A Certain Irksomeness
Since the content below the fold can be nothing but a horrible, horrible warning, we decided to post some positive words to live by above it.
My girls are 14 and 12. I don't even speak of college anymore; just trade schools or marriage to a guy with a trade.
You've no 'donate' button on your site. That's one way to fix 1st world problems. I know that "charity" is a dirty word for those of us old enough to have pride, but caritas amongst us of the Remnant is another thing altogether.
Posted by: Clayton Barnett at Tue May 19 01:21:56 2015 (lU4ZJ)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue May 19 12:21:43 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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First world problems only affect the first world.
You are talking about debt and bureaucratic obstructiveness and I am lead to believe they are fundamental properties that pervade the whole universe.
Keep pushing and you may be able to resolve it.
Posted by: Riktol at Tue May 19 14:26:19 2015 (MQZN9)
4
I would not even bother with instructors, call the Reg/Adm office.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue May 19 20:43:58 2015 (8hfbc)
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Yeah, my next stop would be straight into the Registrar's and/or Bursar's.
Posted by: RickC at Tue May 19 20:47:18 2015 (0a7VZ)
Yeah, my next stop would be straight into the Registrar's and/or Bursar's.
That was my second stop (after the attempt at online withdrawal).
Step FIVE was to go to the Old Administration Building and ask to speak to anyone named "Dean". That seems to have worked except that it appears that I'm still being billed for the classes. IIt seems that Dean is almost as cool a name as Maximilian.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 20 14:52:04 2015 (ohzj1)
I think the most profound difference between the US and Australia is not the lack of taipan funnel sharks over here, but rather the fact that Pixy did not have anything to say about "cultural appropriation".
Australia rocks!
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed May 20 14:58:58 2015 (ohzj1)
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"That was my second stop (after the attempt at online withdrawal)."
Argh. Well, I guess I'm glad you got a resolution that isn't horrible?
The one time I found myself in a literal Catch-22 situation (Registrar: "Can't have your class schedule without a copy of your bill". Bursar: "Can't give you your bill without a class schedule") I managed to deal with it by asking to talk to the Registrar Dean, too.
Posted by: RickC at Wed May 20 18:58:09 2015 (0a7VZ)
Exam Heck
Exams begin Thursday and last into next week. Additionally, it appears that one of my classes was actually in the sociology department and so requires APA style as opposed to Chicago/Turabian. Fortunately, I've been given the option of re-submitting it...
Experimenting, training, testing and retrying. My life is just like this picture, but without the respectability, cute girls, cutting edge tech and prototype karatebot.
Rocinante: 1981-2015
Full disclosure: Strictly speaking, nobody actually died as such. For the vast majority of folks who are uninterested in the first world problems below the fold, here are 3 views of Sakurajima.
(I did not know that Volcanoes sounded like synthesizers!)
Note that pressing "MORE" will result in banality and not more 'splodies.
Before sending the car to the junkyard, try selling it as-is on Craigslist first. Believe it or not, there are people out there who like old Cressidas; if yours is in decent shape aside from the dead engine, you might get good money for it (better than the scrap metal value, anyway).
Posted by: Peter the Not-so-Great at Sun Mar 29 18:31:18 2015 (dzzLh)
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The year should get better from here. I hope and pray.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Mon Mar 30 12:53:07 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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Up here in Manassas it's cloudy, so there's no shadows outside, and the snow is still coming
down hard. That makes it hard to judge how deep the snow is from
inside. The weird thing is that there doesn't seem to be a lot of wind (most
flakes seem to all straight down), but at ground level it is moving fast
enough to keep part of my front sidewalk clear, while drifting deeply
around back. In fact, the neighbor kids just dug a tunnel through a snow
drift that they can crawl through...
Posted by: Siergen at Sat Feb 21 16:58:42 2015 (ohSuC)
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Here in Duckford, it's 29, grey and snowing a bit. This is a refreshing change from most of the past week/month/season, where it's been grey, snowing a bit, and in the single digits. Except when it has been grey, snowing a lot, and windy.
To be blunt, this winter has sucked, but you've gotten more snow. You win.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sat Feb 21 17:14:26 2015 (jGQR+)
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74F and partly cloudy in Albuquerque, wind about 12 knots by mid-day
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Sat Feb 21 20:21:54 2015 (RqRa5)
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I used to live in Herndon a couple decades ago. Once on the way home from work (In Mclean) the roads were so impassable, I became trapped between two hills. (I could have made it except some other folks who didn't know how to to handle snow and ice blocked the path.
Fortunately, a family along the way welcomed in the trapped travelers for the night. And I also learned a lesson about watching my language.
