Morning all. Not much time this morning - my parents fly out tonight, so we are cramming all our last minute stuff into a few more hours.
GT, I should be able to come up with a few paragraphs of whining about going back to work after 8 months maternity leave as well as a few gratuitous cute baby photos, so sign me up for next Monday (subject to interlopers, who seem to be more common these days!).
More later folks!
Re: swampy - I say we start a petition!
*Dear Miller Brewery:
Please allow Swampington Bear to change his schedule to facilitate peer-to-peer interaction necessary to the sanity of many friends worldwide.
Regards to those nice Coors people.
Yours sincerely.
Mumpers Worldwide*
Thanks for stepping up, Dotty. More pictures…yay!
Ooooh, that means the percussion convention is back in Columbus again (IIRC there was some doubt). It’s really cool. I work near the Convention Center and there are always interesting people running around during that convention and fun sounds. And sometimes even groups set up in the halls playing music. (The convention center doubles as an all-weather walking path for lots of people.)
Awake again. Perhaps my body will someday consider resuming a schedule of, say, 5 hours in a row of sleep. This is getting old.
GT
Happy Hallowe’en!
Morning all…it’s a beautiful sunny morning here and so mild I was tempted to leave my coat at home today. We had our first trick-or-treaters round last night, I sent them away and had to explain to them that last night was Devil’s Night and that’s a whole different kind of fun.
Hopefully they’ll come back tonight when they’ll get what they were expecting to get last night, if you see what I mean. The porch is decorated, the treats will be ready, the costumes are sorted out, and they’ve got about 2hrs to catch us at home before we got to the pub. In our costumes, of course.
CookieKid - sometimes b/fs just need a slap round the chops with a wet trout, don’t they? Still, mac’n’cheese followed by cookies is a great alternative, and I’m sure I can find a golf student to smoulder a bit for you. I was hoping to get a bunch of them together for the weekend 'cos we’re having a bonfire party on Saturday night so I’ll need a Guy for the top of the fire!
Sean - have your toes fallen off yet? I remember breaking a toe ages ago after I banged it on a door, it went a fabulous shade of purple and black, then yellow and green. It looked pretty impressive for a week or so.
Mac’N’Cheese party? Can I join? At last, something I can cook and tastes good! 
**GT **-- who goosed you? :: puts up halo, whistles :: Was it anyone in particular?
Oh, and I think **Roo **is in California… (rimshot, d&r)
Purple, we’re always ready to engage in diversionary tactics, here. Well, at least some of us are always ready… 
**SCL **-- we all knew you’d do great on the job! 
Missed Monday and Tuesday… has **McUne **reported from her weekend getaway?
**Shadow **-- glad there’s no damage from the quake! Whaddyamean only 5.6!? :eek: 5.6 here will probably flatten half the country! (And it will not be funny, because we’re due within the next few dozen year, too!! :eek: :eek: )
I’m back at work, and have my Internet back… the world (or at least the MMP) is once again in continuous danger
I finally went back and actually read the OP!
Great OP, FCM – and correct in so many ways. In reality, I think the Civil Service as well as the Military are groups of people. People just like any others – some good, some bad and some indifferent – but ultimately little different than any group of people working together. Which in general means that there are some squeaky wheels, but **most **people want to do their job, and get some satisfaction out of doing it well.
It’s the elected politicians (and worse, the non- elected ones, like in the Military) who give both the organizations bad names. :mad: 
OK…I’ve given up and am officially awake.
Glad the earthquake wasn’t too bad, Shadow.
Lunch, I believe you know the answer to that question. Don’t even try that innocent look on me, although I have to admit it’s cute. ::Makes feeble attempt to look sternly TelAviv-wards::
Guess I should contemplate finding out what I’m wearing today, making lunch (NOL), and locating breakfast.
At least it’s Wednesday.
GT
Who, me? I dunno nuttin’! :
:
Due East should work, as long as your field of vision isn’t too restricted 
I’ll tell you when I feel your gaze, and we can then try and calculate The Speed of “Look”
Or you can just give in to Teh Cute
::swoons::
GT, my brother wrote that he always likes it when the convention is in Columbus; he says there are great food choices there (he mentioned Greek, German and Italian). Now he does live in a small town in the TX panhandle, so there probably aren’t too many food choices where he lives. And yes, he’s a percussionist.
I’m up and caffeinating … time to go to work. Good day, all, and Dotty, enjoy your last day with the parents!
