whew, just checked my receipt- it was $22 cheaper when I bought it yesterday! yay for me!

I was about 450 posts behind, so my main summary is positive vibes towards Pix and Zoe, and MFNLaw (not that I'm rolling in jobma), and supporting vibes to vw. And am hoping that your back issues resolve themselves simply, Steph.

His name should either be "The Wizard Shazam" or "Captain Marvel".

I have a friend who named her kid Marvel. Marvel Jem. She swears they weren't thinking comics--I can't think anything else.

Can we think of something fun to talk about? Or something happy?

My son Brendon got the highest score in his class today on the chapter 7 Trigonometry test. An 80! This brought his overall score in the class to a 36, but still highest test score in the class! Woo! (this after 10 hours of tutoring)

30 ways to die of Electrocution

Hil, how is the shoulder today?

Better, thanks. Still hurting some, but nowhere near as much as it had been.

30 ways to die of Electrocution

oh man that was funnier than I expected. Some of those are really elaborate! First you get a cow, next you need a heat lamp...

The story of the pants.

And because this one never gets old

Dogs in Elk (with pumpkin illustrations)

Somehow I missed the beet pulp story.

Thank you all for the ~ma. I wish I was around more often these days, but it's heartwarming to know that I have people who just get it. I can't adequately express how much I love and appreciate you all.

My sister's still living near Detroit and even though none of her family is directly involved in the industry, any further blows to the Big Three(ish) will strike them, too.

Exactly. Michigan is already suffering. A collapse of one of the Detroit 3 will cripple the state. It will turn into a vast wasteland of abandoned homes, boarded up shops and tumbleweeds down Woodward Avenue. Let's not even talk about Ohio and Indiana.

Maria, I suspected the Senate Republicans were going to dig their heels in over the bailout. I watched some of the precedural votes in the House and they were drawing their line in the sand then.

We knew they were, and no matter how much we tried to make them understand just exactly how many people would be affected by a collapse, the Repubs focused in on corporate jets and union v. non-union pay parity.

Hell, the first talking point for opponents of an aid package is as follows:

1. This is the democrats first opportunity to payoff organized labor after the election. This is a precursor to card check and other items. Republicans should stand firm and take their first shot against organized labor, instead of taking their first blow from it.

If this isn't about breaking the union, I don't know what is.

What these jackholes don't realize is that crippling the Detroit 3 and making them and the UAW pay for any perceived or real sins of the past is only going to harm their precious non-union import plant workers in Alabama, Tennessee, and South Carolina. Many of the suppliers to GM, Ford and Chrysler are the EXACT SAME SUPPLIERS to BMW, VW, Toyota and Honda. When the suppliers go belly up because Detroit went belly up, where the hell do they think the import manufacturers are going to get parts? I vote for pulling them out of Shelby, Corker and McConnell's asses one by painful one.

The car died again, in traffic,

Damn. I'm sorry. Car replacement~ma to you both.

Hey, Teppy. I hope the back returns to its normal pain-free state ASAP.

Continued shoulder~ma to Hil.

ita, thanks. I hope the shoulder and neck pain has abated.

Good stuff: DH gave me a pep talk yesterday afternoon that was kick-ass. I didn't know he had it in him. Made me cry, in a good way.

Kristin, I am still vibing hard for you and Zoe. This year hasn't been easy on any of you, and I certainly hope the rest of it is quiet as it slinks its way out the door.