nemaihne

Change the name (to rats) and It Could Be You

2008-06-26T02:26:14Z

Ganked from Hob, the book quiz:

You're Watership Down!

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

That last line is oddly apropos, no?

WOOT! JoCo is a Go!

2008-05-28T04:17:06Z

I found a partial list of confirmed bands for PAX. Since they're all somewhat fringe, confirmed means somebody asked the performers themselves, since Khoo is being his usual genial but clandestine self. (I *know* the lineup is already fixed.) Anyway, huzzah. Johnathan Coulton, MC Frontalot and MC Chris all made the list. As did the Minibosses who aren't really my thing, but they do make all those NES themes worth dancing to. There is also evidently some Lovecraftian sort of band, but I've been loathe to look up who they are as I remember from Call of Cthulu that every point of arcane wisdom removes a point of sanity in return.

OK, got some 'official' news. In addition to JoCo, MC Front, MC Chris and 'Darkest of the Hillside Thickets' the Cthuloid band (imagine how much fun their minions must have carving a name like that into the top of their desks in homeroom-have a heart, guys, shorten the name) there will be the Minibosses, who I actually like better live than on disk, TheOneUps, Freezepop and Anamanaguchi.
Keynote this year will be Ken Levine of Bioshock fame. And while I <3 that little Randian sendup to no end, I don't think he'll be anywhere as good as Wil Wheaton was. Maybe I'm just sour grapesing because Joss Whedon's name was tossed about somewhat (as was Bruce Campbell's who would have been my choice) and the malicious little irony demon in me would have enjoyed that. But neither have really been active in the game market this year. And Levine is sure to have some interesting tidbits to hand the crowd, what with a movie in the works and B2 looming on the horizon. I can't wait 'til August.

Leaving a Mark

2008-05-10T21:43:24Z

I was listening today to an interview with a Holocaist survivor from Holland. I am always fascinated by these stories, both because I grew up helping Mr. Lieberman or because I am so shocked at the absence of empathy and even humanity that has to have been prevalent in the German Nazi regime. I guess that's topical because of that Austian monster who finally got caught last week. But more important was her message about leaving a mark and the will to live. The amount of suffering this woman has gone though is unimaginable to myself or to anyone I know. It's like wrapping your brain arount the actual distance around the earth. Can't be done, only experienced. The vastness is too much for us to actually picture, we just fool ourselved into thinking we can. But the idea of leaving a mark, a link in a chain that stretches off into the distant past and reaches forward into the future? That I can understand at a fundamental level. I think most of us on LJ or any other blog can- after all that's what we're doing here. We are leaving a bit of ourselves for others to discover. Jen's journal was very important to me before her hisband usurped it for personal gain. I visit most of my friends' blogs even if they don't update often. It's still good to check up on them, and hitting the blog is an inobtrusive way to do so.

One Word Meme

2008-05-08T03:02:56Z

Ganked from White Raven 'cause I could:

The kind of answers I usually get from my husband when he's in a raid.

1. Where is your cell phone? Dunno

2. Your significant other? Azeroth

3. Your hair? independent.

4. Your mother? dead

5. Your father? Kentucky

6. Your favorite thing? husband

7. Your dream last night? bloody

8. Your favorite drink? diet

9. Your dream/goal? experience

10. The room you're in? living

11. Your ex? who?

12. Your fear? consequences

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? north

14. Where were you last night? garage

15. What you're not? motivated

16. Muffins? blueberry

17. One of your wish list items? company

18. Where you grew up? Cincinnati

19. The last thing you did? chewed

20. What are you wearing? pyjamas

21. Your TV? big

22. Your pets? soporific

23. Your computer? laptop

24. Your life? passing

25. Your mood? sleepy

26. Missing someone? usually

27. Your car? shared

28. Something you're not wearing? socks

29. Favorite Store? amazon

30. Your summer? close

31. Like someone? lots

32. Your favorite color? dichroic

33. When is the last time you laughed? today

34. Last time you cried? Friday

35. Who will/would re-post this? nobody

WoW (the gaming kind, not the motorcycling kind)

2008-05-01T20:15:37Z

First, a picture of a behbeh Tauren, and then the flash10's I wrote a few weeks ago, just so they're posted somewhere:

1. Unstealthed by the dog, he knew his death was imminent.

2. “Silversage,” he cried, running straight into a pack of Infernals.

