Soooooo......

[katiesue]

I seem to be leaning that way. It's uh - very festive in here.

[alphabassettgrrl]

So my day started with insomnia at 4am. Had to be up by 4:30 or so anyway, so no big deal. Couple of pictures of the eclipse, and on my way to the Police Department to help close streets for today's parade. Only pissed off one guy with the road closure- I almost feel cheated.

Done in time to get to work before the show. Always a plus. Show went pretty well.

Tired. Home now. TV time!

[RStar]

So, your last name is Griswold?I've been called Sparky, I light up the whole neighborhood with my lights! :cool:

No Slimmons today, I'm (wait for it) going to Disneyland!You posted in the wrong thread. ;)

I'll save you RStar! I'll post and break the spell! :D

Thanks Betty, your a sweetheart! :D

[CoasterMatt]

I got our outside decorations done today-
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7004/6497021915_83014f5ed0_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/coastermatt/6497021915/)
Our House (http://www.flickr.com/photos/coastermatt/6497021915/) by CoasterMatt (http://www.flickr.com/people/coastermatt/), on Flickr

[€uroMeinke]

So we got our tree. We had it delivered after the car we were using to transport it got totaled in the intersection outside the lot. The tree actually stayed securely on the roof - which is more than I can say for my glasses, which caused undo panic when my first post-accident words were, "I can't see."

Fortunately, the other car just clipped the front drivers side of the car. I say fortunately because if the timing were off a bit more they would have T-boned the passenger side of my car where Lisa and my 5-month pregnant niece were. My knee's a bit banged up from hitting the dashboard, but things could have been a whole lot worse, so for that I am grateful. The folks at Todd's Tree's were awesome and got us all safely out of our car before the police, fire, and paramedics arrived on the scene.

This wasn't really how I planned to spend the day, but I sure have a lot of gratitude for the people I love and the strangers who stepped in to help out.

[RStar]

OMG! Chris, I'm glad you're all ok!

As much as I love the holidays, it makes bad things that happen everyday even more of a shock to me. It's like when someone gets hurt at Disneyland.

Nothing bad should happen at Disneyland or durring the holidays!

[blueerica]

Wow, glad to hear you're all okay.

[Moonliner]

So we got our tree. We had it delivered after the car we were using to transport it got totaled in the intersection outside the lot. The tree actually stayed securely on the roof - which is more than I can say for my glasses, which caused undo panic when my first post-accident words were, "I can't see."

Fortunately, the other car just clipped the front drivers side of the car. I say fortunately because if the timing were off a bit more they would have T-boned the passenger side of my car where Lisa and my 5-month pregnant niece were. My knee's a bit banged up from hitting the dashboard, but things could have been a whole lot worse, so for that I am grateful. The folks at Todd's Tree's were awesome and got us all safely out of our car before the police, fire, and paramedics arrived on the scene.

This wasn't really how I planned to spend the day, but I sure have a lot of gratitude for the people I love and the strangers who stepped in to help out.

You need to go get a Hot Wheels car, stomp on it a few times and hang it from the tree that tree as an ornament.

[Snowflake]

Glad to hear that you all came through relatively unscathed (well, except for the car). The photo is pretty amazing.

Kudos to Todd's Trees and strangers for helping you all out.

Now, the burning question is, what will the new car be?

Love Moonie's idea for a new ornament to commemorate the tree (and car). :D

[Strangler Lewis]

Another Christmas-related tragedy thankfully averted. And good news about the impending relative.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Wow! Glad you guys are okay!

(That's why I'm not getting a Christmas tree)

[blueerica]

After swinging from the rafters all day I lost my grip and realized, well, I totally overdid it with the caffeine today.

Wheeee!CRASH!

[alphabassettgrrl]

Glad everyone came through the accident reasonably ok, and definitely that was awesome that strangers would help. Makes me happy to know there are still good people in the world.

My day was a bit obnoxious. Worked for 5 hours helping set up a Nutcracker set made of either steel or styrofoam, with some pieces that are both. So it's both heavy and fragile. Steel pieces are missing or bent. But at the end of it, I had lunch with my coworkers, and an eggnog latte. Helps make things better.

[Not Afraid]

I'm having post-adrenaline rush depression. I'm really very good at triage. I'm really NOT very good at accepting the reality of the situation. Almost getting hit in the Volvo today didn't help me any. (Nor did driving the Volvo as opposed to the Mini.)

What a whiner!!!

[alphabassettgrrl]

I don't know- sounds like a reasonable reaction following a crash.

Glad you are safe!

[Morrigoon]

I'm just glad everyone was okay!

[blueerica]

I don't know- sounds like a reasonable reaction following a crash.

Glad you are safe!

My sentiments exactly!

[3894]

And you know I'll enjoy the bleep out of the dress choosing and the party planning!

The wedding is for this summer on Mackinac Island. You know what that means: resort wear and nautical-themed bling.

[Kevy Baby]

...resort wear and nautical-themed bling.AKA, bikini

[3894]

AKA, bikini

The world is not ready.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Some people should not be in charge of planning a stage show. Even when it's a kids' Christmas program. Maybe *especially* when it's a kid show. One of the teachers is trying to get all complicated about it.

Parents want to see their kids sing carols. End.

But today was all about doing everything six times because he can't express himself properly the first time and has an unrealistic picture in his head of how things should work.

We were nearly starting a pool as to who was going to strangle him, and when.

[RStar]

And you know I'll enjoy the bleep out of the dress choosing and the party planning!

The wedding is for this summer on Mackinac Island. You know what that means: resort wear and nautical-themed bling.

This past week on Hawaii 5-0 there was a weding on the beach. Tuxidos with white shirts and no ties; white dresses and best of all, no shoes! Very classy!

My daughter is getting married in May. But I have to wear shoes, dagnabit!

[blueerica]

And you know I'll enjoy the bleep out of the dress choosing and the party planning!

The wedding is for this summer on Mackinac Island. You know what that means: resort wear and nautical-themed bling.

Wow, wait, what? I realize time flies, but... wedding?! Huzzah!

And Mackinac Island is wonderful!!

[Alex]

Just want to pop in to make my traditional, but heart-felt, recommendation for a Reno wedding to which nobody but the participants is invited.

But if you're going to Mackinac anyway, while there could you get them to start pronouncing the name of the place correctly?

[blueerica]

Nice!

http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/13/louie-ck-web-only-special-500k/

+1 for web distribution that worked.

[katiesue]

Just want to pop in to make my traditional, but heart-felt, recommendation for a Reno wedding to which nobody but the participants is invited.


This was my Dad's advice. I should have taken it.

[CoasterMatt]

Screw that noise, aboard a ship that can sink on command is where it's at...

[flippyshark]

This just in from a friend of mine who works at the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.

What do you call a crow standing by itself?

Attempted murder. :D

[Alex]

Somebody's been stealing their jokes from Reddit (or whichever of those sites sent this viral last year):

http://i.imgur.com/xW3Pd.jpg

[Moonliner]

I'm being thick I suppose, but I don't get it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Murder = collective noun for crows.

[RStar]

Murder = collective noun for crows.

