Engagement iPods, I like that idea. I think I'll ask for an anniversary iPod. What year is cool, entertainment electronics?

I forgot to weigh in on hot dogs. Ball Park (as in at the baseball game, NOT the brand) are only fit with mustard, relish and onions. But I will admit, in my younger days to committing the crime of catsup. Then there is the Skyliner (with cheese and Skyline chilli--no onions). Or the generic chilli dog with cheese, also good.

Oops.

Muuuummmmmmmm, Fay is bogarting all the cute!

Chili dogs are of the good. I like mine with onion.

Best part about looking at the moon through your new telescope? Watching it move out of your view, and having to chase it across the sky.

We like the mooooooooooon...

DH and I were engaged for months before he got me a ring, and while I did flash it obnoxiously to everyone I encountered for at least a month afterwards, I certainly didn't feel any *more* engaged wearing it than not. I just liked showing off my shiny thing.

Had they been in existence at the time, I would have far preferred an engagement iPhone to a ring, but alas, it was not to be.

I'm at work today. So far I have discovered that my password expired while I was on leave and since I've shifted my hours to work a slightly earlier shift, nobody will be around to reset it so I can log on for another half-hour at least. (Fortunately I have an auxiliary backup computer which is on the interwebs but not connected to the network. I could be spending this time cleaning my desk, but it's not my fucking mess so I'm going to just be irritated by it while I kill time here.)

I'm hoping there will be enough going on today to keep me from being a complete sobbing wreck without D. My sister (who is babysitting) doesn't even have a cameraphone to keep me updated throughout the day on how he's doing, so I have a feeling I'm going to spend most of today on Flickr.

Had they been in existence at the time, I would have far preferred an engagement iPhone to a ring, but alas, it was not to be.

This. Talk about your binding promises.

Hot dogs are the one thing I really really miss about being vegetarian. I haven't found a good replacement.

Engagement rings - the whole idea of 2 months salary was created by DeBeers (at least I'm sure) advertising to get people to spend more money. If I were to get an engagement ring (as opposed to engagement electronics) I'd want an amythest, those are my favorite stones.

Hot dogs can be good - but when I was at the F2F in San Francisco, Deb had Aidell's sausages which are really good. I've found them around here, and enjoyed them (not grilled, alas, since grilling in a small, ca. 1929 kitchen would be ... dumb).

Fay, that book sounds like possibly the cutest thing ever - and anyone who loves a stuffed dog that much deserves to keep him. Until the next Buffista baby story, which will set a new level for cuteness.

Engagement rings - they're basically the first step onto the whole wedding insanity escalator. They're nice if the people involved like them, want them, and can afford them (I got engaged once - we used his grandmother's ring ... which I returned on breaking up with him). But I think a lot of it is part of the big marketing deal; and, yes, DeBeers did get the whole "a diamond is forever" thing started. My mother decided to be original - she got emerald ring guards rather than a diamond ring. After the wedding, when she had to do housework, she discovered WHY emeralds don't make good everyday rings (they chip, break, etc.), so she stopped wearing them. So ... expensive and even more impractical than a diamond!

yay Amtrak ~ ma!

Made it - and it was a pretty good trip!

Excellent! Sox! How long are you there? Just a day trip?

I am going to attempt to bike to Trader Joe's for sustenance, since it seems to be nice out.

Hot dogs should be Nathan's kosher dogs, because that's what I grew up with and therefore am brainwashed to believe. Then again, we are discussing yet another food item my DH won't touch, so I've had maybe 2 hot dogs in 10 years.

Glad Amtrak got you there, Sox!

I didn't want my DH to spend money on an engagement ring, because it just didn't matter to me. Turns out, it mattered somewhat to him and he had one made from a platinum diamond band of his g'mothers and a tanzanite stone from one of his mother's rings. It's very pretty, but it doesn't match our wedding rings, and so when I wear it, it is as a right hand ring. A few years ago I inherited my godmother's diamond engagement ring, which (when I wear it) also ends up on my right hand, about as often as my own engagement ring.