just ignore and let this one die

Lol, if not then I expect the day will not get much better!

I was wondering why I woke up so early. Could hear you yelling clear across the room.

Just as I was about to go to sleep.... Thanks Kat!!!

Anyway...good morning threadies. I think I am still drunk from last night,so don't hold me responsible for anything I may say this morning. Breakfast for you all. The only food I can handle right now is fruit,feeling hangoverish. Someone else will have to bring the greasy stuff.

Honeybear - this is a wonderful post!

It's a difficult thing to admit to addiction to anything, and SL seems so harmless, but it can be incredibly addictive for some people and it is difficult to explain to anyone, even to youself at times. The first step is to recognise it, and then it becomes possible to deal with it. You can then work out whether or not it is actually a problem, or a benefit to your life. For most people I have met in SL that are heavily involved, it is clearly a benefit and continues to be so, but keep an eye on it!

SL fundamentally changed my life. I even met someone in SL and later married them in RL! I was totally taken in by the shiny veneer of that personality in SL, coupled with the strong desire to help her build her life from where it was. It seemed so wonderful, and so perfect...

I built a business and invested in SL quite heavily ($30,000). I helped others to build their businesses from scratch, encouraged them to persevere despite their fear of failure. I sold my business and gave all of the proceeds to my newly-wed but heavily indebted wife, plus all of my savings. I even raised a loan to help her out - I then found out much later on, that at the time I gave her $30,000, she had already taken the opportunity of my being overseas, unbeknown to me, to move in with someone else that she had met in SL, literally a few weeks after we were married in RL. I was completely and utterly fooled, and I accept this now. And in a strange way, I kind of admire her for how expertly she did what she did. Phenomenal, really.

But RL has a way of revealing the reality, eventually. When you get your laptop back in the post (smashed to pieces), and you review your bank statements and realise that you will be paying for someone else's debts for the next twenty years, it really comes home to you, eventually. I really miss the $2000 camera that I was asked to leave behind. I was even called a fool because I trusted her with my original birth certificate, that she shredded out of pure malice, along with other property that she destroyed.

If that wasn't enough, I was then subjected to a systematic campaign of misinformation and rumour. I don't think this was meant to be malicious at first, it was just a cover to protect a virtual reputation, to gloss over the horrors of what had happened. So I had my virtual reputation slurred as well - part of the collateral damage. In a horrific attempt to keep hold of the money I had parted with, the malicious lies spread into my RL, potentially damaging my RL reputation too.

But I have learned a great deal about the world from this experience, and it has made me stronger than ever before. And finally, with all of the cold hard facts laid out before me, I am able to accept them, and move on, emotionally. It feels like the scene in Lord of the Rings, when Gandalf released the king of Rohan from the spell... my eyes are open now. But I will clear my name, and I know I will get all of the money back ($36,000 in total), and my camera - this is all a small compensation for all that I was subjected to, but a necessary one.

Honeybear - thank you for your admissions in this thread - your post was indeed poignant, and it helped to provide me with the strength to lay out my own admissions.

Thank you again!

Bad mood now anyway - Wales lost to France!

Dan the rugby Man

I am given to understand that Pep is kind to dumb animals. It is dumb people that he is hard on.

Dan the PR Man

Good morning, Threadies!

Katheryne...thank you for the coffee...and the wake up call! It's funny, but I rolled over and looked at the clock just about the time you played reveille.

Rio...that fruit looks just about right.

Just in case anyone needs a little something extra:

To Dan1el and Pep: my condolences on Wales' loss. (I hear it was a good game, though...)

I'm rooting for Ireland in today's match.

And fyi, Ghosty has a new art showing today!

Saturday, February 28, 6:00 pm SLT

Details: https://secure-web8.secondlife.com/events/event.php?id=2392785

slurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Zellig/67/206/23

LOL.... fabulous picture! Which sim is that on?

so sorry for your plight. that sucketh. good luck with the recovery process. i don't envy the negativity and darkness this has brought to your daily life.

ooh. we're headed down to the city for a major shopping day, but i'll swing over when we get back. can an inworld notice be sent that will remind me when i log in?

