Also, why aren't we talking like pirates?

Yarrrr. My office is totally into TLAPD. There will be pictures. Or at least *a* picture. (And yes, we all realize that it's just TALK Like a Pirate Day, not Also Dress Like a Pirate Day, but we pretty much don't care. Any excuse to wear a pirate hat and eyepatch and brandish a fake sword at work is an excuse we are going to be ALL OVER.)

I did. And it was a sort of respectful discourse, with 2 of us on one side, and two on the other, without calling each other names. So maybe we changed some minds, but maybe they think the same thing.

I think it helps that, at least from the exerpt you posted, there's s fairly significant difference in tone and focus from Romney's remarks. Your friend's comments are far less insulting towards the 'untaxed' than were Romney's. I'm pretty sure it's inaccurate, and therefore pejorative, to paint 18% of the populace as choosing not to work, especially with unemployment running as high as it is now; but still it's expressed in terms of actions, rather than Romney's scathing and self-serving slurs on half the nation's personal character.

I am starting to come round to TB's perspective that this gaffe will have quite significant effects on the electoral landscape. It seems to me that it has gone viral - my own workmates were talking about it at lunch today. Biyi was asking about it after it got reported in the Chinese press. It's not quite a Lehman Brothers moment, not an "I'm suspending my campaign to fix the GFC" moment, but it just might be a Dukakis-in-a-tank moment.

Any excuse to wear a pirate hat and eyepatch and brandish a fake sword at work is an excuse we are going to be ALL OVER.)

And discuss the ins and outs of pharrrmaceuticals.

Some doughnut chain (not Dunkin) is giving people a free doughnut if they talk like a pirate. And if you dress like a pirate, you get a whole box of doughnut.

ION, did I ever mention I live on Jarrrrrvis Ave, close to the Jarrrrrrvis CTA station?

Also, can't spell today. Arrr.

That's the kind of good news that needs spread so it can be catching.

Indeed.

Ooh tommy, that reminds me that Dunkin is doing something for World Alzheimer's Day on Friday, so maybe I'll get donuts for my coworkers.

It's Krispy Kreme

ION, did I ever mention I live on Jarrrrrvis Ave, close to the Jarrrrrrvis CTA station?

I live on Arrrhmour.

Holy crap, my co-workers are hilarious and extremely good sports. Big!Boss (who had his left arm amputated above the elbow several years ago, because of an lnfection) wore a plastic costume hook on his arm. Good man.

Pictures are forrrrrrrrthcoming.

I don't mind some PM work: I'm good with spreadsheets and gantt charts and proposals--but managing teams of subcontractors and multiple conflicting clients was making me completely stressed out and miserable.

Consuela - that is basically how my job came about. I handle a lot of the internal project managerment for our PMs so they can concentrate on the external stuff. I'm in the middle of rebaselining a $25M project right now. So much fun.

The thing is, Romney's remarks are not at all defensible. They keep saying: "release the whole tape", which MJ did except for 1-2 minutes when the recorder was accidentally turned off.

What could possibly have been said in that 1-2 minutes that could make the rest of what Romney said okay?

Paul Ryan criticized Romney's words - which perhaps also explains why Ryan is running ads for this Wisconsin Congressional seat.

That's so much better than the moment I usually have of

Oy.

My house.

Gotta say, this is where I am right now. Arrrrrrrrgh, house. We move in on Friday, and still have a huge amount of packing to do. I will probably have to take tomorrow off to pack, deep-clean Rose's new bedroom (where the ceiling collapsed), and finish painting.

Also, just heard from my parents that my grandmother is probably dying -- she had several small strokes recently and is now pretty much confined to her bed and hardly eating, so hospice has taken her on. She's 96 and has had a remarkably good run, with a steep decline in her mental faculties over the last few years, so this is neither surprising nor even especially sad (for me, anyway), but I will miss her all the same. And I'm really glad she got to meet Rose this summer.