# A Lake Effect MMP **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Tags:** mmp\ **Created:** [February 11, 2008, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142 "2008-02-11T11:45:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![taxi78cab](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47c2d/32.png) [@taxi78cab](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taxi78cab)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/341 "2008-02-14T15:09:19Z")
Happy Birthday, Mr. Lissar! And Happy Valentine’s Day to those who’re celebrating. We’re just going to spend a quiet, romantic evening at home. We’ve got some lamb marinating now that KeithT will grill later, and we’re going to experiment with roasting thing slices of sweet potatoes with garlic and then putting some goat cheese on the top. We’re thinking it’ll taste sort of like squash ravioli. I’ll let you know how it turns out. And there’ll be sauteed broccolini on the side and chocolate mousse for dessert. We know how to have a nice Valentine’s day dinner! 😃 Plus, I’m wearing actual stockings with garters under a skirt today. I think KeithT may like that even better for dessert than the chocolate mousse. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/342 "2008-02-14T16:08:44Z")
[QUOTE=taxi78cab] Happy Birthday, Mr. Lissar! And Happy Valentine’s Day to those who’re celebrating. We’re just going to spend a quiet, romantic evening at home. [/QUOTE] OK, do I get to laugh at that? ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/343 "2008-02-14T16:19:09Z")
[QUOTE=taxi] And Happy Valentine’s Day to those who’re celebrating [/QUOTE] :eek: who you callin’ “ho”, _beeyotch_? :D:D:D ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/344 "2008-02-14T16:23:06Z")
Oh, I _love_ old housekeeping books and magazines. There’s a bit in _Anne’s House of Dreams_, where it talks about the clothes she makes for her first baby, and it says, “Not desecrated by any machine sewing”, or something like that. Not desecrated? What I look for now is snaps and zippers. (Apologies to Douglas Adams) I teleported home last night With john and Sid and Meg. John stole Peggy’s heart away And I got Sidney’s leg. Happy Valentine’s Day. I notice that no Cleaning Elves have been here while Nat and I slept. I have to read the damn carseat instruction manual (I hate instruction manuals) and my other big project is to change the sheets. May not happen before Mr. Lissar gets home. Can’t change sheet with the kid in a sling. Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/345 "2008-02-14T16:55:34Z")
[QUOTE=swampy] And now for my traditional Valentine’s Day greeting: [/QUOTE] You can keep the heart. I’m holding out for the good parts. What? Get your heads out of the gutter. Which parts did you think I meant? 😛 [QUOTE=Lunch] _ **Happy Valentine’s Day** _, all! [/quote] Same to you, sweetie! 🙂 And Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone also. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/346 "2008-02-14T17:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] _ **Happy Valentine’s Day** _, all! 🙂 [/QUOTE] right back atcha, **Achod** ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/347 "2008-02-14T17:01:58Z")
All _right_. Happy Valentine’s Day. :: begrudgingly :: At least I know you guys love me. My students gave me chocolates, which was sweet of them. Also Cloud Maiden finally sent her rent, praise the Lord. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/348 "2008-02-14T17:04:14Z")
Morning, all. \ I finally got to sleep about five minutes after Papa Tigs got up and left for work this morning :eek:, and then got a lovely four hours of sleep before the Idiots decided to start barking right outside the bedroom at an Evil Attack Squirrel. :rolleyes: So I got up and let them out, and then the phone rang and it was the reporting firm office manager (RFOM) stuck in traffic (at 10:30 a.m., she still hadn’t gotten to work! Gotta love D.C. traffic) to let me know she was piling yet more congressional [del]drivel[/del] work on me both today AND tomorrow :eek:, and then the FedEx guy arrived and the Idiots got to bark some more, and then I stuck the CD with the files in my computer and discovered that instead of two hours’ worth of hearings on the CD, there was one file that was a whole 5 minutes and 36 seconds long. :eek: So then I called RFOM back, still stuck in traffic at 11:00, and she said some unprintable things because she’d asked someone else to copy the files for me and obviously they screwed it up :rolleyes:, and now we’re waiting for her to get to the office and upload the rest of the files from the originals because she doesn’t trust that batch of idiots to do it right. And I can’t exactly blame her. Not that she’s the most organized person