I'll be right over. In, um, about 5.5 hours.

next time you're in town, I'll have a dinner party.

I've really appreciated having a cell this week. Haven't needed it (yet) but it's been a nice security blanket.

Of course, now I'll forget it and en route to the salon on saturday, my car will blow up....

Has anyone posted this - a 777 crash-landed at Heathrow: [link]

18 passengers had minor injuries, but it could have been much worse. Apparently the plane suffered a complete loss of power (including electrical power) when it was on final approach, and it landed short of the runway, resulting in the landing gear being sheared off.

This is the first ever crash of a 777, which has been in service for 10 years.

I heard about it on npr and bbc the world. Freaky, and yet reassuring. ( I had the worst take off of my life in El Paso at this xmas. Take offs are always towards the Franklin Mts there, very close. And we were having freaking high winds. Like semis blowing over. Plane dropped repeatedly to the point where we were weightless for 5 seconds, several times. And I was sitting next to a retired pilot who said "man, that was really bad." It was fun, when I wasn't afraid of dying.)

Let's say you were allowed to borrow an industrial robot. Of course, you'd take it to the desert and have it throw bowling balls at an RV, right? Flaming bowling balls....

[link]

Allyson, don't know how your finances are in regard to handling a $40 extra purchase. But for $20 or under you can get a cheap pay-as-you-go phone (Virgin or some such), add a $20 top up card and then choose an appropriate card for how you will use it that month. It will be good only for voice, and maybe texting. Once you get your real phone, you can still use the cheap one for some calls until you use up all the minutes, so it does not cost you $40 net. After you use up your minutes, then put it aside for a spare in case you are ever between cells again. After a while they will take whatever number they assigned away, but if you ever have to use it again you can activate it again from scratch with a new top-off card.

Hrm, I wish I knew the OB's name that delivered my friend's baby. Because I want to sent her a pic of Miss P and the new one. All the others she's delivered, they got a pic with her, but she had another delivery almost immediately and had to dash (who knew a 10 person L&D could get so busy?! I was empty but for L when I got there!)

They called her Hillis, but google isn't helping me at all. Phooey. I also want to thank her for her wonderful treatment of Miss P and me.

Genius hatcher (Aug, 1971)

Have trouble concentrating on your studies? Try the German Learning Egg. Shut yourself inside and absorb information from tape recordings, color slides, even an old-fashioned book or two. Six minutes inside turns you into a hard-boiled expert.

Dammit, now I want one. And I didn't know books were old-fashioned as far back as 1971....

Bearded Men of the 21st Century (1939)

Gilbert Rhode banishes buttons, pockets, collars, ties. The man of the next century will revolt against shaving and wear a beautiful beard, says the designer of boilers, pianos, clocks, and metal furniture. His hat will be an an antennae - snatching radio out of the ether. His socks disposable, his suit minus tie collar and buttons.

From the comments in that link

the feet, presumably with streamlined bunions, are to be encased in nothing more or less than congress gaiters 'with pores just large enough for air, but too small for water'

Someone predicted Gore-tex! And was mocked for it. That's wonderful.