Actually, this is where I look forward to the moment the plane doors close .. when it's too late to second guess having to do more.

When I flew to Prague for a semester abroad, I really didn't think about the implications (new people! foreign country for 6 months! don't speak czech! no confirmation that the friend I was staying with the first 2 weeks even knew I was coming!) AT ALL beforehand. I was oddly calm. Compared to the previous 6 months, all that seemed like small potatoes.

Until halfway through the flight. Then I discovered what a panic attack was.

Finally calmed down by pulling 2 blankets over my head and staring out at the stars.

Now I just fuss and fret and futz beforehand. Somehow, a mild level of craziness for weeks or days is much better than 30 minutes of pure crazy at something thousand feet.

People are asking me questions that I can't figure out what they are asking.

I hate that.

American space monkeys don't need no stinkin' pants: [link]

That's who the Soviet Monkeys mock with their Monkey Pants, Tep. Blame the French.

password: fuckoffanddie

I'm totally stealing this.

So, Kanye West is performing on Ellen, and it's just him and the DJ on the stage. Man, that never happens. Thumbs up.

Happy Birthday, Nutty Vee Jane! many happy returns!

Happy Birthday Nutty!

Sorry to hear about your car, Theodosia. Hopefully your insurance company will get the fixing process to run smoothly.

I worked at breakneck speed until almost 1 am to get a couple of badly overdue page proofs out. Now I find that my motivation and work ethic didn't wake up when I did this morning.

If you shop for a used car several months from now, you might want to give the carpet an extra close sniff.

You could be purchasing a dried-out casualty of Hurricane Katrina.

Whether acting as entrepreneurs or scam artists, wholesale car dealers soon will be scouring the ruins of New Orleans, Mississippi and Alabama for flood-damaged vehicles. They will obtain the cars for pennies, refurbish them and then sell them to buyers, some of whom won't be told of their purchase's waterlogged history.

...

The problem is not necessarily the practice of refurbishing the cars; it is whether the cars are identified as being salvaged.

It begins when insurance companies rule cars a total loss and make settlement payments to dealers or private owners. They, in turn, sell the vehicles cheap at auction, after which the car's title is branded as a "flood" or "salvage" vehicle.

But some opportunists will take those vehicles to different states that don't require the cars to list its previous condition on the title. With its history wiped clean, they are moved again, ending up for sale in places such as Chicago.

[link]

Happy Birthday, Nutty!

I'm so sorry, -t. This has to be one of the worse times ever for this country, and now it's compounded for you. My heart goes out to you and your family.

-t, I'm so sorry. I'm glad you're safe and with your family, and you're all in my thoughts.

Best wishes, -t, and many sympathies for your grandmother.