OK, That's it.

I'm dropping facebook.

I visited CNN.com today and what did I see on the front page? An article my Brother quoted on Facebook. With his name attached. On CNN.com

I'm sick of their "Opt Out" rather than "Opt In" ways.

That's right Facebook, I'm YAGE'ing your ass.

It's not like I really have much in common with any of my relatives anyways.

What he said.

I'm sorry to hear about Susan. I hope this helps a bit more this time.

Ugh, sorry to hear that. How long is the recovery?

Hugs to Susan and you - hope her recovery and is quick and as pleasant as possible.

It's actually an outpatient arthroscopic surgery. If I recall from last time, she was up and around the next day.

Unless while they are in there, they decide they need to remove some things.

Hugs to Kevy and Susan and wishes for speedy recovery, intact.

Wishes for Susan's speedy recovery.

I just received a bulk email from APC (the battery backup and power conditioning company).




In Russian

Best wishes for Susan and a speedy recovery!!

Wasn't sure where to post this, so it goes here.

Comedy Central Bows to Extremists, Censors South Park

The rest of the story.

Oh that's just gonna piss off Matt and Trey even more. I hope Comedy Central wants more censorship and Muhammed-themed episodes, because that's what they're gonna get.

I love the new Passion Pit cover of the Cranberries' Dreams

The bleeping of Mohamed's name during the episode - lame. The bleeping of the ENTIRE CHUNK OF DIALOG IN WHICH KYLE TALKS ABOUT CAVING TO FEAR AND INTIMIDATION THAT DIDN'T EVEN MENTION MOHAMED (as confirmed by a statement from Matt and Trey) is fvcking disastrously stupid. Just....wow.

It's amazing how much power that small group has (or seemingly has) to get CC to wuss out in this way. One veiled thread and boom censorship. I mean, I understand why CC did it, I don't agree with what they did but I understand they are concerned for the safety of their employees in light of the whole Danish rioting thing...

I sent this to Comedy Central:

Since I can't imagine I'm the first to say something, I don't even have to say much here, though I could certainly write a book on the subject. What you did on South Park last night was 1000 times more dangerous than simply airing it as intended could ever have been. You have legitimized the rantings of some mindless extremists, confirmed in their mind, and minds of anyone who might sympathize with them, that their empty threats hold sway. THAT is the danger. THAT is the threat. ONLY bold, intelligent, FREE expression of competing IDEAS can defeat them, and you took the cowardly, and dangerous route of backing down from their posturing. Congratulations.

Rereading that it occurs to me that I probably shouldn't have followed "mindless extremists" with "in their mind".

Dear Mr. Gholish Delight,

Thank you for writing us here at Comedy Central and your interest in the South Park television program.
We appreciate your feedback and know that your opinions, concerns and/or complaints are very important to us.
Because of the numerous emails and letters that we receive daily, we will not be able to respond to your letter personally. We hope that you will continue to watch South Park and all the rest of our entertaining Comedy Central programs.
Don't forget to tune in to our new animated comedy program "Ugly Americans" which airs Wednesdays at 10:30PM/9:30 Central.
Again, we appreciate your comments.

Sincerely,

Loreena Fuddy-Gibson
Public Relations

VGCM! :snap:

Wait, I got it!!! I know how to get Comedy Central to show the unedited show. Ready?

Hey, Comedy Central, look what happened to the victims of 9/11. Not one of the victims in that building showed an image of Mohamed, or mentioned his name, nor did they air a cartoon show that talked about how idiotic it is to make editorial decisions based on threats and intimidation. Just sayin'....

Hey, did you know that the head of original programming for Comedy Central is named Kent Alterman? His home address is

888 7th Ave, Fl 20
New York, NY 10106-2500

Here's a satellite map


Facts are fun!

Several years ago when American Airlines fvcked up a trip about as much as they possibly could and after getting responses along the lines of, "we aren't going to do **** to correct our mistakes and you can't do anything about it." I wrote a letter to the CEO of American and sent it to his home. About a week later I got a phone call from the senior vice president of consumer affairs at American, not to mention swift resolution to all of my problems. From this I learned 2 things:

1. CEOs get really, really pissed off at their inferiors when someone complains to them personally, at their home.

2. Everyone can be found on the internet...yep, facts are fun.

If someone wants to make a separate thread for this matter, please feel free to do so. I wasn't sure, so I put it in here, but it seems like this topic might warrant it's own thread.

On a completely different note... "Bring Your Child to Work Day" is the work of Satan.

I'm not sure what Comedy Central did, but as Matt and Trey have mentioned, for years before the first fooforah over Mohammed, an image of Mohammed had been playing in the credits for the show (don't know if it is still there).

Sadly, when the Mohammed cartoon thing was all the news way back when I published all the offensive cartoons in my LiveJournal and not one single person has tried to kill me since. I'm so disappointed.

So am I!

Only people who are friends of your brother see that article.

There is a privacy setting under Privacy Settings > Application Settings and Websites called Instant personalization. This is the setting that is causing people to show up. If you un-check it your stuff won't be on the web.

I agree with you, the Opt Out settings are getting tiresome, especially when they are so buried.

Go to Account > Privacy Settings > Applications and Websites > 1. uncheck "instant personalization", then 2. "What your friends can share about you" and click "Edit Settings" then uncheck everything.

Like.

Street traffic on my way to work has gotten worse in the last few weeks. Sign of economic recovery, more people on the way to work perhaps?

According to California unemployment numbers, no, but maybe you've got a local boom going.

Well yeah, I didn't think he made the front page of CNN.
But it means that CNN is using data on who my "friends" are. I don't like that.

Yes, but despite turning all of that to "Friends Only" they still keep adding new Sh*t and making it public by default.

That's all I'm saying.

So is there a good Facebook alternative that doesn't suck quite so much?

the following presumes Facebook is not flat out lying about the feature

CNN is not seeing your data. CNN hosts some generic code that gets loaded by your browser on your local system, which then logs into Facebook and retrieves the pertinent data and displays it on the page. No personal data is sent to CNN's site.

This.

Right. I'm not disagreeing with you.

I went through my FB last night, changed all the new settings and purged groups, apps and anyone I didn't talk to, or whose feed I blocked because their postings/ramblings weren't something I want to read. If FB is going to start making things public I'm going to be a lot more careful of my associations on there. I use FB to keep up with friends in other states and countries first.

The article NA posted was very informative about the changes. They also changed the way applications can store and use your personal data.

An alternative to Facebook? That's like asking for an alternative to the United Nations. It simply is the mega-site of the moment.

Wait 5 years or so.

Penis

Try this site

Yes, but odds are none of your friends are using it. LiveJournal was a much better social networking tool for me because all that's generally important to me is contact with actual friends (as opposed to the entire universe of people I've ever met in my life), easy privacy, and easy long form writing.

It's still better for me in that regard. Of course, most of my friends on there have essentially abandoned it and moved to Facebook so all that goodness is mostly valueless now.

Send invites to all my family members?

No. You don't want that.

52 minutes to go.

29 minutes...

Until...?
:)

29 minutes later

Are you leaving 5 minutes earlier or later?

Depends on where you're going.

It's 5:00 somewhere.....

I got spam from a "Fvckbook" (my spelling) once, but I never looked to see if it was real...

I'm feeling even better about my Facebook YAGE.

Only 8 new posts since 12:43 AM?

Wow.

I went to Arrowhead and helped a friend set up a barbecue grill on his deck, what did you do today?

Went to IKEA, Macy's, grocery store, dinner with my parents for my dad's bday, then to a bar my friend works at to watch the Avs lose to the Sharks.

Umm... archaeological expedition with thousands of remarkably stupid people, dinner at Oggi's pizza, followed by a re-watch of the Drawn Together movie.

