Morning all! It’s a cloudy 44 degrees Amurikin. There is no snow in the forecast, Just as well, the city grinds to a halt when it flurries. The Canes won last night, we got the one player back who’s been out since September, and he score a goal. 
Sure she will. It’ll be part of her community service when she gets out of jail. “Hey, kids! Don’t chase some beaotch all over the golldang country just fo some pimp! Especially don’t do it wearin no Depends!”
Wow, it’s flipping cold out here.
The temperature got UP to 4 below nada this morning. :rolleyes:
I wonder if it’s cold enough for the biohazard cheese to be safely destroyed?
swampy, you’re right, evening meetings are ONLY good for giving people (like me) something to bitch about. If that’s the standard, then last night’s meeting was a huge success.
I have another one -not that I HAVE to make, but that I should. I believe I’ll skip this one though. I think instead, I’ll go buy some Depends and drive across country, I hear that’s the new in-thing to do.
Good morning, all! It’s cold and snowy here, and slick on the roads. The kids are out of school, and snugly at home watching Shrek with my mother.
Magic Eyes – I can give you the recipe for garlic cheese grits, but can only send you a package of regular uncooked grits. The dish involves massive amounts of cheese (the regular, good kind) and butter. I don’t image that would travel well through the postal service.
OK, here’s a tale of motherhood you all might find amusing. I have three children, 12, 9 and 2. My 12-year-old daughter overhead some talk at school and had a question for me. “Mom, what does ‘masturbate’ mean?”
Ok, so I’m thrilled she has come to me with a question. I’m happy to answer, but, ur, reluctant to answer, if ya know what I mean. So I send her to the dictionary for a preview and tell her to come back for a full explanation.
Now the funny part is, the whole time my 9-year-old son is going, “What? What? What are you all talking about? ‘Masturbate’? Huh? What’s that mean? What’s that mean?”
Then he decides he can figure it out on his own. Now this is the little comedian who decided, upon hearing that my husband was working on geneology, decided that he was studying to be a genie. So thus ensues…
“Masturbate? Hmmmm … I know! It means to be a great fisherman!” He gestures grandly with one arm: “You have ‘MASTER,’ which means you’re really good at something …” Another grand gesture, with the other arm, “And ‘BAIT,’ which is what you use to go fishing! MASTURBATE means you’re a really great fisherman!”
Don’t forget the pepper spray, BB-gun, steel mallet, knife and rubber tubing. Oh and six hundred dollars cash.
And last but not least…your trenchcoat and wig!!
Well I have a focus and a primary text: it’s going to be about how Korean scholars approach Asian American literature, as opposed to how US scholars approach it. My primary text is a Korean American one, and I’m going to be comparing papers written about it. My problem as of now is - then what? :smack: I compare the two viewpoints and… what is my conclusion?
I’ll think of something before next Monday, hopefully.
Ellen, that is a cute story. Gives a whole new meaning to Jesus’ words: And you shall become fishers of men. :dubious:
Hi y’all.
It didn’t snow here last night/this morning as was promised. At least not in my area. Maybe up north a bit, or to the west. But I saw nuttin’.
That is all. Move along. Nothing to see here.
Usually I am not one to find what comes from the mouths of babes adorable, but here I just can’t help it, that made me smile.
Is it just me or does swampy seem to spend a whole lot of time nekkid around here (at least in the minds of the MMPers).
I am so proud of Meli! Yesterday she finally performed the right of passage to becoming a true college student. She woke up at 7:30 and started to get ready for class. Then after considering the allowed 3 absences as well as the current temperatures she went right back to bed. With any luck my attendance habits will not rub off on her any more than that, but its still nice to know that even the studious can fall to the temptations of truancy.
On the professional front I am constantly baffled by how much the government seems to be in love with inefficiency. The two latest example from work:
1: Up until about two weeks ago it was very simple for me to access the network here at the Federal Center, just sit down at any of my machines, type in a user ID and password, press enter, and there I am all logged in. I could then switch among my four machines with ease, running several tasks on each with lightning efficiency. Then they decided to change how we can access the network. Now in order to log onto a machine I must insert my CAC (ID card) into a special reader and type in a password. The real issue comes from the fact that if the CAC is removed from the reader then it automatically locks the machine, meaning that to switch between machines now can take up to several minutes whereas it used to take mere seconds at most.
2: The contract that I work on delivers a logistics product to the government on a month by month basis. As part of the wording of the contract my company reserves the right to break the contract if the government’s orders drop below a specified number, for the sake of the story lets say its 10,000 copies. So when the government is faced with the prospect of dropping orders (i.e. the armed services are saving money) the solution is to order the difference and literally stick thousands of CDs in a filing cabinet somewhere.
3: They like to make lists out of just two items.
Hah hah! Meta-humor!.. I kill me
I’m on the beading rows of my bag, and I thought I had the right color, but I’m not s sure now that they’re actually on the bag. Maybe I need to search some more online and see if I find something closer to what I had in mind.