(although these days, if I have to watch my language, I make sure it's colorful).
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Feb 22 02:33:27 2015 (TJ7ih)
Snowmageddon '15
Having just driven a distance of 5 miles in a bit under an hour and a half, I think that this young lady sums up the opinion of many of my fellow Virginians...
"OH GOD! WE'RE GONNA HAFTA TO EAT OUR OWN LEGS AREN'T WE?"
It's been coming down remarkably hard for several hours now. Predictions are for 6-12 inches of snow, which is quite a bit for us. There has been some flickering and intermittent outages, so power may not persist.
In other news, the plumbing situation deteriorated rapidly Saturday night with the result that both bathrooms were unusable so we sent Mom to my sister's house before finally breaking down and calling a plumber. In a few moments I will get the first shower, I've had in over two days. Yay!
Mom is still in North Carolina suffering the dreadful indignity of having to watch her three year old granddaughter play in the snow.
UPDATE: I have not as of yet had to eat my own leg...but it has been a rear run thing.
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Good luck on your weather and plumbing issues. The power flickered up here in Manassas a few hours before the snow started, but has been steady since then. Our forecast accumulation has been dropping slowly from its high of 12 inches all day, and currently sits at 3-5 inches total.
Posted by: Siergen at Mon Feb 16 20:27:13 2015 (ohSuC)
2
4-6 (unplowed, I assume) inches of snow and ice is more than enough for me to say "Nope, I'll wait for the plow" even up here in Boston, so I have sympathy. Luckily, I had previously taken the day off so I could clear the 3 feet (somehow) of snow from my deck and dig my car out in peace.
Posted by: ReallyBored at Tue Feb 17 10:28:41 2015 (ulGxe)
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Feb 17 16:36:52 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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Albeit we had a lot of insanely blowing snow on Saturday, and I misjudged my Saturday enough to have been waiting for a bus in it. Luckily, I was able to adjourn to a heated indoor area when it was really bad, and then my brother kindly volunteered to pick me up from the mall bus stop so I didn't have to walk home from the "slightly closer to my place, but still thirty minutes walk away" bus stop.
But overall snowfall was about an inch and a half. It just blew around a lot.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Tue Feb 17 18:14:58 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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So, yeah, here in Sydney it can get awfully hot, and sometimes everything catches fire, but at least we don't have this frozen water falling from the sky nonsense.
Except hail. Hail we got.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tue Feb 17 18:53:25 2015 (2yngH)
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One of only nice things about being in a post-employment situation is that if you plan ahead, you don't have to go out in cruddy weather.
We've had a couple of good storms this winter here in Duckford, and two friggin' cold snaps, but I've been able to avoid actually leaving Pond Central during them entirely.
Still, we've been pretty much looking at the East Coast's winter weather with a combination of pride and fear. Pride in that, if it occurred, we'd be able to deal with it, and fear that we might have to.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Wed Feb 18 03:58:23 2015 (jGQR+)
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While here in the PNW, it's been unseasonably warm. Not that I mind. I have some lovely Rhododendrons in the front that have the annoying habit of blooming in February, and then instantly getting killed in a frost. Right now they're in full bloom, a rarity.
I should take pictures.
Posted by: Mauser at Wed Feb 18 04:39:31 2015 (TJ7ih)
While things have not been quite as bad as the travails of the young lady depicted above, yesterday was a fitting cap to a particularly obnoxious work week.
more...
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My youngest nephew had an utter fascination at an early age for flushing inappropriate things down the toilet. Plastic dinosaurs were a particular favourite. His name's Darwin, so this might have been some convoluted evolutionary experiment. But I think it was probably just toddler logic.
In about ten years he'll find this comment on Google and have to decide how my act of betrayal balances out against all the Lego...
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sat Feb 14 10:13:08 2015 (PiXy!)
" an awful lot of ammunition was shipped yesterday so I'm assuming its related....which should cause some concern"
Naw. One year I bought my wife a revolver for Valentine's day. She loved it, and got me a shotgun for our anniversary. It's only natural that you'd ship ammo too as Valentine's day gifts.
Posted by: Rick C at Sat Feb 14 23:23:09 2015 (0a7VZ)
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Late winter/early spring sales, too. Plus you want to beat President's Day, because you might want to go shooting on your three day weekend.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Sun Feb 15 15:13:22 2015 (ZJVQ5)
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I tend to be unnerved by "solid working theories" involving plumbing lines and the gadgets attached thereto, but maybe that's just me.
