Strix, I too know the wonder that is Skylander unto a 10 year old boy. I swear, he disappeared after openIng his bday gifts.

Heh, Jesse.

sarameg, oh gawd, yes. He is immersed in them now. He slept with the new ones last night.

Bah, I am at work. And there are people here! WTF, people.

Someone actually left me voicemail over the holiday: what is wrong with those people?

I had very few emails from yesterday, no voicemails. A bunch of people in my department are here, but it is super quiet. I've been doing database updates and listening to old Fresh Airs so as not to die of boredom.

At least it's almost lunchtime here?

Good morning! Naproxen seems to be working and the swelling in my knees is way down. Which is good, because I mostly lazed on the couch last night but I won't be able to do that today, today I need to stand and walk and such.

My kids aren't into Skylander, but they've played it a bit and I am familiar enough to attest that yes, for many a 10 yo, it is the One Gift. The latest gaming obsessions in our house seem to be Angry Birds Star Wars and Mine Craft.

Kids are still asleep. JZ was up a good chunk of the night coughing, as she's had a persistent hacking cough for over a month now. Convinced her it was time to visit the walk-in clinic before she did her half day of work.

She looked rather dashing though in her new Burberry coat that her father gave her for Christmas.

We've had coffee and I've cooked bacon. I think Emmett and I might see Django Unchained tonight.

We got Minecraft for Christmas and the kids love it. They are also currently obsessed with Pocket Frogs.

We went sledding (basically grass with a frosting of ice, but it worked ok) and Dillo got his face washed and scraped off a scab, so we walked all the way home with him crying. But now they are wrapped up and watching Dirty Jobs and eating chocolate.

That cough sucks, Hec. I had it for 4 months and DH had it for about a month. I strongly recommend that JZ try to get ahold of Advair or some sort of steroidal inhaler. That's what she needs, not antibiotics. It's the cough itself she needs to get rid of.

That cough sucks, Hec. I had it for 4 months and DH had it for about a month. I strongly recommend that JZ try to get ahold of Advair or some sort of steroidal inhaler. That's what she needs, not antibiotics. It's the cough itself she needs to get rid of.

Thanks for the tip, Burrell. I'll make sure she sees it.

Giant shark tank breaks open, flooding mall and injuring shoppers

Whenever I see one of those massive public aquariums, I wonder just how thick that glass has to be. Apparently, someone at a shopping mall in China didn't work out the answer to that question accurately enough, because the giant front window of a huge tank holding recently gave way, flooding the onlookers with a 33 ton wave of water and sharks.

The tank had become a major draw at the Shanghai Orient Shopping Center since its installation two years ago, and held seven lemon sharks plus several other species. Thirty three tons isn't particularly huge as public aquariums go, but the water still weighs as much as 20 average cars. In the accident, all of the sharks were killed and 56 people at the mall were inured. Most of the injuries were cuts and bruises caused by shards from the 10 inch thick acrylic window, with no reports of sharks bites as far as I can tell.

I think the sharks were all pretty small.