apropos of anything

1. They stalk me.
2. They put up “DROPOUT” signs when I quit a class that can teach me nothing.
3. They take great joy in telling me that my fish are dead.
4. They TATTLE on me to their wives.
5. They lend me their ugly sweaters so I have something to wear to ugly sweater contests.
6. They give me L’il Red Stepping Stools for my birthday.
7. They stream Cubs/Astros games for me when I have no television… after they taunt me about my television-less-ness.

For the Iraqis, the Palestinians, the Afghanis, and the Sudanese. For the foreign civilians in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. For the soldiers serving overseas and for their families. For my family. For friends. For kindergardeners who eat too much at the free school breakfast because their mothers didn’t make dinner the night before. For anyone who feels there isn’t anywhere to turn and for everyone who realizes there is. For all of us.

So many things only God can do…

Until today I did not think developers existed who were not familiar with Slashdot.

Then I had a conversation with some of our developers, who shrugged off their ignorance with the excuse that Slashdot is a “Unix thing.”

I don’t think I’ve been this shocked since certain people told me they didn’t know who Dominique Wilkins was.

There is a common theme in L.M. Montgomery books that three o’clock in the morning is the worst hour of the day because that is when all your fears are laid bare and you must face them. Of course she didn’t mean exactly three o’clock so much as some time late at night when you haven’t anything else going through your head, so you think about everything you’d rather not think about.

I am experiencing a sudden bout of horrified realization that I am in way over my head and can’t possibly do the things I’m considering; that if I’m flubbing up the initial processes so profoundly, I must be crackers for thinking I can proceed with the rest; that everyone involved is merely humoring me, the Absurd Young Thing who thinks she can sit at the big kids’ table.

I am determined not to be scared. Said determination does not exactly prevent me from being scared, though, and at this moment I am ready to give it all up because I am thoroughly terrified.

Anyone who reads either Dan or Stuart is familiar with the infamous duplicate data incidents, where their vendor informed them the reason they had duplicate data was because they had duplicate data.

Apparently, such clarity of thinking is not reserved for members of the software industry only:

This morning, I dropped my nose ring down the sink.

No, I haven’t forgotten that I have a post with this EXACT theme below. I just did it again. This time without water!

I put the nose ring on the countertop last night, next to a bottle of soap with a sticky label. This morning, when I picked up the soap to wash my hands, the nose ring came with it, and when I tried to separate the two, it fell down the drain. I wasn’t running any water, so I could see it, but attempting to extract it with a pair of tweezers only forced it further in. Removing the drain stop proved impossible again (although Ken, Ivan and Mike explained how to do that — it’s complicated!), so I undid the u-tube again… only this time nothing came out. I even ran the water at full blast for five minutes. The drains are clean, so I can only assume the crook of the ring is caught on the grate that holds the drain stop.

I think it is time to admit defeat on this particular piece of jewelry. Apparently, I am no longer meant to have it. I’m a little sad because it was my first real nose ring… but then, I am also the girl who routinely lost one earring out of a pair until she started checking for the earrings’ presence every fifteen minutes. (I outgrew that, in case you were wondering. My earrings stay on just fine now.) Now I just have to tell my parents.

Anybody up for some nose ring shopping?

Any SCJohnson advertisers who may be reading: Drano is some darn powerful stuff.

That is just one of the things I learned tonight. Even diluted in a sea of water, Drano does a marvelous job of burning your hands. Fortunately, mine were only submerged for a few seconds, and even then only a few fingertips. The RN at the
Optum Nurse Line thinks I’ll be just fine in a day or two.

I also discovered how to undo my bathroom sink, although removing the drain stop proved unachievable, much to my ire. I’ve seen other people do it, and my parents are missing drain stops in half their sinks because they chose not to put them back in. How come I couldn’t do it? And how come there are no instructions on Google?

If you’re wondering how I came to learn all these amazing bits of information, it’s because I accidentally washed my much-maligned nose ring down the bathroom sink. And then because I hadn’t Drano’d the drain recently and I couldn’t extract the drain stop, I had to pour down the Drano and run some water and trust it came to out the other end. I’m not entirely sure if I’ll ever wear it again (judging by the job the Drano did on my hands, there’s no way I’m putting that thing back in my nose until it has been boiled and rubbed down with alcohol), but I am glad to have it back. I’m also hoping I put the sink back together properly; it seemed okay when I tested it, but as I was doing the 15-minute hand-washing frenzy (to counteract the diluted Drano, of course), it leaked a tad. And then a lot. So… we’ll see? I guess I’ll be checking under the sink every day for the next week or so…

Mmm, cherries. They’re even good not as a restaurant!

The earlier part of my evening was good, though. Sarah and I went to Cherry, which may possibly have become my new favorite yuppie restaurant. The decor is gorgeous, even when taking into account my bias towards all things red, and the food is even better. I am not quite sure how the cherry theme fits into their Asian fusion cuisine, but I would eat this food even if the restaurant were called Camembert. Sarah kept comparing her tuna to steak, and my grouper was fabulous. I think I may have to go once a month!

We followed it up with a showing of Raising Helen, which was not as bad as I thought it might be. Formulaic, yes. I spent part of the movie disliking Helen, although I had fun watching her maneuver the fashion world. My recommendation? Rent it with friends, especially so you can fully mock the horrible prom dress.