Strange, I thought it would be a flock. :D

[Not Afraid]

Murder of crows
Crash of Rhios (my favorite)
Congregation of Aligators
Destruction of Cats

This is one of my favorite things in the English language. They are all different!

In other news, I'm car shopping. I'm actually pretty good at shopping in general, but I don't know much about cars. I wonder if NM is getting sick of my texts yet? The wide variety of cars on my list is quite disturbing.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Little know fact, collective noun for over priced super cars is a Douche of Ferraris

[Alex]

I just assume that crows look around in shocked indignation whenever they see a rook. "WTF," they say, "we're essentially identical birds and they're a parliament while we're a murder."

[BarTopDancer]

In other news, I'm car shopping. I'm actually pretty good at shopping in general, but I don't know much about cars. I wonder if NM is getting sick of my texts yet? The wide variety of cars on my list is quite disturbing.

Another Mini? I love my 3 but if I were to buy another car now I'd buy the new Escape.

What's on your list?

[Not Afraid]

CRV
Mini Clubman
Chevy HHR
GMC Terrain
Honda Fit

Somewhere in the midst of all of these is the perfect blend of decent city gas milage, fun to drive, room to carry shyt and includes (light colored)leather seats, bluetooth and seat warmers. (Oh, and somewhere in the general 20K range used.)

[Morrigoon]

CRV is a pretty good vehicle

[Not Afraid]

Pros and cons of my list:

CRV - retains value (as proven for want we're getting for the '99 with 180k on it), no mechanical issues, decent gas milage. Con, we just "got rid" of one, hard to find a top of the line used.
Mini Clubman - FUN, but small. Retains value. Good warranty program.
Chevy HHR - Roomy, CHEAP, can get it with leather and low miles (8K) but it is red with black leather.
GMC Terrain - Good reviews but looks like a conservative Mom car. Won't retain value.
Honda Fit - No niceties, not as fun to drive, great gas milage, retains value, small.

I'm actually looking at Enterprise Car Sales. They work with my CU, have cars with super low miles, have a set price below KBB, and will buy my Volvo for 1000 over KBB. However, they tend to buy more "off" models (although if I wanted a BMW 3 series, I'd have the pick of the litter.)

[katiesue]

I love my escape. Enough room but not big. And decent mileage.

[Not Afraid]

Enterprise does have lots of fully loaded Escapes. Maybe I should drive one tomorrow. We had a friend with an Escape that she got at the same time we got the CRV and it was BIG TROUBLE - transmission at at 70k, etc. Although, I think they have improved quite a bit. I'll bug NM some more about this. He knows Ford well.

Oh, and then there's that new Fiat Tiny (http://www.fiatusa.com/abarth/)......

Oh, and this would be just fine with me if it wasn't red and black (http://www.enterprisecarsales.com/car/21086/2011_CHEVROLET_HHR_LT_Sport_Wagon_4D). White and Tan - I'd do it in a heart beat, enjoy my $250 car payments, drive it to death in 5 years then move on to something else. But, really, I dislike the color and the black leather.

[Not Afraid]

Well, there certainly a lot more Escape options than CRV options! Milage ranges from 12-27k and prices are 21-24K which is at the top end of the range, but doable.

Did I tell you I'm not having fun with this? It has become my nightly activity.

[lashbear]

Murder of crows
Crash of Rhios (my favorite)
Congregation of Aligators
Destruction of Cats

This is one of my favorite things in the English language. They are all different!


Destruction of Cats - that's appropriate.

Our favourite is a Bouquet of Pheasants

OH!!! And just for Lisa et. al.

A Gaze of Raccoons.

[Betty]

Get a Jeep! Nice 4x4 with 4 doors. :D Lot's of trails to explore.

Destruction of cats is appropriate. I like.

[BarTopDancer]

Enterprise does have lots of fully loaded Escapes. Maybe I should drive one tomorrow. We had a friend with an Escape that she got at the same time we got the CRV and it was BIG TROUBLE - transmission at at 70k, etc. Although, I think they have improved quite a bit. I'll bug NM some more about this. He knows Ford well.

Chad has had 2 Escapes and those plus MickeyD's sold me on them. They ride like cars. I think renting for a day or three is a good idea.

[Kevy Baby]

I'm actually looking at Enterprise Car Sales.Don't rental cars typically come fairly stripped/basic (as in, minimal accoutrements)?

[Not Afraid]

Don't rental cars typically come fairly stripped/basic (as in, minimal accoutrements)?

Actually, it is just the opposite. I'm finding top of the line, luxury versions of cars that I didn't know had luxury versions! Most have low miles (like 8K!), are 2011 models, and the major depreciation has already happened. Now, it is just finding the car I want....in California.

[Betty]

I just saw my first tv ad for curbing legal immigration. Huh.

[alphabassettgrrl]

What's wrong with legal immigration? They're doing it right.

[JWBear]

Because for many anti-immigration folks it has nothing to do with legal/illegal and everything to do with brown people.

[Alex]

What's wrong with legal immigration? They're doing it right.

Not that I think that immigration should be further limited (I'm a proponent for open borders) but a general argument would be that when we can't properly employ and take care of the people already here it doesn't necessarily make sense to keep letting more people in.

[alphabassettgrrl]

but a general argument would be that when we can't properly employ and take care of the people already here it doesn't necessarily make sense to keep letting more people in.

True... Hadn't considered it from that angle.

[katiesue]

Why must teenage boys wear so much cologne or axe or whatever the hell it is? Ugh. I need to air out my car every time I take one of them anywhere.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Because it wastes less precious video game playing time to pour a bottle of it on than to take a shower.

[lashbear]

Why must teenage boys wear so much cologne or axe or whatever the hell it is? Ugh. I need to air out my car every time I take one of them anywhere.

My favourite tactic is to ask "What cologne is that.... and must you marinate?"

[Moonliner]

Why must teenage boys wear so much cologne or axe or whatever the hell it is? Ugh. I need to air out my car every time I take one of them anywhere.

Uggh! I'm with you on that one. That stuff is nasty. (http://www.loungeoftomorrow.com/LoT/showthread.php?p=352899&highlight=body#post352899)

[JWBear]

We went to see the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles Christmas show last night. The guest performer was Melissa Manchester. The weird thing was that none of the numbers she performed were Christmas/holiday songs! She would come out on stage, sit down at the piano, and do one of her standard pieces without any interaction with the chorus (they just silently stood there on the risers until she was done) and then she would disappear until her next number.

One of the friends we went with commented that it was like they had a GMCLA show and a Melissa Manchester concert broke out. Bizarre...

The chorus did their usual spectacular job, though.

[CoasterMatt]

I'm editing photos this morning. I had a dream about this.

[flippyshark]

On the cologne topic, I particularly hate it when I'm eating in a cafe and a group of heavily-doused dudes takes a table near mine. The scent is so thick, I can actually taste it. Not an exaggeration. Even after I leave, I can taste that horrific stench on my tongue. (And, in my quaint Mayberry-esque town of Winter Garden, I sometimes have the same experience with sweet little old ladies who, I presume, have diminished olfactory senses, and douse themselves with nearly as much perfume in compensation.)

