The Games People Play - First MMP of 2008!

[anyrose]

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a friend's house playing games. There were nine of us so we divided into smaller groups. A lot of little games were played. But I brought my 30th anniversary Monopoly set, with wooden houses and hotels, and pewter tokens, and clean, unwrinkled money, all in a decorative tin box. So three of us played Monopoly. Which got me thinking about it and games in general.

Growing up, I learned Monopoly (which for some reason I insisted on pronouncing with the accent on the 3rd syllable) at an early age, like 4 or 5. And they didn't have Monopoly Jr then. I learned on the full blown original version. It taught me counting, and subtraction (how to make change from $500 for a $260 property purchase) and negotiations. But soon my siblings were gone from the house (Sis had her own place and Bro was in college) and my folks didn't really like to play that much. In high school, I joined a sort of Monopoly/Risk league. We'd play one game or the other at the youth center*, when the weather wasn't nice enough for Frisbee-ing. I got to play in college a lot as well. But yesterday was the first time in well over a decade that I played Monopoly live (as opposed to on my computer).
As a kid, I had lots of games: Mr Tipit (http://www.toywebb.net/prod617.htm), Operation, Parchesi, Trouble, Headache, Clue, and others which I cannot recall. Most of them were (and most kids games still are) just silly little diversions with colorful pieces that lasted 30 to 45 minutes. But Monopoly. Ah, Monopoly. My favorite of all time (next to poker, of course - although, forced to choose.... hmmmm). Apparently I have a ruthless business woman living inside me because she comes out, loud and clear, when I play. Cousin likes to play a friendly easy game "Oh, you need this for a monopoly? Here, just let me have that one and we'll be even" Feh, I say, Feh! Although, when time constraints are an issue, I will concede to divvy up the properties at the beginning, then let the trading commence! (insert evil, hand wringing, smiley here). I have a trick to winning which has yet to fail (even if sometimes it takes longer than others): Acquire Baltic and Mediterranean as early in the game as you can, and build hotels on them as quickly as possible. This strategy has worked for me every time I employed it.

A lot the games I play these days are Mind Games Winners (http://mindgames.us.mensa.org/participant/past_winners.php). Once a year, a group of Mensans get together and play and review new games - some from established developers, some from first time inventors - awarding a seal of approval based on ease of learning, playability, and enjoyment. Some of the winners are games you may have known for years, like Set, Scattegories, and Magic The Gathering to name a few. Others live a brief life at Mensa Gatherings and then disappear into obscurity. I have yet to attend a Mind Games conference, because it usually coincides with competition weekend (or is very close to it) and is often in the mid west or on the west coast. But if it's ever on the east coast, north of the Mason-Dixon line, I will be there. Nothing against the South per se, I am just not a big fan of flying lately. But I digress.

I like word games, strategy games, dice games, card based games, and thinking games, but many of my favorites are usually easy to learn, fun to play, don't require a great deal of brain power (because I usually play at Mensa gatherings, and am therefore usually quite tipsy) and, most of all, are colorful. ("Oooo! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000NJ0NMI/ref=pd_sl_aw_jset-1_low-toy_40975966_1) Pretty! (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00011F5DK/ref=nosim/coffeeresearch35639-20)") But given half a chance (that is when I can find someone else who loves it as much as I do, and there's no poker game), I will play Monopoly, no matter how many Mike's I've had.

Oh, and yesterday? I won. :D



* dayum. I could write a whole OP about that place. Next time.

[Dolores Reborn]

I'm first! I'm first!

ETA: Ok, I'll read it now. :)

[Sticks and Scones]

Great OP rosie! I'm at work right now just taking a quick break. Otherwise I'd be tempted to click on your links.

I just finished cutting up 25-30 lbs of chicken. And now I'm in the midst of regrouping where dessert is concerned because it turns out I have one less cake then I thought I did. Oh well, there's always cookies.

I don't know quite what the deal was with my mom this morning. She decided to pick on me (just mildly) and I burst into tears. Then she got upset and ended up leaving the house without even saying goodbye. Obviously my reaction was out of proportion (it's not like I did it intentionally, though) but so was hers. She wanted to know what she could do to help me, but how do you say nicely, 'leave me alone and I'll be fine'?

Oh well, back to lunchland. We're feeding about 90 people today and only two of us are going to be here working.

[Dolores Reborn]

Great OP, Rosie! I love games, too. Unfortunately, nobody likes to play at my house. I love Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. And that trivia game show Cash Cab. So I get my game playing through the TV, or online. I love Bejeweled and Chuzzle, and I am totally addicted to Spider.

When I was growing up my parents and I would play a game called Spill-n-Spell - 15 cues of letters that you would throw down and form words crossword style. Mom was the master, but I got pretty good, too! We also played a lot of gin rummy. Not so much on board games, but I'm sure my brother and I played board games.

My late husband cheated at almost all board games! It got so we (my son and I) didn't like to play. He was an ass.

Yesterday was Take the Dogs to the Vet Day. Jebus. Ernie needed a check up for his kennel cough, which is much better. He finished his medication this morning, and in two weeks will get his booster vaccine. I took Lucy in to get her vaccine, and to check out her ears since she's been itchy and flapping the hell out of them. She has ear mites (as do all the other dogs.) So they got treated, and i was going to take the ear mite medication home for Blaze, but the doc said no, there can be complications with his breed (Sheltie) so I took the two dogs home, and brought in Blaze. He hadn't been in in a while, so we got him current on vaccines, and she did and exam. He has a tumor on his left testicle! :eek: He's had it for a while, I just didn't know that's what it was. It's not that big, just bigger than the other one. So she wants to have him neutered and send it to the lab. And do a tooth cleaning.

$639 for three dogs. And another $450 for the other stuff we haven't done yet. And that doesn't include $160 last week for Ernie at the emergency vet. It's a good thing they are very cute and loving and stuff... ;)

I came in early today to get some OT in to pay off these bills - better get to gettin'...

[bbs2k]

I can finally go to bed!

Assassinate the previous MMP thread with extreme prejudice!

[ScareyFaerie]

Afternoon all! Great OP, BioRosie, reminds me of all the games we used to play as kids. I think Monopoly was always a favourite although my brother used to sulk if he didn't get all the properties he wanted and pretty much threw a tantrum any time he had to go to jail. Nobody seems to play games that much any more, I suppose there are so many online versions of things that we never sit down as a group these days.

Monday's not going too badly so far. I managed to get a bunch of meetings arranged that have been lurking since before xmas, always nice to get those out of the way and it'll stop Tin Knickers grizzling about it. I still have some more to sort out but there are *still* people on holiday, can you believe?

I'm feeling a bit cack today, still got the lingering flu symptoms and I think I probably made myself worse by going to mum's yesterday. I had spent pretty much two days in bed trying to get well enough to go, and even though I made it a fairly short day, I was still worn out when I got home. I couldn't sleep last night either because I was coughing so much, so today I'm really tired and wishing I was at home instead of here. Naturally, 'im indoors thinks he's caught it now, and he's languishing at home in my place.

And Shadow has to go back to the vet tonight after his little escapade on Saturday.

[gardentraveler]

We always have fun playing board games at Faraway Best Friends. Now that the kids are teens, they can participate in grown-up games. They almost got us playing poker in additional to the usual (we ran out of time; I don't think I've ever played poker, but figure it's probably about time I learned how). Last week 8 of us played Cranium (we played boys against girls; the boys won due to unfairness :p; well that and they kept drawing better cards than we did). Goddaughter and I also played this labyrinth game (http://www.amazon.com/Ravensburger-1147-The-aMAZEing-Labyrinth/dp/B00000J0JF). The five of us played a game that involved setting up train lines across the US (you get 45 train cars and have to get from one major city to another by having enough cards of the same color to put cars on the board). It was really fun - I've tried googling and haven't found it yet. Last time, we also played this Scotland Yard Puzzle game (http://www.ravensburger.com/US/Scotland-Yard__2430009-2430056-2437313-2437324-2437477.html). We are not allowed to play Monopoly because Faraway Best Friend and her husband get too competitive and wind up having serious shouting matches. Which, with the right group, is amusing.

Hope lunch (NOL, I presume) turns out well, CutiePie.

It's unnaturally warm here today. Tomorrow it's supposed to be 60. Guess I'll get some final clean-up done in the garden. Maybe even at church.

Columbus is filled with reminders that today is THE GAME. There were pennants at the airport. Today's newspaper has a special game day wrapper and pretty much every section has a game-related story. (For those of you who aren't avid U.S. college football fans [and/or don't live in Columbus, Ohio], today is the national championship game and Ohio State is playing Louisiana State. My hairdresser called to confirm that I was planning to show up for my hair appointment tonight.

I have a long list of stuff to do today. Guess I should get moving.

GT

[Most Creative User Name Ever]

Rosie, great OP!

I too LOVE games. I always have growing up and even now. I remember playing Monopoly, Life, Boggle, Spill N Spell, Scrabble, Uno and MANY other games. I'm a huge board game freak. To this day my favorite is still Monopoly. My husband and I have many, many different versions of that game, but my favorite is still the original version. My husband tolerates playing games with me, but he refuses to play Scrabble with me much. He accuses me of making up words, even though they are in the Scrabble dictionary. :rolleyes:

CutiePie, (((hugs))) I hope your day gets better.

[Tupug Anachi]

Ah, board games! I think Monopoly is everyone's all time favorite, followed by Scrabble. rosie, my favorites were the reds and yellows (Marvin Gardens, Illinois Ave, etc.) because you still had a long way to go till GO and collecting $200. I also like Sorry. And did anyone ever actually play Mouse Trap? The Klingon and I used to play a lot of Uno and Acey-Duecy Backgammon.

Quiet weekend with not much to report except I read Dean Koontz latest The Darkest Evening of the Year in less than a day. I'm such a dork, I love his books with dogs in em. :o

boo fae, how're your peepers doing?

[Ellen Cherry]

I used to play games a lot before I had children. Now that I have children, I play a lot of games too! My older two are great at Pictionary. They are able to grasp the most obscure concepts -- and illustrate them too! I've been pretty amazed at them.

For your entertainment, here is one for the Ellen is Crazy Chronicles. Yesterday I took my older son, who is 10, to Shoe Carnival for a pair of Converse. $51 for the blasted things, marked down to $46. But they are high tops, as if that should matter for a pair of CANVAS shoes.

So anyway, we're in line and the 'barker' has been doing Nickelodeon trivia and stuff the whole time. He announces $5 off their purchase for anyone who will sing the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song. Now, I have watched a LOT of SpongeBob. Like, every episode, hundreds of times. I was on the phone with my husband and wasn't sure I heard right ... so I ask, anybody? (I thought maybe kids only.) He says sure!

So up I go and I'm all announced and everything. He hands me the mic and tells me to hold it close to my mouth and sing LOUD. So I do! I had everyone shouting SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS back at me. It was great. And $41 for the new shoes, hurray.

[eleanorigby]

I don't like Monopoly. I get bored. Here, take the money--I just want to read the funny cards and go around the board and play with the lil iron and put the hat on the dog, kay?

Now, Scrabble? That I'll play. I also like Hearts and I used to play Tripoly a loooong time ago (no idea how to anymore). I like Spider Solitaire as well. I used to know how to play poker, too. I like backgammon, but would need a refresher, and although I am somewhat erratic at chess, I like to play that, too. I always liked Clue. Clue Little Detective was fun as well. Candyland was awesome as a young child, as was Chutes and Ladders. And once, in a dream of a day, the teenager across the street allowed me to play Mystery Date with her. Opening those doors was heaven.

I liked Parcheesi as a kid (now it seems interminably boring) and Sorry! which just seems mean to me now. I also like Survivor or Shipwreck--those of a certain age will know what I'm referring to: a blonde kid on a beach saying, "I'm the sole survivor!". It involved marbles and moving levers. Mostly we played outside: running bases, ghost in the graveyard, kick the can, freeze tag, touch football, "get 'im" (a game where 2 teams both hide and look for the other and the pelt the opponents with snowballs), imaginative games in the woods, building forts etc. Old Maid and Chinese checkers were OK (#2 son liked that as a wee one), but Mousetrap just plain sucked. Twister is fun as well, but better if played naked....


I used to like Trivial Pursuit but not so much anymore. Actually, the only game we play around here is chess. I would like to play spider solitaire, but it's not on my Mac. :mad:

Need to take Simon to the vet for his shots. This should get interesting (he hates his carrier).

[eleanorigby]

Missed the edit window..... I used to play cribbage with my dad--no idea how to, anymore.

Ellen--that is hysterical! Kudos to you--the BEST day, ever! :D

[anyrose]

Ellen - that's my kind of crazy, girl! :D

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Can I play? This is my first MMP entry. (I think.)

My brother and I play a lot of Trivial Pursuit, because we both have our strengths and weaknesses, and are willing to give hints. His weakness is literature/arts and mine is sports. We're both pretty crap at the government/current events section, but I think that's because our copy of Trivial Pursuit is from the late '80s and so is a little outdated.

Neither of us can play Monopoly, because we are both too impatient, and end up doing things like committing acts of terrorism on each other's motels and houses. Monopoly is a cruel, harsh world in our household.

This morning, I started my day with coffee magnetic poetry in Spanish (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14266099@N07/2174732471/), in an effort to not forget what I know entirely. It's been such a long time since I've written in it that everything's a little grim. Oddly, my magnetic poetry set doesn't have the infinitive form of "to have" or the stem of it, so composing anything grammatically is kind of difficult. It's also difficult to form tenses other than the present or future, and even the future tense is a little iffy. You can forget past or any of the conditionals. Like all magnetic poetry, the result can only be bad.

As I was finishing the poem, I'm pretty sure I heard my grandpa's sister on NPR, making suggestions about how the programming could be improved. I don't know for certain that it was her, but the name was right and it sounded like her. If she had mentioned her cat herd, then I would have known for certain.

On the knitting front, I have very successfully dyed some merino lace weight (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14266099@N07/2174710781/) (the Santas are thrilled with it), and am halfway through a glove (http://www.flickr.com/photos/14266099@N07/2169092697/in/photostream/) for Plimoth Plantation (http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/index.php?mode=viewid&post_id=139). The wardrobe director was looking for volunteer knitters a while back, and I took the bait. Great, great project.

[Astroboy14]

I'm still trying to master Connect 4.

[Ellen Cherry]

Oh and my 13-year-old daughter wasn't there, or she'da died of shame. She barely allows me to speak in public these days. :rolleyes: Ah well; I'll probably get cool again in about 10 years.

[anyrose]

Oh and my 13-year-old daughter wasn't there, or she'da died of shame. She barely allows me to speak in public these days. :rolleyes: Ah well; I'll probably get cool again in about 10 years.
sounds about right

[Mama Tiger]

Morning, all. Great OP, took me right back. My sister and I used to play a LOT of Monopoly, except we played with the Free Parking rule -- instead of paying your money to the bank, you'd pay it to the center of the board and then whoever landed on Free Parking would scoop the lot. Made for really cutthroat games since we'd both be swimming in money!

I also played a lot of Scrabble with my parents; they made allowances for us when we were younger, but then as we got older we had to hold our own or die. My dad was lethal -- he could get those 7-letter words spanning two triple-word squares -- but I could beat him occasionally. Alas, when I married Papa Tigs, I learned very quickly that I will NEVER be able to beat him at Scrabble. The last game we played, I scored over 400 -- but he scored 450 and beat me anyway. So now he gets to play Scrabble against a computer; it's no fun playing when you can NEVER win. :( When he was 5 years old, he was the fourth person in the old ladies' peanuckle (sp?) game, and he finds counting cards at blackjack easy as long as it's played with not more than 2 decks in the shoe, which gives you an idea of how lethal he can be at games. So he's on his own since I can't find anything except Jeopardy! that I can beat him at!!

When I was in high school, a friend's dad had created a really neat game that we played endlessly with his homemade set. He called it Attribute Blocks; I can't remember exactly how it worked, but it involved three overlapping circles and placing various blocks of different shapes in them for some arcane purpose I can no longer remember. Anyway, it was quite challenging (his dad was a college professor and a VERY intelligent man). I wish I'd made myself a set and written down the rules; even to this day I remember how fun it was, even if I don't remember how to play it any more.

I'm feeling barely okay this morning, so I suspect this will be another quiet day for me. I have some puttering-type things to do around my office, and this interesting job -- it's for the Smithsonian, transcribing a lengthy interview with a well-known photographer about his life and work -- to keep me busy without having to bestir myself too much.

I shall now bestir myself to get more caffeine, however. That's worth the effort. :D

[taxi78cab]

Morning! I've never been much of a game player. I hate losing so I just don't play. Yeah, I'm THAT person. But I make excellent baked goods which makes people like me in spite of that. :D

We picked out paint colors for the new place on Saturday. And we ordered furniture which should be in in 6-8 weeks. The closing's this Friday! Then we have to paint paint paint to get as much done as possible before we actually move on the 26th. Crazy.

And work's starting off a bit crazy today too. Whee!

[Most Creative User Name Ever]

Someone mentioned Mouse Trap. I used to play that game all the time at my cousin's house!! That and clue we would play.

I also forgot all about cribbage!! When I was a teenager, I used to play that against my uncle's. I haven't played that in *forever.* I wonder if my husband knows how to play that?

MamaTigs, we play with the free parking rule as well! That's the only way to play Monopoly in my opinion. :D

[HazelNutCoffee]

Morning all. First day of the new semester - oh, joy is me.

I used to be a Settlers of Catan whore. That game is so addictive. And takes freakin' forever. I would always go for the longest road card. It gets to the point where you abandon your cities and focus on building a road that stretches a distance the equivalent of from Sydney to Toronto.

Ellen, I am convinced you and my mother must be related or something, because that's exactly something she would do. :)

[Plynck]

Wow, this OP takes me back. Way back...

