It’s 3-stoopit-30 in the morning and we’re both awake. It’s gonna be an even longer day than I’d expected. I hope we can sleep on the plane. Dammit.
Make whoopy!!!
Pretty sure the liner doesn’t have a torpedo room. 
Not my fault they picked a fawlty boat!
That’s awesome!
TokyoBayer, I’m not so much worried about what the young lady is like, as I am about what she’ll think of us. I’m reassured now that if she’s in this program, she’s stable and mature and focused; not likely to go all “But Mary LOU!” in reverse. I mean, she won’t even be allowed to change her hairstyle while she’s here!
No, I’m worried about how we’re going to come off. The Labor Day party, for instance. Maybe she’ll think potato salad and s’mores are gross; maybe American/British classic rock and American country music are fingernails on the blackboard to her. (And maybe she says, “Eh, Eurovision? Haven’t watched since I was ten.”)
And then there’s my red-hat wearing husband. He’s serious about wanting her to watch Gutfeld with him. And I think that’s just as dangerous, in its way, as doing other things we’re not supposed to do, like give her alcohol. Isabella may have strong opinions about our president, and our government in general, and I wouldn’t want her to be in the position of having to bite her tongue. And if she doesn’t have opinions about our president/government, I don’t like the idea of her getting them from him. ETA: Although her country had a very hated president for quite a long time…
susan, are you working from an outline?
I also have had good experiences with CarMax. Bought a car from them and that process was painless and quick and when it was totaled less than three months later they cheerfully refunded the extended warranty I had bought with the car. No hemming or hawing, no quibbling, just refunded the whole amount without even pro-rating the months I had the car.
Those places lowball the value though so don’t tell the dealership you’ve done that - it’s possible just getting their offer puts it out on CarFax under your VIN so the dealership will know what it is and know that they don’t have to try too hard with their offer. Let the dealership extend you their offer first.
My son-in-law just got a Hyandai Sante Fe and is pleased with it. They needed to upgrade from a Toyota 4 Runner when baby #3 was imminent and 3 child safety seats would not fit across the second seat. Their other car is a Toyota Sierra van, I think a PHEV. It has lots of room, which I imagine you often need for all your soccer gear. Both are handsome vehicles.
Late night final and as I have done nothing constructive in the past three hours, let’s go straight to the scrolling…
JtC, so “Live Pro Wrestling and Gospel Concert”. I will admit that I never thought I’d see those two items paired up…but then again, perhaps it was inevitable… And that is a nice story on the Navajo jewelry, it is amazing the things we notice (and think about how many things we don’t notice or fail to process).
Rilchiam, that’s quite a mix of talent, wouldn’t mind hearing that concert myself. And nice to know you share a common ancestry with Isabella. And my only advice is don’t overthink this; she’s probably worrying about much the same things you are, but I’m sure it’ll work out just fine.
FCM, you’re flying coach probably, just hope there are some empty seats around you…
OK, after 10pm so need to work at a couple puzzles until I’m tired enough to sleep. Take care all.
Could be, but Navy jets are rare up here except for Sea Fair.
Did I mention we’re going whale-watching tomorrow? Lunch is provided, only everything is carb-heavy (except, possibly, the Caesar salad). I’ve made myself a turkey-and-provolone sandwich on low-carb bread, and a hard-boiled potato.
Dinner tonight was fajitas with cheese, sour cream, and Tapatio, on a low-carb tortilla. And wine.
I am. I normally don’t when I write short fiction, though I might have some ideas or phrases on scraps of paper or in my journal. For this novel, though, I felt like I needed more scaffolding, as when writing a long scholarly paper, so I wrote a basic outline and have refined it and clarified the details as I’ve gone along. Ihave many pages of notes, some of which I’ll condense or discard, but they’re organized by chapter, more or less, for easy reference. I must say it’s been a splendid process and deeply satisfying to unfold the story and discover elegant ways to resolve plot points and bring it together.