JWB - Did the crowd respond well to Melissa Manchester's parenthetical solos, or did they seem non-plussed? It does sound like a strange experience.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Nutcracker #3 is done. Totally done with holiday shows for the season.

Time for Disneyland on Tuesday! Have some of the fun part of Christmas.

[cirquelover]

Because it wastes less precious video game playing time to pour a bottle of it on than to take a shower.

You just described my teenage son to a T. Maybe it will get better when he finds a girlfriend.

[Moonliner]

You just described my teenage son to a T. Maybe it will get better when he finds a girlfriend.

Have you ever read Catch-22?

[blueerica]

What is it about long webinars that makes me either:

a.) get sleepy
b.) have the sudden urge to go use the restroom
c.) go to LoT
d.) all the above

[Kevy Baby]

d.) all the aboveYou get sleepy while surfing LoT while in the loo?

[JWBear]

In my old office we had someone who would sleep in the bathroom. I doubt he was surfing LoT, though.

[Alex]

Didn't GD have a colleague who slept in the bathroom until he was told to stop so started doing it in his car?

[JWBear]

Didn't GD have a colleague who slept in the bathroom until he was told to stop so started doing it in his car?

The guy at my old office wasn't doing on purpose (or so he claimed). He'd fall asleep while doing his business. People would walk in and hear him snoring away in one of the stalls. He's retired now.

[Morrigoon]

Sounds like someone with untreated sleep apnea.

[RStar]

Sounds like someone with untreated sleep apnea.

That was the case with our shipping clerk. He has a C-Pap now, so he's a lot better.

We had a guy who would find hidden spots to sleep for a few hours. Peaople would be looking for him for hours sometimes. I'm pretty sure he was up all night (or several days) due to drug use. He found employment elsewhere.

[Not Afraid]

I probably have the only job where it is acceptable to sleep on the job - required in fact! (And, sometimes, I do take mid-days naps at clients' houses.)

[Ghoulish Delight]

Didn't GD have a colleague who slept in the bathroom until he was told to stop so started doing it in his car?

Yep. Except on days when he didn't drive the carpool, then it was back to the bathroom. Not sure what he's up to these days as I no longer work near him.

His sleeping habits were most likely the result of whatever major anti-depressant medication routine he's on. He's also taken several extended medical leaves due to chronic depression.

[Moonliner]

According to the global hedonometer (http://gizmodo.com/5870075/everyone-on-twitter-is-increasingly-depressed) everyone is increasingly depressed.


"It appears that happiness is going down," says a University of Vermont researcher and head of a new study on wellbeing. The proof? Twitter, of course. Millions of users point to a global depression of an entirely non-monetary kind.


Mostly I just wanted to post this so I could use the word "hedonometer" in a sentence.

[RStar]

Now try using

Superhedonisticalifragilisticexpialidocious

:D

[JWBear]

Can someone please come and drill holes in my face to relieve the sinus pressure? I'll either be dead or feel much better. Either way, it would be preferable.

[Moonliner]

Can someone please come and drill holes in my face to relieve the sinus pressure? I'll either be dead or feel much better. Either way, it would be preferable.

Have you tried a neti pot (http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-11/neti-pots?page=1)?

[JWBear]

I've heard that they cause more problems than they cure.

[Moonliner]

I've heard that they cause more problems than they cure.

Wussie!

[CoasterMatt]

I shipped the super nice lens back to the rental company today. My cheese is a lil sad.

BTW, the pics of the birds at Lake Balboa, none of them were taken with the rental lens- so I'm not REALLY sad. :)

[Ghoulish Delight]

IT just announced that we'll be moving to Exchange/Office 2010 early next year. Bracing myself for the, "But I like it the old waaaaaay" whinefest that is to follow.

[Kevy Baby]

Coming off of 2003 or 2007?

[Ghoulish Delight]

'07. So not a huge change on the Office side, but Outlook will be quite a bit different.

[Kevy Baby]

I guess I am mis-remembering: I thought Outlook was pretty similar too (between '07 and '10)

[Alex]

Yes, I don't recall a huge change in Outlook either (though I did have to go put everything back the way I want it).

[BarTopDancer]

Outlook is pretty much the same. The jump between 03 and 07 SUCKS ASS.

For the longest time we had a macro hack that enabled all the 03 features. It was such a PITA my boss finally told everyone to suck it up and figure out how to use 07. That was one of the best 'decisions' he's made.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Hmm, maybe we're on an older version of Outlook still? No ribbon on our version.

[BarTopDancer]

Have you tried a neti pot (http://www.webmd.com/allergies/sinus-pain-pressure-11/neti-pots?page=1)?

I've heard that they cause more problems than they cure.

My ENT and surgeon both said that neti-pots are evil because they push fluid in to areas it shouldn't be. Sinuses are self cleaning. They did suggest you can flush out some crap with saline spray (don't 'inhale' it though).

Hmm, maybe we're on an older version of Outlook still? No ribbon on our version.

Help > About

[Not Afraid]

Don't put tap water up your nose or brain-eating amoebas will kill you.

(Although, I have done it more than once to relieve a sinus headache - and it works.) I will be using distilled water from now on.

[Moonliner]

Don't put tap water up your nose or brain-eating amoebas will kill you.

(Although, I have done it more than once to relieve a sinus headache - and it works.) I will be using distilled water from now on.

Fine, he can go back to his original plan of using power tools.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Don't put tap water up your nose or brain-eating amoebas will kill you.

(Although, I have done it more than once to relieve a sinus headache - and it works.) I will be using distilled water from now on.Or just boil the water for 5-10 minutes (and then let it cool) before you do.

[Strangler Lewis]

Yes, I don't recall a huge change in Outlook either (though I did have to go put everything back the way I want it).

I think I would have a huge change in outlook if I could put everything the way I want it.

[3894]

Murder = collective noun for crows.

An exaltation of skylarks

[RStar]

An exaltation of skylarks

I live on Blue Jay Lane, which is just off of Skylark Street. Which is much better than Murder Road, I suppose!

[Morrigoon]

So um... yeah, we have a baby :) Come on by and visit this evening if you like.

[Moonliner]

So um... yeah, we have a baby :) Come on by and visit this evening if you like.

Woot! For you! I'll be on the next flight.

[Strangler Lewis]

Mazel Tov!

(That means "Good Mazel!")

Congratulations. Hope all are well.

[3894]

Welcome to the spinning world, new baby!

Yer war story, Morrigoon. We want to hear it.

[Strangler Lewis]

Welcome to the spinning world, new baby!

Yer war story, Morrigoon. We want to hear it.

And your husband's.

[Betty]

So um... yeah, we have a baby :) Come on by and visit this evening if you like.

Congratulations!

And I must ask - did you have the baby today? Cause it's my birthday too!

[Kevy Baby]

And I must ask - did you have the baby today?Yesterday. Per Facebook:Amelia Elizabeth was born this morning, after 36ish hours of labor, weighing 7lbs, 7oz, and 20 inches long :)

[Alex]

Before tonight I had puked, as an adult (I was more sickly as a kid), four times.