Sorry if you've heard this before: I had three younger brothers, and Monopoly wasn't Monopoly unless there was widescale cheating. Absolutely anything was allowed as long as you didn't get caught. Casually lifting an extra $100 bill from the bank or from your opponent's pile, knocking over a die to a better number if you didn't like the roll, advancing your piece a different number of moves than what you rolled, moving houses and hotels to more advantageous locations. You name it, it was allowed. But you had to do it with everyone in the room. Waiting until someone left the room was considered "unethical". My youngest brother (whom everyone ignored because he was so young) turned out to be the best cheater of all. I have no idea how my mother didn't start hitting the bottle every time the weather got bad and we had to stay in.

[Ellen Cherry]

Ha, well you can be my Virtual Daughter, then. If LiLi can do it, so can I!

[ScareyFaerie]

Pugs - peepers are feeling less sore but still a bit gritty. I have to go back to the horsepickle on Wednesday morning though, at which point I'll be halfway through the treatment.

I'm bored now. Is it hometime yet?

[anyrose]

. . . Monopoly wasn't Monopoly unless there was widescale cheating . . . Oh, you mean like in real life? ;)

[Lissla Lissar]

rosie, I have a very long-time friend who's your Monopoly twin. I'm not really into board games (or card games), but we've played Monopoly together on and off all our lives, and she always cackles evilly whenever anyone lands on her spaces.

And holds out her hand for money, grinning smugly.


The Husbands play Risk together. I watch, and make sarcastic comments.



Hi, Miss Purl! Do you have any idea why my sewing machine snaps the top thread every half inch? Ive changed needles, thread, and tension. I'm going to punt it through the window.


Oh, and I have not yet had the baby. I will let y'all know as soon as I start. :D

[susan]

Good morning. We've had intermittent snow, just enough to kill bugs and make the hill difficult to drive, which seems like a reasonable tradeoff. I have played no games this week. Between having to put the cat to sleep and getting ready for the term, I've been neither happy nor at my leisure. However, I have finished the syllabi and posted them, posted most of the course materials. I still need to scann a few pieces--a fair use segment of Dharma Punx, for example. I've written the first set of PowerPoints. One course is a conversion to complete online delivery, which has a heavy up-front construction load for me. Today I get to choose my laptop desktop image for the first week (I switch them every week). I think I've settled on a crazed-looking white cat with its mouth wide open, captioned on icanhascheezeburger.com as LEAVE BRITNEY ALONE!

[Mindfield]

Great OP, Rosie. As a kid I used to like board games. As an only child I often ended up playing them by myself. But I still liked them. I even used to invent board games, often based on video games I liked playing at the arcade back in the day. (This was the early 80s when you couldn't spit without hitting an arcade.) I didn't have a video game system at that specific point (though I would get one not too long after) so inventing board games was the only way I could play them at home after a fashion. :)

Of course I played my share of Monopoly and enjoyed it, but I think the board game I enjoyed most (that I didn't make) was called, IIRC, Full House. (This predates the TV show and has nothing to do with the Olsen Twins.) It was a hotel management game. I don't remember why I liked it so much, but I did.


I haven't been around much, mostly because I've been working out the details of this project. My partner -- who initiated the project in the first place -- dropped out due to time constraints, so this project is now entirely mine. Oddly, this is kind of a relief for me. I actually came up with the idea first, but he was the first to (independently) start something. Now that he's dropped out I can turn this project into my own. I kinda prefer it that way, actually. I've always been a DIY kinda guy (as I suppose the DIY board games above indicate) and I'm pretty sure my report cards have all been absent any remarks resembling "plays well with others," so now it's the way I like it: My project. Aaaall mine. So I can do it the way I like. :) Of course I may recruit some help -- but that part I don't mind because I can do the delegating and pick and choose what needs to be done and how. I don't mind working with others so long as I call the shots. :)

I made a big pot of chili last night, too. It's being slow cooked in a crock pot so it'll come out all nice 'n stuff. It's been a while since I made some good chili so this'll be a nice change.

Fow now though it's lunch time so I'll submit and come back after to catch up.

[Tupug Anachi]

Hi, Miss Purl! Do you have any idea why my sewing machine snaps the top thread every half inch? Ive changed needles, thread, and tension. I'm going to punt it through the window.
Have you checked your bobbin?

[SpazCat]

Man, I miss playing board games with people. I need to find a circle of people to do that with. I am the queen of Solitaire Monopoly. Sad, no? And, despite my ability to move words and manipulate them mercilessly, I suck at Scrabble. I suck like Lisa Simpson playing Anagrams.

I've had a completely relaxing, off-the-grid, two-week vacation and now I'm gearing up for the Death March to the Thesis. I'm also indulging in a bit of schadenfreude* because Complicated Roommate's vacation is the exact opposite of mine. HA-HA. :D

I was supposed to have my new car on Friday, but due to bad directions, two names on the title, and the fact that the DMV closes at 4:59:59, all we were able to do is get the title notarized. So now I have to go back up to High Point on Saturday with the new plates and get the car. And I have to sell my old Nissan this week as well. That will be tomorrow's task. I need to ask Adopted Dad how to best go about doing that.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Hi, Miss Purl! Do you have any idea why my sewing machine snaps the top thread every half inch? Ive changed needles, thread, and tension. I'm going to punt it through the window.

Hi, Lissla! Good luck with the labor thing -- have you resorted to jumping jacks or running up and down stairs yet?

There's so many reasons your top thread might be snapping. In no particular order:

-- The thread itself might be weak. If it was left on a windowsill in the sunlight or had needles stuck into the thread on the spool or it's old or it's faulty -- those are all things that can weaken thread. Try switching to a different spool that you know is good.

-- The bobbin tension might be too tight, and pulling too much on the top thread. When the bobbin is threaded, you should be able to hold it by the tail of the thread, snap your wrist, and have the bobbin fall 4-8 inches comfortably before it stops. If it keeps going, it's too loose. If it stops too soon, it's too tight. Both the bobbin and top tension need to be adjusted as you use the machine.

-- You might be using too heavy or too fine of a needle for the thread or fabric. What are you using and what are you sewing? Or there might be a burr on the inside of the needle that's rubbing on the thread. Or it might be the fabric itself -- I was sewing with some acetate taffeta once, and that snapped thread like no other.

-- The thing nobody wants to hear: There might be something wrong with the timing of your machine, so you'll need to take it in to be tinkered with by a professional. Sewing machines, like cars, need tune-ups every once and a while.

Before you take it anywhere, though, blow all the dust out of it, oil it, and check the tension on both the bobbin and the top thread. Treat it like a lady.

How is it snapping? Does the thread wad up on the fabric before it does? Does it just break?

[Lissla Lissar]

Yup. It got rethreaded and the tension adjusted, but it's been sewing fine- the top thread breaks. Between every half in to two inches. Grr.

[Noone Special]

Great OP, Rosie.

I've never been much of a board game player, myself (or of any kind of group-activity, really -- except for playing ball games); but as the eldest of three children, I had little choice in the matter.

I still like backgammon -- I can play that for hours -- but regular board games? Spare me, please.

Ellen, if it were a slightly less 5-YO song, my 15-YO would be up there, doing the singing herself :D
My 11YO daughter, OTOH, would react like yours. Different personalities I guess.
My 11YO boy would love to get up and sing (he's such a ham) but can't carry a tune in a bucket....

Spaz -- great to have you back! ::hug::

Hi, Ms. Purl!

All the sickies and ouchies, this is a new MMP already; get over it!

[whiterabbit]

I was going to go out today (I'm off work), but I may or may not, because it's been snowing off and on again all morning. YAY! But still...a bit inconvienient. Usually when they say there's a 50% chance it doesn't. Apparently not today! And we're under another winter storm watch for tomorrow. Maybe I should go out today, because if we get another big dump tomorrow, I realllly don't want to be out driving unless I absolutely have to! I'll have to get a few new pics while I'm out to make MT jealous.

My internet access at home has been incredibly spotty the last few days, but right now, I'm on. I really do not want to have to pay for internet access. If this keeps up, I might have to consider it, because it drives me absolutely insane when I don't have it at home. I don't like checking my email at work where anybody could come by and see what I'm reading; it's not like I get x-rated email, but it's just a privacy thing I have. At least the Dope is no problem there!

I haven't played board games in ages. Huh. I don't think I've ever finished a game of Monopoly ever, though I do enjoy it. I have a computer version on my other computer that is 2000 miles away, but I'd need to see if I brought the software with me here.

Lissla, I once had a friend who once was made by a pregnant friend of hers to drive at high speeds on a bumpy road for awhile to try to get things going. Just an idea.

[Lissla Lissar]

I really wouldn't mind taking a crowbar to my machine- it's crummy, and has a general charming habit of random breakdown, eating fabric, and suddenly refusing the even try. The problem is that I can't afford a new one right how.

It's sheeting fabric, I'm zigzagging the edge (extreme basic no-fray sheet hem), and I've switched between sharps (no number), and the two middleweight needles I have. The threads are I've been using are both Guterman poly.


It would be so nice to have a machine sometime that didn't hate almost every type of fabric, and didn't have paranoid delusions about actually being a chainsaw, or maybe a toaster.



I've been told that spicy food, bumpy rides, and castor oil are all great ways to pass the time, but don't actually do anything. And castor oil makes you feel really, really miserable, too. Someone told me that Swiss Chalet sauce was an excellent labour-starter. :rolleyes: We'll probably have Swiss Chalet for dinner tonight, because I don't feel like cooking. If I go into labour it'll be a pure coincidence.

Apparently, the only sort of general rule of thumb is that a lot of women start labour the night before they're scheduled to be induced. Which would either be Wednesday or the 17th, depending on whether what the midwife's going to do to me on Thursday counts as induction.

[Sean Factotum]

gt I just saw something last week about that train game. I'll try to remember what I saw/read, and get back to you.

My wife and I play ScrabbleTM a lot, and we both have a word finder game on our PDAs called Book Worm. I played Risk a lot when I was in a Navy school down in Orlando. One of the guys in my group would never play to win. He'd just group all of his armies onto one or two countries, and then send out a bunch into whoever was winning territory to keep the game going.

Feeling a bit of a doofus today. Seems that I forgot to wear a belt, and the new shirt I have (provided by my company) is a little too tight. I should have run home at lunch to change, but I didn't.

[Man With a Cat]

Driving by quickly. Have read nothing, will later.

Need sleep, hate people.

[anyrose]

gt - was it TransAmerica (http://www.rainydaygames.ca/Product.asp?Product=RIO201&Name=TransAmerica) or Empire Builder (http://www.rainydaygames.ca/Product.asp?Product=MFG0450&Name=Empire%20Builder%C2%A0-%C2%A0(New%20Edition))?

[manx]

Hello Mumpers! I think that for a brand new year I should post more instead of just lurking quietly.

Ah, Monopoly. I don't play it. Haven't played it since I was, oh, about fourteen and I realised that although two younger brothers have tought me how to win and lose almost everything with what I like to think is a calm grace, Monopoly is something I incapable of relaxing about. Risk? No problem. I can watch my men fall to cannons with good humour, I can be trounced at Pictionary and find it hilarious, but there's something about Monopoly that makes me lose my sense of humour entirely. I sulk, and I try so hard not to sulk, and there's nothing, nothing less attractive than me trying to lose with good grace and failing. So I don't play it, and I get to keep my friends. It's a good trade.

I do have a Monopoly story, that I'll share with you all:
I would have been about nine, and we'd recently been given a Monopoly set, so my whole family are up at the bach playing one evening. Cunningly I had traded my mother the Electric Company for a station. HaHA! I thought. If someone rolls a twelve, and lands on either or the Utilities, they will have to pay me ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY DOLLARS!
Did my mother mention to her only daughter that she now had all four stations? No. No she did not.
Did I land one one of her stations with each of my rolls, losing a cool $200 a time? Yes. Yes I did.
Did anyone land on a Utility? No they bloody didn't!

The game ended with me storming off to bed, decrying my mother's unfair business practices. Face down in the dark, sniffling at the cruelty of the world, I hear the door open. Had my mother come to ask me back to the game? To say sorry for taking all my money?

Like hell.

SHE LAUGHED! SHE DID A DANCE! SHE MADE NOISES LIKE A TRAIN! SHE DANCED OUT OF THE BEDROOM, STILL LAUGHING!


And that, friends, is why I don't play Monopoly.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

I really wouldn't mind taking a crowbar to my machine- it's crummy, and has a general charming habit of random breakdown, eating fabric, and suddenly refusing the even try. The problem is that I can't afford a new one right how.

It's sheeting fabric, I'm zigzagging the edge (extreme basic no-fray sheet hem), and I've switched between sharps (no number), and the two middleweight needles I have. The threads are I've been using are both Guterman poly.


It would be so nice to have a machine sometime that didn't hate almost every type of fabric, and didn't have paranoid delusions about actually being a chainsaw, or maybe a toaster.

My machine does that sometimes, too, but I think it's because it hates me. It's really just evil in a white plastic shell. OK, no, I'll be honest. It does it because I don't oil it often enough or change the needles as much as I should. And I sew over pins too much. It's a miracle it hasn't rise up in a nightmare version of "No Batteries Included".

It's so weird that it's acting up on such a basic project. Since you're zig-zagging, it really makes me think that there's something wrong with the machine itself and not just the tension. What kind of machine do you have?

Howdy, Noone!

[eleanorigby]

I was told by my OB to drink a glass--GLASS, not bottle--of wine to help induce labor. I can't say it helped at all. I tried it with Daughter to no avail, so I asked the doc (who was a right old prick--he was a Jerk. I ended up with him because it was a 5 member practice and he was on call), to "do something" and he stripped my membranes. Do NOT get that done--it hurt more than the labor did! :eek:

I had my membranes stripped with my first; my water broken for my second, so when it came to #2 son, I still had no clue what early, as in all by itself, Mama Nature, felt like. The first two I insisted on the docs doing something (as in, "I'm not leaving here until I'm in labor.") Thank god I did with #1 son--he was 10 lbs, 5 ozs, 22 inches long. Daughter was 8 lbs 110z, 21 inches; #2 son was 9lbs 12 oz, 21 1/2 inches. I did not have an epidural for any of them. The first two were Demerol/Stadol assisted (and then they took Stadol off the market due to some horrific side effect or something...eek); for #2 son I had a pupendal block. And thank god--he was reversed (head down, but facing the wrong way) and that hurt like hell. Easily the worst of my labors (so much for it getting easier with each kid).

Well, this was an interesting stroll down memory lane. Sorry if it's TMI for all.

Riding my bike yesterday and today, I seem to have either reawakened an old injury or gotten a new one. My tailbone is absolutely killing me--I broke it during delivery of #1 son. So, notwithstanding your imminent delivery, LiLi, my labor is somewhat on my mind (that and #1 son's Bday is tomorrow).



I forgot to add a game: Mille Bornes, which I am sure we never played correctly. Also, Yahtzee.


Manx--I'm that kind of mom. :D

[Lissla Lissar]

:Goes and sticks bottle of hard cider in fridge:

Can't hurt, might help. :D


Purl, it's a really basic Kenmore, and it has never behaved. It was my mother's, but she doesn't actually like sewing, and I do (mostly, except for wedding dresses. Too much stress) so I got it. I think it's about twenty years old. And cranky. And it just sewed binding onto quilted plastic perfectly happily, so I think it's the zigzag stitch function that's broken. Bloody thing.


rigs, I'm scheduled to get my membranes stripped on Thursday. We shall see. And I was six pounds. That's what I'm hoping for with the kidlet.

[Mama Tiger]

10 lb 5 oz FIRST baby? Omigod!!!!

...curling up in a ball in the corner and whimpering...

I got rid of my old Kenmore sewing machine a few years ago and traded up slightly to a Singer Scholastic. It's been well worth it. The old Kenmore was just at the end of its useful life; it did all the obnoxious things you're describing, and hated sewing almost every fabric you can name. The new one does fine with just about everything, which is a fast improvement.

But if you can't afford a new machine? Why don't you ask on your local freecycle list? People are constantly offering machines on my list. Maybe you could get one that way.

I need to go do something with the dogs. It's so warm out that if feels like spring, so this will not be a huddle-up-in-a-blankie-while-throwing-the-kong day, thank heaven.

[anyrose]

Pshaw. One of my friends, upon learning she was pregnant, decided to cutout all junk food and over processed foods (white flour, white sugar, etc) and baby # 1 was 13 lbs 4 oz. So with baby #2 she ate all the junk food and white sugar she could stomach. Baby #2 still came out over 12 lbs.

[eleanorigby]

No--my first baby was Daughter, "only" 8'12".

#1 son (who is now 6 feet) was the Big One. No C-section, no epidural. He did break my tailbone, and I must say I am in a great deal of pain at present. I don't recall my bike doing this last summer when I rode it. Gah. Am having trouble walking..... It sucks to get old.


LiLi--I have no words for you if you get your membranes stripped, except to say I'm sorry and good luck.....

Off to buy those knitting needles I was going to buy last week and then forgot about.

Oh, and TDS is back tonight! I get a Jon Stewart fix! Yes!

[HazelNutCoffee]

I still need more work on my syllabi. Oh well.

I have an orientation to go to at the new school I'm teaching at. Rumor is that there will be food.

[Lissla Lissar]

QD was asking me how you go about not gaining a lot of weight while pregnant. Really, unless you drink lard or something, I don't think there's any way to predict how much you're going to gain. Don't look at me for advice- I have a french fry addiction. Me not gaining 100lbs has nothing to do with my diet.



Free food is good. Here's hoping it's good free food. I hope you've properly stored up on coffee so you don't have to drink McD's coffee again.

[SpazCat]

All y'all's birthing stories? :eek:

*thanks the loving gods that she cannot have the chi'drens*

LiLi, I'm going to give you the same encouragement Art Sister gave a family gerbil once during a difficult labor: HAVE A BABY.

[eleanorigby]

But a gerbil would be easier to deliver. Just sayin'.


My tailbone is killing me! Also, I feel the need to do this....

[eleanorigby]

So that I can be first on page 2! mwahahahahhaha.........


