Can someone please ping me with VW's cell number? Thought I had it. Seems I don't. Boo.

I know a lot of you have seen this in other forms. Please pardon the repetition. It's for a good cause!

I did it last year and I'm doing it again! May 16 and 17th I'll be riding a bike 140 miles from Rehoboth back to Baltimore to raise money for Moveable Feast of Maryland ( [link] ).

You can make a make a secure, tax-deductible donation by going to our Team page and clicking on my name in the list: Team Atomic!

Moveable Feast is an incredible organization based in Baltimore. They provide hot meals, groceries, and nutritional counseling to homebound HIV/AIDS and breast cancer patients and their families. Moveable Feast also helps provide shuttle service to the homeless population of Baltimore, as well as providing job training and marketable skills to people who need it.

I know times are tough all around but, if you are able, please donate. Even $5 or $10 can make a big difference. And even if you can't donate, knowing you are supporting me emotionally is a huge deal.

This year every rider has been paired with a Moveable Feast client to help create a connection for us between the work we do fundraising and how it is helping real people in need. My client is a middle-aged woman who lives on the Eastern Shore of MD with her husband. And she LOVES snacks! We're a perfect match!! Reaching my $1,200 fundraising goal will allow Moveable Feast to provide my client partner with 3 nutritionally balanced meals a day for a whole year!

Hey y'all, if there's some spare ~ma around, could you direct it towards Miami? Mom's having a knee replacement this morning and she's justifiably nervous, but it needs to be done.

(I do NOT envy her caregivers in the aftermath-- I suspect she's going to be a terrible patient.)

I guess this belongs in here. I got laid off today, along with half my section and a number of other staff. Or, as I like to think of it, my application for paternity leave was approved.

Signed, billytea, man of leisure.

...I'm going to need a silk dressing gown.

Chicago peeps: I will be in your windy environs for a conference from April 27 to May 2nd, state budget freeze willing. I'll be busy during the days; perhaps dinner one night?

On a related note, there's a tiny chance that I may need a place to crash for the whole time if I have to fund some of this trip myself. Please let me know if anyone might be crazy enough to host me.

Discussion to follow in f2f, I reckon.

A little continued job-ma for my spouse, as the University is looking at cuts again, and I'm looking for a paper bag to breathe into as we wait for shoes to drop.

As long as the job-ma's flowing...I survived the first round of layoffs last week, but I have a bad feeling about the next round (to hit around the end of April).

I'd like some successful surgery-ma for a family friend who is currently having brain surgery, which is scheduled to last all day.

She has a growth on the base of her brain which has probably always been there, but has gotten big enough to impair the function of her brain - now her left side is numb and she's having trouble swallowing.

She's only in her early twenties, and we'd like her to have lots of healthy and active years.

Edited to add:

The surgery was successful - and took 10 hours! They were able to remove all of the growth. We'll have to wait to see if she makes a full recovery. Thanks for the good thoughts.

I wrote a piece for the Albany Little League Newsletter about baseball and my dad.

I posted it on LiveJournal.

We might need some -ma for Wednesday that Mom has a job at the school next term.