That number is now five. Since this pretty clearly is food poisoning (absolutely no other symptoms other than the nausea out of the blue and now feel completely fine, at least for now) I don't think I'll be going back to the new restaurant I had lunch at today. No idea if they deserve the blame, but they're getting it.

I do wish I had a weaker stomach so I could have just puked the first time the desire wave hit instead of having to suffer with the urge to puke for three hours.

Coincidentally, I can now report then I said this (http://www.loungeoftomorrow.com/LoT/showpost.php?p=255096&postcount=8):

Then you're doing it wrong. You need to practice your vomiting skills. A well performed vomit should sound more like "hu, hu, ugh, hhhrrrrrruuuwoooosh, oh god, god dammit, hhhhrrrrrrooowooosh".

I pretty much nailed it.

[Kevy Baby]

Only Alex can make puking funny.

Well, not really: lot's of people have made it amusing. But I loved the post none-the-less

[Not Afraid]

I have never really thought what I sound like when I puke (let along what I'm SUPPOSED to sound like). Now, cat barf - I'm much more experienced.

[Not Afraid]

Congratulations Cindy! I saw the pic with Josaphine and she is adorable!

[Morrigoon]

Yer war story, Morrigoon. We want to hear it.

Think about that request VERY CAREFULLY before reiterating it. Unless you have a teenager you want to scare.:cakes:

(and because my reputation is not one of sparing details...)

[Betty]

Yesterday. Per Facebook:

Yay!:snap:

[Betty]

Think about that request VERY CAREFULLY before reiterating it. Unless you have a teenager you want to scare.:cakes:

(and because my reputation is not one of sparing details...)

Yes - I want to hear all about it. 36 hours! Wow! My goodness. Did it hurt? lol. :p :rolleyes: ;)

[BarTopDancer]

I have never really thought what I sound like when I puke (let along what I'm SUPPOSED to sound like). Now, cat barf - I'm much more experienced.

You know what you sound like when you barf like a cat?

[Alex]

The cat version is a trick question. A cat puking is silent. A cat getting ready to puke is what makes noise.

[cirquelover]

Congratulations on the new bundle of joy!


Sorry about the puking Alex but Kevy is right your analysis is always entertaining.

[3894]

Think about that request VERY CAREFULLY before reiterating it. Unless you have a teenager you want to scare.:cakes:

(and because my reputation is not one of sparing details...)

Let's take it down below with spoiler tags, then.

[3894]

Also, Morrigoon, photo or it didn't happen or however people say that.

[Moonliner]

Also, Morrigoon, photo or it didn't happen or however people say that.

Note: That is a reference to the cute little baby and not that other stuff being talked about.

I hope.

[Not Afraid]

The cat version is a trick question. A cat puking is silent. A cat getting ready to puke is what makes noise.

No. There's a definite Spit Splat sound.

[BarTopDancer]

I am so fvcking bored! There are 10 people in the building and I am stuck here until 5.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Goonie, I want to hear your story. Spoiler tags might be a good idea but yeah, I want to hear how it went. I saw Alex's posts on Facebook but I'd like to hear how it was for you.

[lashbear]

Alex: Food poisoning takes about 24 hours, doesn't it ?

[RStar]

Yay! Welcome Miss Amelia Elizabeth Morrigoon! :D

[Betty]

Yay! Welcome Miss Amelia Elizabeth Morrigoon! :D

Amelia! I really like that.

[katiesue]

Man teenagers are loud - and we're still missing 3. At least they're entertaining. One thinks Suzanna Hoff's is hot, especially for 50. I'm hiding out in the office, hopefully no one finds me.

[RStar]

Amelia! I really like that.

Thank you!


*Though I had nothing to do with the name*

[Morrigoon]

Also, Morrigoon, photo or it didn't happen or however people say that.

Adorable photo spoilered for size (pardon the blur on her foreground hand, she was moving it... )

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b321/morrigoon/Amelia/P1190880.jpg

[Strangler Lewis]

Yes, hello to you, too.

[Gn2Dlnd]

:D

[3894]

Adorable photo spoilered for size (pardon the blur on her foreground hand, she was moving it... )

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b321/morrigoon/Amelia/P1190880.jpg


Oh, how I envy your next 18 years with this angel. Girls rule.

[lashbear]

Cindy: She has your eyes

[JWBear]

Cindy: She has your eyes

Take those out of her mouth.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Gomez, is that you?

[Not Afraid]

Look at her cute little punk rock doo! She's adorable!

[flippyshark]

What a gorgeous new year baby!

[Snowflake]

Amelia is a gorgeous name for a simply stunning little baby. Congrats to you and Alex. She looks adorable and I'm with NA about her punk doo.:D

[Morrigoon]

Can't wait till I can bring her out & about to share her w/everyone. :)

And I haven't had the heart to brush that hair YET. :cool:

[Moonliner]

Soooooo.....

I'm doing my annual Email clean out before archiving 2011's emails. Turns out I have 13,312 email notifications from LoT. I guess I better add checking my autoarchive/autodelete settings to my ToDo list.

[Disneyphile]

Wow. 1904 new pets since my last visit. Have I missed anything? ;)

[alphabassettgrrl]

No new pets here. :)

[Kevy Baby]

Soooooo.....

I'm doing my annual Email clean out before archiving 2011's emails. Turns out I have 13,312 email notifications from LoT. I guess I better add checking my autoarchive/autodelete settings to my ToDo list.Or turn off notifications as the default

User CP > Edit Options > Under "Messaging & Notification" "Default Thread Subscription Mode", select "Do Not Subscribe"

[Morrigoon]

Wow. 1904 new pets since my last visit. Have I missed anything? ;)

Wow, D-phile, you really need to stop adopting animals ;)

[JWBear]

Wow, D-phile, you really need to stop adopting animals ;)

She's trying to catch up to Lisa, apparently.

[Disneyphile]

OMG. Best typo ever. LOL!!

[Betty]

<taking deep breaths>
got a voice mail from the doctor to call them... just had blood work done and a mammogram. calling them sounds like bad news.

Husband called and forgot to take his medicine - very important for his mental health particularly at work. Pharmacy not open yet... having to wait and worry about him until it does and he goes and picks up a new prescription.

My daughter's going for her driving test today.

My son's new braces are having issues with a wire poking out - first day back to school after xmas break.

/Calgon, calgon, take me away.

[Moonliner]

SNOW!

The pretty kind that just blows past my window and does cause traffic issue or need shoveling.

[CoasterMatt]

I'm in shorts at work, and it's about 82 degrees out. I love January.

[3894]

I'm in shorts at work, and it's about 82 degrees out. I love January.

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR_C_957t4H2MD5ef5w0mh8o7ATnlWbd hZG_DSzqGCVwdvUK74R

[Betty]

daughter passed the test.

husband got his medicine.

I did not get the results of my testing. Doctor not in today and she wants to talk to me personally. sigh. that sounds bad.

[katiesue]

I did not get the results of my testing. Doctor not in today and she wants to talk to me personally. sigh. that sounds bad.

I've had a couple of those, and they ended up fine on re-testing. Don't panic yet.

[BarTopDancer]

daughter passed the test.

husband got his medicine.

I did not get the results of my testing. Doctor not in today and she wants to talk to me personally. sigh. that sounds bad.