3. She loathed their healer the length of her corpse run.

4. It is never a pleasant, sunny day in Alterac Valley.

5. The Wolpertinger gnawed happily on a gnome rib and mewled.

Flahs 10

2008-04-27T22:06:06Z

He bought the convertable in grey to match his hair.

Non-Committal Fiction

2008-04-27T21:44:39Z

I've decided it's time to return this journal to it's original purpose- writing. But I haven't been writing much lately, and I've realized that's because I haven't been riding. Riding is one of the few thiungs that puts me in the moment- no past and no future interference. So I tend to write in the back of my mind while I'm paying attention to the road. But that's an aside. I have no idea if this will go anywhere, but I want to make a concentrated effort to write flash fiction (which by my definition is 10, 25 59 or 60 words) and drabbles (100 words) regarding anything or anyone, just so long as I do it. I like the shorter sets because you focus more on what's not being said more than what is and I love white space.

Planktonic

2008-04-27T19:17:12Z

The only problem with not having redefined myself after my motorcycling misadventures is that without a singular identifying characteristic, I don't have a community of like minded friends to share it with. I am involved in a rather large number of these groups but not deeply or passionately enough to participate in the groupthink that goes with it. I guess with all of those, I am probably still closest to sportbikes- odd, since my own bike is a standard and I rarely rode even Mr. N's Aprilia. (Altough I have to admit, it was like magic compared to the Triumph.) But I still sneer slightly and raise my hackles when I see riders doing deliberately stupid things like riding without decent gear. But I haven't been on the bike in months. I wonder if refusing to move on means I'm going back to it or is just something that keeps me from moving forward to the next thing. After all, I still have my hockey gear festering in the garage. But I'll never return to that community and I know it- I just keep the gear around in case I want to head back to the ice for some non-committal pick up. And commitment is the issue, I think. There are a lot of other communities I hang out on the fringe of, LJ for one. But I'm never going to jump into it wholeheartedly, nor am I going to agree with most of the groupthink for any of the communities on here that I have joined- most notably fandom and rat owners. I play WoW way too much, but I'm never going to join a serious guild or do 25 man raids. Not going to happen- people get psycho about that stuff once they hit critical mass. Which is how I feel about most groups. I guess I'm just a misanthrope. But I think it says something I'm writing this here instead of on the real blog. Why do I care which of my friends and family are subjected to this egotistical whining? I dunno. I do know that this is mostly because I'm thinking of dropping out as an enforcer at PAX, and I'm feeling an odd sort of angst about that. So I'm trying to figure it out, but I don't have any other non-committed friends to ask. Don't get me wrong. I actually find life more comfortable on the outside looking in. I prefer the objectivity it brings, and the slightly colored subjectivities taken as reality in most communities usually horrifies me. (Which is how I know I still belong in the local riding community, since the mainstream population doesn't think enough about motorcycles to share the local view on gear.) So I'm not unhappy out here. But sometimes, it feels just a little weird to be floating in the ether.

Joy of Rat Ownership, # 463

2008-04-15T20:45:24Z

Opening the whimpering vacuum cleaner to find a huge banana chip clogging the air tube and three bits of peanut shell making a nearly airtight seal around its perimeter.

But on the lighter side, this tax deadline taxes are long done, filed and spent. Woo hoo. This year's was easy, which never thrills me because the tricky years almost always involve windfalls. Plus, some days I kind of miss bookkeeping.

Book Meme

2008-04-13T23:17:48Z

Stolen from sahiya because I am a copycat. But let's just call it an homage.

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open it on page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Copy the next three sentences into your blog.
5. Tag five people.
Just to show how odd out I am, this isn't even a book I've read or will read, but here goes:

When we allocate an object of type HANDLE in a new expression, the compiler will first look in the scope of HANDLE for an OPERATOR NEW. If it doesn't find one, then it will use an OPERATOR NEW from the global scope. A similar situation holds for OPERATOR DELETE, so it generally makes sense to define a member OPERATOR DELETE if you define a member OPERATOR NEW, and vice versa.

-from 'C++ Common Knowledge" by the most likely fabulously engaging Stephen C Dewhurst and I'm very sorry I will probably never read anything he wrote, but C is just a letter to me, and no more important than the other 25.

