Got up and was ruthless in the veggie garden for a couple of hours. Then we had brunch at a sad local diner in Burbank (I call it "Land of the Lost" as it's always full of depressed families and surly senior citizens).

Then we went and got a new TV!!!!!!1!!!! 58 motherfucking inches, baby! Big sale on plasma at Best Buy. It ended up being $1,200, and spending that much made us both blench, but we've been saving for this for almost two years. And, let's face it, we watch a lot of TV and DVDs.

I just posted an update in Beep Me. Now going home to crash for a few hours so I'm not up to a phone call, but thank you Omnis.

Scrappy, I hope you enjoy your new TV to the fullest possible extent.

Thanks for keeping us updated, Pix.

Bonny, I dislike sitting on frustration and seek resolution, so in your shoes, I'd knock on the door. But I'm also a gunshy dog, so I'd take Laura's suggestion and bring cookies. You can always throw them at the people to distract them if you have to run!

I knocked three times today (and not in the fun, Tony Orlando and Dawn sort of way) but there was no answer. Oddly,their security door is unlocked and there is an aerobed on the porch. I wonder if the residents (whom I do not know at all) are entertaining out of towners. Still. Nothing for it but to talk it out. I'll keep trying until I get to them.

The cookies idea is a good one...in fact I just recommended that to a dog client today (apartment barkers) but will have to be way less peeved before I can attempt a peace offering.

See, I don't know, I think yelling that you don't need to know about their hemorrhoids was probably pretty effective. I don't know that I'd do anything beyond that. But, I'm feeling pretty cynical today, so maybe not the best day to put my two cents in.

I think the idea is to reinforce that being thoughtless is a bad idea while also make sure that no feud has started.

Hope it goes well, Bonnie. I would absolutely not bring up the boat thing, FWIW. That's only going to take things to an immediately adversarial place.

Oh, I know the thought behind it. You're talking to the girl who made homemade chicken soup for a co-worker's daughter last week after the co-worker bitched to my office mate that she was hurt and felt left out that I had fixed office mate lunch but now co-worker. (There was a very good reason why I was fixing lunch for my office mate, but I digress.)

"Kill them with kindness." I'm just not feeling kind today, I guess. People should be respectful. They're not. I'm sick of having to be nice to people who are mean and disrespectful.

Wow. I think it's time for bed. I have some serious vitriol coming from my fingers.

You're talking to the girl who made homemade chicken soup for a co-worker's daughter last week after the co-worker bitched to my office mate that she was hurt and felt left out that I had fixed office mate lunch but now co-worker. (There was a very good reason why I was fixing lunch for my office mate, but I digress.)

WTFF? "Where's MY home-cooked meal?"

What's next -- "Bring me a sammich, bitch!"?

@@

Pix, my sister is an internist, and she has always been generous with offering medical advice/info for friends, family, and friends of family. If there's anything that you'd like to have me ask her, just let me know, or I could get you in touch with her.