Yeah. I'm using a cool program called GarageSale, which is great.... but I still have to add my own comments to each item. I find I sell more when I put a little context in the descriptions.

Do tell us about your desired purchase!

Sometimes I'll write out a paragraph or two on Word and then cut-n-paste to the ad itself. I'll have to check out GS.

It's a decent video camera that's also a 6 megapixel still camera.

It looks cool:


And it's small:


And it's relatively cheap.

Here's a cool review including sample pics.

I love the way it looks. It's sort of 1970's spywearish.

So....including today, I have 7 work days left in my current job. I'm working lots of extra time to get something done for them prior to my departure, but officially 7 work days.

They have had some rather complex government billing programs from me, tested and delivered 8 months ago, that they have never bothered to review or even install. OK....that's the life of IT and contracting. No skin off my nose. I got paid whether they use it or not.

However, with my imminent departure, they decide to review it and came up with a couple of problems and a few revisions they want (I don't believe are problems are actually problems, but that's another story). What am I to do? I'm already working 12-13 hours/day on this other project.

I am in the position to have very little tolerance with them. I told them they've had a long time to review it, decide to do it with my departure right around the corner, and I'll get to their concerns when I get to them.

If they give me grief, my limited support rate/hour is going to double. I let their IT manager know this and he is quite displeased with their accounting department.

It's my "grand" Niece (I guess that's what you call it). She's visiting from Colorado.

One more just because....

Bornieo, she's such a cutie! :)

Look at those teefees!

Bornieo - she's so adorable.

Yep, that's why I'd be a terrible dad. She's so cute that she would get every single thing she wanted. Brad = bad dad.
:)

That is one beautiful little girl there.

The MSNBot Spider is looking at tracilicious' profile...

So....

We went out to Cheesecake Factory for a coworker's birthday today. On the way out, I bought a slice of the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake. When I got it back to work and opened it up, I realized it was a very unfortunate shade of baby poop brown. Why would anyone make food that color?

That's my favorite cheesecake.

It was delicious!

Nothing better than baby poop.

:eek:

So, I'm going to Chicago again - this time only for a couple days before the end of the month.

Gonna stop by American Girl Place?;)

At 1145 am my cell went off. It was a BPD officer who had just got done paying Nickolas a visit. It seems that someone decided to call CPS. This annonymous caller said that he has been running all over the neighborhood unsupervised all summer, that he is filthy (and living in filth), that he had no food, that the house was so dirty there were rats ****ting all over the house, that there was no running water and that the electriciy was turned off.

The cop showed up, Nickolas and Bladen were playing video games. Bladen's brother saw the cop at the door and went home to get their dad. Nickolas said the frist thing the cop did was look at the girls (in their cage) and say, "oh, they're pets." Nickolas then showed him that there was running water and that we had plenty of food, and that he was more than capable of feeding himself. By then Andrew was outside to talk to the cop. He told him that Nickolas spent his days with his kids and that his 13 yr old daughter is the babysitter.

The cop then called me. He told me what was going on and that in his mind Nickolas was mature enough to be alone.

I called Nick and he was heading to the boy's house for the afternoon.

Then the cop called back. After reporting his findings to the supervisor, the supervisor nixed him and said that Nick needed to be with a caregiver. Basically they wanted to see how long it took me to get home and then if I had somewhere to take him. Not a problem. I was there within 10 minutes and took him to The Old People's, and that is where he will be tomorrow too.

Grrrr!! It just sucks not knowing who called. We have a verrrrry good idea of a couple of people (kids) who could have done this. I know it wasn't a neighbor. whoever did it knew enough about us to know about the rats, but not enough to know that I have only been working for a week.

Luckily it is only a short term temp position and I will be home again next week. Unluckily, I now have to prepare for a CPS followup to happen within the next 10 days.

Mean people suck.

That is truly unbelieveable. How thoughtful that CPS is there to scruitinize your life while kids with readily apparent signs of actual neglect are returned to their parents in the interest of "family unity." What complete asshats to call in an unfounded complaint!

Through process of elimination, and rehashing what happened, we think it was former friends of Nick's. It was either them or their mom. Nickolas said that they showed up when Bladen & Brody were here (last week or early this week) and Nick told them they could not come in. These 2 are older than Nick and they used to all be friends, but the younger one (Blake) started stealing and he was the one that kicked Nick out of his b-day party a year or so ago.

We may never know for sure. In the meantime I am scrubbing down walls and doing some major dusting and laundry.

Ugg MG, that truly sucks. And as much as it sucks, make sure your house is uber-spotless and you have a ton of extra food on hand. Make sure that Nick has only clothes that aren't overly worn and/or small (play clothing mainly) visible (if you can, take his play clothes to your parents), that sharp objects are stored properly, medications put up high(er), pretty much child-proof your house. If the new dog (forgot her name) can stay somewhere else for a bit that would probably be a good idea (pit bulls don't make CPS happy).

CPS visits can be a bear, and if you get a worker with a stick up their butt they can make your life a living hell.

/bleh

CPS is also quite used to getting retaliatory/innaccurate reports, so don't get too freaked out! You're a good mom and Nicholas is very loved and well-cared for, so I really don't think you have anything to worry about. The officer could see that, and his superior wasn't there and simply covering asses on the off chance the reporting officer was wrong in his assessment. Just out of curiosity, how old is Nicholas? When I was ten I used to babysit other kids, but it's a different world these days.

(Btw, when Tori was nearly three her daycare threatened to call CPS on us because she had bruises all over and a pretty dramatic new one on her chest. We were freaked out, as she had been sick with this intractable ear infection for nearly four months, and now every time she bumped aganst something there was a new bruise, but a trip to the docs finally cleared it all up: she had been taking ibuprofen for the ear pain and it was causing the bruising, and the chest bruise had actually been incurred that day at the daycare when another kid poked her with a drum stick. The office hadn't bothered to check the daily incident report.:rolleyes: . The ear infection is what eventually damaged her hearing. Anyway, I totally understand how you feel, but be glad that at least they do check on reports!)

He is 9. I know that is young, but he had someone watching him. He is more worked up about all this than I am. He was crying last night because hecouldn't stay home and play with his friends.

As for the CPS visit, I am not overly concerned. Teh cop said that it may even be him that comes back out. BTD, Sox looks more like a boxer than a pit. He does not have the short, stocky body type. The way he is growing he is less and less pit like every day. They would probably be more concerned about Pooh and the way he behoves towards every one but us.

I was thinking about it this morning. I can just see Blake telling his mom that he wasn't allowed in the house, but that was ok because of...and listing everything that the cop was told. She is an airhead and I can see her making the call.

MG ~ That totally sucks. Pulling something like that on you is lame. I'm wondering if there's any sort of fine or something for filing a false claim like that. I'm sorry that happened to you.
Fvckers...

I hate printing mailing labels for work. One page printed out half outside of the label margin. The other 10 pages printed fine. Grrrr.

MG, I had the same thing happen, I know what you are going through. But the person who made the call got theirs in the end. It was a next door neighbor, and about a year later PCS came out and took their kids away because they had reports that the father had been abusing them (wasen't me who called, BTW). They got them back after a few months, but now I belive in "what goes around, comes around" even more!

But after the follow-up visit I never heard from them again because they realized it was an unfounded report.

Good luck to you MG!

I believe in karma. What goes around...

amen. payback isnt always immediate, but karma has a loooong memory

I discovered I drove through paint sometime in the last 3 days :( I have ivoryish paint in the front left wheelwell as well as all over the lower part of my car :( /cry

sooo, I'm still in eBay scanning hell. It looks like I'm going to be putting up 150 CDs and 100 singles this weekend. Whew! For your entertainment, this is my favorite single cover I've scanned so far (btw, I'm putting this 1977 one up for $100):

Are there members of the Village People in there?

Don't you hate it when you unsubscribe to email spam and they send you another email saying you've unsubscribed?

I'm hungry. I didn't think I was when I was asked, but now I am. Was it the power of suggestion? Or am I just that unaware of my body's needs?

Took a break from eBay and got a radical haircut (after 9 months can it be anything but radical?). Wendybeth, you and your peers do more for a person's mood in an hour than a therapist or bartender could ever do...

Pictures! :)



Are flies poisonous to dogs? Frodo just ate a couple of flies. Is that bad?

Protein?

not really. trust me, mine have eaten FAR WORSE things than the occasional fly.

Chocolate. Poor doggies, they cannot each chocolate. :(

You just got a radical haircut last year. Did you keep the goate? I like the goate.

I want before and after pictures like last time - but I don't really need the before ones.

My dog ate 2 lbs of Trader Joe chocolate...and promptly puked it up in my sisters bedroom, then all over the backyard. Meanwhile, my sister had the flu. Therefore, she was the only one who was staying home that day. Guess who got to clean it all up! :D

One quick 'n blurry picture (I'm the one smiling):


Have no "befores". I think NA might have one or two from their SF trip (though most of them are of the dogs).

:eek: Holy moly, don't think I'd recoginze you.

Cool! It's short! I love it! I can't believe that, when I met you, you had hair almost down to your ass!

Hi Bob!

Cute pic, mp! :)

I'm glad Frodo is not going to die from eating flies.

OMG, thats what I thought when I saw it!
I had to look twice! You look fabulous! So does the dog.

Very nice.

Whoa, hello! That IS a radical (and rad) cut. What made you get the snip-snip?

First of all, thanks.

I was figuring that it'd been long enough (both time and hair), and something about the 100 degree heat combined with 100 percent humidity in Orlando makes the idea of long hair, well, icky.

I don't know if it's true, but I heard chocolate is toxic to dogs. They can't digest it properly or something. So it's probably a good idea he yammied it, though it looked like, well, you know.

mousepod, I assume most of the items you are selling predate the SKU no.s? Using them sure makes it easier to list on eBay!

~Bob

Very nice haircut, I had to look a couple of times to recognize ya.

Thanks, CM.

And I'll bet you're the only one in the LoT who know what this CD is:



I think I'm going to start it off at $30...

(I'm still in eBay hell)

OMFG!

I had that CD - I think they should play "Straight To Uranus" as area music in Tomorrowland :)

Yes, it is quite true. It was a good thing that A) she did it overnight so by the time we found out, she'd already, err, expelled most of it, else we would have freaked and B) that she ate the whole 2 pounds. The sheer amount is probably what made her puke, rather than digest it. It would have killed her.

Good call. But be fair, the humidity's only 67% right now . . . that's nothing! (Or I've grown way too accustomed to this.)

Today has a predicted high of 91, the usual 4:00 thunderstorm, and I'll be staying inside, forgetting to drink enough water. (Mmmm...Coke...)

I recommend ponytails for people with long hair, and showers but no blow driers for everyone.

He got a vasectomy?!?

If so, I'd rather no pics be posted.