Oooh, how is the Drawn Together Movie? It's next up on our Netflix list.

We were with the family celebrating a birthday.

Painting doors & windows and a quick bit of speed shopping

Offensive, vile, and scat-tastic. Everything you'd hope it would be. :)

Got a box of old 8mm film reels from my dad's house today. Found a few 50's/60's nudist films in there. I'm going to have them transferred separately, because I bet they'll be fascinating to see. From what I could somewhat see in the frames, there's a lot of big hair and swimming pools - total vintage stuff. The reel cans even have 39-cent pricetags on them.

I'm off to sell the cheese to the people.

Larchmont Village today. :)

I see Lisa's found an outlet for that ennui.......;)

Yesterday The Boy and I spent at The Old People's. He cleaned out their garage attic while I cleaned the house.

We have another 2 carloads for our next yard sale. He also found thier old slide projector and slides, all from the early 60's.

One of the things is an 8mm projector, in really excellent condition.

According to what I read in the LA Times today Larchmont is full of preppies. Is that true? Are they friendly?

Sooo...that hobby's working out nicely, huh? ;)

Arrrg. Double post.


Double arrrg...WB already went there.

Lol,BW! (Great minds....:D)

Can I just say that the bedroom looks FABULOUS and Chris did an amazing job with the painting! Now, if only I were sleeping there tonight......

You're not yard sale-ing that are you? If you are selling it, did you have an amount in mind? My dad has old 8mm film reels but his projector no longer works.

I'm sorry, you two fighting again? ;)

As were we. Except we had to drive 150+ miles to Santa Ynez to do it.

BBQ on a ranch in the beautiful Santa Ynez valley - made for a wonderful afternoon

Probably big hair everywhere

I really like the show Mythbusters. I'm glad GD got me hooked on that show. I could totally see GD in a beret...

I'm reorganizing/rearranging the kitchen today. I hope Rose likes it.

Does she know? 'Cause if Bill ever reorganized the kitchen without me approving it, there would be hell to pay.

I always pictured me as Adam, and € as Jamie in the beret.

True that.
I always picture me on a date with Tory.

See the thing is, I do just about all the cooking in our kitchen. So it'll be a surprise for her, but nothing to get worked up over.

Which Mythbuster do I get to be? I enjoy blowing things up, and I've got a bit of experience picking locks and crashing vehicles.

I'm the one going around behind them saying "that was cool TV but you know the experiment isn't particularly valid in terms of establishing what you say it is establishing, right?" For some reason that one doesn't get on TV much.

You get your due in the "revisit" episodes. CP can attest, I do a lot of yelling at them for their methods.

I don't think I've ever happened upon a "revisit" episode.

Actually, the thing that tends to annoy me more (I understand most of the shortcuts they have to take with a TV show) is when they spend an hour doing a lot of work to prove whether something can happen in reality when there already exists plenty of documentary evidence of that something happening in reality (such as a car driving up into a truck trailer but not shooting out the front).

I like the exploding cement truck episode because they blew up a cement truck.

I understand why they do those. There are a depressing number of people that just don't accept it until they see it, plus it's just cool to do. But yeah, I wish they'd at least do a better job of framing it as, "We know this works, we just want to do it because it's cool and to shut some people up." Rather than pretending that they don't know what the outcome will be.

I'm glad they've dialed back the explosion-porn aspect of the show this season. Not that I don't enjoy a good boom, but when they were ending every episode with, "Okay, now that we've tested the myth, let's stuff the rig with some arbitrarily huge amount of explosives and see what happens" the explosions rather lost their novelty.

Then it's all good.

Blowing sh!t up is the best part of the show.

Nah. The best part are the surprising results. Elephant and mouse, hands down my favorite moment of the show ever.

The Lego boulder was pretty cool, too. Mostly because I wanted to see it shatter and it did.

I'd love to have that human body mould they use for the ballistic gel. I'd fill it with red jello and serve it at Halloween.

I'd love to learn how to make the gel, myself

I definitely see you as Tory

One of my favorites.

That and the one where they launched a car down the rocket sled rig in to split it in half. Yeah, it was absolutely ridiculous overkill, but it was funny as hell.

ETA: oh, and the first water heater rocket episode.

I liked the "Chinese Noble on the Rocket Chair" episode. So sureal.

Yesterday, I saw an episode where they tested whether vodka would help with a jellyfish sting. (It did.) But they got the jellyfish (sea nettle) from the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
:)

A coworker just posted something that made me giggle...

So I'm watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition, and rather randomly it turns out that the father of the recipient family is rather a good artist. Enough to motivate me to look him up online. His stuff is moody and colorful, and pretty interesting. Thought I'd share.

Not Afraid's in the dog house again tonight ;)

Whereas she's usually in the cat house

I had one goal for this week. Don't work too late and get a decent amount of sleep.

I'm just leaving the office now which makes it a quick 0 for 2.

Wow, it certainly is!

Unrelated, but I bought myself a demonic bag of evil tonight. It's called Nabisco Classics Cookie Carnival, and it's a nostalgic pit of dietary doom. This bag contains a mixture of Chocolate Snaps (haven't seen those in many years, but I remember the adorable box had a lion face imposed over the cookie surface), mini chocolate chip cookies, and best of all, Mother's frosted animal cookies (!), which I hadn't had since maybe I was six, and they're ecstasy in cookie form. I'm more than halfway through the bag, and I must never, ever buy this product again.

I can already tell that today is going to suck.... Like a Hoover.

a good case for always maintaining a goodly amount of facial hair. time can be truly unkind

:p

I get coffee from the McDonalds near my workplace almost every morning. There's a cashier there that drives me crazy every time. Yeah, there are 4 or 5 cashiers to chose from but you can't avoid hearing him... he has the loudest and most annoying voice ever. And he sings everything. The impact will be lost as this is an internet discussion board and I don't have a webcam or mp3 recording of his voice. But just imagine a 280 lb man with the voice of a 8 year old soprano that sings everything and the ends of his sentences go up all the time. At 5 in the morning, it's just not something you want to hear. As I post this, I realize this has less to do with him and more to do with the fact that I've had 4 hours of sleep and had to do a sleep study last night at a local hospital. It's a ten minute walk to work from the hospital, so I figured instead of driving home and driving in I'd just get to work early.
But as of this moment in time, I hate Mr. McSing-y.
:D

:eek:


Did you just call NA a Lady of the evening??

Chris may have to punch you in the nose next time he sees you! ;)

Perhaps the drive-through would be a better idea.

lol! If only.
:D
The McD's is in the downtown area of Honolulu. It's in a plaza area called Ft. Street Mall. Walk ups only. But with the way people drive around here during rush hour, it could turn into one one day.

My quote of the day:
A friend jokingly told me, 'Stop being so neurotic.'
My reply: 'If I wasn't being neurotic, I wouldn't be myself.'
:D

Such is Mango.

My housekeeper is irritating me. She puts the tub drainer stopper thingey on upside down every time so the tub drains, wasting water; she ruined our new vaccuum by sucking up cat litter with it so it spew cat-pee air; I gave her a key and taught her to use the alarm, but she still won't just come in and get busy; and she won't leave me alone when I am home working.

I really need to stop being so irritated with her. It really isn't that much of a big deal and she cleans the house beautifully. It's better then me having to do it!

Is it a canister or bag vac? (We've had that happen a couple times.)

Either that or collect back payments

Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber

The internet rawks.

The microwave in the little kitchenette across from my office now turns on when you open the door. I unplugged it, turned it around to face the wall, and put a warning sign on it. Some of the women here actually got upset at me for doing so....

I told them that I don't really care if they cook their hands, but I don't want to have to fill out all of the paperwork that would entail. For some reason, they were not mollified.

