The Lounge

Off-Topic Chat
9035

That’s interesting. I think learning two extra languages in the UK is pretty common.

My high school was a language college, so we had the option to take more. I did, German, French (as main ones) and Spanish, Italian and Japanese as secondary languages.

I don’t speak them fluently anymore, but have taught my little boy the basics, hello, thank you and goodbye in all five, along with numbers.

A funny story for you; His primary school teacher pulled me and said he keeps singing a song and we don’t understand him. He was counting to 10 in Japanese bless him :face_with_hand_over_mouth::rofl:

4 Likes
9036

Wish someone would have taught me Japanese!

I worked in the states for a Japanese owned auto plant and the president was ALWAYS a Japanese man who came over for either 2 or 3 years and then left and they sent another one over.

That man would always bring 2 or 3 men with him who reported to him. My boss was one of those men I was there. My boss knew ZERO English as in none, couldn’t say hello even.

That was OK, I knew ZERO Japanese either.

But it was hard as hell to communicate with my boss!

A young Japanese man worked for me, born and raised over there, went to college over there but he’d lived in the U.S. for like 6 years and he married an American lady.

He served as our translator. He was fortunate in that he knew EVERYTHING about the dept because he had to be with my boss and me whenever we talked about anything.

He was a good kid though. He went along with me on my 10 business trip to Japan and it was sure nice having a translator over there as so few knew English over there, unlike pretty much everyone in the Netherlands knowing English.

I think it’s great you’ve taught your son some other languages, even a small amount. Who knows, it may stick with him and interest him to learn other languages in the coming years and if so, that would be wonderful for him.

Your time with him is precious of course, I’m sure you know that.

My oldest turns 30 this year… which is a neat trick since he was like 5 last month!

1 Like
9037

Keep hydrated Mrs @Wurger its going to be a hot one today. The lunch time prowl should be good today lots of lunch boxes on show and lots of mini skirts I suspect. Your sounding very sexy in the white underwear today. You will be ready to be naked when you get home tonight if the weather holds.

1 Like
9038

I know we can’t discuss things before a certain age, but I am referring to medical issues only.

To clarify : my parents brought up the fact I would likely need an operation as the very long foreskin would be problematic in later life, but said that would be my choice.

I had no anguish or concerns at this time and it didn’t affect me. Until mid-20s there wasn’t any issues though, only had minor tightness and difficulties up to about say 40ish when retraction became very difficult., but as said before, I assumed it was normal aging and nothing could be done.

  1. the realisation dawned on me when my friend and I compared (both over 50 lol) that I’d had a faulty penis way before the insect bite, and that’s when the retrospective sadness began.

  2. the initial hospital consultation in Dec 2024 was when it all made sense and was reminded by some of the surgeon’s questions) what my parents said four decades ago. He agreed they were correct.

So it’s only now, over a year post op that I’m getting more melancholy over it due to lost time and pleasure. We don’t have therapists here like in the USA, so have to deal with it myself.

If I’d had a stronger character in the peak years and had more sexual encounters rather than hiding at home, then maybe someone would have said something earlier.

1 Like
9039

Mrs W here …

Not long back from the Prowl @steve19 and yes you are right, plenty of lunchboxes, minis and boobs for all of us to ogle … it is hot, but not unbearable during the Prowl, and yes we are keeping our hydration levels up … quite honestly I am ready to be naked now, let alone when I get home… difference here in the office is most people would just stare, but when I am home, Pen is like a coiled spring, ready to pounce, just like Kato in The Pink Panther series… enjoy the rest of your day everybody and you @steve19 love xxxx

4 Likes
9040

Sir, I relate to this completely, though for different reasons and at a younger period in my life.

Like when you said we can’t talk things before a certain age but you referred to a medical issue only, that applied to me too as I injured my perineum area about 2 weeks before turning 10 when taking a jump on a big dirt hill on my 70’s bike, meaning it wasn’t a BMX bike. The front tire kinda folded in two upon landing, gravity won out of course as I was still up in the air coming down when the front tire collapsed so my perineum area hit the cross bar hard and caused an internal injury for me. My mom was mean, abusive and this was the 70’s. I avoided her back then. I never received a birds and the bees talk from her ever but I was told that bodies change in puberty etc. So when I began going through major changes I just thought it was due to normal aging, as in developing in puberty, and that nothing could be done. But changes were happening to me due to my medical condition and injury to my perineum area as it caused a fistula in an artery down there. Due to that, it was left untreated. There is much more to this but I will say that seeing doctors after my divorce I was informed that many fistulas, about half, are able to heal and close on their own. My doctors then, when I was 39 and 40 told me after discussions about my symptoms and body changes with them from my childhood injury that my fistula likely closed after a while on its own. However, by that time, real permanent changes had taken place for me due to the injury while also being in puberty then as the injury occurred during puberty for me and that played into changes for me coupled with my perineum injury.