Posted by: CGHill at Sun Feb 15 18:52:30 2015 (+6Y9j)
A Few Quick Notes
I have a fair amount of homework due this week so posting is likely to be sporadic at best, especially Tuesday. As compensation for that and the banality below the fold, here is some Kongos .
Posted by: Wonderduck at Thu Jan 1 01:29:45 2015 (jGQR+)
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Wait, is your birthday 1/1, or 12/31? Because mine is the latter, and that would be WAY too coincidental.
Posted by: Mauser at Thu Jan 1 03:28:31 2015 (TJ7ih)
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Happy Birthday! And in the words of the immortal Tom Lehrer:
It's people like that who make you realize how little you've accomplished. It is a sobering thought, for example, that when Mozart was my age, he had been dead for two years.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Thu Jan 1 07:29:15 2015 (PiXy!)
Possible Achievements
...in the game Side Effects Follies
Common side effects of intravenous sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim use include sun sensitivity, itching, head pain, rash and loss of appetite. Other possible side effects of oral sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim use that are considered rare include abdominal or stomach pain, black tarry stools, blistering, peeling or loosening of skin, chest pain, chills, cough or hoarseness, dark urine, diarrhea, dizziness, fever, tiredness or weakness.Additional side effects associated with the oral form of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim are shortness of breath, changes in skin color, vomiting of blood, joint or muscle pain, loss of appetite, nausea, rash and wheezing, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Well...my skin didn't loosen or change color and I don't THINK there was blood in my vomit* so I did not get them all. Despite coming so very close to a perfect streak on the first go, I don't think I'll be continuing this as I found playability and enjoyment to be rather low.
However, the doctor assures me that I'm unlikely to die so I'll take that as a victory and move on.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at Fri Dec 12 00:51:45 2014 (2yngH)
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Oh, man. That stinks. Praying for you. Hope you feel better soon!
I'd heard that sulfa drugs historically make some people itch, but I didn't really think we were still using sulfa drugs; and I definitely didn't know about all the rest.
When you're sick as a dog, it's a good time to listen to audiobooks. If you doze off in the middle, it's no big deal. My philosophy about videos during times of sickness is similar.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Fri Dec 12 15:18:01 2014 (ZJVQ5)
3
Your skin turned color??? Are you smurf blue now?
Posted by: Wonderduck at Fri Dec 12 15:49:23 2014 (jGQR+)
Unexpectedly....
...I got a brief respite from Christmas Chaos at work.
On the one hand I have the day off. On the other hand the circumstances are sub-optimal.
I suddenly became sick at work...very sick. I actually left work, and went home. However, I became so ill on the way home that I took a detour that allowed for this poorly aimed homage to the age of the selfie. It looks like I got a noravirus. I did also get an antibiotic for the sinus infection that has been vexing me for weeks. I'm home now and am tentatively testing solid food. I'm also ingesting fluids in a less problematic way. /spoiler]
But enough of such things, here are some Santagirls in snow
Posted by: Avatar_exADV at Thu Dec 11 03:35:59 2014 (ZeBdf)
3
Well, if you need proof for why you left work, that snapshot should help.
Posted by: Mauser at Thu Dec 11 05:14:39 2014 (TJ7ih)
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Yes, sending the snapshot to your boss could help. Just don't accidentally send the second picture with the caption "This why I didn't come to work today"...
Posted by: Siergen at Thu Dec 11 18:20:03 2014 (r3+4f)
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I didn't enjoy the norovirus last year at all. Heck, you might as well camp out in the bathroom the first few hours. But I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by: Suburbanbanshee at Thu Dec 11 19:43:59 2014 (ZJVQ5)
Ignore the stressed out Christmas help. She's exaggerating slightly. Christmas at UPS is rough on the temps...and anyway, the thing with the scorpions happened years ago.
1
Automatic Update is evil and you should disable it. (You've already learned one reason why; it can take your computer away from you at inopportune times.)
2
You normally get lots of warning that Windows is going to reboot (as in up to two days).
Posted by: RickC at Wed Nov 12 15:56:30 2014 (ECH2/)
3
This is coming perilously close to blaming the victim. They were probably using school computers where the previous students ignored the warnings.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Wed Nov 12 17:04:19 2014 (RqRa5)
4
Or his school's administrators are like the ones where I work, and don't think there is any reason to schedule updates for the convenience of the users. They were actually shocked that rebooting the conference room computers during a presentation to the admiral caused any complaints...
Posted by: Siergen at Wed Nov 12 19:19:17 2014 (r3+4f)
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I was using my netbook. I'd actually checked for updates on it (and had it restart) before class. However, it found another 'helpful' update. Moreover, the BLACKBOARD system used by ODU seems to conceal the Windows update box...otherwise, when it asked if I wanted to restart or delay, I'd have taken the "Do not fail" option. I generally access Blackboard via my Mac and so I did not know this before...so I learned something...which is what college is for....and....yet.....
