I've got just slightly less than a week to come up with going-away presents for people who are going to live in very foreign countries and don't need any more stuff.

Reading material for the trip, maybe?

Now all we need is a buttload of cash and a good excuse to take a week off work...

I think your most scientifically sound option is to buy some lottery tickets.

ETA: that was in response to Jars, not Emily!

Reading material for the trip, maybe?

Oh, I think they've pretty much planned that out already. They're pretty serious readers in their own rights. I did think about a subscription to audible.com or something, but I don't think they have mp3 players.

Then maybe an MP3 player?

I think your most scientifically sound option is to buy some lottery tickets.

Two steps ahead of you!

What about various guide books for wherever it is they're heading to, Emily?

Tattoo pictures: [link]

[link]

Ignore my dead-eyed look. I wasn't sure where the lens was pointed and the flash took me by surprise.

It's healing really well, and it's so gorgeous.

My job starts with training on Thursday, and I really want to do well so they'll keep me on once the christmas season has passed. It's totally my dream job, and I still can't believe I have it! Yay!

I start French classes this afternoon. Man, life is so crazy and busy, which is so different from a month ago that I can barely keep track of myself. But I think I've finally cleared a lot of the really shitty stuff, and finally I'm getting to the happy part of this excursion.

Emily, you must be in midterms now, right?

There's no such thing as climate change, right? It's just a coincidence that this is the driest recorded year in North Georgia. It's just a coincidence that the Western forests are on fire and we have 80 days of water left if things don't change.

Today's high in NYC is 78°, and the low is 60°. That doesn't seem so bad when you compare it to the record high of 88° in 1979, but the average high for this date, across the data on weather.com, is 61°. Looking back over the month of October, we have averaged 10° hotter than previous Octobers. That is simply ridiculous. I'm missing out on my autumn, and I don't like it at all, especially when you realize that I teach in a classroom with no air conditioning - it's not supposed to be suffering level this late in the year.

Pretty pretty pretty tattoo!

And, zombielike expression notwithstanding, my God, I'm suddenly having a flashback to my experience of watching Julia Styles in The Bourne WhateverItIsThisTime and going "OMGWTF! SA!"

...meanwhile, this is my packing. Yes sir. Packing. That's what I'm doing. Yep. For sure.

Far too early, ND, but at least you're getting a break from all the miserable smoke and filth in the air for a bit.

That story Daniel posted last night about the elderly Englishwoman who'd been institutionalized since she was 15 for stealing some piddling amount of money? Unbelievably depressing. She passed away on Friday, about a week after being reunited with her brothers (whom she'd recognized instantly despite not having seen them in almost 70 years). Zero justice for her, at all, and I can't even imagine a punishment that would be adequate, or possible, for the armies of doctors and bureaucrats who made one shitty decision after another over the decades of her imprisonment.

Bleah.

On the other hand, Matt is feeling better and P-C is getting his shoulder fixed today and Laura stopped by to love us for a bit, and Jars's Boy contriving to watch the game in real time is incredibly cute. Buffistas are good for the sore and sour soul.

Then maybe an MP3 player?

My wallet and I are taking it under advisement. My father has decided against one because he doesn't have the patience to put all his music on it, and I don't know if my brother already has one or not.

What about various guide books for wherever it is they're heading to, Emily?

Pretty sure they've already got this covered, but thank you!

Emily, you must be in midterms now, right?

Essentially. The first of 4 9-week portions, anyway.