Am going to lay down and rest tailbone. Have taken 2 Ibuprofen as well. Also, bought new yarn and new needles at Joanne's. As well as 4 nice UNscented candles 70% off. I don't like scented candles. I like candles that cost $2.99 instead of 9.99.

[eleanorigby]

Gack! not first on page two. Now I must find something else to say.

#1 son does NOT turn 16 tomorrow. I'm a moron--I even invited the inlaws over for tomorrow, then had to call them back and change it to Wednesday. See what childbirth does to people?


First on two--haven't been first on a page in a long time. <small, painful dance of joy>

[anyrose]

First on two--haven't been first on a page in a long time. <small, painful dance of joy>

Last edited by eleanorigby : Today at 03:29 PM. Reason: because NOW I'm first on two
pppppppppppppbbbbt :p

[Dolores Reborn]

No--my first baby was Daughter, "only" 8'12".


8'12" is equal to 8 feet 12 inches!!!!!! Big ol' baby there! :D (8lb 12oz) Still a big damn baby, mine was 8lb 14oz...

Sorry, my math skillz take over my etiquette sometimes...

[ems]

Well I am at work today and I have wiped down every surface in my office with Chlorox wipes including my phone and keyboard.

I am still ridiculously snotty and have very little voice but I am up and ambulatory so that is progress.

Tomorrow I have to lay off 6 people. I am not looking forward to it

[Sticks and Scones]

Ok, so I just skimmed to catch up. But I'd like to say Hi to all the MMP newbies!

What a loooong day. I'm exhausted and it's only 4 o'clock! At least all of the physically demanding work is done now. I'll probably be working and dawdling most of the rest of the evening. But at least it's work that can be done while sitting on the couch.

snowbunny, as I was cruising the aisles at our local grocery store this morning I saw one of those shower cleaning thingies and thought of you. It was $24.99.

I know that I came in here to say something else, but I can't remember what it was. Oh well, I'll remember and come back again soon.

[gotpasswords]

I really wouldn't mind taking a crowbar to my machine- it's crummy, and has a general charming habit of random breakdown, eating fabric, and suddenly refusing the even try. The problem is that I can't afford a new one right how.
Amusingly, DH is having the same sort of problems with his machine, and it's not even a year old and cost somewhere between two car payments and a mortgage payment. :eek:

Snapping threads, dripping oil, jamming, overheating, etc... Twice so far, he's been able to boot it up and sew a yard and a half into something light like tissue lame, or a three-fold strip of whatever light cotton a typical "fat quarter" is cut out of, and the display puts up a big STOP and says the poor thing has overheated. Everyone at the store that's looked at it was immensely puzzled at the oil - it's lubed for life, so oiling is never done by the user or even as part of a "tuneup" so oil is leaking out of somewhere. On the assumption he simply got a dud, since the line is normally very well regarded, I believe the shop is going to let him trade up at full price paid to a new machine.

Also amusing is how everyone's been playing Monopoly and taking critters to the vet lately.

On New Years Eve, we played Monopoly and DH clobbered everyone else. And yesterday, it was take the beast out for a shampoo, shots and a snort. She gets the usual 5-in-1, plus corona, bordatella and leptospirosis - we have raccoons and other known carriers of lepto freely running around the neighborhood, so it's cheap insurance. She doesn't even flinch for the shots, but she has a fit when the bordatella stuff gets squirted into her nose. Actually, other than food, the most expensive part of having her is the Revolution to keep fleas and ticks away. The stuff is like an anti-bug forcefield.

[gardentraveler]

Laying off people sucks mmmmmms. Sorry you have to go through that.

We played Risk in 8th grade history. It was fun.

Hi Miss Purl! Have you tried doing crossword puzzles in Spanish? It's not quite the same use of language, but it seems to be helping me some with German. (My German was getting way too rusty; even though everyone said it was just fine, it took a lot more effort this visit than it has other times.) So anyway, my New Year's resolution is to actually use German every day (crossword puzzles, reading, YouTube, videopodcasts of the news). I haven't looked at resources in Spanish (probably should do that too).

Thanks rosie and Sean! It's neither game, rosie. The one we played has colored tracks between cities (there are maybe 6 colors?) and in some cases gray tracks. You can build across gray tracks if you have the right number of same-color cards to get you through a stretch. I guess I could ask Faraway Best Friend the name of the game, but that would be too easy.

I've been putting stuff together so that I can post some pix, etc. about my trip. Of course this means that I got sidetracked about a million times on the internet. There's so much stuff to read! And so many pretty pictures!

Off to get things done. Important haircut at 5.

GT

[FairyChatMom]

Welcome, Purl and manx (your story cracked me up)!

I like Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit and logic games and Sudoku. I HATE MONOPOLY! I hate strategy games because I can't think strategically. I don't much like card games because they require some strategy, too. But over and above all, I hate Monopoly. I had roomies in the Navy that loved it and I tried to be a good sport and play along, but I hated it.

The only time I actually had fun playing Monopoly was also in the Navy. I was in training and one of my instructors invited me and my then bf to join him and his wife for dinner and Monopoly. We sorta played teams - instructor and me against bf and wife. And we cheated - we all cheated, except for the wife - she was oblivious. It was hilarious, and I managed not to guffaw throughout. That was the only time I enjoyed that stupid game.

One NYE, a friend had a bunch of us over to play games and ring in the new year. One of the games was a silly rhyming game that got to be more fun the more we drank. Then she broke out the music trivia game. My husband and another friend declared up front that they refused to sing and they didn't really want to play the game. Well, it got rolling - guess who sang more than anyone else?? It was a riot!

These days, I mostly play games on line - damned addicting Peggle!! FCD won't play trivia with me because my head is full of useless information, and he won't play scrabble because he can't spell. He likes a game called Lie, Cheat, and Steal, but I can't lie convincingly.

I finally remembered to call around for a new doctor this afternoon. Finding someone taking new patients around here is almost impossible. Which now makes me worried that this one is accepting newbies... :dubious: But I'll give her a try. I'm due for my annual poke-n-prod, plus I've had a funky little rash thing that doesn't seem to want to clear up. Now, I just need to lose 50# by Feb 5 so she doesn't yell at me. :D I hope I like her. I miss my last doc - a pox upon him for leaving the practice. :p

Time to feed the critters. Happy Monday, all!!

[eleanorigby]

Tomorrow I have to lay off 6 people. I am not looking forward to it

that just sucks. I'd be sick, too.



Rebo--shut up, it was an easy way to post lbs and oz--yes, I am that lazy. <smacks Rebo with wet mackerel).

Tailbone is still killing me. I need sympathy. And liquor. Or a handsome man to come massage my tailbone for me..... Is Viggo Mortensen or Hugh Laurie available?

[bbs2k]

MissPurl.... MizzPurl.... MissKitty.... MizKitty... Missbbs2k.... MissK?, no MissK sounds like "mistake". And we don't want to offend the pro-life.

[FairyChatMom]

I forgot to mention - it's 70 degrees F here - my house is (sorta) open. Some January, huh?

:D

[gardentraveler]

Yes...I went out to run errands and didn't need a jacket. Very weird.

Getting back to work. Really.

GT

[whiterabbit]

I haven't found the shower cleaning thingies at the store here in this town, so if it ever decides to stop snowing I'll check in Hailey (the next town south). And if they don't have them there (I'd think the Albertsons would, even though I prefer the local three-store chain) then at the rate the snow's falling it may have to wait quite a while until I can go 80 miles to Twin Falls!

I'm going to show off MT's knitting skills! And color matching skills as well! See the newest two pics here (http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc267/Whiterabbit42/).

[Noone Special]

Hi Manx! :) Always nice to see new faces (hey, I was a new face here not too long ago)

ems, I feel your pain -- I know what it's like to have to lay people off :( That's part of why I am no longer a manager.

Rigs, are you sure you want Hugh Laurie diagnosing you? You'll end up having the World's Rarest Condition, almost dying, and being saved by an unorthodox, painful and scary action, all in 45 minutes :dubious:
I'm sure I could supply you with sympathy and liquor just as well. ;)

Also, dang, but you had big babies! :eek:

bbs2k -- I think it should be MsPurrrrrrr. Sounds a little like "whisper". MsPurr, do you have any cats, to make the name really apt? :)

[bbs2k]

bbs2k -- I think it should be MsPurrrrrrr. Sounds a little like "whisper". MsPurr, do you have any cats, to make the name really apt? :)
Well, I liked Miss bbs2k... but I feel that she might object to that one unfortunately. So I'm overruled.

[Wallflower]

Who would have thought that Northern Wisconsin could have thunderstorms and pounding rain in early January? It's just not right. Didn't seem to stop the ice fishing though.

Never cared for Monopoly, takes too long. Although, my Mom and I had a game of Uno that lasted for over 4 years on and off. I think because we could just put it away and pick it up later, which is hard to do with Monopoly. I prefer card games to board games, love cribbage and poker.

[anyrose]

MamaT - have you checked your email lately?

[Sticks and Scones]

ems, I feel your pain -- I know what it's like to have to lay people off :( That's part of why I am no longer a manager.

Now you're just a mangler, right? :D


I'm sure I could supply you with sympathy and liquor just as well. ;)

Living up to your name, are you? ;)

Just wanted to say that I am starving! But I'm too tired and sore to get up off of the couch. Wahhhh. Ok, that's all. Still don't remember what I wanted to say before.

[tarragon918]

Happy Monday, Mumpers!

Great OP, Rosie! I love Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, all kinds of board games. Often, our vacation "cottage" didn't come with a tv (LOL), so we played a lot of card and board games on vacation. And once, in Michigan, we didn't have tv reception (no antenna on the roof - it was Feb. when we moved!) from Feb. until May, so we played a lot of games then too (as well as listened to a lot of music). I'm the oldest, with 4 younger brothers (although the two youngest are 9 and 10 years younger than I); the two older boys and I played gobs and gobs and board games growing up; we played the Free Parking rules too, btw. ;)

I'm really dating myself here, but my grandmother had an Uncle Wiggley game that I used to like to play when I was very young. :) My grandmother also liked to play War with us ... my brothers were always trying to cheat, and of course Grandmom was letting us win most of the time!

Unfortunately, I have not played a board game in ages! :( One of my brothers sent the kids a Star Wars version of Monopoly--that's a neat set, btw. I think Scrabble is probably my favorite game, although I'm not that good at it, strategy-wise.

This is definitely going to be a long week at work! Hah, today several staffers came to me and asked if I could order them any 2008 calendar stuff! This is after I asked them not once, but twice, months ago, to let me know what they needed; I even reminded them before I placed the orders. One actually asked me if I had ordered any "extras" - it boggles the mind, I tell you (heh, the funny thing is, I actually -did- order a few extras of some of the items, but they're all gone now LOL). I'm going to try to order the stuff they want, but they might be out of stock already, believe it or not. Oh well! :D

I'm a mean admin, aren't I? ;) No really ... I'm not mean, seriously. Just irked. I do promise to try to get the supplies tomorrow (even if they did wait until 10 minutes before I leave for the day to ask for the calendars ...).

And how was -your- day? :)

[ems]

Thanks everyone. Tomorrow is going to suck royally and who knows my boss may even be laying me off which I won't know until I have completed my horrendous task tomorrow.

I have chocolate pudding right now and I have vodka in the freezer for tomorrow night

[VunderBob]

LiLi, I hope you're not in to yoga. You are aware that once tinyninjachef downloads, you won't be able to participate any longer.

Cite (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/VunderBob/?action=view&current=Why_Mom_s_Cant_Do_Yoga1.flv) (Mildly NSFW)

[eleanorigby]

I would just put the vodka IN the chocolate pudding and be done.



Hugh Laurie can do ANYTHING to me. Anything. Yum..... Hugh Laurie. (I know someone like him in real life, but without House's gift of diagnosis. This man was just in my house--he is tutoring Daughter for AP Econ and I had him as a teacher in HS. Dick doesn't do him justice. He does know Econ, though. But I wouldn't want House, understand, I want Hugh Laurie. Big difference!)



And just FYI: WE HAVE A TORNADO WARNING HERE UNTIL 9PM. With something they are calling "embedded thunderstorms". No idea what that is. freaky freaky freaky!

VB--that is hysterical!

[taxi78cab]

I took our cat to the vet on Friday too. Just for her annual shots, but she still wasn't thrilled about the whole thing. Poor kitty. And then KeithT had to do her weekly ear cleaning on Saturday so she didn't really have a good weekend.

I made truffles and other assorted chocolates yesterday and brought them in to work today. Always good to feed coworkers chocolate.

What would "java application" mean to you? A task that should have taken 1/2 an hour this morning got dragged out all day because an coworker in the IT dept, a vendor and I were on different pages over such a simple phrase. The vendor and I both meant "a file that runs in Java and opens a little java program." The IT person thought it meant "the files that install Java." So we went back and forth for-frickin-ever about whether or not I had Java on my computer (because I said I needed the Java app from Vendor and IT thought that meant I needed Java installed) and whether Vendor had sent us something other than the Java install. (Yes, they had. Why the heck would they send us the Java install files??) Is it really that difficult to understand that Java application means an executable file that you run in Java? Ugh.

Sorry about having to lay people off mmmmmms. That really sucks. And it really really super sucks that you could be laid off after doing all that. I think you should tell your boss that you're not going to do the dirty work if you're not going to be employed at the end of the day.

Off to get dinner. Ta ta!

[BwanaBob]

Never liked Monopoly as a child - too complicated - but go figure, my 7 year old son loves it! Today, we have 4 or 5 versions of it; one day I'd like to set them all up in a ring, and play them such that when you get to GO, you jump to the next board. It would be mind boggling (for me anyway) to juggle 5 sets of cards simultaneously. Not sure what I'd do if I went bust in one board - maybe the player who causes you to go bust gets all your remaining properties in all boards.

That said, when I was younger, my neighbor had a Parker Bros. game called Careers. I loved that game to death. My success formula was always pure $$, occasionally I'd add some love. I finally got my own copy of the game only to find they had modernized some of the offered careers. I ought to google to see if the game still exists.

Also liked Life, Stratego, Risk, and a little known gem called Masterpiece, where the players were all art dealers and you bid on/traded/sold famous works of art (some were forgeries).

[FairyChatMom]

Supper was super easy - FCD had a bowl of cereal and I had the last of the N.O.T. soup with swiss cheese melted in it. Goooooooooood!

I'm starting to have second thoughts about this new doctor I picked. She doesn't appear to have rights at our county hospital, plus she's got 3 other offices, all pretty far from here, so I expect she'll only be available 1 day a week. I don't know if I like that.

The practice we had been going to is about 25 miles away in the next county, but their office is literally connected directly to the hospital. The hospital has a very good reputation. Our Dr left the practice and his remaining associates are OK, but I was hoping to find someone closer to home.

Unfortunately, few doctors around here are taking new patients, and I can't find any who have rights at our hospital. Plus this local hospital seems to have an iffy reputation, at least on the local message board. Some who post claim the local very large Indian practice has a monopoly there - and none of those doctors are on my insurance. I dunno. I hate shopping for a doctor. <sigh>

[kaiwik]

Wonderful OP rosieposie! I played a lot of games as a kid, as sitting in front of the tv wasn't done way back then! Monopoly, Clue, Parcheesi, Sorry, Operation, and lots of others. When my brother and I were in our teens and we had an evil stepfather and no tv we loved to play Sorry and send him back as frequently as possible, saying "Sorry" with great big fake smiles, and he couldn't do anything about it! As an adult with four kids, if I never play Candyland again it will be too soon. Chess, checkers, tic tac toe and connect the dots are fun with the kids, and skiffman and I play a lot of cribbage, which is a popular past time in the village, as is pinochle. I play Spider Solitaire on the computer to pass time, and I had Collapse on my computer, but I have to reload it, the last computer doctor visit removed it.

Life has been busy, just the same old same old, but we rearranged the living room so that my desk isn't next to the door, which has played a large part in my not being online. No matter how well we weatherstrip the door I get so cold over there that I just don't want to be near it. Now I am close to the heater...much nicer! It's colder than...well you get the idea. Yesterday I sent skiffman to pick up The Son from his guitar class when I realized that the windchill was 1 degree F. We have snow, and it's nothing but snow in the forecast. Not huge amounts, just a lot of flakes swirling around. And very cold temps. Right now it's 16F, with a windchill of -1F. It may climb as high tomorrow as...hold your breath...17F. My parents keep telling me how cold it is in Marysville Wa. but I saw on the weather channel that it was 40 some degrees. That's summer weather round these parts! Taters I've been thinking about you, Mom says there has been some awful flooding down your way, stay safe!

We had a tragedy which you can read about here (www.homertribune.com/article.php?bid=9000). It was just a miracle that the Andrews Airways plane was there, the pilot was taking the plane back to it's moorage after some repairs had been finished, and he saw the plane as it went down and he scooted to pick up the four men who came up. If they had to spend much time in the water they probably wouldn't have survived. The rest were removed from the plane by divers. I know the guy who owns Servant/Paklook Air, and the pilot was well known around Kodiak. It's so sad, particularly as the Russian Christmas season is just beginning.

Finally, li-li is gonna pop! Yay!!! I had some good sized babies too, and while I cannot remember all of their weights without dragging out the baby books, (the girls were all 8+ lbs, and the son was just under 8 lbs) I do remember daughter #2, as I was over due (as I was with all of them) I was induced with a pitocin drip and no pain meds, she came down face up (back labor hurts!) until she began to crown, when she flipped herself (really weird feeling!) and I was forced to deliver her in the delivery room instead of the birthing room as I did with the other three, as the doctor was thinking he was going to have to pull her out! He didn't, I shoved her out, and she weighed 9 lb 8 oz and was 21 inches long. She is not a big girl now, 5' 5" and slender, but she looked like a 3 month old when she was new! Thank God I didn't break my tailbone (poor rigs!) but I never had an episiotomy, and there was tearing and stitching with all four...ow!

Oh, Merry Russian Christmas everyone! Also my son turns 15 tomorrow. What am I gonna do when they are all finally grown and gone? I kinda obsess over that, I have been raising kids for 25 years, I really don't know what I will do with my time.

