OH! Vortex, thank you!

no prob. I've been scared to attempt sweet potato pie, since my grandmother's was so amazing, but I think about it occasionally :)

Darn you all, instead of getting some good work done this AM, I'm looking at Hawaiian firefighter/surfing instructors, all of whom look exceptional. Also, some of their students are no more great physical specimens than I am, which makes me want to book a trip to Hawaii right now.

Instead I have to go to school, with my scratchy throat.

Smoke detectors shouldn't be put on a wall -- because of the way that smoke moves in a room, it takes a while to build up enough to accumulate anywhere BUT the ceiling, and you want a warning as soon as possible, hopefully to be able to put out a smolder instead of having a full-blown fire set it off. Center of the room's ceiling is the absolute best placement.

For a kitchen or bathroom, spend a couple extra bucks and get a detector with a large "Off" button in the center, which suspends the alarm for a couple minutes before resetting. Then if it goes off, grab a handy pole or broomstick.

What smoke detectors gain you is vital time -- to either be able to stop a small fire before it gets to be a big one, or a big one where you have enough warning to you can grab your loved ones and get out.

Poor sick Gracie! I hope she gets better soon.

Kat, I am so very sorry. Can she be visited, in case I have the energy while she's on the west side?

My smoke detectors are all on walls. I wonder if there's a code that landlords have to meet, or something. My ceiling's stuccoed, though, so I'm not sure how that'd work.

I never close the bathroom door. Comes from living alone for 8 years, and a bathroom door that had swelled so that it didn't shut easily.

But you're at a new place now...

I close the door when I'm showering to keep the heat in. I'm wimpy that way.

Went to the ER yesterday. Have very vague memories of what happened because the doctor ponied up a lot of drugs very quickly. I'm really kinda curious about my behaviour...

I'm really kinda curious about my behaviour...

I wonder if there's stuff you could get away with while you're away with the fairies on drugs? You could be very truthful with people you don't like, and it's not your fault! Or... rob banks? Or... something else exciting that my law-abiding brain can't think of. At the very least, you should get something cool and fun out of all the drug ER pain-in-the-assness.

You could be very truthful with people you don't like, and it's not your fault! Or... rob banks?

Let's just say I hope I robbed banks last night.

Honestly, though, I'm just relieved to not wake up into a full-fledged panic attack like I usually do.

Well, I guess I woke up into one, but it dissipated very quickly as my mind started to stitch together some fragments of recollection, and is trying to shade them appropriately.

::shakes head ruefully::

Okay, back to bed.

Okay, back to bed.

Yes, this! And have a cup of tea, too. There's not much a cup of tea can't make feel better. Even if it's only a wee bit.

I have skipped and skimmed and such.

Kat, I am sorry to hear that Grace is back in ICU

JZ, if you are here, congratualtions on job offers

Also, I HATE all of you roof rat people. I woke up at 4 am this morning hearing what I thought was a scratching and pushing on my attic door, and all I could think of were roof rats! (well, and a giant raccoon, but I don't think one could get in my attic.) When I finally convinced myself to get up and check it out, it turned out I had left my ipod playing all night, and the scratching and banging was really the sound emanating from the earpod!

For a kitchen or bathroom, spend a couple extra bucks and get a detector with a large "Off" button in the center, which suspends the alarm for a couple minutes before resetting. Then if it goes off, grab a handy pole or broomstick.

I really wish landlards would do that. My alarm is in my central hallway, which makes sense, but it goes off a) every time I cook, because the stove is right by the door, and the steam from boiling sets it off , b) sometimes when I shower, and c) the first time I turn the heat on for the year, which is scary because it involves gas, and pilot lights and long clickly lighters in my apartment, since the furnace is also in my hallway

we have about a zillion smoke detectors, due to the code that there has to be one on every floor PLUS one in each bedroom. The one on the first floor... yeah, we don't even have that installed anymore. It's right next to the kitchen practically over the stove. But when we do anything smokier than usual, the alarm on the 2nd floor rises to the occasion. So, I'm not too concerned about the first floor one being out of commission.

There are many battery-changing beep shenanigans as well as the occasional detector going off FOR NO REASON WHATSOEVER. Bah. They are also very LOUD.

We have a CO detector in our bedroom.

Kat, lots of ~ma for Grace.

w/r/t all those detectors our houses are supposed to have, I will add the recommendation to have the carbon one be talking instead of beeping. It narrows down the possible answers when you ask, "what the hell is making that noise?" at 3 a.m.

Our new house is all painted and the floor guys start today. A week from Wednesday, we should be able to put things on the floor!