It's a Dyson. Whatever that makes it - I don't use it. :D

"In this house Werner Heisenberg may or may not have been born on 1 December 1901." :cool:

:D

I feel like we are talking behind her back. Has she noticed this conversation yet? :eek:

Looks to me like December 1901 at 1 am......

Cinnamon toast and tacos on the floor!

In case you haven't heard, Boris is dying. He appears to be comfortable, but he's very, very sick and he won't be getting better. He has only one functioning kidney - probably the other one never worked, as the ultrasound shows it's not even recognizable as a kidney - and it's just worn out. He's been hospitalized for a while and is now home to rest.

We're doing the best we can for him and have the name and number of the house-call vet to contact when it's time. I am beyond distraught. Boris is the best friend I've ever had and I love him more than I can possibly express.

Sorry to hear that Pru. Hugs.

Does Thurston (or Kimchee) have one of these:

*hugs* Pru

And now Boris would like me to mention that he's not quite dead. In fact, he thinks he'll go for a walk.

(He's started eating again, and drinking, and wandering around doing more "Boris" things, and spending more time out with us.)

What, do you mean the weather?


(Pic unrelated)

Apparently the name 'Boris' gives these kittehs strange powers over things that would fell a less mighty cat. Our Boris has been flirting with his mortality for over a year now, and just when we think that maybe it's time to go for that final vet visit, he cashes in yet another of his 9+ lives. He's ruined our carpets, but we love him enough to deal with it. Happy Boris mojo to you, Pru.

Sooooo- because we just got off one vacation and were aspiring to save for the next (thank God we have the villa and air paid for!), our refrigerator decided to die on us. We didn't notice until things were warm enough to have spoiled (milk, etc), so we moved what was still good into the fridge in the garage and went shopping. As much as I hated parting with the money, I love our new fridge- we got the black model, so now all of our kitchen appliances are new and match, and it's so cool!!!! (No pun initially intended...)

http://www.whirlpool.com/catalog/pro...t=96&prod=1303

Congrats on the new fridge, wendybeth! Long may it last.

Hubbo and I are entering a Frugal Period and you know 3894 ....or Helen doesn't do frugal that well. We will soon have two, two, two kids in college. We did a good job saving for the normal expenses you think of. What's getting us is the cost of travel back and forth a couple of times a year. Homesewn schmattas and drugstore mascara are in my future. It's very Sarah Bernhardt, this situation. Oh, the humanity!

"Homesewn Schmattas" is my new band name.

Our fridge is 20 years old - my first "adult" purchase after graduating from college. We keep toying with the idea of buying a new one before the old one dies. How do you know when your refrigerator is about to die. We have been very lucky (knock on wood), that we have never had a problem with the one we have.

Our first indication was when Tori's ice cream was too frozen for a few days, then suddenly it was in milkshake mode. The very next day the other part of the fridge just stopped completely- I reached in to get some milk and noticed it was practically room temp.The fridge still made all the usual humming noises that it always had, so we had no other indications that it was dead.

It probably runs, loudly, all the time. I ignored mine and it died while I was out of town. That sure smelled good. If I'd known a new refrigerator would cut my electric bill in half I'd have replaced the old new one sooner.

I may have to look into that. I need to fund an inexpensive outlet usage meter.

Some refrigerators are also eligible for rebates if they're more energy efficient.

This seems to be what I need to run a comparison

Unless it is an uncommon model, if you do a search online you can probably learn what the energy usage of your refrigerator is.

If you want to do a rough estimate of 20 year old refrigerators compared to current ones you can use this site. Using the defaults, it says about a $100/year electricity savings on average.

I'm so hoping this is the case with us. The sticker on the inside of the fridge says it uses the same amount of power as a 75 watt bulb....... I love our new fridge- every time I open it I marvel at how awesome it is. Mostly, because it's so clean. ;)

Edited to add: we also got quite a few energy saver rebates with this one- an instant $100 dollar one from the store, and several other send-in ones from the power company and the government.

Would ~$50 count as inexpensive?

I get to go and get a new remote for my cable box. The old one finally quit Saturday night. I hope they don't charge me, or look too close. There are quite a few teeth marks on it, and most of the buttons are gone.

That's one nice thing about Verizon. We've gone through several sets of remotes, you drop the things once or twice and they're kaput but they keep sending us replacements with no-questions or charges.

Same with Time Warner. We returned a cable box with a remote that had been thoroughly rabbit-munched and they didn't seem to care one bit.

They didn't even glance at the remote. She threw it in a box and handed me a new one. If I had known it would be that easy I would have exchanged it years ago.

I will miss the teeth marks... They were (mostly) made by a very special rodent.

We bought a $100 universal remote because it was the only one that did what we needed AND had had plastic buttons instead of rubber buttons that could be chewed off by a rabbit. Having lost at least 5 remotes to bunny teeth already, it was a good investment.

The rubber buttons were gnawed on by seeral different rats, the tooth marks on the hard plastc were from Hollywog, when she was trying to get my attention to pet her.

I am about to go into escrow myself, and just sold a house that had a similar situation with the owner, if possible have someone else clean the house out after she is gone, it is terribly depressing to sort though it all yourself, take my word for it.
But most of all enjoy your home

Your link is old (2007) - prices have come down on that unit (which is just a variation on the one I linked to) to around $20-$25.

Well now I'm mad at ThinkGeek. I checked the price there before posting since it was an old article.

So ugh, my boss -- whom I like very much considering we work 3000 miles away from each other -- just announced he's leaving. So as of the day after tomorrow I'll be on to the 11th person I've direct reported to in the 3.5 years I've been here.

That's what we have. Just remove the sponge filter and wash it thoroughly with dish soap and warm water. Don't put it back in until it's completely dry. Should solve the problem. :)

Wow. That's quite the turnover. Does his job really suck or something?

Is it wrong that I think the Times Square bombing suspect is kinda cute?

I'm guessing the fact that his employer was bought out in the chaos of the the banking industry collapse is the biggest contributing factor.

No, that doesn't represent 11 people cycling through the same job while I stayed in one place.

The sequence was:

1. The guy who hired me was re-orged to another part of the company three weeks after I was hired.
2. I then reported to that guys boss for about six weeks while they figured out the new org.
3. They finally figured it out and I was given a new boss in between me and #2. Reported to him for about 2 months.
4. Then one of the projects under #3 (that I wasn't on) became super high profile and he was moved to just that and given a different team. So they hired on a new guy to take the place of #3 (still between me and #2).
5. About six months later #2 left the company, they reorged someone into his position and they put #4 under him and promoted me to be equal to #4 both reporting to #5.
6. I see bad things in store for our company and assuming an acquisition is in our future I know my position is less likely to survive so I transfer internally to a new position and a new boss.
7. Company collapses and we're acquired. #6 has no interest in continuing with new company and leaves as soon as they're willing to fire him. I now report to his boss.
8. #7 is cut in first round of official layoffs. I now report to a temporary manager from the old company (because HR isn't merged) but it is known that I will be retained. Technically I reported to this person for almost two months though I don't think I ever actually spoke to her.
9. I'm officially assigned to my new boss in the new company.
10. Six months later the new team is re-orged, I'm promoted to be equal to #9 and we both now report to his boss.
11. Today #10 announces his departure so at least for a while I'll be reporting to the person who was #10's boss. Since I doubt that #11 will want the four people who reported to #10 reporting directly to him for very long I imagine that #12 will be not to far in the future.

So only 7, 8, and 9 were directly related to the chaos of the acquisition.

My dear, nearly indestructable phone. He broke in two today. Snapped back together, and it still works! But the end is near :(

As I was listening to the news today, I realized that you frequently hear of people being booked for assault, but never for a pepper.

I got accepted into the very cool Patchwork show!!!

YAY!

This?

