Am I a heretic for not really caring about the birth of the Royal Baby Boy? Granted, I also can't understand why everyone fusses over celebrity babies period.

It's our royal family and I can't muster up much caring about it. I mean, I wish the family well and I'm generally well-disposed towards babies, but beyond that I'm happy to hold on for more proximate babies.

I am unable to work up any interest. They could get my attention by naming him Aethelred.

I seem to care, but I can't figure out why. I mean, I'm a pretty serious Anglophile, but that's for culture, not royalty. Still, I watched the wedding and was genuinely happy to hear of the new princelet.

It's not that I'm unhappy, and I generally think William and Kate are good people, but the overwhelming craziness for the wedding and the baby are slightly beyond my ken.

...and all your Barbies?

Yeah, I sort of understand it, but over here, from the sidelines, and with a sort of wry expression.

sj, it's hard to even imagine anyone feeling that way about you. She must be nuts. Sorry you two have to deal with it.

smonster, I hope this eases up for you so work gets easier and you can enjoy your vacation!

I want them to name the kid Stewart, but they totally won't.

Speaking of vacation, I haven't been taking enough and now have 19 days to burn off before the end of the year. It'll all be staycation, because I don't have any more money for travel. I wish we could still carry it over.

sj, I forgot to say I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Her loss, and most certainly not your fault.

sj, I don't have much to say that is useful. But I join in the bafflement that someone would treat you like this.

No, I'm pretty sure it means that she wants us on our knees begging for her forgiveness.

sj, you have nothing to apologize for. It's a power game; the only way for you to win is to not play. I'm going through much the same with my sister - she wants me groveling and begging for forgiveness for not being sufficiently devoted. Ain't gonna happen.

And, sigh, my AC's dying. It started making some truly scary noises - sounds like either there's something caught in the fan or it's hitting someting. I called the nice people who sold me my last AC unit and they're going to bring me a new one, install it, and haul the old one off (they're charging me a lot for the service, but it's worth it!). The new one's more powerful than the old one, so I may be, literally, one of the cool kids.

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the support and validation.