I have that box stored at the top of the wardrobe (while moving, one of my PAs tried to open it, and I moved faster than I ever have before to stop her), and tampons are stored in a covered basket in the bathroom. But since we are a female household, I don't worry too much about the second one.

somehow, I just couldn't get, "Hi, I'm Hillary, I just moved in here" to come out of my mouth, so I just said thanks a few more times and he went home.

Hil, you have empathy from me. I was driving home last night and saw my next-door neighbours getting out of their car. I slowed down to avoid having to talk to them. The Girl will probably invite them over at some point. Which is ironic, as she's less sociable than me. But I really, really don't do small talk.

But I really, really don't do small talk.

I'm of the 'fake it 'til you make it' school of small talk. I'll ask questions or use phrases I've heard other people use in a desperate attempt to sound normal and so I don't accidentally shout 'arses!' or something.

Also, DH has an interview for a job he really, really wants, starting in ten minutes or so. Fingers crossed. Of course, if he gets it, we’ll be moving again. So much for staying in one place for more than a year.

Oh nice. My library usually tells me good 6-7 days before the books I loaned are due (most titles I can keep until someone else asks for them). So after over 100 borrowed books, when they sent me a note 3 days ago, I didn't pay much attention to the date and thought I'll have time.

They wanted it back the following day, and now I have a fine to pay. Oof. That will teach me about generalizations, and read their emails more carefully.

somehow, I just couldn't get, "Hi, I'm Hillary, I just moved in here" to come out of my mouth, so I just said thanks a few more times and he went home.

Everything I ever needed to learn about the fine art of socializing with strangers I got at IDF and job searching.

But I really, really don't do small talk.

But yes, that. I'll be nice and say hello if I have to, but if it's a matter I can avoid and the person doesn't seem interesting enough, I won't approach.

My house doesn't have a policy on tampons/pads storing. My mom keeps hers in plain sight in the bathroom, me and my sis keep it to our rooms. My parents, however, are very open up people: my sis began having sex around 16, and I remember my dad once telling her when she was too embarrassed to go to the gynecologist that she really, really, really don't want to get pregnant at that age, and made it sound like a combination of The Plague and the stupidest idea ever. It worked.

Where did they live? My grandparents had a dairy farm near Alexandria, MN. My great-grandfather worked in the mines in Minnesota (I think) to raise the money to bring his wife over from Finland.

Neat. Yeah, the iron mines in MN were a pretty big deal around the turn of the last century. My Finnish ancestors lived in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, in Skandia township, mostly. My grandfather worked in the copper mines near Marquette for a while, but eventually he bought my grandmother's father's farm, and they settled down there to raise rutabagas. Grandma worked in MN as a teacher for a little while. In Finland, MN, 6-8 miles inland from Lake Superior. I nabbed a t-shirt from a co-op there when I did the Lake Superior circle tour a few years back.

job~ma for Erin and Jars DH.

Jars, you only shouted 'arses!' a couple of times with us, and we found it, you, DH, and the kitten utterly charming and fabulous.

For those who want both xkcd maps in the same place, I have slaved and slaved for you: [link] vs. [link]

Oh, did I not mention that I couldn't leave the tampon wrapper in the trash? I had to sneak down in the dead of night and put it in the outside trash can like it was contraband.

I'm completely gobsmacked. Do me a favor. Email her this and record her reaction when she sees it.

When I was a teenager, I really didn't know you weren't supposed to flush tampons, and I was VERY private about the whole thing.

My family wasn't -- god know, my mom had such awful issues about her periods that it was all out in the open, but I was so mortified by the whole deal that I didn't even tell my parents I had started for a year. I just filched my mom's tampons from under the sink.

So of course the toilet got blocked, and it was a tampon, and my dad had to deliver a "Don't flush tampons" speech, and I was DED of the blush.

And then when I was about 14, the dog dragged a pair of panties out from my room, and chewed the crotch out. My dad found those, too. Embarrassing lecture #2.

How do people survive adolescence?! So. Touchy!

Email her this and record her reaction when she sees it.

I love that dad.

Jars, you only shouted 'arses!' a couple of times with us, and we found it, you, DH, and the kitten utterly charming and fabulous.

Oh, you.

Super secret message - Your cheque is in the post.

When I was a teenager, I really didn't know you weren't supposed to flush tampons, and I was VERY private about the whole thing.

Who says?