I've had a couple of those, and they ended up fine on re-testing. Don't panic yet.

Me too. There's something about no test results can be delivered over the phone regardless of good or bad.

[Prudence]

Day 3 of inadequate heating! It's supposed to get down to *17* tonight. I am not amused.

[Moonliner]

Day 3 of inadequate heating! It's supposed to get down to *17* tonight. I am not amused.

Do you need a ladder?

[Prudence]

Do you need a ladder?

Hmmmm...we could use the ladder to coax the insurance dweeb up to the roof, then snatch it away and refuse to let them down until they sign off on getting us heat, pronto!

I realize that we're holding steady (so far) at 60, so it's not like it's actually freezing inside. And with two space heaters we'll be able to keep the bedroom warm. But I'm still not particularly pleased.

[€uroMeinke]

Just build a fire - start with any loose siding and go from there

[Ghoulish Delight]

Successfully registered for classes and ordered books for next semester, which starts in < 2 weeks. Hooray?

[Kevy Baby]

Does this mean that for the next couple of weeks, you have no class?

[Prudence]

We get heat tomorrow!

[Alex]

So. It is 5:20am and I've already been up for 2+ hours. Weather is about as good for race start as could be hoped though.

[Betty]

So. It is 5:20am and I've already been up for 2+ hours. Weather is about as good for race start as could be hoped though.

Ooh - then what happened?

[Alex]

Then things took more time than I'd hoped.

[katiesue]

But you finished right?

[RStar]

But you finished right?

That's what she said.


*I've been hanging around with teenagers too much*

[JWBear]

My mom turns 88 today.

[Betty]

My mom turns 88 today.

Happy Birthday Mom! :)

[€uroMeinke]

My mom turns 88 today.

You should buy her a piano

[RStar]

You should buy her a piano

And make her move it in the house by herself? :eek:

[katiesue]

Interesting article 10 100 year predictions that came true. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16444966)

[Strangler Lewis]

For reasons I don't know or remember, we have caller ID blocking on our in-house phone line, but I don't have it on my garage office line. I had considered doing something about that every time I had someone tell me they didn't answer my call because my caller ID didn't show up, which, frankly, I think is kind of silly behavior.

This morning I learned that, at least in my town, you can't get through to 911 with caller ID blocked. That strikes me as unsound as well, but it has prompted me to call the phone company.

[katiesue]

My Mom had her ID blocked. My sister does as well. They somehow think blocking it blocks getting unwanted calls.

I asked my Mom why she didn't take it off and she couldn't really say. Unless you want to crank call someone in the middle of the night why do you need it on there?

And to make it even better Mom's ID is blocked and my Aunt had her phone set not to accept blocked calls. So every call between them turned into a whole thing. Sigh.

[Ghoulish Delight]

And to make it even better Mom's ID is blocked and my Aunt had her phone set not to accept blocked calls. So every call between them turned into a whole thing. Sigh.My mom was at least clever enough to program her auto dial to dial the code to temporarily disable the ID blocking so she could call my sister (who blocks unknown callers).

I think my mom's "logic" for blocking he ID was that she didn't want companies she called to be given her name and number. *shrug* She actually unblocked it about a year ago, which shocked the hell out of me. Never got around to asking if she actively chose to unblock it, or if they just changed providers or something and didn't bother blocking it.

[Alex]

Interesting article 10 100 year predictions that came true. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16444966)

What comes is long and boring but it interested me to look stuff up so I'll overshare.

Ugh. This is how psychics get taken seriously. Some good predictions but the amazement generally seems overstated to me and the misses are almost completely ignored (or massaged into "near hits").

The prediction:

There will probably be from 350,000,000 to 500,000,000 people in America and its possessions by the lapse of another century. Nicaragua will ask for admission to our union after the completion of the great canal. Mexico will be next. Europe, seeking more territory to the south of us will cause many of the South and Central American republics to be voted into the Union by their own people.The BBC article merits the population figure a near miss but getting bonus points for predicting a slowing of growth. They could have reported it a hit since the 2000 population of the mentioned countries plus possessions in 1900 (Cuba and the Philippines being the mathematically relevant ones) was 433 million. Add in the unspecified South American countries and the number was probably too low, not a bit too high.

So the predictions included there:
1) The U.S. maintaining its "possessions." - WRONG
2) Nicaragua becoming a state. - WRONG
3) Mexico becoming a state. - WRONG
4) Europe making serious colonial plays in South America. - WRONG
5) The siting of the Panama Canal in Nicaragua (which was a decision only 3 years in the future). - WRONG
6) A population of 350-500 million in the territory he is talking about - RIGHT

1 for 6.

The Prediction

The American will be Taller by from one to two inches. His increase of stature will result from better health, due to vast reforms in medicine, sanitation, food, and athletics. He will live fifty years instead of thirty-five as at present-for he will reside in the suburbs. The city house will practically be no more. Building in blocks will be illegal. The trip from suburban home to office will require a few minutes only. A penny will pay the fare.BBC only mentions the height increase and says it is spot on.

1) Americans will be taller by 1-2 inches. RIGHT
2) This will be because of improved medicine. RIGHT
3) This will be because of improved sanitation. RIGHT
4) This will be because of improved food. RIGHT and WRONG (food sanitation yes, what we eat not so much)
5) This will be because of improved athletics. WRONG (don't think improved physical activity has played a role)
6) Average at-birth lifespan will be 50. WRONG (78 is the correct answer)
7) Average American will live in the suburbs. RIGHT (it's around 50%, will give it to him)
8) City housing will disappear. WRONG
9) Building in blocks will be illegal. WRONG
10) Average suburb to office commute will be minutes. WRONG
11) Commuting will only cost a penny. WRONG

4.5 out of 11.

The Prediction:
There will be no C, X or Q in our every day alphabet. They will be abandoned because unnecessary. Spelling by sound will have been adopted, first by newspapers. English will be a language of condensed words expressing condensed ideas, and will be more extensively spoken than any other. Russian will rank second.Absolutely everything is wrong in this one. English is the second most spoken language (including as secondary language behind Chinese). With Russian fourth. Considering native speakers only English is third (now behind Spanish as well) and Russian is 8th.

0 out of 5.

The Prediction
Hot or cold air will be turned on from spigots to regulate the temperature of a house as we now turn on hot or cold water from spigots to regulate the temperature of the bath. Central plants will supply this cool air and heat to city houses in the same way as now our gas or electricity is furnished. Rising early to build the furnace fire will be a task of the olden times. Homes will have no chimneys because no smoke will be created within their walls.He did better on this one. Though wrong about centrally provided hot and cold air (centrally generated steam for heating does exist but it existed then too) he was right about us abandoning fire as the heating method of choice and is ornamental in most instances.

2 of 4.

The Prediction
Insect screens will be unnecessary. Mosquitos, house-flies and roaches will have been practically exterminated. Boards of health will have destroyed all mosquito haunts and breeding-grounds, drained all stagnant pools, filled in all swamp-lands, and chemically treated all still-water streams. The extermination of the horse and its stable will reduce the house-fly.

