Whereas I grew up in savanna and now live basically in a sauna.

On the veldt all the trees are the right height.

Wait, so the river isn't vicious?

"Now, there are certain places you don't need a wall, because you have, you know, you have mountains, you have other things. You have large and rather vicious rivers,"

Name box fail.

I find the intense dryness pretty unpleasant.

Not bothered in general, but I find I over-hydrate if I am not careful because I always have then sensation of being parched.

I think that happened to me. On the second to last day, I wolfed down a bag of potato chips and the nagging headache I'd had went away - like I was craving salt from drinking too much water.

I cannot imagine enjoying humid conditions. I grew up in a pretty humid location, and am now in a dry place. It is so much fun to be able to go outside. You do need to run a humidifier in the winter or your lips start to chap.

Speaking if Mars, I was reading KSR's Mars trilogy when I hiked the Grand canyon for a week. If I looked in the right direction and ignored some details, it felt like I was there.

I wouldn't say that I enjoy it exactly, but I don't tend to notice the humidity at least.

"What is it that attracts you, personally, to the desert, Major Lawrence?" "It is clean."

I grew up in a pretty humid location, and am now in a dry place.

Compared to a womb, anything is dry.

Now I really want to go to Big Bend.

Big Bend is great.

I never heard of it before.

For shame, Moby. I have heard of Big Bend.

And I'm a dirty foreigner.

The last time I was in Texas, Reagan was president.

The last time I was in Texas my soul was incarnated in a migrant snow goose with a brain the size of a pea.

You used to be George W. Bush?

No, he's still alive. Do try to keep up.

Really? Huh. I thought he'd died in a tragic poncho accident.

The first time I heard of Big Bend, Reagan was president. But I didn't spend any time in Texas outside of airport layovers until I drove across the country in 2013.

big bend is amazing and beautiful, and having grown up in, and living in a swamp I can say that dry climate is...pretty fabulous. except it's terrible for your skin.

Speak for yourself, the sauna is terrible for mine.

20: So that means we shouldn't have been masturbating to you all this time? That's... awkward.

You masturbate to dead snow geese?

Wait, did everyone know you were a dead snow goose all this time? Am I the last to find out?

Big Bend is amazing and awesome, and also amazingly and awesomely far from anything else.

It's bigger than Luxembourg, or bigger than Rhode Island, if that's easier to imagine.

I took a great trip to Big Bend with my college's Outing Club. We hiked the South Rim trail and then did several days of canoe camping along the river. This was during Christmas break, so the weather was mild to chilly as well.

It's bigger than Luxembourg, or bigger than Rhode Island, if that's easier to imagine.

I can only interpret area figures given in units of Wales.

I was just looking up when the park was created. Bunch of Texas legislators are sitting around: hey, the news from Normandy sounds like it might work out, let's create that national park.

(Congress had created the park 9 years earlier, but, barring federal purchase of land, provided that it would only come into being when sufficient land was donated by Texas.)

re: 29

One 6th of a Wales.

That's huge.

Some how I've ended up with an earworm about texas medicine and railroad gin. People just get uglier.

I have no sense of time.

33: No, Charley, this isn't the end

28. I thought it was much bigger. I'm disappointed.

I like that it is in the Chihuahuan Desert. I wish more desert names made me think of little dogs in sweaters.

30: Nice image, but it appears that that was just the official establishment after years of groundwork, with the land gifted to the federal government in September 1943.

Now that I know the state of Texas spent upwards of $1m to buy up all the land needed to form the park, I wonder if they decided it was economically low-value enough that it would save them money in the long run to hand responsibility off to the NPS.

||
Welp, life has taken a turn. My paranoid schizophrenic ex is pregnant and has decided to keep the kid. She is not safe to be around kids. I know for a fact that she has used cocaine and meth while pregnant. In her paranoia she has concluded that I am her enemy (which is sort of valid, since I intend to get custody of the kid to protect it from its mother). Her opening shot is to accuse me of abuse.

I am in the process of lining up letters from every ex-girlfriend I have had for the past 20 years, as well as letters from two shrinks who have treated me for depression. But I need a lawyer, and I am completely broke as a result of the insanity of the past few months. I am running a GoFundMe to try to raise money to cover initial legal expenses related to getting the restraining order lifted and securing the evidence needed for the custody fight after the kid is born, as well as getting her on court-ordered random drug tests until the delivery.

I am desperate and terrified of what will happen if she gets custody. I have seen her literally foaming at the mouth and bellowing like an animal in the grip of her fugue states. She is completely amoral and appears willing to do just about anything to get what she wants. The final straw between us was her concerted attempt to get me to commit suicide.

I am desperate and utterly at the end of my rope. Please, I beg you, help me protect my kid.

GoFundMe link in URL
|>

Jesus Christ!

40: Ya. This would be so much more entertaining if it was happening to somebody else. I left out the bit about her two outstanding arrest warrants and her previous abandonment of a child. I am up to my neck in shit and barely staying afloat.

Mostly it would be more entertaining if there wasn't a kid involved and it was happening to somebody else. I can think of a few people specifically. Anyway, small donation made, keep us up to date.

Damn! That is a mess. You might reach out to Will for a referral to a lawyer in NoVa. He does family law in VA and might have good suggestions.

I don't know if you want non-lawyer advice, togolosh, but your state is one where prior abandonment is grounds for removal of an infant by child protective services. I'd also recommend signing the State putative father registry, which will prevent her from being able to consent to an adoption without your involvement (which sounds unlikely at this point but you never know) and establishes your admission of presumed paternity. The last question in the FAQ has the number for a paternity hotline. Child protective services can often be biased against dads, but being proactive should help you some if there's a chance you'll end up there, which sounds likely to me.

I am so sorry you have to deal with this. And seconding the suggestion that Will should know someone to refer you to.

Holy hell togolosh, that's awful. I kicked in but I've yet to see it update the total.

Oh Tog. That's terrible. You spent a lot of money to protect and help her; I remember.

Yikes. Second the (obvious) advice to talk to Will/get a referral. Be sure to take care of yourself in what sounds like a totally overwhelming situation.

Donated. All the best to all involved.

Donated as well.

Thank you so much, everyone. I am trying to keep from freaking the fuck out with moderate success. I will update when I have news.

Holy shit, Toggie. Thanks for filling us in; please keep updating us.

When is she due??

Yes, my sympathy on a bad situation.

I'm responding late, but good luck, togolosh. I was realizing the other day you hadn't been around much and was hoping it was for good reasons. Good luck. Congrats on fatherhood, since that's probably going to be exciting. IANAL, of course, but you might want to be careful what you post publically with your real name.

Lawyer secured with the help of Will (thanks Will!). I am trying to lower the temperature and see if we can get a mediation agreement worked out. Don't want to piss away money on lawyers that could be spent of diapers and formula.

This whole thing is pretty sordid and unpleasant and frankly does not reflect all that well on me or her. Once the legalities are taken care of I will relate the story. It has sex, drugs, debauchery and degeneracy, bounty hunters...

For now I'm just focused 100% on securing the best interests of the kid. Once I know she's off hard drugs and in treatment for the schizophrenia I will be able to relax a little bit.

I have a letter from my ex wife to the judge that is so nice to me it moved me to tears. If I can live up to the guy she describes me as being in that letter the kid will have a wonderful life.

That is cautiously good news. Please keep us posted!