Hi zuisa!

Surgery~ma, Scrappy.

The moon was so bright last night that it woke me up around 2:30. And I couldn't fall back asleep for a couple of hours because I was just feeling so happy. No idea where that came from (other than having a basically good life), but I'll take it.

Happy is good. Happy that keeps you up is much better than other reasons for insomnia, for sure!

Consuela, much strength to you and all your family. Just getting your parents on a regular drug regimen can only help, too. You are the kind of daughter that your mother would be proud of if she was in her right mind.

Consuela, I hope that my children will be as determined to keep me safe and healthy if the need arises. You have done everything you can to treat your parents as you would want to be treated. Nothing more can be expected in this life. I hope things calm down soon.

I have been at this job 2.5 years, and I am still weirdly resentful of how my former boss did nothing for me when I got here! My current boss just asked me to help cleaning out some files for a new person on Monday, and I literally walked into an office that hadn't been touched since my predecessor left. The computer wasn't set up, every surface was covered with files, etc. Also she didn't introduce me to anyone. Ugh!

I am a little confused by that article, LeN. I'm willing to accept their numbers for the amount of pesticides until more testing is done, but some of their language is hinky--they never define quality as far as I saw, but maintain they're proving Teavana is low quality. If they are equating quality with being pesticide free, 1/4 of the article is redundant, because they already said that.

I admit that I wasn't paying attention to whether my favourite tea from them was supposed to be organic or not--I don't recall seeing that, and it doesn't often play into my purchase decisions of something whose taste I already know. So that portion of it isn't pertinent to me.

They are cheating, also, with at least some of the pesticide section, because showing that picture of an affected child is not cricket, even if the text goes on to say that Teavana's use of it is not in quantities related to the photo. And some of their math confuses, but that could totally be me too early:

Fipronil, a GroupC Possible Human Carcinogenaccording to the EPA, exceeded EU limits in five of the pure teas tested. Monkey Picked Oolong stood out with a concentration of Fipronil at 45times the limit, or 4400%. The other four teas, which included Silver Yin Zhen Pearls, Black Dragon Pearl, Golden Jade, and Phoenix Mountain, exceeded their respective Fipronil limits by a range of 120% to 380%, with an average of 265%, or around four times the EU’s legal limit

If their numbers about the pesticide contamination are correct (which I'm still assuming) that's all the reason in the world needed to stop drinking their products. But the article is not just fact reporting, it's deliberately inflammatory, which makes me all the more curious about what Teavana does or says in response. What can they do? It would seem their backs are against the wall.

However, no study can convince me to like Tazo tea. I've got many tea options that I'm drinking right now, and none of them are Tazo. Maybe Teavana is using tasty pesticides or something.

Nice to see your pixels, zuisa! I can't believe it's been over a year.

Woo, Cash, more stories sounds like a "yay!" To me! And woo to Calli, also, that sounds really nice. I like a bright moon, even when it is streaming in my window and I need to sleep.

Surgery~ma for mom of Scrappy ( I am now thinking of her as Mother of Disco Infernos)

I have a particular Tazo tea I like, Wild Sweet Orange. Though it seems to taste better at my morher's house than mine, perhaps because she brews by the pot while I do a cup at a time.

Hey, remember the Splenda Incident? [link]

This morning I woke up to discover that Bubba decided that the Costco size box of (thankfully clean) cat litter was even more fun than the Splenda.

There was more of it, after all.

That almost makes sense. Good ol' Bubba.

I'm guessing the litter is cheaper and probably a little easier to clean up, but being forced to clean up anything in the morning is not on. Maybe Bubba needs a ball pit.

So I'm sitting at my desk a few minutes ago, checking email and I hear a knock on a door across the hall and someone shouting "Do you have pants on yet?"

And now they're playing Gangnam Style. My workplace is not like other offices.