LOL! You'd think that loosing that much hair would at least weeken him!

Nope... just the haircut... and I'm feeling as virile as ever (thanks for the... concern).

Just finished with my eBay project. Put 253 CDs and singles up - all ending next weekend. Hope I make enough to pay for the Japanese camcorder ('cause I already ordered it).

Sooo......,

this was kinda cool to read in my office email:

You have been selected based on your performance and experience to..."

:)

Sounds like the start of a K-Y ad... :evil:

Just kidding, sounds like something I got an email about last week as well...

It would be nice if we could read it!;)

I had to highlight it to see it.......:D

If this came from a boss, good work, and congrats!

If it was a scam, sorry to hear that....

hmm, i wonder why it needs to be highlighted. it shows up without needing to be highlighted for me. sorry 'bout that.

yes, it came from "within" :)

thanks

ohhhhh, congratulations. Very interesting.

So....I'm wrestling with my four year old daughter today. Not exactly sure how she got in a position to do this, but she kicked me with her heel in my right eye, and I have quite the shiner. I think I'll tell people that three guys jumped me and I fought them all off.

Hee hee...

Leo got his butt kicked by a four-year-old

I thought I should mention here that my dinner tonight will involve a very swanky sauce.

On the label for the Newman's Own Cabernet Marinara, Newman is wearing a beret. He's trying to be swanky, I tell ya.

If anyone cares to see what kind of crap I'm selling on eBay... here you go

Gah! I feel like such a loser, so many bands in there I have not a freakin clue who they are! :blush:

That sauce is super yummy, n'est-ce pas?

Got any "Peaceful Tadpoles"?

Nope. But after reading this description of "the most famous Tadpole" at cdbaby: "raging manic-depressive semi-albino backup singer," I want to check them out.

They are a garage band I was associated with in Flagstaff AZ while in college. Fun people.

When I said your kid would be able to kick your butt soon, I was referring to the twelve year old. ;):p

Leo got his butt kicked by a GIRRRRRRRL

As a bi of trivia, one of the members of the band worked on all three PotC movies as a story board artist. Incredible artist.

No doubt. She only got away with it because she's cute and cried because I was hurt.:)

I'd never hit a girl. My self defense is typically better than that, however, when girls are trying to hit me.

One of my suitemates in college was Milo from the Descendents, I don't know if any has heard of them (maybe Mousepod?).

Milo, as in "Milo Goes To College"? Rock on!

I was inspried to look him up a bit more....apparently the guy I was talking about was a makeup artist and creative consultant on the PotC movies. not that anyone cares.

So, I must contribute to the Awwwww factor again. Sorry, I have to brag. :)

Baby got EARS!!!! YAY!!!

Very Cute!

I like how you through in the last one to prove she really does have ears!

Yep, that one

You're an awesome uncle, Bornieo. I can tell. She's flat-out adorable.

My nephew (aka the practice kid) and his wife just had a baby two days ago. It is just so cool to see him gaze at his beautiful little baby- he's totally in love and she already has him wrapped about her little finger.:)

Woooo Hoooooo!!!!
Totally exciting and interesting.
I'm so proud of you, you have no idea!

I 100% agree. There are no better words. Great pictures.

Do you think he'll remember us when he's President of Disneyland?

:)

I thought DL had an Emperor, not a president

So, my back seemed in really good shape this weekend. A full morning of condo shopping, with plenty of getting in and out of the car, followed by several hours of sitting for the cemetery screening, and I didn't feel a thing. Even the next day, I was perfectly fine. But this morning, I've been definitely stiff. Nothing horrible, but I know it's there.

Since I cut the drugs out within a couple days, I've got plenty left and happened to still have the Soma in my man bag. I figured there was no sense in being in pain all day if I didn't have to.

Well, in the week and a half since I last took it, it seems the bit of tolerance I had has evaporated. Plus, my breakfast was a donut and tea. Work's gonna be fun today. Of course, I think I'm going to be walking to lunch. Ikea, here I come!

Yes, but does baby have a Chicago shirt? :)

She's adorable.

I just scored 2 Snickers for the price of one from our vending machine. :snap: As I stared indecisively at the selection in front of me, it suddenly noticed the advantageous positioning of the treat that satisfies. Decision made. And sure enough, I was treated to the satisfying sound of 2 candy bars falling.

This finally makes up for the time the machine refused to relenquish a bag of peanut M&M's.

It's the small victories that make life truly worthwhile.

It's Peanutopolis!

For a while, our vending machine thought $1 bills were fives....

I'm sure you alerted someone of authority immediately.

Thanks for the complements everyone! No Chicago shirt yet, but the day will come, I promise you! ;)

She's just amazing. The day she and I met was last Sunday and I picked up her and her mom (my niece) at the airport. It was such a moment I can't even begin to discribe it but I walked up behind them at the claim area and the baby was looking all around with big bright blue eyes, just taking in everything. Her mouth was open and she was drooling. She moved her head around and then suddenly looked up at me and gave me a HUGE smile and "coo'ed." It was so awesome.

I don't know how I'll handle her going back home on Sunday, but I'll get thru it I guess.

Of course! :rolleyes:

We had a vending machine at our hotel that gave me four bottles of water for the $1.75 I put in. I didn't complain.

The vending machine at my work would only take change for a looong time. I keep all my change in the car or a jar on the kitchen counter. Thank goodness they fixed it.

Our vending machine used to sell us 20 oz sodas for 50 cents. Then someone caught on...

So, I'm out of coffee at work and didn't get to Peets last night. I had a vague notion of taking the Gold Line to a Peet's in sierra Madre, but I'd never been to that one, and wasn't sure how I could get from my office from there without a lot of retracing. So I hit the Starbucks by the Willow station, picked up some French Roast and a double espresso for the road. I also got a Croissant for Breakfest, but was once again dissappointed by it's gummy doughyness - doesn't anyone in this country know how to make a decent croissant anymore?

Anyway, I was late enough that Jorge got on my train - fortunately, while he sat next to me, he mostly pretended to read the paper while I focused intently on Murakami and he kept his hands to himslef.

Now I'm at work - and while my coffe is worlds above the Maxwell house in the drip pot, it still is...lacking. Perhaps I will have to make that Gold Line run...

There are good ones at Wegmans.

How about Doughboys Bakery? I read about that place in Sunset Magazine. It sounds yummy. http://www.doughboys.net/ (Warning: website has sound)

My wife is reading a book and the main character is named "Tancred Regman". What the hell kind of name is that?

I'm betting that later in the book it's revealed to be an anagram or something.

Sodas from my work machine only cost 50 cents. I wish they had juices as well.

If the machine eats our money we just leave a post-it saying it owes us and the nice candy man gives us our money back. I guess that only works in a small workplace.

I don't drink soda anymore. Death in a can (or plastic bottle), I say.

We've got a contact who's supposed to deal with that, but she never responded to my email. I wasn't going to stalk her for 60 cents, so I just let fate sort it out. Voila.

There is nothing like coming into the office at 8am and discovering that you could very well be here till 8pm. If I'm lucky.

Or coming in to the office at 8am to find out you wont leave till 8pm at least for the rest of the week, and you get to work Saturday.

I just drank a diet Coke - the first one I've had in MONTHS and now I feel sort of sick.

My dog has one of those dog dishes that has a food storage container on the bottom. You lift the lid that holds the water and food dish and the area underneath holds dog food for about 20-30 servings of dog food.

So I lift the lid and refil the storage area with his mega-huge bag o' dog food. This restocking empties the bag and I go to throw it away. When I return, Frodo is standing at the bin revealing 20-30 servings of dog food in front of him. Instead of looking like a dog who just woke up in Dog Food Heaven, he looked at me kinda sad like he was going to say, "You want me to eat all of this? Okay, brother, it's my funeral." And he started to eat it slowly like someone was forcing him to. It was funny watching him push his nose into the huge mound of food.
It was hysterical.
Dogs have such expressive eyes.
:)

I met with a new client today who has 2 dogs. One of the dogs seems to be part Akita and part Bull Mastif. He is the BIGGEST dog I have EVER seen in my life. His head is even with my head when I am standing on my knees.

Big doggie!

I love soda. Diet Pepsi, Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper... I try to drink just one a day. :)

This was one of the best days ever. I'm enjoying this week of no obligation. Today I went to the mall for some retail therapy. Two pair of shoes, one purse, two necklaces, three shirts, one pomegranate lemondar, and a free Ben Bridge Festival of Gems stone later and I was soaring on a shopping high. Then I indulged my home improvement bug by slapping a coat of paint onto the powder room ceiling. And since I'm not in a super hurry, I can use a brush like I prefer, not a roller.

New toys, healthy bit of exertion, and stack of rented DVDs still to watch. Does it get better?

I must have this, I've decided.

I shall save up for it.

:)

oooh, I MUST see a picture of this beast :eek:

And it's droppings.......

Cat bones and fur, liscense plates, rubber boots.....

Maybe it's late and I'm a bit punchy, but I'm teary I'm laughing so much at this. I can totally picture that dog's expression.

Such intelligent creatures, and yet, sometimes so odd.

Is the top of that dog dish thing hinged? I see those and imagine water sloshing everywhere when you need to feed the dog.

There is a very very very very very very very very very very very *inhale* very very very very very very very very scary show on teevee about being a super hero.

I will, of course, attempt to catch the next episode.

Was it "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" They were filming some of that at work yesterday :)

Yes! Those people have more than a few screws loose, that's for damn sure.

I liked the obstacle course where they had the crying child in the middle looking for her mommy. Only one of them stopped. The guy with the red suit and logo similar to Superman (Captain Invincible?).

So, I woke up this morning and my feet were hot - in fact they continue to feel hot throughout my morning. Is this some odd reaction to last night's Southern BBQ? Is someone holding a voodoo doll of me to close to a flame? Should I look to see if somehow they have obtained a mark? If this continues I think I'll be kicking my shoes off under my desk.

Have you tried Tinactin? John Madden informs me that the stuff can actually snuff out feet that are fully engulfed in flame.

There are some fire extinguishers located in my office should it come to that

Check the niacin levels in the sauce you ate.

If I have something that contains a lot of niacin, my feet, face, elbows, and knuckles turn hot like that and it can last for 30 minutes up to 8 hours.

I have scrubbed 2/3 of my kitchen floor, I just have arounf the dining table left. I have cleaned out my fridge. It looks totally bare. Now I am off to Target for dog food and jeans for Nickolas. He is not ready for a size 14, but too big for a 12, so I am going to try a 12 huskey.

After Target it is off to the grocery store to refill my fridge.

On the plus side, the house is looking mucho better than it was the frist time the cops showed up.

I will take a pic of him when I sit him next week. He's really adorable but HUGE! Shockingly huge.

