There are no circumstances under which your father thinks a lie is acceptable, vw? Does he go around telling women that their dresses make their butts look fat?

I think lying to protect life and property is perfectly okay. You don't want to tempt burglars to sin, do you?

Most of those sales calls are automatic anyway. They're not hearing what you say on the message. And anybody who knows you would likely call your cell if the couldn't reach you at home, right?

Just leave a message saying that if someone needs to reach you quickly, call your cell number. No need for an explanation.

This.

Sorting through my grandfather's photos is interesting. His filing system consisted of little wax paper bags and cigar boxes. And he took pictures of everything. So I've got one cigar box of pictures of protests, with each protest in a separate little wax paper bag. Another of vacations on the east coast, with each vacation in a separate bag. Yet another cigar box of vacations to places that didn't have oceans. One entire box of pictures that he took of the TV screen when interesting people were on. A box that seems to contain every article from every NY English and German newspaper about the liberation of Buchenwald.

It makes for interesting browsing. And for the vacation pictures, he always sorted the pictures of people from the pictures of places. However, if I'm looking for something specific (like, right now, some photos of a family vacation in the thirties that I know I saw last time I looked through these), I have no idea where to start.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

In I-love-my-life news, I just looked up the books I'll need for Spring, and they total $29.95. Cheapest semester yet!

Apparently the people I live with don't own a coffee pot. How am I supposed to go 17 days with no coffee???

In Britain, people mostly drink instant. Even if there's a working coffee pot sitting around, in many cases. We haven't really grasped coffee as a concept. My Mum does like "proper coffee", but my Dad won't touch it. Meanwhile in Bangkok I have a coffee maker and my blender has a coffee grinder attachment, so I'm all coffeed up; however, at work there's only a kettle & instant coffee. I therefore have one of those mini one person cafetiere things, from Starbucks (this is a French press, right?), and so I keep a stash of ground coffee in the fridge at work and make my own coffee that way, one cup at a time. I would recommend it.

Also, I agree with Hil and Anne that brevity of phone message is the way to go.

Just been to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park with my parents for a nice bracing walk - it's remarkable how mild the weather is (but still much colder than Bangkok, obviously. Duh). Tomorrow I'm heading down to London to spend New Year with a good friend who is, happily, no longer living in Pakistan.

...apparently I have hiccups. Sorry about that.

t /embarrassed

Coffee.

I am: At home in MI, waiting for my parents to return from church so we can go out for brunch. Looking at Craig's List for a new apartment in CA. Bemoaning the real estate/rental market vs. my measly income. Envying my little sister and brother-in-law who are about to purchase their first home back here in MI. Also bemoaning my career choice which has made visits with my dear family so terribly infrequent.

I'm hungry, but am waiting for the parents to return so we can get brunch and talk...

I baked rum cookies. They are yum. And I must resist eating them now, because they're for a party tomorrow night. (I ate one, just to make sure they turned out OK. No more now.)

Nicole, if you're around, insent.

Tea.

Hil, those cookies sound yummy. I should start baking some brownies and banana bread for tomorrow, but TCG cleaned up the kitchen so nice today that I hate to mess it up.