The sentient mold refused to negotiate. In fact, it made insulting comments about my parentage, so it is now trapped under paper towels soaked in full-strength bleach.

A few observations:

(1) You can call it "fresh rain" scent bleach, but that doesn't make it smell like anything other than a gigantic bucket of pool chemicals.

(2) Perhaps I should have purchased rubber gloves, or at least made sure there were no cuts on my hands.

(2a) But I know those cuts aren't infected, boy howdy.

(3) Breathing in bleach fumes can't possibly be good for the continued survival of my brain cells.

Update in 20 minutes or so, after the mold has had a chance to stew in the bleach.

In the meantime, I'm trying to vent the noxious gases without making myself sick. I'm beginning to think flames would have been a better plan.

Teppy, I think that only the original scent of bleach disinfects.

From the Clorox site: [link]

Hmm. I see the good people at Clorox say "Only Clorox® Regular-Bleach is EPA Registered for sanitization and disinfection."

So....nobody rat me out to the EPA, okay? I figure bleach is bleach, and "fresh rain" is what was in the closet. If the sentient mold succumbs to it, I'm okay with that.

t edit I don't mean that to be snippy; I'm just a rebel when it comes to bleach, I guess.

I think they're using "regular" to differentiate between the chlorine bleach and the Clorox II. If your poofy flowery Clorox is chlorine bleach, you're disinfecting, even while you kill brain cells.

Oh, it's chlorine bleach.

Score: Teppy 1; sentient mold 0.25.

Why was it not a complete win for poor Teppy? Because the mold has gotten *under* the caulk around the tub, and so it *looks* all grimy and grey. But all external mold -- GONE.

In celebration, I am eating a turkey sandwich and really excellent mozzerella caprese.

I forgot how bleach destroys my fingernails. Bah.

Allyson, I wish I were down there, too. Not only would I have my Boxes of Makeup from Hell and the ability to have fun making you even prettier, I'd be FAR AWAY FROM HERE, where I am right this moment dealing with a poop blowout from hell.

Also, I'm going to go on record as saying holy carp, I fucking hate budgets. Esp. when they have to cover everything--food, gas, household goods--not just purchases for self. There are few things more depressing than putting back something you probably need at Goodwill because you can't justify the five bucks. I am now irrationally cranky and wanting to throw things, but first I have to finish cleaning up the baby-made mess, and then do laundry, so by the time I have a chance to be RAGE WOMAN, I'll be too wiped out.

And I'm tempted to just delete this, because I'm so cranky right now, I'm even annoying myself.

Right. Happy thoughts.

Allyson, try a brightish lip (maybe a cool mid-to-deep plum) and a subtle eye. Think a pale shadow, but a lot of lash, especially upper lashes. Don't go too heavy on the lower lashes, and make sure to curl those uppers, and concentrate on the length at the outer corners. I'd suggest adding a couple of those false bunches to the outer corners, but I'm utter crap at putting them on, so unless it's something you can do blindfolded, just go with the mascara option.

so by the time I have a chance to be RAGE WOMAN, I'll be too wiped out.

OMG, Plei, I could kiss you for putting that into words.

Also, I'm going to go on record as saying holy carp, I fucking hate budgets.

They really suck. You should just be able to enjoy new-mommyhood and not stress over every penny.

unless it's something you can do blindfolded

Embrace the irony.

{{{Plei}}}

Go, Teppy for defeating the mold.

Taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society.

A recent study determined that something like 40% of all Australian households get more back from the government than they pay in taxes. I have no strong opinions about that, though it seems like a fairly high number. I would've thought that government assistance would've been better targetted, like, if that number dropped (say) to 25%, then that 25% could be getting much better government assistance than they do right now. But then you get into problems with the marginal effective tax rate and poverty traps. Sigh. Tax is hard!

Mmm...I wonder how he'd feel about running his own post office or fire department. Or if he feels like making his own roads.

Well, of course he'd be expecting the private sector to do it. And the post office, there probably would be a private option (there are plenty of private competitors for the post office now, after all). But he might have a teensy bit of trouble coming up with a working business model for the fire department.

Grover Norquist preaches that shit. It's ridiculous. Infrastructure makes our lives better and everyone should pay for it according to their means.

Yep. More than that, infrastructure is, from a whole-economy perspective, a sensible investment. Reliable power/the ability to transport goods/fast and cheap communications are economically productive. Lots of different ways they can be provided for, of course, but I'd argue that they're definitely features the government should be taking an interest, and ultimate responsibility, in.

"Well, Trevor, it's been a long, long, LONG damn time. A democrat may have been in the White House, in fact."

Is there a causal link you're not sharing with us?

b) True or false: Giving illegal drugs to your co-workers isn't as bad as selling drugs to them.

Hee. Now I find myself wondering about this. What would they prefer? if you're going to be getting their people hooked on the hard stuff, do they want you exercising your entrepeneurial spirit, or do they prefer the JohnnyPoppyseed model?

EEEEEK, can you borrow a cat meara?

Man, what would a cat meara look like? You'd get whiplash from all the sudden changes of focus. So, exactly like the original then. Forget I said anything.

Then again, I'm weird about animals. In Wisconsin, I saw the freakiest ones every day. In Australia, where animals consider biology textbooks to be "what not to do" guidelines, I'm only seeing mosquitos and magpies. Not even one little spider.

This is true. (Magpies are much more fun to hear than see.) We have some wonderfully freaky fauna, but it doesn't actually show up that regularly. Though the day we sold our house, a kangaroo turned up to check out the SOLD sign. Naturally, we chased him all around the suburb in a car.

One thing I like about Canberra is the colourful birds are more common. And it has a great aviary, just opposite a reptile house!

Oh, crap, is there some invisible species of uber-venomous redback they just don't tell people about?

No, no, the funnelweb is enough for one city. Though this reminds me, have you been told about the dropbear?

Maybe......vegemite is people!

If so, then there are people who need to cut back drastically on the salt. And axle grease.

I for one would probably die from a stupid spider bite if I spent time in Australia, because I rebelliously gave up the habit of shoe-checking in Arizona the second time I had a scorpion join me in bed.

Actually, no one's died from a funnelweb bite in Australia in 25 years. Since they developed the antivenom, in fact. We still lose a few each year to snakebites, so don't feel you have nothing to aim for.

Oh, I HATE graded group work. I think group stuff is important, 'cause you can bounce ideas off each other, but someone always ends up getting screwed when you stick a grade in there.

AS was ranting about this the other day. I did some group work for my actuarial studies and loved it, but yeah, it had some of those dynamics. The (continued...)