Post what you're thinking right now.

[Eclair]

It's not funny.  Although maybe...I do feel a bit gutted.

Boom, boom.

People been misunderstanding you? I do that a lot, particularly with people who have sudden mood/mode shifts. Since I a) cant spot genuine malice well and b) can't tell if its my communication problem or someone else's easily, I generally assume its benign and carry on being right with folk unless someone is clearly sneering at me. In which case they can fuck off. 

*slides booze down bar and misses*

Thanks...did you mean to spill beer all over me?  Shall go and get myself a drink then and assume it's your clumsiness and not intentional.

[Eclair]

A hell of a lot smarter than how I handle
it. I figure that if there's any way of taking
something poorly, it was intended.

Cal, I can't even respond to someone saying the L word...what chance do I have?

[duncvis]

I was talking to both of you. I'm generally pretty direct, and my mood/intention is usually quite clear. this is where i have difficulty in understanding others/being understood, and the more changeable or oblique someone is in the communication style the harder it is to fathom them out. so I keep it superficial or don't bother a lot. 

[Lucifer]

where's odeon?  i need a cuddle and a snog...   

[DirtDawg]

SHIT!
This is going to be another long one.

Summary:
I have a family (stable, mainly because of the efforts of my extremely strong wife) with two young kids.
I discovered two months ago that I have a son from a prior shagwankish relationship from my youth.
I'm meeting my eldest son next weekend.

I'm such a FUCKING emptyhead. I, mistakenly and with no thoughts of the calender, set up the meeting of my never-yet-met child of twenty eight years on "Father's Day" without thinking it through. I was so anxious to get some sort of meet-up organized, that I did not even think of the calender or my currrent responsibilities or how some of this might affect them. I was selfish. I wanted to meet him. I pressed forward with my typical tunnel visioned prowess.

I fucked up, by not thinking of the upcoming "special" day, but I am going forward with the scheduled meet-up. I am a heel in my own house.
Now, my family will be without a Father on the day intended to honor all fathers (next weekend - they were making plans). The son I have never met grew up with no father and Father's Day is a non-event to him. This was a mistake and I am a self-loathing "whatever" man, at present with too many irons in the fire.
OH, Self, how I hate thee!

[Lucifer]

SHIT!
This is going to be another long one... etc.

whoops.  yep, sounds familiar (not the same as you, but the sort of thing i do).  well, i'm going to suggest a small thing, and then i'll fuck off before i patronise you.  first of all, set yourself a time limit to beat yourself up about the cockup - i have a PhD in beating myself up, and one has to do it for a bit.  but only for a bit.  after you've shut that inner critic up (at least temporarily), see if there's the  possibility of a Plan B.

fucking off now - quite happy to talk more, but ain't going to come over all schoolteachery.

[DirtDawg]

Schoolteachery? I am immune.

There will be no Plan B. I am going through with things as we have drafted them, despite my feelings of guilt, concerning my youngsters and their Father's Day festivities being dis'ed.
I do not know where I will be after next weekend, but I may have a new family member. He has been very careful and explicit (He's a grown man, for god's sake) in expressing how he does not want anything from me for the previous years of neglect (my choice of wording), but he is as curious as I am about who he is. (He's high functioning autistic, by the way and works for the power company as an grid engineer. He's way smarter than his high school drop-out father.)
Setting up the meeting was quite stressful for both of us. I am not changing it, again.
The rest of the world will have to wait ....

Thanks for your suggestion and I am almost done pounding myself..

[Lucifer]

Setting up the meeting was quite stressful for both of us. I am not changing it, again.
The rest of the world will have to wait ....

bloody good for you, Dawg.      

[odeon]

where's odeon?  i need a cuddle and a snog...   

At your service, now.  Sorry, I was out all day trying to fix a stupid water pump. Turned out the motor's fried.

[Lucifer]

stupid machinery.

do i get the cuddle and snog now, so i can go to bed?  wheedle, wheedle.

[QuirkyCarla]

Good luck with the meeting, DirtDawg. 

[odeon]

stupid machinery.

do i get the cuddle and snog now, so i can go to bed?  wheedle, wheedle.

Yes you do, but seeing that you're now offline, I worry... 

[Bookworm]

That it is time I went away from the computer. it is ruling my life.

[DirtDawg]

Good luck with the meeting, DirtDawg. 

Thanks, QC. This whole thing has been haunting me for a while, now. I feel that I am on a starting block tensed for a sprint, but the starting pistol never reports.
Making definitive plans feels almost like rest.

[El]

Good luck, DD.