I am feeling much, much better now. I actually used my albuterol (I don’t know why I think using it is a weakness, but there you go) so I could breathe at night. What a concept! And I was good about not overdoing it when I started feeling better, so no bronchitis for me.
It’s overcast and gloomy today, and looks like it might rain. Or maybe it’s just being February.
Off to search for beads.
It’s still cold, I’m still stuck here at my desk sending mean letters to people and I’m still going to spend most of the day tomorrow in union negotiations.
Blech.
Just … wow.
Yeah, remember that company I posted about earlier? Windows smashed out thrice on the building next to us and four in the building across this morning? They’ve got the worst karma.
From what I can piece together from my personal observations (tire tracks, carnage), it seems that a minivan drove up the side of the building next to us along their driveway, out into the street, clear across the road, over the curb, across the snow-covered grassy berm into their parking lot, and at least partway up the dozen or so steps to the front door of the building, smashing the handrailing about six or eight feet out of whack at the base, tipping over and down the stairs to come to rest on its side, roof facing streetward. None of us know what the hell this guy was doing, but he either had to be absolutely barreling out of that driveway, or he slammed the accelerator instead of the brake as he approached the street. Predictably, a tow truck was first on the scene, followed by fire and rescue workers and an ambulance. The rescue workers spent a great deal of time trying to extricate whom I can only assume is the driver from the passenger side somehow – they seemed to be trying to cut a hole in the roof or something, but there didn’t appear to be any damage, so maybe they were just removing the windshield. Anyway, they rushed the occupant to hospital and maneuvered the van around so the tow truck could get its chains around the frame and yank in upright.
The whole office was taking turns rubbernecking – myself included. This company seems to provide more entertainment around here than anything else. Not that an accident is necessarily entertaining, but jeez. They’re just a lightning rod for bad luck. Good thing I suppose, considering their buildings flank two sides of our building. Sucks to be them, though.
And then MindWife called to tell me that the sliding doors on our hall closet came out of their track and somehow landed edgewise on her toe, which ended up bleeding considerably. I don’t know the specific details yet but she was in a good deal of pain when she called. I’ll call her back in a few minutes to see how she’s doing.
And of course the entirety of Canada seems to have picked the last hour to phone in to us. I had 7 calls in my queue when I got back from my break, some people having waited almost 10 minutes, and it’s been pretty much non-stop since. This is the first break in calls I’ve had since.
When they called this “hump day” I think they may have had in mind the subjects being bent over their desks.
I came home from work around twelve-fifteen. My sinuses are buggin’ me today for some reason. So, I took Benadryl[sup]TM[/sup] and napped for a while. Then I got up to have some Cheetos[sup]TM[/sup] and soda. Now I’m posting. Thus has been my afternoon. My sinuses still ache but not so bad as before. I’ll Benadryl[sup]TM[/sup] again before beddy bye and sleep the sleep of the innocent. That stuff makes me drowsy.
I gots me a check from my credit union in my hot little, um, purse. I gotta call the insurance company, and tomorrow between 5 & 5:30, I’ll go pick up my SalsaCar!
**FCD ** is thrilled. He’s been wanting me to replace the Aerostar for the longest time. I was hoping to avoid having 2 car payments at the same time, but his will be paid off in about 18 months, then we can double up and pay mine off even faster.
Anyway, we looked at one car on Saturday, but the salesman pissed us off. Then I did some on-line shopping, decided I was really interested in the xA, and found one at a local dealer. We met at the dealership on Monday, and I test drove it. I came home and did a little more research, then emailed the salesguy and told him I’d take it. Tues, **FCD ** dropped off a deposit check, and today we went to the credit union. On Friday morning, the cruise control is being installed, and that evening, it’ll be mine! It’s a 5-speed, 37MPG on the highway, iPod jack (tho I don’t have an iPod), sidecurtain airbags, remote locks/alarm, floor mats… I didn’t want all that stuff, but it was already installed and the difference between its cost and the base model with just cruise installed was around $900, so I figured what the heck. I’d have never bought the iPod thing or the mats, but I got 'em now.
Idiot Stupidhead is gonna get reamed. This fiasco has gotten some really high-level attention. He has no idea what awaits him on Monday. Justice. Sweeeeeet.
It snowed here - maybe half an inch at my house. But it’s all dry now. Our vehicles look hideous - salt-covered and nasty. Hope we can hose them off this weekend.
Class last night was less than successful. I tried two different pieces and killed them both. So I’ll be busy in class tomorrow. I’d be upset if I was taking this class for a grade.
I’m thinking tonight might be a good night for bad Chinese - whad’ya think?
'Lo, all. I am done with as much homework as I’m going to do today.
And I talked to a girlfriend on the phone for 3 hours. I am hoarse, but we had a good time.
It’s cold here (I’ll bet you didn’t know that!) and I am off to loll under a warm blanket until it’s time to pick up #2 son from tutoring.
Kind of a boring day, actually.
I missed the post about the Pointy-haired Naval Officer stepping on hs crank. What happened?
