I brought "Chinese sweeties" into work to share with people, since they often bring in Indian sweets. As far as my memories go, we call these preserved plums Chinese sweeties whether they're preserved the sweet seedless way (no, not quite prunes) or the sour way with a seed.

One of the guys was just not taking me seriously enough. Kept telling me to relax when I needed everyone to panic like me. He was enjoying the sweet ones, and coming back for more, so I stuffed a sour one in his hand and he snarfed that--it was weird. Took a minute (literally) for it to hit, but yowza! I got what I wanted. I mean, I told him it was sour. That'll larn him. Boosted his heart rate for a couple seconds.

I did a search online to see if I could find out what they really are, but mostly I get a poem by Nicola Karesh with this verse:
Parties spilling over into the morning.
Mackerel rundown , a local dish.
Remembering coolie and paradise plums,
Chinese sweeties, Port Royal Jack Sprat fish.

DON'T IMAGE SEARCH IT.

Ordered True Orange and True Lime. We'll see if they're as tasty as True Lemon, although they'll not be as handy.

Aaand, my Awesome Uncle Frank (of motorcycling fame) had a massive heart attack and stents put in the l&r arteries this weekend. Oy. But my mom's brother talked to him last night and he was good, if annoyed at all the fuss.

Localistas, they're closing the Michigan Ave onramp to LSD at Oak Street today until mid-November: [link]

AND the northbound red line isn't stopping between Berwyn and Howard. I'm hosed either way. I think I'd rather walk the 2 miles from Berwyn (or catch a Broadway bus from there) than go Howard to get on a southbound train.

That's good, sara. Annoyed is really good.

I just caught an ad for Androgel 1.62%, and--is it really worth the risk? Like, take it for low testosterone, but it might cause enlarged or painful breasts, and call your doctor if children nearby go through early puberty or women have changes in body hair. Some of the most disturbing side effects since "this anti-depressant may cause suicide."

I wonder if Androgel 1% has the same risks, and if the benefits are worth it. I mean, I guess they have to be--it must be effective, otherwise it would be unmarketable. It sounds terrifying.

Hubby has 5 stents. All things being equal, Awesome Uncle Frank should be just fine.

edit: And Androgel has been miraculous for Hubby. Everyone who knows him can tell when he hasn't used it. If he's particularly growly or snappy, we ask if he's taken his testosterone. Weird stuff, lack of it can make men mean.

AND the northbound red line isn't stopping between Berwyn and Howard. I'm hosed either way.

Ugh, that sucks. I have to start getting creative about how I'm getting home from work the next six weeks. I guess there'll be a lot of walking in my future since I imagine train ridership is going to increase once people figure out how bad the rerouted bus rides are.

Scrappy, glad to hear your mother's prognosis is so good.

But sorry to hear your news, Theo.

And sorry to hear that Awesome Uncle was so ill, glad to hear he's doing better. Dang, we need an All Good News day is right.

so how much is American Airlines fucking up right now?

And if he can find one that's been hanging around for 13 or so years open, we still don't know how to get the money from that account into our US account.

Late to the party but... Nora: have you considered using PayPal? They probably have an upper limit, but you can transfer money fairly painlessly over them, as that's what they're for. Maybe Tom's dad can set up an account and could transfer some money bit by bit.

I'm very glad I kept my British account when I left, even though I hardly use it and there's only about 25p on it at the moment. The bank killed my British Visa card a couple of years ago though, I was really annoyed about that.

Paypal has a nasty habit of sitting on money for six months while they investigate if they decide a transaction is "suspicious". I would never use Paypal to transfer a large sum of money than is typical for your account. They are not a bank, are not regulated as a bank and can get away with stuff banks cannot.