I suspect that was Major Victory. (Which is kind of a cool name.)

Yes, that's it! He's a ham. :D

One of the guys is a firefighter in Bakersfield. He has been getting a lot of press, but I[m still not going to watch.

We are home from the grocery store. I am pretty pleased with myself. Only 1 junk food item was bought, the rest were fruits, veggies, milk and bread. Nickolas and I are now eating salads for lunch.

We had free In n Out for lunch.

Tongiht I am meeting a friend for Chipotle.

Then I am going to the gym

Yay me.

I'm eating a big Henry the 8th size piece of watermelon right now. Yum.
:)

We had chicken cooked in spagetti sauce all day in the crock pot, over rice. Very tasty.

I am forcing my mom to be up and ready to go tomorrow morning at 5am. Nickolas and I are taking her to Disneyland. She is griping about having to get up so early, but I know she is pleased that we want her along.

Panda Express Orange Chicken for dinner tonight, as we were at the mall doing some school shopping.

I am envious of your plans tomorrow, mousey.

MMmmmmmm I love Panda Express Orange Chicken

I had my first voice lesson tonight. Not only am I not a tenor (I *know* I'm not, but there aren't enough guys in the madrigal group so it's what I end up singing), I'm actually a high soprano who doesn't know what the hell she's doing. One lesson and already I've made higher noises than I've ever made in my life under any circumstances. And they weren't ugly noises. This is great!

Tortilla Jo's cut back the Cantina menu even more. No more Sopas, no more masa boats. Don't know if you can still get them inside or not.

Meanwhile, we got a really good discount on some margaritas made with some tasty new tequila they were pushing. Then I saw the banner with the chick stradling the beyond blatantly penis-shaped bottle. 'twas odd.

Slurp
 

what the...

Yahoo! Slurp Spider Viewing Thread
"The Pink Taco"

I am up and ready to go...almost, still have to put on pants and get Boy up and dressed. I told mom we would pick her up at 5 :evil: .

We need to be out of here at 430 to get gas and drinks and then get to her house. Bakersfield is so spread out. I am in the "southwest" and she is in the "northwest." It takes me a good 15 minutes to get to her house.

She said something amusing last night. She has been twice with us, once with David and once without. She enjoys herself more without him. She said that when it is just me & Nick we are more laidback and just enjoy being at the park, no rushing around.

Oooh...there goes Boy's alarm clock, and I just heard a thud as he hit the wall!!! :evil:

katiesue and scaeagles,
Panda Express Orange Chicken is crack. Just say no. I used to be addicted to that stuff. And then I tried to get myself off of it. It wasn't pretty. I went to other Chinese Food Court places and tried their Panda-esque Orange Chicken... not good. Then I tried to freebase it at home, it tasted like feet. Not good.
Just say no. Run away!
:D

KEEP YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF MY PANDA EXPRESS ORANGE CHICKEN!!!!!!

Yikes....where did that come from?

Your keyboard.

Can't resist......Must have Orange Chicken..........

Do you deliver? I reallly don't want to take the peanut gallery out today, my horoscope says not to.

Took the little pirates to Knotts yesterday evening. There are still remnants of the old Knotts I remember. They loved the log ride and the mine train, ghost town, and Sad Eyed Joe. There's still a little Knotts magic left, hiding under the roller coasters, if you know where to look..

Concerning Orange Chicken...

Trader Joe's sells a frozen orange chicken that is very easy to make and delicious. You just empty the bag onto a cookie sheet, throw it in the oven for a bit, then mix it with the sauce packet and viola, orange chicken. I usually add some chopped scallions and sesame seeds to the mix.

It's far cheaper and much better than Panda Express, IMO.

*wishing there was a Trader Joes out here* :(

Thanks MBC will have to try that. But of course that would require actual work, Panda Express is conveniently located inside my Vons. And I must admit I'm also rather fond of their chow mein.

I'll vouch for the Trader Joe's chicken. It's absurdly easy, and totally delicious.

I know what I'm having for dinner tonight! Thanks, everyone.

Now I have to go shopping.

I hate Trader Joe's. Their produce is always rotten and dirty, their cereal boxes are faded, lots of their entrees are tasteless and their cashiers are smug hippies.

Okay, I don't hate all of Trader Joe's. I like their Brownie Bits, their Naan bread and their Indian food. But that's it, brother. Bleh and double bleh. And add an iSm 'Bah' in there for me, too.

:)

GC obviously lives inanother universe.

No joke.
That doenst describe any Trader Joe's I've seen .

Is it magically delicious?

Well, if you squint your eyes, the chicken pieces are kinda shaped like, ummm, very lumpy moons and clovers and stuff.

Meanwhile, I've discovered some new deliciousness at Trader Joe's. "Arabian Joe's Middle East Feast." Don't know if it's new, or if I've just never seen it, but yum. Falafel, tabouli, pita, hummus, and a tahini sauce. All quite delicious. The only problem I had with it was that the ammount of pita came up way short compared to the ammount of hummus and tahini. But that's easily resolved by having extra pita on hand.

I got my worst case of food poisoning ever from Panda Express. Never going to eat there again. Might try the TJ stuff, though.

Crap. I had to go and turn it over and look at the fat content.

It's still better than a box of ding dongs. Or a Douple Whopper Combo. ;)
Dont you dare ruin one of my fave lunches.

For some reason I don't like ding dongs or twinkies. But I adore ho ho's.

So, Katie doesn't like dongs but she like hos.

Katie, I must say this is a new side of you I was unaware of.

Oh there's a LoT you're unaware of :evil:

Oh, now that's leading...

I refuse to eat Ding Dongs now that they no longer come wrapped in foil.

Pray tell, how are they now packaged?
(I actually dont eat them, but it seemed a good reference at the time)

Individual plastic packages.

Ho Ho's too - I liked the foil packages better as well.

No way, baby. It's this universe all right. I site specifically the LA Sunset TJs, Monterey TJs and the TJs near MIT in Boston.
The only benefit about going to the TJs here is that one of the cashiers looks like Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder from 'Little House on the Prarie').
There's a cashier at the Boston TJs who says lame-o things to customers like "Keep your eyes on the prize, man. Have a great day." and "Keep it real, keep it clean, keep it and then give it away." Crap like that. Bleh.

Not only that, but people who work there (and often shop there) look like they're starving.

:D

When next you come to the west coast, hop on down. I'll take you to the Hillcrest TJ's.

its crowded but has tons of eye candy.
Or you can go to the one by my house. Less eye candy, but tons of nice folk.

Yeah, don't mind me. It's just me and my crankiness. It also doesn't help that I usually get dragged to TJ's by Ralphie right before dinner. Not only am I hungry but it's usually crowded. Once I went into a tirade about why anyone would want a huge broken brick of Ghiradelli's chocolate.

I also don't know which lecture I prefer: The lecture I get about killing trees when I say 'paper' or the lecture I get about how plastic doesn't break down for thousands of years in our landfills when I say 'plastic'. :D

But... I like eye candy!

The cashiers in Monterey were dirty. Dirty fingernails touching my green soy enchiladas stuffed with free range chicken meat and cheese made from Mongolian yak milk... :D

And Hillcrest being one of San Diego's concentrated gay male populated areas, I do mean eye candy.

The TJ's on Bellflower in Long Beach is very nice too!

Hmmm... I may have to rethink my TJ stance...

:D

I'm eating yummy (crack) Orange Chicken from Panda Express - mmmmmmm

You're addicted, katiesue...




That sounds good right now. :D

I didn't eat dinner. Not hungry. Too hot. Bleh.

Another good item from TJs is a flank steak wrapped around bleu cheese. Good schtuff!

We've been into Costco prepared stuff lately. Over the weekend, we bought two $13 meals - meatloaf and mashed potatoes, and chicken alfredo. Gave us dinner on Sunday with an "encore presentation" on Monday, and then dinner on Tuesday with an encore presentation last night. Simply, yet tasty. Throw in a fruit salad or a veggie and we had 4 dinners for a family of 5 for under $30 total. Not too bad.

Shudder. Bleu cheese is simply.....not my thing, to put it kindly.

Remember the Boston Trader Joes is like no other

Have you ever been minding your own business when you have the very bizarre thought of "holy crap, we are the adults"?

In the immortal words of Jimmy Buffett,


"We are the people our parents warned us about"

I have that on a sticker!!!!!!!!



Is anyone really suprised?

Have you ever finished applying the primer stepped back, and said to yourself: self, perhaps I should just leave the bathroom white....

*sigh*

Key Lime Martini at Saddle Ranch Chop House - My New Favorite 'Tini :D

The bathroom is now considerably pinker than I had planned. An assertive shade of pink. Lighter version of cranberry. Like raspberry ice cream (not sorbet) pink.

The guy who inherited our house last year came down today with his wife and sister-in-law and grandkids and an architect and a structural engineer and a termite guy to walk around our house for two hours. It was a set meeting, so we expected it (except for his friggin family) - but toward the end, the truth came out - he's planning on selling his house in Olympia WA and moving here. In a year or two. Basically, it's what we knew would happen, we're being slowly kicked out. Or maybe kicked out with lots of notice. Whatever.
Realistically, we've needed this to happen to force us to get off our asses and look for a place to buy - a quarter million in rent over the past decade and we own nothing. Not sure where we're going to look, but maybe the greater LA area? Perhaps. Just gotta find some work down there...

Anyway, so I'm all cranky until a box shows up from Japan. It's the cool little video camera I ordered last weekend. I charge it up and start taking videos. Yay! Except... there's a friggin hot pixel on the CCD. And since I bought a Japanese model (on eBay), there's no warranty.

But, like the crappy rental story, there's even a silver lining here. I emailed the guy who sold me the camera, and he's sending me a replacement camera - so I'll still have it in time for WDW.

I'm exhausted. My problems are so small compared to most people in the world. I needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Oh yeah, if you want to see the video I shot (very dorky movie of my sleeping dog), I stuck it on YouTube for your "enjoyment".

At least your bathroom isn't salmon. Salmon tile, salmon tub, salmon toilet. With black/orange/yellow wallpaper--on the ceiling.

No, but I am going to have to call it the Alarming Strawberry room from now on. (To go with the Blue Room and the Green Room.)

It shocks me every time I turn the corner. I'm not going to repaint, so in the immortal words of Tim Gunn I will have to "Make It Work."

This made me giggle.

You can soften the appearance by mixing equal parts white paint and glaze and then using a rag to apply it to the walls. Creates a very nice effect that will help you live with the color, and using a rag to apply or a sponge makes it quicker than painting with a brush or roller.

Mousepod,

Sorry to hear about your housing situation, in the long run it probably is for the best, it just sucks right now. If you are going to be in one place for a long period of time, it's always a good idea to buy (if you can), just make sure it's somewhere you really want to live. It's just a real bummer that it's so difficult own in this area these days.

