I'm researching my Britain trip next summer. Currently bummed because the Orkney archaeologist tour (with driver) I was hoping to book is already full up for the time we'll be there. Oh, well, at least that'll save me some money (it would have been 350 pounds for the day). I am still thinking about getting a tour guide to take us around while I drive. I just want to make sure I see everything I can in the two or three days we'll be there, because I highly doubt I'll ever get back there again.

The Mayor isn't even in Oakland today.

Nope, but I can't see the decision being made to crack down so hard without her okay.

So why did anyone involved think that tear gas was an appropriate use of force?

I heard some guys at the gym this morning saying that people were throwing crap at the cops. Which is, yeah, inappropriate, but I don't know that it justifies tear gas used like that. The footage is kind of insane.

There were a lot of ways the city could have responded to the Occupy movement that wouldn't have resulted in this kind of violence; but they didn't pick any of them. Hell, look at LA. I dunno what the hell they're thinking in City Hall.

The block around City Hall is still fenced off this morning. I had a hard time getting home last night because they'd fenced off so much of downtown, and the BART gates were closed, too, and then I saw the marchers on Broadway, so I doubled back and walked up to 20th and caught a bus there. So glad I got out: I would not have wanted to be downtown while all that was going on.

Sending ~ma to Fred and hubs and Kat and anyone else in need. I know we have a lot of folks around here going through tough times.

I need to get housework and work work done today. Should get started on that. At least no grading until Friday.

I've been lucky the past two days. We were figuring on me doing all the state regs since our vendors in India are on holiday, or so we thought. Apparently, they were working yesterday because there were regs in our daily feed. I went to look at the regs for today to start working on them, and our person handing regs down in Little Rock is adding them today! I'm just going to make sure she's getting everything before I leave at 4:00. Yay for me not having to do them, because my brain is mush due to lack of sleep, and I'm sure I'd fuck it up.

Sending ~ma to Fred and hubs and Kat and anyone else in need. I know we have a lot of folks around here going through tough times.

What Burrell said. Times eleventy million.

Lots of health ~ma to your hubs, Fred Pete, and coping ~ma to you.

And more coping ~ma to Kat.

Kathy, good luck getting through the day, and then I hope you can get some rest!

Zombie poodle.

Whoa.

Ugh, a good friend of mine posted a rant on Facebook about how she should get a tax credit for not having children, because she is not contributing to overpopulation and environmental degradation, and how having children is a "lifestyle choice." I spent the day with her and her husband AND MY CHILDREN two weekends ago, but this makes me feel like I don't want to see her socially any more, if she feels my kids are just a lifestyle choice. They are human beings!

Is there any way to successfully bring this up with her, do you think, or should I write her off? It's a pity, they are our only old friends in the new city.

She probably didn't think about the way she put it, flea, but yeah, poor choice of words. I'm not sure how you bring that up, though, even if I'm sure she values your kids as more than a "lifestyle choice."

If my eye doesn't stop twitching, I'm going to go nuts.

Thanks for the thoughts, folks. I'm working half-days the rest of the week to allow maximum use of visiting hours, (which are limited to the evenings) and still get a decent amouont of sleep.

I talked to Hubs this morning, and he's doing better. No word on when he can come home, but we're playing it by ear.

I totally read that as beer instead of bear. My brain was providing commentary like "Oh, beer behind the building. That's not so bad. But why do they want people to park elsewhere? Are they afraid people will stop and get drunk on the way into work? If that's the case, perhaps they shouldn't chill beer behind the building. Allyson works at a very odd place."

Not just you.