Other than that, not much is new. Skiffman isn't opie fishing this year after all, he will be doing tanner crab with his regular skipper. It's a short fishery, but every little bit helps this time of year, I can't wait for halibut to open, both for the bucks and because it will be spring!

[Sticks and Scones]

I went to Curves today! :: pats self on back::

[eleanorigby]

Sorry to read that sad news, kawik.

It is a-stormin' and a-wailin' out there! The rain is now lashing the windows, the thunder is LOUD. No tornados, though (not so far).

Weird, weird, weird.

Dinner was potatoes au gratin and Polish sausage. What? I like that combo, a lot.


#2 kid has a ton of homework, which is good.

#1 son has just informed me that he wants an electric guitar for his birthday. He has said he is happy with a cheapy one (is there such a thing) and he doesn't want lessons. Why bother with lessons? Actually, I kind of agree with him. It's like my knitting. I don't want to make a big production out of it--I just want to dabble. So, now I need to find an electric guitar for cheap......

[Man With a Cat]

We had a scary day here yesterday - we thought we lost the new kitty. I had the garage door from the laundry room open for about 30 seconds. Hours later we realized we hadn't seen him. We tore the house apart, and nothing. Went to bed very sad and depressed, I was convinced I had let him out.

Two AM, Wife gets up just to look downstairs in case he came 'out of hiding'.

He did. We still have no idea where he was, but he's safe and sound. None of the other kids are afraid of him anymore. Any minute now Cuervo and him will quit facing each other off and start to rassle or something.

Dinner, as soon as I get off my tail, will be breakfast. Bacon, eggs - possibly in a burrito with cheese and salsa, and big chilled glass of milk.

[Lissla Lissar]

Mr. Lissar is currently at the dojo, catching hell from everyone for being there. "Your wife is due tomorrow? And you're here? You uncaring bastard!"

In spite of the fact that he's checking his cell phone every hour, it's only eight blocks away, and I have the dojo phone number right here. Guys, it's okay. Chill.



Speaking of which, it's too hot here for January. Mork must be loving this. Where is Mork? Did he post and I missed him?

[swampbear]

Howdy Y'all! Welcome newbies and commisserations where needed.

Looooooooooong day. It was good but long. The phones were wonky all day. They kept goin' out on everybody. I spent a lot of time making sure recorded applications (they're taken over the phone and it's recorded to ensure everything is done right) were downloaded on cds or could be loaded cause that decided to act wonky too. Also sat in on lots of stuff just to learn some things. I think I'm gonna like it.

Ok that's all for now. I'm fed and in need of a beerverage or two.

[ems]

I am currently printing out the paperwork for tomorrow

I need a drink :(

[gardentraveler]

:( :( :( Hang in there, mmmmmmmmms.

Glad day 1 went well, swampy.

Do Mr. Lissar's dojo-mates understand that baby's don't necessarily arrive on schedule? :D

Mork posted back there somewhere, LiLi. I'm too sleepy to back to find it, though. He's on his own on a project now. And liked playing games even though he was an only child. (I sure hope that was Mork; I'm really starting to crash. Darn that jet lag.

Off to sleepybye.

GT

[Pixilated]

My grandmother, uncle(s), and a close friend of the family (almost like a second g'ma) all played cards and it was a cardinal rule to learn to play when you were a kid.
Spite and Malice was my favorite (UNO has a like-version called Skip-BO)
Gin Rummy, and various forms of solitaire were also learned. As I got older, I learned to play UNO, hearts, spades, & euchre.

My Dad was a big one on teaching me to play checkers, chinese checkers, backgammon, and cribbage. I also learned a little chess.

Also had Monopoly, a CB board game (no, seriously, they made a game w/cb lingo and runnin away from smokies), Life, MAD, Payday, Mousetrap, Risk, Scrupples (my VERY favorite game that I really need to track down), Clue (which I always carry a piece with me so if anyone claims I am clueless I can prove them wrong, ty!), Dont spill the Beans, Scattegories, Battleship, Pictionary, Sorry, Operation, and probably many more. And of course - pen and paper games like D&D!

Never liked Trivial Pursuit, and O.D'd on Monopoly.

But then Atari and Nintendo (etc) came about, older relatives pass away, and the new generation is mostly computer games that do not require more than yourself.

[Wile E]

I just popped in to say that I am slowly suffocating from the weapons grade cat poo smell that is permeating my house right now. I recently switched my cats to a new food and I'm thinking this new food was a bad choice.

If you don't hear from me again remember me fondly.

*gasp*

[Man With a Cat]

:: banging tambourine against LiLi's belly, to urge the little scamp out ::

[VunderBob]

The cosmic fuck-with-me gun is getting a workout. The NerdMobile is in the shop for some major engine work, and I nailed Bambi tonight with the van for a near replay of the trash can incident from Turkey time. This time, more dents but the window didn't break, and the passenger side mirror is trashed again. :rolleyes:

I am filed with much grrrrrr. :mad:

ETA: Neither of us are hurt,and the van is drivable.

[Lissla Lissar]

Time for bed. Night, everyone.

[HazelNutCoffee]

What is with this insane warmth?

That Guy and I drove to Des Plaines to attend the orientation for the new school we'll be working at (yeah, I know, it seems like we can't get away from working with each other, but our actual classes are on different campuses, so there's that). But for some reason his wiper on the driver's side wasn't working and then it started raining on our way there, so for about half an hour I was convinced we were going to drive into a lamppost and die somewhere in Niles. But we made it, and the rain stopped, so everything was okay.

But dear GOD the orientation was soooooooo boring. And pointless. I've noticed that people who've taught in community colleges for an extended length of time have developed the habit of speaking under the assumption that their audience is just a bit ... slow. I think for us it was twice as annoying because our instructor for our "Teaching in the Community College" course back in grad school was a professor from this particular college, so a lot of the stuff we heard today was a repeat of that course. (Plus their food sucked.) And we have to go AGAIN tomorrow because it's a two-part orientation. The only reason we're going at all is because they're paying us over $200 to sit there like lumps on a log for a total of 6 hours.

On the bright side, the school seems very well run and very well funded. I am definitely looking forward to teaching there.

Oh, and my current school has agreed to sponsor my visa after my current one runs out. This is actually pretty big news, since it means I'm not going to get kicked out of the country after June, which was the worst-case scenario. The president seemed surprised that I'd ever thought they wouldn't. It was all rather anti-climactic, but I'm not complaining. Yay!

[dogbutler]

I slammed my finger in the safe door tonight. :eek:

[kaiwik]

Well, it seems that all the cold migrated to the far north for the winter. That's okay, I'll horde the cold so y'all can have some warmth.

Skiffman and The Son went to #1 daughter's mil to fill her woodbox for her. She pays my son to do this on a weekly basis, but he had a busy weekend, and tomorrow is his birthday, so they got it done tonight. They reported that they saw two deer hanging out by the side of the road, fortunately they did not hit them. Sorry about your incident bobbio, it happens a lot here too, but our deer are small, so the damage is generally minimal.

It's been a bit of a difficult day, the paper had front page coverage of the plane accident, including a photo of the wreckage being pulled from the water. I was talking with my mom, and she remarked that too often she forgets that I am living in the Bush, and life is very different, and often dangerous, in ways that people Outside just don't think about. I guess the fact that one of the dead was a 15 year old boy, and my son turns 15 tomorrow. It's just so sad.

But we move on. We mourn, we pay our respects, and we move on.

Wile E with all of my animals I have learned that when I want to switch foods, I do it gradually. That way we are not gassed out of the house. I feel for ya! I thought it was funny that some of the dogs were happily snapping up green olives the other day. I am still paying for that, man they have been stinky butts!

MGB A tambourine? Is this a tried and true methode to bring on labor? I must try this, I have a young friend who is due to pop next month!

I am glad that you aren't going to be kicked out of the country Haze and that you have job opportunities. Oh, and btw I thought you looked fabulous with the pin curls, I used to do that, and also got the same effect with hot rollers. I miss big hair!

Poor dogslave and your finger. You did take it out of the safe and bring it home with you, right?

Okay, I have to make a grocery list and get ready for bed. You all have a good Tuesday, I'll look in sometime in your afternoon!

[Noone Special]

Bobbio -- Grr for the damage to the cars; glad nobody was hurt.

Doggio -- hope you didn't hurt your finger overmuch?

{{{{ems}}}} ::fingers crossed::

Kai -- What a sad story :( But congrats on your son's B-day! My daughter was 15 about a month ago (my eldest, though, not my youngest). How fast they grow up!

Rigs -- happy birthday to your #1 son, as well. Even if it *is* tomorrow; if you got the dayu wrong, then so can I! :D

MBG -- all the kittens we've ever had have done this "go into hiding for hours and freak us out" trick. We even know where they go, now... (behind the dish-washer), but it took us years to figure out!

Haze -- does this mean you don't need to find a willing American citizen you can marry, fast, anymore?
:(

:D

Congrats on the visa sponsorship! Is this another visa, or can you apply for a full-fledged Green Card? If not, how long until you can apply for the GC?

[Noone Special]

LiLi, I hope you're not in to yoga. You are aware that once tinyninjachef downloads, you won't be able to participate any longer.

Cite (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a378/VunderBob/?action=view&current=Why_Mom_s_Cant_Do_Yoga1.flv) (Mildly NSFW)I forgot to mention, it may enhance your enjoyment of the clip to know that the soundtrack is a song called "Children of Life." Refrain -- "You know, mom -- we're all the Children of Life." :D

(and it's totally weird to have an Israeli video clip played back at me on a General Interest, American board, in a thread having nothing whatsoever to do with Israel... it's such a small world!)

[Sticks and Scones]

Hooray for Haze!

Hugs for mmmmms. Good luck at work today.

Well, I managed to sleep until a little after 5 today. That's somewhat of an improvement. We've got a busy day ahead. There are at least 5, maybe 6 lunches. (The sixth one called after I was already asleep.)

Oh, and, Hi Noonie!

[Noone Special]

Hi! yourself, Cutie! :)

I was starting to wonder if this thing was on... sorry it has to be your insomnia that provides me company here!

[Sticks and Scones]

I was starting to wonder if this thing was on... sorry it has to be your insomnia that provides me company here!

Nah, I was supposed to be getting up soon anyways. Ninety hungry people are eagerly awaiting for me to prepare their lunch, no, um, noon time meal, um... noone special. I know! Next meal after breakfast!

[Noone Special]

Nah, I was supposed to be getting up soon anyways. Ninety hungry people are eagerly awaiting for me to prepare their lunch, no, um, noon time meal, um... noone special. I know! Next meal after breakfast!
No lunch is complete without some pie to have at the end ;)

Eh, lots of work means you're earning money at least, which has got to be a good thing!

[ScareyFaerie]

Last night I took Shadow back to the vet so they could see the damage he'd done to his nicely-scabbed shoulder. They decided to keep him in overnight and then today they're going to anaesthetise him, debride the wound and stitch it up because otherwise it will take weeks to heal naturally.

Somehow I don't think he'd enjoy being Corporal Conehead for weeks! I have to phone them this afternoon but they're sure everything will be ok and the little wounded soldier will be coming home tonight.

Cats. Who'd have 'em?

LiLi - have you tried a hot bath and a bottle of gin yet?

Doggio - sorry to hear about your poorly finger, but what was it doing in the safe? Were you afraid you'd lose it?

Kai - sad news indeed, but congrats on the other stuff.

BusDude - kitties love to make us worry by hiding away somewhere. Shadow did this the other day when he came back from the vet. I was convinced he'd got out of the house because I couldn't work out where a cat with a plastic lampshade attachment was going to hide that I couldn't see him. But hide he did.

mmmmmmmmmmmmms - will keep things crossed for you.

[Sticks and Scones]

No lunch is complete without some pie to have at the end ;)

::swoons:: ;)


Eh, lots of work means you're earning money at least, which has got to be a good thing!

Yep. The sixth lunch just called me bag to say that we are on for today. Hooray! Over 115 people for today!!!

[Noone Special]

::swoons:: ;) Yeah, right, you're just saying that.... If you were really swooning you wouldn't be typing! :(

Yep. The sixth lunch just called me bag to say that we are on for today. Hooray! Over 115 people for today!!!Hooray for lots and lots of business for ya! :)

Boo -- glad the cat is OK! Coneheads are funny, though -- would serve it right to provide you with some days of amusement! :D

[swampbear]

Mornin' Y'all! Up and caffienatin' here and soon to begin purtification for the day. I'm guessin' this will be another day of gettin' the bugs and kinks outta stuff. Ain't it fun how all this wondrous new excitatin' technology always has all kinds of bugs and kinks and stuff to work out.

Today is ol' y'all know who's bday. I'm takin' him to dindin at the Eyetalian place he likes (well, I like too) a lot. I promised a home cooked bday supper this weekend. He wants country fried steak, smashed N.O.T., field peas, squash and biscuits. Oh and gravy. Can't have country fried steak without gravy. Plus he will get a DQ ice cream cake. He's so spoiled! :D

Have a great day everybody. I'll check in tonight.

ETA: First on page three. YAY!!!

[gardentraveler]

I'm up too. I guess I got into the European time zone a little bit. I was sleepy around 9 last night and am quite awake at 5:30 this morning. We'll see how I feel tonight...

Forgot to say I was sorry about the plane crash, kai. Hugs. And Happy Birthday to your son.

My godchildren are almost 14 and 16 and it's freaking me out. They're both taller than my brain can deal with (godson is on the verge of being taller than his dad) and reading grown-up books and living grown-up situations (goddaughter has her first boyfriend, Og help us). Goddaughter has also become a squeeeeee machine. Her reaction to almost everything is "Oh, keeeeeeeeeyuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute (imagine this at an annoyingly high pitch)," regardless of the language being spoken. We are hoping this is a short phase and are unable to understand how the boyfriend can withstand the assault on his ears (although she seems to be a bit less squeeish around him, maybe that's one of the positives about having an older boyfriend :dubious: ).

I've started reading Bildung: alles was man wissen muss (Education/Culture: Everything One Should Know) because I want to freshen up my German and have a framework for doing more reading about history. I think I'm going to have to find something to fill in gaps because it's extremely Eurocentric. Should be interesting. I'm thinking there may be a thread in this, but I'm still thinking about what it should be. Guess I'll need to go find some old "what everyone should know" threads and see if they fill in some of the gaps and/or help me figure out what I want this to look like. Anyone have threads bookmarked or other sources to recommend? I want to do a survey of world history through the ages (yes, it will take a while) and would like to have as many sources as possible (English, Spanish or German language; I read some French, but not enough to make it through more than a short newspaper article). I imagine there are blogs out there somewhere that could be inspiring; if anyone runs across any of them, please let me know....

Sorry about the owie, doggio.

Well...need to get ready for work. Dontwanna.

Happy Tuesday everyone!

ETA: Happy Birthday to ACBG!!!!

GT

[bbs2k]

Mornin'.

[Noone Special]

Mornin'.
No, it isn't!

[Dolores Reborn]

Good morning, mumpers!

I've been getting up around 4:45 and coming into work at 6:00. This morning I woke up, and Mr Rebo still wasn't home! I called him, and he was about 10 minutes away. I knew he was gonna be late, but this is ridiculous. I am filled with grrr at his stupid job. The holidays caused them to get backed up with deliveries, but you can't work your employees like dogs, fer Og's sake! He even went in early yesterday! It's gonna screw them up come Friday, though. By law, he's only allowed to work 16 hours a day, with a mandatory 10 hour rest between, and a max of 60 hours a week. So his normal start time is 2:00 pm, but he can't start until 2:30 today. Which will put him behind in all his appointments, which will snowball into the fact that he won't be able to work on Friday! Stoopit managers...

My supervisor is going on leave for 14-28 days. He's going to Europe to buy a yacht! If it's a good deal, he will be sailing it back here and be back in a month. If not, he will only be gone for two weeks. In the interim, they're putting me in charge of our little group. It's not that big a deal, but it's kinda cool.

[Sean Factotum]

Mornin'.
No, it isn't!
Yes it is.

I remembered to wear a belt this morning, and the clothes fit much better.

[Noone Special]

Yes it is. Isn't! :p

And I have Boo and Dotty as witnesses!!
(And where's Nava when I need her?)

[ScareyFaerie]

Something you need two witnesses for, Lunch? Is there something you and Ms Pie have to share with us? Do I need to buy a hat?

[bbs2k]

Cheeseincrust, a guy just wants to say hi...

[Noone Special]

Something you need two witnesses for, Lunch? Is there something you and Ms Pie have to share with us? Do I need to buy a hat? That, and a location where polygamy is legal... :eek:

And... you're giving up on me so fast, Boo? :( :p

Cheeseincrust, a guy just wants to say hi...See, that I can agree with. Hi! :)
So why did you have to bring in your American-centric salutation into the mix, I don't know.... :confused:

[Wile E]

...

Wile E with all of my animals I have learned that when I want to switch foods, I do it gradually. That way we are not gassed out of the house. I feel for ya! I thought it was funny that some of the dogs were happily snapping up green olives the other day. I am still paying for that, man they have been stinky butts!

...

I would normally do that but I decided to switch from the really expensive food we sell to a cheaper but good quality store brand, however I didn't have enough of the old food and we were out of it at work so I couldn't switch gradually. I may have to switch again because this food is supposed to be for hairball and weight control but they have had more hairballs since I started it, not to mention the stinky poo. I will try to make the next switch more gradual.

My dog is on a diet food and her poo doesn't stink much but her gas is horrid and she has a lot of that. Usually at night while I'm at my computer and she's laying nearby. So if it isn't the cats, it's the dog. Fortunately the dog won't eat vegetables if I drop them so I don't have to worry about olive gas but when she was younger she did like fruit like apples and melons.

[Dolores Reborn]

See, that I can agree with. Hi! :)
So why did you have to bring in your American-centric salutation into the mix, I don't know.... :confused:

Mornin', Noone! (And NIGHT!) Hee!