I understand and I really am sorry about that for you. And I continue to learn more about Europe from this forum. I didn’t realize that there weren’t therapists like over here in the U.S.

All of us hear that time heals and to a certain extent that’s true. I may not speak for others, but as for me, it only heals to a certain extent for some things. I still grapple with things from decades ago even though I have healed. For some things, scars remain forever even after healing. I’m not just talking about physical scars now mind you, but mental ones.

One last tidbit is that for me, even when thinking about your issues, your timeline, I always try to step back and think of it from a 30,000 foot viewpoint. As I’ve said before, life doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Things are connected and interrelated and I went down many a rabbit hole concerning such things in my years in therapy.

Yes, your specific details matter, a lot but I always try to think about what all a person went through and while they may say that ABC and XYZ happened to them and it did, that doesn’t begin to cover everything that happened to them. Add it all up, if a person was teased, if they “missed” out on things they may not get back that is still a part of what happened to them even though it wasn’t the injury itself or an accident, a bug bite or think of another being in a car accident. It’s a domino effect.

It isn’t just the injury and the symptoms. It’s how folks are mentally with it then as well as later on too. Things like this have a way of affecting a person years and decades later too. I mean you said that now you’re getting more melancholy over it due to lost time and pleasure though this all stemmed from things decades before. Leaving out the actual issues now, it’s this larger point that always gets me, for my sake and for others like you.

1 Like
9041

One last point. We could take 10 of us who all had different issues, injuries of some kind that were wildly different. But we’re still all human and depending upon what those injuries were, we all would have mental anguish we went through, periods of worry, when we were anxious etc.

THAT is my larger point from before. We don’t have to have the same injuries and incidents to be human, to experience similar emotions, worries, fears, anxieties etc.

Those are universal things people experience and we are all tied together that way even though our specific injuries and such were different.

For me, those things mean more to me than the specific injuries etc. Life doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It continues on. Other things happen too around those times, like teasing for some of us as well as other things.

So for me, when talking about an issue, I could be clinical and say ABC and 123 but that leaves out a whole hell of a lot as sometimes, depending upon what the injuries or things were, a boatload of other things come along with it, due to it, and many do so for years and years.

1 Like
9042

We do have therapists here (although they’re more often called counsellors and psychotherapists). Here’s a link that goes through the different places that therapy can be accessed through:

:heart:

4 Likes
9043

Thank you Brenna. I’ve never been aware of such services before, very interesting.

I did know you can see the doctor if you feel really depressed and often you are prescribed tablets, my friend’s Dad had Prozac years ago.

As you can tell, I don’t really access healthcare services.

1 Like
9044

Thank you for your kind words and thoughts Jeffrey, it means a lot that you respond in such a nice manner.

I hope your injury is fixed now, no idea what it is (probably could google it) but sorry you had issues. All from falling off your bike, but it could have been far worse.

1 Like
9045

You’re welcome.

I’ve contemplated writing about it some on here. Not sure if I will yet. I know not many others are aware of it really as it’s rare and folks simply don’t know what transpires with this and that’s OK. None of us knows everything, I sure don’t.

And we all view things through our own lens and from our own perspectives too and again, that’s normal.

Even with all I’ve been through and continue going through right up to the present, I really do keep the latter part of your statement above in mind.

I could have been paralyzed. I really do try to look for the positives in things.

As bad as it’s been, yes, it could have been worse.

Maybe I’ll get to the point where I try to put down some internet ink about it. Not sure many would read it, but sometimes it’s just good to get things out. It’s certainly not things I discuss in real life with friends and acquaintances.

1 Like
9046

Hi

1 Like
Hey everyone
9047

Hey how do I upload pictures?

1 Like
9048

I can’t see replies either

1 Like
9049

This explains it more @Dan1234456 but you need to be trust level 2 or above to upload photos into Your Photos :blush:

1 Like
9050

Ahhhh thank you very much

2 Likes
9051

Can I not write a post either?

1 Like
9052

Yes, you should be able to :slightly_smiling_face: On the bottom right of the homepage, it’s the little pencil.

You should get a drop down menu, which allows you to pick which category, for example an introduce yourself etc @Dan1234456

1 Like
9053

Omg thank you again lol

2 Likes
9054

Hehe, I appreciate the laugh @WillC, I’ll take one if you don’t mind, especially when having spaghetti bolognese :sweat_smile::rofl:

1 Like