I, for one, am THRILLED to not have to work any part of Christmas this year! Not even Xmas Eve (which is our big day, anyway).
God, that feels good.
Sorry to those who won’t be home for Christmas, but try being the Mom at Christmas and having to work 12 hour shifts. You get no Christmas. So, yay for that being over.
It is snow showering here and I love it. I’ve also decided to make a quiche for dinner. Brownies just out of the oven. Time for a nap…
**KeithT **just found out he got a raise at work! Yay!!
I have a couple pot luck lunch/dinner type things coming up. I think I’m going to take this. Doesn’t that look awesome? Yum! But then again, my coworkers really like the raspberry cheesecake brownies that I’ve made before… hmm… decisions, decisions. I may not be as prolific a baker as LiLi, but my coworkers don’t know her so they’re impressed. 
Speaking of laughing at cats (well, someone mentioned crazy cats! 
), Lily and the hamster got to know each other. Thor (the hamster) was standing on the open roof of his “penthouse” and Lily was on top of the desk watching him. She stretched out her nose to sniff him - very carefully supervised of course - and he leaned up to sniff her… and he bopped her on the nose! :eek: She pulled back with this look of WTF? and KeithT and I laughed our heads off at her. Poor cat. She gets no respect.
They didn’t exactly force him. They offered him days as a material handler - loading trucks. He’s a truck driver (18-wheelers) and doesn’t want a grunt job in the warehouse. (No offense to any grunts! ;)) He doesn’t have a contract.
When he hired on a couple of years ago, he was temporarily put on nights, because the night guy had to have some medical tests done. The guy died! :eek: So Mr Rebo got stuck for a while until they found a replacement. It’s actually easier work, what with less traffic and all. Less hours, too, plus 10% night bonus. It’s just that we will miss each other, and he won’t get as much home cooking! He will be close to home on Tuesday nights, and will come home for dinner. And we can have lunches together, too. We’ll get through it.
ETA: That looks awesome, Taxi!
**Haze ** - can you make do with the cheap reading glasses you can get in a pharmacy? They’re not necessarily fashionable, but they do magnify if that’s all you need.
It’s snowing here, but tapering off. Here are some pics I took a few minutes ago. Apparently there’s more in the DC area, and lots of slippery roads. Down this way, the roads are wet, but that’s it. And it’s cold and damp out there - the kind of cold that creeps to the bone. If I was more motivated, I’d start a fire in here. But it would require me to go outside to get wood. Heck with that!!!
I’m thinking this would be a good night for N.O.T. soup. I’ll start peeling and chopping after I feed the critters. And we’ve got some swiss cheese, too, which I just love to melt in the bowl. Yum!
Have a wunnerful dinner with swampy, Shadow! He’s a charming dining companion - didn’t embarrass me even once when we went to Whitey’s Fish Camp. No scratchin’ or belchin’ or wipin’ his mouth on his sleeve - not at all what I expected from a Jawja boy! Plus he’s a good hugger!
And I guess that’s it for now. Sorry my day wasn’t more exciting.
Just chiming in to offer another option on glasses for Haze-- Sears! Being a notorious tightwad, I did my homework about two years ago. As I recall, the exam (with glaucoma test, but no dilation) was $35. If you watch for coupons, you can either get a free exam with the purchase of glasses, or two pairs for the price of one.
Sears didn’t have the frames I wanted, so off I trotted to Walmart! I got a great pair of frameless glasses, extra thin lense with scratch coating, with magnetic dark shade that was undetectible for under $200. I’ve even taken them in twice and had them repaired for free.
I love me some bargains! Damn it, it’s MY money.
Oooh, that looks good, taxi. Although I’d use real whipping cream, not cool whip. Yummy either way. That reminds me- Driving Husband is coming for dinner tomorrow. I should bake a cake. Good on the raise, too!
It’s been a sleepy day. Lots of naps. I did scrub the fridge, so you should all be proud of me. In a couple of minutes I’ll work up to washing the post-fridge-cleaning dishes. Anyone got any suggestions on using up two half jars of marmalade? (One orange and ginger, one kumquat).
As a glaze for a pork loin?
One last thing about glasses – here in Israel, most Opticians will comp your eye exam if you end up buying glasses from them. In fact, some opticians will call you up for a free exam every year, in the hope of getting you to upgrade your current pair (but won’t charge you if you don’t.) Wonder if it’s the same in the US?
Don’t know about Glaucoma and special drops though… never been given those. Maybe I just didn’t need them?
As if… don’t count on opticians here comping anything! Sometimes we are given eyedrops to dilate our pupils. Tests for glaucoma are also done (don’t ask me how).
I couldn’t nap. Dammit. Work tomorrow. Still some things to do here. Can’t reach a live person at the driving school for #1 son. <sigh>
If cheap glasses are your quest, take a look at Costco. I paid about $140 for a pair of frameless high-index polycarbonate glasses with edge polish and anti-reflective coating a year ago.
Even if you need to kick in the $50 to buy a Costco membership for the year, it’s still tons cheaper than places like Pearle. IIRC, Pearle was going to soak me for about $270 for a similar pair.