[Noone Special]

Mornin', Noone! (And NIGHT!) Hee!
I'll average the two and settle on "afternoon" :)

Heh... good morning, Ameri-mumpers :) (Even you, bbs and Sean) Enjoy your Tuesdays!

[taxi78cab]

BusDude, you mention a kitten but don't post pictures?? I'm guessing there were pictures in a previous thread and I missed them so please repost! Kittens! Yay!

I'm feeling very unmotivated this morning to do any work. I want to go home and keep packing for our move! Bleh.

[Lissla Lissar]

I'm awake. But I resent it.


No kid yet, which means trip to Costco with my mother, and then tidying and possibly drinking a bottle of gin (thanks BooFae).



kai, could we have a little bit of the cold back, please? It's way too fricking hot here for January, and it was difficult to sleep last night because the building doesn't temp-adjust very quickly.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Hi Miss Purl! Have you tried doing crossword puzzles in Spanish? It's not quite the same use of language, but it seems to be helping me some with German. (My German was getting way too rusty; even though everyone said it was just fine, it took a lot more effort this visit than it has other times.) So anyway, my New Year's resolution is to actually use German every day (crossword puzzles, reading, YouTube, videopodcasts of the news). I haven't looked at resources in Spanish (probably should do that too).

I haven't done crosswords in Spanish except in class, and then they were always ones that we wrote ourselves. They had clues like "un animal doméstico con una cola muy larga," which could be anything from un gato, una vaca, o un caballero. (Though technically the last two aren't pets.) I do very much enjoy Cryptograma (http://www.aliciaramirez.com/crypto/index.html), though, which is basically Cryptoquote in Spanish. There's an English version too if anybody's Spanish skills aren't up to par.


MissPurl.... MizzPurl.... MissKitty.... MizKitty... Missbbs2k.... MissK?, no MissK sounds like "mistake". And we don't want to offend the pro-life.

Hee. I will point out that Missbbsk2k would imply that I'm your sister or cousin or other blood relative. Is that your aim? Because I've already got two brothers . . .

Noone, I do have a kitty! His name is Gus, and he's basically evil in cat form. He's the most adorable cat on earth (http://flickr.com/photos/14266099@N07/sets/72157603404169143/), but his mischief making capabilities are astronomical. A couple Christmases ago, he picked up a ball of lace weight alpaca I had in the living room, and while everybody was asleep, managed to tangle every piece of furniture in our living room with it -- something like 800 yards of yarn. When Mom woke up, he sat next to her and cleaned his face, as if to say, "Yes, I did this. Isn't it beautiful?"

His poo doesn't stink, either. If we could just get him to stop chasing repairmen out of the house, he'd be a great cat.

Mr. Lissar is currently at the dojo, catching hell from everyone for being there. "Your wife is due tomorrow? And you're here? You uncaring bastard!"

In spite of the fact that he's checking his cell phone every hour, it's only eight blocks away, and I have the dojo phone number right here. Guys, it's okay. Chill.


Ha ha ha. The spring my younger brother was born, there was a spring blizzard, so corn planting was late. Dad was out in the field, so Mom waited as long as she could before she sent one of my grandparents out to get him. He came back to the house and said, "Well, do I have time to finish planting this field before we go?"

Mom responded something like, "No, darling, you don't. Get cleaned up and get in the car." EDIT: If I had been in my mother's position, my answer would not have been so mild. Death glares would have been involved.

He was the third baby, though, so I guess they kind of knew what to expect by then.

[Noone Special]

Hee. I will point out that Missbbsk2k would imply that I'm your sister or cousin or other blood relative. Is that your aim?I was wondering about that, too. Somehow, I don't think bbs would want to see you turning out to be a blood-relative... ;)

Hey, it takes one to know one...

Noone, I do have a kitty! His name is Gus, and he's basically evil in cat form. He's the most adorable cat on earth (http://flickr.com/photos/14266099@N07/sets/72157603404169143/), but his mischief making capabilities are astronomical. A couple Christmases ago, he picked up a ball of lace weight alpaca I had in the living room, and while everybody was asleep, managed to tangle every piece of furniture in our living room with it -- something like 800 yards of yarn. When Mom woke up, he sat next to her and cleaned his face, as if to say, "Yes, I did this. Isn't it beautiful?"

His poo doesn't stink, either. If we could just get him to stop chasing repairmen out of the house, he'd be a great cat.Gus is mucho squeeable :) But I think we really need a cite for his handiwork?

[HazelNutCoffee]

Haze -- does this mean you don't need to find a willing American citizen you can marry, fast, anymore?
:(

:D

Congrats on the visa sponsorship! Is this another visa, or can you apply for a full-fledged Green Card? If not, how long until you can apply for the GC?
Oh, I'm still looking for an American husband. It's just not as pressing a matter anymore. ;)

This would be an H-1B visa. I really don't think I'll be able to get a green card anytime soon. What will probably happen is that I'll be on various H-1B visas for the next couple years until I get into a PhD program - then my visa will switch to a J-1, hopefully, so I can still work while being a student (an F-1 visa restricts you to working for the school that's sponsoring you).

MissPurl, I love your yarn story. Such a typical cat thing to do.

Ugh, I have to go out to Des Plaines AGAIN today. And it's raining. That Guy better have fixed his stupid wipers.

[eleanorigby]

Yay on staying in the country, boo on boring orientations; yay on more people to feed in the middle of the day; boo on kitties eating yarn.


Am somewhat taken aback this morning. Was planning on an exciting day of cleaning bathrooms and reading, but work called. They want me to come in from 7PM to 7 AM to watch a post-op carotid endarderectomy (no idea if that is spelled right). There are 2 nurses sick from PACU, so she's short of help. I am puzzled because I said yes.


I don't mind helping and I can certainly take care of a post-op carotid, but it's at night! And I need my beauty sleep! And I never go in extra! Who am I and where has the old me gone?



I must nap later. Now watch, the one time I truly need to nap is the one time I won't be able to.....

[Ellen Cherry]

I enjoyed the nursing/yoga video, which I have seen before, because it's just WAY TOO TRUE. I have a picture of me with the little one nursing while driving a little toy car across my chest, a frequent occurance. You can Dope when they're wee little nursling infants; it's when they get older and interested in their surroundings that it's hard to multi-task.

It was nearly 70 degrees here yesterday! The universe is out of whack.

From the Children are Entertaining Dept. -- Sunday before going out for the (as it turns out) Nickelodeon Adventure at Shoe Carnival, 10-year-old son popped into the office where my husband was working to tell him goodbye:

Son: Bye!
Hub: Where are you going?
Son: To CONQUOR THE WORLD!
Hub: Yeah?
Son. Yeah. Mom's driving.

[Tupug Anachi]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ACBG!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOOOOOOOU!


bobbio, :eek: on the video!

kai, such a sad story. :(

mbg, silly kitteh!

ms purl, your kitteh is adorable and the yarn story was quite a yarn! :D

boo fae, good to hear your peeps are better.

mmmmmmmms, :( I got laid off once from the sales office of a big real estate office. The sales manager was this big gruff muscle head who scared everyone. I swear he had tears in his eyes when he told me the bad news. I think he felt worse than I did.

I really don't have anything to report so far today so guess I should do some work.

Tupug

[Mama Tiger]

Morning, all. I am still here, and not much more than that. At least yesterday I felt good again -- zero energy, and I do mean zero, but at least not sick.

Too much to comment on in two pages, so hugs, yays, boos, etc. as appropriate. But didn't anyone see the pretty pictures of the hat and scarf and mittens I made for snowbunny that she posted yesterday? Nobody commented at all. :( Hey, I need some adulation here! (And please tell me that wasn't Misti alpaca lace, Miss Purl -- that would be a crime against yarn!)

I guess I should go back to contemplating doing something constructive today. Thus far nothing has grabbed my fancy, but you never know...

[eleanorigby]

Where be the pics? Me no see.

I started another scarf yesterday on size 11 (or is 13?) needles. Dayum, that makes big stitches. It's a pretty beige, with dark blue, burgundy and forest green flecks. It's not twisty like the burgundy variegated is, so it's easier (for me) to work with. It's a bit uneven, but hanging together. I also find the larger needles easier to work with. And now (of course) my tension teeters on too loose! :eek: :rolleyes:

Maybe I'll take it with me tonight..... to work.




Off to sleep again--I's tahred jes thinkin' 'bout work!

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Mama Tigs: It was Misti Alpaca. How did you know? My cat has a preference for fine fibers -- he never runs away with say acrylic, it's always the alpaca or merino or silk. He only sleeps on velvet and silk sweaters, too. Bad kitty!

I did see the picture, but it slipped my mind, because I got caught up in cat/yarn stories. It's trés cute. What yarn did you use for the cuffs? Very pretty.

Noone, I'll hop in my time machine in take pictures. Back in a flash! Unfortunately, the little squeaker hasn't done anything too lamentable lately, besides coming into my room and knocking everything off the dresser when he feels neglected.

[Mama Tiger]

It's linked in her post on page 2 somewhere, Rigs. Shouldn't be hard to find.

And I figured it was Misti lace because I remember you mentioning a site that you get your Misti alpaca lace yarn from, and I ran off and bookmarked it because it's a lot cheaper there than other places I've found it!

I used an Araucania Atacama alpaca yarn, colorway #530 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Araucania-Atacama-100-Alpaca-Yarn-530-Purple-Blue-Grn_W0QQitemZ150201349221QQihZ005QQcategoryZ36591QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p1638 .m118), for the cuffs. The rest of the set is made with a cashmere yarn (http://cgi.ebay.com/170-yards-Highland-cashmere-fingering-Weight-HP12_W0QQitemZ310006839319QQihZ021QQcategoryZ36594QQcmdZViewItem) that I found on eBay for a song -- very nice quality for the price. I'd actually bought some last year, and then when I decided I wanted to use it for snowbunny, I waited till she put it up for sale again this winter and was able to get more, close enough color match for government work. I doubled the fingering weight for the hat to make it extra-warm, plus the band is actually backed by the cashmere in garter stitch -- the pattern called for attaching the hat body to the top of the band, but I attached it to the bottom instead so it would be extra-thick and warm around her ears. And then I sewed several rows of Elann Esprit (http://www.elann.com/productdisp.asp?NAME=elann%2Ecom+Esprit&Season=&Company=&Cat=ALLY&ProductType=5&OrderBy=&Count=21) yarn (which has a lot of elastic in it) through the band section to allow for adjustability in size, since I'm a couple thousand miles away from her and couldn't measure around her head to make it fit perfectly. Oh, and the mittens have alpaca cuffs, but the body is double thick -- I knit the hands onto the bands, and then went back and knitted a duplicate hand section and sewed it in for a lining. So if she gets cold, it's not MY fault!!

And I know that's far more than you ever wanted to know. But if I do say so myself, the way I matched the facing color of her coat collar perfectly with yarn I'd bought a year before she ever got the coat is a masterpiece of something-or-other on my part -- darn it, can't find the word I'm groping for! Not coincidence, something else starting with a C. Apparently my mind really has turned to mush. :(

[Noone Special]

Noone, I'll hop in my time machine in take pictures. Back in a flash!But, you can't go back and return in that time machine! (http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=450622) :p Unfortunately, the little squeaker hasn't done anything too lamentable lately, besides coming into my room and knocking everything off the dresser when he feels neglected.Huh; our cat knocks rolls of toilet paper (sitting above the toilet) into the bowl, if the lid isn't closed while we're out. He's a good aim, too! :rolleyes:

Haze -- I was soooo going to respond to your quip, but I'll give it a rest :)

[Dottygumdrop]

Evening all.

Moooommmmm, get your butt over here and take back your cold weather!!!! I don't want it. I am not equipped to deal with it, my house is not equipped to deal with it! My lousy 10-bar electric radiator can't cope with the high ceilings and cold tiled floors! TAKE. IT. BACK. NOW!!!!

Nooner, if you want polygamy, you could get married here, although you would need two MALE witnesses for that (preferably, one of them should be the girl's father) and you should (strictly speaking) get the first wife's consent! (Ohh, and you may need to convert to Islam!) :D

LiLi, my childbirth education midwife told me the best way to bring on labour (other than sex!) was heavy duty cleaning! She said she went into labour within hours of finishing scrubbing the kitchen floor (on her hands and knees with a scrubbing brush!). If I were you, I would try the gin first! ;)

Ms Purl, Gus is gorgeous, although he does have a naughty look to him!

The Mommy yoga video was hilarious!!! I showed it to a (childless) girlfriend of mine at work and she was totally squicked out; I just laughed out loud!!!

Still no word from my recruitment agent on my revised offer, and nothing back from my boss on my pathetic salary review. To recap my post from the end of the last MMP, my boss was completely nonchalant and (I venture) disaffected about the prospect that I might be leaving, and went so far as to say that my profitability over the past 2 years (break-even, thank you very much - not bad, considering I am entirely dependent on my boss and the beeyotch for work) didn't justify a salary at the same amount as the new place has offered, let alone a salary in line with what the international firms in the market are paying. He told me that with an increased salary come increased expectations, and he didn't think I could meet those! :mad: I am becoming increasingly shitty about the fact that so many of the skills and local experience I have can't be quantified in terms of "profitability" and therefore have no value to them! :rolleyes: Just waiting for my new offer to come back so I can then tell them to shove their cheap-ass job where the sun don't shine!!!

Okay, I am going to find something warmer to wear, 'cause I am freezing my [insert NSFW term here] off!!!

[ems]

D-Day. About to start the lay off process

I feel sick.

[HazelNutCoffee]

Unfortunately, the little squeaker hasn't done anything too lamentable lately, besides coming into my room and knocking everything off the dresser when he feels neglected.
Olive, my kitty, does that all the time. Lately her new amusement is pawing at the plastic wrap I put up over the windows for insulation. Whenever I catch her at it I say "OLIVE!" in a Very Stern Voice, at which she stops, turns her head, and gives the wide-eyed "I wasn't doing anything!" look. Then the minute I'm distracted she's at it again. I need to get her more toys.

No1, what's this, restraint? :eek:

:: hugs for ems and Dotti ::

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

And I figured it was Misti lace because I remember you mentioning a site that you get your Misti alpaca lace yarn from, and I ran off and bookmarked it because it's a lot cheaper there than other places I've found it!

I bet it was TheKnitter.com, right? Free shipping, great prices. It's one of my favorite online yarn stores. I'm just glad I don't knit socks, because the sock yarns there are really delicious ones.


I used an Araucania Atacama alpaca yarn, colorway #530 (http://cgi.ebay.com/Araucania-Atacama-100-Alpaca-Yarn-530-Purple-Blue-Grn_W0QQitemZ150201349221QQihZ005QQcategoryZ36591QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p1638 .m118), for the cuffs. <snip>

Ooh, nice choices. Cashmere and alpaca? Total yarn love. The construction on the hat sounds pretty darn clever, too.

I have a bunch of Araucania Atacama in my stash for a sweater. The blue/black colorway (M26 on the second page). (http://www.araucaniayarns.com/ColorCard_Alpaca1.html) I had another sweater in mind for it, but the drape wasn't quite right when I swatched. The only pattern I can find for it is the T-shirt sweater (http://theknittinggarden.com/patterns/ellarae1/tshirt.htm), which I don't like. So frustrating.

Poor ems. :( Maybe you could just throw up on them and they'd quit in disgust.

Dotti, I hope your boss is shown the light, and gives you the raise plus 10-percent.

Hazel, Gus like to rub his paws on things, too. The other day I caught him on the bathroom counter, pawing frantically at the mirror. Then he hopped down and peered into the toilet, waiting for the water to move. This morning there were nose prints on the picture window, too. We say, "Gus! Naughty!" but he just looks at us like we're rude for interrupting his mayhem.

Thanks for saying my cat is adorable, everybody! It balances out the fact that he likes to throw up on the beige carpeting and knock over any glass with liquid in it.

And, Noone, my time machine is totally capable of moving both backward and forward. It's magic!

[Dottygumdrop]

Well, I was right about it being cold. Today's newspaper apparently said the forecast for tonight was for a low of 7C (about 45F), the lowest temperature in about 20 years! :eek: (that's me turning blue!!!)

{{{mmmms}}} I hope you get through the day okay!

[ems]

2 of 6 done

One guy took it OK he knew it was coming

The other guy didn't. Cursed at me as is having to be escorted off the premises

Fuck :( :mad: :(

[VunderBob]

Glimmers of normality returning to my life: the NerdMobile is done, and will cost me $300; painful, but not monumentally so.

Bambi vs. minivan is considered an Act of Og by my insurance, so I don't have to pony up a deductible. :cool:


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I've been on the receiving end of a layoff. The fact that it bothers you is good overall, although it sucks now. The guy who axed me didn't care, and I despise him to this day, nearly 5 years after the fact. I came out of it for the better, too, so I owe the bastard that much, dammit.

Hang in there and remember, it's business.

[gotpasswords]

That Guy and I drove to Des Plaines to attend the orientation for the new school we'll be working at
<big ol' snip>
On the bright side, the school seems very well run and very well funded. I am definitely looking forward to teaching there.
Good to hear OCC is still doing well.

I wonder what the chances are that anyone there remembers "The AVenger" from a couple decades ago. I was just poking around OCC's website, and bumbled across what they're calling "Instructional Media Services" - the A-V department's grown up I guess.

After browsing the campus phone book, it looks like I could walk in there today and know half of the staff. It's amazing what's still the same - everyone that I remember from the AV department and TV studio are still there. Other than the furniture and advancement in people's titles, it looks like nothing's changed. There was a photo of the front counter, and in the background, they still have the same corkboard that they file the day's AV delivery orders on, and it looks like they still have the same audio cassette duplicator.

It's obviously a place where people can find their home and stick around for decades. I just wonder what my life would be like if I had accepted their job offer. Still living in Des Plaines, obviously, but still pushing projectors and printing signs? Or would I be running the IT services? Who knows?

[Sticks and Scones]

Oh, mmmms, I'm so sorry. I had to cut back one of my employees hours and it was excruciating. I can't imagine what you're going through.