In the right direction (and by historic standards you could argue that all but roaches have been "practically eliminated") but none of these have been eliminated and fortunately he was wrong that all swampland and still water would be eliminated.

The Prediction
Ready-Cooked Meals will be bought from establishments similar to our bakeries of today. They will purchase materials in tremendous wholesale quantities and sell the cooked foods at a price much lower than the cost of individual cooking. Food will be served hot or cold to private house in pneumatic tubes or automobile wagons. The meal being over, the dishes used will be packed and returned to the cooking establishments where they will be washed. Such wholesale cookery will be done in electric laboratories rather than kitchens. These laboratories will be equipped with electric stoves, and all sorts of electric devices such as coffee grinders, egg beaters, stirrers, shakers, parers, meat choppers, meat-saws, potato-mashers, lemon-squeezers, dish washers, dish dryers and the like. All such utensils will be washed in chemicals fatal to disease microbes. Having one's own cook and purchasing one's own food will be an extravagance.This one is interesting as it is a pretty good description of industrial food processing. Oddly the BBC article focuses on the take-out aspect of it and mentions the miss on returning dishes but doesn't mention the pneumatic tubes or the abandonment of individual food shopping. He's right that having your own cook is an extravagance, but honestly, it was an extravagance in 1900 too.

And now I've bored myself.

[Strangler Lewis]

When I first read things like 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 as a teenager, I thought they were clever but a little farfetched in their assumptions about the future. I recently reread Fahrenheit 451, and it turns out I just had to wait a couple of decades for him to be pretty spot on.

[Alex]

And I'm always interested in what is missed. He projects massive improvements in transportation (many of which are essentially correct), but essentially misses air travel which would have actually been predicting something newish instead of just a steady improvement of current technology.

There will be airships but they will not successfully compete with surface cars and water vessels for passenger or freight traffic. They will be maintained as deadly war vessels by all military nations. Some will transport men and goods. Others will be used by scientists making observations at great heights above the earth.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Caller-id blocking prevented me from figuring out who was phone-stalking me. I eventually had to change my number. It was a wrong number, initially, but he kept calling me. It was annoying.

[katiesue]

You can block your ID at any time by punching in a code before you dial.

[Betty]

Caller-id blocking prevented me from figuring out who was phone-stalking me. I eventually had to change my number. It was a wrong number, initially, but he kept calling me. It was annoying.

I had a phone stalker once on my work cell phone. A lady texted me to stop effing her husband and it escalated to harassing voice mails. No amount of me telling her I was happily married and had no idea who or what she was talking about made a difference. Finally had to change phone numbers.

[Not Afraid]

I had a phone stalker once on my work cell phone. A lady texted me to stop effing her husband and it escalated to harassing voice mails. No amount of me telling her I was happily married and had no idea who or what she was talking about made a difference. Finally had to change phone numbers.

While I probably wouldn't do this in reality, my first thought was to respond "but no one (insert nasty here) like he does".

[alphabassettgrrl]

I had a phone stalker once on my work cell phone. A lady texted me to stop effing her husband and it escalated to harassing voice mails. No amount of me telling her I was happily married and had no idea who or what she was talking about made a difference. Finally had to change phone numbers.

That's awful.

I think my stalker got some girl who he was pestering, and she gave him a fake number to make him go away. Except it wasn't a fake number- it was mine. He was convinced he'd met me in a bar in Santa Barbara. Um, no.

[Moonliner]

Now i feel sad. I've never had a stalker. Unless you count Kevy of course.

[Betty]

Now i feel sad. I've never had a stalker. Unless you count Kevy of course.

I can stalk you for a bit, if you want. I've got some time available today. What's your number?

[Kevy Baby]

Now i feel sad. I've never had a stalker. Unless you count Kevy of course.I'm more of a stocker

[Ghoulish Delight]

Coffee stirrers make terrible chopsticks. Especially when the object being chopstuck is a wet bit of sugar packet floating/sinking in a cup of coffee.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Absolutely everything is wrong in this one. English is the second most spoken language (including as secondary language behind Chinese). With Russian fourth. Considering native speakers only English is third (now behind Spanish as well) and Russian is 8th.

Hmm, I assume your stats are based on how many people speak each language. His wording was "will be more extensively spoken than any other", which to my mind means spoken in more places around the world. Isn't English still the closest the world has to an international language?

[Alex]

If that is the meaning he meant, it was true in 1900 sine the British empire was near it's peak so isn't much of a prediction.

Buy if you want I'll give him half a point in an otherwise ridiculously wrong prediction on what would happen to the language in a hundred years.

[RStar]

English is a stupid language. Too many exceptions to the rules. I think we should all speak Serbian instead. It's based on phonomic principals, and is so simple to spell that spelling isn't even taught in school!

[Moonliner]

English is a stupid language. Too many exceptions to the rules. I think we should all speak Serbian instead. It's based on phonomic principals, and is so simple to spell that spelling isn't even taught in school!

If that's your criteria you should lean lobjan (https://www.xkcd.com/191/).


Lojban (pronounced locally: [ˈloʒban] ( listen)) is a constructed, syntactically unambiguous human language based on predicate logic, succeeding the project of Loglan. The name "Lojban" is a combination of loj and ban, which are short forms of logji (logic) and bangu (language), respectively.

[Kevy Baby]

If one "leans" that way perhaps.

I went to school to lean

[Moonliner]

If one "leans" that way perhaps.

I went to school to lean

My apologies but your posts meaning is ambiguous and so it shall be ignored.

Could your please re-post it in either Serbian or Lobjan?

[JWBear]

My apologies but your posts meaning is ambiguous and so it shall be ignored.

Could your please re-post it in either Serbian or Lobjan?

I don't know about those languages, but I can post it in Welsh:

Os bydd un "gwyro" y ffordd honno o bosibl.

Fe es i'r ysgol i bwyso.

(Don't complain about English untill you've taken a stab at learning a Celtic language!)

[Ghoulish Delight]

The things you learn. Just read a local article that made reference to "Navy Seabees".

My first though was that it was some weird auto-correct snafu and it meant Navy Seals. I googled it anyway, turns out the Navy Seabees are the construction arm of the Navy (I presume analogous to the Army Corps of Engineers), and it gets the name from the initials for "Construction Brigade".

I can't wait until that knowledge becomes useful, most likely to make me feel all knowledgeable and superior while watching Jeopardy or playing Trivial Pursuit.

[Kevy Baby]

My grandfather was a SeaBee.

[Moonliner]

I don't know about those languages, but I can post it in Welsh:

Os bydd un "gwyro" y ffordd honno o bosibl.

Fe es i'r ysgol i bwyso.

(Don't complain about English untill you've taken a stab at learning a Celtic language!)

Or Latin:

Ifway oneway "eanslay" atthay ayway erhapspay.

Iway entway otay oolschay otay eanlay

[BarTopDancer]

The things you learn. Just read a local article that made reference to "Navy Seabees".

My first though was that it was some weird auto-correct snafu and it meant Navy Seals. I googled it anyway, turns out the Navy Seabees are the construction arm of the Navy (I presume analogous to the Army Corps of Engineers), and it gets the name from the initials for "Construction Brigade".