Nice video, I'm sure that will work out great on your impending WDW trip. I'd like to go there someday.

I had a green moment yesterday. I received 3 flicks from Netflix and opened them. There's a flap that you throw away after opening it that's about 5" x 7" or so (don't quote me on the size). I was wondering how many trees that equalled when you count up all the flaps that were thrown away since Netflix started. A lot o' trees.

Would you please get out of my head? I was thinking that too. What a waste. There has to be a better way.

So...

I'm pretty sure today is going to be one of those days. I tried to stop it but got lost on the way.

6am - woke up to a dead server
6:45 - get to work
6:55 - re-start server
7:15 - find out something else failed in my office but not the other offices. Had my butt handed to me (it's way to early for that) by a cranky pregnant co-worker
7:35 - decide to get coffee
get lost on the way to Farbucks
7:55 - drive back and almost get rear-ended in the fog (not cheating death posting worthy)
8:00 - back at work
8:15 - a crucial website is down

So, the other night CP and I met up with a friend and his fiance for dinner at Tortilla Ho's. Not everyone arrived at the same time, so those of us who were early grabbed a pitcher of margaritas at the bar. The bar tender talked us into going with some new brand of tequila they were pushing by offering $10 off the pitcher. It did indeed make a pretty good margarita. Then I noticed one of the bottles sitting behind the bar...



Then I noticed the giant banner on the wall of the chick straddling said bottle, lest you be uncertain whether the not-so-sublte phalic imagery was intentional or not.

Diquila

I went to Cabo with my parents when I was about 15 or so. We took a sight seeing/snorkling trip on a catamaran (about 10 tourists on the boat or so). On the way back, the crew broke out the boob shaped mug filled with "Titila" and the schlong shaped one filled with "Penis Colada". That's high on the list of moments for which a 15 year old does NOT want to be sitting next to his parents.

Proportionally speaking, that bottle has huge nuts.

So... I am getting ready to go out to dinner and then to see Stars on Ice. I am not really sure if I want to go, but I am made up and dressed, just need to brush my hair and teeth.

I am going with my neighbor and her best friend. They are older than me and have made it their mission in life to get me out of the house and have some time away from David and Nickolas.

It should be fun, I would just rather kick back with a book.

grrr... now the boy is upset because in my cleaning fit I dumped out a large bowl of candy. All of a sudden he wants some. This bowl had been sitting there, largly untouched since Halloween.

I am craving mochi ice cream. Ralphs has it for $6 a box. Ya, not so much. TJs should be less. I could always go to TJs or a Japanese grocery store tomorrow.

Tongiht I shall sleep.

Assuming that Netflix still uses Tyvek envelopes (it looks and feels a little like plastic), then you don't need to worry about trees. Tyvek is not made from wood pulp.

But even if it were made from trees, you still needn't worry. Trees for paper manufacturing are grown and harvested as crops, just like the vegetables you eat. The vast majority of paper comes from cottonwood trees that have been genetically engineered for a fast growth factor. The average tree harvested for paper manufacturing grows to a usable maturity in only five years. I've been told that it is interesting to see these tree farms as all of the trees have the same branches sprouting out in the same places. They grow so fast that in the peak summer growing season, one can easily measure their growth in a single day and you can almost WATCH growth happening!

When choosing between paper or plastic at the grocery store, know that the paper bag is usually made from recycled boxes. And even if it weren't, the decomposition factor of paper is much better than it is for plastic, so the paper is MUCH better for the environment. Granted, the reusable cloth bags (which GusGus frequently utilizes) are even better.

Paper is a very renewable resource.

But...but....what about all the tree huggers out there? Surely every tree cut down means the destruction of some sort of animal habitat???

Kevy, I'm shocked. As a tree hugger, I propose we protest these cruel tree harvesters and make them stop!

OK....no one is buying this, I'm sure.

Netflix doesn't use Tyvek.

Just got back from Tanglewood.

The weather was great, but I did a lousy job of putting sunscreen on my arms. Now I'm sunburned.

I did get to see and hear John Williams, Yo-Yo Ma and James Earl Jones though, so that was cool. :)

Soooo.....anyone need blackberries? It's like Christmas tree cutting - seems like it's too small at the tree farm and at home it's three feet taller than the living room. Likewise, it seemed like I hadn't picked enough, but I've already got a batch of sorbet chilling, enough for a pie rinsed and draining, and I'm maybe 1/2 way through the first of three container. I'm thinking at least two pies, one, maybe two batches of cordial, and then who knows?

I assume you're going to make jam or jelly? My mom did that once, and she had enough to last YEARS. It was delicious; unfortunately, we'll never get her to do that again.

Probably not. Cordial is easier.

Mitsuwa rules. Mochi galore and some really nice, really cheap mushrooms for dinner.

I'm cooking a stew with some near-free lamb courtesy Albertson's. See, I noticed a package of lamb stew meat that seemed like a decent price...then I noticed the 2 packages next to it that had been mislabled and were priced at 14 cents each...

See, but it's lamb you're talking about, so I am more grossed out than impressed. That stuff is nasty!!!! Still, considering all the times Albertsons has ripped me off with bad meat, I'm glad to see a customer enjoy a great deal!

Lamb is fantastic! mmmmm

Mmmmm! I'm having the combo plate from my favorite local joint - lamb, beef, and chicken all cooked up in spices served over saffron rice with a side of the only hummus I like. Lamb is yummy!

Dinner was a mushroom and tofu stir-fry.

Sauce was made of Ponzu, soy sauce, minced garlic and sesme paste.
Diced tofu and let it maranade for about an hour
Put some peanut oil in the pan for more flavor
Stir-fried tofu for about 15 minutes, until hot
Added mushrooms (fresh Sh*take, oyster, enokitake, and buma shajaki) and a can of straw mushrooms
Added a little more marinade and covered tightly
Let steam for about 15 minutes.

It was amazing.

Oh, I love those kind of sales! Did it taste better when it cost almost free??;)

About 3 years ago I went in for some film at Albertsons. They had a 6 roll box on sale. I paid for it, and a few other things. It didn't ring up at the sale price, so I got it for free. We had friends visiting from England and we were doing all the parks from San Diego to Hollywood, so a few days later I went back for some more of the film still on sale. And guess what? Yup, more free film, they still didn't change it. Went back the next day, and guess what? Yup again, still more free film. Each of the three times I told them someone should fix it. I went back one more time out of morbid curiosity, and this time they had fixed it so I paid the sale price. It was the last day of the sale. But heck, I had enough film for the rest of the year. In fact, I haven't bought film since, I have gone completely digital now.

And Marla, that sounds great! Can you bring some to the next potluck? :)

SO.......

How come NO ONE told me that animals died in Brokeback Mountain? /SOB :(

Poor baby sheep.

I was pondering this evening if it would be somehow immoral if I ate some rabbit at home. Is it any different to order it at a restaurant? I seriously would have no problem eating rabbit. I guess eating it in front of the bunny would be kinda messed up...right?

I have a massive amout of dust up my nose. It amazes me how much dust collects on a knick-knack.

restaurant ok. At home? that's just wrong. :)

Only if you want Munchkyn to live the rest of her life in fear of you eating her too.

And my post about poor baby sheep was in no way related to the fact that GD and CP were having lamb. Animals being hurt/killed in movies really bothers me (and yes, I know it's not real).

I didn't think it was possible, but it was so much better today for lunch!

And Bob, I don't know how it would be cold.

So, my wife (who is only a tad over 5' tall) likes the perfume "Beautiful". My son today said "Mom, I hope you get more beautiful on your birthday."

Well, we laughed at the obvious double meaning, and then I said "too bad they don't make 'smart' or 'tall' perfume".

I have a really, really big bruise on my upper right arm now. But my son and I had a good laugh.

That poor woman.

You have no idea how I torture her on a daily basis.

I think we can imagine.

Sooo, this time Jack has a complete urinary tract blockage and is in the hospital for the next 3 days. I'm changing my name to Job, because that's about how I feel.

Oh no! Poor Jack!! :(

Oh no! Poor Jack! And Poor Mom!

:( very sorry to hear the news, NA.

Well, the vet called, his catheter is in, he came off the sedative just fine and he is unblocked. Now, two days of IV/Catheter combo and he'll be home.

Now, dear kitties, it is time to ALL be healthy and stop financially supporting your vet. OK?

Thank you for reinforcing why I do not have a pet. Children are expensive enough.

Any idea as to the cause of this problem?

Does he need a change of diet?

Meds to keep it from happening again?

Is he just getting older and this is to be expected?

Whatever the reason, I hope he's back home and healthy very soon.

Thanks, Sam. Me too. I miss my B.O.B. (Big Orange Boy).

Some cats - expecially males - are more predisposed to FLUTD/FUS than others. I've got 2 out of 5 boys that seem to have reached that point in their life where they are suspectable. It has to do with the PH level of their urine and the formation of sturvite crystals which, if large enough, don't pass and lodge in their urinary tract. It's a VERY dangerous thing. Their bladder can back up and completely toxify their body in about 24 hours killing them pretty quickly. Lots of water/liquid seems to be the key, but you can't MAKE a cat drink.


We've made quite a few changes in all of the cats' diets lately. They only drink distilled water - out of a special fountain - now and they get a "treat" of canned perscription food every day which ups their intake of fluid. I've also changed their dry food to a non-perscription lower PH/Magnesium/ash content but it seems it's not enough. It looks like they need to go on a 100% perscription diet with their dry food as well. The thing about perscription food is that you can only get it from the Vet. So, it's certainly not as convenient and much more expensive, but if that's what we have to do, that's what we neeed to do. Seven hundren dollar vet bills aren't convenient or cheap either - and it wears us all out.

I just hope that's going to be the answer.

And, that concludes FLUTD/FUS 100. :)

Well, I'm not a cat, but I am Bob. Will that do?

I had a problem with my cats. Then I found the answer. You may not believe this.

It was the Arm and Hammer cat box deodorizer. You know, the stuff you sprinkle into the cat litter? It's made with baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate. It has a high pH, and when the cats use the litter box, then lick their paws (I know, ewwww!) they ingest enough to spike their urine to a higher pH. I stopped using it and the problem completely went away!

I can't believe they can sell that stuff! Do you use it, or cat litter with Arm & Hammer in it? Some people even sprinkle Baking Soda in the litter box (as directed on the A&H box!).

Good luck with the kitties. I hate it when the pets don't feel well......

~Bob

YIKES

We use the A&H kitty litter. Two girl kittys and one boy kitty. We may need to consider a change. Which sucks because the A&H works the best and the cats prefer it (we actually tested it with them to see what their preference was).

Perhaps it's time she start buying you "Straight" cologne.

