You are home sick for the fifth day in a row. You are feeling better today, though your partner is still in the weeds with it--doubled over coughing up a hedgehog every five minutes, whining plaintively in a manner that can best be described as "reasonable." The doctor said it was the flu, and to come back if symptoms persist after seven days. ( Read more... )

7:30pm: John books a new flight at 6:15am the following morning.
8:00pm: John buys supplies for the long, cold night ahead-two more Terry Pratchett books, a sandwich, a cup of coffee bigger than his head, and a pack of cigarettes.
9:30pm: Shops and food stands close. An eerie silence descends on the Newark airport.
11:00pm: A lone janitor mops the ( Read more... )

There's been a major shakeup at our organization and I'm pleased to find that one part of it is that we've promoted an old friend of mine from college. He was apparently a valet in the garage, and now is a product manager ( Read more... )

Half asleep Laura: Do you think squirrels can be evil?
John: No. I don't think so. [upon reflection] Well, yes. But just naturally. Not any more so than all squirrels.
Half asleep Laura: What I'm concerned about is Terminator-like robots wearing a squirrel's skin.

Things I just learned from a half-asleep Laura about endangered species:

1. You have to be nice to them, because they're endangered.
2. If you see an endangered animal, you have to give it a birthday present. Even if it's not the animal's birthday.
3. This is true for mean animals as well.
4. If the animal's, like, an endangered crocodile or something, you have ( Read more... )

Last night, Laura was in bed before me and mostly asleep. Getting into bed, I stole some of her blankets and she rolled over and muttered unhappily. Then followed:Me: Ha! You can't have covers for warmth!
Laura: I don't need warmth. All I need is my brain. And my guitar!
Me: Guitar?
Laura: Brain guitar. Doot doot do do doot, doot doot do do ( Read more... )

From today's National Weather Service forecast :Showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm before 1pm, then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1pm.
Thank god. 1pm is safe.

From a NYT article on a different topic:The poll found that three-fourths of those surveyed said the government should try to recover the bonus money paid by A.I.G. But the support for recovering the bonus money drops when the method of recovery is taxation.
So, to summarize:

• People want the government to step in and take money from individuals that ( Read more... )

So I've become fed up with my awful phone. I thought I could make it through the 2-year contract with T-Mobile (with whom I'm satisfied as a carrier) and get rid of my piece-of-crap Nokia Music XPress, but I don't think I can make it another 8 months. It's a bad music player, has horrible battery life, poor call quality, bad ergonomics... ( Read more... )

Having finally given in and watched the first couple of episodes of Lost, Laura and I have been discussing how it will end. Now, we've not watched a lot, so there are a number of directions it could take. As such, I've compiled exactly eight options. As we watch more, I expect the list to narrow through a series of broad hints until only one of ( Read more... )