I’ve just finished the chapter and tomorrow will begin the antipenultimate one. I’ll start by checking my outline to besure I’ve included the character’s developmental trajectory that should appear in the last chapter, and that I’ve set up the foreshadowing for the next big reveal. I anticipate another 40k words to finish the draft, then maybe another 10-12k to fill in some earlier chapters in the next round.
Don’t worry about the food. Have some options, and be prepared to be flexible and it shouldn’t be an issue. She shouldn’t starve for one party.
She has her own room and the internet, so she won’t die if classic rock inhabits the rest of the house.
Yeah, that’s not fun. I don’t know how to handle that. We avoided talking politics with the German girl
Were off to the Expo again
We paid extra for Premium Economy, so we have space. Definitely worth the premium price!
We should be called to debark soon. More when we hit Heathrow!
We can do half-and-half!
I think I saved a few relationships (marriages?) by strenously pointing that out.
“Aw, no, it’s too much trouble.”
“Honey. We do this all. the. time”
“Oh, I’ll just pick { whatever } off my half.”
“Sweetie. Please. Let me make this the way you want it.”
Narrator: “For chrissakes.”
{ mind boggles }
Not one of my co-workers, not tonight.
I haven’t decided yet if imma have a chitty-chat with S.M. tomorrow, or just let this water go under the bridge.
But damn, girl. Nine solid hours of her being a passive aggressive beeeeyyyyyotch.
Part of me is amused. Girl, you can’t even buy your own beer; you think you can lord it all over grown ass adults?
But part of me is very not happy. This many hands on deck shoulda been a smooth, peaceful closing. Not everyone snipping at each other in an avalanche of passive aggressive bitchiness.
D’aaaawwwwwww.
Anyone who has negative opinions about melted chock’lit and a seared marshmallow can follow me to the Pit.
I’m sure your guest will be lovely, and is looking forward to new experiences!
Including potato salad!
Okay, imma decompress from Bitchy Co-worker and try to get some sleep.
Who thinks I should have a quiet chat with S.M. and who thinks I should just let it go?
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s my Firday. It’s also currently 80 degrees Ferret Height(26.6 Celsius), with a Heat Index of 91F(32.8C).
Yeah, some are better at part time jobs and some aren’t as responsible. But most homestay exchange students are going to be nicer to their host families.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 18c/64f with a predicted high of 21c/69f and rain showers. Weather app says “It’s just a little fucking rain. You don’t have to get all fucking shirty about it.” As if I would, it’s a bit of sky water.
I saw what you did there! It did suck, mightily, but not in the way it was intended to 
Taters other people are welcome to buy Dyson products, just won’t happen in our house. Just like our friends are welcome to drink in Wetherspoons pubs, but we won’t join them (Tim Martin is also a brexiteer despite employing a huge number of Eastern European bar staff who now can’t work for him).
When we order pizza, we have separate ones too. Our local place (five minutes walk from our front door) does a spicy Mexican pizza that he likes so that’s his usual order. They always ask twice about mine because I order a vegetarian pizza with extra beef! I like ground beef on my pizza but none of their standard options has all the extra veggies that I like, and it’s cheaper to order the veggie pizza with extra beef than it is to do the “build your own” version.
I’d be right there beside you! I can’t imagine how that combination works out, but I really need to know now!
That sounds like a fascinating story. It also sounds like you have people who will help you show Isabella a slice of your life, and that will be fun for everyone. I really hope you enjoy hosting her. My parents used to host foreign exchange students, usually only for 2-3 weeks. Most of them were pleasant, one of them was absolutely horrible, and one of them she remained friends with for many years and later also hosted that particular girl’s younger sister.
lily happy writing!
A little of both I think you should have a word with SM about it because it’s obviously bothering you. It might be that the other person wasn’t aware of how their words were received, and didn’t mean anything by it, but they still need to be reminded to think about what they say and how they say it. Then you can let it go
Yesterday’s journey home was a reward from the Travel Gods as it involved two delayed trains and meant I got home 20 minutes earlier than I expected to. Pleasant evening, did cat stuff, had dinner, fetched 'im indoors from the station and watched a film .
