Culture shock and reunion adventures: it's the MMP!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Well, look who made it to the MMP after all - Me! I managed to get a semisecure internet connection finally. I’m currently in Wellfleet, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The house we’re staying in looks old and run-down from the outside but really really nice on the inside, so that’s all good. And just being up here I think is good for my constitution. I like it here.

Today we’re going to the beach. To do nothing for about five hours. Yay! :slight_smile:

Oh, I don’t have a pun for you guys today. I’ve decided that given the overall unreliability of my internet access, I’m not going to post puns this week. I will write them, and you’ll all get TWO PUNS A DAY next week! Isn’t that awesome? I knew you’d like it. :smiley:

GT, great MMP. Sounds like you had an interesting weekend.

22

[QUOTE=zuma]
Is a 4.5 game lead safe in late august?
[/QUOTE]

And we have an early leader in the category of weird question of the week. :smiley: I think you’ve opened up a pretty wide lead with this question, if that helps any zuma.

It’s performance appraisal time. I hate performance appraisals. Wonder if I’ll even get one, bein’ as I ain’t had one in two years. I got raises, so I’m good with that.

23

[QUOTE=zuma]
Is a 4.5 game lead safe in late august?
[/QUOTE]

If it’s the Cubbies with that lead, then things are looking pretty good for whoever’s in the #2 spot…

24

We got a google ad for Life Suckx Apparel. I don’t know whether to be proud or insulted.

Ok, get this. According to the Jawja Department of Corrections, fiberglass handles with <snerk> plastic heads <snerk> are preferable because is is much harder than wooden handles and handles with <snerk> metal heads <snerk> to make a weapon from fiberglass and plastic. I guess they oughta know. I now know way more about this than I ever thought possible.

I have a wooden mop handle with a <snerk> metal head <snerk> at home. Maybe I’ll convert it into a lethal weapon cause I don’t use it since I switched to Swiffer[sup]TM[/sup]. Maybe this is how I can make my fortune! I can patent my mop weapon and make an infomercial. I wonder if that loud hairy guy would be available. I should think a mop weapon would be more fun to talk about than orange cleaning stuff any day.

25

[QUOTE=swampbear]
And we have an early leader in the category of weird question of the week. :smiley: I think you’ve opened up a pretty wide lead with this question, if that helps any zuma.

It’s performance appraisal time. I hate performance appraisals. Wonder if I’ll even get one, bein’ as I ain’t had one in two years. I got raises, so I’m good with that.
[/QUOTE]

not so weird, not if you’re a baseball fan

26

[QUOTE=anyrose]
not so weird, not if you’re a baseball fan
[/QUOTE]

Well, now, we don’t exactly know for sure that’s what zuma was talkin’ about now do we? :stuck_out_tongue:

27

I just got to do a nice thing, and it was all my own idea, AND once I suggested it, I got approval from the superintendent to do it!!!

We offer a pay-to-ride program, for people that live too close to the school to qualify for a bus route. In simple terms, you still have to walk to the closest bus stop, we don’t make a new stop for you. Anyway, this lady called and asked if something was available for her 2nd grade daughter. She said she has this daughter, a 4 year old and a 9 month old at home and can’t let her daughter walk to school. And her husband is in Iraq, on his 2nd tour of duty.

I proposed the paid busing, and she kind of balked at the cost ($260/year), so I said, I’d give her a call in a minute, then called the school to see if she qualified for any waived fees there, thinking that if her income level qualified her, that I could waive her. Get this: she qualifies, but refuses to accept the assistance and pays the fees.

So then I called the superintendent - coincidentally, she lives across the street and up two doors from him. I ask if he knows her, he does, says she’s raising three kids by herself, volunteers that her husband was hurt in his first tour, came home got fixed and went back.

So, I told him what I was thinking, and said “what do you think of offering her the 'paid” busing without the nasty part where she has to pay?" We decide that since she qualifies for reduced lunches, and book fees anyway, that we’re justified if anyone raises a stink, PLUS he says that the Board has been thinking of offering some kind of waived fee system for kids of parents serving on active duty overseas anyway, and this could just fit in with that.