in the world herself, but even so, oy gevalt. :rolleyes: :eek: 😕 ☹ So I’m sitting here trying not to get all worked up over their idiocies. Ah, just got an email just now (11:58 a.m.) that she _finally_ made it in to the office and is uploading the files. Man, can today get any more aggravating? Anyway, Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate, Happy Birthday to Mr. Lissar, and Happy Thursday to those who prefer the day just go by unnoticed! Papa Tigs has been under orders for many years not to waste $$ on overpriced flowers for Valentine’s Day, so he gets creative. I don’t really care if he does anything, but he likes to do a little something, at least a card. One year he got me a t-shirt with a bunch of roses on it. A perfect substitute. 🙂 This year we were going to go to the wonderful restaurant next door yesterday, a day early to avoid the crowds, to enjoy the best crab cakes in the entire universe, but then I got socked with all that work, so we stayed home instead. Frankly, I don’t care if he does anything for me. But this year I got him a lovely surprise – a bunch of his favorite dried, unsweeted cherries from [Nuts Online](http://www.nutsonline.com), purveyor of fine nuts and dried fruits, which is one of the few places one can find dried fruit without a bunch of sugar added. Their stuff is _wonderful_ – I got him a basket of their assorted nuts and fruits for Christmas, and he was generous enough to give me a macadamia or two every few days. We’re talking _giant_ macadamias, the biggest I’ve ever seen. Yummy! Anyway, so I need to climb up in the attic and get some wrapping paper so I can surprise him with the dried cherries in something more exciting than a shipping box. I think I’m tired, for some strange reason. I’m babbling. I’ll go babble to the dogs and leave you guys alone. Have a good day, everybody! ---
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/349 "2008-02-14T17:24:13Z")
I have Sickness again/still. The ‘knives in my throat’ feeling has subsided, but I have become Mucous Man!!! I e-mailed myself out sick and tried to fall back asleep, however the two boys decided that this fine morning would be the perfect time to romp and play in the bedroom. Roughly every 33 seconds, there was be a crash as two tumbling cats hit the wall or door, or the herd of two would go flying across the bed. Shitheads. I have to go later to buy a card, and something for dinner. Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/350 "2008-02-14T17:27:20Z")
[Hallmark.com](http://Hallmark.com) is down. I blame **Lunch** : all his adoring fans are clogging the server! Where did the **Achod** come from? I must not have been paying attention. Found out yesterday the reason the person I’m replacing (K from now) hadn’t been trying to do any “handover” of the stuff I was supposed to work on. She was supposed to leave last Friday, but the consultant company got her to stay this week in order to do the handover. Well, she’s negotiated with the client directly and will be coming back after a week vacation in her home country. So tomorrow is my last day: I will have gotten paid for seven days of sitting on my ass. Oh, and for making contacts, another freelance asked how long was I going to stay and I told him about this, we traded cards and he’s sent my contact details to a couple of his agents who need someone in my field. He says he’ll keep me updated on whether K really comes back or what; I mean, it sounds real weird, but given how she is and how she acts… neither I yesterday nor him today were surprised to hear this. By refusing to let me have any contact with the client “until the team leader can introduce you properly,” she was able to make it look as if she was leaving them high and dry, making her services not just valuable but totally necessary. My evil half hopes that some day the QA guy will be having coffee with the person from Sales that I met by chance and who knows me as “K’s replacement”. I’d love to be a bat-winged, horned little fly on the wall when it happens. This behavior is explicitly forbidden in the contract - if you’re talking with the client directly, you’re supposed to give your boss a heads-up. So in theory the consultant firm could drag her over coals at labor court until there’s no pink in the middle, but they aren’t likely to, as it would anger the client. But this is a very tiny field and “we’re mule-train drivers, on the road we’ll meet again” (_arrieros somos y en el camino andamos, y en el caminito nos encontraremos_); you don’t want to get a rep as someone who’ll go behind your employer’s back. Right now I have leads for a many-months job in Mexico (Pharma, ugh; I think I know which company); many-months in Mallorca; internal training for he consultant firm I was with these two weeks by this month’s end; a job that will require some weeks traveling to Mexico but which is only three months. I’m told it’s a slow market 😛 I’m wondering, does **McUne** have the requisite golden tresses to live with a bear and a visiting bear? Happy Valenversary to the Rebos and happy Valentine’s to everybody else 🙂 **Motherly Striped Cat** , I hope your smileys get better, some of them are looking ill. