Connie and Meara got it when it comes to my specific issues with CJ's rifle. It s for hunting. I have other issues that I'm not going to dwell on while I'm on vacation. By before an update I must add...

YAYAYAY to Maria!!! Congrats on the job.

Yesterday we left LA and drove up I-5 to Santa Cruz (where The Lost Boys was filmed). K's first glimpse of the Pacific was as we hit the Boardwalk area. We walked around the Boardwalk and I shared my memories of visiting there since I was about 5. We went down the beach and played in the water a bit. She decided to play tag with the waters edge and lost. We played in the arcade a bit. I found a functioning Centipede game which was my favorite game back in the day. Some fresh salt water taffy and a tacqaria later and we were on the road to SF.

Today we are leaving the car behind and puttering around SF.

Yay Maria!!! Woo hoo!!! So happy for you.

Thanks, my darlings. And thank you for putting up with me all these years.

Suzi, I'm so glad you're having a good time. You absolutely deserve it.

Maria, that is -- YOU are -- so kick ass!

My old job is giving me fits until the end, which I guess I shouldn't be surprised about. Our last day in the office was July 18, and they told us we would receive our severance papers (which would tell us the amount that our severance will be) by snail mail between July 22 and August 2.

Is anyone surprised that I haven't received a fucking thing yet? Two more days, and I am willing to bet folding money that they call/e-mail us tomorrow and tell us we need to come in to the office to pick up the papers, because they dragged their ass on doing it like they did with everything else and didn't have time to get them in the mail.

Or possibly we'll all get FedEx overnight mail on Friday. t edit Or we'll just get them in regular mail next week, because come on, what can we do to Big!Boss anyway for being late?

I feel greedy, and I guess I partly am, but I also just want everything to be over and tied up with a nice bow. This is just that last bit left undone. Closure, please, god damn it.

(Ha: while I was typing this, the UPS truck pulled up outside, and I thought, "Did I do that with the power of my rant?" But no, it was for the neighbor.)

I'ma make a sandwich.

I shouldn't even be surprised.

t edit again I'm trying to tell myself that it's the universe's way of teaching me patience. That makes me a little less rage-y than viewing at as old!company's tendency to let things go until the last minute and then screw them up entirely.

I grew up in the country, where almost everyone hunted deer (lots of poor people; deer went in the deep freezer and was a food source.) Almost everyone had a gun, and kids went deer and rabbit hunting at a pretty young age, but gun etiquette was par for the course.

We had a couple of rifles and a squirrel gun. We were taught gun safety, and never, ever allowed to touch a gun unless we were receiving lessons. I only ever shot a .22 a couple of times at tin cans. We owned no handguns.

This was the 70's, and the guns were unloaded at all times in the house, kept on a gun rack, and the ammo was NOT anywhere we would reach it.

I have no problems with properly stored guns to whom the owners have been taught gun safety, ACCURATE shooting, and who teach any children very specific gun etiquette. In the city, unless you live in a truly crime-ridden area, I see no need for people to own guns. In rural areas, hunting can mean the difference between eating and not eating.

Assault rifles and things of that ilk...I DO have a problem with. Unless freakin' BEARS invade your home regularly and you have a constant Sharknado insurgency in your hood.

The problem I see with guns is that too many stupid people own them, don't store them properly and see them as the solution to most problems. And most people are shit shots.

Congratulations, Maria!

Congrats, Maria!

Suzi, it's probably way too late to plan anything, but if you happen to be anywhere in my work neighborhood at any point today, I would love to meet up for a quick coffee break.

Saw Maria's good news, so thought I'd do a quick driveby before going back to the old grindstone.

So, YAY Maria! Congrats!

Jobma to TCG and Steph and Consuela, oh and Amy while I'm at it (yes, you're employed, but would love to see you somewhere that doesn't make you so uncomfortable).

Andi, the outfit you described sounds ideal for the function in question. And like smonster suggested, maybe you could find some pretty sandals that wouldn't break the budget. Oh, or ballerina flats maybe? A nice treat in celebration of your now-acknowledged awesomeness?

Pix, sorry your day was so rough. Thank you for your pains on behalf of the pooch. Hope you have a lovely, non-exhausting time at your reunion.

Shir, congrats on your newly naked teeth! And that's all I can remember, so hugs all 'round, *mwah*

disappears back into the grey...

Congratulations, Maria! So glad you're free of that toxic environment in the old place.

I am half asleep and have no more coherent thoughts. I have got to start getting to bed earlier.