Yikes!!!! I didn't see this yesterday- poor kitty boy! :(

Very big hugs to him from me and the Girl. He's such a lovebug- I hate to think of him going through this.

NA, I've got to say that I am sorry. Even though I hate cats, I truly don't like to see animals or their owners suffer.

Now that's funny.

Poor Jack! :( I hope he gets better asap. :)

I hope we get a Jack update soon. :)

Jack's doing well. They are flushing out his system and it seems to be getting rid of the crystals. I'm trying to decide if I should visit him or not. Sometimes cats get too upset when they see their mommy and pull out the IV and catheter - which means they's just have to sedate him to put it back in. I think I'll just wait until he comes home tomorrow.

He's such a big loving presence in our house and there's a big bap with Jack gone.

So...I am not working this week (yet). I have somehow managed to get myself talked into taking Nickolas to see The Ant Bully in about an hour. I also have a housefull of little boys (ok, only 2 extra) who want to go as well. I told them they could, as long as they can pay for themselves and their dad says it's ok. *sigh* I really wanted to get some shopping done while I am out...

one of the cats we had a number of years back was a cronic crystal former. after doing the prescription food and such for a few months we were told to try the science diet dry for older cats. that combined with the distilled water...never another incident.

mi dos centavos and sympathies. leaky cats aren't much fun (catheter). non-leaky cats, even less so.

So, there was only one "must be shredded" thing in my mail today, which is good.

I got a "sample quote" (um...yeah, that's informative) for auto insurance. The agent's first name is "Madonna." I'm thinking of putting her business card in my desk drawer so that I can be amused by this a second time whenever I get around to cleaning out the desk.

OK, This is the next thing I'm going to investigate. I'm wondering how inclusive the cat litter packaging is.

So all day yesterday and today I was thinking that my allergy medicine wasn't working. Now I realize that I have a little cold. I feel congested and tired. Bleh!

For some unknown reason, I've got the song "Don't Whiz On The Electric Fence" stuck in my head.

Talk about random, I had the 'Hail to the Princess Aurora' song in my head. It's the song they sang at the beginning of 'Sleeping Beauty'. I haven't seen that film in ages!
:D

"Hail to the king, hail to the queen, hail to the Princess Aurora..."

So, I've just spent the last 45 minutes investigating cat litter. It seems any clay litter with odor control has ingredients that will skew the PH balance if ingested. Most of these products are made for the ease for humans. Cat's don't care if their litter clumps, humans do.

I also found that both the silica and clay cat litters can cause upper respitory problems with cats as well. We've had our share of colds lately.

I'm starting to piece this stuff together and wonder if much of the sickness has been caused or contributed to by the cat litter we've recently been using. The timing sure seems to be approximate.

I know I am days late, but I ALWAYS need blackberries.. too bad I live way the hell far away from you.


AND NA? The cat litter thing... they need to ingest at least some of it, but as was said earlier, licking their paws after going potty can do it in a cat predisposed.
It very well could be the combination.

Jerry Springer will be on the latest version of Dancing with the Stars. My life is now complete.

For the LA-area library types - MOCA is hiring a two-year, temporary, processing archivist.

It is offical. I am stuck in doggy hell. I went out this morning to find ANOTHER dog in our yard. The fence between us and one of the houses behind us is falling apart. One of their bull-type dogs (I hesitate to label it a pitt) was in our yard. They have at least 3 back there. One of them, that was looking through the fence) has a bulldog face, but the one that came through had more pitt type features (right down to a studded collar). I only heard the third. I chained up Sox, pulled on gloves and move some of David's sheet metal across the areas they are using for access and then placed a stepping stone down for extra weight. I really hope this works until David gets home. I told Nick he was not to go in the back yard until it is fixed.

grrr...not the way I wanted to start my day!!!

Susan just purchased a self-cleaning litter box (a one-hundred-and-forty-dollar-cat-box - WTF?!?). We'll let you know how this works out.

Yes, but those boxes use clay litter.

I'm switching to KittyPine today. I'll report back on that.


BTW, I've used the self-cleaning litter boxes before with some of my kitty-charges. Yes, they scoop, but they just deposit the poop in a container that fills up pretty fast. Also the litter and poop gets stuck in the teeth of the cleaning mechanism and is really icky.

Does the Kitty Pine have a pine scent? I knowI was told not to use wood shavings for the rat cages because their urine hits the pine and causes fumes that contribute to respatory problems. I had to switch to a recycled wood pulp type bedding. It works, no more bloody sneezes. I only have 2 rats that sneeze, Squiggles and Peach (who takes pride in sneezing on my glasses).

I don't know if cats would have the same problem. Whenever we had cats they were always outside cats, so no litter boxes.

I hate when poop gets stuck in the teeth.

I have come to the conclusion that I am in housework avoidance mode. I am also in picture avoidance mode. I need to change the ink cartrage and paper so that I can print out the pics I took both Thursday and last weekend. I just don't want to mess with it. I wish the Old People would just get a broadband connection already so that I can just email the pics to them and make mom print them out herself!!

When I had Sophie in my little single apartment in Hollywood, I used Feline Pine. I'd get it at Trader Joe's or Ralph's. No smell at all, flushes right down the terlet. You'll use about half the amount in the box that you would for clay. The cats may not like it for the first day, then they get over it. Bonus: No more stepping on pointy little clay rocks in your bare feet!

one word dewd...



floss :D

I just found a small tumor under Peach's arm. I knew it was going to happen, just wasn't expecting it so soon.

doo'd.

I'm illin'.
Sick sick sick sick sick...

Bleh, baby, bleh.
:(

I am sorry to hear about this (especially in the middle of our above silly antics). Forgive my forgetfullness, but I assume this is a pet? What kind? How old is said pet?

Sorry to hear about peaches, I hope it works out ok.

It is Princess Peach. She is a rather large beige rat. She is around 18 months old. An average life span for a rat is 18mnths-2yrs. Right now it is the size of a small pea. It could probably be removed, but it wouldn't help her life span.

This myst be "pet-get-sick" week. I'm sorry to hear about Peaches. I didn't realize rats have such a short lifespan (short compared to us, of course). That's sad news.

In other sick pet news, Jack is home but he's nove very happy. He is having some post-catheter pain and he's pretty uncomfortable.

The worse news of the day is that Lyra (our caligo girlie) is has chronic renal faliure. She's been looking worse and worse over the past couple of days. We'll see when the bloodwork comes back tomorrow just how bad it is, but it seems that it is pretty bad and she may not be with us very much longer. We thought she ws 13, but the doctor thinks she is probably 16. She's had a long life and used many of her 9 lives already. I just have to wait for the bloodwork to see what sort of decision we made and when. I'm not going to let her suffer but I'm not going to torture her with SQ fluids either. I'll know more tomorrow morning.

She's already outlived all of our previous cats.

Poor Grumpy Girlie. :(

Okay then, I will share our pet woes (albeit minor compared to others here).

The latest hatching of dragons had a number of defects. Five total. Since they can't be sold, we now have a grand total of 18 dragons at home (yikes!)

All the latest have issues with their eyes. The problem is similar to the two others we had previously: their eyes have not developed properly. They should develop fine, except there is one with TWO bad eyes. We are fairly certain that he is blind, although there is no way to be certain. We are not sure how to deal with him. He is, ironically, the most active of the five. We have to be careful about approaching him to pick him up (on the first day, I didn't take this into consideration and scared the crap out of him when I first touched him to pick him up).

We'll see how things work out.

I had a rat once that had major eye issues. Both of her parents were my pets. She was the runt of the litter. I named her Wilbur. Neither of the eye sockets unsealed, she looked like she just kept them closed, but for obvious reasons they couldn't open. One socket was totally empty, the other had something in it, but not nearly enough for an eyeball. I kept her so that I could be sure she wouldn't be a feeder. She was amazing. She did things that the others wouldn't ever do, because she couldn't see that it was impossible. Her favorite thing was to climb up the smooth side of my desk and eat my eyeshadow. I never bred her mother after that.

On a lighter note, Nickolas got his results from the CAT thing he did in April (Calif Aptitude Test). There weren't any surprises. He is waaaay above average in math and a tad above average in reading/writing, but only when compared to California students. Nationally he is a tad below average in reading/writing and above average in math. They must not have had any reading portions about Yugioh or Pokemon.

When people mention a CAT scan, I always get visions like this:



In searching for the above, I came across this image a couple of times:

I am shaking and in near hysterics. I just gave the dogs some food. Something I do daily. Out of the blue Sox attacked Pooh. I mean vicious attack. I couldn't get them apart. I was screaming for David as Pooh yelped. Nickolas ran to his room to hide from the noise. David got them apart. All I can do is cry when I think that could have been Nick being attacked. I love Pooh, even with all his faults, he has never been aggressive towards us or other dogs. I just can't believe it. I told David to get rid of him ASAP. After he got them apart, I just cried and held Pooh while checking him for injuries. Luckily, where Sox was biting (and shaking his head) was on the excess skin of Pooh's upper neck. No bleeding, he was shaking as much as I am. OMG!! Growing up on a farm, I have NEVER seen this kind of viciousness. Nickolas is now banned from the backyard until Sox is gone. I don't care where he goes, as long as it isn't here.

Poor dog. Take him to a shelter--someone with no other pets or children should be able to give him a good home.

I'm so sorry to hear about that, MG. Sox needs training and some heavy duty training and behavious modification at that. However, it's not worth the risk of having him in your household - especially with CPS looking at you right now. Stratfordshires can be incredible sweet and loving dogs but, given a certain amount of abuse, the can easily turn nasty - any dog can. This dog has had too much happen to him already for you to be able to take him on as a project at the moment.

Jack's back in the hospital afte a long and sleepless night. No update on how bad Lyra is. Meanwhile, I'm covered in cat pee.

I think we could've done without that third sentence.

But I hope your cats get better.

Oh no!!! Poor Kitties!!!

Speaking of CPS. I found a business card on my front door. Nick said he had seen it there Monday, but I didn't spot it until I was locking up last night. I called the woman back and left a message that we should be home today, if she wanted to stop by. I kind of with that she would just so I can just get past this whole thing. On the other hand, I would love to go back to bed right now.

MG - I am sooo sorry! I hope that Sox can be reomoved from your home ASAP and placed in a more appropriate enviornment. And I also hope that the CPS lady comes by and goes away quickly.

Lisa - I hope both kitties feel better quickly. :(

Poor animals! :(



Nothing is more boring than converting someone else's CD collection to mp3's for their iTunes. Bleh. I thought I'd lend a helping hand and bleh!
:D

I take it their musical interests are not the same as yours?

I ought to be getting music onto MY iTunes right now, but I'm not.

Omg... I've done that. Tedious is not a good enough word.
One thing to do your own..... but man.....