I've made more than my share of PEBKAC errors, but this was not one of them.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Wed Nov 12 19:30:34 2014 (DnAJl)
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Pete, that was not my intent, which was why I said "normally." Also, he did say "my machine" originally.
I used to not use auto update, but I got tired of doing it manually all the time, so now I mostly just let Windows do it--the chance a forced reboot will bother me is almost infinitesimal, but I do every once in a while expand the logoff/shutdown menu to see if it's wanting a reboot, just in case.
Posted by: RickC at Wed Nov 12 20:57:35 2014 (0a7VZ)
1
Pie 5--yum!
(also: wow, they're spreading fast. IIRC only a couple of years ago there were only about 5 stores, and I think they were all roughly speaking in the Dallas area.)
Posted by: RickC at Sun Nov 2 16:34:20 2014 (0a7VZ)
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Alas, I did not take the pic, but nicked it from another blog a while back to use as a reaction shot in case I ever came across a story like this one. I don't remember now where I got it, but I'm guessing they were Texan.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Sun Nov 2 16:58:29 2014 (DnAJl)
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I've often heard friends comment that delivery pizza "tastes like cardboard". Your post has got me wondering if maybe they missed the instructions...
Posted by: Siergen at Sun Nov 2 22:20:39 2014 (r3+4f)
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Mon Nov 3 08:47:15 2014 (DnAJl)
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Those are take-home boxes. Pie 5 doesn't do delivery. It's like Subway or Chipotle--you stand in line and tell them what crust, what sauce, what toppings and so on.
Posted by: RickC at Mon Nov 3 17:51:04 2014 (ECH2/)
Posted by: RickC at Sat Sep 27 23:17:48 2014 (0a7VZ)
2...I broke when I bit a bullet in some alligator...
Someone's been holding out on a story, I see.
Posted by: Wonderduck at Sun Sep 28 01:25:31 2014 (BCjxQ)
3
That image is so delightfully colorful, I think it has depleted the color receptors in my eyes and the rest of the world looks black and white.
Posted by: Mauser at Sun Sep 28 02:06:45 2014 (TJ7ih)
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I think he merely was eating an alligator and bit upon a bullet stuck in the steak. A month ago I killed a dove and shared it with a friend, who immediately bit upon a pellet (my half was clean...).
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Mon Sep 29 11:01:16 2014 (x0uix)
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Yeah, that's all it was.
Of course they have to kill the alligator somehow.
Interestingly, it was the dinner where my partners and I decided to go ahead with Radcon. Upon reflection, this event could have been taken as a bad omen, but, unfortunately, I am insufficiently superstitious.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at Tue Sep 30 04:03:46 2014 (DnAJl)
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I like your Radcon story better than the one of the founder of OLS (nee Ottawa Linux Showcase), who met some initial success but could not deal with its decline and slide into irrelevance.
Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at Tue Sep 30 16:22:59 2014 (x0uix)
This is Dismaying
Street is river.Water rising rapidly. Garbage cans floating by. Car blocked by floating debris.
UPDATE: rain falling incredibly hard. Water still rising. Storm drains are spewing water.This could be bad. I may swim away from 800 dollars worth of textbooks.
UPDATE 2: Now that I'm inside and not pecking away at a Blackberry....
This was taken only a block from my parent's home....it took me 2 additional hours to get there.
Sadly, I did not get some of the more spectacular visuals as they coincided with excitement in driving. It should be noted that, while in the great scheme of things this was a minor flash flood, it was the first time in the 29 years my folks have lived at their current address that the water rose all the way to their house. Even hurricanes did not get water this high. We got something like 9 inches in 6 hours. It actually flooded the garage, which is currently a bit of a mess.
1
Hopefully you can put them up in the attic or something and the water won't go quite that high.
Failing that, seal 'em into a trash bag, and then put that inside another trash bag. You probably can skip putting them in a sewage cistern.
Posted by: RickC at Mon Sep 8 17:58:06 2014 (0a7VZ)
16 days
This year I ordered most of my books online online as soon as the syllabi were posted. This saved me over 300 dollars and ensured that I'd have the books when classes began...well MOST of them. One book that contains my Kanji homework was to be shipped from Delaware. Alas they were out so they had their supplier send it directly to me.
It passed through Japanese customs on the 21st of August, 16 days ago. It arrived today, with the result that I have 2 weeks of homework ahead of me this weekend. This is in addition to an English paper due Monday and sundry other homework.
