Public toilets make me consider learning to pee standing up. It can be done, I'm just not ready for that learning curve.

I've cut down the phone-answering script at work to the bare minimum. I answer the phone with "[company], this is Elizabeth." (I put a little upswing lilt on the last syllable; it makes me sound approachable. There's a science to it, I tell you.) It's a direct line to my desk, and anyone calling that number is calling me, specifically, usually in response to a message I've sent them. That person is going to be an engineer, possibly a non-American, and probably a little uncomfortable already, and so they're going to ask to speak to Elizabeth [last name], no matter what I say, because that's the script they've rehearsed in their heads before they picked up the phone. So I keep the intro quick.

And, here's some mighty powerful cute, for those who haven't had enough cute today.

edited because I got the URL wrong.

I say " Center for Lifelong Leaning, this is **Real Name**" Boss says "Hello". When I answer Boss's phone,. I say "Boss's name's office, this is Real Name". It freaks me out that my boss says just Hello, as her number is on a lot of published materials for out office (we have a main telephone number identity problem)

Don't even get me started about guys who use the toilet to pee and hit everything but the bowl. I've even seen it in otherwise high-class places. Hello, WTF???

Next you'll be complaining about people throwing piss at you when you're shooting in Los Angeles alleyways.

Hec, I think you misspelled "when you're getting shot at in Los Angeles alleyways."

Ooh, I hate it when people answer their business phones "hello."

OK. Dishes, rug, and self are clean. Backpack is packed, as are the rest of my clothes. Note is written to cat sitter. Sweet.

Don't drink the water! Don't buy food from street vendors!

(ok, the last? I'd totally ignore. Because I love me some taco van food. Honestly, some of the best basic regional food I've had has come from independent vendors on the street with carts that every health department would condemn. Man, I want a prague hot dog now. More sausage than unidentified meat product, stuffed into a roliky with brown mustard...only 5 koruny. Basically $0.20.)

Basically, eat your gut out. Mexico City mexican is different from what I know, but I've heard it is really good.

I've got to say, I'm (possibly irrationally) sketched out by street food here, so I don't know about street food there. We'll see how it goes....

Eh, pack plenty of immodium and enjoy. A family we were friends with did a sabbatical and basically did everything you weren't supposed to and were fine. But I wouldn't drink the tapwater. There was an NPR story on water issues in MC and it wasn't pretty.

Mole! Beef! Enchiladas! Tortillas to die for!

Pretty much the two things not to do are drink tap water and hail a cab. Hailing cabs leads to "express kidnapping" -- they take you, make you go to the ATM, and then let you go. Still, more trouble than I'd prefer to get into in a foreign country.

Leave your atm card at home! No issues!

Heh. I think not hailing a cab will be easier -- they have cab stands and radio cars, so it's not like we're stranded. Also, I totally want to take the subway. Not that we'll have more than about 10 free hours over the week.