But stolen money is YIKES. Did they steal it out of the boats, or was it money you left with the rafting company?

I didn't need my wallet and so probably shouldn't have taken it that day, but we were told that we could leave anything in the van and it would be fine (because cameras etc. shouldn't really be taken on the whitewater portion). What we think happened is that one of the extra people they picked up to join us for the whitewater section (which was apparently a protocol breach on the company's side) saw my bag sitting there and took the opportunity to quickly reach in blindly (because they only took $80 of the $250 that was there in different sections). Of course, since I obsessively track my cash every night, I knew exactly how much should have been there when I found my wallet open in the bag later on. The company is very respected and were mortified about it, and admitted responsibility for valuables in the van, so I'm assuming they'll make restitution, but we'll see.

I can't wait to see the pictures, megan. And yeah, the buffalo got kind of boring for me, too. But I did see a bear in Yellowstone, with some cubs! I wanted to see a moose, though.

I'm sorry we didn't see a bull moose, but we did have a moose cross our trail in the Tetons. Our most amazing wildlife sighting was a bull elk bounding through a field right by our car. It was a sight I won't forget anytime soon, but he went so fast he was far away by the time I got my camera out and the window down. The most amazing sound was when we went to a star-gazing event led by two rangers, who were interrupted at one point by coyotes howling in the distance.

At one point some Members of Congress were challenged to live on a food stamp budget - they'd have the amount that they'd have if they were trying to live on food stamps and let them actually see how "much" it was. There weren't many takers but those who tried it were AMAZED at how little it actually bought.

My friend and opera partner Jenni actually recently blogged the SF Food Bank challenge, which is a week of doing just that. I'm not sure I could, and she's a tri-athlete! For anyone interested in exactly what a week on food stamps buys: [link]

I'm sorry, Scrappy. That's not fun.

I rather wish that the professor with the poster was not a Firefly fan, because I don't want to be part of any group of which he is a member. He appears to have an advanced education in being a jerk.

He's got a Ph.D. in Jerkassness!

Amanda Marcotte gets some really hateful email. I am sure she appreciated the love.

Timelies all!

Yay Amy and Stephen!

She told me I'm not crazy. And also, "Fuck the fuckers."

You guys are never going to believe this, but people are being stupid on the internet.

I have considered putting up a website called "Someone is wrong on the internet," where one can go post about people being wrong on the internet without having to actually interact with the stupid people.

Thanks for the support, guys. The re-org makes sense in that Minneapolis is our headquarters and he is located there and that I already mentioned that we would need another HR assistant in that office in the future.

However, I have always reported to the person in charge and now I won't anymore. I just feel bad and passed-over. I feel like I'm 55 years old and now I have to face the fact that I'm just another middle-aged HR person. I feel ordinary and dull and not even successful in a stupid HR job. I feel that I thought I was way more interesting and skilled than I actually am.

I will get over this--it just has me bummed right now.