Um, Jesse, isn't it like not-even-properly-morning, in your timezone?

You should work these other-timezones hours only if that means getting trips from work to those timezones, meaning coming to visit me, of course.

paperdol's neighbor is, indeed, awesome. And a note from Nilly should do it. Also, as far as I'm concerned, sick people should stay home and keep their germs to themselves.

I love the idea of the ninja flight - just think! someone else packs for you, you don't have to stand in line, you don't get stuck in a middle seat, no screaming passengers of any age, you get where you're going rested!

And I think the Virginia bad-driver laws, though enacted by people who aren't likely to suffer from them, are partly in response to a prevalence of bad driving (mostly to help balance the badly out of whack state budget, though). The Post's commuter column, Dr. Gridlock, cited the Virginia law about making right and left turns on red ... which leads me to ask, aren't you supposed to stop on red?

I have an unexpected 'holiday' due to an all-campus staff/faculty meeting being suddenly called yesterday. I hope it just means that the president is retiring or something rather than the university going bankrupt or something. I may have woken up in a pessimistic mood, because I should be going "whee! free day!" especially because this is one of the ones with a four hour class in the morning and a four hour class in the evening.

Also, I get to watch Pushing Daisies in real time. That this isn't cheering me up right away is a good sign of how gronky I am.

aren't you supposed to stop on red?

there are certain municipalities in Virginia where you can actually argue for "orange" and have a fighting chance. Most of them near colleges. In Baltimore, red lights at downtown intersections are usually treated as an advisory. I haven't driven my car much in Philly - yay - but, um - have you seen people with PA license plates on the road? Yah, them. (erk, now us.) I don't think they stop for much. Except cheesesteak and anything with a Steelers/Eagles logo on it.

Awesome gift paperdol, and - to repeat everyone else (as DH is currently driving to work, hacking - for the 10th day in a row), stay home, rest, and sleep.

I'll join the chorus: stay home, sleep, and cuddle your bound book. That sounds like somebody had access to a library binding service, which can rebind old books or bind up magazines into more permanent form. It's a very lovely and thoughtful gift, indeed.

Yay, paperdol!

Quick update on Teddy, now that I've caught up after taking last week off and finding a crisis during that time.

He had a bad blood work result a week ago Sunday, so we started him on another round of IV fluids on Monday the 8th. On Wednesday, we found out that the eligibility standards have changed, and he is no longer too old to be considered for a kidney transplant.

Long story short -- Tests have been done. We have an appointment with a vet at the University of Pennsylvania on Monday at 10 (so you can imagine how early we'll have to leave the house that morning to get to Philadelphia in time). There will be a couple more tests, including a tissue match with the potential donors that are available. Then the transplant happens, probably late next week or early the week after. After a couple weeks in the hospital recovering, we bring home both Teddy and the donor (because we don't just get the kidney -- we get the whole cat!).

The bound book is cool, paperdol. The ick is not cool. Get better soon.

That seems only fair, Fred! My fingers are crossed that all goes well for you and him!

One day I will learn that if a body part is going "OW, OW, YOU MORON" that I probably should check on said body part, especially considering that I have a high threshold of pain.

Location for the 2100 Buffista F2F?

'Second Earth' found, 20 light years away

Scientists have discovered a warm and rocky "second Earth" circling a star, a find they believe dramatically boosts the prospects that we are not alone.

The planet is the most Earth-like ever spotted and is thought to have perfect conditions for water, an essential ingredient for life. Researchers detected the planet orbiting one of Earth's nearest stars, a cool red dwarf called Gliese 581, 20 light years away in the constellation of Libra.

Measurements of the planet's celestial path suggest it is 1½ times the size of our home planet, and orbits close to its sun, with a year of just 13 days. The planet's orbit brings it 14 times closer to its star than Earth is to the sun. But Gliese 581 burns at only 3,000C, half the temperature of our own sun, making conditions on the planet comfortable for life, with average ground temperatures estimated at 0 to 40C. Researchers claim the planet is likely to have an atmosphere. The discovery follows a three-year search for habitable planets by the European Southern Observatory at La Silla in Chile.

"We wouldn't be surprised if there is life on this planet," said Stephane Udry, an astronomer on the project at the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland.

Two years ago, the same team discovered a giant Neptune-sized planet orbiting Gliese 581. A closer look revealed the latest planetary discovery, along with a third, larger planet that orbits the star every 84 days. The planets have been named after their star, with the most earthlike called Gliese 581c. The team spotted the planet by searching the "habitable zone".

I think this is the first rocky "Earth-size" extrasolar planet ever found.