Good job, erika! I'm so proud.

I believe in single-payer, too. If enough of us believe, will it come into being, like fairies?

Also, that Americans are just *weird* about some things.

Well, hell yes. It seems to me to be another one of those inconsistencies of the American psyche - if we're so pro-capitalism and "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" why on earth do we make it so darn hard for free-lancers and small businesses?

You know what, I pretty much have no patience with the anti-H1N1 vaccine crowd. Check the science, people. A quick Google finds me no cases of H1N1 vaccine-related deaths (but naturally there are plenty of blogs ranting about "media cover-ups"). I am not high-risk and don't often deal with kids, but as soon as there is sufficient supply I will be there with bells on.

My week of Halloweeny wardrobe has reconfirmed that I enjoy planning outfits around my socks. Today I went for the pumpkin look:
Orange/black/green argyle socks
Dansko Mary Janes
Lightweight black skirt with small side vents
Green short-sleeve cotton blouse
Orange wool v-neck sweater
Bat pendant and night sky earrings
Skull charm bracelet

I will probably lose the sweater as the day goes on, since there's a predicted high of 74 today.

IOmememeN, I've been late this whole week. Significantly so. Slept 10 1/2 hrs last night, and am still sleepy (yes, I know some of you want to kill me for complaining about that, but I bet you're not envious of the official write-up I got last year for tardiness).

And I'm trying to surf a nasty cigarette jones. And will probably fail. ::sigh::

Okay, done whinging for now. Off to work, or maybe smoke and then work.

Scrappy, that looks like an excellent weeknight dinner, and I am going to try it tonight. One question- does anyone know offhand how many fluid ounces there are in a can of chicken broth? (as that is how the measurement is listed for that ingredient).

15 oz (~ almost exactly 2 cups)

Thanks, Jessica, I bet myself that you'd be the first to answer. I would have guessed 16 oz if pressed, because a pint's a general good measurement for all things that matter (i.e., beer)

In non-viral news, I've arrived on Kos. Somebody just called me sexist and an example of a middle-school mentality.

Go you! Would you mind linking, please?

Woot photoshop competition.

Spicerack is made of awesome!

Toast:

Swansons sells chicken broth in 14 and 49 oz cans, as well as the cardboard boxes. [link]

If I were guessing, I'd go with the 14 oz. measurement.

One question- does anyone know offhand how many fluid ounces there are in a can of chicken broth? (as that is how the measurement is listed for that ingredient).

I think 14 oz, but make sure to check the can/box, they vary.

It's half a can, but I used about 3/4 because I knew I was going to cook down the sauce anyway.

Go Erika! Channeling your inner Ari clearly paying off there!

So, next week my colleague and I are taking our classes for the residential trip to the seaside - 4 days & 3 nights. Sounds like fun.

I was talking about it with another colleague - she taught Year 5 (which I'm teaching this year) last year, and we were comparing notes wrt parental craziness about the trip. And then she told me about her First Ever School Trip, back when she was a newly-minted teacher, all wet behind the ears. And I have to share this story with you.

So, my friend (let's call her Nat, because - well, because it's her name, damn it) was leading this group of kids on a trip to Dudley Zoo. Do not imagine a big sexy fantastic cutting edge zoo, ladies and gentlemen across the pond - this is Dudley. It's...I can't think of a USian equivalent, but we're not talking London, Paris, Rome, New York, Dudley in terms of sophistication here.

Ahem. Anyway, so, off they went to the zoo. And of course you're always freaking out about health and safety, and trying to predict who's going to barf on the bus, and counting heads every five minutes to check nobody's suddenly spontaneously combusted, or whatever, but it all went pretty smoothly. The kids looked at the animals, and they bought candy and cheap rubbish in the gift shop, and had their packed lunches, and all went according to plan. They rounded the kids up in time to get them all on the bus, and headed back to school, knackered but satisfied in a job well done.

Only...there was this smell. This most unfortunate smell. So, grimly, Nat went up and down the aisle of the bus, asking kids to check their shoes to find out who'd stood in something unfortunate. And she couldn't find anything. And the smell didn't go away. Indeed, if anything, it became more noticeable. She searched the bus, following her nose, and eventually found this kid all zipped up in his jacket, looking shiftily up at her. She looked down at him. He looked up at her. Beads of cold sweat stood out on his forehead. The stench was at its most pervasive right there, around the kid.

Nat tried to figure out how best to ask if he had crapped himself without humiliating him for all time before his friends.

And then she noticed his jacket twitching, and a hideous suspicion dawned upon her, and she got him to open his jacket.

And discovered that he had stolen a penguin.

...

...

...

So of course they do a frantic U-Turn and go hurtling back to the zoo, penguin in tow, and have to march kid and penguin off the bus to go and return the penguin to the zookeepers.

He stole a fucking penguin.

is still awed