Tep, I second your emotions, re the wholesome face thing. It's quite a drag. Unless you like being accosted by people with the Book of Mormon, that is.

Still another comic thingie: Mighty Samson vs. the Mutant, Radioactive Unicorn

Whether you’re horny for unicorns or mad about mutants, here’s a glowing tribute to an Oddball issue of MIGHTY SAMSON, one that cover-features the one-eyed, apocalyptic superhero locked in battle against “the fabled unicorn – now a lethal, radioactive mutant!” Read this comic and you may never need a night-light again!

A big picture of the cover: [link] The unicorn looks really pissed off. And you can tell it's radioactive 'cuz it's glowing.

My downstairs neighbors that love to blast their music and grill up food on their barbeque and invite all the passing neighbors to join them in some beer and chow finally convinced me to join them for dinner tonight. I would be drunk on all the beer they offered, but since it was Miller Lite, one was plenty. I switched over to water for the chicken and spicy corn-on-the-cob, which was blazingly spicy and had me reaching for the water constantly.

Their buddy who was visiting spent the time flirting with me, so I flirted back, which is always fun to do with drunk guys with no intention of following up on the innuendo. When I was done and had to get up here for some phone calls, I gave everyone hugs, and the drunk buddy asked for two--I told him to keep his hands where I could see them, which cracked up the neighbor guy.

Not a bad way to spend a Friday evening dinner hour, even with the glares we got from the old lady who lives next door when they cranked up the music for their favorite song.

Jen, you fail surreptitious Burglary 101.

(I really didn't have time to go get new glass and repair the window. I had to be on the road within hours, hadn't finished packing, and wasn't even dressed, for crying out loud. I had to be creative.)

Oh, god, I'd be a horrible burglar. My nephew, on the other hand (fine, upstanding citizen that he is), taught himself how to pick locks. He said to his mother recently, "You're lucky I didn't turn to the dark side." So say we all.

I got locked into my dorm room in college once, after a party.

I couldn't get anyone to come open the door, so I climbed out of my window, onto the roof, and into the hallway window of the dorm next door.

ION, I'm sitting out on my balconey, with a breeze, a beer, and my wirelessly connected laptop. It's not as good as Maine, especially with the total lack of Theodosia and Nora and Tom, but it's still pretty nice.

My beer and balcony killed the thread. I'm sorry.

Me: There appears to be no such word as "tricile".

Amych: Tier. (no, seriously.)

Thanks. How long ago did the change in definition take place? Even my Websters unabridged lists no definition closer to this than something along the line of "divide in ranks or rows". Probably should have gone with the Oxford...

Ah but the word "Tierce" under it does list this as one of the meanings. Probably Oxford would explain how this was originally "Tier".

I used a babysitter for the first time tonight. I worked late at the office then went to see Ocean's 13. good times.

well, working late was not good times, but alone time was.

now to sleep.

In the biomedical sciences it is common to refer to a division into thirds as terciles: the lower tercile, the middle tercile, and the upper tercile.

But the OED has never heard of the term.

Curious.