I don't know if Mr. N had read it either, but I held it up and asked him if it was good and he nodded. This was the closest book to his computer (which I've appropriated), about four inches from the monitor. I found it in a mishmash pile containing a phone, camera, some foam earplugs, some silver lined baggie, and a bunch of paper including a Motorcycle Consumer News, the tag from his new(ish) wool coat and some highly classified information about Tenna's company's buyout.

Spoiling

2008-04-10T22:29:40Z

Today my Irish is up in a big way. I know that's a bit of a slur, but since I'm mostly Irish I figure I can get away with it. Besides, like I said I'm spoiling, so inflammatory comments are just part of the program. I don't think I've been this ready to jump down someone's throat since I realized Jen's husband was using her death to cast a net for new scrogging partners. Grrr. I still get violently angry over that. At least this week, it's not life and death. It's not even much at all, just a little quirky bit about my brother and SIL's trip out next week, but as sometimes happens, the tiny little glitch had a snowball effect and now I'm ready to take someone's head off.
My SIL, the same one who bitches a storm if we don't drop all plans during our visits and haul ourselves fifty miles across town to see them and doesn't quite understand why my brother's family isn't the entirety of our trips back to Ohio? The one who doesn't quite approve of the fact we don't waste every Christmas dragging our rears to the midwest? The one who thinks the onus is on us to come to them because 'we're not working' in the middle of our trips back? She lied about the dates they were out here. She said Wed-Sun, and they had plans on Saturday. It turns out they're arriving this Sunday and my brother was very confused when I corrected him on the day of his flight out. It turns out they're headed for wine country for the first few days. I get that, time alone with your spouse is precious when you have kids. Heck, it's precious for me and we don't. But lying? That got me. In our family we've always run under the theory that truth is precious- even to the point of being the ones who actually say the ugly things that need to be said. (My mother had a problem with saying the ugly things that didn't need said, and that's mostly why I'm posting this and also why this isn't on Kratzen. I need to vent, and too many Ohioans read the real blog.) This morning, I woke up realizing just how insulted I was and my mood has been getting darker ever since. It occurred to me it's been six or seven years since my brother has even seen what my house looks like in the ONE time they came to actually visit us instead of going to SF or wine country instead. I am tempted to point out the misbehavior even though I know it was discussed in their household as soon as my brother hung up the phone. I'm now thinking I need some sort of small gesture to make up for the slight. So what do you think? Slide or not slide on this? I know every family has their irksome relations, and trust me, this is mild for mine, but I don't like the tone of it. What did you do in a similar situation?

'Cut and Paste' Devalues The Educational Merits of Punishment

2008-03-27T21:47:48Z

I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.
I will not get caught up in Wank again, no matter how delicious or funny it is.

Sigh. I'm sure it's already too late. Is there some sort of twelve step program for this?

Stop the Presses: An Actual HP Related Post

2008-03-25T02:34:25Z

Kudos to Leaky Cauldron for finally cutting ties with Vander Ark. The reason fandom is called fan-dom is because it is done for the love of whatever it is you're a fan of. When you do it for money, it's called licensing.

nemaihne @ 2008-03-23T00:48:00

2008-03-23T00:57:23Z

Ok, well, when one goes camping in 40 degree or possibly colder weather, one should really have the proper gear. And once one thinks the proper gear is had, one should really test said equipment before setting out. But when that doesn't work, throwing it all to the wind seems to be fine, too.
While I don't recommend the stop at Target to buy gear and the grocery store to buy provisions on the way to the campsite theory of preparing yourself for camping, it does actually seem to work in a pinch. Which is good because I arrived after dark, and working was infinitely better than not working. Honestly, I'd planned to be better prepared. You know: buy gear, unbox said gear, test gear to see if I needed anything, buy food, pack and the like. I'd also planned to finish my Craftster swap package, get a birthday present and organize the Easter dinner that it turns out no one is coming to anyway. But instead I spent four and a half hours scrambling around the house on my hands and knees during RatFind2008- Bayliss decided to pull a Steve McQueen and managed to elude authorities all day by hiding inside the living room couch. How such a fat rat made it that far that fast is beyond me. But I learned my lesson- I'll fatten him up even more so the little bugger won't be able to squeeze under the couch next time. ;)
Back from camping now and off to said birthday dinner. Sadly, the Jeep is still a shambles from packing with little feeling in my fingers. But now I've got tomorrow to figure it out.

statistical Probability is None

2008-03-22T01:16:38Z

I supposed it's actually possible to be less prepared to camp tonight than I am, but I'm pretty sure that's only in a quantuum theoretical way. Wish me luck as I venture into the wilds wondering if there's any Donner blood in my geneology.

