Hi Nicki,
I keep up with the message boards by clicking on "my profile" and then "my message board posts." It seems like it tells me if someone posts something to a message board that I'm on or if one of my "friends" posts on a message board, any message board. You're in my "circle" of friends, so, it should have been telling me if you were writing anything anywhere, but, maybe the system doesn't work the way I think it does? I have mostly been posting on a message board for 20-somethings. I started on an "August alli starters" thread, and, I made friends with Mel there, who also started in August. She was more active in one of the threads on the 20-somethings board, and, through her I met Amelia. So, now Mel and Amelia and I write back and forth several times each week in that one thread which I think is called something like 25/f in need of peer support. Amelia is in her 20s. Mel is 29, I think. I'm old enough to be their teenage mother, but, we really do share such a similar experience with the struggle to lose weight. Another thread I post to regularly now is this one. There is another one about how do you stay motivated that I posted to and a few others, but, the two I post on most regularly are this one and the 25/f in need of peer support.
Working for the court can be a very stable job with good benefits although lately here in South Florida they've really been making a mess of things. I really don't understand what's going on because there are so many foreclosures, and, they raised the filing fee for foreclosures to several thousand dollars each, so, there should be rivers of court fee money funding all kinds of positions, but, instead, the clerk's office has issued a state of emergency and said they cannot do everything they are supposed to do, so, they are asking for stuff to be prioritized, and, they will only do the most important stuff. It's really strange. A few years ago, each county funded its own courts. So, the "richer" counties like in South Florida had amazing programs. Then they changed the law and made the State fund the courts, so, the "richer" counties provided more in fees, but, they received less than they used to. It wasn't too big of an adjustment, though. Then the foreclosures starting pouring in, and, the Clerk's Office was the richest employer, giving raises, hiring more people, etc. But, then they just recently passed another law that the Clerk's Office couldn't keep all the fee income. So, now the Clerk's Office is saying they are cutting people's hours, putting people on mandatory leave, etc. And, again, that's even with the recent change in the filing fees for foreclosures, raising those fees sometimes 10 times as much as what they used to be. Unbelievable. I do family law, though, and, they have only raised those filing fees a very little bit. Anyway, I don't know if Clerk's Offices everywhere are seeing tough times like this.
I also end up appreciating my life more after hearing so many horribly sad stories in my office consults. Because I'm a family law attorney, I end up especially appreciating my husband.
Nicki, I don't think I've heard from sugarpuddy in a while. Her profile page says she last logged in on 9-27-09, though. I clicked on her "History," and, it shows that her last posts were to the What Am I Doing Wrong thread in the What Is Alli forum. It also shows that she earned her 20 pounds lost badge.
:-)
Olga
5'4.5"
CW: 197.8
SW: 225.5 (7-30-09), SIZE 18
aSW: 224 (8-7-09)
GW1: 213 (9-14-09)
GW2: 203.5 (10-24-09), SIZE 16
GW3: 183
