vw, when do you need that survey back?

By February 11. Will that be ok?

Oh, yeah. That's great, vw. I've already read through it. I just got scared that I was holding you up.

I had my worst fall of the winter so far this morning.

I slipped and fell on some black ice walking into the drivethrough at my bank. The worst thing was the jerk who drove around me as I struggled to stand and took my place at the ATM.

My knee is sore, but I walked to work okay and somehow I managed to not rip my tights.

Cindy, Owen came through with a glorious, two hour nap from 7:30 to 9:30 this morning. This is earlier than I'm used to napping but I think I like it. I still feel like I have the whole morning to do stuff.

But first, a snack for both of us.

SA, have fun in Teppyville!

Oh, no. You're not holding me up. That's the last incomplete I'm going to finish. I'm waiting for books from inter-library loan too, so it's gonna be a bit before I get to it.

Thanks!

sumi, I hope you're ok. And that guy at the ATM is an ASS who has a karmic ass-kicking coming.

Timelies, Bitches! Not much to say other than that right now. My life's a drag. But I am writing a lot.ETA: Anybody else ever find they gave somebody they're writing about a problem they are actually having? Without realizing it? I thought I was talented and perceptive. Getting outside my own experience...then, hello. It went from "I'm glad I'm happy with my life, not like(my main character) to "Wow, my life makes me unhappy like hers in the beginning." Sigh.

Ouch, Sumi. You might want to see if you can find a way to get some ice on that knee and go ahead and take some aspirin or ibuprofen. I found that at work, the easiest thing was an old-fashioned ice bag, because there's usually ice available to fill it. (Okay, I hurt myself a lot, plus there was that decade of karate.) And the guy at the ATM should be beaten about the head and shoulders.

What is the best way of clearing my head and sinuses?

Sssssteam. I actually bought one of these: [link] There are also face steamers that include an attachment for breathing steam. You can also just boil water and breathe the steam, but the machine is easier. If I have to pretend to be a well person, I breathe the steam and blow my nose until my head is clear, then use decongestant nasal spray. You can give the impression of not dying for about two hours that way. Once, when I had a terrible sinus infection but I had to fly, the doctor suggested three or four hot showers a day.

Hot (as in red pepper) foods also help thin mucus.

Get better, Cass. It sounds like you had a rough night

Ginger and Cashmere -- thanks!

So far, I think that the fall was mostly shocking to me. My knee is sore, but not swelling. I imagine that the 20 minute walk post-fall probably helped.

feeling Erisian

RAPID CITY, S.D. - A buffalo that escaped from an auction ended up in a dressing room at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center where it spent a couple of hours staring into a mirror.

The buffalo jumped over a steel panel during the Black Hills Stock Show & Rodeo on Sunday morning, went down an alley and got into the dressing room reserved for visiting sports teams, said Brian Maliske, the civic center's general manager.

"The door happened to be unlocked and he pushed the door open and went in," Maliske said.

The crew conducting the Black Hills Classic Buffalo Sale decided to keep the animal locked in the dressing room for the rest of the auction. During its two hour stay, it reportedly became fascinated with the image it saw in a big mirror.

Once the sale ended, a rodeo crew member coaxed the buffalo out of the dressing room and back into captivity.

The animal never got into a public area, Maliske said.

A huge buffalo, standing in the middle of lockers and benchs, staring at itself in the mirror. This pleases me.