So the nice lady’s daughter gets a bus to school, nice lady doesn’t have to pay, and I can scratch “do a good deed” off my list for today.

28

karma points for MBG

29

MBG, if you keep this up, people might actually think you’re a nice guy… :wink:

30

[QUOTE=Spatial Rift 47]
Oh, I don’t have a pun for you guys today. I’ve decided that given the overall unreliability of my internet access, I’m not going to post puns this week.
[/QUOTE]

SAY IT ISN’T SO!!! :smiley:

31

I heard there were some sweet ass people that showed up at your Dopefest. I also heard there was one Doper who got waylaid by ultra-nasty traffic and couldn’t make your weekend. I also hear that particular Doper calls you “the Explorer” when he leaves cell phone messages.
Dammit.

32

I spent the weekend moving my office. We got great deals on some chairs and a sofa, and every time we needed something else, there it was, inexpensive and easily accessible. When I brought some old stuff to the dump, they told me that a lot more of it could be recycled than I thought, so I didn’t have to pay any dump fees. Local charities took almost everything else. In fact, most of the nominal non-recyclable garbage generated by the move was the packing plastic that the new furniture was in.

33

[QUOTE=eleanorigby]
…I am looking forward to my 30th–there are people who I am fine with seeing every decade…
[/quote]
Well, yes, actually, there were a few people I really had no need to see even after 30 years. But that was really one or two people out of a hundred or so. Mostly it was interesting to see what had become of people; and it was nice to catch up with the people I talked to.

Yeah, that was my fear too. I was glad to see that I could go to a business that I sort of knew; it’s still the same owner, which was also reassuring.

Ya know, when I first read this, I thought it went with the stuff about mechanics. I’m pretty sure it holds true of the less-than reputable repair shops. :smiley:

I see that Sean is missing today. Must be the lack of puns.

Good on you, MBG, for thinking of a way to help her out!

Oh, I was going to comment on Nava’s story too. It amazes me that adults can think that the world exists to serve them. What makes people like that, do you suppose?

I have taken 3 naps so far today. Need to throw some clothes in the wash and to put some CDs away, now that my little CD cases have arrived. Oh, and I need to water plants, too. Eventually.

LOUNE, I have no idea where you heard that. :stuck_out_tongue:

GT

34

Howdy everyone. Great opening post gt. I went to the only highschool reunion that my class did or ever is likely to do. It was a big multi-class reunion to say goodbye to the shcool when it got taken over by the county. Of the 42 that graduated, 13 of us attended the reunion. That surprised me a bit since it was only 6 years after we graduated.

Anyway, I thought I’d stop in and say Hi really quick. I’m about to head out the door and fight some traffic. I’m taking my wife to the Kenny Chesney concert in Atlanta tonight. Wish me luck in surviving the experience. :wink:

-Belz

35

Nice OP, GT. My 30th reunion was back in 2000, and I went. It was interesting to see folks, but I most of the folks I was friends with back then didn’t show up for the 30th. Was a little disappointing to me, but I did enjoy seeing other people, including some who remembered me, but my memory of them wasn’t so clear! laughs I’m hoping to make it to the 40th.

Good for you on the karma points, MBG! IMO, families of those serving in Iraq ought to qualify for some kind of break–you know it’s hard on them already. :frowning:

My weekend was rather uneventful – I laid low as the heat and humidity surfaced again. Should have an interesting report next Monday, though, as I’m attending a meet-n-greet at a crabcakes place near Baltimore with friends from the roadfood.com site. :slight_smile:

36

As all of you (or should by now-pay attention!), I am in grad school and I am trying to do in on the cheap. Most of the books I have found through my library loan system.

I got one today–it’s due in 2 weeks. Hmm. Seeing how it’s a textbook needed for the whole month of September–what are the odds of getting back by the 5th of Sept?

I am so going to hell.

Off to make dinner–pork tenderloin, smothered in sauce–I don’t have a name for it, but it still tastes good.

