Did you see they had a spelling bee in front of Kauffman Stadium offering box seats to anybody who could spell Mark Grudzielanek and Doug Mientkiewicz's names?

I missed that. I wouldn't come out of that contest with box seats.

GodDAMN. This stupid ODBC driver is working completely differently on my new laptop. I can't work out why.

I wouldn't come out of that contest with box seats.

Oh! I would! I would!

Can't be any harder than Saltalamacchia (ATL), or Isringhausen (STL), or Yastrzemski. You actually pronounce all the letters in Grudzielanek, and most of them in Mientkiewicz!

This stupid ODBC driver is working completely differently on my new laptop. I can't work out why.

Gah. I hate that. Sometimes ODBC will work differently on different computers for no discernable reason. All I can suggest is check the ODBC version, and maybe reinstall the driver.

ION, Man Gets $218 Trillion Phone Bill

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a $218 trillion phone bill and was ordered to pay up within 10 days or face prosecution, a newspaper reported Monday.

Yahaya Wahab said he disconnected his late father's phone line in January after he died and settled the 84 ringgit ($23) bill, the New Straits Times reported.

But Telekom Malaysia later sent him a 806,400,000,000,000.01 ringgit ($218 trillion) bill for recent telephone calls along with orders to settle within 10 days or face legal proceedings, the newspaper reported.

It wasn't clear whether the bill was a mistake, or if Yahaya's father's phone line was used illegally after after his death.

"If the company wants to seek legal action as mentioned in the letter, I'm ready to face it," the paper quoted Yahaya as saying. "In fact, I can't wait to face it," he said.

NASA's Centennial Challenges. Win much dosh, be major geek.

A Malaysian man said he nearly fainted when he received a $218 trillion phone bill

nearly???

nearly???

I'd probably just laugh. Then I'd call the phone company and ask if they could put me on a payment plan - maybe $1 trillion per month....

Listen to accents of the world. I don't like the Jamaican accent. It's surely accurate in intonation, but she's talking way too slowly. Plus, it's just one of our accents. But it's not like the rest of the Caribbean is better represented.

It wasn't clear whether the bill was a mistake, or if Yahaya's father's phone line was used illegally after after his death.

So, wait, they're accepting the possiblity that someone actually ran up a $218 trillion bill in two months?

Gwyneth's second childe not named after fruit.