How to Deal with Impossible People

This is from http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Impossible-People
I think it's relevant to my current situation. LOL.

How to Deal With Impossible People
We all know impossible people. They tend to share three main characteristics: They cannot be reasoned with, they believe they can do no wrong, and they are convinced that everything is someone else's fault. If you haven't had some first-hand experience in dealing with such people, even a brief conversation can raise your blood pressure through the roof. These people may also be known to some as narcissists. Here are some insights and steps for dealing with these highly difficult people.

Steps
Recognize that impossible people exist; you will eventually encounter them. There isn't a thing you can do about it. The first step is all about facing reality: If you think you might be dealing with an impossible person, you're probably right. When in doubt, proceed as instructed below. The headaches you save will be your own.

Be aware that some people simply aren't compatible. Sometimes, a person who gets along with everybody else quite well is an impossible person for you personally. Most relationships between people contain many shades of gray, but some people simply mix as well as oil and water. It is common to hear your impossible person proclaim that "Everyone else likes me." This is an attempt to shift the blame to you, so don't buy it. It doesn't matter how this person interacts with others. The fact is, the way the two of you interact together is terrible. Remember that blame never changes the facts. To counter this, tell them that it is a logical fallacy, or specifically an *Ad hominem.

Understand that it's not you, it's them. This can be surprisingly difficult, considering that impossible people have complete mastery of blaming skills. If you're dealing with an impossible person, you're probably being told on a regular basis that every conceivable thing is your fault. It isn't. As the saying goes, "It takes two to tango." Chances are, the more often they blame you, the more they themselves are actually at fault. Keep in mind that this is not to be used as a way to blame them. Blaming is what impossible people do, and they do it well. Instead, you are only facing the facts, for your own sake. That being said, here's a simple way to tell: If you accept responsibility for your own faults and resolve to improve yourself, it's probably not you. Remember, impossible people can do no wrong.

Realize that you cannot deal with impossible people the same way you deal with everyone else. In some ways, they need to be treated like children. Give up all hope of engaging these folks in any kind of reasonable conversation. It will never happen, at least with you. Remember what happened the last fifty times you tried to have a civilized discussion about the status of your relationship with this person. Chances are, every such attempt ended in you being blamed for everything. Decide now to quit banging your head against a brick wall.

You can read the rest of it at http://www.wikihow.com/Deal-With-Impossible-People. I'm not posting the rest of it b/c it's not my work and it's too dang long.

Quiz fun

Ooo - go to Fun Trivia. I get to play daily quizzes against my co-workers. You can, too (but not against mine). Have fun!

thinking

I thought I owed this page another entry. I am not abandoning my blog, as it might have looked like based on my last entry. I just need some time to reflect on everything I and my family have gone through over the past week. As I wrote in a comment below, I can't talk here about everything that has happened yet. I just cannot bear to talk about my PaPa in the past tense for very long without lasting emotional consequences.

I have been out of work since Tuesday. My boss told me she didn't want to see me back at work until I was ready. I work for a really great company; I couldn't ask for better. Some people up there do not know what they have in front of them.

I think I'll sign off for now. I just wanted the people who read this to know that I am not going anywhere; I just need some personal time.

Thanks, everyone.

On Monday...

To do today:

• Be out of work b/c I'm sick and SO not up to it. DONE!!
• Catch up on laundry (5 loads b/c our dryer was out last week). DONE!!
• Do the dishes. DONE!!
• Dust living room. (update: this may not get done, as the rest has taken a lot more time)
• Catch up on Charmed episodes I've DVRed. DONE!!

Oh yeah, I finished Harry Potter 7 the week before last. I LOVED it, and now I'm looking for other people's opinions of it now that nothing can be spoiled for me.

time off

I have been sick for the entire past weekend. I stayed out of work yesterday, and to tell the truth, I felt like doing so again today. Luckily, I was already getting off at 3 today, so I stuck with that. Plus, my work was WAY behind when I got in today.

Today I am getting off early to help my friend with her dog. She is putting him to sleep today. He's such an old man; he can't get up by himself, has arthritis, and is in constant pain. As of now, she's agreed that she is only keeping him alive for her, not for him, and has made the decision to put him down. I didn't want her to be by herself, so I am going with her. Josh and his BF are coming over later to dig a place in her backyard, his favorite spot, under the azaleas. He's such a sweet doggie, and he will be missed. I took some really good pics of him and her last night; I'll post them after I crop them and send to her.

Tomorrow, we have a pool party at my brother's house. The WHOLE family is invited, from grandparents down to 2nd cousins. This is going to be our normal holiday crowd, though, just somewhere different. Their poor black lab, Ben, isn't going to know what to do with so many people there! Hopefully, fireworks and much carefree abandon will ensue.

Aww

I'm so mean - I haven't posted in 16 days. My fault! Yeah, I've been busy... who hasn't?

Supposedly, if the tracking is correct, my new NordicTrack will be in my living room by the end of the week. Yay!

