Happy Birthday, Jon!!!

GA: Man, I love this speech. And the response. And the response to the response.

Burke: I am Preston Burke, a widely reknowned cardio-thoracic surgeon. I am a professional. More than that I am a good and kind person. I am a person that cleans up behind myself. I am a person that cooks well. And you, you are a unbelieveable slob, a slovenly angry intern. I am Preston Burke and you you are the most competitive, most guarded, most stubborn, most challenging person I have ever met. And I love you. What the hell is the matter with you that you won't just let me?

Yang: I gave up my apartment 20 minutes ago.

Burke: Alright then.

It's not the same without the hand gestures, and the number of syllables he fits into the word "I."

Beauty.

That was a beauty.

ita I agree. Everything about that scene was just wonderful. I love them.

Totally.

So, I just made tomato soup, which, yum, except I'm getting the feeling there was still some soap in the pan. Blech.

GA: Beauty, and the expression on her face, and the amazed way he says, "I love you". And how his whole speech finishes off with, "Alright then" and he walks off.

I liked the theme of speaking your piece, but there were more people who should'a spoke theirs.

And Addison needs to walk the hell away. She's staying out of guilt and he's staying out of duty, and it doesn't even matter anymore if they love each other or not, because of everything else that has got piled on top of the love.

I can't believe how into this show I am.

Now jealous of GA-watchers. Not that I have ever been able to reliably watch a show that's on at 10pm, when all people who are me are already in bed.

Buffista survey du jour: What, if any, retirement funds do you have? I was thinking about the demise of the traditional pension. I currently work for a University with a pension fund for biweekly-paid (i.e. lower-income) employees like me. You don't vest until you've been here 5 years as as far as I can tell if you leave before you've been here 15 years AND hit 45 years old you get nothing. There's also an option of a 403(b) but no employer matching. So basically I have no employer-sponsored retirement. All my retirement funds are currently in IRAs I fund myself, and have been doing since I was 23.

I've got a 403(b) with not matching, a pension that I'm fully vested in (not sure what the details are if I leave), and a 401(a) which involves the company putting a % of my salary each year (% based on how the year has gone). I'm always afraid I'm not putting enough in the 403(b). No IRAs yet.

I'm also jealous of those watching GA. it should be at home on my Tivo, but the whitefont is taunting me.

Hmmm, retirement. Well, in our case, Joe can "retire" in another 5 years. From that point on he will get 50% of his base pay as a "pension." Our medical is (mostly) included in that, although I think we only get 80% covered if we don't use military medical facilities. Still, it's pretty good, I guess.

I have a 401k in which I'm fully vested, with a company match up to 4% of my salary (which I take advantage of), and a company-sponsored retirement plan that doesn't provide a whole lot but has so far not been taken away. No IRAs or anything else. No point in socking away money at ~4% return when I've still got debts that I'm paying 9% interest on. When those are paid off (this year, I plan) I will get a Roth IRA.

But good on you, flea, for funding your own IRA since you were 23! I wish I had been so wise; I didn't start seriously saving for retirement until I was 37.