Records, people! It's all about keeping records!

Right? But from what I read, things like that weren't (obviously) monitored as stringently prior to the 1980s-1990s.

Ack! I knew about Thalidomide. I didn't know about the untracked samples. (Also? Ack. Suddenly have terrible We Didn't Start the Fire earworm.)

That earworm has been always burning since the world's been turning....

JZ is very, very bored, and she really likes getting phone calls, as they remind her she has not fallen off the face of the earth. I told her the board misses her.

Can someone with JZ's phone number at the hospital please send it to me? I would muchly like to speak to her, and of course have her hold the phone against her belly so I can verbally shake my wee fist at the Weenie.

My profile address is good. Thank you!

And it's not even just an old story, since female thalidomide babies are apparently at high risk of developing certain cancers later in life, from what I understand.

Insent, Jen.

Grrr Argh!

My letter to Sallie Mae:

On 7/19/06 I checked my loan 10-day payoff on your website. The amount listed was $***.44 due before 7/29/06.

On 7/27 I made a payment of $***.43, and realizing I had made it a penny short, I made a second payment of $1, which is the minimum your system will allow a payment.

By that reconing, you should be showing the loans paid in full, and a surplus of 99 cents in my account.

I decided to check on the process, and indeed find that you did receive payment on 7/27/06 as requested, and fully TWO days before the 10-day payoff deadline.

So, now my account says that no, I still owe $1.63!

This is the second time I have attempted to pay off my student loan, the three years ago you gave me an amount, I had a check drawn up, and you said I had another $*** to pay off. I did not print out the payment amount at that time, so I had no choice.

This time it is different. This time I printed out the payoff amount and I want you to stick to it. And I want my 99 cents back, just on principle.

Please respond immediately.

Daniel C. Jensen

Stars inserted for public reading.

Last night, The Boy and I went to a farm to see a sculpture exhibit. No, really. It's a working farm that's also a "sculpture center," which has some permanent pieces, as well as hosting sculpture shows. All the pieces are outdoors, and they're all very contemporary -- like, made from industrial materials, rather than a statue of Aphrodite carved out of marble.

This is the final weekend for an exhibit at the farm that's called "Without Walls." I got attacked by either bugs (but bugs don't bite me, damn it!), or a really nasty weed, because after being there for about an hour, I had welts and hives all over my arms and legs, and we had to leave to get Benadryl for me. Which led to an early night, as I zonked out once I had the Benadryl in my body.

Anyway, I took a bunch of pictures of the sculptures, starting here: [link]

What a cool idea.

Too bad about the welt-leaving bugs or weeds.