Fay, reassure me that I wouldn't be all sore-thumb-y if hanging around in Cairo with an art-teacher coworker? There's lots of foreign dames not speaking Arabic, yes?

I guess I'm feeling very unadventurous and timid. Don't know why.

And waits for Sparky to make her breakfast (when we leave her food on top of the car, rather than in the car before roadtrips).

Your DH put 1/2 a cup of kibble in her bowl and told her to make it last because that was all the food you had. So I scrambled her an egg. Poor Tuck!

So here at work, I suggested we have a party for the person getting married after the actual wedding, when she could relax and enjoy it. Everyone who has weighed in this morning seems to find this craxy talk, and they are suggesting that the bride would consider herself slighted.

I wouldn't have felt myself slighted, I would have been damn glad of one less thing to smile through before the wedding.

eta: Mr. Peabody is adorable! And I love reading about the trouble he gets in, because from where I sit, that too is adorable. And then I sign up for more sessions for my Sassafras at puppy day care so she comes home too tired to make too much trouble.

Is dim sum actual Chinese, or an American invention? Now that I'm thinking about Chinese food, I want dim sum. And I don't think there's a vegetarian dim sum place in DC.

Dim sum is a Hong Kong thing, but only white people call it "dim sum" - in Chinese, the actual meal is called yum cha. (Dim sum is the kind of food served at yum cha, but saying "going to dim sum" is like saying "going to pancakes" instead of "going to brunch.")

My sister living in Macau tells me that they do Western food like we do Chinese food, so we shouldn't feel too bad about enjoying our General Tso's Chicken.

they are suggesting that the bride would consider herself slighted.

It SOOOO depends on the bride, doesn't it? Some people have always wanted the traditional group and sequence of events and feel like a wedding isn't really a wedding without them; some people are much more a la carte, and happy to pick and choose based on particular convenience/enjoyment/hassle. Actually, I guess most people are a combination -- some things are totally negotiable, some things are sacred.

I like the rationale that they don't want to appear to have their cigarette brand associated with "an initiative that aims to spark an interest in fiction for young people." As far as I can tell, those cigarette pack books are simply aimed at, y'know, people who like books. But clearly, the only people who'll read fiction are kids, and they need to be encouraged to do it.

Phone: *Morning. Ring.*

Me: Fuck you. Just fuck you.

Phone: *Look, Captain Cheery, I'm a phone. This is what I do. Ring.*

Me: Do it to someone else.

Phone: *Fine. Move me to another desk. They'll just replace me. Ring.*

Fuckcake O' the Day: I'm checking to make sure one of my employees is actively insured. He has to go to the doctor.

Me: Give me a moment...yep, we show his coverage is active.

FCOtD: It's just that another employee went to the doctor and his insurance said he wasn't in the system.

Me: Well, we show this guy is active.

FCOtD: Okay, well...but this first guy, he went to the doctor and he wasn't in the system.

Me: Well, we're showing this new guy is all set.

FCOtD: ...can't you call the insurance company and check?

Things I Didn't Say: Okay. Can't you come down here and slurp my bunghole clean while I do it, you shitbag?

Everyone who has weighed in this morning seems to find this craxy talk, and they are suggesting that the bride would consider herself slighted.

I can see that if the bride doesn't know ahead of time that it's planned for after, and why. I've seen that before where people decide, say, to have b-day celebrations the weekend following because yadda yadda, but meanwhile the person goes through the actual birthday feeling forgotten. Full disclosure is what I say.

Ginger, he is such a cutie! So photogenic!

If he were really photogenic, I would have picspammed y'all more. Most of the pictures of him are foreshortened pictures of his nose.

The half-Corgi part means that he doesn't reach Jack Russellian levels of mania. So far he's shown that he can jump onto something about three feet tall and he can climb.

I've seen that before where people decide, say, to have b-day celebrations the weekend following because yadda yadda, but meanwhile the person goes through the actual birthday feeling forgotten.

This is why my grandmother's rule is to always tell someone Happy Birthday the day before the actual birthday.

Question for the hivemind:

I had an interview for a job that's internal to my Uni, (even the same school within) and speaking to the HR person, I said that my salary range was $XX-XY. I'm thinking, after hearing about the position that XX is a little too low, and I'd like to say something in my thank you email, like: "after our discussion of the position and all the responsibility it entails, I have considered my salary request and think it would need be closer to the XY side of the range."

Something like that? Help?

UGH! I *always* undersell myself and then slap myself for it right afterward.

This is still early in the process- first interview of several- and $XY is still smack in the middle of the salary range for this level.

Is this appropriate to bring up? Is there a better way to phrase it?