I may be scarce for another day or two so to tide you over, here is something that my friend BOB! sent me that you probably should not try at home....
Tonari No Seki-Kun!Tonari no Seiki-Kun! The Master of Killing Time is an odd concept for a series. Rumi Yokoi, the exasperated silver fox on the left is bothered to utter distraction by the fact that Toshinari Seki has developed elaborate methods for wasting time in class.
That's pretty much it.
Amazingly however, at 7 minutes an episode, it almost always works. I'm 7 episodes in and 6 have been quite solid. Tonari no Seki-Kun does not lend itself to extended marathons, being a one joke show, but it is cute, clever and quite enjoyable in its intended format.
Car Eating Ants (and Other Sundry Annoyances)
Ants have eaten my car. The spoiler tags on the previous post are all wonky. I did my GPA no favors with this most recent class. I've used up all my personal holidays at work for the year and it looks like I'll have to move very soon, Finally, I spent 10 minutes trying to find the ampersand on my Blackberry.
Some of that may warrant elaboration, but for those already worn down by that fusillade of first world problems, here is Hanako playing billiards.
Hobby Space News of the commercial space industry A Babe In The Universe Rather Eclectic Cosmology Encyclopedia Astronautica Superb spacecraft resource The Unwanted Blog Scott Lowther blogs about forgotten aerospace projects and sells amazingly informative articles on the same. Also, there are cats. Transterrestrial Musings Commentary on Infinity...and beyond! Colony WorldsSpace colonization news! The Alternate Energy Blog It's a blog about alternate energy (DUH!) Next Big Future Brian Wang: Tracking our progress to the FUTURE. Nuclear Green Charles Barton, who seems to be either a cool curmudgeon, or a rational hippy, talks about energy policy and the terrible environmental consequences of not going nuclear Energy From Thorium Focuses on the merits of thorium cycle nuclear reactors WizBang Current events commentary...with a wiz and a bang The Gates of Vienna Tenaciously studying a very old war The Anchoress insightful blogging, presumably from the catacombs Murdoc Online"Howling Mad Murdoc" has a millblog...golly! EaglespeakMaritime security matters Commander Salamander Fullbore blackshoe blogging! Belmont Club Richard Fernandez blogs on current events BaldilocksUnderstated and interesting blog on current events The Dissident Frogman French bi-lingual current events blog The "Moderate" VoiceI don't think that word means what they think it does....but this lefty blog is a worthy read nonetheless. Meryl Yourish News, Jews and Meryls' Views Classical Values Eric Scheie blogs about the culture war and its incompatibility with our republic. Jerry Pournell: Chaos ManorOne of Science fictions greats blogs on futurism, current events, technology and wisdom A Distant Soil The website of Colleen Dorans' superb fantasy comic, includes a blog focused on the comic industry, creator issues and human rights. John C. Wright The Sci-Fi/ Fantasy writer muses on a wide range of topics. Now Read This! The founder of the UK Comics Creators Guild blogs on comics past and present. The Rambling Rebuilder Charity, relief work, roleplaying games Rats NestThe Art and rantings of Vince Riley Gorilla Daze Allan Harvey, UK based cartoonist and comics historian has a comicophillic blog! Pulpjunkie Tim Driscoll reviews old movies, silents and talkies, classics and clunkers. Suburban Banshee Just like a suburban Leprechaun....but taller, more dangerous and a certified genius. Satharn's Musings Through TimeThe Crazy Catlady of The Barony of Tir Ysgithr アニ・ノート(Ani-Nouto) Thoughtful, curmudgeonly, otakuism that pulls no punches and suffers no fools. Chizumatic Stephen Den Beste analyzes anime...with a microscope, a slide rule and a tricorder. Wonderduck Anime, Formula One Racing, Sad Girls in Snow...Duck Triumphalism Beta Waffle What will likely be the most thoroughly tested waffle evah! Zoopraxiscope Too In this thrilling sequel to Zoopraxiscope, Don, Middle American Man of Mystery, keeps tabs on anime, orchids, and absurdities. Mahou Meido MeganekkoUbu blogs on Anime, computer games and other non-vital interests Twentysided More geekery than you can shake a stick at Shoplifting in the Marketplace of Ideas Sounds like Plaigarism...but isn't Ambient IronyAll Meenuvians Praise the lathe of the maker! Hail Pixy!!
It looks like I got a noravirus. I did also get an antibiotic for the sinus infection that has been vexing me for weeks. I'm home now and am tentatively testing solid food. I'm also ingesting fluids in a less problematic way. /spoiler]