I can't wait until that knowledge becomes useful, most likely to make me feel all knowledgeable and superior while watching Jeopardy or playing Trivial Pursuit.

How did you not know that?

[Alex]

The Fighting Seabees is a decent WWII movie.

Also, I believe theirs was one of the first unit logos designed at Dismey during the war.

[CoasterMatt]

Here (http://www.seabeesmuseum.com/FightingBee.html)'s more info about the Fighting Bee.

[lashbear]

The things you learn. Just read a local article that made reference to "Navy Seabees".

My first though was that it was some weird auto-correct snafu and it meant Navy Seals. I googled it anyway, turns out the Navy Seabees are the construction arm of the Navy (I presume analogous to the Army Corps of Engineers), and it gets the name from the initials for "Construction Brigade".

I can't wait until that knowledge becomes useful, most likely to make me feel all knowledgeable and superior while watching Jeopardy or playing Trivial Pursuit.

I assume you've never watched "South Pacific"

[3894]

Two Old School Padders are in the February Real Simple magazine. There is a terrific picture and an article about them.

Hey, we know someone famous!

[Stan4dSteph]

Finished my back to back half marathons last weekend at WDW. Weather was really nice. Now I have a bad cold that I caught there.

[Moonliner]

Finished my back to back half marathons last weekend at WDW. Weather was really nice. Now I have a bad cold that I caught there.

Yea! Boo.

[cirquelover]

Way to go Steph! Sorry you caught a cold though.

[Strangler Lewis]

Congratulations!

If I did back to back half marathons, I'd catch a dead.

[Strangler Lewis]

Two Old School Padders are in the February Real Simple magazine. There is a terrific picture and an article about them.

Hey, we know someone famous!

And congratulations to you, Laura and the great state of Wisconsin. You must be awfully proud.

[3894]

And congratulations to you, Laura and the great state of Wisconsin. You must be awfully proud.

*Buzzer!* Wrong answer.

[Kevy Baby]

I learned a new term today: anemomenophobia

[Ghoulish Delight]

Fear of wind measuring equipment?


ETA: Heh, Googled it. I wasn't far off.

[Moonliner]

Sounds like NIMBY syndrome.

[katiesue]

So do you think a former teacher/principal feels successful when a former student posts this on their wall

U r sooo rite mr b and im sorry for not gettin bak at u sooner been busy wrkn barely get time to sleep. so if i dnt answr my fone its cuz im at wrk but i get off at 430pm call me then or leave me a msg. bye!

[BarTopDancer]

God, I hope not!

[Moonliner]

A nasty car crash. A family hanging literally inches from death. Rescue workers losing the battle to save them as the car slips inch by inch closer to disaster.

Who you gonna call? Yup.

http://home.earthlink.net/~larrydev/colorBee.jpg

True Story. (http://www.digtriad.com/news/article/208850/1/Navy-Seabees-Rescue-Family-After-Car-Crash)


Santa Barbara County, CA -- They were just inches from plunging to their deaths. A San Juan Capistrano mom, child and infant, can thank Navy Seabies for saving them from a horrific car accident on Saturday.

[Moonliner]

Snow! Not here on the bitter east coast, but out in the Pacific Northwest.

Good luck to any of you getting buried with the white stuff today.

[Stan4dSteph]

If you're a fan of The Cure, they will be playing Eurokéenees (http://eurockeennes.fr/) this year. The full lineup won't be revealed until mid-April, but tickets are on sale now.

[cirquelover]

Snow! Not here on the bitter east coast, but out in the Pacific Northwest.

Good luck to any of you getting buried with the white stuff today.

Thanks, it has been very entertaining! I am cold though.

[cirquelover]

Now it's raining like crazy, the snow melted amd there is a flood warning. Oh and the house is leaking!

[Moonliner]

Now it's raining like crazy, the snow melted amd there is a flood warning. Oh and the house is leaking!

What no shoveling? You lucky bastards!

[Morrigoon]

Always something to be bitter about, eh Moonliner?

It's been pretty cold here lately too... I think about 65 today. :cool:

*ducks*

[Ghoulish Delight]

Did I mention I could feel the cold in my eyeballs this morning? That = cold, I don't care what anyone says. Admittedly, it was only an issue at 15+ mph. Had I driven rather than bike today I doubt I would have even noticed the temperature.

[blueerica]

It looks like it's snowing really hard a few miles from here, and it has hovered there most of the day.

Trying to work this one out in my head.

[katiesue]

So my cousin's putting together something for my Uncle's 50th Birthday. I knew he was only 4 1/2 years older than me but I never did the math on all the siblings. So my Dad is the eldest (and he was raised by his aunt & uncle) then Linda is two years younger than dad, Joanne is 10 years younger, Jon is 23 years younger and Gerry is 25 years younger.

Isn't that quite an age spread? Same parents. My grandmother was 16 when she had my Dad. And my two cousins from my Aunt Linda are the same ages as my Uncles Jon and Gerry. Our family is bonkers to start with but this is a bit strange.

[Kevy Baby]

Susan has an Aunt who is a couple year's younger than her

[JWBear]

I have two nephews who are only three years younger than me.

[Kevy Baby]

Also, I went to school with an aunt/nephew - they were in the same grade

[Not Afraid]

I have odd age gaps in my family too, but it always gets me that my grand parents were born in the 1800's.

[Alex]

My great-grandparents were born during the Taft administration

[RStar]

My great grandfather was Harry Turman, and occasionally would get Harry Truman's mail by mistake. I have no idea how close the addresses were, but this was before automation and zip codes.

[Alex]

I hope your grandfather didn't live on the slopes if Mount St. Helens.

[Ghoulish Delight]

No, he lived on Muont St. Helens.

[Alex]

Oh, was reading on a phone. Didn't notice the Turman.

[Kevy Baby]

"I thought that some of the metaphysical imagery was really effective. Oh, and interesting rhythmic devices too, which seemed to counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor of the humanity of the Vogonity of the compassionate soul which contrives through the medium of the verse structure to sublimate this, transcend that, and come to terms with the fundamental dichotomies of the other and one is left with a profound and vivid insight into whatever it was the poem was about."

[lashbear]

How did you know I was reading that on my Kindle at the moment. You're Fizz-Chick !!

[Kevy Baby]

I was reading it on the Kindle app on my iPad

[RStar]

I still sit at a desk with a CPU, keyboard, and a monitor....feeling old.

[Kevy Baby]

...and a monitor...CRT or flat?

[flippyshark]

So, has anyone here read The Hunger Games? It seems to be the next Twilight among female young adult readers, but, as it sounds like it's more Battle Royale than glittery vamps, is it a story that dudes might enjoy? (I hear it's got plenty of kill or be killed violence.)

[CoasterMatt]

So you wanna be a Monorail pilot? Check out this manual (http://gizmodo.com/5877493/learn-to-drive-disneylands-monorails-with-its-1966-operator-guide) from 1966.

Lemme know how much it's changed, Wolfy :)

[Betty]

So, has anyone here read The Hunger Games? It seems to be the next Twilight among female young adult readers, but, as it sounds like it's more Battle Royale than glittery vamps, is it a story that dudes might enjoy? (I hear it's got plenty of kill or be killed violence.)