Is it safe to assume the Long Beach show?

Woohoo!!! :D

I don't suppose you'll be at the one in Santa Ana?

OK... my co-worker isn't here yet... :( :(

Should add: this is stressing me out because she's the one with the keys to the transport vehicle needed to get people to and from location (we're filming a promo video) this morning... and we need to get going soon.

We were supposed to meet nearly an hour ago... this is so unlike her. She's super early...

So; did she show up?

As I watch the news, I can't help but think that a new euphemism for putting on a condom might be "capping the gusher"

Yes. It is a super cool show and I'm really excited I was accepted!

Only one show this year, but I may do Santa Ana next time it rolls around. We'll see how this one goes first.

All the news can talk about is that thing that happened on Wall Street yesterday. I'm kind of over it.

Happy hunky dorry in Palm Springs

Sooooo.....I finally broke it off with my boyfriend Sunday, a day before I went camping with my friends. I have to say that I'm very much happy to be out of this. I felt like I was suffering the whole time, and I couldn't just break up with him over a text, but I had no other choice.

In other news, I went to a camp with my friends and some of the kids from my school, and we had a blast. We did all sorts of stuff, like: Canoeing, rock-climbing which led to zip-lining (which I couldn't do, so I couldn't do the zip-lining), archery, night hikes, hikes, and my most favorite: MID-ROPES! That was a lot of fun! :D

The whole time? Even when you were all like



Just remember, throwing over your current guy and eloping with the bad boy from your past is more fun than it sounds.

VAM to Evil Alex.

So last month one of our friends came to visit (and run the LA Marathon). She brought her husband and her two little dogs. While the husband presented no problem from the outset, we were concerned that adding two dogs to our existing pack of three might be more than a handful. It turned out to be completely fine, so a couple of weeks ago, we decided to adopt another chihuahua (after pit bulls, chihuahuas are apparently the most typical breed in California shelters). As with our last adoption, Lisa immediately started scouring PetFinder, and emailed us a link to a little dog (currently) called Venus. We met with the agency volunteer last weekend, and met the dog herself last night. She's coming to our house tomorrow, and barring some wild rebellion from our gang, she's staying. So, ladies and gentlemen of LoT...

Puppy!

Oh, yes.

I am soooo... glad this week is over. :)

Fun fact: though many pet owner's call chihuahua's "dogs" they actually evolved from the peanut.


(Pic unrelated)

Cute puppy, mousepod!
:)

Lol! Yes, it is more fun then it sounds. :cool::evil:

What he said. (I'm still laughing......)

Verrrry cute!!

My news feed: now in 4 languages :)

(Just got my friend request accepted by a girl who was on foreign exchange with me back in high school. Very cool.)

Seriously, what is the point of friending/accepting people on FB if you are going to block said people from viewing your wall (therefore only allowing them to see what the general public is able to see)?

I suppose I understand if it is merely a matter of "disappearing" and closing off your account to everyone, but otherwise...why accept/send a friend request to begin with? :confused:

To avoid hurt feelings. Say it's your aunt Sally and you don't want her to know that you were out drinking till 2 AM. Or as JWBear had a co-worker who you don't really want to know what's going on but not accepting them will cause and issue.

What Katie said, plus, when your mom asks to be your friend, can you say no? Even though you post regularly using language she might not like, or use sexual innuendo with close friends, or talk about your binge drinking?

It's already an old joke that the computer is the only device in the house which is used by your child for homework and by you for pornography. Facebook is just a smaller scale internet, where some use it for shout outs to "all my b!tches" after lost weekends in Vegas and others use it for pictures of their babies. Some use it for both, at the same time...

BTW... My boss hasn't tried to friend me... Yet.

In our office, we have volunteers who come in from time to time to help out. They're people dealing with mental illness and are trying to get back on their feet. The lovely lady who comes in often in Edna. I love her. She's so sweet and works hard. She made me coffee today. When I thanked her she told me she was honored to do so. (She grew up in Japan and was brought up very strictly when it came to traditions, customs.) I mean, how can you not tear up at something like that?
:)

Simple... Buy more bookcases! ;)

I'll beat Not Afraid to the punch: Billy bookcases!
:D

I should have added that I also understand those situations. This is someone whom I've (supposedly) been friends with for several years. All of a sudden, I'm blocked out of their wall and only get very general info. I mean, why not send me a note and tell me you're pissed about something? Or defriend me and make it clear how you feel? Or On the other hand, I suppose it is clear, non? :rolleyes:

Or they forgot the restrictions they put on a certain group and they just happened to add you to that group?

A thought for Theo who will be enduring a round of immunizations this morning.

Poor Theo. It only hurts for a minute then he'll be fine.

Or maybe he'll end up being cranky all afternoon. There there little Theo. It's for your own good and you won't remember a thing.

My old co-worker added me then removed me without a word. It's very strange since we had a good camaraderie, talked a lot of hockey smack and he's one of my references.

Whatever, it's just Facebook. I can't get worked up about it. I remove people all the time for no reason other than I don't want to be associated with their pages/crap. With the lack of privacy settings and the way FB is feeding content to advertisers there are just people I'd rather not be associated with on there. Blocking their feed or adding them to a group so they can't see mine doesn't guarantee I still won't be associated with them when it comes to data mining.

Poor baby. At least he won't remember them.

Wow - this gives "Walt's Little Friend" a run for its money

The UK has a new Prime Minister - he's 43. I think that makes him the first major head of state younger than me. Thankfully I remain younger than the President.

If it helps, officially Queen Elizabeth is the head of state for the United Kingdom and I think she's still a bit older than you.

On my way to work this morning I saw an elderly gentleman standing on the side of 7th street (in Long Beach) wearing a Tomorrowland costume... WTF?

Catching the bus to work?

FTFY

Who slowed time down?!?!

What made the Hottentots so hot?

Did I forget to mention that he had a full white beard?

Maybe he's going to shave when he gets there?

What do they got that I ain't got?

I probably know him.

An ape with an apricot. :D

Olivia's new little turtle buddy:

CUUUUUUUTTTTEEEE!!!

Ever had one of those days when you can actually hear the sound of little bits of your soul being sucked away?

You're not getting a bj from a vampire, are you?

No (dammit).

I prefer werewolves.

I like cowboys...
Wait, what did bewitched say? I got distracted by JW's avatar. Something about warehouses...?

:D

TONGA!

Tonga Room tonight with houseguest from out of town. Should be kitschy and fun. Makes me think of the Lashpair, miss them!

A friend of mine just IM'd me this and I thought the LoT crown would enjoy hearing it. I got his permission to repost it.

patience shall win out


good dog. :D

Smart pooch!

Yes. Warehouses with Taylor Lautner in them. :D

So..... I am finally back online! It's been an interesting few weeks without a computer, first mine went down and then Zach's. I survived ok but the kid does his schooling online which made for a very interesing time at the library. He missed his boards as much as I do!

I have a lot of reading to catch up on here!

Welcome back!

No posts on LoT since 8:48 last night?! WTF?

I see one.

Wait, now I see 2.

Crap, now there are three. WTF?

The infant philosopher observes his reflected visage and asks of himself, "Goo?"

His whole world is coming into question.

He has officially rolled over, by himself. :cool:

We're keeping the Flip cam close by in case he ever decides to do it again.

You must be proud of GD on this accomplishment!

College looms.

Way to go Theo! Madz could only roll one direction for a long time. She'd go across the living room then we'd have to flip her and she'd come back.

It's funny, he's spent the first 4 months turning mostly to his right side. This week we started putting him the opposite way in his crib AND stopped swaddling, and he started turning his head to the left when he sleeps, and now he's rolling to his left.

He's only managed to make it all the way from back to front once. But he's constantly trying and will no doubt succeed again at any moment. I know the standard line is "you're in trouble now" but all I can think is how amazingly awesome it is.

