Both my boss and his boss feel I qualify for the next grade level.

Sounds like the company had a rule about how big of raises they can give people.

My whole morning was a pile of shit, but I semi turned it around in the afternoon and then I left promptly to give blood. So now I have smug self-satisfaction.

Man, I am slow on the uptake. It finally dawned on me that the little girl I'd increasingly been seeing in an acquaintance's fb photos late this summer is not in fact a new summertime friend, but one of her 7 year old twins transitioning to a feminine id. Took the first day of school photo. "Wait, where's the other...OH!'

Aw. I wonder what's up with the child of family friends who has had long hair for years and recently started going by an androgynous name rather than their given male name, but who knows!

As I was saying goodbye and walking out the door my cow-orker asked if I'd read the email she sent moments before. No, I pointedly did not read it because I know you well enough to realize an email popping up in my inbox a minute before I shut everything down for the day is going to be some laborious procedure you should have notified me about hours ago. If it was important enough to require me to stay late tonight, it was important enough to walk yourself over to my desk during business hours instead of firing off a last-minute email when you heard my keys jingling. Seeya!

A Japanese friend told me that people in Japan eat sushi with their hands, and he thought it was weird that Americans ate it with chopsticks.

Similar with the daughter of a childhood friend, though the child goes by Lu, rather than full given Lucia (and had been sometimes called Lu before, but not exclusively.) But similar transformation one summer and the family has managed to avoid using any indicative pronouns, so I'm not sure if it's a gender thing or just butch. In the case of the twin, whole new girl name unlike given name.

Given how young these kids are, it seems like their parents are going public with a minimum of fuss, not making it a thing. The only indication acknowledgement of any sort of change was someone asking if Girlname was liking her long hair & a response of yeah, but dad really has to learn to braid now, which wouldn't be really that significant unless you knew Girlname used to be Boyname.

A Japanese friend told me that people in Japan eat sushi with their hands, and he thought it was weird that Americans ate it with chopsticks.

I feel better about my life choices.

Well, at least my sushi-eating choices.

Oh, for god's sake. Political memes are getting dumber and dumber. The latest one, courtesy of a cousin, is a picture of Trump giving a thumbs up and says "Was never called a racist in 68 years of life on this earth...until he opposed Hillary."

I don't believe anyone can make it to 68 without being called a racist. Shit, I'm 45 and I've been called a racist.

WORK HARDER, STUPID MEMES.

um also - he was called racist PLENTY with his comments on the Central Park 5, also his landlord practices.

Oh, I know. I'm just rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of that one. It's quite an extreme claim to make ("NEVER been called a racist") about pretty much anyone. Much less Trump.

"Was never called a racist in 68 years of life on this earth...until he opposed Hillary."

He was sued by the federal government for refusing to rent to African Americans. Settled for millions. He is a racist.

Jesse, I'm glad you gave blood. I'm not sure -- the last time I gave blood, about a month ago, it took me about two weeks to recover from it. I was just run down and unable to exercise. So frustrating. I've given a ton of blood over the years, and now I'm wondering if I'm just getting too old to keep doing it.