:: pokes thread :: Where did everyone go? Imblisivle friends on screen not talking. That means I have to work. This make the baby Jesus cry and cry and cry!

I got my state tax refund today. I only sent them in a couple of weeks ago. I guess all the sullen tax protesters of Utah wait till the last minutes to send theirs in.

I wonder how many times I am going to have to tell my stepdad that he has to turn his camera on to upload pictures to his computer?

(((Perkins))) my thoughts are with you, I know what a hard decision it is.

I'm kinda stressed and I need to vent. I'm tagging along with Dad to go see my nephew this weekend. We were scheduled to leave Friday, come back Sunday. We aren't just going for fun, my bro and SIL are shooting a rehessal dinner Friday evening and we need to be in Charleston by no later than 4:00.

I suggested, why not leave Thursday and drive up (or part way ) after I get off work and it will be less rushed. But he wasn't keen on that.

Then I started reading the reports of road clousres that will probably happen because of all the massive flooding.

Going to Charleston from Tallahassee requires us to go through areas with flooding. Dad didn't seem to worried about any of this and told me "well there are no road closures between here and there." and there weren't but there may be.

Now there are reports that I-10 and US 90 will probably be closing in areas as early as tomorrow (thursday) due to flooding and there will be rerouting. I haven't talked to him today but I need to and try and convince him to leave tomorrow. Because he wants to leave at 7:00 which would put us there at 2 pm. But only leaves us a couple hours of lee way if there are delays (which seem apparent).

Dad can be so...difficult sometimes and is notorious for being late. Which is why I'm all anxious about this.

askye, can you put it as a situation where you know you're being over-anxious, but with the flooding and threatened closures and you want to make sure you're there in time? Put it as asking him to humor YOU, rather than making it about his tendancy to be late?

Yeah. "I'm sure you're right and it'll be fine but I can tell it's going to stress me out and I don't want to be a basketcase when we get there."

I talked to him and didn't explicitly said that. But I did say that if we go early and there are no closures then we jsut spend more time up there and it's no big deal. But he thinks that all these warnings of flooding and closures are just emergency management people covering their asses and stirring up things and there's no reason to be concerned. (only more long winded).

It's just he has a history of underestimating situations, especially when I'm travelling iwth him. I've been on a boating.camping trip where we ran out of gas (and then the next day he took me fishing and we ran out of gas), I've been with him as he's speeding around NC hills trying to make some appointment because we are late, I've been with him (and my brother) on a camping trip where we had to ptich a tent in the dark because it was so late by the time we found a camping space (he underestimate how full things were going to be), been in a metal john boat racing in rain and lightning because he underestimated how fast a storm was coming up.

And, oh yea, the first time I went to Charleston we were on a dark road in the low country with no flashlight and no idea where the closest gas station and about to trun out of gas becuase he didn't think we needed to get gas ta the last stop. And we had no cell service.

So I'm not exactly unjustified in my worries of being late or delayed.

I can't figure out a way to say, given the history of things happening, I'd rather play it safe than take a chance without it becoming all accustorary and emotional.

Don't bring up history, don't say anything about HIM. Make it "I'm a nervous nelly and I don't want to be worrying all the way up, so please humor your silly daughter and leave early."

Toddsons's right. Don't bring up the past, just emphasise how much you really want to get there.