Exactly what **Rigs ** said. You can sometime find coupons and such in the papers for chains. Someone mentioned Sears. I will never go back to them…when I was in middle school mom took me there, because she had a coupon for a free exam and some money off of glasses. They royally screwed up my perscription. They gave me bi-focals and the completely wrong perscription, and all I got was headaches. Mom took me back up to the “big city” (growing up I lived in the sticks, and the big city was an hour away) and went to LensCrafters to get a second opinion and they had no idea what Sears did to my perscription. Sears would only give mom a portion of my the money back because I must have not been honest about the clarity of the letters…she was pissed. I had glasses since second grade and I knew how important it was to see…why would I lie about the clarity of the letters?? LensCrafters gave mom a nice discount and I got glasses (with out bifocals) there in an hour and I could see again and the headaches were gone. Based on that experience, I won’t give Sears optical my money.
The glaucoma test is done by drops, and they the doctor (at least mine) uses some tool with a BRIGHT blue light on it to check the pressure in my eyes.
To dialate my eyes it’s done by drops as well, then you get to sit and wait 20 minutes and then you get yours eyes checked with another machine/tool and another bright light, this time not blue.
Speaking of eyes…I have had glasses since second grade. My eyes have gotten worse each and every year. This year, they GOT BETTER!!! My perscription decreased by two steps. My eye Dr. asked if I started a new job or changed anything. Turns out that not staring at the computer screen all day reallly helps. She thinks that played a major role in my eyes getting better. I can’t tell you how happy I was!!!
Thanks for the advice guys! I have weird vision, unfortunately - my right eye is much worse than my left, so I can’t make do with generic reading glasses.
What the hell is this glaucoma/dialation thing? All I remember doing is reading letters off a chart.
I do vaguely remember seeing neighborhood opticians with “Free Eye Exam” signs up in the windows. The trouble is that I never pay attention to these things, and when I look for them I can never find them. :smack:
Me is tired - I almost missed my stop because I was dozing off on the bus. Needs nap now.
You are young. Glaucoma exams haven’t entered your world, yet. But you should have had your pupils dilated at some point–IMS, this allows the optometrist or ophthalmologist to examine the blood vessels within the eye and to see the retina and it’s um, stuff. Yeah-I got a C in Anatomy.
I have to take #1 son driving in snowy roads at dusk. I do this so that you all may leave your houses in winter once he is licensed. Pray for me.
**McUNE **-- that sucks! :mad: How did your mother ever let them get away with that? They should have at the very least given a full refund!
**Haze **-- tell me about it 
Same thing here, right eye is nearly “lazy”. Every time I need new lenses (I keep the frame!), it’s $400 right there. And I don’t have any kind of a backup pair.
**Rigs **-- :eek: No prayers from this atheist, but I’ll cross my fingers for you.
“Dear God, please keep rig’s son from horrible, horrible accidents on the road tonight. And thank you that they live far away”.
Ow! Don’t throw things at me!
Attacks Husband just called to ask if I would mind company. Not at all. So when I plan dinner it’ll be for three. That gives me a little more incentive to do something beside toasted bagels.
Having just finished the dishwashing, I made almond brittle. So now there’s more dishes. Oh, well.
Well, I made it through the first area snow storm of the season, including making it to work early (and earning half an hour of credit time to boot!) and then home safely this afternoon. Woo and hoo! 
It is very slippery out there, though, and I took my time coming home. And boy, is it cold! LOL Not as cold as up in Canada, but still cold for here. Glad that I had my winter coat and gloves on today. By Saturday, we’re supposed to be in the 50s!
Hope Swampy and Shadow have a great dinner!
I had a glaucoma test when I was in my pre-teens. I think. Is that the one where they shoot a little puff of air in your eyes? I’ve only had my eyes dilated once and I hated it. I’m hoping they won’t do that when I go on the New Glasses Quest when my financial aid comes in.
I have two papers–in linguistics, the bane of my life–due on Monday. Tonight I begin the linguistic death march. Then I will be free until January. And the angels will sing triumphantly.
Yeah, if you have a family history for glaucoma, they check every couple years, then later (I think at 40) I started getting checked twice a year.
Our building had a holiday party in the lobby this afternoon. They had platters and platters of holiday food, gallons of egg nog and coffee, carolers in costume, and those tall tables so you can stand around and stuff your face without spilling your drink. Note that this party is entirely seperate from the company’s cocktail party on Saturday, the luncheon for the administrative staff, and the department dinner for the department I support. They do like to feed us here (but they go light on the booze - an employee was killed in a drunk driving accident after a company event a couple of years ago, and that put an end to the open bar.)
Glaucoma runs in both sides of my family, and starts young on my father’s side, so I’ve had regular glaucoma tests since I was a teenager. I’m so glad they’ve got the blue light test now - I **hated ** the air puffer thing. I don’t go in as often as I should since I had LASIK. I really should go in just for the glaucoma test.
Skim, skimmery, skim skimmery, skim, skim skaroo . . .
Sending Yays, Boos, and other stuff out into the ether - grab which ever one you want or need