I just got a thank you note from a manager in an unrelated department whose employees I'm wrangling in a project that has nothing to do with my department, and will end up making him look good. It's the little things, and I damned well appreciate it.

On the down side, I think the no-sugar-added latte does have artificial sweetener in it, despite the barista (can you say that for a Coffee Bean employee) assuring me it was unsweetened. Which means extra headache. Damn, it tasted good around that noxious slickness.

Saw an e-mail that voiced a concern about looking like "a bunch of armatures." I wonder if anyone pointed this out to the author...I'm certainly not going to.

tommyrot, if you throw in some giant mutated fruit flies to your fruit stand movie, you could probably get the Sci Fi channel to go for it.

Ugh. I just volunteered to get up early on Christmas morning to drive an hour in the cold so our family can have our Christmas gathering on actual Christmas as it should be, rather than the Friday night before as it was looking like. (Trying to schedule around my paternal grandparents wanting to go to church on Christmas morning for the first time in forever, thus having their own gathering much later in the day and my BIL's parents wanting to spend time with their son and grandson on Christmas.) My family rightfully assumed I would not want to get up early in the morning and drive through the cold, but the only other option was the night before Christmas Eve, and that just feels all kinds of wrong, so I asked if we could do it Christmas morning instead.

I guess there's something to be said for tradition.

Random people keep asking me for random help!

At least this time I was able to give it, but what's with someone here I haven't spoken to in almost a year calling me looking for help placing a contractor whose time is about to expire?

tommyrot, if you throw in some giant mutated fruit flies to your fruit stand movie, you could probably get the Sci Fi channel to go for it.

The heroes intentionally crash through a fruit stand while trying to flee a mutant fruit fly/human hybrid in the hopes it will distract it? Sounds straight up SFC's alley.

No, no, it's crashing through the fruit stand that mutates the fruit flies into horrific and ravenous mutants. Maybe there are some magnets involved?

Naw, I think that a scientist is carrying a rack of test tubes filled with gentically-modified "giantism" DNA. As the car chase comes by, he throws the rack of test tubes in the air and dives out of the way. The first car smashes the fruit stand, and the second car hits the still airborne rack of test tubes, knocking them onto the demolished fruit stand. Then we see a closeup of the test tube goo splatting on some fruit flies. Cut to commercial.

edit for editosity....

Kalshane, my two cents says "worth the effort".

Maybe make up a thermos of hot chocolate the night before or some other sort of fun stuff to eat in the car?

Oh, and as the mutated fruit flies wreak havoc, the drivers of the cars in the car chase have to put aside their differences and join up with the scientist and his girlfriend (who is also a scientist and who looks like a 20 year old model, except she wears black plastic glasses) to defeat the mutant fruit flies.

The owner of the fruit stand, who is an offensively stereotyped immigrant, adds the comic touch.