And I asked my teacher friend what was up with teacher institutes–I specifically asked about small animal sacrifices. Sadly, they have none of that. They talk alot about team teaching and curriculum and shit like that. It sounds mind numbingly boring. I like my idea of them better, so I’m sticking with it.

37

Can you at least renew the book once, rigs, to shorten your stint in hell? Our local library system lets me renew books twice, so I can end up keeping them for an insanely long period of time. They also let me take out way more books than even I, a seriously voracious reader, can get read before they’re due back (even renewed). I guess they have some people who do nothing but read 24 hours a day? That’s the only explanation I can come up with for allowing one person to check out 90 books at a time!

MBG, you have definitely earned serious credit towards your halo today.

38

Whew, I’m late to this party, but I gots lots to share. Well, maybe not lots, but a coupla biggies anyway.

First biggie - we’re being reorganized at work. Again. It’ll be the second time within 2 years. And this reorg reaffirms what I already believed - that my project is a total waste of time because they’re not going to allow me to complete it (except for this initial part) so what we do post will be pretty much worthless. The decisions by the powers that be are very political and, in my unprofessional opinion, short-sighted. But I’m a mere peon and I do what I’m told and I look forward to the next reorg when this CO leaves and a new one comes in with a Grand Plan[sup]TM[/sup]. :rolleyes:

Bottom line, come Nov 1, I have no idea who I’ll be working for or where I’ll be sitting. Whatever.

Oh, yeah, I have 3 biggies - so biggie #2 - FCD got his official promotion offer today, also effective Nov 1. It comes with a 20% raise and an extra week of vacation. Woo and hoo! He’s only been there about a year and a half - apparently he’s impressed the right folks.

And the final big news, starting with the background. We came home from my Bro’s party on Sat night to a cryptic message on our answering machine from our daughter’s BF. Cryptic but pretty easily decoded. At breakfast on Sunday, we discussed it, and decided we knew what he wanted. Later that evening on IM, our baby refused to spill. Nor would she talk to her dad this morning, but BF called FCD at work.

We were right.

They’re engaged.

I’m not sure how happy I am. I’ll give the guy credit, tho - one of the first things he said was that they’d wait till after my girl graduates. That’s our top priority. He hasn’t called me yet, but I’m expecting to hear from him at any time. I have a few questions for him, and three conditions.

First - she must graduate. Period. But I think we’re all in agreement on that one.
Second - I want them to go to pre-marital counseling. Neither of them is churched, but I’m sure there must be some organization that offers such services. And it’ll force them to talk about some things before they get hitched.
Third - I don’t want him moving in with her. I’m an old prude - I don’t think marriage needs a test-drive. Plus I want my daughter to be able to take care of herself completely, and living alone is a good way to learn that. Also, my brother’s wife went straight from her folks’ house to bro’s house, and after a few years, she decided she wanted to know what it was like to live on her own. So much for that marriage…

Also, since she’s still in school, she’ll have plenty of stress with her junior and senior year studies - she doesn’t need to add a stressor.

And, quite frankly, what if this doesn’t last? She’s never had a BF for more than 15 or 16 months. He may well be The One, but if after another year she has other thoughts, it’ll be easier to break up if he’s not living with her. Theoretically.

Getting out of the worried mom mode, I do like him, even if he’s 10 years older than she. He’s a nice, considerate man, gainfully employed, polite, and I know he treats her well. In some ways, she’s more mature than he, but they seem to be genuinely happy together. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet - she’s got 9 hours of class today. Maybe tomorrow.

And that’s all I’ve got. For now. I’m going to go toss some underwear into the washer.

39

[QUOTE=FairyChatMom]
Whew, I’m late to this party, but I gots lots to share. Well, maybe not lots, but a coupla biggies anyway.

