Had a really weird encounter with a co-worker today. Apparently whatsisname is a particular stripe of claustrophobic. He can't go into an elevator with too many people on it. Not a full elevator, that might disturb you or me, but with more than two or three other people. He was pacing the lobby and freaking out for fifteen minutes, apparently, because all the elevators that showed up either had people in them, or other people came and got in after he did. Which meant he got out.

He had to ask us to stop people from going in after him, and he was on the edge of panic.

I'd never seen him before. Apparently he works in a closet that's been converted into an office because of his phobias. I thought that would trigger claustrophobia, but it seems that if he's alone, he's okay in small spaces.

I can't even imagine. He was so distraught.

Oh dear, poor guy.

And since I'm about to leave on vacation, my house decides to go "thpppbbbt!" to me. Came home flipped the switch in the kitchen and it came on for second, then nothing. Flipped it back and forth and the light would come on if I wiggled the switch, but wouldn't stay on. It's an older switch, but I figured that if I got a new switch, I could just swap them out. Un-unh. After a quick trip to Walmart (it's a 7 minute walk from my house...and apparently the 11th circle of hell on a Friday night shortly before Xmas. ) I took off the switch plate and there's the older switch...in a ceramic casing...with the wires attached to casing.

Sigh. This is beyond my v. limited "black wire to black, white wire to white" knowledge. I think I need an electrician. Did I mention that I am leaving town on Monday? I'm sure they won't cost an arm and leg on the weekend...

and he was on the edge of panic.

Oh, the poor guy. I mean, you can't really control fear like that.

Ugh, Sue. Possibly a really dumb question but can you leave the switch off and deal with it when you return?

Mom informed me that "my house" (which is her house but I'm an only child and so when there's something that requires work and money it's my house) has a water leak. She's waiting for the emergency guy now because once they actually found where the leak was, the leak got worse and her water is off. She doesn't do guilt often but she's good when she does.

Comcast just talked me into not canceling my cable. Dropping my bill by $55. "And we'll give you your Sports Entertainment Package for free for six months!" It's the off-season for racing right now!!!! I swear there is a note on my file that if you can just keep hold of me until Daytona, I'm your sucker for the rest of the year. And a really nice guy on the phone too. Apparently I can be wooed by customer service and savings. It's a radical concept, I know.

OMG, I followed a link from Jezebel to here, and found this paragraph:

FYI – it is not currently in vogue to call so-called dreadlocks by that term anymore. They are now referred to as “Locks.” The “why” should be obvious. I am not the originator of the change in terms, but being a believer in the Whorf Hypothesis, I do abide.

Fuck off! You know why they're called dreadlocks? Because dreads wear them. And that's fucking self-identification. Dollars to doughnuts no one took a poll of Rastas before they decided to clean up the language. That's so fucking annoying. Well meaning appropriation drives me batshit. They really think they're espousing more black consciousness than the Rastaman? Seriously?

Then again, this is a post written by a white woman who wants to rename the Afro Halo. No, that's not condescending. Not at all. You go ahead and define a historically oppressed group, especially a symbol of their resistance. No risk of raising hackles there, nosirree.

Ugh, Sue. Possibly a really dumb question but can you leave the switch off and deal with it when you return?

If it wasn't in the kitchen, yes. But with a catsitter coming in while I'm gone, she'll need to see better than the one dim light that's in there now.

So the Eureka Xmas special is on. I don't think we've had the latest season of Eureka yet. Will I be completely confused?

Sue, no -- evidently the creators went with making the episode out of continuity so that it would be "timeless".

My mild claustrophobia is triggered by people crowding me and not necessarily small spaces. I don't panic, though. I'm just intensely uncomfortable. Tunnels don't thrill me either. I always feel like I can breathe easier when I get out of a tunnel, which doesn't make a lot of sense when I'm in a car or train, but there it is.

A good friend has a similar elevator claustrophobia. She can ride with 2-3 people in an average box, but she tells everyone not to touch her, stand close or between her and the door. She goes sorta catatonic, but apparently the few times people have violated her rules, she flips the fuck out into fight or flight. People have been clocked. And it wasn't over once she got out those times; she had something resembling seizures and passed out.

She simply cannot do closet sized elevators in older buildings. She's used the fire escape on occasion.

Everyone who has ever dined with her knows to let her pick her seat first, and if she asked to switch, do without question. You could see her lizardbrain sapping her reason right in front of you if she felt closed in.

When she was in labor with her first, her doctor finally had to put a sign on the door to ask people to not stand in the doorway. Room wasn't particularly small, but somehow someone in the doorway triggered her and her and baby's heart rates would start going all crazy and she'd get non-cooperative and non-responsive. (Dr knew about her issues and took them seriously. She'd witnessed an event in a teeny exam room.)

Sue, no -- evidently the creators went with making the episode out of continuity so that it would be "timeless".

Cool.