A little self mobility is great. Kudos to the little guy.

What you really have to watch is when they start walking. That's when the "Time to trouble" factor drops dramatically.

So, I've applied to be a vendor at the huge weekly Anaheim farmer's market and craft fair. They've requested photos of my work, and then I can hopefully be approved. They don't allow much overlap in product types, so this would be a great sales resource! :)

So, someone I know was in the Tyra Banks clip in the most reason episode of The Soup.

One of the people that she was displaying as exhibits in a relationship freak show?*





* not that I am saying the people featured are freaks, just, as anyone who saw the episode knows, echoing the ridiculous tone of the clip in question.

Yes, the couple in the photo on this page.

The one on the left is Elayne Angel, one of the premiere body piercers out there (and possessor of some very cool tattoos (in spoiler tag). The one on the right is her husban, FTM transexual porn maker Buck Angel. Elayne and Lani go way back and we saw them just a few months ago when Lani got a new conch piercing from her.



It was because of that recent piercing that Lani has signed a porn release form. They taped the piercing for use in Elayne's seminars, but the only video release they had was one of Buck's porn shoot releases.

With my son the biggest problem was when he learned to pull himself up and stand holding onto furniture. Gravity was not a concept so he would let go and his head would hit the coffee table (usually) on the way down. Then he would do it again. And again. At least when he learned to walk he could walk away from the furniture before he fell down.:rolleyes:

That's why babies are just like cars. You should dent them intentionally on the way off the lot just so you don't get so worked up when it happens anyway.

While I didn't go to this extreme, I did refuse to react until I saw blood. It made things much easier on both of us. He would often fall and look at me to see if he should cry, if I didn't react he would giggle and move on.

I wish the lucky parents well. The Boy was cruising the furniture at 8 months and took his first step at 10 months. I am still waiting for common sense and coordination to kick in.

Haha! Let me know at what age this happens.

Not at 11 says my down 4 (maybe 5) toothed son.

The Boy is 13 in real age, physically he is 16+, mentally and coordination he is somewhere between 4 and 10.

Aren't all teens horribly coordinated? Poor things, their bodies changing constantly...

Yeah, but it is worse when it is your own. You can't help but think that it is somehow your fault they are that way, because you know you were never that bad, so it has to be something you did.

Or you can be like me and point and laugh and tell everyone, "Yep! That's my boy."

You know how you think of the best comeback when it's too late to say it? Well, it's two days later but...

The kid was circumcised before he left the hospital. Sorta like dented.

Shhh! You'll set off Strangler Lewis!

So, all we have been hearing for the last 3 months is that Lance Armstrong will be cycling through Bakersfield during this leg of the Amgen Tour. It is happening today, at Bakersfield College. After his crash this morning it seems like the main part of the Central Valley that he will be visiting is the hospital in Visalia.

Maybe he can go to a Visalia Oaks game (or whatever their name is these days).

I've finally learned how to do Flash slideshows that import the images from an outside file.

Check it out.

It's nothing fancy, but I now have all the code in place, so I can add any type of design to the front end. :)

Hey, I was dented. And I've been trying to pound that dent out ever since.

Maybe I'll try the Ding King.

Oh no! He crashed? I follow him on Twitter but I haven't been reading today.

OUCH!

I was dented twice.

I'm demented

The Boy and I are getting ready to head out for a weekend at Morro Bay. We are staying with The Old People, in their motorhome.

Mom got the latest MRI results...her pelvis is healing very well, but now she has a fracture in her sacrum. It hasn't stopped her. They (with loads of help from The Boy) just finished up the relandscaping of their back yard.

Ooh, ooh, is it XML? You will find XML to be extremely helpful in maintaining sites that need updating regularly. Smooth as silk. Congrats!

Just one of the odd little coincidences you stumble across.

On May 21, 1907, James Stewart was born in Homewood, Pennsylvania. James Stewart would later end up in Hollywood, win an Academy Award in the '40s and eventually die in Los Angeles at the age of 89.

365 days later (May 20, 1908), James Stewart was born 68 miles away in Indiana, Pennsylvia. James Stewart would later end up in Hollywood, win an Academy Award in the '40s and eventually die in Los Angeles at the age of 89. (This is the Jimmy Stewart you've heard of.)

If Terry Nazon isn't aware of this I should sell it to her as finally some evidence that astrology works.

So, a series of late night fun combined with early morning walks, overnights in a dark loft and my phone turning itself off last night led to no alarm and waking up at 8:15. Luckily no one peed on the floor - including me!

Yeppers! I also know how to do video loaders with thumbnails too, complete with custom controls.

If anything, I've really learned a LOT of Action Script in the last few months. :)

Not that I didn't trust you, but I looked this up on IMDb:

James G. Stewart won an the Best Effects, Special Effects Oscar in 1949 for Portrait of Jennie (1948)

James (Jimmy) Stewart won the Best Actor in a Leading Role Oscar in 1941 for The Philadelphia Story (1940)

Now imagine my post without this in itYeah: I am overly AR

Wow, completely horrifying. :(

Ever try to feed a pain pill to a dog who's had 8 tooth extractions and a wired jaw? Not fun. My poor little guy.

Covering it in cheesy sauce was not sufficient, we had to resort to crushing it, mixing it in with the cheese and hoping he got enough down to help him out for the night.

I know, right? It wasn't even what he went in for today... he also got a lump removed from his butt (not cancer, but still needed to be taken out)

Pill Pockets by, I believe, the Greenies people. They'll make your dog a drug addict.

Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges, too. (Not a whole wedge, just enough to stick the pill into.) Our cat comes meowing whenever I'm taking my own pills. "Where's the cheeeeese?"

I just mix in the pills with the raw food. I never have a problem with dogs or cats.

We decided this morning to go to the Huntington. Tired now.

Alex finally succeeded with mozzarella

Did he milk a buffalo?

I have long wondered, is the laughing cow laughing with us, or at us?



(Pic unrelated)

So...I'm sitting in the airport waiting for an 8:30AM Sunday morning flight to Wilmington, Delaware, so that tomorrow I can run a meeting I don't particularly want to run and only have to run because my boss (who was actually in Delaware) suddenly quit.

I suspect the meeting is going to be a waste of time and feel bad for the vendor who'll be there (not that I should, it is there job to have their time wasted in hopes of landing a giant contract) but I will get to schmooze with an honest-to-god billionaire. If noting else I guess I can assume his time is technically worth about $15,000/minute so I'm being quite profligate in wasting it.

On the plus side, if they don't make me hang out and network tomorrow evening I will go to a Wilmington Blue Rocks game (the Single A KC Royals affiliate). It is Billy Joel tribute night!

I have a lot to say about the Rand Paul controversy, both issues with what he said and how he said it, but also with how the media is distorting the conversation (was quite disappointed with Friday's Rachel Maddow show (though not the Wednesday interview with Paul that triggered it all). However, I've decided to spare all of you that.

Also unrelated, but does he have the same health problem that Marty Feldman had, causing his eyes to pop out like that? Just wondering....

So, I think I've mentioned it before that I have asthma and have had it since I was an infant. So, for the longest time I have been taking Advair and it's worked in the past. I haven't had to use my rescue inhaler in years.

When I was doing the whole job with no insurance thing, I stayed off of Advair. It was hugely expensive. But recently, I got back on. This morning it kicked in and my body is experiencing a change. I am getting more air into me. I can feel it. It's so much easier to breathe, I guess I didn't realize that I wasn't getting enough air in before. I also slept better last night, too. I wonder if this will help my apnea-like symptoms. I know I slept better last night because I actually had a dream I remembered. That hasn't happened in awhile.

