I had fun in Utah last week.

So I'm going to a funeral this afternoon that I just realized is a Jewish ceremony. Anything I need to know? That sounds like a stupid question, but I like being prepared rather than surprised.

I think everyone else covered it, but, it will definitely be closed-casket. Possibly the body will be wrapped in linen rather than being in a casket, but not many people in the US do it that way anymore. Don't bring flowers. The family might be wearing little black ribbons pinned to their clothes, that are torn -- the actual custom is to tear your clothing, but people now usually just pin on a ribbon and tear the ribbon, since they don't want to actually ruin their clothes. If you go to the cemetery, then they'll probably have each person put a shovel-ful of dirt on top of the casket, but you don't have to do that if you don't want to -- just don't walk up when the people are doing it. If you go back to the person's house afterward, they might be sitting on a weird short chair -- mourners are supposed to sit lower than usual. And if someone at the house asks if you're Jewish, don't be offended -- there are certain prayers that are said at the house, but they can only be said if there are ten Jewish adults there, and with funerals, there are usually a lot of visitors and the person who's trying to get the prayers organized doesn't know who's Jewish and who isn't, so they'll ask.

In trying to extend my rental car, Budget is saying I never picked up my car. Thankfully the travel agent is going to fight that battle for me.

"If this isn't the car I was supposed to rent from you, then you won't mind if I sell it to a chop shop, right?"

"If this isn't the car I was supposed to rent from you, then you won't mind if I sell it to a chop shop, right?"

snerk

"If this isn't the car I was supposed to rent from you, then you won't mind if I sell it to a chop shop, right?"

Or can I just drive it home? Sure it is an 8 hour drive but my son needs a car.

I have been through every option on their automated line, talking with a rep, trying to reach the on location kiosk, left a message there and still - no human to verify that YES, I have this car and YES, I need it a couple more days.

Can I rage quit on today?

Timelies all!

The little guy isn't quite crawling yet(at least he doesn't get up on hands and knees and move) but he can still move himself pretty well along the floor. Which is why I have to get out of my chair every two minutes or so to get him away from things he finds interesting that he should not be playing with.(including, but not limited to: cords, a scratching pad for the cats and envelopes full of old Turbotax CDs) I know, it's only going to get worse...

Thanks, Hil. It was a very low-key ceremony, and very touching. The family was sitting shiva tonight at 6, but I only know the widow through chorus, and I wouldn't have felt comfortable intruding on that.

So I'll be camping out at Anna's with the cats mon&tues. Bonus, I might get to meet her house cleaners and ask them for a bid to come in every couple of months to do dusting and Windows and all that other shit I hate doing.

I love my neighborhood.

Jilli and WindSparrow, thanks for the mentorshop advice!

New coworker seems great, so that's nice. When she finishes her training, she will become our minion.

I'm trying to decide if I should bail on my 8pm meeting because I need to write performance reviews and I have to get up before 5am tomorrow.

Oh, I have mentoring advice! Remember to think about the early-stage stuff that you just do naturally now. My coworker who is a new supervisor just had someone give notice, and I started talking about what to do before I remembered to back up and tell her they need to establish her last day and have her submit a formal letter of resignation before we start with the HR forms.