Ditto on the bumper sticker; that's a great story, Trudy!

Now I want a SMJ to play a GQ character in a movie SIMPLY so he cant say "Gender QUEER mother FUCKER!" in that awesome uptone "You are as dumb as a motherfucking ROCK!" voice.

Guys, I iced the shoulder from 3 to about 8, and was able t go out for yummy Indian and to the show -- Bill Callagan (sp?) if anyone is familiar. It was a good show; he has a compelling voice that quite reminded me of Mark Sandman from Morphine... although it looked like Urban Outfitters had vomited onto the entire bar population.

The opening act was a dreadfully hip singer/songwriter named Neil Morgan who READ FROM HIS DIARY during the show, I shit you not!

My eyes went rolllllling across the floor, and I promptly followed them out the door to the smoking porch for the rest of his set.

You all will be amused to know that my mother has pissed off the Comcast people so badly that they refuse to take her calls.

I would be amused, except that this now means that I am Comcast tech support for her.

Okay, after almost an hour, this is how the conversation ended.

Me: Well, it's like when we used to just have cable and when Dad decided to get HBO, they brought us a little box--

Mom: (interrupting) But I don't want HBO.

Me: *sigh* Okay.

Mom: Did I offend you?

Me: No, you're just not listening to what I'm saying

Mom: FINE! FINE! I AM YOUR MOTHER, I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO TREAT ME THIS WAY! WHENEVER YOU NEED SOMETHING, I STOP WHAT I'M DOING AND LISTEN! THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I WILL NEVER CALL YOU AGAIN. GOOD DAY!

We'll see how long that lasts.

That is amusing, except for you having to deal with the fallout, Vortex.

You know what else is amusing? Coming up with new ways to get out of boring staff meetings. For instance, this morning while being trained on how to administer an epi-pen, I took what I thought was the trainer with disengaged needle, pulled the cap off, jabbed it at my thigh, and immediately pulled it away because I got pricked. Yeah, they took me to the ER just in case, but other than feeling embarrassed, I've had no adverse effects.

Ugh. There are rodent droppings in my kitchen cabinet again. There's a hole in the wall at the back of the cabinet where a pipe comes through, and I'm pretty sure the nest is behind the wall and the mess is falling through the hole.

Also, I am saying this is mice, and I will not entertain any other possibility, because mice are pretty much the only rodent that will not make me totally freak out. So it's mice.

I emailed my landlord. He had an exterminator come for the same problem last year, but the exterminator said that it looked like whatever had been there had left. I guess they came back.

Stuff the hole tightly with steel wool and tape it in place---once the exterminator leaves.

Stuff the hole tightly with steel wool and tape it in place---once the exterminator leaves.

I did that last year, but I guess I didn't fill it completely.

Oh, Vortex. That's both highly comical and making me slightly rage out on your behalf. On the big eternal scale, your dad owes you so very big-time for having bailed on you so early. It seems like your mom is just desperately needy and unmoored without him, and you're bearing the brunt of it.

We'll see how long that lasts.

Three days.

Stuff the hole tightly with steel wool and tape it in place

The best stuff to use is Great Stuff expanding foam. I say that as a person who spent years fighting the rodent that shall not be named.