I'd like to request some car-ma. Constance seems to be having transmission problems, and is currently sitting in the parking lot of an auto repair place (Special thanks to Noise Design), while I am driving a rental (Special thanks to Cass). If you all could focus on "$1000 or less", that would be fantastic.

We can has cats!

We went to the local Petsmart and came home with a pair of 4-month old sisters named Luna and Nova. They are in the basement, adjusting. Tomorrow we let them explore the whole house.

Good news, bad news.

Good news first. Per PMM's words, I got tackle-hired in mid-September, less than a month after I was let go. And it's a good gig, lots of meaty mathematical problems to sink my teeth into.

Bad news: The hours are long and the commute is sub-optimal, so I'm going to remain a very dark charcoal grey until my body figures out how to cope with working 10-11 hours a day, commute for an hour each way, and get 8 hours of sleep a night and still have something resembling a life.

I hereby release the job ~ma with love to those who need it. Thanks, all of you. Your kind words kept me going when I was sure I was going to fall.

Verily, let it be said that you rock the house.

I'm going to be on TV today! If you live in an area where Merv Griffin's Crosswords is broadcast twice a day, mine will be the second show. I don't look like a total idiot but I did miss two embarrassingly Buffista words.

I'll cross post this here as well as F2F--I'm going apple-picking in Woodstock (ETA: I just realized I should add that this is Woodstock, IL, not NY or another state!) this Sunday (10/14) (Braeburns and Jonathans are now available, and Winesaps might be ready by then), and if you'd like to join me, just ping me at my profile addy!

My mom had a fall Thursday evening, and has been hospitalized for observation and evaluation over the weekend. Physically she seems fine, if frail, but really in great shape considering she'll be 98 in November. Her caseworker is helping us find a care facility that has a place for her, and one that we like.

Send a good thought, please, that things work out as well as possible. Thanks.

A little bit of house-ma would be appreciated. We put in an offer and should hear back by tomorrow. Tuesday at the latest.

Then, of course, we'll have to figureo out how to sell the one we have.

So. After a couple of months' office wrangling turns out I'm going to be in Tacoma, just south of Seattle, over the last week of October/first week of November. Anyone up for a little F2F action?

Pet~ma would be appreciated. Teddy is being evaluated as a possible candidate for a kidney transplant.

Nothing scheduled yet, but we should know within a couple of days whether anything will need to be scheduled. And whether to start thinking about a F2F with any Philadelphistas, because that's where the surgeon is.

Some safe and healthy mother and baby~ma, if folks don't mind. My pregnant sister is currently in the hospital due to her amniotic fluid leaking and the level is dangerously low. The baby is fine and healthy at the moment, but he's not due until the end of December. They're currently giving my sister lots of fluids to try to outpace the leakage and allow the little one to stay put as long as possible. The doctors say the baby's chances are good right now, but of course the longer he stays where is, the better off he will be.