BWAH!!! Well, at least you wouldn't get peed on? By anyone other than Ryan, of course.

I think I'm most intrigued that you believe this represents a change from my current circumstances.

Today, my officemate went off on a rant about how the TIAA-CREF retirement fund is forcing him to invest in all kinds of things that he doesn't want to invest in, because he'll only invest in precious metals, because that's the only real commodity, and the Fed is ruining our currency, and a dollar isn't worth anything anymore, the only thing worth anything now is gold.

Why are all of your officemates crazy?

To be fair, this officemate sounds less crazy than the former officemate.

SO FAR.

Oh, it didn't migrate to me, JZ; it's always here. Dammit.

Oh, well, I suppose I'll just watch lots of movies and read some books. Nothing to do about it.

I guess I could go get some sherry, and wash some OTC pills down with a couple of wee glasses. I don't get GOOD sleep that way, but maybe I could get some.

I don't like it, but it's a possibility.

Yah, JZ me too kind of. Punching myself more. I just had DH read one of his response emails to me and it's not me making up the "happy to support this kind of research" sentences that for a moment this afternoon I though that Tino must have slipped into my brain. They were there. Prof wrote them and hit send. I guess either the fact that I was calling him on it, or that I wasn't just out of undergrad turned this guy into professor tino. Bah.

Why are all of your officemates crazy?

This is what I'd like to know!

To be fair, this officemate sounds less crazy than the former officemate.

No, this one is definitely crazier. Or, at least, much more irritating. The old officemate was a nice guy, just with lots of questions. Like, I can recall several times that we had a calm, rational discussion about the sorts of political things that usually lead to 100-post facebook comment threads, and he'd listen to what I was saying, and sometimes actually change his mind about stuff after listening to what I had to say. This one was shouting about investing in precious metals for close to five minutes. At first I argued, but then I realized that he wasn't actually listening to anything I said, so I just went with, "OK, sure, I'm going back to reading now" about ten times until he stopped.

Today my mom went through some of the boxes she brought back from her mom's estate. It feels a bit weird. Since my grandma lived in La Jolla, it's not just the heirlooms that came back but stuff like toiletries. My sister was fighting to get some of the makeup and perfume.

She had a number of photos I'd never seen. They're copies she (my mom) had made and framed for family members. It turns out she'd never seen them until about 10 years ago. My grandma kept them all in a bank safe. Which isn't a bad move, given that all it takes to lose your history is a house fire.

The San Bruno explosion really made me think about how prepared I am to have to leave everything behind with only 5 or 10 min. to grab stuff. I've got a decent emergency kit but I haven't streamlined family memories into a grab'n'go box.

I was trying to get my mom to allow me to scan some of the photos. Her scanner is much better but she won't get around to it for a long while. I'm feeling a sense of urgency. A need to digitize and distribute so that if one copy bites it, another one exists somewhere.

the only thing worth anything now is gold.

Buying something at its all-time high is *such* a good investment.

The insomnia fairy, like Santa Claus, can be everywhere in the world at the same time. He was here all night Sunday, despite the Ambien.

I think I'm most intrigued that you believe this represents a change from my current circumstances.

Well, no, not necessarily.

The San Bruno explosion really made me think about how prepared I am to have to leave everything behind with only 5 or 10 min. to grab stuff. I've got a decent emergency kit but I haven't streamlined family memories into a grab'n'go box.

Reading Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around [link] has me pondering similar stuff. At the least I need to make a list of shit to grab, consolidate important papers, and start a big Rubbermaid container thingy.

Reading Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around [link] has me pondering similar stuff.

Reading my RSS feed has me contemplating same. That and the Atlantic basin revving up. We're about due for another hurricane to take the NC inland tour. Eh, if I grabbed my cat and my pocketbook I'd be pretty well set, aside from my executrix duties. The latter's approaching the end stages, thank goodness.

My sister got a nice scanner thingy designed specifically to archive old photos, so she said she'd be putting the family pictures in online storage somewhere. Of course, I said I'd do the same with the family recipes and haven't touched those in a year, so who knows if she's doing any better. There's been a suspicious lack of links.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NORA!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCE HARRY!! Phwaurgh!