I’ve been on a trip for the last couple of weeks and I haven’t been keeping up with the boards. I have a ton of e-mails to sift through for work, but I’d rather hear about you guys. So, what’d I miss?
Nothing, apparently! 
Well, I have it on good authority that the guy in the next cubicle farted! Can you imagine?
Oh, that and they’ve decided that we must all come up with two inch, flashing sparkly avatars. That won’t be a problem, will it?
Well, I do appreciate that y’all held off on all the interesting stuff until I got back!
The newest mafia thread is off and running!
How was the trip?
I’m hoping to get a prize from NASA! That’s exciting, right?
Anaamika posted something for you. OK, technically after you asked, but still…
Certain Dopers decided that it was time to write letters to their pets.
Many Dopefests are being planned, some because someone asked whether anyone would attend a Dopefest (consensus answer was: yes).
Halloween is coming up.
Dragonflies are suddenly popular.
I’m sure there was more, but that’s a start, right?
GT
Thanks for asking, Zoggie! It was a great trip. We started in Florida, drove up to Maine and back again. Seventeen states in fourteen days! For me, the high point was having my picture taken in front of Stephen King’s house.
Tuckerfan, you are climbing into that echelon of Dopers Too Smart for Me to Dare Speak To. Perhaps we could just rub elbows?
I appreciate the links, gardentraveler. As for writing letters to my pets, I find it saves time to just curse them daily. The dragonfly story turned out to be pretty cool, and I probably never would have clicked on it on my own. Dragonflies kind of scare me…they’re so big and fast and unpredictable.
My family all worked together to save a baby squirrel that fell out of a tree in our backyard Sunday. The cats found it, the girl-child contributed a cardboard box and searched the Internet for help, the boy-child contributed a snuggly pajama shirt, and my husband heated up a gel-pack to keep the critter warm. I was in charge of actual squirrel handling and petting. Mr. Beetle wedged the box o’ squirrel up in the tree, and after several hours, our efforts were rewarded…the squirrels took the baby and left us a poop. Yay! (Not “yay, poop”, just “yay”).
I created a website for a co-worker who has a son that is “out of control”:
It might scare a “bad boy” into being good, or else be shipped off to camp for a few weeks…(and might get a chuckle from the parents…)
Ha! I have a son…it’s a shame he’s such a good boy.
Hey, how come the time-out room is nicer than the dorms?
Pfft!
To paraphrase my father, “If I’m so smart, why aren’t I rich?”