he got approval from the Secret Service first.

I've always liked the origins for "pull out all the stops" and "give 'em the whole nine yards."

The first (related to Bev's example on the soft pedal) has to do with playing an organ. To pull out all the stops on the organ makes it much louder.

"The Whole Nine Yards" refers to ammunition belts used on fighter planes in the Pacific during WWII. Each belt was three yards long, and you went into battle with three belts of ammo. So to give 'em the whole nine yards is to empty all of your ammunition into the enemy.

Should I order a Black bean and "Avacoado" burrito for lunch?

sophia,

once you confirm that is indeed an avocado, yes. I don't want you surprised like with krab.

Now I'm trying to envision what fake avocado would be like. Possibly like the "guacamole" I had in England once, that seemed to have only a passing acquaintance with avocado, if any.

Happy first day, Tom!

Nanita, that's just awful. Was all that driving? Are there any public transport options do you could at least work some of the commute time?

Last week I spent FIFTEEN hours commuting. And that was with holiday AND one wfh day. It's untenable

So, only 3 days of commuting, meaning 5 hours per DAY commuting?

Dang, I needed that math done on that one.

I am doing extensive social networking around my kids' school. This is hard for me, but good for things overall, like the fact that I had to spend half an hour on the phone with a stranger, but now Casper has a ride to dance class every week and we don't have to walk (and be late).

Sophia I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stay away from Simple Dollar.

For some reason I'm being assaulted verbally by posters on IO9 who don't believe the scientific theories about the ages of different parts of the universe, but they're also really excited to tell me that they're not religious either. Is there a term for people who share that school of (not) thought? Or, rather, what schools of (not) thought satisfy that criteria?

I'm also being hammered on the feminism front, by Mr. Privilege himself. Dig this:

I have noticed a parallel to the subject at hand, though. There is such a thing as a positive stereotype. For example; "black guys are better at basketball, football, and track and field than other groups". "Asians do better in school, especially math and science". And so on. Believing in a racist stereotype isn't the same as hating the group in question.

He goes on to say that disagreeing with feminism (he refuses to differentiate, although I've asked him to explain what aspect of feminism, if he doesn't know what school) doesn't mean you're sexist.

Thank you, Mr. Denton. This is on you. It didn't use to be this painful to read the comments, but ever since he changed the poster model, well...

Sophia I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stay away from Simple Dollar.

It is less fun now that he has gone to Facebook comments, because there are somehow fewer people in the comments complaining. But man, his writing drives me insane and he is kind of a dumbass, but still-- can't look away. He also posts interesting TED talks.