This is where not having a land line comes in handy too - "My phone was in my purse and I didn't hear it ring."

'That was your first wish too,' said the genie sadly.

There are so many sad genie stories....

Oh for the love of ...

I think I've lost the combinations for the locks I have to open tomorrow morning to move tenants back in to their units. And the locks I chose? Can't be cut open. I chose them for that specific purpose since the PODS units aren't in a great neighborhood. And it appears that maybe they can't be reset or opened unless you have the combination.

Good Lord, I'm a hot mess.

Most of the time people don't ask. but we they do -- an obligation ( in other words the repeat the message).

As for dad-- Just tell him you are an adult and you moved out. and that there are things in you life he doesn't want to hear about and if he persists -- give him great details about vacuuming dog hair or pulling cats off the drapes or cleaning dog poop or ironing or something dull like that . Skip the sex -- stick with the boring

I skipped about 1000 posts recently, but I'm curious what's P-C's brother's news was? (I'm guessing the GF is moving in or getting married or something?)

In my own race adventures, I had a friend visiting from DC this weekend. He has his own life with his boyfriend out east, but he is Mexican and came back for a quinceanera party for a cousin. His family was so warm and welcoming. They were happy with my so-so Spanish and passed me plates of shrimp/crab ceviche, tortillas, pork and chiles.

It was so amazing because they are totally accepting of my friend's being gay and they were so accepting of me. It was just this awesome and unexpected experience where I met people who were so humble and welcoming.

The GF = White Devil.

My mother is really good about "You don't want to know."

Because, she knows if I say it, she really doesn't.

Heh. I don't even want to enter the realm of implications with my dad. I know he must assume that we have The Sex, seeing as how we've been living together for almost 3 years. But that's as far as it goes.

I think he's lonely and bored and just asks "Where were you/what were you doing?" because it's interesting to him. And he cares about my life and wants to know. But it would lead to a lot less potential memory-wiping if he could ask a general, "So what's been going on?"

Mostly, I just hate to lie to specific questions. "Where were you when I called last night?" is awfully specific. "What's been going on?" leaves a lot of room for me to tell him entertaining tales about (some of the) things I've been doing.

Or you can just go with vagueness, which is often my defense (though thankfully, my parents rarely push, as I'm unlikely to say). "sorry I didn't get your call, mustve been busy, or not heard the phone or something" "but where were you?!?" "oh, home,mostly, I guess...dunno..."

I think when he's pushed, I've defaulted to asking, with great concern, "Is something wrong? Did something happen last night? You should have called my cell phone!" At which point he laughs and says, "No, I'm just being nosy."

Dad, DON'T GO THERE. IT WILL NOT END WELL.

Aims does such concise summaries.