Night Watch Radio Play

2008-03-02T06:46:02Z

WOOT! Here's part one of Pratchett's Night Watch which broadcast on BBC the other night- the link is on the left side bar. I find it interesting for two reasons, one because the timing is much more important to the humor than I gave credit since I figured everyone reads at a different pace, and two that I was being way, way to strict about my lack of obvious exposition when I was trying to write mine for the contest last year. Yeesh. Ah well, live and learn. I have no idea when the next part is up.

Umm, hi

2008-02-24T22:46:13Z

Oops. I got better and quit writing anything online. Eh well. February's been much more busy and, except calc, much better. I just can't get into the class this semester. Plus, I seem to be amid a manic flush of craftiness, which is more of a physical craft thing than anything sneaky. (Shame, I know.)
Summer plans have begun to get made and I'm pretty excited. My, well not my oldest friend but the one with the largest "friends = delta years" quotient, is coming in June. We're trying to decide how screwed we are for lodging for MotoGPUS in July, MotoGPIndianapolis in September has no lodging issues since we'll just stay with family in Cincinnati, but we're trying to decide how long we can spend back there because two weeks before we'll be headed to PAX and are taking the train- which adds a few days but really makes the trip. Really, PAX is the only definite thing except for whether I'll be an enforcer again this year. I don't know. It really depends on whether we can convince any friends to go with us- but sometimes I just have to suck up the fact we are the biggest geeks. Or maybe I am. In punishment for Mr. N's disinterest in the comic convention this weekend, I went nuts on the stove finally. The stove is approximately the size of a VW and twice the weight, and I wanted to clean behind it. So, many creative ideas later we moved it out. Oh boy. Bad contract work, a bodge job that I was a party to on the last renovation and just serious mess. There were three inches worth of broken tile and grout piled up against a wall that was swiss cheesed with holes from installing the stove. That cleaned, we ripped up old tile and created a few more holes because at this point, why not? Now we are attempting to rip off the back of the stove and modify it so I can create a new tile backsplash despite the fact that neither of us have ever done any tiling before. Do you think Mr. N is regretting not sitting in on a panel or wandering around the dealer room yet? Next year, he'll suggest pre-registering...

Sick and Tired

2008-01-30T17:11:04Z

Well, I'm tired from the drugs mostly- they make me very sleepy. But I'm getting really sick of being cooped up. The doctor said I should see slow improvement and I was except for an attempt at my calculus class yesterday that turned out to be a capital-BI Bad Idea. Today would have involved a full-on day of classes plus ringing the south bay and over a hundred miles of driving. So I said F-it: I'm out of classes again and yet more bored with the eenternets ability to entertain. Sigh. Housework and projects are completely out for the same reason as class. I'd work ahead on mathy things, but have already discovered that transcendentals plus narcotics leads to some pretty creative calculations. So c'mon, I don't like to plead. Do something interesting and entertain me already.

Bored Now

2008-01-28T06:54:07Z

Have spent much of the weekend on the couch, except for a brief jaunt out to the medical foundation today. You know when you're watching hockey and they say; "So and so is out with back spasms?" I always thought they meant like when the muscles start twitching. Real back spasms are much more boring- except when you absolutely can't move a certain way because of the pain. That's really, really weird. And frustrating. I'm used to just ignoring complaints and getting on with it, but with the spasm I can't and it really cheezes me off when I'm blocked from making a movement. Going to check on the rats from the living room is now a fifteen minute process instead of instantaneous and I'm going stir crazy locked into one reclining position or another.

The gist of this is I would appreciate everyone posting every single thing they're doing right now simply to entertain me while I'm trapped on the couch. It's not too much to ask, is it? :)

nemaihne @ 2008-01-24T12:48:00

2008-01-24T20:49:08Z

I have eenternets.
I have EEEEENTERNETZ!!!!!!

