Hey, we're having a thunderstorm!

Isn't that . . . odd?

My weather radar widget shows a shitload of scattered showers crossing Northern IL and Southern WI.

We're supposed to get rain tomorrow. Looks like we might get some soon.

It's below freezing this morning in Somerville!

:: shooes Canadian Winter back across the border ::

Why oh why do I have a sore throat?? If this is a new cold or whatever, I'm going to kill someone.

Also, the Trader Joe's croissant did not proof enough after like 15 hours in the fridge, so I'm going to leave it till the afternoon and then see if I need a different strategy.

I had some homemade bread for breakfast, which I find improves my outlook significantly. Also, last night I tried something different -- put the usual ingredients in the bread machine, put it on 'dough' and then transferred the result to a bread-shaped pan in the oven, for 30 minutes, which gave it a much-improved crust and texture. Also, it took significantly less time than the regular bread machine cycle, which is probably because the electric heater in there is less efficient than my convection oven.

Good morning. I want a croissant, but I won't have one.

Timelies all!

I don't want to think about how many times I've wanted to scream at a SF show when they get evolution/genetics wrong.(Evolution is not directed, there is no specific goal. Also, you can't instantly change a person's genes)

Timelies, everyone!! I should be gronking, but I'm too revved up on caffeine.

I got together with ChiKat last night, and as usually happens when we get together, I didn't leave her place until the early hours of the am--this time, it was 4:45 am!! She was very nice in letting me chat, because I had to go to the bookstore Christmas meeting at 7:00 am, and I figured I'd just stay awake all night, so I was just staying amped to keep myself up. I got home by 5:30, and then turned around and left for the store at 6:30.

They gave us breakfast (eggs, sausage, bacon, and pancakes from Denny's, fruit and bagels, juice and coffee), and then we had to sit through a DVD on shrink (aka theft--they had actual shoplifters with faces fuzzed out who had stolen over $40,000 in journals from B&N stores and sold them on e-bay for $20-25,000 telling what made the stores such easy targets), a little tour of the new displays and where all the big-name books were at, and a quiz for the six teams they split us into. My team ended up getting the most points, so we had first pick of the books, CDs, and DVDs they had available for prizes--I ended up getting the David McCullough 1776 in hardcover, but I did debate on getting the Dirty Jobs DVD instead.

I've got myself a reputation there already (in the four months I've worked there) as being tops at selling the membership cards, and I mentioned to the manager after the meeting was over that I wanted to see someone beat my record of ten cards sold in an 8-hour shift, so I was willing to buy that person a cafe drink of their choice. Jim thought a challenge was a good idea, but doesn't want me to spend my own money for it, so he's thinking about using my record as a benchmark and paying for it out of promotional/motivational funds. The thing is that even though I love being #1 at the card sales, I'm tired of them relying on me to push the cards when I come in to work an evening shift. "Kathy, we really need card sales, so really try and get 3/5/8/as many as you can tonight!" I got 7 of the 21 we sold yesterday, which I thought was pretty bad if one person can dominate the sales like that.

The thing is that even though I love being #1 at the card sales, I'm tired of them relying on me to push the cards when I come in to work an evening shift.

Just like how the Bulls used to rely too much on Michael Jorden - it wasn't until they all played more as a team that they started winning championships.

So the moral is that Scotty Pippen should sell more membership cards....

It's a sports metaphor! You can sell anything with a sports metaphor!