Oh yeah and …
HAPPY HALLOWEEN
know what I hate about Hallowe’en? Costumeless teenagers who ring doorbells after 8pm. (heh - I was one of them in college) Actually I kinda hate going up and down the stairs so I tend to stay out untl at least 9pm if I can help it.
At the office, my department has no spirit. Upstairs they go all out. We have no morale. That “issue” this weekend? I was told I damaged morale. You wanna know what damages morale? The goddammed workload with no relief in sight. The lack of windows and no, posters of outdoor scenes are not a reasonable substitute. The overwhelming feeling that management doesn’t care about the bottom rungers (I don’t share that feeling - I don’t care one way or the other; just give me my paycheck and leave me alone to get the work done) So I thought about weearing a costume today - I think I have one that fits - but nah - I have to go to PT afterwards and the costume I was going to wear isn’t stretchy enough for my exercises (no, I couldn’t bring something to change into, it takes me too long to do that, and sometimes puts me in a bad mood)
Morning, kiddies.
I had a hell of a shock yesterday. I went to one of those chinese places Sean was steering me to (I knew about them already), got a menu, and went to VWife’s room. I walked in to see my MiL and SiL occupying all of the available chairs…
Just in case you don’t know the story, they live in Indianapolis, about 700 miles away. MiL had asked for the mailing address of the rehab unit right after she was transferred, but I figured they were just going to send a care package.
Of course, VWife, being the headcase she is, saw them and burst into tears because she assumed they were there to tell her bad news about VKind. She never considered theat they were there to visit after major traumatic surgery… :dubious: :rolleyes:
I made up a quick care package when I got home last night and left it with VWife this morning. Of course, I can say with [del]an evil smirk[/del]a straight face that I’ve given both of them my nuts.
In other news, I have 2 big bags of chocolate to add to the pots tonight at the fire station for trick or treating. [del]Rotting kid’s teeth[/del]Passing out candy is such a blast. 
The only downside is I’ll miss my date with Chuck; thank Og for Tivo.
Why do ghosts not have sex?
Hollow weenies.
HAPPY
HALLOWE’EN!!!
How 'zat?
Thanks for all the support about gettin’ me off third shift, which, btw, in case I haven’t mentioned it before… I HATE!!! I’m never ever ever never ever gonna like it either.
Home and showered. Soon I’m off to beddy bye. This day sleepin’ stuff is just too weird. Thank Og for melatonin.
Yays, boos, hugs, gropes and so forth as appropriate/inappropriate.
Later Y’all!
Happy Halloween! I’m caffeinating, and looking for motivation to go do laundry.
swampy, I agree about third shift. I gotta be at work at 0300 tomorrow(today?) to do the seasonal redo.
Mornin’, mumpers!
H A P P Y HA L L O W E E N I E!
We don’t do much around the Reborn house, just hand out candy. I dislike the non-costumed teenagers, too. I heard a suggestion on the radio the other day, give good candy to costumed kids, and give out the nasty candy to non-costumed punks. Like those orange and black wrapped peanut butter thingies… MWAHAHAHAHA!
(self-righteously) I trick-or-treated until I was sixteen, but I always wore a damn good costume. Always. f I were going to beg for chocolate, I need to be properly dressed.
And I just love getting dressed up. Which I’ll do before work tonight. And then unload remaindered books in fairly-accurate 12th century. Maybe I’ll strangle Idiot with my sleeves. Which are very long.
And tomorrow is the official Buy Cheap Chocolate Day! Everyone rejoice! I hope there are still lots of peanut butter cups when I get to the store.
Time for tea, and then hitting the housework and fretting over my costume.
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HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Why is it that when I try to get to bed a little earlier, I end up feeling kinda crappy in a way that precludes sleep? sigh I did eventually get to sleep and still got enough sleep to get my by, but sheesh. You’d think my body was conspiring against me. In reality, it was probably the KFC. Greasy, soggy KFC. Man, sometimes I hate that place. They were out of medium coleslaws, so did they offer me an alternative? No, they gave me two smalls. Med = 250ml. Small = 100ml. Nice to know they’d rather short change me than give me a bit extra for the trouble. And the gravy was watered down and bland. And the chicken was overcooked. And the fries were limp. But their fries are always limp. What is it with Yum! Brands and their hatred for salt, anyway? They don’t salt KFC’s fries and they stopped salting Taco Bell’s nachos. Have you ever eaten their nachos by themselves? The lack of salt really brings out the zesty, used oil flavour. That reminds me. I’m out of salt.