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/351 "2008-02-14T17:30:23Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] Where did the Achod come from? I must not have been paying attention. [/QUOTE] “achod” is Hebrew for “one” - therefore a special ‘one’. 😃 eta cool beans! first on 8 without even trying! ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/352 "2008-02-14T17:39:41Z")
Happy VD, everyone! From Osama: [Valentine’s Day greeting!](http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30892) ---
**Author:** ![Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Most\_Creative\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Most_Creative_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/353 "2008-02-14T18:23:00Z")
Happy Valentine’s Day **MMP**!! Here’s a [card](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2334/2265528394_b68834166d_o.jpg) for you all. Happy Birthday\*\* Mr. Lissar\*\*! Nava, that’s what hair dye is for 😉 Though I don’t think I would look good with golden tresses. _shrugs_ Anything to get me out of this weather! It’s freaking snowing again. Another 5 inches today supposedly. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/354 "2008-02-14T19:47:19Z")
_Happy Birthday, **Mr. Lissar**!_ I usually go to the local sushi place on Thursday evenings to unwind, but I’m afraid it’s going to be crawling with couples making googly-eyes at each other tonight. Hm. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/355 "2008-02-14T20:01:43Z")
Happy Birthday, Mr. **Lissar**! Happy month-day, **Gnat**! Happy one month _Barfless-day_, \*\*Lili \*\*😃 **Nava** , \*\*Rosie \*\*lies… it should be _Ekhad_ (think of it as _exad_ or _ejad_ in Spanish). But she has a weird accent 😛 I completely missed \*\*Taxi \*\*calling us all hookers until you pointed it out, **99.44** … :eek: ETA: **haze** , just think how many of those googly-eyed individuals are rolling their eyes inwardly at the thought of another year together… ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/356 "2008-02-14T20:04:38Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] **Nava** , \*\*Rosie \*\*lies… it should be _Ekhad_ (think of it as _exad_ or _ejad_ in Spanish). But she has a weird accent 😛 [/QUOTE] 😕 :eek: 😛 yourself. I’m a Nue Yawka. Deal wif’it 😛 ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/357 "2008-02-14T20:27:37Z")
I saw this in another forum: > [@](#): > > SIGN IN A PHILADELPHIA STORE WINDOW - > “WE WOULD RATHER DO BUSINESS > WITH 1000 AL QAEDA TERRORISTS > THAN WITH ONE SINGLE AMERICAN SOLDIER!” > > This sign was prominently displayed in the window of a business in Philadelphia. You are probably outraged at the thought of such an inflammatory statement. > However, we are a society which holds Freedom of Speech as perhaps our greatest liberty. > And after all, it is just a sign. > You may ask what kind of business would dare post such a sign. > Answer: A Funeral Home > (Who said morticians had no sense of humor?) I just had to share. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/358 "2008-02-14T20:54:15Z")
Now I need the other 19 numbers until 20… And really, **Ejad** , we both know English has atrocious spelling and phonetics, I guess it slips into their Hebrew. _duck_ Apologies and congratulations to Mr. Lissar! Why is **StarryKid** wishing us all a happy venereal disease? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/359 "2008-02-14T20:56:20Z")
[QUOTE=Noone Special] **Nava** , \*\*Rosie \*\*lies… it should be _Ekhad_ (think of it as _exad_ or _ejad_ in Spanish). But she has a weird accent 😛 [/quote] I was totally gonna post that- except as ehad (I can’t do the dot). 😃 > [@](#): > > I completely missed \*\*Taxi \*\*calling us all hookers until you pointed it out, **99.44** … :eek: Like I said, I ain’t that pure… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142/360 "2008-02-14T21:04:43Z")
[QUOTE=Lunch] **haze** , just think how many of those googly-eyed individuals are rolling their eyes inwardly at the thought of another year together… [/QUOTE] Er, they’re generally pretty distinguishable. rollseyes looks like this. . . :rolleyes: googly-eyes looks like this: 😉🙂 They don’t normally go together. 😃 Unless of course, you’re Clark Kent in disguise, then you look like this: 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lake-effect-mmp/437142.md?page=19)