Every time I see a Mitsubishi Galant, I think that they should also have a Mitsubishi Goofus.

Every time I see a Mitsubishi Galant, I think that they should also have a Mitsubishi Goofus.

"Galant is always fuel-efficient, because it knows our natural resources are limited. Goofus only gets 2 mpg, because it wants to look cool to all the SUVs and Hummers."

OK, all this parental-babysitting-guilt has made me post. TAKE THE OFFERS! I LOVE babysitting. Seriously. People don't make the offer unless they mean it. I've been privileged to be the first sitter at anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks for my friends here. I know it can be stressful for the parents, expecially for the first kid (record: calls every 15 minutes over the first 3 hours.) But honestly? For those of us who like kids but don't plan on having any, it's a few hours spent with someone so neat and new and we get to be the fun aunt or whatever.

Y'all need to just move closer. If it didn't end up taking over my life with poor pay and benefits I'd probably be happiest as a nanny (when I was one, I eventually ended up only going home to sleep, spending the remaining 16 hours with the family, which I really enjoyed, but.)

She had an old Lincoln - with suicide doors." I love the way he says "suicide" there.

That's the song.

In his interviews he says that spoken word piece is basically him riffing on his FIL.

{{{Nora}}}

We were lucky with a babysitter when Jake was born -- Stephen's mom. She was 65ish, and desperate to play with a baby, so, since we were young and I was bottle feeding, we went out a LOT when Jake was under six months old, often drinking and to hear live music in Hoboken. Ah, good times.

In PA, we found the sweetest,most responsible high school girl EVER, who lived a block away, but we still couldn't afford her very often -- that whole dinner, movie, babysitter fee thing = a lot of money. We usually did with dinner or a movie, and always took one night to do both around the holidays, for our anniversary.

Nice thing: once, she had play practice on a night I called last-minute because we were taking three-year-old Ben to the ER (bashed-open head requiring stitches). We didn't want Jake to have to hang around the ER, but when Katie couldn't come, her older brother Ed offered -- he was the one who actually introduced us to her (long story). He sat for the boys quite a few times after Katie abandoned us left for college, and the boys *loved* him, because he'd bring his Nintendo or Playstation.

Car history:

1981 Pontiac T-1000
1988(?) Nissan 280ZX (hand-me-down from brother-in-law -- it talked!)
1993 Ford Taurus (hand-me-down from dad)
2002 Hyundai Elantra (new!)

We now have my mom's old Ford Escort, too, which is shoebox on wheels, but runs. I don't even remember what year it is.

I did a lot of babysitting as a teenager. My most lucrative client was a couple who was always going to the dog races. Their little girl would not stay in her crib and she wanted to be naked all the time. I spent most of the time chasing her around the house trying to get her back in her diaper and back in her crib. She was also being toilet trained, and her idea was to sit on the potty and "read" every book she had. I learned to immediately hide most of her books when I came in. She was very cute, though, and they paid $2 an hour. I always told her parents that I didn't have any trouble with her.

2nd Librarian not as good as the first, but still quite fun.

Must put away laundry and go to bed. Way past my bedtime.

Ciao, Bitches. (I don't believe I've ever said that before.)

It was silly fun. . . but needed Bob Newhart and his ninja fighting skills. (So unexpected last time.)

'Night Zenkitty -- I am going to go check the furnace and then head to bed myself.

From a news link:

"The Indonesian volcano Talang on the island of Sumatra had been dormant for centuries when, in April 2005, it suddenly rumbled to life. A plume of smoke rose 1000 meters high and nearby villages were covered in ash. Fearing a major eruption, local authorities began evacuating 40,000 people. UN officials, meanwhile, issued a call for help: Volcanologists should begin monitoring Talang at once. Little did they know that, high above Earth, a small satellite was already watching the volcano. No one had told it to. EO-1 (short for "Earth Observing 1") noticed the warning signs and started monitoring Talang on its own. Indeed, by the time many volcanologists were reading their emails from the UN, 'EO-1 already had data,' says Steve Chien, leader of JPL's Artificial Intelligence Group."

[link]

eep.

"What are you doing, Dave?"

I have a Christmas confession: I prefer artificial trees.

And right now, I'm drooling over this impossible one: [link]

Sigh.

What I realistically want, of course, is a 6.5' aluminum tree (I have a 4' one that my parents bought up in Vancouver when my sister was 3 or 4). I mean, to the point that I'm tempted to buy one now and just make big eyes until I get my way.

Sadly, Paul wants a tree that was once a living thing.

Sigh.