Anyway, enough free association. I’m awake and caffeinating. I still can’t seem to get into the swing of taking vitamins on a daily basis every morning. I want to take them but I don’t think I’ve been doing so for long enough yet that muscle memory just takes over. I hate that though. I’ve forgotten to take them three times since I started and had to take them when I got home – I don’t know if it’s true or not but I seem to recall that taking medications or vitamins or whathaveyou on a daily basis is good, but missing out on a day is like losing several days’ worth of the benefits. Even if it isn’t true it’s still better to take them than not.
Back after break for responses.
All the pretty yellow leaves that I could see out the window from my work cube are gone. It’s heading towards winter, isn’t it?
I made chicken parm (baked, not fried though) for dinner last night, and it tasted really good. I have to do that more often.
Our cat was funny last night. We were in the office working on stuff and heard her crying. I went to investigate, and she was calling us to ask for help in catching the moth that was high up on the wall. So KeithT held her up to try to catch it, which only sort of worked so eventually we just knocked the moth onto the floor and then she chased it and caught it and released it and chased it and caught it and released it and so on. Cats are funny.
What exactly is the point of a cat playing with its food though? Doesn’t really seem like a good choice in evolutionary terms to expend energy playing with one’s food instead of just dispatching it and eating it. Ironically, the hamster is a highly efficient little killer. With all of his two ounces of weight, he will take on grasshoppers as long as he is and have them killed and partially devoured in 2 seconds flat. Which is really very funny to watch. He’s so tiny and harmless looking and then he turns into this violent little beast. It’s just so different from the way the cat goes about hunting though. It’s interesting.
I wonder what I should be working on… My work To Do list is all checked off. Guess I should surf teh interwebs more, huh?
Back.
It’s funny, I don’t remember a single costume I dressed up in for Halloween except for the last year (I was 13) when we made a failed attempt to dress me up as Freddy Krueger. Failed, because the paint stung my apparently too-sensitive skin. I ended up not going trick-or-treating that night – I wasn’t really in the mood to anyway; I felt a little old for it.
Rosie - We don’t do anything here for Halloween, but we’re all fine with that. Everyone here is a good bunch of folk so there’s none of that corporate BS floating around, and I consider myself lucky for that; I’ve waded through too much of it already in my career. Does your place at least do something for Christmas? That’s the one season we do get all festive for around here.
Shades - I’ve never experienced an earthquake up-close and personal, despite there having been at least two that I’d heard about that weren’t too far from where I lived. Others around he apparently felt it (though mildly) but I didn’t even know about it 'til others mentioned it. I can only imagine what having one right underneath me would be like. :: shudder ::
Taxi - Our cats do more or less the same thing. If they see a fly or moth or other insect high up on a wall they’ll start making little chirps and pacing back and forth and tentatively putting paws to the wall trying to figure out how they were going to get at it. I’ll usually try and knock it off the wall so they can scamper after it. Then when they catch it they’re never quite sure what they’re supposed to do with it. They take a few experimental nips at it, then they’ll try and chase it some more, watch it as it flutters on the carpet, bat at it a bit, sniff it, and then eventually when they tire of the game, one of them will finally decide it has been tenderized enough and promptly consume it. I think maybe playing with it helps them hone their skills for the next hapless creature to cross their paths.
Hamsters eat bugs? I always thought they were herbivores…
Good Lord, Mindy, that is one awesome jack o’lantern.
Need coffee.
Morning. I won’t say “good” because it’s been a loooong time since 24 hours ago. Unlike Swampy, I don’t hate third shift in and of itself – I do, however, mind staying up and working third shift after I’ve already worked the previous first and second shift, too. I finally quit and went to bed about 6:15 this morning, caught a few hours of sleep, got up at 10:00, and am back to it; I’ve still got a third of that insanely huge job to finish. It’s a damn good thing they pay me through the nose, and then some, for pulling stunts like this!
Anyway, Happy Halloween. And a rousing bah humbug to you all. There’s virtually no trick-or-treating around here, so we just leave the porch light off. Our first year we tried, and got about 4 kids all evening. I guess the kids all go to carefully screened parties these days for their trick-or-treating. What’s the fun in that? It’s going up to all those scary strange houses that makes it fun!
And speaking of bah humbug, I turned on the TV this morning and there they were on one of the morning shows talking about (a) how many calories are in that candy and (b) how “moderation is the key.” Good heavens, people, what happened to (a) the more calories the better! and (b) can I eat just one more candy bar and not throw up? People these days, they’re ruining all the good holidays for kids. …grumble grumble…
I guess I’d better get back to work, and stop raining on everyone’s candy fest. However, tomorrow I’ll be at the store stocking up on cheap stale candy corn, the staler the better! Yum, stale candy corn!