It's more like: 'Have it.' 'Don't want it.' 'Yikes, why do you have this?' and 'I don't want to soil my computer putting that disc in it!'
:D

My friend, Roddy, said I could add to my collection anything I want. He does have an extensive Jazz section which is nice.
:)

I've watched enough Animal Precint and other Animal Planet rescue shows to know that this isn't uncommon. A dog from a bad environment may seem the sweetest, most loving thing, but feeding can be troublesome. I've seen some adorable dogs turn vicious when you even partially block them from food. I'm sure Sox thought Pooh was a threat to his food.

On the show they use a manniquin hand attached to a pole and try mess with the dog's food while it's eating - often times the hand is broken off. It's heartbreaking, because it's almost impossible to train them out of that one, and they are often put down, no matter how sweet they are otherwise. :(

Actually, that's not true (the impssability of training - the putting down part is sadly true). Good training can do wonders - especially for a dog like Sox that has some good qualities but some pretty bad experiences and bad training. However, it takes lots of time and dedication. Dogs in general take a lot of time and dedication but good dogs take much more of it.

As my bass says "there are no bad dog, just bad owners".

I just god a sample sanitary napin and "wipe" in the mail from Always. Gee thanks.

The message on the bottom of the box says "Have a happy period."

Yeah. :rolleyes:

The typos make for great comedy :)

Yeah, little did we know that Lisa had a talking fish. ;)

Oh, now I get it! I really thoght she had one of those talking Bass thingys!

Have a Happy! Period!

Emotive punctuation. Whooda thunk?

"Enjoy staunching your blood flow, feeling like there's barbed wire wrapped around your small intestine, and battling the urge to either punch someone or sob uncontrollably!"

Well... the CPS lady came out today. She looked at the bathroom, the dishes (they were all clean) and the bathroom. She then looked at Nick's room and the spare room. She asked Nick which room was his. Like DUH! One is full of toys, the other full of junk. She also wanted to see that he had clean clothes.

She was not too fond of the rats. She made a comment that they are filthy animals. It was everything I could do not to snap at that. She said they were told that the rats run around the house all the time and that I don't clean up after them. I told her that was incorrect. They get taken out 2-3 times a day and do not use the floor as a toilet. The 3 that are allowed in the floor go back to their cage (or sneak into Peach's cage) to go potty and none of them are out long enough to need to go on the floor. Rats are one of the cleanest animals. Most people don't realize that they have control of their bodily functions (unlike mice).

*sigh*

I did draw the blinds over the back door, so the dogs never entered the conversation.

Something that surprised me, when I told David about the visit, he defended our having rats as pets.

Well, I hope that's the end of it then, and that everything will be okay now. She can't give you a ding for having pets that she doesn't like, the nerve of her even saying that!

Totally. I hope it's over with.
:)

Just got an email from Disney.
$200 off on this collectible:


Here's the link.

€uro, are you reading this?

I wonder who verified there are more than 19,000 rivets.

The poor taiwanees guy who had to put 'em in?

I love that period of time several days before your last day of work. It's the time when you sit back and say, 'Yeah, I don't need to worry about that any more.' and 'I won't have to see his face again.' and 'That event takes place after I leave. I don't have to go to the meeting about it.'
Love it.
:)

Then again, there's also: 'I'm going to really miss her.' and 'My desk is pretty cool after all.' and 'Well, I did have the biggest cublicle...' and 'They did let me LoT a lot.'

;)

I work for a small company. I am normally extremely busy (10 hour days are considered short). The boss is on vacation in Hawaii this week. I have a ton of things I should be doing, yet I seem to be spending a lot of time wasting time and not getting things done. (I am also posting here during the day, which I NEVER do.)


You would think it would be relaxing, but it is stressing me out. Silly workaholic!

So I'm busy causing irreperable damage to my brain by thumbing through a fibre channel protocol bench reference when I see the following message.

"This pages is blank, and we INTENDED it to be BLANK! Makes the flow of things nicer, does it not?"

:D Nothing amuses us bored techies like the brain droppings of other bored techies.

But, if the page has words on it, it is no longer blank.

Precisely what I was thinking. :)

For 30 cents an hour. And he's board, so he counts them.

I love when I find things like that also! And that one is pretty funny!

I also get a kick out of poorly translated instructions. Like this one:

"Drive with screw before hol is to." WTF is that? I had a whole page of this cabinet I had to reverse engineer to put together!

And I saw a sign at a Hong Kong airport that was translated badly in into English, and said this:

"We will be glad to send your luggage in all directions"

Well, I feel sooo much better now!:rolleyes:

Would somebody please come to my office and remove the gigantic can of delicious jumbo cashews from my desk? It's already 1/3 empty.

Thanking you in advance,
Lizziebith's Dinner Appetite

I got that too this morning and where I almost always delete these emails, I couldn't bring myself to do this one in. the $300 is still a bit steep for me - but damn how cools is that? I haven't a clue what I'd do with it, but if I had it, I'd certainly find a prominent place to put it so I could gaze upon it indulging my Captain Nemo Fantasies. No dubt I would also feel the need to flee to my island refuge, which right now seems to be somewhere in Tokyo Bay.

Little Todd's teacher called today (4 days before he goes back to school) to tell us she is retiring, getting married, and moving north somewhere to work on a global warming project. Details are sketchy because Crystal didn't really digest anything beyond "retiring". The retirement, marriage, and career change are somewhat sudden. She hasn't known her fiance very long but she says they are in love and know what they are doing. I dig that crazy love, man.

This crazy hippie lady has had our children in her class for a total of 6 years and Todd for the last two. She was moving up to teach a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade class and Todd was going to be her student for another three years. Imagine five consecutive years with the same teacher in a public school. That dream dies today and we'll miss her.

Fortunately for us, our first choice to be Todd's teacher made room for him in her class within 2 hours of getting a phone call from a very stressed-out Crystal. So there's that. She's a good teacher and I know Todd will continue to excel. I just have to keep that in mind.

YAY for Todd! He's such a great kid!

Yeah, he is. Thanks NA.

Ouch

We won't find out whose class Nickolas will be in until the first morning of school.

Ice cream cake for breakfast is just not a good idea...

*Urp*

Whoa horsie... are you in an alternative school? Or are the schools just really little where you are?
I think I have missed this tidbit over time.

We find out tonight what class the boy is in. They start monday, so they post it tonight.

Bonolulu here I come! :cheers:

My ears are still ringing from last night.

It's a charter elementary school with a multi-age satellite school right next door, Ponine. Enrollment in the multi-age department is optional and most parents choose the traditional campus. And since it's a charter school, we are able to keep our children (now only Todd) enrolled there no matter where we live. Our retiring teacher is the co-founder of the multi-age department (the other founder died in a bike accident last August).

Basically the multi-age program works like this: Todd's class last year was 2nd and 3rd graders. Everyone works at their own pace and the advanced students are free to work ahead. For example, a 2nd grade student who excels in math can work with the third-graders during math time.

Todd had the choice this summer to either a) stay with the same teacher he's had for two years, b) go with a new teacher, c) go to a school in his home district - Elk Grove Unified. Todd chose a and ended up with b.

Did you go to a concert? I always wear earplugs.

Stan4dSteph~ Are YOU going to the U2/Pearl Jam show in Honolulu??? Ooo, we had toyed with the idea...

Yes, I have learned the benefit of wearing earplugs. Unfortunately maybe a tad bit late. :D But, I think even as you are wearing them, you can hear more clearly.

Yes! :D

Oh my gosh! You have a fantastic time and please give a report!!

I understand this to be the last show for both bands for some time? Not a show to be missed.

:snap: :snap:

Okay, I'm with you now.
I have a couple of those types of charters on my payroll.
Thank you for the clarification.
I have no doubt he will be great and adjust very well. :snap:

U2.... hmmm.... I seem to remember having a platinum award somewhere in my parents' basement... ebay, perhaps?

Seriously, have a great time. I'll bet it'll be a great show.

Ya. We went to see Nickleback, Hoobastank, Chevelle and some other unknown (and not very good) band at the Pond. I'm going to RtS on it later.

The sound was way to loud for the venue.

Well, the cheapest tickets are gone, but last I checked there were some reserved seats still available. It's in Aloha Stadium so there are a LOT of seats.

I managed to snatch 2 general admission tix for $49.50 each + fees when they released tickets for the rescheduled show. My major expense is the airfare from NY, but how could I pass this up when I was so shocked to actually pull up 2 GAs on Ticketmaster?

I will definitely report back, Mousewife! :D

Wow!! GA? Will that be in the pit???? :cool:

I would be jealous but I know you love U2 so much I really want you to have a blast!

BarTopDancer, I loe Hoobestank!!

Yep, it'll be on the field, so Saturday will be a lot of waiting in line. I am not sure that we will need to sleep out on Friday night, but I'm sure I'll figure that out closer to the date. The main thing is to get as close to a rail as possible, preferably on a rail. With the extended stage configuration, this should be fine, but it's the first time I'll be on the field for such a large show; the GA I had for the other US shows were in smaller venues like Madison Square Garden.

Here's a link to my photos from Dublin. The stage setup in Hawaii will be the same.

I think you'll be fine for U2...don't PJ crowds to a lot of surfing? Watch yer head!

Well, waiting in line will be fun. It is fun to meet a lot of people with the same passion as you {willing to wait in that line, etc.}.

The extended stage, is that when it goes out like a 'runway' type stage extention?

I went to visit the kitties in the hospital today. Lyra is doing better but it looks like there is a mass on her liver. She probably has cancer. We'll take her home tomorrow and see how comfortable she remains. But, I think the time to make "the decision" will be upon us soon.

Jack still has catheater #2 installed which will come out tomorrow morning. Hopefully, the imflamation of his weewee will have gone down and he'll be able to go poyy on his own and not get blocked up again. He was SOOOOO happy to see Mommy. The vet was laughing at how vocal he was being. Spoiled boy! Mommy's here!!!!!! I closed his kennel and went to visit Lyra and he was so mad. God, he's cute. I have my fingers crossed that he will be OK once they remove the catheater. If not, he will have to have surgury. No one should ask me about the surgury - especially if you are a boy.

Very sorry to hear about this news about Lyra. :( We'll send as much kitty healing vibes your way as we can muster.

You're such a good kitty mommy. <<HUGS>>

Nickolas got his Halloween costume today. All I will need to do is find some glow in the dark white makeup. He is a ghost pirate:

Crap, NA! I'm so sorry about Lyra! Poor kitty girl.:(

It's awfully hard to leave them there, even when you know it's to help them get better, isn't it? I spoil the bejesus out of our animals when they've been to the vets- they get so scared and they just don't understand what's going on. Please give Jack and Lyra really big hugs from us, and hugs to you and Chris too!

Another cute picture:

Genetic Engineering has gone too far

OMG! Are those rodents in the background? I'm calling the authorities!!!!