Work is going fine. Normal work status. :)

Concert band is wrapping up this week, well, practice at least. We have one more concert in a couple of weeks. I have Furman University Lakeside band rehearsals starting next week. We only have five concerts, and the rehearsals are in the same week as the concerts, so it's not a huge commitment. Plus, Josh is FINALLY getting a car of his own again, so I won't have to worry about whether I have a ride somewhere. -happy sigh-

I'm listening to not-so-calm music on my pod. I think I'm going to switch LOL. Not impressed with angry rock today. This is not normal!

Ahh - now our accounting system is down at work. Not cool. Makes my job harder. :( This kind of blows the "i'm not working today" plan out of the water.

Drifting

My mind is really random today. Not entirely sure why, other than the fact that I'm a little tired. I didn't get much sleep last night. Oh well, no big.

I have band practice tonight, so I won't get home until near 9:30. The only disadvantage to this is that I probably don't get to eat since I'm getting home so late. I hate eating late b/c it causes acid reflux and I really shouldn't let food sit on my stomach when I go to bed. However, we did have our OTB day (as indicated in previous post) and I had my fill of cheese dip as expected. Happy tummy.

I am anticipating a seat move today at work. I have heard rumors. I am prepared (well, about as much as I can be without having "where's my item" issues) to move, but we have to be hush-hush, b/c seat moves usually come with account moves as well. That would be the hush part. I really hope I do not lose the accounts I have right now. I have worked hard to get them where they are, and to give them away to someone who might screw them up again will tick me off. As of right now, who knows what will happen?

30 minutes later...

Woo-hoo! No account switches. The seat move is happening, but I am not moving! I was one of the lucky few. Plus, I still have the same boss. Yay! Such a huge sigh of relief right now. Same boss, same seat, same customers. Whew. Now, we who are not moving get to watch everyone else's accounts while they trek across the department.

2 hours later...

I am annoyed with these crazy people moving their crap all around the department. I am SO glad I am not moving.

Must concentrate - 19 minutes left.

anti potty-humor

We are up to our elbows... in water. Our toilet overflowed!! And no, we have no plunger. We are about to in a moment, when Josh comes back from an emergency Wally-World trip for that and some Draino. I woke Josh up from his semi-nap yelling about it while throwing towels everywhere on the floor. I'm basically doing this to keep my mind off of why I wanted to go into the bathroom in the first place LOL.

In the meantime, I'm watching the last hour of the movie Hostage.

In all, I had an ok day at work. It wasn't bad, just not the party scene you'd imagine work being. One of my accounts surprised me by actually paying us (highlight of the day LOL). I froze my butt off all day, though.

Oh, the pids like their waterfall. Well, they didn't hiss at it or run away. Lucy still drinks with her paw, even though there is a lovely waterfall. Bless her little heart.

I am having a craving for spicy food. Luckily, two co-workers and I are taking our bi-weekly trip to a Mexican restaurant called On the Border tomorrow, so I'll get my fill of spicy cheese dip. :)
11:40PM

10 minutes later...

Potty fixed.

Going to bed.

De-stressing

Hey all!

We were invited by one of my co-workers to her husband's 30th birthday party last night at a place here called Chief's Wings & Firewater. We had a pretty good time! About 40 people were there (most of them I knew from work, others were her hubby's friends).

We'd also had a team-building exercise at work all day yesterday. Afterward, we had a cookout, complete with "liquid refreshments." I had my share! In fact, I didn't have all that much at Chief's since I'd already halfway filled up at work. Ha. Spent less $$.

We got our taxes back a day or two ago. Josh is getting half for a car. We're spending a little apiece on new clothes, probably getting a steam cleaner, and we're not sure what else. We'll more than likely put it toward paying off the furniture.

By the way, speaking of buying things on credit, I am so DONE with the amount of sweet little retail cashiers asking me if I want to save 10% on my purchase today by signing up for their 29% interest store credit card. Of course, looking at the bright side, at least that do-not-call registry has done some good, as I no longer get the same offer via phone. I have to actually go somewhere to get asked now.

We had a date tonight. I love date night! We went out to a restaurant called California Dreaming. They have the BEST beer-battered chicken strips and loaded potato soup. I always end up taking half my food home, though. I usually don't eat appetizers since I know I can't handle that plus a meal, but I can't pass up their soup. We also saw the movie "300." I was a little reluctant to see it before. I wasn't in the mood to watch yet another dramatic battle movie, plus, I wanted to see "The Number 23." However, I'm glad I let Josh pick the movie. I'll give my synopsis of 300 later on. It was well worth the ticket price.

Well, it's 3:30 in the morning here, and for some reason, I am wide awake. I'm going to go finish my current load of laundry, finish watching Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban, pick up my snoring hubby off the loveseat, and put my bod into the bed.

Estimated time of arrival in bed = approximately 1 hour.

That's just not normal.