Damn, Maria. You really did handle that gracefully, which is not how I would react to such a damn gut punch.

I wish you peace and comfort from the funeral.

Thanks folks. It was perfect for him. He was a musician -- a drummer -- his whole life. He played in multiple bands his whole life, mostly rock, but also at his church. He had a duo with a friend, who played guitar and sang. His partner performed "Stormy Monday" a la the Allman Brothers during the service. And then after the various people spoke about G.'s life, the pastor announced there would be an unconventional tribute, and played "The End" from Abbey Road, because of Ringo's drum solo.

G. would have loved it.

Good.

And now go easy on yourself. Did you decide to take the day off or work? (I vote day off.)

And now go easy on yourself. Did you decide to take the day off or work? (I vote day off.)

I am at the office because I had a lunch here and needed to get food in my belly now. And I'm going to grab a manuscript to take home and work on tomorrow.

So once I eat my lunch, I'm going to head home, play with the dog, go lift a lot of weights, and take the mother of all naps.

Sounds like an excellent plan, Teppy!

Yikes, Maria, that's a gut punch indeed. I'm very glad it was corrected quickly, but so sorry you had to deal with that. I've been thinking about you and wondering how you're doing, so it's good to see you checking in.

Steph, a nap sounds like an excellent plan.

Oh Maria, I can't even imagine. Holy crap. I'm so glad it was resolved, but still, that's unbelievable.

Teppy, I'm glad the funeral was as good as it could have been, but do take care of yourself today. Nap sounds good.

sj, I love the energy and excitement of a new house! Please share pics as you work on it, if you're willing.

Maria, that is awful even if it was resolved.

Basic social skills question: (Happening shortly, so please excuse the timing for asking)

A acquaintance of mine is coming from out of town to give a presentation at a local government office during their lunch hour - an inhouse brown bag thing. I'm meeting him for a half hour at the office before the presentation cause we don't get much time to talk, and we have mutual professional interests. I'm definitely planning not to hint to stay, because crashing an inhouse event is bad manners and major negative PR. But what if I'm invited? At that point would it be better manners to stay or to go? If it happens, I'm leaning towards assuming that it is Pacific Northwest manners, and that the polite thing is still to stay no., But I'm worried that if it happens, is sincere, and I say no, that is bad manners. Yes I'm neurotic. Dammit if I lived in NY that would not be a problem; the odds would be I would not be asked, and if I was it would probably be because they wanted me to stay. Here I'm betting I get asked regardless.

I think you could respond with a whole 'Oh, I'm not sure that's appropriate, isn't it an in-house lunch? Wouldn't I be out of place/crashing/etc?" and the response would determine the outcome--a weak "Oh, well, I'm sure it's fine..." might be a no, with a "No, it'll be great, they have others coming, no one will notice!" would be more of a yes...

I think you could respond with a whole 'Oh, I'm not sure that's appropriate, isn't it an in-house lunch? Wouldn't I be out of place/crashing/etc?" and the response would determine the outcome

I concur.

Stupid PNW manners. Sometimes they annoy me. I mean, people are just generally nicer but it also manifests in things like not being able to handle a four-way stop sign correctly. I really do want to go stand at the worst intersection and just hand out "UR DOIN IT WRONG!" fliers. Politely, of course.

Heh. Well, if two PNW transplants agree...you should probably ask a native. I'm not sure I have the appropriate polite-passive-aggressive thing down, quite yet.