Anyway, I thought I'd share. It doesn't feel like I'm at the top of an Alp trying hard to breathe now. It feels pretty great.
:)

If you can breathe it isn't tight enough!

When did we start talking about corsets?

We didn't. My post was just further demonstration that there is an appropriate Auntie Mame quote for any situation.

I just read someone referring to the gulf oil spill as "wonton destruction of the environment"....

In my head, I pictured the gulf coast inundated with billions of little pork dumplings.

They do absorb oil pretty well.

I'm at work this morning after taking two days off sick.




On the whole... I'd rather be sick.

I'm sorry JW. You know it's bad when you'd rather be physically ill, hang in there!

I'm crossing my fingers. Good luck Top Kill.

Top Kill would be an AWESOME name for a flatride.

Hunter Wade
My latest crush. He's here in Honolulu. But he's taken by another man. Oh well. I swear, men with acoustic guitars are f*cking sexy.

Yum!

Well, leave what you have and I will QC 'em.

(Pic unrelated)

Our IT guy is Yoda. I just got this message:

Tref, that sig pic made my night!

ROAAAAAAAAAAAAARRR!!!!!

LOLOL @ GD & CM

Haha - today's "Two Lumps" is awesome.

I saw that yesterday and am much amused by it, so amused by it that I had actually printed it out to put on my cube wall when I realized I was about to become the type of person that prints out comics and puts them on my cube wall.

I don't want to be that guy so I threw it away. But I'm still amused by it.

That's awesome.

I have one comic, from the paper on my cube wall. Someone (I have no idea who) left it on my desk years ago. It's a person on the phone saying "go to the preferences file, click on the pull down menu, find the option that says nothing works right and uncheck it.

We also need to invent the "make pretty" button for when clients tell us they don't like something and just want it to look better.

Also reminds me of my DJ days when somebody would come up and request "something you can dance to." Of course, this request was often made when I had a packed dance floor, but even if wasn't, how the fvck am I supposed to know what YOU find danceable?!?


And for some reason, I am reminded of when we see a friend's band play, there will often be breaks between songs and at some point, one of us will shout out "play something you know."

"I am a Sin Kitty". :)

*ppffftt*

Easy!

:shudder:

There are a few songs that make my skin crawl whenever I hear them. That is one of them.

Although I did make a remix that shortened the song from 5 minutes to about 3:20 (it wasn't that hard since it is basically the same verse repeated throughout the song)

I am not clicking.

So we got a new Bluray player with wifi - Haven't played any bluray discs yet, but hooked up net flix, watched the opening to Fantasy Island and played about with Pandora radio - oh and HD Berlin Philharmonic. This could be fun

Which one did you get?

Heyyyyyyy, Macarena! :D

I guess I'm the only one who can admit to liking this one. I have vivid memories of doing the Macarena at Six Flags with the crowd while waiting for the hypnotist show to begin.

BTW there are plenty of party standard songs/dances that I hate...just not this one.

You aren't alone. I have fond memories of doing the Macarena at school dances. I even owned the record, or tape. I can't remember which.

I have fond memories of the Macarena. When it hit in 1996 my college roommate and I were doing a cross country trip from Seattle to DC and back. Along the way we hit every major league ballpark that was convenient (Wrigley, Fenway, Camden Yards, Busch, and Coors). When the trip started we'd never heard of the Macarena then at Wrigley they did it but most people kind of just watched not sure what it was. By the end of the trip whole stadiums were doing it and stories on the radio were covering the biggest group Macarenas in the world.

So I'm watching the episodes so far of Justified on Hulu and am enjoying it so far.

Except for one thing. Timothy Olyphant's accent seems to have perfectly blended Billy Bob Thornton and Kenneth from 30 Rock. It's distracting.

Wow, two other people who have fond Macarena memories. Anyone else? We can form a secret society...to hide our shame.

I didn't like the song at the time it was out, but it does come with fond memories with friends that makes me smile now.

All it makes me think of is utterly embarrassing myself when, in the summer of '96, I met a very nice girl named Macarena, and the first thing that came out of my mouth was, "Wow, it must suck having that name right now."

Smooooooth operatooooor.

I first heard it at a bar. I thought it was neat, the way everyone seemed to know the dance. it was an easy dance, one even I could do.

My biggest memory from that night was wanting to drink, but nothing tasted right, so I ended up settling for water. Later I found out I was 2-3 months pregnant that night.

So, Wells Fargo sent me a thing that their terms & conditions had changed, which got my hackles up, but for once I actually like the changes:

Starting in August, Wells Fargo will not approve an overdraft UNLESS you add the Overdraft Service. You can set up an overdraft alert and a "low balance" text alert. No more than 4 overdraft fees will be charged per day. If you overdraft your account and deposit money that same day, you will not be charged (as opposed to going by the exact time of your charge or deposit). The fees are pretty much the same ($35/overdraft after the 1st one).

That seems fair. I wish the "per day" were lower, but I can live with some kind of limitation.

Well, you can thank congress for it, that's one of the new rules that went in earlier this year (I've had to do a fair amount of work related to it and the rule is going to screw my numbers for the year but it is, as a personal opinion, a good rule).

The OD and low balance alerts already existed at Wells and most banks (and all the major ones so far as I know) have them and frankly, everybody should be subscribed to them. I can tell you from personal experience (that is, from the bank's side) that they are about the best fee avoidance tool banks offer. And if you have a credit card sign up for any "Payment Due" or "Payment not received" alert as well.

As for the rule change I'm very interested to see how it plays out. People hate the fee which is easily avoided by never overdrawing your account but I'll be interested to see how they react the first time their payment is rejected because it'll overdraw their account by a few dollars. I keep the overdraft protection because it would be a very unusual occurrence for me to need and so I'd rather pay the fee and have the charge go through, but anybody who is at regular risk should turn it off and live with the minor embarrassment of rejected payments.

Dang, I feel old. When I was in college it was 1978, and I was dancing to disco.....

And I got my copy of AARP magazine today, and Valerie Bertinelli is on the cover. Just bury me know, ok?

Maddie and I have accomplished a ton today. She's an ace patio furniture builder. Getting ready for next weekend. We're doing great so far.

Looking forward to getting away for a bit....and of course seeing your new place.

Wow. It's been a month since I've been here. Did y'all forget about me yet?

NEVER!!


It is good to see you. :)

Bill has the soundtrack from Across the Universe playing on his computer. Just as this thread came up, and I saw your post, they started singing "dear Prudence".... :cool:

My powers are vast and mysterious.

The dog just farted. She tried to blame it on me.

They do forget eventually...

This weekend was chock full of baby wrangling win. He made us look good, AND we had a marvelous time. Hedon reserves are feeling strong.


(Pic Trefrelated)
Attachment 1426

I am trying to eat better and plan to go back to the gym. I know the system cleansing will be great in the long run, but right now my tummy is telling me it is not happy with carrots and would rather have candy.

I will also be dying my hair tonight. I love that I can now do this myself. If I don't like the results I just have to wait a week and change it again.

So Lisa and I got Jury duty summonses today - for the same Jury pool. I wonder at what point we get to mention our status, or if we'll get to do the same trial together - not that I'm ever picked.

Boris is doing amazing now. He's on a zillion meds, but now that we've added a hormone injection to fix the anemia he's basically acting like his old self. Apparently he still had a life or two left.

That will be extremely interesting, especially since you have different last names.

Apparently, our friends, another couple, both got Jury Duty the same day for the week prior - maybe this is now a couples/household thing

Heather and I never get jury duty at the same time.

That's probably because she's a Canadian citizen.

Or, it could be that you just don't get jury duty at the same time.

On that same topic, I think they should bring back couples jury duty.

(Pic related -- it's a couple)

I'm putting together a mini-studio for pet portraits. I'll need some models in a week or 2.