Today is going to be a busy one - I was up at 7.30am because Cherry jumped on the bed to tell me it was breakfast time so I had to get up. Fed the cats, cleaned the litter trays, refreshed the water bowls and wrote a list of things I need to to. So far I’ve written a birthday card that needs to go in the post today, and I’ve had a bath. I still need to wash my hair, pack, feed the cats and check litter trays again, put stuff out for the catsitters, empty the bins and reprogramme the automated light switch thingie because it turned the upstairs light on at the wrong time. Then we can leave the house and head on our merry little way to Germany.
I didn’t post this yesterday due to the stress. Mid afternoon I went to the sink to rinse out my coffee mug. There was no hot water. We had a vet appointment for Ralphie at 3.40. tried to relight the pilot but no luck. The controller was completely non responsive. The water heater is 20 years old. I called the plumbing company we have used before and they said the earliest would be next Thursday morning. As we were trying to work out the logistics Sunflower remembered that my nephew, B, said that his HVAC company had added plumbing services
I got hold of him as we were driving to the vet. He hooked me up with dispatch. This was at 3.30. I explained the issue and She said she would call me right back. At 4.00 she said the techs would be there at 5.00. We got home about 4.30. Right at 5.00 two trucks showed up and by 7.30 the new water heater was installed and they were cleaned up. They did a great job. I also got a bid to have them replace all of the old galvanized plumbing that would solve all of our low water pressure issues. That will be for another time.
As for now, it is 4.30am and I am looking forward to a nice hot shower…
That’s great to get it taken care of so quickly!
shoe, is this a normal thing with the person who is being bitchy or just something that is a one off? If it’s normal, I would definitely talk to S.M. Teamwork is importantly in any job and you don’t need someone messing up the balance.
So. Tell me why the certain fluffy someone who woke me up at 4:30 this morning is now sleeping on my lap whilst I have been awake from almost two hours?? Although I guess I’ll get even with her since she has a grooming appointment today.
Not sure what else is happening. Last night MusicMan and I went to see Fantastic Four and it was pretty good. Then we came home and he assembled my work from home desktop with my laptop, monitor, etc. It was very sweet of him to do that for me. Once it’s completely complete, I’ll be sure to post a picture.
FCM, safe travels!
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 72 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 95 and partly cloudy. As I mentioned earlier, mowage will be accomplished this mornin’. The rest of the day will be spent in high RDOS inactivities. Sup will be majik intartoobz pizza and sallit, just cause.
MOOOOOOM safe travels back to ‘Murrika.
shoe if it caused a lot of problems, then perhaps a discreet chat with SM would be good.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Sattidy Y’all!
We’re at Heathrow. Our bags are checked, we’ve been thru security, and we’re having a light lunch/snack before finding a spot to vegetate until our gate is assigned. 5 hours to takeoff!
Good morning all. Up about 5am for my morning bathroom TED talks (defecaTED and urinaTED) then went back to bed until 6:30. Have broken fast and actually have a plan of action for the day. Will visit the Dick’s Sporting Goods store, they have a sale for our soccer league and I have gift cards, so that should be a good combination. Then will exercise early, there is a soccer referee meeting at 2:30-4:30pm that is right across the street from the gym, and will finish out the day at Texas Roadhouse and have Sunday dinner on Saturday, cause I am a wild and crazy guy like that. So should be a busy day; definitely going to be a hot one, getting to 82F with a 1-in-4 chance of rain.
FCM, have a good flight home. I can usually afford Business Class for the real long-hauls, but Premium Economy is definitely a good idea.
flyboy, enjoy the whale watching.
susan, happy writing.
shoe, I’ll simply echo Sticky Buns advice, is this a ‘one-off’ or has it been a reoccuring issue. Might make a difference if others you work with have the same issue with her.
boo fae, have a safe and fun trip to Germany.
Hippie, that’s some great service, glad you didn’t have to wait nearly a week for a solution. Enjoy the shower.
swampy, may perform mowage tomorrow…or not.
And back to the morning internettin’. Have a good weekend all.