Heh. That's like my grandfather referring to certain of his kids/grandkids as "kutchma." It actually means haystack in Ukranian, but he used it to describe them/us by our hair. We all have very thick hair, and most of my aunts and some of my cousins were blondes as children. They all became "kutchma" to him.

I don't tend to ask a lot of questions- I try to get the logic and flow so that when a detail comes up that I don't understand I can ask a quick question. I hope your trainee thinks like me.

I can only hope. I just hate that I have absolutely no feel for what she understands. These next few weeks with either be a big relief or a HUGE frustration.

Hivemind question. Is there anyone here who knows how disability leave and FMLA work in California? Do these run consecutively or concurrently?

Ok, I read it all, but I didn't take notes, so all I have to comment on is:

Wow, Raq, I'm so glad everyone is ok. I, too, read your posting before I heard anything, so I was able to all relaxed. I didn't read to the end of the thread, so I couldn't tell everyone about, but everyone seems to have carried on just fine.

Much punctuation and glitter where needed. And sj, don't feel bad at all about the tears. I was in that exact same situation when I was in grad school, and it totally sucks.

And now, in mememe news:

I think I may have mentioned here a while back that my local public radio station bought two other stations. This evening, they went live, and I was at the station for it! I am so impressed that my town of about 30k supports three public radio stations. One will be news and some talk. We had NPR and a little BBC on our old one, but this will have CBC, more BBC, more local news, and cool things like Democracy Now five days a week. Then we have a station that will be called Rain Country that sounds like it will be similar to our current station, but with less news. Finally, we'll have Excellent Radio, with a mix of pop and rock.

Our old station's call letters were KTOO, which everyone in town pronounced K2. The new stations: K3. [link]

We cleaned for three hours tonight, and we only have a little to do tomorrow. The good news is the landlord is going to check to see where the smoke is coming in and what she can do to stop it.

Yeah, sj. I hope your landlord figures something out quickly!

Aimee, sorry poor Em is sick--hope the flight is smooth anyway.

From way back:

Does that mean I would have to pee less if I just stuck with the heroin?

(+ other heroin talk)

My previous company (biotech) was developing an alternative methodone treatment and it would piss me off so much that rhesus monkeys were being tortured so that addicts could...whatever...that I made two CafePresse t-shirts and wear them to this day.

One reads:

"I don't love junkies more than monkeys."

And:

"No one ever died from secondhand smack."

I work at another biotech now, trying to cure idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. It feels slightly more right.

Ruh roh. Threadkiller. Sorry, was that too crass? I can delete.

:::::worried::::::

Yes, Java, YOU are the reason we can't have nice things.

Also, please come back and be crass some more?

Windsparrow, I feel for you with the demon cough. What's the otc cough suppressant you found, bitte?

Walgreen's brand Mucus Relief DM (Dextromethorphan HBr & Guaifenesin) - last year I found some dextromethorphan dissolve-on-your-tongue thingies that were promisingly effective, but then the right ones never seemed to be in stock whenever I tried to find them again. So I decided to give these tablets a try. I chose the guaifenesin combo because the cough was somewhat productive - although sometimes with a weird texture, more like cottage cheese than mucus - and now after a few days of taking this stuff, no more junk seems to be ejecting itself from my respiratory system. So if I get more, I'll just get the dextromethorphan.