Too bad I live too far. I could use some good pics of the rats and the dogs.

The Boy has attatched himself to a kitten over at his dad's. He is trying to talk/con me into letting him bring it home.

Reptiles?

I'd offer the bunnies but they simply do not travel well.

Before my mom became an American citizen (she's Canadian) she would get a jury summons every year. After she became an American citizen she has received just one summons.

I'd love to take pics of reptiles.

In the mind-numbing task of trying to figure out the average space requirement per truck (18-wheeler) is to figure how many trucks could fit into a specific piece of property, I discovered that there is a discussion forum dedicated to parking lots: Parking Lot Planet.

Whodathunk?

Mufasa would probably be a good candidate. He's very photogenic and very calm. We could probably bring him up one afternoon. :)

I have a Polo Pony you can photograph :)

6 years, 5 months, 28 days..... <sigh>

Since?

Until.

Until what?


Or more specifically; what happens on December 1, 2016?

I think he can retire.

Bingo.

Lucky bastard. ;) I'll never be able to retire. I've been working non-stop (only took 6 weeks off when I had Tori) since I was 16- which means I've been working for thirty years already. By the time I get to retirement age (which, according to SS is 70), I'll have put in 54 years of work. (Not that I am planning on getting SS, just that it's a retirement benchmark). I'll never live that long, so I am resigned to having mini-retirements. They take place at least once a year, and always at DL.

Which reminds me- my next mini-retirement is in less than two weeks- woot! Need it badly, too. Been nursing sick kittehs and working too much. Both Samwise and Boris were sick, but while Boris is on the mend poor Sammy is not doing good at all. His 'cold' has turned into, at the very least, a sinus infection. He has a date with the vet tomorrow, and is now in Tori's room with the humidifier on full blast. Poor baby. I've never heard him snore before, but he could give Eric a run for his money right now.:(

You might be kidding, but you should still shut up. Don't count dead chickens before they croak...

No one in my family does, CP. If I do manage to, great, but no big deal if I don't. I may not want to, if I'm still working! ;)

So...TV medical and crime dramas have really messed up with my sense of how long tests and diagnoses have taken. My uncle has been diagnosed with bladder cancer and I'm amazed at how long its been taking to learn/do things.

(This ignores the two years it seems to have taken for the doctors to realize that he wasn't just suffering a series of UTIs (for Kevy, that would be upper respiratory infections).)

ETA: And on the morbid wendybeth topic I also don't have any real expectation of living to 60. No male relative but one, going back four generations has done so. My dad died in his 40s, my mom's dad died in his 40s. The uncle just diagnosed with bladder cancer is 49.

That's not to say I'm planning my life on the assumption I'll die, I just don't really have any great expectation of being a long-lived person.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...


:blush:

LOL! I'm glad you think it's going to work out. It makes the Fairy Dogmother happy.

I've got an interview on Monday. I just put my resume on Monster this morning.

AWESOME~!! :D

Yay Matt!

Yeah; time for you to stop sucking off of the government teet

Way to go Matt! :)

I will, I will... In 6 years, 5 months, and 27 days....


Oh... You were talking to Matt. Nevermind!


(Good luck Matt!)

Go get 'em, Matt!

Aren't you, in a sense, a valve of the government teet?

Until December 1, 2016

Chris just said to Kimchi "You want to lick my taco juices, don't you".

It'd be funnier if you'd said it.

I get a government paycheck. Some would consider that teat suckage.

(Or in the words of the OC Register: "a scum sucking bottom feeder".)

Lovely

Who took over Alex's account?

So, after not having played World of Warcraft at all in about 2 years and regularly for nearly 3 I finally went in and stopped paying the monthly fee.

Samwise went to the vet this morning, and while she said he is very sick, he fortunately does not have a secondary infection. (Sinus, pneumonia, etc). He got pediatric drops for his nose, we got kudos for doing everything right so far (humidifier, keeping him hydrated, bringing him in....hubby thought we were being dramatic, but she said that his symptoms were severe and it was good we brought him in). He may have a heart murmur, but she sent the x-rays to the radiologist for a better look to make sure. I love this little guy more than anything, so it's been hard seeing him be so sick. He doesn't even want to kick Haku's ass- which was very alarming. Tonight, he bristled a bit when he saw Haku, so I think he's on the mend. :)

WB, I've been thinking about Samwise. I know how much a part of your lives he is and I'm glad he's on the mend. Please let me know what the radiologist says. I've been dealing with some heart issues with Sin. Apparently it is a genetic defect in many fluffball cats.

So many kitties sick! I hope they all get better. Mr. Boris Katt is doing tons better - although apparently according to his lab work he should be near death. The vet remains utterly mystified. I'm just thankful that I still get to spend time with my kitty on my lap.

Meanwhile - Dodgers game today. I don't know a single one of the players.

The last Dodger whose name I'd heard of was Steve Sax, if it's any consolation.

The last Dodger game I went to we were yelling MERKIN at the team.

We spent a good part of today on the 405 and it was not fun.

I had to be up at 7 after a very late night, so after the dog walks I went home for a power nap. That got us going down South a bit later than we would have liked, but we were still going to be within the time frame.....or so I thought.

Google Maps showed Green the entire way, so why the F were we at a standstill? It took us an hour to get out of Long Beach and another 1/2 hour to get to the point where we realized we would never make it there and back again and bailed. We finally found the multi-car accident and the muli-lane closure and, since we were almost at South Coast Plaza, we decided to have a meal there.

(Insert brief happy interlude of brunch and shopping.)

Back on the 405 to make it back to LB for a dog walk. More traffic, another multi-car accident, back up to speed, then a police break on the other side of the freeway so another multi-car accident could be moved to the side. At least the return trip was only a little over an hour.

Apparently, today was NOT a day for us to be traveling - or seeing friends and celebrating new abodes. :(

Google Maps traffic screwed us over recently as well. Such a bummer that we can't trust it anymore.

Based on my experience, Google Maps is accurate. For 20-30 minutes ago.

Same for Sigalert.com

Which leaves me to believe it is a Caltrans feed problem

I don't know if it all is, but a lot of Google Maps traffic information is supposed to be real-time generated based on cell phone data.

I just peeked into his and Tori's room, and he was snuggled up next to her and purring- not snoring. He's still nasally, but it's way way better, and he's finally eating some food. Her room is a sauna, with the humidifier going 24/7, but it's made a world of difference. I'll be sure to let you know what the vet says, and I truly appreciate your kind words. :)

Pru- so glad your Boris is doing well! It's such a relief, isn't it? Our Boris is hanging in there as well!

My ex-sister-in-law, with whom I was never close, just sent me a Friend Request on Facebook. I haven't talked to her in more than two years. I know I don't have to accept it. But it is just so weird. Why would she do that?

From what I understand, Facebook goes through the users email list and sends out requests automatically.

I think FB just automatically generates the Friend Suggestions, not the Requests. That's pretty lame if they automatically send out the Requests.

We only have one friend in common (my daughter) so I suppose that is one possibility for the request. I just feel guilty for not wanting to accept it. I hate feeling ungenerous.

Don't feel guilty at all. Just ignore it and pretend it never happened. :)

Hah! I like this plan. I ought to try that more often, actually. I can't feel guilty if it never happened. :)

I just checked, and actually, she isn't FB friends with either one of my kids. So we actually have no friends in common at all. Weird.

If you do a friend search using your email address you have to unselect "remember these permissions" or it will access your address book and make suggestions.

A suggestion is not a request though. A request comes directly from the other person.

I ignore requests all of the time. I got a request from some old MP/MC drama queen. She couldn't pay me to be her friend.

I wish I could go out every night and play and still be able to function at work. It pisses me off that I can't do that any longer.

