So, Perkins, is this you today? I think it was me. The only productive thing I managed to do was call my mom and type a few things into the computer at work.

Pretty much.

I'm pretty sure I didn't actually accomplish anything today, but I was hella busy doing it.

Btw, has Boxed Set already discussed Telegraph's Top 10 Dr. Who Episodes Ever?

Ooh, nice. Can't really argue with their choices, though I think there should've been room for the Second Doctor's Tomb of the Cybermen. I'd probably sub it in for Inferno. Talons of Weng-Chiang, not sure I'd put it at number 1, but I reckon it'd be in there. The guy's right about the atmosphere, the original series never did it better. (Horror of Fang Rock, Image of the Fendahl and The Deadly Assassin are the close runners-up there, all from the same era too. Bloody Mary Whitehouse made 'em stop it.) Even the sock-puppet monster (giant rat) was better realised than most (albeit still, pretty obviously, a sock puppet).

I don't know why women (and it's always women who use it) get into the habit,

Women and Canadians.

Yes, Uptalk! God, I hate it.

The Aussie soap Neighbours was once blamed for introducing it to the UK. I tend to think it was simply concurrent rather than causative.

Hey bt - I figure you've already heard the latest in prehistoric giant wombat news, but just in case....

And as it turns out, only one species of giant wombat roamed the planet between 2 million and 10,000 years ago, despite evidence that they varied significantly in size.

...

Scientists previously studying giant prehistoric wombats had assumed that there existed anywhere from two even up to eighteen or more different species of wombat. This assumption was made because of the varying sizes of the adult fossils found. Specimens ranged from just a few feet long to up to nine feet long and almost six feet tall!

When Giant Wombats Ruled the Earth...

And as it turns out, only one species of giant wombat roamed the planet between 2 million and 10,000 years ago, despite evidence that they varied significantly in size.

It's good to know people aer working on this, though I think it needs more work to become conclusive.

So I had a root canal 10 days ago. Today, they put in a post and final filling and in cleaning out the stuffing, said it looked great. Should I be freaked out that my gums (where wisdom teeth were) are kinda swollen? Not hurting. I can feel that the poor root-canalled tooth has been abused, but it isn't pain, just..it feels more compressible. Which has often been the case on teeth after work (the filling and post was done without numbing and the only winceble moment was driving the post in the final bit, and that was quickly passing and up in the cheek, not the jaw, like when you poke your sinus too hard.)

Man, this makes me so paranoid. I hate teeth. So damned expensive genetics.

I've been working on my Rachel girl-crush for a while now. I just don't like that she wears 3 times as much make-up when she hosts Countdown.

A woman I hired at my previous job was a valley girl who went to USC. She had a serious uptalk problem and I almost didn't hire her because of it. I'm glad I did in the end because she was amazing. However, I did practically beat the uptalk habit out of her by mercilessly making fun of her until she stopped.

Believe it or not, we are still very good friends.

I do not mind the farting humor AT ALL, it is the grandparents. I just called to warn them. They seemed, honestly, slightly horrified. Once of mac's 4.5 or 5 yo cousins is getting in trouble for saying the word fart, and I was all "not only is he NOT getting in trouble, I join in - and he can't get in trouble for it when he stays with you, as long as it stays in the house."

if nothing else, mac has a very good grasp of in the house stuff and out of the house stuff. Since I use "not allowed in school" words all the time: crazy, stupid, hate, shut up, dumb, ugly....

Heh. Fartness is tolerated and embraced here. Gotta go digging in my small kid book collection! Given the parents have their son's child for the next couple of weeks starting in a day or two, they are going to get happy with the bodily emissions. We're bad that way. And the nephews are all about the bodily functions ( T likes to fake burp.)