On behalf of the teaching force in this fine, fine state, I apologize. I do what I can but there are more idiots than there are people to help them.

::pats GG::

S'okay, sweetie-- only so many idiots you should be expected to cope with and considering you have to start with DD, that's worth at least a dozen clueless students.

Got caught up (thank you, threadsuck!), and wanted to respond to Andi:

So, hivemind... anyone remember that ep. of Good Eats where Alton goes after oatmeal? Remember how long and how hot an oven he said for toasting steel cut oats to cut later cooking time? I tried the Food Network site, and got no joy.

Here's the transcript for the oatmeal episode.

The Good Eats Fanpage has just about all the info on the show you'll ever need.

ETA: Vortex, she can't even spell her own home address correctly-- it's probably Emma Street

sadly, Barb was right. When she emailed me back, she corrected the spelling to "Emma" Street.

I wonder if I can write on the app with special marker, a big 'NO' that flouresces when it gets to the admissions office.

Advice for hotel people, students, and, let's face it, anyone: Do Not Vex the Vortex!

Well, the opportunity to vex me will be reduced, as I am leaving to have a glass of wine with a friend.

So, laid off as I am, today has been a really good day. I have a couple of nibbles- one at a company where several people who used to work here are, and this morning in my inbox I got three nominations for our internal "Hey you're pretty awesome!" awards.

Here is what they said

Coworker #1: "Daisy Jane has gone above and beyond to meet the client's needs and provide for the entire team. She is also the best den mother ever!"

Coworker #2: "Daisy Jane is always there to help the team, if it is by her organizing countless tasks that are akin to herding cats, or her dedication to seeing her teammates succeed. She brings a lot to team alli and needs to be recognized for her friendship, dedication and service."

Coworker #3: "Daisy Jane is a team player who will be sorely missed. She really stepped up to help [project manager] out. She's always cheerfully completed whatever was put before her, and has always been happy to complete projects way outside of her job description, like pricing [ridiculous client request] and editing [stuff for the website. Daisy Jane is a rock star!"

What fabulous things they said about you! And I am completely unsurprised!

Yay, DJ! With reviews like that, I'm sure you'll land a good job soon.

Killing time before my class tonight. Do not want.

Nice, Daisy.

Ooh, we had some interview weirdness today. This woman was with one of our competitors up until July and she had told HR, and repeated to us today, that she left in order to help her husband start up an at-home web design business.

What actually happened was she was laid off. And we knew this because she asked a connection to put in a good word for her, which did get put, and basically said "her position was eliminated, she's fantastic, you should totally hire her."

And we still might - she's still one of our leading candidates. But if we don't, I'd really like to pass word back along the chain to her. Being laid off is not something anyone is looking askance at these days. Leaving your job in this economy in the way she described and then going back out hunting full time again like three months later? Now that had us raising our eyebrows.

Even leaving aside the awkwardness of what she was saying v. what we knew to be the truth, seriously, the lay off is the better story. And frankly, is what we're hearing from easily half or more of all the people we've seen anyway. It won't hurt you.

Relatedly: OMG will I ever be done with interviewing? I feel like we've been doing this forever. It's been for multiple positions - at least four or five if I'm not forgetting something - so it's not just that we can't find someone. But god, endless.

Thanks, Kathy. Very interesting, though I never quite landed my eyes on the bit I was remembering. And I bookmarked the website so I could explore more later.