Nataly

Meh... Some people would have you think *everything* causes cancer... And anyway, even if they're right, you should care less if this is true, because if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen!! I'm not giving up oral. Sorry, but there is NO WAY. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Dunno if it had any stomach pain, but I reckon it probably had a sore bum for about a week!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I can never remember who told me the story, but their mom walked in on their dog eating a chocolate cake that was cooling on the kitchen counter... Instead of stopping when it got caught it just looked at her and then started woofing it down as fast as it could!! Guess it reckoned as long as it was in trouble, it may as well make the most of it!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I *just* sat down to start my supper and thought "hmm.. would really love a beer with this"... Got up to fetch one in the kitchen and came back 10 seconds later to an empty plate of food!!! Lucky mutt!! That was the last of my x-mas cipaille "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Dude.. Why did you feel the need to ruin my already-bad joke with a serious answer??! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Soooooo funny!!! Not sure it will stand the test of time (hee hee!)... Then again, it won't be too hard to make a new one when it inevitably falls apart! Like Rem said: chav-tastic!!!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I don't care what they think. Was just trying to figure out why I'm getting laid so much ... Well, Shah is kind of right when he says you should be more concerned about how you feel about yourself than what others think... I can't, however, fault the logic that figuring out what is getting you laid may get you laid more, so I think we have *two* good arguments here!!! Perhaps the answer is you feel good about your new look and are projecting a more confident image to women as a result? Did you also bathe after your haircut?!! Maybe it was the clean look/smell that made the difference "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Thanks for saying I look 25!!!!

Some do, some don't like short hair. Some like short hair on some, but not all men. We women are a large and very diverse group of people... Trying to lump all of us into one category is kind of ridiculous!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Just got off the phone with a friend who was telling me about the joys of shared parenting after a split. Holy crap!!! Much as I hate to admit it, I recognised a lot of the childish/retarded behaviour he described when my ex and I split... I can only imagine how much more emotionally charged things would have been (and still would be!) if kids were thrown into the picture... All I can say is I've got a *tremendous* amount of respect for divorcés who raise healthy, balanced kids - it must be bloody hard work... Edit: spelling "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Dude that looks like Lucky. But it has no effect on me. I am impervious to that look. I invented that look!!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Exactly! It's the last thing your flat-mate will expect! Ok, ok.. It *is* funny when you put it that way!! Hopefully this whole situation will be very funny some day. I'm sure as hell not laughing yet... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I don't like dogs, so I should leave this flat (which I do like) and take him with me. *Genius.* "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

No... The *owner* should bathe Lucky. And this owner should not be my flatmate - not just because of me, but also because this place is not suitable for a dog and my flatmate doesn't have the time or inclination to take care of a dog. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yeah, that was me and it took me a couple of hours to progressively get him to understand. I took him out for a second time and had to pretty much start over, but overall he learns pretty fast and I'm sure he would be ok if he had someone do this with him consistently over the next couple of weeks. I'm not doing it, though... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I have had flatmates over a period of about 10 years in total, with 2 years living on my own... In some respects, I like living on my own, but I also like the company of others... I've only ever had problems with one person, which I had mentioned here, and to be fair, everyone in that house ended up moving out because of her... Until the dog, I had no issues with this guy. Because I've flat-shared with lots of different kinds of people (like when I was in the military), I am respectful of others, their stuff, their space, et cetera. I think I'm pretty easy to live with, actually. This guy has never lived with anyone, and either it never occurred to him about the dog, or he expected me to look after it - either way, it shows a distinct lack of consideration/understanding of others. Like I said, though, this seems blatantly obvious to me, but since he has 30+ years of doing whatever he wants without having to think about someone else, it's perhaps not so surprising that he just got a dog on a whim without thinking about it. What is surprising is that according to him, he has owned dogs all his life and so I think he should know that leaving a young lab alone in a small apartment for 10 hours a day is sad. Very, very sad. (Edit: spelling) "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Deleted because I somehow posted this twice! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

