Barb! What wicked birthday-calorie dinner did your DH bring home to you last night?

Lots of vibes to Laura's SIL.

But I had to laugh when she got her review and got a perfect score on "Sets Clear Boundaries"

Your mom is frequently kind of made of awesome, erika. (Though I'm sure you already know that.)

And, ugh, Erin. What nightmare kids, and what an infuriating process (it sounds maybe possibly useful for mostly good kids who are just a little out of control, but for the pack of ferals you've got, totally pointless).

And what WindSparrow said: go through their damn stupid steps even though they're useless, but document like a mad documenter what documents at every hour of the day. "At 10:17 student said ______. I directed her to complete the Think Sheet. She indicated that she understood my request and chose not to comply. At 10:22 student..." I've never yet met an administrator who didn't like documentation filled with specific times and phrases like "indicated his/her understanding."

Poor Emily and the badfic dream! At least nobody grew wings.

How are your students this year? Or do you have a couple of days yet before they show up?

Toes are generally not considered businesslike.

I'm wearing peep-toes at work today to show off my cute pedicure. I see plenty of people in the office wearing sandels that are one step above flip-flops, so I don't feel too toe exposed.

That being said, interviews have their own set of dress rules.

Barb! What wicked birthday-calorie dinner did your DH bring home to you last night?

Wound up being Mojo's, my favorite BBQ place. Applewood smoked wings with a chipotle glaze and bleu cheese dipping sauce and dry-rubbed ribs with smoked corn and green beans. My mouth was all a'tingly!

They also have wicked good peppered onion rings, but we live too far from Mojo's to make bringing them home sensible-- they get all soggy.

No dessert other than my biscotti, but that was okay because I'd had decadent dessert the night before.

Emily, thank you for the badfic dream. It cracked me up this morning.

Grrr. The company who took the photos from my triathlon were offering a discount based on number of USA gold medals during the olympics. The discount expired yesterday. When I tried to check out the coupon would not work, so I emailed the company for what to do next since. I received this reply today:

I do apologize but the promotion is no longer available and we are no longer able to apply the discount to any orders.

Best Regards, redacted Customer Service

I'm sending this back to them: I am unimpressed with this message. How exactly does "too bad for you" display customer service?

I managed to get the coupon to work at 10 pm last night after all, no thanks to you or your very untimely response.

How are your students this year? Or do you have a couple of days yet before they show up?

Started last Wednesday. Mostly okay, but I have a couple of trouble spots and one overfull class (more students than computers). Which wouldn't be such a problem if I could get a straight answer on when it would be resolved!

Okay, so as I was about to reply to that a new student walked in (I'm on break) to introduce himself and tell me he'd be in my class. I swear to god, it was like a "Who's on First" routine:

Emily: What's your name, o most welcome of new students who, it will occur to me only after you've left, can't have taken the prerequisite?

Student: Smith. Johnson.

Emily: Johnson's your first name?

Student: No. But, I mean, you can call me Johnson.

Emily: So Johnson's not your name but I can call you by it?

Student: Yes. I mean, no. It is my name.

Emily: Johnson's your first name?

Student: No, Smith is my first name.

Emily: But I should call you Johnson?

Student: Sure.

Emily: All my pencils are broken. Come back during class and we'll play this game again!

I think I"m going to wear my Dansko Mary Janes...just to be safe.

Yeah, cute as they are, I don't think those sandals make the office-sandal cut.

Library scuttlebutt tells me that one of my librarians will be resigning, probably today. This is a good thing, and I hope it happens soon because I've now got a bunch of stuff backed up in my to-do box waiting to hear when she'll actually be starting her new duties.

Vortex, this is not good news for you, because if scuttlebutt is correct, she's taking the job for which you applied. Boo!

The student stories make me laugh (and then cry, because these students will someday be in my classes).

Hmm, I discovered the cause of all my whites being gnarled up from the washing machine- it was not the result of bad colorfast, but instead due to a build up of salt, soap, and rust gunk. Any thoughts how to get this out now that the problem has been solved?

An empty hot cycle with a shitton of OxyClean or CLR?

Tips from CLR: WASHING MACHINES: Run empty machine without detergent up to main wash cycle. Stop machine and add one-half cup CLR. Finish cycle. Run one additional full cycle (wash and rinse) with water only to rinse machine fully.