we have ice cream at work this afternoon. WOO HOO!

I know I say this all the time, but I really want a few days off at my house, alone. I guess I should look at a calendar and choose a couple of days when mac is back in school to take off. Our vacation days are use or lose and I have only taken 3.5 thus far. Ihave another half day coming up ina few weeks, so that will leave me with 6 for 4 months and I do not want to have to take them only for when mac is off from school.

NO NO NO NO NO. None of that is okay! Why would anyone think it is???

I told him that there was nothing new on my desk to poke at, so could he go harass someone else, but....there's always (at least) one non-boundary boy or girl.

I've been on the phone since 9, no respite in site, send help...

OMG HOW IS IT ONLY 3:15?!?!

I guess I should look at a calendar and choose a couple of days when mac is back in school to take off.

Doooo it!

I think with the addition of last Thursday off, I will have taken enough time to not lose any when we roll over 9/1. I'm more glad than ever that I'm taking off next Tuesday (I get back into town at midnight on Monday), because my apartment needs some serious work.

I am going to Vail tomorrow! It's for a legal ed course, but I am so excited to be in the mountains and even better, away from my office! I'm trying to decide if I dress casual business like, or more casual mountain something.

Thanks anyway, Jesse. I got a 14-day trial subscription to the Globe on my Kindle, and it's not there anyway. I'm just going to have to bother the family to get the info.

Teppy, there's a beetle playing a banjo, if your brother's bass-playing frog needs company.

He could make a whole taxidermied string band!

I'm just going to have to bother the family to get the info.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Polgara, I have access to the print Globe this week. There's no John Ludden in Monday or Tuesday's, but I can keep checking; obituaries often don't appear for several days. I am happy to clip and mail if one appears. (Also, they are paid, so there may not be one if the family didn't want to pay.)

Thanks, flea! The family would definitely have paid--he was a doctor and I think in charge of one of the local HMOs (although probably not recently). The further we get from Sunday, the more I'm afraid we'll miss the funeral entirely, so I may just send the flowers to the house instead.

It's been super stressful. The deceased is my boss's dad, and my boss is well-loved here, yet HIS boss decided to "keep it simple" and only send a card. ?!! Totally unacceptable. So I promised the people in my department that I'd take care of it myself, but trying to find anything out from here has been surprisingly difficult.

No death notice in Wednesday's Globe either. If his middle initial is M., it looks like he was a managing director at Harvard Pilgrim. They have a media relations number: 617-509-7458 that might be able to help you out before bothering the family. There's also a listing for a doctor of that name who's a psychiatrist (age 72, of that helps make sure it is the right man), his office at: (617) 636-2486.