Welcome back to Buffistaland Shir. Hope we will be seeing your pixels more frequently, but with your schedule we will understand if not.

Oh, and the whole "land of the dead as bassackwardsland" thing in the dream: reminds me of the Palm Wine Drinkard. Have not thought of that book in a long time.

The doctor gave me flexiril for my back/hip and wants to X-ray the area to see if I have any arthritis going on there. That would be unwelcome. Anyway, woo, flexiril!

Gluten-free beer alternatives.

The Estrella Damm Daura is outstanding. And Redbridge really is nasty. I'm surprised they didn't include Bard's on the list. It's pretty good. Not like the Daura, but pretty good. If Redbridge is my only choice, I just get wine.

Steph, my comment about your mother was not meant as a comment on your own abilities to mother, particularly given that you are not interested in having kids. I just meant to say you've already overcome her shadow, even if you still have to grapple with her from time to time.

Aww, thank you!

Hey, Steph, do you know about Just My Type: A Book About Fonts? There's an entire chapter on Comic Sans called "We Don't Serve Your Type."

I hadn't heard of that -- it sounds great. (As an aside, the awesome muffler shop that did a $90 fix on what the lying thieving dealership told me would be an $1800 full replacement of the exhaust system? They use Comic Sans on their invoice. In light of the $1700 savings, I decided to forbear.)

They use Comic Sans on their invoice.

Fortunately, you didn't know that beforehand

It's so good to "see" Shir!

My one ear is still stuffed up, despite steam, neti pot, Afrin et al. I just let water run way too long because I particularly can't hear white-noise-type sounds. I've started fantasizing about sending the tiny submarine from Fantastic Voyage through my sinuses.

Erin, there may be a cheaper version out there somewhere. There's a paper that makes waterslide decals that might work. Could you write on something like old hose for the arms?

See, I think my hip twinginess is incipient arthritis, and I'm also looking for it in my hands. All the female members of my family have it, so I expect to get it, but I am not looking forward to it.

They use Comic Sans on their invoice. In light of the $1700 savings, I decided to forbear.

Ha! It looks like our repair ended up being about $78 too. We replaced the lid of the coolant overflow tank, and they replaced the thermostat, which appears to have been the two seemingly invisible leaks. AND it means I will have heat in the car this winter, whoot! I still have only two of four windows operable, and there's the body damage, but at this point, I figure it's a win.

Erin, there may be a cheaper version out there somewhere. There's a paper that makes waterslide decals that might work. Could you write on something like old hose for the arms?

There are washable markers that you can write on skin with and it washes right off. Would that work? Were you hoping for fancy calligraphy-style script? Because that might be hard with Crayola washable markers. Or not -- you could practice. But they really do wash off easily.

So, latest word on the exams is that there will be undergrad proctors in each room, but several of them are people who were just roped into being proctors last night, and I have no idea whether I can trust them all to show up. So, I gave my students the email address that forwards to my Droid, so that they can let me know if something goes wrong.

That seems like all kinds of wrong, Hil.

Ugh Hil, what a mess. I hope someone got his or her ass chewed out for making such a royal muck-up of it.

And I'm unemployed. Oooooookay. :)

I feel you in the mom drama. I got called 'mean and vicious" and told that I had a [something] of evilness, and she didn't know that she did to deserve a child like me because . . . I said "I don't mind picking you up, but could you be ready when I get there?" Actually, I didn't even get to say the second part. She yelled at me for about 10 minutes in the car. And then, after another 10 minutes of silence, started talking like nothing had happened.

And people wonder why I am considering moving to a different state.

::silent headshake of solidarity and a biiiig hug for Vortex::

PNW is lovely thisany time of year.