Happy Firday, everybody!
Bupkis is Yiddish. It literally means “goat droppings”, which is apparently why the one of characters in *The Yiddish Policemen’s Union *uses “goat shit” to describe a lack of leads at one point (Shabon sure loves his wordplay, he does).
Yeah yeah, I’m a nerd. 
{{kai}} I’m gonna post in the other thread too. What a lousy way to start off the year.
waves to Lunch
OK, off I go to do some work. Or pretend to work, maybe… I’m really not feeling inspired this week. 
Firday at last! It’s been rough working a full five days after being off for three weeks.
Hiya, Nooner! I’ve been wondering about you, too.
More hugs for {{{Kai}}}.
You learn the darndest things on the Dope. 
Cute sayings, VBob!
Have a great day, y’all.
No and no. I’ve taken to calling the gray one Smokey, but I don’t think KT likes that. But it is making me think that Smokey and the Bandit would be kind of cute names. KT just wants to let their personalities develop a bit more so we get good names for them.
And no, we’re not handling them yet so we haven’t been able to look too closely at their gerbil parts to tell if they’re girls or boys. We’ve gotten them to eat out of our hands - in under a week! - so we’re making progress, but we aren’t up to being able to pick them up yet.
Hi, SpecialOne! I was wondering about you too since we hadn’t heard from you in a while. Glad you’re around and just busy.
{{{kai}}} I haven’t read her thread yet. Is it her sister-in-law or son-in-law? We need clearer acronyms.
Yay for Firday!!
Back to work. I’m not a big fan of Firday.
{{{{kai}}}}
Happy Firday, everyone! And it couldn’t have come sooner. I hate back-to-work weeks.
noonie, we’re all sending good vibes for you and yours and hoping these worrying times end soon.
Today, I got bupkiss 
Tupug
The MMP is moving sloooowly this week.
I got nuthin’ to liven it up though. Too bad Haze is workin’ so much.
Not only does “bupkis” refer to little balls of shit, there’s a dessert called “bupkis” that’s made by taking bread dough, forming it into little balls, rolling the balls in cinnamon sugar and then packing them into a loaf pan or bundt pan to bake–also known as the “cinnamon pull apart” for all the goyische types out there.
Everybody wish Himself a happy birthday, he’s 42 this year–the year of Life, The Universe and Everything. I’m turning fifty next month so this is an auspicious year for us I guess…
Good luck to the newly jobless that their state improves–let’s hope it’s one of those silver lining times when what seems like bad luck turns out to just be the setup for much better luck!
Bobbio, I so stole those sayings… Thanks!
Taxi, call 'em Thing One and Thing Two–problem solved, no inspection of private bits necessary!
{{{kai}}}
I joined a Biggest Loser competition a friend started–$40 buy in, runs January 12 to April 6, winner takes all, based on percentage of starting weight lost. I think I have a good shot at it, I’ve already pared down my food intake and now I just need to get out and walk more. I’m pricing out those mini-steppers since my house has no room for exercise equipment and I’ve discovered that noplace near my house carries them so I guess it’s online city for me. In the course of my journey to find this item I saw the coolest rowing machine ever–it has a big round clear tank full of water and that’s what provides the resistance, so it actually feels like rowing. If I had the room and the money I’d’ve bought that thing because I love rowing machines and that thing was just teh kewlniz…
I’m making Himself chicken fried steak, mashed NOT, gravy and steamed broccoli for dinner, with blueberry cheesecake for dessert. He also has his second bottle of Bushmill’s that’s been cracked open first thing this morning so even though he has to work this evening he should be feeling NO pain–don’t worry, he’s done tech support while inebriated on many different arcane chemical cocktails so a little ethanol is nuthin’…
I filed for unemployment this morning. It was surprisingly painless, except for the part where I compared my gross wages to the actual deposit into my bank account. I hope I get some of that back next year at tax time. I’ve also signed up with my old temp agency and am updating my resume. I hate, hate, hate working on my resume, that’s why it’s not current right now.
A group of those of those of us laid off are going to meet next week for lunch. Facebook has been very helpful in that regard. I suppose I need to update my LinkedIn account next.
The great news is that my COBRA payments will be $100 less than they were last time. That’s a huge relief. I was afraid they would be double, since my current plan is better than the last one.
Craig’s List does have job listings, not a lot, but some. It’s pretty sparse out there, but much better than it was a month ago. Of course, I have no idea how many people are applying for these jobs…
**
{{{kai}}}**
In my world, this is called Monkey Bread. Amazing how many names there are for one simple thing.
We’re not trying to inspect to decide on names, we’re trying to make sure they’re both girls so there aren’t any surprises. We want 2 gerbils, not 200!
Good luck with the job hunt, Shadow! Sounds like you’re off to a good start.