Haze and Noonie, my dearest Bubba (http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s103/purplkid/04_09_07_18382.jpg), the light of my life and joy of my heart is the most annoying little pipsqueak if he should ever happen to get ahold of a roll of toilet paper. Even though he's around 4 years old now, he's forever the playful pup and will start by unrolling the whole roll and then proceed to chew and loosely shred toilet paper until it covers the entire living room rug. Hah. He's sitting next to me right now. He must know that I'm typing about him.

Today went fairly well and I've just now got some tortelllini on to boil for my own lunch. The weather is so nice outside that I'm thinking about taking a walk after I eat. That may or may not happen, though, as a nap usually sounds good too.

[SpazCat]

Gah. Today is supposed to be the day I go and sell my old Altima. Here I sit, still in my jammies. I think I may be avoiding the inevitable.

Okay. I will be out of the house by 2:30 to sell my Nondescriptmobile. It hurts (this is my first car) but I just have to remind myself that I'll have a new Outback at the end of the week. And I need the money to buy gas so I can both pick up Complicated Roommate from the airport Thursday and drive halfway across the state Saturday. Twice.

[Dolores Reborn]

mmms, that sucks, I know. I've had to let go only two people in my career. One I was extremely pissed off at, and wasn't too upset about. The other, that one hurt. He had 4 kids and it was three weeks before Christmas. I did arrange for him to get a month's severance, which was unusual for that company.

[Sean Factotum]

The other guy didn't. Cursed at me as is having to be escorted off the premises
How rude. It's not like you woke up this morning and said, "Who's life can I screw up today?"

[Mama Tiger]

That sounds really tough, mmmms. Hang in there and please remember: It's not your fault! It wasn't your idea, either, no matter how much you get cursed by idiots!

I bet it was TheKnitter.com, right? Free shipping, great prices. It's one of my favorite online yarn stores. I'm just glad I don't knit socks, because the sock yarns there are really delicious ones.

Ooh, nice choices. Cashmere and alpaca? Total yarn love. The construction on the hat sounds pretty darn clever, too.

Yes, it probably was TheKnitter.com. I know I ordered something from them. Did you have to mention they carry great sock yarns, though? I recently overcame my lifelong fear of knitting socks, and am having to restrain myself from building a lifetime stash of sock yarn now!

As for snowbunny's stuff, I used this pattern (http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/hattrick.htm) for the hat, and then faked the scarf and mittens to match. I made the "relaxed fit" hat, which is fuller IRL than it looks in the photos. And the site where that pattern is located, Blackberry Ridge Woolen Mill (http://www.blackberry-ridge.com/)? Has the most scrumptious yarns! Their lace weight wool is almost fingering weight, but it has the most amazing hand and is very, very stretchy. The prices are very reasonable, too, for the yardage. And they ship fast and cheap! Just sayin'. :D

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Oh, an online knitting friend just ordered 5,000 yards of lace weight from Blackberry Ridge. I had no idea that it was in Wisconsin, and so close to my house! Really, it's like a 40 minute drive. I'll have to see if they allow orders to be purchased in person.

Yeah, 5,000 yards. We're both knitting this ca. 1800 dress from the Danish National Museum this year. I have five knitting projects to finish before I start though. It's driving me nutty.

[Sticks and Scones]

Hooray! Hooray!
Apparently I was a total idiot and actually sent my landlord an extra rent check one month last year. She just sent one back to me so I don't have to come up with the money this month. I'm so glad since I'm already so far behind. Hooray for my financial stupidity! :D

And in other news, I've got the TV on right now and there's absolutely nothing worth watching. So, I'm watching Harum Scarum, an Elvis movie. Boy, talk about lame. :rolleyes:

Hey, MamaTigs, sorry I forgot to mention several times how cool the stuff is that you knitted for snowbunny. And, if you ever feel inclined to make me some socks, purple IS my favorite color. :D

[Sticks and Scones]

It's driving me nutty.


Don't you mean knitty? :p

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Heh. Knutty is pretty much a constant state of mind for me.

[Lissla Lissar]

knocks over any glass with liquid in it.
Ah, but does he deliberately break them so he can put the pieces in your shoes? And would you like a free cat? This one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244648/in/set-72057594106672963/) right here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244423/in/set-72057594106672963/)? She's cute!

Back from shopping. Sleepy. Naptime.



((((mmms))))

[Parthol]

I confess I don't know what "MMP" means, or if I'm supposed to be posting in this thread, but:

gardentraveler, the game you played sure sounds like Ticket to Ride, designed by Alan Moon.

-P

[anyrose]

And would you like a free cat? This one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244648/in/set-72057594106672963/) right here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244423/in/set-72057594106672963/)? She's cute!

Back from shopping. Sleepy. Naptime.



((((mmms))))

Shelf cats! :D

Haven't you popped yet? Don't sleep, jump up and down a bit.

[Mama Tiger]

5,000 yards? You can knit a dress with only 5,000 yards? I seriously would have thought a LOT more than that, especially of lace weight. And you're close enough to drive over? Okay, I am dying here. To be able to go see and fondle all their yummy yarns? I think one of these days I'll break down and order one of their sample cards just to further torment myself. Like I need more yarn. :rolleyes:

Okay, I guess I'm feeling well enough that I'm off to the gym. How come I can't be like a nice, self-respecting snake, who does absolutely nothing but lie around 99.9999% of the time, and only moves when it's time to STRIKE! at food, and yet has perfect muscle tone and is never fat???

[HazelNutCoffee]

Pie, I love it when stuff like that happens. :)

Sooo sleeeeeeepy............. Have a million things to do but don't want to do any of them. Grumble.

[ems]

5 of 6 done.

Oh man I feel awful that I just ruined someone life. I know it is business and I know that there is more than enough work out there but it doesn't stop me feeling bad about it.

And Sean I know that him cursing at me wasn't personal it was cursing at the company of which I am the public face right here and now.

If I stay in management andif I ever have to do this again I hope it doesn't get easier for me to do. I hope it still causes me this much heartache and grief if it becomes routine and easy to do it means I have stopped caring.

I still need a drink

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Ah, but does he deliberately break them so he can put the pieces in your shoes? And would you like a free cat? This one (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244648/in/set-72057594106672963/) right here (http://www.flickr.com/photos/caldrik/128244423/in/set-72057594106672963/)? She's cute![/b]

Broken glass in your shoes? Is your cat actually a medieval torturer? As much as I love tiger cats, I think I'll pass on the free cat! Mine does that with Q-tips, balled up candy wrappers, and his toys. All perfectly harmless to find with your feet, thankfully.

Mama Tiger, the Butterfly dress (http://www.knitpicks.com/Butterfly%20Dress_PD30792220.html), which is a similar stitch pattern, only takes about 1200 yards for the largest size. Hopefully 5,000 yards of lace weight is enough; she's planning to have extra.

[eleanorigby]

You need some chocolate NOW, and then that vodka once you get home. Gah-what a horrible day for you (and them).


I am up from a very odd nap. Still no call canceling my night shift, so I guess various prayers, offers of body parts and small animal sacrifices don't work.

In a weird way, I want to go in tonight. It'll make a change, anyway, and it's good money. Then again, tomorrow will be hell....






I have nothing to add, except to say that 2 quiches are in the oven. I'm hungry, dammit!

[Sticks and Scones]

Yep, so that walk thing didn't happen. It's looking like it's going to rain anytime now. But I have been doing something productive. I've been roaming around snapping pictures of things to put on eBay. Speaking of... apparently I'm an eBay spammer. :rolleyes: One of my dress listings was removed because I used the words 'Like New' in my title. Oops. I didn't know. But I guess what irks me is that I won't be refunded the listing fee. Oh well.

[Man With a Cat]

I confess I don't know what "MMP" means, or if I'm supposed to be posting in this thread, but:

gardentraveler, the game you played sure sounds like Ticket to Ride, designed by Alan Moon.

-P

Monday Morning Post. Kind of a wandering, pointless junk drawer of incoherent babbling/gossip and such.

All are welcome, but bring beer (for the guys) and chocolate (for moooom)

[FairyChatMom]

I confess I don't know what "MMP" means, or if I'm supposed to be posting in this thread, but:

gardentraveler, the game you played sure sounds like Ticket to Ride, designed by Alan Moon.

-PMMP = Monday Morning Post, so you get a fresh, new thread every week. And of course you're supposed to be posting here! It's just a thread to keep all miscellany and minutiae contained rather than having a gazillion threads cluttering MPSIMS. So welcome. The only rule is that you must send me a love offering of fine chocolates. If you don't, I'll hunt you down and give you The LookTM and I know you don't want that.

Welcome also to Pix, the game fiend! I don't want you to feel ignored. Ya just gotta jump in. Kinda like wandering into the middle of an unstructured gathering of folks noshing and chattering. Don't fret. We're nice, dammit!

I'm waiting for a couple to come over and pick up the 6 lauan doors we removed from out bedrooms/bathrooms/linen closet. Glad to be rid of them without hauling them to the landfill. I'm going to try to palm off a mirrored closet door, too! :D

Jury duty tomorrow. Nothing else of import in my day. I had a splinter in my finger, but I yonked it out. <yawn>

[Ellen Cherry]

Two things: I have no idea what a lauan door is ... and that one could actually knit a dress.

Or want to.

[Mama Tiger]

I stopped by KMart for a couple odds and ends, and then went to the gym. And after only 5 minutes on the elliptical this time (instead of 10 last time), my leg muscles and my bionic knee stopped fussing at me and decided they were stuck so they might as well relax and enjoy it. Well, maybe I shouldn't go quite that far, but at least for a fat, out of shape old person, I'm not a total disgrace on the elliptical. I can even do 2 minutes backwards without misery!

Ah, so that dress is very open lace, Miss Purl. That makes sense. Is there a photo online somewhere of what it is your friend is working on? That sounds really fun to do someday when I'm totally insane. (And I can hear the chorus from the MMP: "Like you're not already?")

But yes, you can knit dresses and skirts and even suits, Ellen. I knew a woman about 20 years my senior who, years ago, knitted herself classic Chanel-like suits using teensy needles -- they were just gorgeous. Looked like she'd paid a couple thousand for them each. I'd never do that, but it's very impressive nevertheless!

Time to go jump in the shower now that I'm cooled down.

[Lissla Lissar]

I refuse to jump up and down. No way. Or do heavy scrubbing.


The cat is totally lacking brain cells. She thinks broken glass is neat, and likes to drop small things in other larger things... there's a progression. It's really bad for your heart to come home and realise the floor looks bumpy because it's covered with pieces of broken glass, and the cat is trotting around happily chewing on it.

She's really stupid.

The other one is dumb and neurotic. Neither are bright, but Aerin (the tabby) sets new lows for feline stupidity.

[anyrose]

well, then, repeat after me:
"Listen up, tinyninjachef. It is time for you to be born, now. C'mon, shake a leg!"

[SpazCat]

<incoherent scream> I went to the dealership where my car was being worked on only to find out a) they only do trade-ins and b) my car's been moved. So I go to their other dealership only to find out my car never arrived. I get the number of the tow truck company and find out that it's sitting on their lot and has been there for the past three weeks. Then I find out that WOWCrack Roommate knew about it and didn't tell me. I'm not confronting him right now because bad things would happen. Now I'm going to be hit with storage fees on top of the money I owe the original dealership for the failed repair attempt. And then I have to get the damn thing to the nearest junkyard and sell it there--if the goddamn car even runs anymore. I think it does, but I haven't driven it in months. And I need to get the plates turned in so I can get it off of my insurance so I can put my Outback on there and get all of my stuff out of the Altima.

This is the last time I let a friend take my car to a dealership and work out a deal with the service department because he works there. THE LAST TIME.

[FairyChatMom]

Ellen, lauan doors (http://images.lowes.com/product/733262/733262342617.jpg) are the standard flat, boring interior doors that go in most homes. They're hollow and faced with a veneer of lauan mahogany. We decided we wanted 6-panel doors, so we replaced all the oldies, and I put an ad on a local site offering the old ones for free. A nice couple just came and got them. Yay! I hated to throw them away, but I had no use for them.

It's still warm outside, so the house is still open, but I'll be closing soon, as it's nearly sunset. It'll start getting rainy and cold tomorrow, but it sure was nice to have 2 days of spring in January.

[Noone Special]

{{{{Spaz}}}} -- Argggggh! That's gotta hurt :(

{{{{ems}}}}... I'm with you on not wanting to get used to things like this. You're a good manager for caring. I hope you still have your job!

Pie -- yay for the extra money. Try and use at least some of it to treat yourself to something nice! :)

MsPurl, I'm sure everything about you is magic... :)

Haze, some people bring out the gentleman inside of me. Sometimes. Granted, he's generally very well hidden... :p

Dotty -- I think your idea comes with a few strings too many attached. Guess we'll have to keep living in sin, Cutie... ;)

Good night, y'all. See you in the morning (is too!)

[Sticks and Scones]

Pie -- yay for the extra money. Try and use at least some of it to treat yourself to something nice!


A plane ticket to Israel? ;)

Well, actually I just spent a whopping $6.93 on one of my favorite albums on iTunes. It's Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues. I love it! It's my driving around Pittsburgh album. Maybe I'll have to take TVMan on a scenic drive this weekend. Hmmm....

Although, the reason that I went to iTunes was to purchase a couple of songs from the soundtrack to Music and Lyrics. But they'll only let you purchase the WHOLE ALBUM. I mean, how dumb is that? :rolleyes:

Oh, and I sort of went for a walk. Or rather, two short walks. I took two of the three instigators out and wandered around the yard for awhile. And when I came back in I realized that I'd left about 3/4 cup of very spicy chili con queso sitting on the end table. Yikes! Well, apparently my pups have a taste for mexican.

{{{Spaz}}} Towing and the like aren't cheap. Sorry to hear, hopefully you'll be able to get some decent money from the junkyard and from your dumbass roommate.

[ems]

Well it's done.

I now have to take the laptops and signed paperwork to personnel.

:(

[taxi78cab]

{{{mmmmms}}}

I was reasonably motivated for a while today, and then it all kind of came to a screeching halt. And now I'm trying to avoid all work until 5pm. Maybe I'll be more motivated tomorrow. I hope.

[Sticks and Scones]

{{{mmmms}}}

Oh, and I forgot to mention...

Guess we'll have to keep living in sin, Cutie...

That's ok. I don't even think that TVMan will mind as long as he gets to watch. :eek: :D

taxi, it's already 5:30 here, so you have MY permission to quit working.

[Mama Tiger]

Okay, there is something very odd with the world when I can sit outside to dry my hair in January, and enjoy it. :dubious:

[eleanorigby]

Go home m & m's, take a nice bubbly bath, and crack open the vodka. If you have a good movie to watch, so much the better....

I am NOT going in tonight. I got a call about 1/2 hour ago (but couldn't post here-stoopit hamsters) to say that they had gotten an ICU bed for my carotid guy. Too bad, because the nurse on call, who would have worked with me is great. We would have had fun.... That, and I'm out several hundred bucks.

Speaking of which, we got the Mastercard bill. Jesus on a cracker eating cheese with Mary and Joseph. :eek: I do not make enough money.




Went for a walk and am trying to decide how to spend my evening. I really feel lost without grad school homework. Of course, that starts next week.

[Sticks and Scones]

Speaking of which, we got the Mastercard bill.

Heh. I counted them up the other day. I have NINE credit cards. Most are nearing maximum limit.

And now you know why I go about crying all the time.

[SpazCat]

{{{Spaz}}} Towing and the like aren't cheap. Sorry to hear, hopefully you'll be able to get some decent money from the junkyard and from your dumbass roommate.

And the lawyer. I talked to my Adopted Dad who used to be a tow truck driver about 15 years ago. The dealership...ah, heck, I'm naming names...Kia should have called me to tell me that the car was being moved to Suzuki before the driver came. I know why they moved it--they have a real small lot at Kia and needed the space. Still, Kia should have notified me of this, not the tow truck driver en route. And the driver's apparently mad at me because I hung up on him when he called me in the first place. Of course I did, I suddenly get a call saying my car's being towed? Of course I'm going to flip out! And of course I'm going to the source of the issue (Kia) rather than the middleman (tow truck driver) to find out what the hell.

I told Adopted Dad everything that had happened and he agreed with me that it sounds like the driver got pissed at me and just hauled my car to his lot so he could make money off it. Because the people at Kia thought the car was at Suzuki all this time. The Suzuki people never saw my car. The tow truck driver called me tonight and was snippy about storage fees. (I think--the guy talks like he has marbles in his mouth). It's time to Release the Law Hounds.

I'm going to ask WOWCrack Roommate what the hell when he gets back from work tonight. He was keeping me up to date on what was going on with my car as he was trying to get it fixed.

[Mama Tiger]

Wow, Spaz, that sounds like a mess. It's definitely time to loose the dogs of war lawyers, methinks! Good luck.

To my amazement, this job I'm working on actually is turning out to be just fascinating. It's a long, long interview -- spanning weeks of actual interview sessions -- with a photographer who has had the most amazingly interesting life. We're only up to age 19 and he's already realized at age 9 that he's an artist who gets his inspiration from nature, at age 11 that he needs to get a camera and become a photographer, at age 16 has found mentors in both photography and piano, and then at 19 avoiding being shipped off to the Korean War when, at midnight before the night they were to board the ship, the announcement was made that the war had just ended! So he got reassigned to a post in San Francisco, where he promptly fell in with a photography mentor who took him to Ansel Adams' house where he met every famous photographer of the 20th Century, I do believe, as well as reporting on Ansel Adams' piano playing -- he was a brilliant musician as well as photographer. He said it was very "mannered." To hear someone almost dissing the master...anyway, it's really keeping me glued to my computer, for a welcome change from people whining about being mistreated by evil bosses, or accountants droning on about LIBOR or restatements, or the far-too-often congressional drivel testimony. It's nice to have something interesting to work on -- I hope the Smithsonian finds the funds to have more of these interviews transcribed! I'm really envious of this guy's fascinating life. Mine seems so dull by comparison. I guess when you've got true greatness in you, it can't help but reveal itself. And in his case, apparently lady luck was also a good friend, to have things work out the way they did!