Of COURSE Theo decides to choose tonight, when Mom is out for the evening, to fall asleep on his stomach for the first time. He still hasn't shown the ability to roll himself back over onto his back, so I don't want to leave him there. But getting him to sleep can be an ordeal - rolling him over runs the risk of a couple of hours of unhappiness.

But I guess it was my lucky night, I got him to roll back over with no more than a sleepy sigh. :)

I miss The Boy. He is at his dad's for the week. Now that it is summer vacation we are doing every other week. He drove me nuts all weekend, but once he was gone it was way too quiet.

This evening I learned that a small cow can successfully hide in our coat closet for half an hour.

Wow, I really want to hear the rest of the story

I'm bored. There is no one (other than dogs & rats) to pick on. *sigh*

WoC was quite good. Doesn't tip its hand too early, has a couple nice surprises. Love the rainbow laser spirals.

Such a sweet post. Took me back.....:) You'll miss these days, GD- yes, even when Theo is 3 (not 2, it happens at 3) and screaming bloody murder in the middle of Target. I can't wait to meet him.


I had a scare with Samwise tonight- he was doing really well all day, attacking Haku, menacing Boris,etc, then he just sort of bottomed out. He started limping and growling at us when we tried to help him, which is not usual. We ran him to Pet Emergency, and they gave him fluids, antibiotics, and pain meds. He had a temp of 103.6 when we left the house to take him to the clinic, and a temp of 104.4 when we got there. Poor baby! He was shaking and so sick...it was very hard to watch. I'm pretty sure he has FCV, which can sometimes cause joint pain and pneumonia. The other vet saw a spot on his lung and thought it might be asthma or the beginnings of bronchitis, but didn't give us any antibiotics. A little pissed about that..... Anyway, his illness is chipping way at our vacation savings, but we'll make it work. We love him so much- it's hard to see him so sick.:(

Powdered lysine added to wet food is really good for keeping FCV at bay. It really helps keep the immune system boosted. Ask you vet for Viralys powder (they make a gel too). Or you can buy Lysine powder from FruitfulYield.com.


I hope Samwise feels better soon! I'm a bit worried about him (especially given the heart stuff going on as well and my recent experiences with Jack and Sid).

Thanks, Lisa- I'll be sure to pick up some! The vet said he does have a heart murmur, so when we get back and he's better we'll take him in for some tests. He seems better this morning, but we're keeping him in Tori's room until he's 100%!

Maine Coon, Norwegian Forrest Cats and Rag Dolls (and other fluffy cats) all have the posability of a genetic heart defect that leads to early heart disease. Jack had it and I had no idea, which is why he suddenly went into cardiac arrest and died. When Sid had a round of UTI's they took xrays. The vet didn't notice anything but a radiologist who comes in weekly did. They recommended an ultrasound which showed that he has the genetic defect. There's not much you can do to cure it, but you can manage it to give the cat a longer life. Sid is on blood pressure meds 2x a day, gets monthly blood pressure checks and they've recommended an ultrasound every 6 months.

There are other things that I'm trying to piece together that may go along with the heart disease. Both Sid and Jack were tartar-prone and had pretty bad teeth for being youngsters. Sid's had to have his first teeth cleaning at 1 1/2. They both seem to get sicker than the other when something is going around. I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the heart issue, but I'm keeping it in mind as I piece together this puzzle.

I've also started giving Sid COQ10 to help him out. Luckily, he doesn't mind meds.

T-3hrs until I'm Bothell-bound.

All of the old family 8mm film reels have been digitally transferred and were delivered to me today.

I have awesome Disneyland footage circa 1965! (Yes, I'll post it once I edit and compress it.) But, it was great seeing my mom as a new parent to my siblings. She was so vibrant and energetic in her younger life. :)

I also have early 1960's nudist colony footage and three very raunchy vintage porns. If any of you would like copies, lemme know. They're actually quite interesting, especially with all the beehive hairdos. ;)

You have a very strange family.

Thankfully, the nudist stuff and porn was purchased. ;)

But, sadly, there seemed to be more of that than family footage. :rolleyes:

I read this as brothel bound.

You make Bothell more exciting than it is.

Whomever came up with the idea for dark chocolate Reeses Peanut Butter Cups should be worshiped like a god. If I ever find out who they are, I shall build a shrine unto them.

Have you had the Ghirardelli squares with the caramel in them? They are my absolute fav.

They don't have one listed that was part of a pack we got at Costco that included the milk chocolate, dark chocolate and a vanilla caramel version (the third one not listed on their web site).

Caramel and chocolate are super yummy together. It's like hot sex in my mouth good.

What's even better is bacon caramel and chocolate.

Not fond of those. The caramel is overly sweet (seriously, I want to each just 1/4th of a square) and way too runny meaning you pretty much have to eat it in one quick bite or get caramel in places you don't want it.

Sounds like a no-lose situation to me!

Sure, if the whole thing weren't too sweet for eating in one quick go.

Sammy is normally not a sickly cat- this is his first illness, and he's almost 7. Boris has been sick since last year with a variety of stuff, and he breezed through this virus. We've got Samwise in Tori's room, all doped up and thoroughly being spoiled. His temp was down this afternoon- to 101 degrees. I'm not taking any chances- he's in quarantine and stress-free mode until I know he's much better. Haku hasn't got sick at all, which means he was the carrier. Makes sense, as he was a shelter kid.

One more and you can hang out with the most interesting man in the world.

I have to go to the dentist and I don't want to.

Confirmed.

I officially like Bothell. Middle of fvcking nowhere, sure, populated seemingly entirely by nameless faceless business parks. But 1) They are all well hidden by PNW-appropriate creeks and groves of trees. And 2) I found a little "downtown" area with about a dozen restaurants, not one of them a chain. Huzzah!

Tonight was sushi. Tomorrow will be Thai food.

ETA: However this hotel with its 11Mbps wifi and no wired internet can go fvck itself.

Good point. I'd happily swap living in California for living in Bothell, it is really only in comparison to other nearby areas of Washington that Bothell suffers.

The relatively crappy areas up there are still much better than down here (but that's mostly because even after 12 years down here I still hate the weather).

I never heard of Bothell. Should I have?


Oh, and I just came across some old family 8mm film of a circa '62 visit to Disneyland. I have no idea how to transfer it to something watchable though. :(

Get somebody else to go for you.

Should have posted this one, Tref:

Costco can transfer it to dvd for you

So there was an office email about food in the break room. Ok, whatever, not hungry blah blah blah. I wandered into the break room to get some water and it's frelling Katella Deli.

Thanks for the reminder BTD, I have a gift certificate for that place...never tried it, I'm assuming it's good by your reaction to the place.

I went to Knott's for a bit today. Just a nice little wandering out and about.

Katella Deli is totally wonderful! Nomalicious!

Is it just me, or does this year seem to be flying by?

I've been going through a lot of positive changes this year, but it still seems like I'm running of time on some things. D'oh!

It's really good deli and their bakery is amazing too. It gets busy on Saturday nights.

For a day or a lifetime?

Oh, that just never gets old...

I got a Kindle. Why did I not have this before? I love it. My biggest drawback this whole time has been that I like to read in the bathtub and well electronics/bathtub not the best combo. One of the other drill mom's has one and she said she just uses a ziplock. Duh. So problem solved and I love it.

Katella... a.k.a. the only thing that sounds good right now.

Matzo ball soup!!

*cough* *hack*

My mommy makes her matzo ball soup from the Manischewitz mix.

My brain is wondering whether they sell that in Utah... Hmmm...

Probably at Safeway.

In the Kosher food section at the grocery store.

Erica, if you find kosher food at a Utah supermarket, I'll be very impressed.

They had a small one at a Kroger or some major grocery store years ago.

Even the Mormons like matzo ball soup.