Speaking of cards--I got a $5 rebate on an Amex gift card. This is way more convenient for me in that I don't have to deposit anything, but Amex gift cards can be picky about how they're run (apparently if you try and spend the first $5 of a bigger bill that way, the card will be rejected. Order counts.

But I'm surprised at the idea this is cheaper than a cheque some people are going to forget to cash anyway. Hmm.

So, the Mars thing.

Curiosity Rover Finds Organic Signal on Mars, But Not Definitive: NASA

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity has discovered complex chemistry on the Red Planet, as well as hints of long-sought organic compounds that could aid primitive life, scientists announced today (Dec. 3).

The Curiosity rover found evidence of chlorine, sulfur and water in Mars dirt studied by its onboard laboratory, as well as organic compounds (chemicals containing carbon) inside its Sample Analysis at Mars instrument. However, the science team can't yet be sure whether these compounds truly come from Mars, or arise from contamination transported to the Red Planet onboard Curiosity.

"SAM has no definitive detection to report of organic compounds," Paul Mahaffy, SAM principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said during a press conference at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco.

"Even though [Mahaffy's] instrument detected organic compounds, first of all we have to determine whether they're indigenous to Mars," said John Grotzinger, Curiosity's project scientist.

ita, did you see Annalee's decision to stop running Fanfiction Friday?

I really appreciate the decision, the reasons behind it and how she laid it out.

I have mopy-mc-moperkins moping around the house today. Sigh. This is going to be a rough adjustment period.

That's pretty much what she said in the response to my email (the thrust of mine was "this used to be one of the safest spaces in the big boy sff sites, and without balance it's effectively not anymore--not for ficcers, because people who rag on it are going to feel entirely site-endorsed"). I figure it deserves a comment from me, and also for me to not pick fights with some of the commenters that are pissing me off for various reasons.

Annalee has to make decisions based on things that are not me, but she has never been less than nice and complimentary and respectful on the site or backchannel, and I try and remember that every time something they do pisses me off (the evo-psych guy is never going away--I get that).

mopy mcmoper can go out and do something. ijs.

maybe look for some jobs for the bf.

I have mopy-mc-moperkins moping around the house today.

Sheesh. It's not your job to support and house her deadbeat, totally controlling boyfriend.

It's his job to be awesome and prove he's worthy of your daughter.

I'm with ya msbelle and actually she has all three of her jobs today (PT Tech, babysitting, and Old Navy). Right now she is doing a bit better but she has the kid here, so she can't be mopy.

I asked after a job interview he had last Friday and apparently they are at the background check/DMV check point. Which I take as good news. It would be on an oil rig north of us.

That sounds like a job that would make enough for rent. Just sayin.

I am gonna brag on a guy at work here. He is probably early to mid-30s, married with 3 kids. He decided to change his career like 5 years ago and went back to school. He had an internship with us this summer and then we hired him part-time. He is about to start a Master's program in his field and he valets cars almost every night of the week to make more money. He does the extra work so his wife can be a stay at home mom, but she also does freelance photography work that will fit with their schedule. He can only make the mortgage and bill payments if he works that much, but only for a year or so, then he will have a paid TA position. Anyhow, I told him how impressed I was with his willingness to do whatever it takes.

Random miniature horses!