(Your boy is very cute, btw).

My mom's favorite cat just had the surgery done and seems to be doing well. He/it has the radar-collar off now and is much happier.

When he/it came home from the vet, my mom was so excited. She said "Do you want to see?" - holding him/it up with his/its rump toward my face. Shaved cat skin and stitches everywhere. "Not really, thanks" was my response.

I have heard and seen as much about the surgery as I would like. More.

Good luck with both of your ailing buddies and know that my mom sends special crazy-cat-lady prayers to them. Being an a-theistic cat lover, I wish them and you the best.

For a second I thought you were talking about MBC.

So, it is 7:27 and I have been at work since 7. My boss is not here yet. He sent an email saying he would be here at 8. Would have been nice of him to call.

So, my career counselor wants me to consider a federal clerkship. This both excites and terrifies me. If I ever want to be a judge or do politics (some might say that's repetative), it would be a GREAT move. It would mean putting off the big bucks for another year, but possibly bigger bucks, with better connections, upon completion. And the work is, in many ways, similar to what I did in my old job - but transfered to the legal world.

But it would almost certainly involve moving. Which is it's own bit of thrill/terrify. I've been wanting to move because I don't want to live my life in the same place, but moving away from my family? That's going to be tough.

Nope, the swelling is still present.

I'm at work. I'm working. But I'm so not here today.
I keep thinking about the new job, Ralphie going on a submarine, my bestest friend's wedding, my trip to LA... Each comes with its own set of emotions... Excited about the new job, nervous about Ralphie's deep sea exploration, very happy for my best friend, thrilled to be going on vacation and seeing friends...
Can't focus...
:)

Reminds me of the other day.

I woke up and told the Hubster 'G'night'. Then I asked how Josh was {our dogs name is Sam...} I said a whole bunch of other things bass-ackwards. He told me to stay home. LOL I didn't. I survived it.

I did almost get into a car accident but it totally wasn't my fault.

I have a headache today.

I am here making up not one but two vacations. And, considering dates on a third.

{one of those is our Yosemite trip...I think it isn't going to jive with anyones on here...mid March.....this year we actually were snowed in...it was awesome....but, no major hikes, etc. even though we did hike in snow and while it was snowing....}

{would you believe only one cup of coffee????}

Nickolas started school today. He is now, officially, a 4th grader. He walked to school so that I wouldn't have to take him. We looked at the postings on Saturday, to see what class he was in. I really wish that the school would put a title for the teacher, not just the last name. I may have to pull him from the class, depending on how today goes. He is in with Casey (the biter from 1st grade). The principal retired during last school year, I don't think that the new principal is aware of history between the 2 boys. I told Nick to stay as away as he can and to let me know at the first sign of trouble. In May Casey broke Nick's backpack, so this kid still has issues (other than the issues of being white trash).

He is walking home after school, I can't wait to hear how his day went.

I did get a call while I was snoozing. I got a response to one of the many resumes I sent out over the weekend. I would love to get some extra cash coming in.

MG ~ Did you make that avatar yourself? If so, in which format did you save it as to load it up here?

MG ...the boy is a 4th grader???????????????????????? OMG when did he grow up? YIKES....

Hopefully the biter will be controled this year but if not you're a kickbutt advocate for N so I know he'll have a great year!


Oh Hi everyone :D


GC...we'll miss seeing you in DL by a week ...there isn't an icon sad enough :(

No worries. It is our hope that we move back to CA soon.
:)

:D is there a dance of the happy feet icon someplace? A little birdie had sent me a link to the wedding thread and I realized we're doing the princess meet/greet the 17th and there's just no way I can do two in one month :( darn gas prices!

Yeah, that's one of the downfalls of moving to LA... ;) The subway is so great here.

Yeah but a Hawaiian boy needs to be back in the sunshine state....his friends miss him ;)

Hawaiian boy hates snow.

I hate snow, too. That's why I moved south.

I'm having fried rice for lunch. It's very good, but I ended up making enough for two of me.

Squirrels make noises. For some reason I was unaware of this, but they make vocal sounds. I was headed out to the mailboxes and as I passed the tree next to the loading dock I heard what sounded like a duck. A duck? In a tree? All I could see was a squirrel on a branch. The squirrel had its back to me, but then turned around, opened its mouth, and quacked at me. Several times.

The subway in L.A. is great, too :D

Is it time for bed yet?

SQUIRRELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, sorry, I had to shout.
Yes, they are noisy, and yes, they sound rather duck like.
Though I always thought they were rather like small dog sounds. Like barking.
But really... quack bark, its all the same.
Did you steal its snack?

actually they can screech, bark, quack and occasionally growl....a thing I know first hand.

yeah, squirrels are trippy

Just don't lock a squirrell in a Bear Box.

Squirrels attack, too... At least the East Coast ones do...

So...I just ticked of my mother. She called to see how Nick's first day went. She is in full on paranoia mode about him being bullied. When I made the mistake of telling her he had 2 of the biggest bullies (not size, behavior) in his class she started in with a lecture. After 10 minutes of trying to tell her he would not be better off in private school I told her that since she was in lecture mode I had to go finish dinner.

As far as his day, he likes his teacher, he stayed away from Casey and Hassan and other than that is indifferent and can't remember anything. *sigh*

Chris is in the air and headed to Chicago. I haven't heard how his trip through security was yet.

Was he planning on taking anything liquid or pointy through security?

Edited to add: I guess icicles would be off-limits, huh?

Hopefully no Squirrels on a Plane.

And this was definitely one angry squirrel! I swear I didn't take his treat. But I did skedaddle on to the mail before he decided otherwise. Campus squirrels are notoriously aggressive.

I wonder if they found that squirrel in his pocket??

Security- "Sir, did you quack at me??"

Chris- "No,"

S- "What are you trying to say"

C- "I didn't quack at you?"

S- "Sir, you need to come with me..."

Now you know why you haven't heard from him. They are trying to extract the crazed squirrel in some back office at the airport.

Security was fine and I'm not sure how they enforce the No LIquids rule inside the terminal, a woman boarded me afterwards with a prepackaged salad, complete with a small container of salad dressing...

Getting to the hotel was a challange - took forever to get my bags - now that everyone's checking them - and there's construction on the expressway into town. By the time I got to my room, room service was the only reall dinning option, so I got a burger and some fuzzy water for about $50 - sheesh.

The real sad news is while I was getting settled NA had to take Jack back to the vets - this time emergency, he's just not recovering that quickly and is still having problems. She's on her way home with him though, a shot and some new meds to pick up tomorrow. Hopefully this time he'll get better. Likewise hopefully Lyra will eat something and not starve herself to death in my absence.

Thankfully, I'm only here 2 nights.

Back from the vet and still worried. But, that's what Mom's do, right? Jack's having spasmsa nd they are painful. I'll beon the phone to his regular vet tomorrow. Meanwhile, Lyra is still alive but not eating much - I'm tempting her with mackarel, chicken baby food, tuna, fancy feast, anything and everything. Stress level back up to Orange.

I'm sorry.

Me, too.:(

Really bummed, as a matter of fact. I loved meeting all of your kids and the thought that two of them are sick makes me very sad- they are all so incredibly sweet and cute and friendly. Well, okay, Lyra glared a bit at us, but we were disrupting her routine. Fingers and toes crossed that Jack will be back to his cute old self again and that Lyra will eat and stop worrying her mom so much.

I keep looking at the post count of this thread, and wonder if it's going to be the longest thread on the planet.

So... what are you doing?

NA ~ Poor kitties. :(

There are 6 people in my department. Two are on vacation, one is out sick, one is late and two (one being me) are actually working. It's a ghost town.

Ralphie leaves for a science cruise tomorrow and will be in a submarine to a deep sea area off of Washington sometime next week. He'll be gone for 3 weeks! I'm sad and happy. :D

Poor kitties!!!!!!!!!

Wow. What a cool adventure.

My life is boring. I am sort of awake, getting ready to go back to sleep. Nickolas walked out the door over 1/2 hour ago. Tonights dinner is in the crockpot. Job ads have been viewed, none worth applying for. Poohdog is hyper and keeps whining at me to go out and play with him. The girls are eating peanuts and keep acting pathetic so that I will take them out. The sound of crunching and tearing of shells is filling my livingroom.

:( Give my love to the kitties.

GC, I'm so jealous of Ralphie.

I have my fingers crossed. He is on a list of people who are going (ahem) down, but anything (like the weather, ocean conditions, visibility etc) can get you bumped. I'm hoping he doesn't get bumped because he's a junior scientist compared to all the older folk that will be there too.

He's so funny, in a creepy way though. He said the other night, 'I hope we don't implode.' And he said it in a scientist sort of way like it happens all the time, it's a risk but oh well...
:eek:
I promised myself I wouldn't worry. So far, I'm not worried.
:)

Geez, Ralphie sounds like the Hubster. He brings up factual things at just the most scary moment.

Like when driving over the Coronado Bridge...'I wonder what would happen if there were an earthquake right now?'

Or while in Yosemite after a big snow 'Wow, hope it doesn't get too warm...or rain...' and points out all of the 'Level of the Flood' signs throughout the valley. :eek:

He freaks me out. And I am paranoid as it is!!

I just found out that my computer display was set weird. (I find this out the day before my last day of work...) Apparently, I had everything set to Pan and Scan before. I had to scroll over to read everyone's posts. So I adjusted it and I can read everything but the font is small and different. I feel like I'm taking some weird eye test.

Bizarre!

At 2 am, I broke down and took 1/2 an Ambien because I asn't going to sleep on my own anytime soon. That was a good move for mommy. Jack seems to be doing a bit better - or he was purring in my lap at least. He's very smelly, but cute. I called the vet to get the anti-spasmodic medication the doctor recommended last night. I'm waiting for them to call me back.

Lyra is stilll being a lump. She's aware but weak. I may have to force feed her some soft food. Chris did that to her before but I never did it. I sure wish he was somewhere where I could reach him instead of somewhere in the depths of a coal plant. Another fun day looms.

Oh NA! I hope things turn for the better quickly!

(((((((HUGS))))))))))

Maybe they'll see a Megaladon. The last one on earth. Ever.

Or that giant whale/shark (I forget which) that lives at the bottom of the sea. I saw it on the Discovery channel.

Yeah, and maybe he'll get to drive his submarine into its belly, only to crawl out of it (the sub), cut a hole in the belly, squish around for a bit, and sever its heart to keep it from killing any more innocent names on a page. And live to tell about it.

Whoops, I just ruined a terrible book. Guess that one won't be on the LoT book club list anytime soon. (Thank goodness!)

What book is that?

The shopping center across the street from my house has the jaw of a megladon on display. It's massive. Maybe one day (if I can get my card reader fixed) I'll go take a photo.

