answers to as many of the questions listed below as possible: 1. Have the slow speeds occurred before? 2. Have you been to these sites before? 3. What other services, if any, have you attempted to access, such as FTP, E-mail, Chat, or other? 4. Does this problem affect your mail or newsgroups? 5. Do the slow speeds occur on a daily basis? If so, have you noticed a pattern to this, such as, does it happen at the same time of day, and if so, at what time? 6. What days and times has this problem occurred otherwise? 7. What are the transfer rates you have seen in general? 8. Has this affected only one site, or multiple sites? If it is multiple sites, what are the names or URL's of these sites? 9. Do you have any ping results or trace routes to the sites that are slow on a regular basis? To eliminate any additional hardware, it will also be best if you disconnect any networking equipment you have, and ensure your computer is connected directly to your cable modem. After you have completed that, you will want to End Task on all programs you have open. In Windows that would include what is in the system tray next to the clock on the Start Bar. In the Macintosh Operating System, you would want to close all open windows under the Windows selection on the file bar. After you only have the Operating System running then you'll want to run a few tests. If you are having issues accessing one site, please ping and trace to that site. Also run a ping to your default gateway. This will give us an indication of where the problem is occurring. You can reply with the results of these tests or you can chat with one of our Online Customer Support Specialists 24 hour a day, 7 days a week at http://www.comcastsupport.com/chat If you need instruction on how to run any of these tests, please let us know and we will send those instructions to you. *Please note: In addition to the above mentioned items, the connection you choose (Ethernet/NIC vs. USB) can also have an effect on your Internet connection speeds. Ethernet is the preferred connection for prime Comcast High-Speed Internet connection speeds. Connecting via a USB cable may limit your broadband connection speeds. To assure the proper tracking of this issue, we have created the following customer service ticket: 119193982 Please refer to this number should you contact us regarding this same issue. Thank you for choosing Comcast. We value your business. Sincerely, Christian Comcast Customer Care Specialist ******************************** The response contained in this message is intended for the addressee only and may vary from other responses depending on geography, promotional campaigns or other factors. If you are not the intended recipient of this response, please delete this message. Any unauthorized use or dissemination of the information contained in this message is prohibited. Original Message Follows: ------------------------- The following information was submitted from the Comcast Web site: Name: Tim Garrison Problem: Connection/Speed Address: ********************** City: Lafayette State: IN Zip: 47904 Home Phone: ********** Email: ********@skudd.com Re: Web Form Submission: Connection/Speed Browser: Default OS: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9b4) Gecko/2008030714 Firefox/3.0b4 - Comments: I have been trying to watch an episode of "Lost" on the ABC.com website, a legitimate video stream, and I can''t seem to maintain a solid video stream. I have traced this back to what appears to be a "cap" on my per-HTTP connections. The stream has a throughput report, which is showing approximately 260Kbps. This was never an issue before the Insight to Comcast migration, as I could easily maintain a 1.5Mbps stream and watch the video in HD with no latency issues. I have run several traceroutes, which indicate the issue to be within the first 5 "hops" of my connection, which implies a Comcast issue to me. I have reset my modem and router, and rebooted my computer, but the issue persists. If you would like to see the traceroute results, I would be more than happy to provide them. I''m just rather upset that I cannot make use of the 10Mbps connection I am paying for. IPAddress: ***.***.***.***

I am writing this entry with the hope that one of Comcast's lawyers will find it.

I just got home from work, with the intention of watching last night's episode of "Lost" on the ABC website. They offer an HD stream of the show, and it has worked perfectly for me in the past. This all changed when Comcast took over the Insight network in this area.

Last week, when I attempted to watch the show, I found that I could not view it in the full HD stream. Rather, my connection was being limited to 256Kbps, so I watched the show in very poor quality. I didn't think much of it, as I figured it was just going to be a single instance of issue: I was wrong.

Tonight, I am barely breaking the 256Kbps mark with the streaming player and the connection keeps getting reset, resulting in very choppy video. I ran a traceroute on a couple different domains, and found that about 4 hops outside of my local connection, the trace times out or has a very high ping. I attempted to visit Comcast's support site to submit my traceroute results, but I couldn't even get to their support site! When I tried to traceroute to their support domain, it timed out several places along the connection.

Frustrated, I eliminated my router from my network configuration, and attempted to resume my video watching: Still a 256Kbps limit. More traceroutes showed the same result, and showed that it was an issue with Comcast.