I’m kinda sad. A few years ago I “cat sat” for a friend for a couple months while she was away. I found out from their Christmas card that they moved this year and I emailed to say hi and catch up. In her reply she said they didn’t take the cat with them when they moved. I know I really couldn’t have brought their cat here. But I wish I’d known at the time so I could have tried. I’m sad to think of her being in a shelter. She was such a sweet cat. I can’t really approve of leaving the cat (or a dog either) behind because it’s just not convenient to move with them. Poor kitty.
Thank you all, for the support that I know I can count on from MMPers specifically, and Dopers in general. Babe passed yesterday (Thursday) morning. (Which also happened to be my son’s 16th birthday, poor kid.) Tuesday night after dropping me off at home from water aerobics, (my daughter’s mother-in-law Trish and I attend together) she (Trish) called to let me know that they had a stack fire going. I could hear the fireman in the background give the order to take the chainsaws and axes to the roof, windows and walls. Fortunately they have good insurance coverage, and the good news is that no lives, human or pets, were in danger. The bad news is that it’s freaking January in Alaska. We have just had a horrible cold snap for several weeks, and yesterday/last night we had a blizzard. BBBobio you might be interested to know that Trish’s husband, Charlie, has been a volunteer fireman and EMT for years.
I am afraid that I am rambling, I am going to curl up under a blanket and dive back into my book. Again, many thanks, and I’ll peek back in here later.
TGIF! I’ve got a poke roast thawing and a puppy about to melt down as she sits next to me. She can’t need to pee - she was just out. Stoopit dog.
Last night I started my first helmet liner. I’ve never knitted in rounds before, so this is a learning experience for me. Wonder how long it’ll take to finish it?
Laundry in the washer - I hope to get 3 or 4 loads done tonight. Tomorrow we’re going to like at a small boat for the kids - it’s very cheap and in need of work. We’ll balance the cheap against the work and decide if it’s worth it.
That’s all for now. Except for {{{kai}}}
((kai))
I have one more thing to do at work and then I’m heading home to disassemble furniture, rearrange my files for this year, and take a trip to the storage unit. I hate moving.
My FSA reimbursement check for 2008 came today. They didn’t quibble over any of my receipts, so it’s for the full amount. More money is always good.
It’s Quit O’Clock. The weekend has officially begun in Mahna-Land. Hurray!
dashes out, flinging confetti as she goes
{{{kai}}}
Another day, another night shift. I’ve got the weekend as well. I told RefSupervisor I didn’t really care since this is a week of hours I don’t have to work later (like Spring Break). Also met the new GA last night–we had a class together a couple of years ago. Seems like a nice guy. I’m tired of all the male English grad students being married, though.
{{{kai}}} I’m so sorry for your loss.
Howdy Y’all! Guess what?!? I get to start workin’ on Sunday. I know y’all are just green with envy.
I’ve been expectin’ it to happen. I figured sooner or later I’d have to decide on a Saturday or Sunday workday cause bidness is pickin’ up. So, today we talked. I will work 2pm-10pm Sundays, and 9am-5pm Mon.-Thurs. Plus more hours of course cause just a 40 hour work week is unheard of. Anywho, I will have Friday and Saturday off, so there’s that. At least it’s two days in a row and I figure one of ‘em bein’ a week day will be good for week day stuff like doctor and dentist appts. and such. Still 2-10 Sunday then show up at 9am Monday will be rough for a couple of weeks. Oh, and yes, it starts this Sunday.
taxi I’m glad you like your iphone. They’re jake lil’ devices. Not that I want one. Heck, all I ask of a “wireless” phone is just that. Be a phone. I don’t see all the excitement with iphones, Blackberries and all those other pda like devices. However, to everybody who buys one and has services with ATT, good for you. Keeps me in a paycheck.
I’ve been here, just lurking.
{{{{{{All of you guys}}}}}}
swampy, having a weekday off makes getting stuff done a LOT easier.
More hugs for kai.
Hey, SO! Glad to see you’re just in lurk mode.
I’d really like iPhones. My brother just got one and now I want one too. It’s not gonna happen for a while, though.
I liked the sayings, too, Bobbio.
I’m busy catching up with this season’s Burn Notice episodes. I’ve missed my laptop and hulu. Have I mentioned I’m happy to have it back?
Well…I guess I should look for some dinner, too.
Hey…does anyone want to get us started on Monday???
GT
TGIF blurf
Threats of 3 to 6 inches of fluffy white stuff heading this way tomorrow (thanks again snowbunny) but at least I don’t have any plans or appointments that need rescheduling. If it’s pretty enough I’ll lean out the window with the camera so you can see - other than that, I’ll probably sleep in - or rather, get up early, feed the cat, and go back to sleep.