coming in on the evening/morning shift to say hi. Going to Brighton today. Back is in mucho pain. But if I had more time and there weren't seven hundred posts to go through, I'm sure I would know what was going on with all of you. Either way, hi and be good.

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24 was good. I have to wait until next Monday now for more? Is there a senior official who can be coerced to give me more episodes sooner?

Hee. I was thinking the same thing last night, JohnSweden. I can't be expected to wait another week. Oh and poor Debbie. I figured the mother was poisoning her, but then she sat around so long, I decided I was wrong .

Oh yeah. And the amount of nickel varies a LOT by brand. Most Gap jeans I can wear without tucking in my shirt. Levis have me scratching a hole through my stomach within hours. And earrings? Forget about it. My current watch is the only one I've ever been able to tolerate with any metal on it, anywhere -- normally even the clasp makes me break out. (Stainless steel. Gotta love it.)

Jessica, my niece has a metal allergy (I'm assuming to nickel, but I disremember). When she was a kid, her mother used to coat parts of her earrings with clear nail polish. I don't know if that's something you could do to the back of the buttons on your jeans, or not. It might work on necklace clasps too, but if it's a really nice necklace, you might not want to muck it up. Kristen, Cashmere, everyone else, maybe it would help with your jewelry, too.

coming in on the evening/morning shift to say hi. Going to Brighton today. Back is in mucho pain. But if I had more time and there weren't seven hundred posts to go through, I'm sure I would know what was going on with all of you. Either way, hi and be good.

Oooh. Backma to you, SA. Thread cliff notes:

• Many people in this thread seem to have metal allergies, and even the so-called hypoallergenic jewelry is sometimes problematic, because small amounts of the offending metal are present.

• Deb had a make-over with David Evangelista on The CBS Morning Show, on Monday, and looks hawt! Many of the SFistas are exhausted, because they came over to her house to be part of the taping, and had to be ready at 3:30am.

• askye's new computer is being a jerk, and she's getting so-so support, and the return date has passed/is passing (just).

• Emma, Owen, and Annabel are still deadly cute.

• Nonian is getting advice on what to eat/drink before her ultrasound to ensure an active baby, who might give spoilers on itself.

• Hec likes short hair. Who knew?

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Hec likes short hair. Who knew?

What????!!!!

Timelies all!

Speaking of hair, today mine gets cut and dyed. Or maybe just cut. I may wait and dye it tomorrow. I'm having kind of a me day. I did so well with my tasks yesterday that I've decided to endulge myself today. So, after therapy I'm going shopping (spending gift certificates I got for Christmas) and getting my hair cut. I hope it's as lovely of a day as it sounds.

And now I must do my therapy homework. Why do I always wait till the last minute?

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You have homework? Like what?

"If train A leaves Boston at 100 mph heading west, and train B leaves Cleveland at 60 mph heading east, how does that make you feel?"

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You have homework? Like what?

Well, each week I fill out a diary card (actually I do that each day), tracking different feelings and behaviors. Then, at therapy, we decide what other homework will be most helpful for me to do during the next week.

So, this week I'm supposed to make a chain analysis of a situation that went poorly (a specific situation, but I'm not gonna go into that here). A chain analysis is almost like a flow chart that tracks thoughts, actions, feelings, etc. in order so we can study the event/situation and see what I could do differently and look for patterns that need changing so I can start working on those.

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Gronklies. First-world gronk. The cleaning people, who come every three weeks because I can't afford to have them more often, are not supposed to come until after 9. They showed up at 8:15. I was dressed, but in the middle of making coffee. I was going to pick up a little bit more for them. Bleech.

Also, my tiara needs polishing and I can't decide between the diamond and the gold slippers.

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Ginger, go with the diamond. It seems like you could use the flashy pick-me-up.

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Hey, all... Any mathy Buffista who knows any trick for remembering the order of operation is cordially invited to share...for mom's new job. My mother uses the nail polish trick all the time for her nickel thing.

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Hey, all... Any mathy Buffista who knows any trick for remembering the order of operation is cordially invited to share...

Like do multiplication and division before addition and subtraction? I guess you could remember it in terms of degrees: an M.D. is cooler than whatever the hell an A.S. might be. Order of operation was so long ago it seems like second nature. A lot of it is just necessity: You have to do exponents and things in parentheses first, or you can't proceed, you know?

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