I still can't reach the Comcast support portal, and I'm rather pissed. I really wish they would get their act together and return the local service to the quality it formerly was. I really think the Insight/Comcast merger was a bad idea, and it has left so many people - including myself - disgruntled with their internet provider.

Update I: I was finally able to submit a ticket. Now let's see how long it takes them to respond.

Do you ever get the feeling that someone has completely forgotten you exist? I have had that feeling for about the last 2 months, and it's driving me insane. I mean, what does it take to even send off a quick reply to an e-mail - something as simple as, "Hi Tim! I'm good, but I have been really busy. I wish I could write more right now, but I have to get to work. Take care!"

It really makes me sad that people don't seem to care anymore. I'm really beginning to lose faith in human kind.

Attention Everyone:

Dennis just lost the game.

That is all.

I have lived in this apartment for almost exactly one year. During this time, I have had little to no problems with the other tenents. However, since the start of 2008, this building has been driving me insane.

It started with the neighbor downstairs. I'm not sure what the situation is with her husband, but he is only ever around once in a great while. It makes me think that he is incarcerated but on the work release program, and is allowed to go home once in a while.

At any rate, he was home one Sunday evening, and decided that he was going to play some loud music in the garage. It just so happened that my bedroom was over the west half of the garage, and I was trying to sleep since I had to be to work at 8:00AM the next morning. I ended up burying my head in the pillows enough that I didn't have to hear the noise from downstairs, and I fell asleep.

Not too long after that, the couple who lived in the apartment directly next door, my current apartment, started having marital issues. My guess was that they worked the night shift somewhere, and lived their "daytime" late at night. Well, they decided that even though it was 2:00AM, they would fight about the stupidest things, and would do so with a very raised voice and lots of profanity. It was bad enough one night (that I was staying up late anyhow), I had my music turned up somewhat loud and could still hear them. Luckily they moved out, and I haven't had any problems with them since.

More recently, the older gentleman across the hall at the other end of the building was having problems with his daughter. They came home one afternoon when I was working from home, and were yelling and cussing at each other from the moment they entered the building. A little while after they both went into their apartment, someone left and slammed the door so hard that the dishes in my kitchen cabinets rattled.

Yesterday when I was cleaning my kitchen, my doorbell rang. I dried my hands and went to see who it was, when I found nobody but two young males sitting in their grandparents' car with a nervous look on each of their faces. I looked around and found nobody else, and asked if they rang my doorbell. When they said no, I asked if they saw anyone else. After they told me that they were the only ones out there, I came back up and went back to my cleaning. After a few minutes had lapsed, the doorbell rang again. I went to see who it was and found nobody but the kids outside. It continued for about 15 minutes, then stopped for a while. When it rang again, I went downstairs to see if someone was indeed outside. When I got down there though, I saw the grandmother walking from her car to the apartment. I informed her that the kids were playing with the doorbell and I was getting annoyed by it, and she said she would take care of it. Not 5 minutes later, it rang again. I ended up just unplugging the indoor unit of the doorbell, and all has been well since.

Just a little bit ago, someone was in the hallway yelling. I couldn't tell who it was, but it was shortly followed by slamming doors and more yelling. My hope is that it doesn't continue tonight since I have to work in the (late) morning.

I'm just getting really frustrated with the inconsiderateness of other people. Why can't they respect the quiet people and live by their lease? When I go to pay my rent this week, I will say something about the doorbell and the slamming of doors. I'm not expecting much to be done about it though.

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People have always said that if I weren't meant to be single, I would already have a partner. Others have said that I just need to be patient and wait it out. I am beginning to think that I may be at fault for my singleness. How, I just don't know, but I am getting very tired of it.

I went to Wal-Mart today, and it just made me sick seeing all the happy couples. Not sick in the sense that I wanted to vomit, but sick in the sense that I just wasn't happy. I guess it could be identified as envy or jealousy.

I just don't like this "hole" in my life though. I have plenty of good friends, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. They just don't always fit where they're needed though. I'm sure they would all say that they'll gladly listen to anything I ever have to say when I vent, or that they'll be there if I needed to show my emotions. This just doesn't work 100% of the time though. What happens when they get married or start in a relationship of their own? I'm left right in the same place I am with a few of my friends.

As much as it seems otherwise, I am not a social person. I don't like talking to people I don't know, and I haven't the slightest clue on where to start a conversation. Furthermore, I'm not a fan of being in a large group setting. I would much rather just be in a small group of close friends, and take part in a conversation someone else started.

I guess I'm just stuck in a rut. BLAH.

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