P-C, I'm thrilled you had a good date!

Happiest of birthdays to Seska!

Aimee, what polar bears. I'm so sorry. I will send vibes your way that you will find a way to get this erased.

Welcome back, Teppy!

Kaylee continues to be painfully cute and a total devil puppy, which is par for the course at 4.5 months old. We are working on bite inhibition (sometimes I think I've adopted an alligator) and not barking at/chasing Seamus (the other cats won't put up with it and are fine, but my poor little boo gets scared and runs away), but she's generally a good girl. I can't wait until she gets her final vaccination in two weeks so I can take her to doggy daycare from time to time for socialization and exhaustion. Our local PetSmart has a great program--only $14 if you leave your dog for less than 6 hours--and boy oh boy will I be taking advantage of it once I can.

My most recent Campbell in the line was born in 1813 and married into the Parkers. But unless your Campbells were from Ayrshire, probably not a lot of chance of us all being long-lost cousins. Woe!

If I did a family history, I'd go back only two generations before ending up in Lulea, Sweden on my paternal grandfather's side, back to 1860-1880 before I'd get to Ireland (County Mayo, IIRC) on my mom's side (both of her parents). The only more complicated search would be for my paternal grandmother's family tree, which goes back to French Canada and England, with a sidetrip through Revolutionary War-era New York for Alexander Hamilton, who is supposed to be my 6th great uncle. That's the family rumor I'd like to verify.

I do believe that someone else here is supposed to also have Hamilton as an ancestor, so I do have a relative around!

My Campbells are obfuscated by moving around Canada at the wrong times to where I can't find them in the censuses. I can't ascertain when they came to Canada or what part of Scotland they were from.

My grandmother always said one of the men in the family was in line to be the Duke of Argylle, but turned it down. I've looked into it from the other end, 1st Duke on down to the current and I can't find anywhere where there might have been someone who was missed or refused it, because that line kept having to devolve to various cousins for lack of progeny. One of the Dukes was a Canadian who took up the title, but he was gay and never had kids. The only thing we've got going for us is that Archibald is a family name and about half the Dukes have been an Archibald. Oh, yay.

Happy birthday Seska

I just told an insurance claim adjuster that he was insane.

backstory : I got a letter asking for information from an insurance co that I haven't had for 11 months. They wanted information from a claim that is 14 months old. About insurnace coverage 18 to 21 months ago. No phone number. I went to my doctor's office to get ingfo - they have no unpaid bills from that time , but they were able to give me numbers.

When I got through, they wanted to make sure it was a preexisting condition ( which means found while uninsured) . So I need to figure out 3 insurers ago ( or is it 4) Claims guy suggested calling insurance co to see if they had covered me during that time. Which is when I called him insane.

And don't ask me if you can help me when you have just told me you can't

Aimee, I say fight that shit. Unemployment is probably just trying to get lots of people off cause they're out of money. And, if you owe it really, usually you get time to pay it back, though they'll probably charge interest.

Beth, didn't your insurance give you a certificate when you completed your coverage with them, stating when you'd had coverage? I got one when I finished insurance with most of my companies.

There's a SC writer who posits that in the south, we name things like streets and housing developments for the things we cut down, diverted, or bulldozed to make room:

Not just the South. Last year it was an orchard. Now the new housing development is called Lakeview Orchard Acres. Scumlords.

I hear you, Connie. The main road through our neighborhood includes the word "Farms." I'd be surprised if there's more than one farm left in the entire county, not counting historical exhibits.

That reminds me of a ... well, it's more than a kerfuffle.

Situation - in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood (ethnically diverse, being gentrified but current residents are struggling with it) there's a restaurant that's applied to become a nightclub (the main change seems to be that they'd be able to have a larger percentage of their revenue come from liquor sales and they could have live entertainment). People who live in the area are opposing it because of noise, traffic, drunks staggering through the neighborhood. Same restaurant has also applied for a sidewalk cafe, with a specified number of tables. Restaurant owner was told that she'd have to cut two tables to allow enough space on the sidewalk between the tables and an existing treebox (with tree - sycamore, I understand). One night - or possibly day, no one seems to have seen it happen - the tree disappeared and the treebox was paved over.

Local residents are protesting the loss of a tree and complaining that everyone else has to file for a permit to cut down a tree, even when it's dying (existing tree was, seemingly healthy). Restaurant owner says she was given permission to remove the tree (paving over the treebox seems a bit fuzzy) by the area councilman.

Much dispute is ensuing, with accusations and insults being slung.

One night - or possibly day, no one seems to have seen it happen - the tree disappeared and the treebox was paved over.

That happened in Chicago, 'cept it was an airport. And it was mayor Daily who had it done.

Yep, in the middle of the night they ripped up an airport, without notifying any owners of planes that happened to be parked there that night.