Why is it raining here? It should stop.

The news here seems to go back to the tossed baby every 20-30 minutes or so.

I've most often gotten 12 sick days, except for the place where were got 15 or 20 total leave days -- sick and vacation together.

Lee, DC will take your rainy and 60 if you'll take our windy and 40.

I used to have that. Then, I got on the Pill. worked wonders.

Same here -- I used to have crippling pain, the particularly insidious kind that comes on very quickly and if you don't hit it with painkillers before it reach full-strength you're just doomed, because once it has you securely in its grip it laughs at anything less than prescription-strength naprosyn. On the Pill I hardly notice it's happening at all, which is just exactly fine.

Ignoring the baby story, except to say God bless that woman who saw the people throwing something out their car window and went to investigate. She saved a child's life, which is not a bad way to finish out your work week.

I'm feeling oddly un-gronky for having been up till nearly 1 last night. Hec and I had dinner with a friend of mine who is a big, big record geek and wanted to show Hec his collection. For me it was rather like being trapped in a 3D version of the Music thread; I felt horribly out of my depth, but it was fascinating. Plus, tasty pasta, and the pleasure of G's company, which has always been pleasurable but weirdly awkward; he's a deeply goodhearted person who is also both a geek and a nerd, and has several major obsessions on which subjects he's prone to delivering monologues rather than having conversations. But still, goodhearted and largehearted, and acutely aware of his oddness.

And now, over the past few months, he's actually been working at it: forcing himself to go out and talk to people and listen to them and push himself out of his geekly comfort zone. Which is such hard, scary work, and I adore him for doing it. And the universe, in a rare spasm of fairness, is actually rewarding him for his efforts: in the last month he's gone out on four dates with the same woman without messing anything up (though he's still terrified about bringing her home and letting her see the sprawl of his record collection and the complexity of his stereo equipment, vacuum tubes and all), and he has a Valentine's Day date. I'm SO DAMN HAPPY for him.

I'm still all pumped up from the nifty evening, and I'm horribly sorry for anyone who may be feeling extra gronkly this morning. I am clearly not carrying my fair share of the load. I promise to make it up on Monday.

My new work strategy of making my boss make all decisions is working out. He made a call on something yesterday and then got told by other administrators that it was the wrong thing to do. Of course, at the time, they didn't know that he had instructed me to do it that way. So, even though I have to do the work to now fix it (write a memo), it's not my fault.

I used to have crippling pain, the particularly insidious kind that comes on very quickly and if you don't hit it with painkillers before it reach full-strength you're just doomed, because once it has you securely in its grip it laughs at anything less than prescription-strength naprosyn.

Thank god for the drugs.

Aw, JZ, that sounds great about your friend. Way to go, boundary-moving-guy!

And good for you, msbelle. "Credit" should go where it's due.

I have been remarkably efficient (for me) this morning. But it all makes me realize that I need to become way more disciplined really soon, or I'm going to be SCREWED.

Question about the OC specifically Sandy's rationale for not telling Kirsten about Rebecca -- was he being over cautious -- or could Kirsten have been considered some sort of conspirator if she knew that Rebecca was there and didn't turn her in ?

Playwright Arthur Miller Dies at 89.