::happydance::

That is all.

F%&$!!!!!!

2008-01-11T17:09:08Z

I just found out the Dakar was cancelled because of terrorism this year. And I'm finally somewhere where I could get good coverage of it. Damn it all to Hell.

nemaihne @ 2008-01-11T09:46:00

2008-01-11T10:05:56Z

Ok, they've changed LJ or the program I'm using to access the net is doing something weird so I can't figure out how to embed links and don't care enough to make the effort.
Here's the Sarah Siddons portrait I liked. She just seemed like such a character from her face:
http://oil-paintings.com.au/htmlimg/image-44597.htm
There was also this amazing painting in the science museum that I can't seem to find. Fortunately Mr. N took a picture of it for me. Hopefully, it's downloaded well.

Winter Repeats

2008-01-11T09:40:53Z

So if you're wondering why there might be double posting between here and Kratzen, it's because I have to wait for the long suffering husband to awake to get me into my real blog. It figures, since I've finally gotten the energy back to post I now have no way to do it. Anyway, today seems like another lazy day since we've got theatre tonight. At least I think it's theatre, not theater, since we're in the UK. Quick sum so I don't forget when I rewrite, today is Friday. I hope. Sunday was arrival. Monday was something. Wait. It was... Well, Tuesday was...
Right. Yesterday was the British Museum. We saw a bit of it. Seeing the whole thing would probably require the entire vacation and a complete cessation of the brain's awe sensation. Mr. N summed it up perfectly when we walked into the Egyptian room off the main rotunda. In front of us was a glass case with a small crowd in front of it. Inside was a dark stone with a curved top and carving on the front. He stopped dead beside me.
"Wait! Is that THE Rosetta stone?"
He said it, but the feeling was mutual. It's one thing to know it exists and even to know it's here. But to see the actual item you've seen in books and media since childhood- to have it right in front of you. Well, it gives you pause at best. I asked him to take a picture and he tried to object, pointing out rationally that any number of books we have in the house has much better pictures. I told him I didn't care. It wasn't the quality, it was the memory stamp I needed, a little marker for the moment. I can only see the real thing for the first time once, so I can only capture that little hitch in my breathing and adrenaline rise for an instant before it's gone again. I remember a bit like Impressionists paint. Anyway, we saw a bit of Egypt and Syria and Greece before going into the traveling exhibit of The First Emperor. That took a good part of the day, then we went for coffee, a bit of shopping and a quick object lesson about riding the tube during rush hour. We finished the night with overly trendy Thai- which was really good but the atmosphere was cloying.
Wednesday, we spent a lot of the day at the Tower. We got a late start, which was nice but cut into the whole sightseeing time. The Tower is amazing and not at all what I expected. It's another walled town- but oddly vertical. There are different stone buildings along the outer walls, giving them a lack of cohesiveness that I found somehow disturbing. From one side, it looked more like medieval stone rowhouses than a major defensive structure. Inside was awesome. We tagged onto the end of a tour led by a Yeoman Warder whose patter reminded me an awful lot of Pat Condell, so I giggled more than I might have otherwise. Tony had a bit of an experience with a raven who talked to him. Smart birds, those corvidae. Afterwards, there was a stop in a pub for a drink- ales for everyone else, some Apply-juicy spritzer for me. Sad, sad, going through Europe without liking the taste of either beer or wine. I keep thinking someone's going to find me out and deport me for it. We wound up with Indian for dinner, which was quite yummy.
Tuesday was a lot of things, but mostly rainy. Wednesday was when I was really, really sick from walking in the rain so I forget a lot of what we did before. I remember checking out Harrod's food court- which I specifically wanted to go to to see the luscious tile work on their walls. It was certainly worth the wander. Then we walked up to Fortnum and Mason for better food. That's where the rain was. Not at Fortnum and Mason because they certainly wouldn't have allowed something as untidy as rain in their building, but along the way. We gave up halfway and ducked into a Starbucks to warm up. After F&M, which I need to go back to because their food area was amazing and I need souvenirs, we went to the National Portrait Gallery. I enjoyed that a lot, too. Got to see the Grey Lady, which I think is actually modeled on Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia but nobody asked me, and got a quick overview of British history, much of went in and right back out again. I really, really liked a portrait of the actress Sarah Siddons, and seeing a lot of the giants of science was cool. I quietly saluted Hutton and Darwin as I went by. After that, I really don't remember. There was probably dinner. There might have been more rain. This is when I started getting sick. Well, okay I've been sick since last Thursday- this is when I was really out of it.
Monday. Wait. There was a museum. Oh yeah, Monday was Hyde Park and the science museum. Fortunately I blogged that already so I have brain prompts handy.
Random Impressions:
We ate Italian at some leetle Italian place that sponsors an F3 racer at some point. We ate at an adorable theater influenced restaurant called Savior Faire at some point. Both were good- SF was worth a second dine. Diet Coke has more spice in its mix here, I'm trying to decide if the prominent flavor I'm tasting is clove or allspice but the two are fairly close and my palate is a bit mussed right now. Whichever, I really like it. Diet Pepsi is much better over here than in the states as well. It doesn't taste of straight corn syrup here. Golden Apple here, which is a splinter company from the one in the states (splitter!!!) is amazing and is the first comic that really, really makes me wish I was still in the industry. Cafe Nero seems to be London's answer to Starbucks, although both are present in serious numbers. I still haven't had a 'proper' tea yet, although given that we tend to adjourn for a coffee somewhere around tea time, we've been having it all along. I've found the Tut exhibit is coming to Dallas in the next year, so it's no longer on my 'must do' list. Since I did see First Emperor, and I've theater tickets, that pretty much takes care of everything but Arsenal stadium, which I need to visit for sake of my nephew. I want to see more of the Thames as well. Maybe HoP and Big Ben. Certainly a whole lot more of the British Museum around the corner. But there's nothing on my list in sharpie anymore, and that's a good feeling.