Anyway, enough rambling on about it. But it really is just a compelling tale he has to tell. We should all be so lucky!

[eleanorigby]

MT, your post reminds me of an old Thurber piece where he wrote about the differences between his childhood (rural Ohio) and Salvador Dali's.... Very funny.


I always wanted an interesting life, but instead I got suburbia. Not enough safaris or ashrams in my misspent youth, I guess.

Am off to watch bad TV and do worse knitting.

[VunderBob]

The cat is totally lacking brain cells. She thinks broken glass is neat, and likes to drop small things in other larger things... there's a progression. It's really bad for your heart to come home and realise the floor looks bumpy because it's covered with pieces of broken glass, and the cat is trotting around happily chewing on it.

She's really stupid.


I hate to break it to you, but you've described every single cat that's ever existed.

[Most Creative User Name Ever]

CutiePie, I *LOVE* Music & Lyrics!!! It's the first time in FOREVER that I found a movie that I LOVE and that I bought the movie and the soundtrack too. I've watched that movie 3 times since the middle of December. Then my husband insisted I get the HD version of the movie as well. What songs did you want? I might be able to help you out. My email address is in my profile. :)

[swampbear]

Howdy Y'all! Long day but I did take ol' y 'all know who out for his bday supper. He et himself into a very happy pasta stupor. So did I. Matter of fact even with the stupors we both have pasta to take for N.O.L. tomorrow. No other celebratory stuff tonight. We'll save that up for the weekend. ;)

{{{MMMMMMMM}}} I've been on both ends of wht you've had to do. It ain't fun either way. Good for you for sayin' you hope you always feel bad when you have to do layoffs. That's the sign of a really good manager. Relax. Unwind. You deserve it.

Everybody else, howdy's, yays, boos, hugs, congrats, etc.

C'mon tinyninjachef! All your MMP Aunts and Uncles want to see our new baby!

[Taters]

Hoo boy, have I been sick! I spent all day in bed yesterday alternately literally shaking the bed with my shivering, or with sweat pouring out of my pores. Add nausea, headache and achiness clear down to the center of my bones and you get just a bit of what I felt like.

I tried to catch up, but mainly I wanted to see if Li-Li had popped. Jeebus girl! Time to run up and down some stairs or something!

I need to start dinner, even though I still feel like crap. However, I haven't had to deal with dinner for the last two nights, so I need to cook something tonight.

Appropriate yays, boos, and hugs where needed. I need to get dinner going.

[Miss Purl McKnittington]

Ah, so that dress is very open lace, Miss Purl. That makes sense. Is there a photo online somewhere of what it is your friend is working on? That sounds really fun to do someday when I'm totally insane. (And I can hear the chorus from the MMP: "Like you're not already?")

Voila (http://tidenstoej.natmus.dk/periode1/dragt.asp?ID=80). I think the knitting time will be comparable to a very large shawl. I need to write to the museum for more information before I start mine, because I'm anal like that, but the gauge is fairly large on it, and the yarn is on the heavy side of lace weight. If the Blackberry Ridge lace weight is close to sport or fingering, then I totally understand why my friend chose it.

MsPurl, I'm sure everything about you is magic...

Yes. In fact, The Police wrote a song about me. I wasn't even born yet, but Sting knew. He knew. And for that, he will always be Gordon to me.

[gardentraveler]

Dearest tinyninjachef,

The time has come to discuss the importance of punctuality. You are due today and have thousands of Internet aunts and uncles just waiting to welcome you. It is not nice to keep people waiting (although we understand that there are some people in the world who are genetically incapable of being on time - IIRC your Aunt QD is one of them - they generally have an oversupply of qualities that compensate for this deficiency). Nonetheless, we believe it's never too early to get into good habits. So, if you would please join us out in this lovely wide world, we'd greatly appreciate it. You'll know we appreciate it by the squeeees heard round the world when we see your pictures.

Your affectionate cyber-aunt,

GT

[kaiwik]

Thanks all for the support regarding the plane crash, it really hit me, and the rest of the community quite hard. The services (two) will be emotional, but this is not an uncommon event, between planes and boats.

Wile E I understand not having enough of the old to mix with the new, it happened to me once and made my mind up to never do that again! I ran out of dog food once on a Sunday and had to get a small bag of grocery store kibble...OMG!!! I fed Neutro fo a long time, and have a female who needs to lose weight, so I put her on the Neutro Light...OMG again! I have four cats, and they have always been on Neutro, and more recently on Wellness, and they don't have hairball trouble, and they coats are so glossy, I really like this brand. Does your dog's diet food have corn in it? I find that contributes a lot to a gas problem. The Wellness uses brown rice, and that seems to have solved that problem. (I have a pudgy pup too!) As far as the olives, I have some poms who will eat pretty much anything. The olives were a really bad idea, but I realized too late to do anything but open the windows!

Here you go li-li, it's a sunny day and the temp has climbed to a whopping 21 F, and the wind is coming from the NW, so hopefully it will push some of the cold back your way. Give your belly a pat for me and tell tinyninjachef that anytime would be just fine to make his appearance, so many people are anxiously awaiting his arrival and to see his little face!

Gus is adorable Miss Purl, he looks like a cross between my big white short hair cat, and my big fluffy grey and white cat. I had a kitty photo shoot yesterday (okay, poms too) and I'll post a couple of those later. My grey and white is part of a three stay kitten litter, and I took all three of them. Two of them are sleek and short haired and carried their tails straight up, but the grey and white is huge and fluffy and carries his tail slung low and he has a big ruff, I don't think they had the same daddy, I think his was a Maine Coon.

I meant to comment on the hat/scarf/mitten set Mama Tigs, they are beautiful, and, btw, my color too! snowbunny looks adorable in them also, and they do match her coat!

Oh, and the mama/yoga/snacking baby video was adorable. I hadn't seen it before, but I saw it coming as soon as I saw the little crawler in the hallway! Although I don't do yoga, I am able to relate!

Aw mmmmmms, I am sorry you are in that position, it would be a very difficult thing for me to do. I hope that you yourself stay employed. (((ems)))

pie Bubba's pic is tiny, but he's cute. Is he a schnauzer? Or a kind of terrier? Oh, and Days of Future Past was my first Moody Blues album, I think it was in 1973! I have it on my ipod too!

(((Spazz))) Auto repairs suck to begin with, but I should think that you should not be charged, or at least not much, for the storage fee, since you didn't know it was there. Upon further reading, I concur with siccing the lawyers on the tow guy.

Sorry you've been sick Taters, feel better soon!

And a very Happy Birthday to ACBG! My son is 15 today, and is up at Wal-Mart spending his birthday money. He always wants video games, and I cannot (or maybe I refuse to) remember what games he has for which console. He likes to wait for the new games to get shuffled off to the not new anymore $19.82 dollar rack, he's no dummy!

Well it's time to finish up the deer stew and make biscuits. There is cake and ice cream for later. Yum!

[gardentraveler]

So, I've made it through today's posts. Is it just me, or are we being exceptionally chatty?

Sorry about your day, mmmmmms. It sounds like you handled it the best you could. You remembered that your actions were affecting real lives, and that's the most important thing.

Welcome, Parthol! And thanks for the answer; that's exactly the game we played. Lots of fun.

I love all the knitting discussion. (Those are extremely cool projects, Miss Purl.) Faraway Best Friend has been into knitting as long as I've known her (24 years, almost :eek: ). We went to her local knitting shop Friday morning - it's so pretty there. They have a wall of cubby holes filled with yarns. It always looks like an abstract, textured mural to me. If I didn't already have too many things to do, I'd go back and learn to knit properly. Maybe when I retire.

Y, gracias por el link a los cryptogramas.... How much Spanish have you taken? I went out looking for crossword puzzle sites and found this (http://www.elmundo.es/pasatiempos/crucigramas/). I was able to do some of the first easy one, but I really need to work on my vocabulary to be able to do a decent job.

Hope you feel better soon, Taters.

I really like Music & Lyrics as well. I forget when I bought it, but I've watched it a bunch of times - I'm a compulsive re-watcher....

Hi bbs2k!

Well, need to get moving here....

Hugs to all that I missed.

GT

[Sticks and Scones]

kai, Bubba (http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s103/purplkid/bub2.jpg) is a schnoodle, 1/2 schnauzer, 1/2 poodle. He's my baby!

Tomorrow is our first anniversary so I've written a schmaltzy little blurb about it to TVMan. I'll post it in the morning. (Somehow I feel that he should be the first to read it.) :D

It's past my bedtime. Goodnight!

[Lissla Lissar]

I have read your nicely reasoned argument aloud to the baby, gt. We'll see if it has any effect.

[eleanorigby]

I have nothing to say. Am waiting for A Daily Show to come on. Watched House on Fox and watched my thread on House sink like a stone in CS. No, I'm not bitter. My Harry Potter thread also sank quickly, but not as quickly as this one did. Sure, I know it's not personal. Like hell.



<pouts in corner>


I really want Hershey Kisses, but am refraining. I watched a gross show earlier today--BBC America's You Are What You Eat. Gah. Gross out city.

[anyrose]

I have read your nicely reasoned argument aloud to the baby, gt. We'll see if it has any effect.
I was going to say "hmmm it's been about 6 hours since we last heard from Li-Li..." but I guess TNC is still all cozy inside, huh. Maybe if we start a pool? I say this Thursday between 1:00am and 4:00am GMT-5.

eta: and if I have to get specific? 3:14am GMT-5.

[HazelNutCoffee]

Good to hear OCC is still doing well.

I wonder what the chances are that anyone there remembers "The AVenger" from a couple decades ago. I was just poking around OCC's website, and bumbled across what they're calling "Instructional Media Services" - the A-V department's grown up I guess.

Oooh, you used to work at OCC? Neat. Yeah, they told us all about the IMS today at orientation. I have to say, compared to many school around here OCC has amazing resources at hand.

Am exhausted from pointless orientation. :: flops on sofa ::

[gardentraveler]

For some reason that defies all time zones I've been in recently, I'm still awake. I think my first cup of tea this morning had caffeine in it, but I'm hoping that's not what's keeping me so awake....

It appears that tinyninjachef is now officially late. It's 12:05 on the 9th. Tsk. Tsk.

Off to try to sleep.

Sweet dreams all....well all who should be asleep at the current hour, anyway.

GT

[Mama Tiger]

That dress is gorgeous, Miss Purl -- the pattern looks surprisingly easy, too; it's just the shaping that might be a bit tricky. And you're right, it does look more like knitting a large shawl than a solid dress. It's still a big job, though!

If you think BBC America's You Are What You Eat is gross, Rigs, you probably don't want to watch How Clean Is Your House? That one is just plain scary, especially the kitchens. Eww!

Happy first anniversary, Pie and TVMan!

I really should stop goofing off and get something constructive done before I go to bed. I fear it may be too late for that, however, considering that I've just spent most the evening watching funny YouTube videos. Even with an interesting job, a complete lack of ambition can be a killer. Oh well, there's always tomorrow! [/Scarlett O'Hara]

[HazelNutCoffee]

Where is everyone tonight?

I should get my ass off the sofa, wash my face, and get to bed, but I feel randomly melancholy tonight. Nothing in particular, just my usual self-inflicted reasons. And speaking of which, That Guy was so antsy during orientation today I wanted to slap him. It WAS incredibly boring and mostly pointless, but we're paid to sit there and listen, for crying out loud. Sometimes he acts like he's thirteen. But most guys I know are the same way, with varying degrees of frequency, I suppose.

[Taters]

ems, extra big hugs to you. How awful to be in your situation, as well as your employees' situation. It's good that you care though, that makes you one of the good guys.

Nothing big going on around here. Still sick, nose and the area below my nose feel totally raw, my eyes are just pouring water, and sneezing and coughing at the same time hurts. This morning I was coughing so hard I strained a muscle on the left side of my abdomen. That really hurt. I know...whine, whine, whine. I'll stop now.

I guess I've got nothing to add. I'm so damn tired, but I can't sleep. Sigh...

[anyrose]

it's 1:13am and I am not the least bit sleepy. What's up with that?

[Heffalump and Roo]

Sometimes he acts like he's thirteen. But most guys I know are the same way, with varying degrees of frequency, I suppose.
You mean, there are some guys you know that don't act like that?! Where?? ;)

it's 1:13am and I am not the least bit sleepy. What's up with that?
You want to join the night crew, but you don't want to admit it. . . out loud. But your body knows. :p

Welcome to night shift! :D

Now where's Lunch?

[Noone Special]

Yes. In fact, The Police wrote a song about me. I wasn't even born yet, but Sting knew. He knew. And for that, he will always be Gordon to me.Nice catch, Pearl! :) Oh, and I guess it dates me... I most certainly was around when he wrote the song! :eek:

Speaking of police....
Spaz -- Years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I didn't find my car in the morning :eek:
Went and reported the theft to the police, who checked the registry of towed vehicles for the past 24 hours (this is important!) and said, yup, it's been stolen, here's your temporary notification for the insurance company, yadda yadda.
A week later, I get an irate call from the City's towing lot, "so, you want your car or not?" :eek:
Anyway, went down there, found the car, paid the parking ticket (still don't know why they towed me, it wasn't egregious, in fact I was simply parked slightly too close to (not nearly *on*!) a crosswalk). Paid the towing fee. Then they told me I need to pay for a week of storage. At which point I flipped, pointed out that they had neglected to notify police of the towing and my car was reported as stolen, and did they want me to leave the POS there to clutter their lot and go back to the police and tell them I found out who stole my car?

They waived the storage fee....

Although I was sooooo looking forward to getting full "blue-book" price on the POS from the insurance (yes, I had coverage for some Og-unknown reason).... :( :rolleyes:

So, anyway... different times, different place, but... don't just let them sock you. Good luck with your fight -- you're right, and don't let them get away with it!

Haze, I do not act like I'm 13! Well, at least not except for those rare moment when I feel like acting all mature and stuff... :D

LiLi, it is now well into 9/1/2008. Please tell your child that starting life by being late for an important appointment just won't cut it!

Roo, it's 10 PM and you're thinking about lunch? I think it's your internal clock that's out of skew....

ems, sending soothing thoughts your way, I know the day must have been murder for you. Here's to a much better rest of the year (raises glass) -- bottoms up!

Pie -- Hi. Just because :)

[The Blue-Sighted Shadow]

Drive by. Back at work, tired, but in a good way. There is a dumpster in the living room. Yays and boos (or booze) as appropriate. Will post tomorrow, after pronouns found.

[Heffalump and Roo]

Roo, it's 10 PM and you're thinking about lunch? I think it's your internal clock that's out of skew....
Sweetie, I think about Lunch day and night. Yum! ;)

[Noone Special]

Sweetie, I think about Lunch day and night. Yum! ;)
It's those nighttime thoughts of lunch that get me wondering... are you pregnant?

Or in other words... eat me! :p

Disclaimer: You may experience sudden corporal growth or shrinkage following ingestion, regardless of whether or not you know who Lewis Carroll was.

[Dottygumdrop]

Morning all. Drive-by from the office! Wish I wasn't here! :D Glad tomorrow is another public holiday!!!

[Dottygumdrop]

Drat - missed the edit window.

Lunch, wouldn't you be the one experiencing corporeal growth and shrinkage if she eats you? ;)




d&r

[Noone Special]

Drat - missed the edit window.

Lunch, wouldn't you be the one experiencing corporeal growth and shrinkage if she eats you? ;)




d&r
Hook, line, sinker... :p :D

[Heffalump and Roo]

It's those nighttime thoughts of lunch that get me wondering... are you pregnant?
Or just having pregnant pauses . . . considering. . .

Or in other words... eat me! :p
What's on the menu for Lunch? Hot dog in a bun? Spaghetti and meatballs? :p

[Sticks and Scones]

Whoah. Looks like I've been missing out on some of the fun. Glad I got here just in time.

As usual, awake early and getting ready to start the day. Actually, there's not much to it today because I'm going to just throw on some clothes and run to Curves before work. Then after my delivery, I'll come home and get cleaned up to head out to TVLand.

It's very windy here today.

[bbs2k]

Close your windows.

[Sticks and Scones]

Close your windows.

Why?

[FairyChatMom]

Now I know what kept waking me up all night - you noisy night-shift folkses! We were lights out shortly after 9, and I woke up around midnight, certain I saw either flames or the TV splashing moving light on the door frame - but it was apparently my imagination. After that, it was in and out of sleep till 4:45. I considered going back to sleep after FCD left for work, but that didn't happen. <sigh>

So, critters have been tended to, dishwasher is washing, cat box is clean, and I'm caffeinating. Today is Jury Duty day - I'll be leaving in about 2.5 hours to do my civic duty. Hope I'm awake by then... <yawn>

That's all - more later when I wake up. If I wake up.

[swampbear]

Good Mornin' Y'all! Caffienation in progress here. Looks like it might be a warm and rainy day too.

I'm sure ol' y'all know who will appreciate all the bday wishes when I tell him today.

All you sickies, etc feel better.

I'm guessin' still no tnc.

I want to know why there's a dumpster in Shadow's living room.

[FairyChatMom]

Because if there was a dumpster in Shadow's bedroom, there'd be no space for a bed!

Silly bear... :p

[tarragon918]

Morning all, up and caffeinating here. Just about to leave for work, too! {{{{{{mmmms}}}}}}, sorry that you're in that position. :(

I've thought of more games we used to play: Life, Stratego (my brothers used to whip me at that one!), and card games like Hearts.

Happy hump day, all...Firday is just two days away, fortunately. :)

[gardentraveler]

Because if there was a dumpster in Shadow's bedroom, there'd be no space for a bed!:D

Shadow's de-cluttering, swampy.

C'mon tnc!!!! (Please remember to show him threads talking about him when he's, say, 16 or so.)

What, can't sleep for all the noise, beebs?

I slept the whole night through! Yay! Breakfast in progress.

Is it Friday yet?