First biggie - we’re being reorganized at work. Again. It’ll be the second time within 2 years. And this reorg reaffirms what I already believed - that my project is a total waste of time because they’re not going to allow me to complete it (except for this initial part) so what we do post will be pretty much worthless. The decisions by the powers that be are very political and, in my unprofessional opinion, short-sighted. But I’m a mere peon and I do what I’m told and I look forward to the next reorg when this CO leaves and a new one comes in with a Grand Plan[sup]TM[/sup]. :rolleyes:

Bottom line, come Nov 1, I have no idea who I’ll be working for or where I’ll be sitting. Whatever.

Oh, yeah, I have 3 biggies - so biggie #2 - FCD got his official promotion offer today, also effective Nov 1. It comes with a 20% raise and an extra week of vacation. Woo and hoo! He’s only been there about a year and a half - apparently he’s impressed the right folks.

And the final big news, starting with the background. We came home from my Bro’s party on Sat night to a cryptic message on our answering machine from our daughter’s BF. Cryptic but pretty easily decoded. At breakfast on Sunday, we discussed it, and decided we knew what he wanted. Later that evening on IM, our baby refused to spill. Nor would she talk to her dad this morning, but BF called FCD at work.

We were right.

They’re engaged.

I’m not sure how happy I am. I’ll give the guy credit, tho - one of the first things he said was that they’d wait till after my girl graduates. That’s our top priority. He hasn’t called me yet, but I’m expecting to hear from him at any time. I have a few questions for him, and three conditions.

First - she must graduate. Period. But I think we’re all in agreement on that one.
Second - I want them to go to pre-marital counseling. Neither of them is churched, but I’m sure there must be some organization that offers such services. And it’ll force them to talk about some things before they get hitched.
Third - I don’t want him moving in with her. I’m an old prude - I don’t think marriage needs a test-drive. Plus I want my daughter to be able to take care of herself completely, and living alone is a good way to learn that. Also, my brother’s wife went straight from her folks’ house to bro’s house, and after a few years, she decided she wanted to know what it was like to live on her own. So much for that marriage…

Also, since she’s still in school, she’ll have plenty of stress with her junior and senior year studies - she doesn’t need to add a stressor.

And, quite frankly, what if this doesn’t last? She’s never had a BF for more than 15 or 16 months. He may well be The One, but if after another year she has other thoughts, it’ll be easier to break up if he’s not living with her. Theoretically.

Getting out of the worried mom mode, I do like him, even if he’s 10 years older than she. He’s a nice, considerate man, gainfully employed, polite, and I know he treats her well. In some ways, she’s more mature than he, but they seem to be genuinely happy together. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet - she’s got 9 hours of class today. Maybe tomorrow.

And that’s all I’ve got. For now. I’m going to go toss some underwear into the washer.
[/QUOTE]

Wow! Numbers 2 and 3 are certainly doozies. Many, many, many congrats to FCD! I’ve NEVER seen a 20% pay increase.

I’m thinking you’re absolutely right about your daughter and having them wait until she graduates. Real life intrudes really, really fast and then all your “Plans for the future” just dissipate.

For the record, however, my hubby and I did live together before we got married. I was moving out anyway, and he got kicked out of his parents’ house, so we ended up living together. Anyway, long story short, we just celebrated 20 years of marriage last January and 23 years of being together this month. It doesn’t ALWAYS turn out badly when a couple “lives in sin”. Just sayin’, is all.

Congrats to your daughter. I really hope she’s happy.

Well, back to my spreadsheets and databases. I swear to Og, my eyes are crossing today.

40

Great OP, GT!

Atta boy, MBG!

Another exciting day here - went to PetsMart for cat food, then hit two different craft stores looking for polymer clay glaze. Both places are out of it, and have been for a month. This is seriously putting a dent in my plans to participate in two local craft fairs. I need to have a lot of jewelry made up by October, and I can’t do that without the damn glaze! I asked both stores to order it (again) so we’ll see what happens. I looked for it online but the price is the same as the store, plus I have to pay shipping. My profit margin is already slim enough on this that I don’t want to spend more than I have to.

I finally got a picture of the 5-toed chair sloth in her native habitat. I present to you: Lt. Dax.