No, shite! I had to caffenate this afternoon, which I never do, to keep from nodding off. Will 5:30 never get here?? ::Looks at computer time…5:17… :rolleyes: ::
Tonite’s din din will be frahed Tillapia and some brown rahce, I’m thinkin. I was gonna do broccoli but decided the aromas wouldn’t add any ambience to the house. I am currently desensitizing Mr. Anachi from his dislike of fish. We want to stay heart-healthy afterall. Yes, I know frahed isn’t really heart-healthy but it will just be a little olive oil.
yes, fcm do tell. [del]Nosy[/del] enquiring minds wanna know.
Aren’t CAC cards fun, Ali? Papa Tigs needs one, and it seems like half the time it’s either at home when he’s at work or it’s at work when he’s at home. He needs it both places, but of course he only gets one card. Actually, for a while there, while he was still a contractor and the Army decided to go to CAC cards, they decreed that NO contractor would get one. Which would mean that none of the IT people would be able to do their jobs. For some reason that wasn’t real popular with the hospital administration, since contractors are the ones who actually run the computers that the entire hospital lives and dies by. Fortunately, the idiots changed their mind. I can’t imagine why. :dubious: Do your computers require fingerprint access, too? The laptop they gave Papa Tigs to use at home does! :eek:
The SalsaCar is so cute! And then to know that Idiot Stupidhead is going to suffer for his idiot stupidness probably makes this an even better day for you, FCM! 
I’ve been kinda sorta working today. I also, feeling very guilty for not having done so in several days, went and [del]froze my ass off[/del] sat out in the yard and threw the kong for Isaac for 45 minutes. I actually did well, except for my fingers that even through the gloves had to keep picking up the cold, snow-covered, hard rubber kong. How that dog isn’t bothered by it I don’t know, but even when it bounced off his head a time or two he never flinched.
I’ve also been doing some quick hat knitting. I knit one up for Palebunny last night using Kureyon, and today am working on one for myself – color #159 for her and 153 for me. It’s such gorgeous yarn, you don’t need to use any but the simplest pattern and let the yarn speak for itself. I’m going to do a hat and scarf for Papa Tigs out of this yarn in the shade “Forest Heather,” if the yarn ever comes, and I’ll use a really neat reversible cable pattern out of that lovely “Scarf Style” book that Jah turned me onto. Plus I promised my mom a hat for a birthday present for one of her good friends, which I need to get done. And then once I’ve got the rest of the family taken care of, I’ll get back to knitting for me, me, ME! I’ll post photos as work is completed if anyone’s interested. I’m having way too much fun here. Maybe it’s just a way of not worrying about my upcoming surgery, but if that’s the case, it’s working!
Without going into the classified details, Idiot Stupidhead took it upon himself to change our project objectives one week before they were due to be uploaded to the net. We had been working on this for 9 weeks, and at the 11th hour, he decided we needed to do it all differently. Then he took it upon himself to go into the analysis reports of several of us and make changes after they’d been reviewed by QA and without our concurrance. The worst part was the one report that he completely rewrote, incorrectly, including substituting different numbers in place of the ones the engineer had calculated because he saw different numbers in another report somewhere. In my report, he removed one of my writeups and substituted another that was completely out of place, written by someone else for a different project. I found that out today when I took a look at the uploaded products.
Plus he stepped out of his assigned role as liaison and took over project leadership. Personally, I think he saw himself as taking the initiative and taking a step towards his next stripe. In reality, he may get his ass demoted to Rec Committee Officer or some such silliness.
In any event, if I ever get to serve as project leader again, I know how to yank a knot in his or any other bonehead’s tail. Don’t cross me…
Wise, I say. That’s the thing about allowed absences; you feel cheated if you never end up using them.
Just had my “Teaching in the Community College” class - today we did role-playing dialogue between teachers and students who didn’t understand why they got a poor grade on an exam. I was sitting next to a friend; here’s a sample of our conversations:
Me: I don’t understand how I got such a bad grade. I read the material so many times!
Friend: Well, you can’t just read the text. You really have to READ the text.
Me: What do you mean?
Friend: You know… um… READ it. Pretend you’re the writer. Really get into it.
Me: Dude, I pay good money to go here. You gotta give me better advice than that shit.
Me: I don’t understand this. I thought I knew the stuff, but I got such a bad grade!
Friend: Well, maybe you didn’t understand it as well as you thought you did.
Me: So how can I understand it better?
Friend: Take notes in class. Try to figure out what we focus on more and when you study, start with that.
Me: But I can’t take notes and listen at the same time. I always feel like I lag behind when I take notes and then I get lost.
Friend: Well raise your hand and ask me to slow down.
Me: I can’t do that. I’m Asian. We don’t talk in class. It’s embarrassing.
Friend: Well… don’t raise your hand then. Raise a chopstick.
Me: Great. My teacher is not only inept, he’s a racist as well.
As you can see, it wasn’t a very serious exercise. 