GT

[anyrose]

LiLi, it is now well into 9/1/2008. What??? :eek: It's September already? I slept for eight months? (damned European date notation . . .)


No, really. Let's have a pool for when TNC arrives. Every other time there was a baby pool, (in cases when it started near or past the due date) the baby was born quickly just to spite those who picked dates more than a week away. I am serious. It's like a magic charm.

[FairyChatMom]

I'm all showered and dressed and eating an egg-n-cheese sammich for breakfast. I need to leave in about 90 minutes - hope we have some interesting cases today. Last time, it was mostly boring drug-dealing stuff.

After we're done, I need to get a bag of doggie kibble, and I'm hoping WalMart has a decent supply of the flavored waters. Lately, they've only been carrying 2 of the flavors I like, and I'm starting to get tired of them. I may resort to plain water - that'll show 'em! :p

More plans for the afternoon include at least one load of jeans in the wash. Oh yes, envy my jet-setting lifestyle.

Speaking of kitties - have any of you had a cat who, for no apparent reason, seems to hardly eat? Miss Brandy will eat her wet food (she doesn't get much - about 1/4 of a can each evening) but she hardly touches her kibble. In the past, she'd snarf down about 3/4 cup in a day, but I haven't had to refill her dish in a week. I'm thinking of dumping it - maybe it's getting stale?? She doesn't act sick, she's drinking water, she's as active as ever (which is to say not much - she's a cat - she snoozes, sleeps, naps, dozes, and occasionally curls up for a little rest.) Since she's not acting "off" I'm not inclined to take her to the vet. I wonder if she heard us talking about how she was getting a bit tubby?? Maybe we hurt her feelings? :dubious:

[Sticks and Scones]

No, really. Let's have a pool for when TNC arrives. Every other time there was a baby pool, (in cases when it started near or past the due date) the baby was born quickly just to spite those who picked dates more than a week away. I am serious. It's like a magic charm.

Ok, January 12, 2008 4:53 p.m.

Well, I'm back for a short while whilst I consume breakfast. Whoever said that it was a good idea to workout in the morning must be a habitual crack user.

[FairyChatMom]

OK, rosie, I'll play. I pick 1/11 at 11:11 AM Eastern time. And he'll be 6#11oz. (I certainly wouldn't wish an 11# baby on LiLi!)

[Dolores Reborn]

Hi all!

Ok - my guess for the tnc pool is 10 Jan 08:17 pm CST. (I can't do all that GMT-5 stuff!)

Busy busy here at work - but I'm trying to keep up with you chatty Cathys... Hugs and chocolate as required, with kisses on the side!

[Sticks and Scones]

Oops, yeah, mine is 4:53 p.m. EST.

[Dolores Reborn]

Oops, yeah, mine is 4:53 p.m. EST.

What date?

[Sticks and Scones]

What date?

Sorry, January 12, 2008 4:53 p.m. EST. I had posted it all upthread, but forgot to add the EST part.

[anyrose]

Rebo - Just look at the bottom of this page, just above the thick blue stripe that separates the forum from all the copyright information. CST would be GMT-6

I will keep a list of the pool guesses. We'll only do date and time. And I will state all times in EST which is GMT-5. So far, it's
me - 1/10/08 3:14am
Pie - 1/12/08 4:53pm
FCM - 1/11/08 11:11 am
Rebo - 1/10/08 9:17pm

[VunderBob]

No, really. Let's have a pool for when TNC arrives. Every other time there was a baby pool, (in cases when it started near or past the due date) the baby was born quickly just to spite those who picked dates more than a week away. I am serious. It's like a magic charm.
Did someone say Baby Pool? Put me down for 0500 this Firday.




If my luck with this goes like mine in the Death Pool, TNC ain't gonna be born until July...


Swamp(ex)Beer, how's the insurance gig going?

[Dolores Reborn]

Rebo - Just look at the bottom of this page, just above the thick blue stripe that separates the forum from all the copyright information. CST would be GMT-6



:smack:

Thanks for the bookkeeping!

[Most Creative User Name Ever]

I'm going to chose January 12 7:02 a.m. EST.

[Noone Special]

TNC Pool: Jan 11, 5:23 AM whatever Local Time LiLi is keeping.... (yeah, I know, EST)

[ScareyFaerie]

TNC Pool: 11th Jan at 11.45am. That'll be GMT, of course. I'm English, dammit!

[Wallflower]

TNC pool: Jan 10, 1:45 AM EST If I remember rightly, there is an appointment that day.

[Man With a Cat]

TNC pool: January 10 - 1:34 AM CST


In violation of all wisdom, I am starting what will be roughly a 14 hour workday with a breakfast of Cheetos and Diet Dr. Pepper. Stop looking at me like that.

[anyrose]

All times listed as EST, which is GMT-5:
me - 1/10/08 3:14 am
Pie - 1/12/08 4:53 pm
FCM - 1/11/08 11:11 am
Rebo - 1/10/08 9:17 pm
VBob - 1/11/08 5:00 am
McUne - 1/12/08 7:02 am
Achod - 1/11/08 5:23 am
BooFae (who just has to make my life difficult) - 1/11/08 6:45 am
Wally - 1/10/08 1:45 am
MBG - 1/10/08 2:34 am

[eleanorigby]

I think there's a dumpster in Shadow'sLR because LiLi is having a baby. Note we have NOT heard from her this morning. She's going to have the baby on #1 son's Bday--TODAY! I talked to tnc and it's all arranged.



I will post pics of my wild hair (no pincurls involved) later. I think I need a haircut.



I have to make a cake today, buy some mozarella cheese for #1 son's fav dinner, and go with him to rent an electric guitar, and buy the crap that goes with and electric guitar (straps are $50? As if!).

Nice, sun shiny day outside. Cooler, with a frost last night.

Official baby pool (unless he comes today, in which case, my post stands): Jan 10 at 10pm, Canadian time.

[anyrose]

I think there's a dumpster in Shadow'sLR because LiLi is having a baby. Note we have NOT heard from her this morning. She's going to have the baby on #1 son's Bday--TODAY! I talked to tnc and it's all arranged.
Official baby pool (unless he comes today, in which case, my post stands): Jan 10 at 10pm, Canadian time.
Um, Canada has more than one time zone, rigsy.

[Noone Special]

All times listed as EST, which is GMT-5:
me - 1/10/08 3:14 am
Pie - 1/12/08 4:53 pm
FCM - 1/11/08 11:11 am
Rebo - 1/10/08 9:17 pm
VBob - 1/11/08 5:00 am
McUne - 1/12/08 7:02 am
Achod - 1/11/08 5:23 am
BooFae (who just has to make my life difficult) - 1/11/08 6:45 am
Wally - 1/10/08 1:45 am
MBG - 1/10/08 2:34 amI bet on November 1? :confused:

:p

[Mama Tiger]

TNC pool: 1/13 at 0345. (Hey, both my babies were born at seriously inconvenient hours!)

The Idiots got me up early today, barking their fool heads off. Probably because it's insanely warm outside -- currently 67° and apparently getting warmer since it was 66° half an hour ago -- and they saw an Evil Attack Squirrel that needed chasing or something. I have no idea. But I really, really hated being pulled out of my warm bed -- apparently the weather is starting to change (it's supposed to start cooling off rather dramatically in a couple hours), and my knee ached all night as a result. Stoopid knee. :( I was hoping that I wouldn't get all that "I'm feeling a weather change in my bones" thing with it after it got bionicized, but apparently it's worse than ever. :( So I had a very, VERY restless night. It finally settled down at about 7:00 this morning and stopped hurting, only to have the Idiots go off barely an hour later. So they are definitely on my List this morning. :(

ANyway, off to caffeinate some more and contemplate the day.

[dogbutler]

I'll take today, 5:00 EST.

[Sticks and Scones]

All times listed as EST, which is GMT-5:
me - 1/10/08 3:14 am
Pie - 1/12/08 4:53 pm
FCM - 1/11/08 11:11 am
Rebo - 1/10/08 9:17 pm
VBob - 1/11/08 5:00 am
McUne - 1/12/08 7:02 am
Achod - 1/11/08 5:23 am
BooFae (who just has to make my life difficult) - 1/11/08 6:45 am
Wally - 1/10/08 1:45 am
MBG - 1/10/08 2:34 am

Achod? That's a new one. Whatever does it mean? A chocolate herring of dirt?

rigs, how can a guitar strap cost that much? When I bought one it was significantly less. As a matter of fact, there's a music store right next door to my shop and they sell them for $5! Heck, I could mail you one and you'd still come out ahead. If you want me to, let me know.

All the food is happily cooking. I'm just biding my time for another few minutes before I begin packing for my delivery.


ETA: Bold move, DB!

[The Blue-Sighted Shadow]

gt's right, swampy, I'm de-cluttering. The dumpster is 7/8 full, and I'm going to see how much more I can cram in. They're going to drop off another when they pick this one up later this week. I hope that two is enough. The leaders of my OCD group are pleased with the progress I'm making. I am, too, actually.

Once the absolute crap is gone, the rest will be boxed up for charity. I got a flyer in the mail yesterday for a local charity, HOPE Services, that will be coming through the neighborhood at the end of the month. All I have to do is box everything up on the appointed day and put out on the curb for them to pick up. They'll take the clothes and other housewares. Once that's gone, Goodwill can come and get my mom's dead, abusive ex-boyfriend's furniture. Since every time I look at it, I think of him, it's long past time to get rid of it. Besides that, it's ugly.

In the meantime, I'm considering what I want the house to look like afterwards. Drapes? Curtains? New blinds? Couch or loveseat? Currently, the only seating in the house is my computer chair, so chairs for the kitchen table would be a good start. I just have to get all the junk out of the kitchen first. I am keeping the kitchen table. It belonged to my great-grandmother and it's very pretty.

tnc pool: January 13 at 6:05 pm EST.

[eleanorigby]

I have no idea where LiLi lives in Canuckland, so choose one! Let's say CST. (central time, not Canadian time.... besides I have it on good authority that Canada is just one big country). :p


Here is my hair today, taken just minutes ago. I gave this hair to #1 son as part of my genetic legacy. On him, budding axe man that he is, it looks great. Me? Not so much.

MyHair (http://www.flickr.com/photos/19350879@N07/2180042105/)

LoveIt? (http://www.flickr.com/photos/19350879@N07/2180041697/)

Maybe.... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/19350879@N07/2180830570/)

Flashdance lives! (http://www.flickr.com/photos/19350879@N07/2180829920/)


Thoughts? Should I shave my head? cut it all off? Grow it like Rapunzel and eat granola? Die it pink? What? I need to do Something.

[Noone Special]

Achod? That's a new one. Whatever does it mean? A chocolate herring of dirt?[B]"One", in Hebrew :)

[Lissla Lissar]

Not yet, guys. Calm down. Although I did have a whole bunch of contractions around two this morning. Unfortunately they petered out.

So today I'm going to do some baking and some slow, unenthusiastic tidying. No heavy scrubbing, and no gin. :D And pack my bag of freezer food to take to the hospital.



I will update you if I'm actually going into labour! I will not leave for the hospital without letting you know!

[Tupug Anachi]

Okay, I'll play the TNC game...1/14 at 1:14 a.m. :D

swampy, did you see my birfday song to ACBG?? And I sang in my best off-key voice, too. :(

Stoopit pug dawg got me out of bed at 4:20 ayem! :mad: That was after she laid there for 20 minutes giving me a nudge every five. :mad: Why, may you ask? Did she need to go out? Noooooooooooooo! She was hungry. :p Stoopit dawg.

Today is department staff meeting. So I will probably be sitting in an overheated room with too many people breathing my oxygen and trying not to fall asleep. Oh and it's a lunch meeting, too, so it will be a long day. :rolleyes:

I have used my quota of smilies for this post.

Tupug

[eleanorigby]

I will update you if I'm actually going into labour! I will not leave for the hospital without letting you know!



I am of two minds about this:

1. Sure you will-as if your water suddenly breaking will not take precedence over your little internest friends....

AND


2. a strange visual in my head of LiLi typing madly away, yelling at her hubby and the cats--"wait, wait, I can't leave yet! the board is down and I. Must. Post.!"


Hee.

[Sticks and Scones]

Thoughts? Should I shave my head? cut it all off? Grow it like Rapunzel and eat granola? Die it pink? What? I need to do Something.

I can't believe you're making me do this. And I hope that you realize that these 'hat hair' pictures were taken just for color effect.

So, anyways, I vote, dye it purple (http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s103/purplkid/Jamie1001.jpg), pink, and blue (http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s103/purplkid/Jamie1002-1.jpg).

I like your hair rigs. It just seems to need to be tamed down a bit, maybe.

Note: In the 2nd picture I totally look like my mom.

[VunderBob]

Let me try this again. I was mid-post when my bosses walked into the VunderCube...

As part of my morning ritual, I cruise by the Wikipedia home page to see what they have up. In the Random Article section, this item (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_emigration_to_the_United_States) on Swedish Emigration to the US is featured. It's the story of my mother's family, who came here just over 100 years ago. Given that my grandmother was born on the boat during passage, that makes me just 2 generations down from the events...

Kinda cool in general, waaaay cool for me.

[VunderBob]

Your hair is fine, and your butt isn't too fat.

::looks at Rigs:: ::wolf whistles::

[dogbutler]

Not yet, guys. Calm down. Although I did have a whole bunch of contractions around two this morning. Unfortunately they petered out.

So today I'm going to do some baking and some slow, unenthusiastic tidying. No heavy scrubbing, and no gin. :D And pack my bag of freezer food to take to the hospital.



I will update you if I'm actually going into labour! I will not leave for the hospital without letting you know!

Chug the gin, woman, my prediction expires in 7 hours! :D

I have the morning off. I awokw to a certain beagle snapping a rubber glove in the bathroom. My finger looks much less hideous without all the blood. Three more days, and I get the weekend off. Is is Firday, yet?

rigs, don't shave it, you look too cute!

Happy (belated( birhtday to ACBG and kaiwikson!!

[eleanorigby]

you can't see my butt, so what exactly are you saying? Are you saying that you think my butt IS too big? That it doesn't look too big in these pants, but that is does in other pants? You bastard!

<goes off weeping>



why does doggio have a bloody finger? No one tells me anything around here!

Pie--I was kidding about the dye. Only half kidding about the shaving it off. I am antsy about it, which tells me to Leave It Alone--Bad Things happen to me when I am impulsive re my hair.....

But thanks, all for the nice comments. <off to walk off my fat butt.....> :(

[HazelNutCoffee]

You just need some taming spray stuff, rigs. And to smile more. :p

Have classes AND another meeting today in Des Plaines. It's a department meeting, so I can no longer exploit That Guy and his car, since he's philosophy and I'm English. Ah well. May as well familiarize myself with using public transit to get there, since that's what I'm going to be using from now on.

[Noone Special]

Rigs, is that guy* upsetting you?
I've seen a full-body picture of you. You have a perfectly tasty-looking mid-riff :)
Feeling better now?

Oh, and I agree with Haze -- if you were smiling those pictures you posted would be yummy.

*VBob, of course.

[anyrose]

All times listed as EST, which is GMT-5:
me - 1/10/08 3:14 am
Pie - 1/12/08 4:53 pm
FCM - 1/11/08 11:11 am
Rebo - 1/10/08 9:17 pm
VBob - 1/11/08 5:00 am
McUne - 1/12/08 7:02 am
Achod - 1/11/08 5:23 am
BooFae - 1/11/08 6:45 am
Wally - 1/10/08 1:45 am
MBG - 1/10/08 2:34 am
MamaT - 1/13/08 3:45 am
db - 1/9/08 5:00 pm
Shadow - 1/13/08 6:05 pm
rigs - 1/10/08 11:00 pm
pugs - 1/14/08 1:14 am

"One", in Hebrew :)Therefore a special "one". :D

I should mention, rigs, that I'll have to look at your pics (and any other pics) later. Work access is sporadic at best, and pics eithr take forever to load or come up with the little red x inthe corner.

[dogbutler]

I slammed my finger in the safe door tonight. :eek:

This is why my finger was bloody, rigs.

[Sean Factotum]

Well, actually I just spent a whopping $6.93 on one of my favorite albums on iTunes. It's Days of Future Passed by The Moody Blues. I love it! It's my driving around Pittsburgh album. Maybe I'll have to take TVMan on a scenic drive this weekend. Music to listen to while driving around Pittsburgh:
Iron City Houserockers or Joe Grushecky solo stuff
Donnie Iris (first or second albums only - Back On The Streets and King Cool
Led Zepplin (other than In Through The Out Door)

[Lissla Lissar]

Well, since I'm probably doing early labour at home (unless something goes wrong), and first babies tend to long labours, I'll probably have quite a bit of time to let all my internet friends know. I would get QD to post it, but she'll either be driving madly back from Kitchener or at the hospital with me.


rigs, I think you're very pretty. Don't shave your head.

[Sean Factotum]

I have no idea where LiLi lives in Canuckland, so choose one! Let's say CST. (central time, not Canadian time.... besides I have it on good authority that Canada is just one big country). Toronto.

my tnc pool entry:
Thursday January 10, 6 a.m. EST
1/10/08 6:00 a.m. EST

[HazelNutCoffee]

I wish I had the guts to shave all my hair off. My friends tell me it might even suit me :dubious: and it's certainly a big temptation in the summertime, but I know I would regret doing it eventually. And it takes so goddamn long to grow out.

[VunderBob]

Rigs, is that guy* upsetting you?
I've seen a full-body picture of you. You have a perfectly tasty-looking mid-riff :)
Feeling better now?

Oh, and I agree with Haze -- if you were smiling those pictures you posted would be yummy.

*VBob, of course.
Of course, she's totally ignoring the fact that I wolf whistled at her. :rolleyes: Can't let a solid fact stand in the way of a good recreational outrage.

[Noone Special]

Of course, she's totally ignoring the fact that I wolf whistled at her. :rolleyes: Can't let a solid fact stand in the way of a good recreational outrage.
She couldn't hear you... I was whistling louder :p