nemaihne @ 2008-01-11T08:44:00

2008-01-11T08:52:34Z

Hrrrm. Somewhere in my fevered brain I managed to lock myself out of my real blog and can't get into it this morning to catch up. Sigh. That's the sort of thing you do when you refuse to admit you should be in bed instead of wandering around in the rain. Soldier on now, stiff upper lip- there's a good girl. ;)
I had a reminder of that attitude last night when we went out to dinner. On the way, twilight was falling- which cuts out my depth perception entirely. Fortunately, someone else jumped up on the half-foot high curbing that separated out a bike lane so I saw it before I tripped. We joked and went on. On the way back, we were just past the back of the British Museum when I saw a slightly older woman hit the curb and go down. Hard- she crumpled as if she'd been shot. So I ran over (glad there was little traffic since I can't remember which way which road goes anyway) and helped her up. The others followed and we helped her get her bag together and cross the remainder of the street. She was bleeding profusely from her hand and possibly her head- but; 'Oh no, it will be quite alright. Thanks ever so much for your help.' I wound up running through the entirety of the closing museum- thank goodness for late opening Thursdays- to grab napkins from the cafe since none of us had anything at all to staunch all the bleeding. But by the time I made it back, she'd gone on her way. No sense in bothering about a little thing like blood loss. Seriously- there were small rivulets running down her hand and dripping to the pavement. And she wouldn't even take a taxi. Jeez. She probably thinks all Americans worry about the 'slightest little abrasion' now, too.

Things You Might Not Know: Part 462

2007-12-30T10:14:11Z

Just doing my duty to bring you the information you need. Tonight I wandered the TSA website to determine what I might want to argue about with a rent-a-cop about at the airport next week. It's amazing what you can find out about our values from this website. While my diet coke is right out because it will obviously bring a 747 right out of the air by its very presence, the TSA has made allowances for more essential items. Like lube. I kid you not. Here's a direct pull from their site:

Personal lubricants - You are allowed to carry up to 3 oz., in a clear, one-quart plastic bag. Volumes greater than 3 oz. must be declared to the Security Officer and cannot be carried in your clear, one-quart bag.

Let me clarify: if you feel the need to carry more than 3 oz of KY jelly carry-on for your flight you can do so just by declaring it and keeping the bottle separate. Well, I guess this explains why the stoopid bathrooms are always occupied on my flights- but I'm thinking three ounces would take longer than most domestic flights. Sadly the TSA remains silent on the topic on sex toys, the only reference I could find was that hand tools 7 inches and longer could only be packed in checked baggage.