OK, I bit. I went and looked it up on Amazon (because hey, there's no bad mood for which Retail Therapy is not the answer!), and wow, deep in the techno-fetish world! I suppose that's where cyberpunk has ended up.

I think I may get it and put one of those flowery chintz bookcovers over it.

Dylan and I just took Annabel by daycare to turn in her paperwork and show Dylan her classroom. When we got to the classroom, they were starting book time--the teacher had a board book, and she was talking about what was in it and having the children point to the red truck, the newspapers, etc.

Annabel didn't want to sit in a chair around the table with the other children. When the teacher showed her the book and asked her to point to the red truck, she tried to rip the book from her hands, refused to sit in her chair, and went off to play with toys by herself.

Please tell me she'll learn and not be an antisocial out-of-control brat forever.

I'm in a nervous mood. I'm awaiting an email, and I can't be any more specific until it arrives, and I've read it.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I'm also in a pissed-off mood at my insurance company's crappy web-based doctor search. My old gyno packed her bags and went to NOLA when Katrina hit, and hasn't come back. So I need a new doctor. Oxford will only let me search by zipcode, or by county -- nothing in between! No "zip code + 5 mile radius" type thing. And also no way to narrow the search by gender. So this is taking me WAY longer than it has to to fix.

It should not take 20 minutes to check out at the grocery store...even if one has $150 in groceries. I had THE most inept cashier ever. I'm so upset, I'll probably never go back to that grocery store again...especially the way they embarrassed me for using my food stamps card.

This. This is why I use the self-check lanes at stores that have them.

Of course, I haven't had a checkout time under 20 minutes in a year.

We're adding Mallory to the LAN: [link]

Susan! Don't be absurd -- this is her first time in that kind of setting, ever, and she has no reference for it. There's not a child on earth who walked into a strange situation and immediately figured out what was expected.

I think it takes time, Susan. Not that I know. I have to tell my cat "Stop biting me you little shit!" still so maybe I'm not a development expert.

especially the way they embarrassed me for using my food stamps card.

There's just no excuse for this.

beth, job~ma for Matt.

GC, GRE~ma, a little late.

Betsy, I hope your son gets to continue to play.

Sorry for everyone's craptastic moods. Tradition has it that the Dean sends around an email right about now to tell us that we can all go home at 3 o'clock (because it's a holiday weekend). I'm waiting, Dean E.!

There's just no excuse for this.

No. There really isn't. I should have complained, but I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Susan! Don't be absurd -- this is her first time in that kind of setting, ever, and she has no reference for it. There's not a child on earth who walked into a strange situation and immediately figured out what was expected.

OK. I'll stop beating myself up over letting her watch PBS and play by herself so much (with me in the room, of course), and try not to fret over the fact she seems more interested in things (the toys in the room) than people (her classmates and teachers).

Send me the info on the store and the cashier and what happened and I'll write a letter to the mangement telling them I was in line behind you and I was appalled.