He says the opportunity to get Lucky just happened to present itself and he didn't really think it through (no shit). But he also says he has owned dogs all his life, which I find surprising because the dog doesn't seem to listen to him at all, and apart from when I wasn't paying attention (I was on the phone) I haven't even needed to raise my voice to get him to stop, sit, not come into my room... So he is clever, but like you said, he's young and will entertain himself if no one plays with him. Plus a walk really isn't enough. Even I need to go for a run most days!! I threw a ball around with him until he was quite tired, so he's sleeping now. But I can't play with him all day every day. Poor little thing... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Nope - happily everything I own is in my room and that is off-limits due to my allergies. I had to vacuum to clean up the mess, though... I sure hope it's not gonna be sick - I can't believe it was actually *eating* the place-mat... "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

That's the point. He knows that he can basically force you to take care of his pet because any normal human being is going to want to help a dog that needs help. Welcome to your new life because unless you're willing to make the other choice (ignore the dog and let your roommate deal with the consequences when he gets home), you're now a co-caretaker of the dog. I thought I could leave it alone for a bit and carry on watching my movie... Then I suddenly thought it was a little *too* quiet... He destroyed/ate a place-mat and a pair of Prada sunglasses... Unbelievable. I'm not at all upset with the dog - it's a dog and needs a lot of attention. I'm really pissed off. Obviously the flatmate thought I would look after the dog. What a douche-bag. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I think you're right... I can't just let the poor mutt suffer... He is clever but quite naughty... So far he has already discovered how to drink from the toilet, he has used my flatmate's sneakers, clothespins and tooth-brush as chew-toys, and god knows what else when I wasn't looking... I'm not telling the flatmate about the toothbrush, either. "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

We melt. I don't think that was right for your flatmate to get a dog without discussing it with you. It's his place, right? So I suppose he can do what he wants to do, but you don't have to agree to help him take care of it. See, it *is* his place, but I think it's common courtesy to at least mention it in advance... I've just spent the morning with "Lucky" and I have to say, I can see why the flatmate got him... He's actually super cute and well-behaved. He's a clever dog. Pure-breed black lab. He sits when I ask calmly (even when he's excited). I told him only about 3 times not to come into my room and already he steers clear. My flatmate told me he really pulls when you take him for a walk, but I took him out for a quick stroll and told him to sit every time he started pulling. Not only did he do it (stop and sit), but I stopped telling him to sit and just stopped walking instead and he understood what I meant, stopped and sat and waited for me to start walking again. I'm sure if i did this a few more times he would understand not to pull and he wouldn't have to stop and sit every 5 seconds. Still, the fact that with just one walk he was starting to get it... That's pretty cool. Only problem is he's stinky and now I've started sneezing... Hmmm, my flatmate owes me a BIG favour for this one... I actually feel bad for the dog... I don't understand what was going through my flatmate's mind... This is a small apartment and there is no outside space and the flatmate is at work all day. Fair enough, it's the dog's first day so I'm looking after it today, but I certainly don't plan on looking after it every day. Seriously... This is not a life... All day in a cramped space all by itself... Poor dog Why do people get pets if they can't really take care of them??? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

I've got an extra room. Only about 30 mins from z-hills. I'm a huge fan of ZHills, but I think I would literally melt in the summer months!! I honestly don't know how Floridians do it! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

So I got back from a 1-week trip and my flat-mate asked me "you're not afraid of dogs are you?" I said "no, why?" Apparently, he decided to get a dog and needed someone to look after him on his first day here (today). I'm not sure whether to be furious or excited... Did I mention I don't like dogs and I'm really allergic? No? Didn't mention it?? Perhaps that's because you NEVER ASKED!! ARGH! Obviously the mature approach was to have an intelligent discussion about this issue with my flatmate. We (he) concluded that we (I) should give the dog a chance. I'm *trying* not to be pissed off... Maybe I will like this dog and not sneeze myself to an early grave... Maybe. Hmpf. Maybe I need to start looking for a new place... Or *maybe* I can teach the dog to pee on my flatmate's bed... That's not cruel to the dog, is it??? "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss

Yep... That's what my man is getting - and the best part is he can "re-gift" it right back to me!! Generally not right back, return processing takes a little time... True... Plus it needs to be re-packaged!!! Unless it's delivered around back... I find this response vulgar and shocking. Well done!! "There is no problem so bad you can't make it worse." - Chris Hadfield « Sors le martinet et flagelle toi indigne contrôleuse de gestion. » - my boss