OK, good call. I'll just be all "OMG!" in the morning.

right on.

My parents leave checks lying around for me to discover after they visit me. I got no hangups with giving money. That said, I don't do it unless I know the person is of a similar mind and I haven't found something really cool instead. I did give one friend a giftcard, since her wedding was a) out of the country, b) she had complained about figuring out how to schlep everything back and c) she likes shopping for powertools more than I do. I heard she bought a nailgun with it.

Especially for those of us who have to travel, I wish giftcards weren't as frowned on as they are by some in my extended family.

I think it depends on the nature of the email. If it can wait until you get back, I wouldn't.

Well, they are increasingly frantic. They are also, OTOH, about a piece of paper my boss could just re-print from his own computer, as far as I can tell.

do I respond to work emails on a day I'm not at work?

What is with you people? Of course you don't, if you're not on salary.

But, but, it's just sitting there, unanswered...

Sorry, I have issues.

We knew that though.

ION: The pope and the pussycats

New leader of the Catholic Church loves felines

Animal lovers throughout Italy are looking to Pope Benedict XVI for changes that will relieve the plight of the country's stray cats, like these that live among the ruins in Rome.

Congratulations and good luck, Heather!

tommyrot, I hope you're putting all this in an online dating site profile somewhere. It's gold!

Jesse, I say pretend you don't check that account when yo aren't there. Because I like to encourage not working whenever possible.

edited because s/=a

Someone may already have mentioned this, but at a few weddings I've attended, male wedding goers were provided with safety pins and expected to use them to attach folding money to the bride's dress during a dance with her.

It reaked so much of stripping, I had to leave the room.

Someone said I was being judgemental because the practice is 'cultural'. What culture is that?

I'll give gift cards at certain times. Christmas before youngest sister was moving to Virginia= Gift card for Target. Why on earth would I buy her something she's just going to have to pack?

Friend loses her job. Central Market gift card. She can get stuff as she needs it instead of a one time present.

Sister who is doing well with her acting and landed a job at a theater doing marketing. She gets Hindu finger puppets and a steak air freshener from Archie McPhee.

Oh, my cat needs one of these:

Currently one of the hottest selling tourist mementos in the city is a little cardinal hat for cats that goes for $15 in stores such as Barbiconi, which specializes in clergy robes and accessories. Mahony’s cats both have cardinal hats, gifts given to him during his recent trip to Rome.

eta:

Pope Paul VI is said to have once dressed his cat in a feline version of cardinal robes.

Where I'm from, dollar bills are pinned to the bride's wedding dress during the dance part of the wedding.

I'm still seething about that fuckhead saying Rove should get a medal. I guess we better give Hal Nicholson and Aldrich Ames medals too.