I read the series after my daughter read them. She's currently 17 - read them a few years ago? My son, now 13, has also read them. We all enjoyed them.

However, they aren't as well written as they could be. Characters might be a little more... likable isn't the right word... but the romance aspect I found to be uninteresting to some extent. I just wasn't feeling it with Peeta and I think that was due to the writing. That is - I was supposed to care but didn't.

I think the premise of the books is fascinating. The reality tv aspect as well as the different districts (classes?) working for a small minority of people in the capitol.

[Alex]

I've read them. Not very well written but tackles some larger themes in a superficial way.

The first book is kind of Battle Royale in PG-13 form while the second and third get a bit more political.

But the world in which it takes place makes absolutely no sense if any time at all is spent thinking about it.

[Strangler Lewis]

My daughter loves them, and I'm supposed to think the movie trailer is awesome. Looks like a dystopic Goblet of Fire. I'm glad she's old enough to go by herself.

I'm waiting to find some well written YA, or at least YA fantasy. I've now gone to book signings of three authors she's fond of. These people come across as charming and literate, both about their field and about literature in general and the wider world. Then, you crack open their books and half of it is eye-rolling. If you took all the eye-rolling out of the Twilight series, you'd have a single novella.

[alphabassettgrrl]

Eight miles on the mountain bike this morning. Three of that was all uphill. Tough trail. :)

[RStar]

CRT or flat?

Flat. I'm not THAT old. Well, actually I am, but I moved up to flat screen some time ago....

[Kevy Baby]

Flat. I'm not THAT old. Well, actually I am, but I moved up to flat screen some time ago....Last week?

[Moonliner]

*crap*

I gotz a cold. Life sucks.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

*crap*

I gotz a cold. Life sucks.Wrong thread.

[Ghoulish Delight]

At the funeral last month for my grandmother, one of my mom's cousins had with her several jars of pickles, made using her grandmother's (my great grandmother) recipe.

Just tried one yesterday. Oh man, that's a good pickle! Nice strong dill flavor and just the right amount of spiciness. It bites back a little bit, and if you eat a whole one the heat definitely sticks with you, but it's not so much that it's painfully burning.

The cousin promised to host a party to teach us how the recipe. I can't wait!

[cirquelover]

I have insomnia tonight and now the police have been circling my block with their spotlight. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight.

[lashbear]

Did they find you yet?

[RStar]

Last week?

Feels like it. Actually it was five years ago. The same computer I've been running since then. I turn it on in the morning, get my coffee, feed the animals, and come back 15 minutes later to see if Windows loaded yet.

[old man voice] Eh, sonny, what's that? Buy a new computer you say? Why, back in my day my computer had a whopping 256 mb hard drive and 4 whole megs of ram! I remember taking the 4- 1 mb sticks out and upgrading to 4- 4 megs, a huge 16 megs of ram! Both ways, in the snow! Barefoot! [/old man voice]

[cirquelover]

Did they find you yet?


Yes:D

[Morrigoon]

At the funeral last month for my grandmother, one of my mom's cousins had with her several jars of pickles, made using her grandmother's (my great grandmother) recipe.

Just tried one yesterday. Oh man, that's a good pickle! Nice strong dill flavor and just the right amount of spiciness. It bites back a little bit, and if you eat a whole one the heat definitely sticks with you, but it's not so much that it's painfully burning.

The cousin promised to host a party to teach us how the recipe. I can't wait!

What a fantastic way to remember your grandmother!

[Ghoulish Delight]

For the fun and learning experience of it I've been building a php/mysql based website in my spare time over the last few weeks. I've played around with the languages a little bit working on LoT of course, but there's a difference between tinkering with existing code and building a DB and CMS from the ground up.

It's really hit me how insane it is that having what amounts to 4 languages (html, javascript, php, and sql) kludged into a single line of code is pretty much SOP for most content management systems out there. It's a mess.



-------------------------------


On an unrelated note, amid yesterday's rain I was struck by the fact that in all likelihood, T will never know the horrors of those evil thumb-pinching umbrellas. And it boggled my mind that the human race managed to invent home computing before managing to invent (or at least make universally available) an umbrella mechanism that wasn't designed specifically to torture young childrens' fingers.

[bewitched]

I'm waiting to find some well written YA, or at least YA fantasy.

I really enjoyed the 100 Cupboards (http://www.amazon.com/100-Cupboards-Bk/dp/0375838821/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327452672&sr=1-1) series. I also really liked Life as We Knew it (http://www.amazon.com/Life-Knew-Susan-Beth-Pfeffer/dp/0152061541/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327453233&sr=1-1). I've heard The Everlost trilogy (http://www.amazon.com/Everlost-Skinjacker-Trilogy-Neal-Shusterman/dp/1416997490/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327453366&sr=1-1) is very good, but I've never read it myself.

I actually really enjoyed the Hunger Games...refuse to read the banality that is the Twilight series.

[Alex]

On an unrelated note, amid yesterday's rain I was struck by the fact that in all likelihood, T will never know the horrors of those evil thumb-pinching umbrellas. And it boggled my mind that the human race managed to invent home computing before managing to invent (or at least make universally available) an umbrella mechanism that wasn't designed specifically to torture young childrens' fingers.

I don't know that I've ever owned an umbrella (being from Washington my philosophy is "you get wet, later you dry off"). Though I guess I know what you mean.

How have they changed?

[Ghoulish Delight]

You used to have to push in a button (that was shaped like a dull razor blade) located just under the plastic collar that supported all of the spring tension of the open umbrella. The moment you depressed it enough for the umbrella to close, the entire force of that spring tension would be released, pinching your thumb between that stupid button and the plastic collar.

These days, instead of the tension being held by the spring loaded button on the shaft, everything is internal to the plastic collar and all you have to do is pull down on the plastic collar to close. No button, no sudden release of tension, no pinching.

[BarTopDancer]

These days, instead of the tension being held by the spring loaded button on the shaft, everything is internal to the plastic collar and all you have to do is pull down on the plastic collar to close. No button, no sudden release of tension, no pinching.

It really is amazing it took so long to design the plastic collar. You would think it would be a lot easier, and cheaper than the razorbutton.

[Kevy Baby]

[old man voice] Eh, sonny, what's that? Buy a new computer you say? Why, back in my day my computer had a whopping 256 mb hard drive and 4 whole megs of ram! I remember taking the 4- 1 mb sticks out and upgrading to 4- 4 megs, a huge 16 megs of ram! Both ways, in the snow! Barefoot! [/old man voice]The very first computer I owned had 2 Kb (not Mb) of RAM: you upgraded it by plugging in a 16 Kb module. If you wanted a program, you typed it in, line by line and if you wanted to save it, you backed it up to a cassette tape.

[lashbear]

The very first computer I owned had 2 Kb (not Mb) of RAM: you upgraded it by plugging in a 16 Kb module. If you wanted a program, you typed it in, line by line and if you wanted to save it, you backed it up to a cassette tape.

Ah, those were the days !!!

...not to mention going over 8 pages of closely written code to see which character you'd typed in wrongly.... :(