I finally got that half bookshelf I'd been needing a few months ago, and it saved my apartment from the encroaching mounds of books and papers, etc. I love it so much.

I would like more/better storage space, but I don't have anywhere to put anything else, really--I'd have to see what I could swap out for something taller or with more shelves, and I'd rather just try and stick to buying ebooks and not tip the delicate balance I have now.

Hello, storm! [link] A few minutes ago my bathroom door slammed shut and some empty boxes in the breakfast nook went flying across the kitchen. I'll bet it's fun out at Lollapalooza.

OMG OMG -- I just got it -- I've been wanting to buy storage ottomans for no good reason! I will ditch the coffee table for those.

I have a storage ottoman for a coffee table! Highly recommend.

We also have the biggest, ugliest bookshelves ever, very circa 1973,

I have one! Bought it at a flea market for $75 fifteen years ago. Shelves and cabinets at the bottom, bookshelves and tv hutch up top. It's seven feet long and six feet high. I love it.

I need a new living room comfy chair. This one's gotten so comfy, I hurt when I stand up from it.

Do you give the taxi driver your destination before you get in the cab, or after you're seated? I'm collecting anecdata to test a hypothesis.

Hello, storm!

I timed a trip to Target magnificently. I was unlocking the front gate just as the sky started to open up.

So far today, I've picked up my CSA box and put everything away. Took out the garbage. Emptied the dishwasher. Mopped the kitchen. Watched some Community. Walked over to Target to get wine and yogurt and cheese.

I just made an awesome salad: Mizuna, watermelon, heirloom tomato, cucumber, red onion, basil, feta, and balsamic vinegar.

Do you give the taxi driver your destination before you get in the cab, or after you're seated?

After I'm seated.

If they're on duty, they have to take you anywhere in the five boroughs, so I get in first. If its an off-duty cab trying to pick up a fare on his way home, I'll ask first.

Do you give the taxi driver your destination before you get in the cab, or after you're seated?

Usually as I'm getting in.

I've been wanting an entryway bench mostly just to have a place to put my bag without it collecting cat hair. I should probably save the money and just get in the habit of putting my bag in the hall closet.

I timed a trip to Target magnificently. I was unlocking the front gate just as the sky started to open up.

And boy did it open up. It seems like it's already tapering off.

After I am seated. But in Rochester you have to call for a cab, there Is no hailing.

Generally, after I'm seated.

So they evacuated Grant Park as the storm was approaching. That was probably a good idea. I hope the all stages withstood the wind gusts.

So Hubby was a gymnast in high school. Good God, I wish I'd known him then. Pale blond, blue eyes, chest measurement nearly double his waist, and his skill of choice was the still rings. He tells of hanging on the rings in an Iron Cross just for fun, chatting with his buddies. He had phenomenal upper body strength, before his joints started disintegrating on him. apparently he wasn't really limber, though, so he didn't pursue. Just unbelievably strong (I've seen him shape 16-gauge stainless steel with his hands).

The footballers and wrestlers and basketball players liked to mock the gymnasts, and the gymnasts would say, "Oh, the rings look easy? Five bucks says you can't do it." Apparently they made a lot of money.

but as I said, Hubby didn't have the flexibility for the rest of the parts of gymnastics, so he became pack mule for the girls gymnastics and crosscountry teams. They said they trusted him, because he'd been a gymnast, and, well, guy gymnasts, you know . . . Not so much, with Hubby, but he's a subtle guy.