Aw, thanks, but...

You are welcome...no BUTs allowed!

a) No, I'm not.

Rubbish.

b) If I was a top contender I think too many man-hours in an office environment has reduced my wit to a toddler-level "I pooped! Ha ha!"

Rubbish. I say again...say it with me now...RUB-ISH.

c) If I were the quickest wit in the world I would have to watch out every day. Every day I'd know that someday, some time, some young whippersnapper with something to prove would come up behind me and say "All right, Miracleman...QUIP!"

Okay. This could happen.

But all you really have to do is dedicate yourself to consistent quippercize to keep that muscle taut. And, ya know, with the Empress around and Em coming up on those every so knowing-it-all years, do you really think you will have a chance to rust?

I. don't. think. so.

nd one day the snark would fail me.

See above.

And I'd have to look that punk in the eye as I said, too slowly to be funny, "I pooped! Ha ha!"

This could actually be hilarious in a Bubba-Ho-Tep sort of way.

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Really? you crave Shreddies? It is only recently I've learned to tolerate them. I hated them as a kid, because they got all soggy in the milk. And you know, shredded.

Lillian loves 'em. I love 'em, too, but she's the main Shreddies consumer in the house right now.

Thankfully, she did not fall madly in love with Old Dutch Ketchup Potato Chips, so I have no excuse to buy those.

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I learned to drive when I was wee, out in NM. On an automatic.

My DH attempted to teach me to drive a manual multiple times before we moved to Romania (we always have a manual overseas as you can find mechanics for them more easily). I did not manage to learn.

Then my DH got paralyzed and the ambulance wouldn't come to our house, so I had to drive him thru Bucharest in our manual transmission car. I don't remember anything about the trip, after trying to get him into the tiny elevator in a fireman's carry...but afterwards I could drive a manual.

eta: Neither of us ever mastered the switch of the indicator/wiper blades on the steering column in the antipodes.

Not just the antipodes. All freaking right-hand drive cars.

Sean!!! I seriously thought about extending my trip to come up to LA, but I was deathly ill when I got here, and pretty much booked dawn-to-dusk. Ah'll be back, though.

OMG that's an awesome house, Plei! All kinds of ~ma to you guys.

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(x-post w/ natter) hey! DC-istas, can you recommend a restaurant w/ a lot of vegetarian options nearish to DuPont Circle?

Lisah, this doesn't answer your question, but I've been meaning to make this recommendation. Amma's Vegetarian Kitchen is really good. Cheap and num-ummy.

DCistas, I need a recommendation for an Ethiopian restaurant. An old friend is coming into town next week and requested the cuisine. I, personally, can't bear it and got ill after a visit to the Red Sea once, but I'm going to bite the bullet for the friendship.

I'm planning to cook a lot due to budgetary considerations, so any great, yet cheap but exotic (for someone who lives in Glendale, CA) suggestions would be deeply appreciated.

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GC, I'm so happy Josie is home!

Abby, I don't think I've ever spoken directly with you, so hello!

So my morning was...yeah. I discovered this morning that my debit card number was stolen at some point (no idea how or when). Luckily, the fraud company associated with the credit union suspended my card over the weekend after the first suspicious charge ($207.85 somewhere in Italy), so I'm not completely cleaned out. But I have to fill out a little dispute form before they can refund that money, so I'm going to be short $207.85 until I get the form in the mail, sign it, and send it back. (I still use my teachers' credit union in CT because I love them and it's just such a PITA to change banks; plus, I do almost everything online anyway. The downside is this type of lag whenever paperwork is involved.) I also no longer have a working debit card; not sure how long it will be until a new one comes in the mail. Argh.

The situation could have been much worse, so I'm grateful it's relatively minor. Frustrating and stressful, though.

And to make the morning even more fun, a landslide on the Westside landed me in 90 minutes of traffic this morning.

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but afterwards I could drive a manual.

What a horrible experience Raq! Bless your sheer heroism. And, I think you've proved my unspoken theory that manual is just more natural. More like riding a horse in some ways.

When I first learned, it was via driver's ed and a truly maniacal teacher I learned to loathe. There was no radio in the training car so he'd bring a boombox and blast Metallica at 50billion decibels. Now, I'm all for the banging of the head, but it just ended up being cruel. He'd flash his hand up, knock the rearview mirror out of skew and chirp "oops!"

I suppose he meant well, what with the desensitization, but I honestly wanted to murder him in his sleep. He'd send us up a one lane road up a very steep hill in Niles Canyon and chortle when we met someone creeping down. (the lower car has to back up...so I guess the training worked. I remember that fact, some 30 years later.)

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Farmhouse! With fruit trees! And so much else to love.

We had the laundry in the bathroom at the last place we rented and it was actually very practical.

Glad to hear that you are doing well, askye. That all sounds really positive.

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but afterwards I could drive a manual.

Good. Lord.

Maybe I just need to poison DH and time myself getting him to the hospital or something.

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I have laundry in my bathroom...one of those stacked jobs right, smack up against the toilet. It's a bit awkward, but having the washer roughly 8 feet from my closet is kinda nice.

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Ooh, that's stressful, Kristin!

Hmm. I think all the Ethiopian I've had has been pretty good. I'd recommend any of the places around 9th and U, Bonny...though there's one that annoyed me when they were having live music, and jacked the drink prices ($4 for a coke or something)...even though we were sitting outside (so wouldn't be able to hear it), and the musicians were still setting up.

No clue on veg restaurants in Dupont--there's a lot of Thai, which usually has a few options, but although I used to eat out there every Friday, I was never on the hunt for veg.

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