It's amazing where you can find space to stash things in a power plant. I spent the day in a room carved into the base of a smokestack. We got to chose between leaving the door open to the deafining sounds of the steam turbine, or close the door and work in a sauna. It's 85 degrees and the plants are putting in their all to keep those A/C units going.

I went back to my hotel, took advil, showered off the sweat and coal dust, and tried to chill as best I could. I think tonight I will sleep well.

It's a really, really bad "novel" called "Meg."

Do not read it. Seriously.

But if you find you're just dying of curiosity, I'll send you my copy. No reason to go spend money on that one.



P.S. Will people stop replying to threads just before me so that I have to go back and edit to put in the relevant quote? That's the second time that's happened--either that or I need to quit replying to BarTopDancer. :p

I found three.

There is Meg: A Novel of Deep Sea Terror

*New Line Cinema. Slated for 2008.

Then there is The Trench
and Meg: Primal Waters

:p

Same author. Three books about the same name (I hesitate to call him a character). They go in the order you listed. I've read the first two. The first is kind a funny in a sad way. The second may be the best example of bad writing I've ever seen.

Flippyshark can tell you more about the status of the movie. I'm not nerdy enough to look that up.

Why anyone would need to buy multiple copies of a book because it's supposedly being made into a movie beats me. That makes no sense.

Uh, because it's Library Journal, read by collection development librarians at underfunded public libraries who have to predict which new books people are going to want to read all at the same time?

Oh.

Still, no library needs one copy of that book, let alone multiple copies.

Both miles of it!

I think you created a monster in me (pun quasi-intended). I want to read all three books and I'll probably end up renting the movie, as it seems as if it is going to be one of those end of the world disaster flicks that I so enjoy (Day After Tomorrow, etc...).

PM me your address and the first book is all yours.

But you're not allowed to send it back. ;)

Done. And deal.

Asthma is sexy!
 

Went to the doctor this morning. She tells I either have bronchitis or a sinus infection. She checks out my sinuses and finds out that I have the former. So I'm on a bunch of antibiotics and will be fine in a couple of days. Bleh!

Knowing my history of asthma, she checks my peak flow levels and finds that they're really low. 400. Which is pretty low but I'm thinking I have asthma and bronchitis... I'm pretty messed up. So she gives me this nebulizer to inhale. It took about 15 minutes to inhale all of the meds in it. I looked like something out of a opium den while I did it. Sexy!

:D

ACK! Take care....Missy hates doing her neb treatments and I have to do the "mom" glare to keep her mask on her face! Sending massive get well vibes your way! You have to be at full strength to deal with bridezilla ;)

Aw, GC. Sorry to hear you've been so sick! Well, the meds will hopefully kick in quickly {with that nebulizer} and the antibiotics will help, too.

Yuck, it was either bronchitis or a sinus infection? You must have felt like shiet. :(

The problem was was that I thought I was getting over a cold and hacking up nastiness. So, I didn't think anything of it. Until the nastiness continued for about two weeks. Then I thought, 'Hmm. Something's up.'

I actually feel okay, but my cough sounds really gross and my chest feels heavy.

Taking Ralphie and Roddy to the airport at 4:30 in the morning didn't help matters either... Bleh!

I don't know about your doctors but I know I have to either wait two weeks to see if I am still sick or else give them a hard time telling them I know I am sick, this isn't a normal cold....So, I also wait until I am darn sure it is more than just allergies/cold.

Ugh. Getting up that early. I hope you were able to go back to sleep? Umm...it would be, what? 11:30 there? So maybe?

I used to have to pick up the Hubster whenever he came in from work {up to 1 a.m.} on top of caring for the kids. I would be sooo tired. I worried I would get into an accident on the drive. One night we almost did get sideswiped and my reflexes were slow, the hubster actually slammed on the brake for me. {the guy had run a solidly red light}.

So, be careful.

Hey ~MS~!!

It's about 11:15am now. I'm very tired. Only about 4 hrs of sleep.

Luckily, I have tomorrow off. :)

One of the problems with working in a homeless shelter is people who work here get sick a lot! It's unavoidable. I wash my hands a lot and clean my desk often, but it only helps a little.

Oh, that is right. I forgot where you work. :blush:

I am a cashier these days and I was wondering about the germs I've been being exposed to. I missed the story on the news about some infection going around. Probably better...so I won't worry about it. :D

I also wash my hands all of the time. Money is dirty, people cough/sneeze and don't cover their mouths. I am glad I've been covering a department where I don't have to see a whole lot of people....

ACK! GC, you need to get better before you fly. Flying with any sort of nasil stuff is not fun - especially when your final destination is one with 6 cats!

I plan to get better asap. I have a week to get well. And get well I will. :)



I am so not a piercings person. But today I saw the grossest one yet. Someone I ran into on the street had a rosary weaved into their skin around their neck. It was nasty looking. It looked like a rosary without the thread hanging around their neck. It made me gag.
:(

Soooooo....

I quit Peet's today. In a few short weeks, I'll be a bit on my own. I'm stunned. Happy, scared and stunned.

Congrats! Welcome to the Quit Club! :)

My last day is today for my current job. My new one starts Friday. My new job is PT, though.

OH NO! We need coffee! ;)

Congrats on taking the plunge.

Good point, NA...

Place your coffee orders sooner rather than later. I will still be there for a couple more weeks, so I can get some now, and then some right before I go.

I like that Major Washington. It's the kind Lance Armstrong preferred at one time. Maybe he still drinks it! :)

Best of luck in your new endeavor. :coffee:

I just did an exit interview. *Phew* That felt good.
No bridges burned, but no punches pulled either.
:)

Wow... exciting times for sure!

Yeeaaaaah, baby! Glad to hear it.

I really wish Daisy would quit sleeping on her back, with her feet straight up in the air. She does this on the floor of the cage. It is disturbing to walk in the livingroom and see a rat belly-up. I always have to look to make sure she is alive.

I'm free. No more old job. Ralphie's away. Time to reconfigure the apartment and send stuff to the basement.
:D

I just got a telemarketing call from Washington Mutual. The lady on the line has such a thick Indian accent that I couldn't understand a word she said. Honestly. I felt bad, but not too bad. I mean, she was interrupting my reconfiguration process. :D

She also did this thing where she talked without stopping so that I couldn't interrupt her.

Totally reading from a script. Who's she fooling? I act.

:D

I hate the script reading. Drives me nuts.

My favorite still is when I spoke with Neo Anderson when I called Cingular. I about died.

I called T-Mobile tele-sales to get a different phone (I don't like the phone I have) and the guy had such a thick accent and was so reading from a script. I had to call back in the morning because his script reading was so bad. If you throw them off they have to start over. /bleh. The morning call produced someone in North America who was allowed to think for themselves.

Ha ha! I'm laughing so hard. Ralphie, Roddy and their post-doc, Helen are all lost in Oregon/Washington. They don't know which state they are in. I had to Mapquest them to someplace civilized so they could get something to drink. :D Scientists...

I kept asking, 'What state are you in?' And they're all, 'We don't know.' And I'm all, 'What do the license plates say?!' They said both Oregon and Washington.

lol!

I found them a Burger King and a route to Astoria.

I told them if they hit Canada, they've gone too far.

lol!
:D

LOL! Reminds me of some of the stuff I've seen in that new Sci Fi channel show "Eureka"!

And were sending these people 20,000 leagues under the sea???? Let's hop they can find they're way out!

When does Raplhie go? I'll be peeing for him all day.

I'd like to extend my sympathies to the Lost Party. Hopefully they avoid Spokane, although I'd be happy to play tour guide for them!

Ralphie will have a fun time going over the Columbia River Bar. It should be relatively mellow this time of year.

Is this one of NA's all-time best typos or am I missing something?

No, that is what I said.

He'll be in a very tight space for some very long hours. The submarine doesn't have the creature comforts of, well, anywhere.

On a re-read, it makes more sense.

It's staying in the sig line though :D

I bet he'll be in a space about the size of a porta-potty, without the potty.

I never thoght of that, they must have some sort of way to deal with that....

I know it's most likely large enough for a head, so I would asume the'd have some sort of urinal? Or do you wear diapers??

EEKKK!!!!

If it's a small research sub, there's no room for a head. Time for Depends.

Still in the office. Trials suck up all my free time - luckily, there are only 4-8 per year.

Oops!!! I almost forgot. I went to the interview today. It is for the office coordinator for Ironwood Communications (Direct TV). I was 1 of 38 people being interviewed, so I don't rate my chances that high. The downside is that I would be required to work Saturdays, but get a day off during the week (for claw appointments). The upside would be that I would get free Direct TV, which David wants for the motorhome (that we never use) and Nickolas would love for his room (he has no tv access, just dvds and video games). The more I think about it the more I want it.

Oh, and it looks like I get to go to Nick's school in the morning to talk to the principal. He is having problems with kids in his class poking him with erasers when they are doing deskwork. He tried to talk to his teacher and she told him it was all in his head and put his name on the board. I had him ask her to call me today, she didn't. The more I think about it, the more it ticks me off. I also am going to try to talk to the school counselor to see if he can continue seeing her this school year. When he has only had 3 days of school and has come home upset 2 of those days, something is seriously wrong.

Ralphie could always pee out the window!!!!


;)

I have offically blown any chance I had of sleeping tonight. I turned on the big patio light when I went to have a ciggie at 10. David moved the golfcart into the patio so that he and Nickolas can work on it. It had some webs, so I got out my trusty can of heavy duty Raid. At last count there were 8 black corpses hanging from it, or on the ground around it. Since I was on a roll I got out a flash light and found 5 more in the dark areas around the patio. It is nice that the boys have all of their little projects, and that Nickolas is taking a more active roll in restoring these projects, but they all seem to be black widow magnets.

Out of respect for BTD I will not change my avatar here, like I did elsewhere.

I guess he could. But then I'd have to look for a new Ralphie. They're so hard to find... :D

They have piss bottles on board. However, Ralphie can't even pee in front of me...

Dogs off to sitter. Newspapers cancelled. Batteries charged. Clothing packed. Boarding passes printed.

We're going to Walt Disney World!

Have fun, MP!! Wave when you pass over Mississippi!

Awesome! Have a great time! Take lots of pics! :)

Lucky beotch! Have a blast. Go to a nice restaurant for me (preferably V&A but Boma will do.)

Thanks! Boma on Saturday night. I'll eat a zebra dome in your honor.

So...since I couldn't sleep and didn't want to be productive I began poking around the internet. One of my closest friends during high school has quite a career, writing, producing and acting in plays. I always knew he would do well, but this just shocked me. *sigh*

this thing with Nick is bugging me, I hate having to go to his school... oh and the corpse count rose by at least 5 when David lifted the top of the golfcart so that I could access the engine area... ewwwwwww