Thanks 3Ring. Thankfully I am over it now, on the emotional side. It took over a year, but that side of things is over now. The final pieces fell into place over the New Year, and I can see it all now with startling clarity. I know how to resolve the things that can be resolved, and I know that it is best to leave behind the things that can't be fixed. Things look good for the future, and I now feel fresh again, for the first time in a very long time.

Good morning to everyone. I have to get and take care of the boring RL weekend chores, but wanted to say hi.

@Rio - that fruit was just what I needed this morning

/me dances away, singing happy tunes, anxious to finish the rl stuff so she can go back inworld

Suck at work. today for another two hours. Bleck. But, I have Monday off! W00t! More SL time for me! Any good midday places to visit during the week?

Good morning, day, evening, whatever to everyone. Been awfully quiet around here this morning, so thought I'd post at least something.....
Woke up to 3 inches of snow this morning, blech, I hate cold weather, but last I heard Spring is still coming.
I'm listening to the radio here in the house and just heard some woman in Ohio was stopped for driving while nursing her baby and talking on the cell phone! OMG, now that lady knows how to multi-task! I'm kind of curious if she'd put her makeup on in the rearview mirror before or after all of this...before anybody gets their undies in a wad, yes, I have eaten, talked on the cell and even done some things behind the wheel some people would scold me for, (others may commend me ).
Anyways, hope everyone is having a good weekend so far!

*waves to threadies who are around* Sorry you're still at work, Bunni. Not sure about mid-week activities, but I always have luck checking the "Events" tab either inworld or on the website.

Travis, I think your snow is coming our way Sunday evening. I'm hoping, since the DC area goes nuts when even a few flakes fall - that we'll have a snow day on Monday!! But YIKES on that story of the woman driver and her multitasking.

I'm headed off to do some RL stuff, too, for a similar reason as Lil's.

pixplzthx

Congratulations. My similar experience happened a very long time ago. Luckily (I guess) I had a lot less to lose as far as material wealth than you did. But I spent three years of my life taking the kind of emotional abuse that left me feeling about an inch tall when I finally got out of the situation.

Recovery took me a year. But at the end of the year I WAS STRONG! And have been ever since. In fact, although you couldn't pay me a million dollars to go through it all again I wouldn't trade the experience for any amount of money.

My best wishes to you as you carry on - I bet you'll do just fine.

Presumably CPS has that baby now.

Thank you. Everything you say rings true for me too. I've learned that people will do anything and will stop at nothing to either take your money or try to rule your life. I'm glad I am out of it.

To be fair, I saw the warning signs from the start, but I did not heed them, because I loved the person so much. More fool me. I will never go there again, but you are right, it was, strangely enough, worth it - just to know what I know now. I am no longer a "come over here and walk all over me" type of person. I will never be someone that walks all over other people either, but I can now see the signs and avoid being taken for a fool again. It's an incredibly useful filter to have. I was too naiive and idealistic before, and to my surprise, I now feel that I have acquired a whole new level of understanding of the world around me, and how it really works. It was not a welcome surprise, but it was a necessary one. Thank God it wasn't for three years though, that's horrible.

At least I will be getting the money back, one way or another. And yes, thank you, I am sure everything will be fine.

I, too, had plenty of red flags. But I was in love and my love was unconditional. Actually one of the best things abut the whole experience is that I could look back and know it was all love on my part.
The very best thing is that once I healed myself I never suffered like that again - not even a little. If I'm not enjoying myself I'm just gone, no hard feelings or harsh words. I learned to love being self sufficient.

Even now after almost 22 years with my perfect soul mate, I know I'd be very sad and lonely if I lost him, but I know I'd be ok, too.

eta: And yeah don't trust anybody with anything you can't afford to lose. Even the very best person can have make mistakes or have accidents.

Greets to the Thread and the Threadians Happy Saturday-- your resident perpetual student took two Sculpt classes this morning and made a horrifically ugly candlestick! I am so proud

Yay, Amara!!! Congrats.