Geez, be careful ita.

ita, please to come to Ireland where I can keep you safe and feed you tea.

Is the air quality affecting you?

Oddly enough, the air was redolent of jasmine last night. You can tell something's up here, but I'm sure we have the least of it in the SoCal area--closish to the water, but not that near to Malibu or San Diego.

This fainting/collapsing thing is for the birds. How can I be manly if I keep swooning?

eta:

please to come to Ireland where I can keep you safe and feed you tea.

Now, somehow tea just makes the offer.

Have training almost all day today and for the next two days. Am still bruised from circle pit on Saturday night. Send moar coffee, pls.

Take care of yourself, ita!! Smashed and hurt-y is not A Good Thing.

Ellie is so cute! Love her smile.

And yes, I too use two spaces between sentences, and can't change it now.

I dropped Mom off at O'Hare this morning, which means I get my bed back tonight--yay! Sleeping on the couch is all right (I do it a lot even without someone else using my bed), but the cat decided to jump on top of me at 1:30 am, and then play with an empty plastic bag at around 3, so I'm pretty tired right now.

ita, be careful!!

Manliness quiz (from Popular Mechanics) - how many of these can you do? 1. Patch a radiator hose - Yup. I've even replaced a radiator by myself. All hail Chilton manuals.
2. Protect your computer - Uh, yeah.
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized - Never had the chance.
4. Frame a wall - Yes.
5. Retouch digital photos - Yes.
6. Back up a trailer - Yes.
7. Build a campfire - Yes.
8. Fix a dead outlet - With the proper tools, which I don't have any more.
9. Navigate with a map and compass - Yes.
10. Use a torque wrench - Yes.
11. Sharpen a knife - Yes.
12. Perform CPR - Yes.
13. Fillet a fish - Yes. Also, euch.
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid - Both a car and a motorcycle.
15. Get a car unstuck - Yes.
16. Back up data - Um, duh?
17. Paint a room - Yes.
18. Mix concrete - Have done.
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle - I've never seen one.
20. Change oil and filter - Yes.
21. Hook up an HDTV - Dude, my TV's 20 years old.
22. Bleed brakes - Yes.
23. Paddle a canoe - Not well. But circles are fun!
24. Fix a bike flat - Yes.
25. Extend your wireless network - Again with the slow adoption of tech.

Do as in "I have successfully done this thing at least once in my life."

from Cut to the Chase - list of self-sufficiency:

Okay, yes to all of these, though the directional one has taken me a while.

I guess I'm very manly?

Yay juliana, my sister in manliness!

Flaming Squirrel Blows Up Woman's Car

gives DJ a manly hug and high-five

Fish that Live in Trees

Scientists were startled last month when they discovered that mangrove killifish, a fish native to Florida, Central America and the Caribbean, spend weeks of the year living in the rotten branches of trees, fully out of the water. The fish typically live in pools of water made by the roots of mangrove trees. When those pools dry up, however, the fish "flop their way" into rotten branches, using tunnels dug out by insects. There they line up end to end with one another and wait out waterier pastures.