Mr Peabody wakes up with a leisurely stretch at about 11 a.m. However, with some frequency he barks his head off to go out at 3 a.m. I usually let him out, but there has been some concern about coyotes and small dogs here. A small beagle was killed in his fenced yard about two blocks away. The only witness was a person newly arrived from Russia, who described the attacker as a large yellow dog. Having seen a large dog kill a small dog, I do wonder if coyotes are villains or scapegoats. There's no question that there are coyotes. There's also no question that some people are totally irrational about them. In my yard, I figure the three large dogs next door would be barking at coyotes.

I've spent my morning trying to track the paperwork that was supposed to go from hospital to insurer to doctor to medical supply place. As part of that, I was writing an e-mail to my doctor, only to find that the Kaiser system had logged me out while I was typing.

Oh, ugh, Ginger, that is one of my fears with all systems that automatically log you out for "inactivity".

I'm a little afraid of a coyote eating the cats, which is why I theoretically bring them inside at night - luring them in with canned food and closing their window - but since I have been leaving the back door open for Walter's late night peeing needs (see his aforementioned inability to wake me up) it's all just kind of absurd, really. But my fence is at least 8 feet high with no gaps and, topped with iron spikes along the front (house was formerly owned by an iron worker, there is iron EVERYWHERE, fairies would so not like it), my yard is probably pretty safe.

Ah, I love catching up on email to find escalations where people were repeatedly asking me to follow up on things when I clearly indicated in my out of office message and calendar that I was unavailable.

As part of that, I was writing an e-mail to my doctor, only to find that the Kaiser system had logged me out while I was typing.

That's so infuriating.

Ah, I love catching up on email to find escalations where people were repeatedly asking me to follow up on things when I clearly indicated in my out of office message and calendar that I was unavailable.

I love asking clients to quit bitching at me over the phone and send the email detailing your complaints (that I've asked for 3 times now), so I can escalate this properly. I also love sending the email, cc'ing my boss and the head of CST, as to why things weren't done when they said they would be done, and why the hell is no one communicating delays or issues to me so I don't sound like a fucking idiot when the client calls me all pissed off. Oh Monday....

Ginger, what shrift said. I've taken to highlighting and copying every so often when I know I'm in one of those systems. Of course, you have to *know* in order to be proactive. We shall not discuss those systems that don't give you any warning that you're about to be logged out.

Ah, I love catching up on email to find escalations where people were repeatedly asking me to follow up on things when I clearly indicated in my out of office message and calendar that I was unavailable.

I love asking clients to quit bitching at me over the phone and send the email detailing your complaints (that I've asked for 3 times now), so I can escalate this properly.

I just got an email from an author, asking WAY too late if "important changes" (his words) could be made to a table in his article. The same article he was given to review TWICE.

This is the same author who simply didn't answer queries even though I emailed them to him (and copied his co-authors) FOUR TIMES. He emailed at one point and asked if we needed any further information and I thought "Do you NOT read your email, you ass???" but I replied that unless he provided answers to the queries that we had now sent to him 4 times, we would be unable to proceed with production on his article.

His reply? "Whew! Editing is very very detail-oriented!" Motherfucker, you are being published by the goddamn AMA. What did you expect?

So now this fool who ignored queries for days, who is LONG past his deadline, who already received his article TWICE to review (and we assume that as a grown-ass adult, the author actually reviews their article instead of just automatically replying "Durrrr, yeah, it's okay") is frantic that his table needs "important changes."

I am not, unfortunately, allowed to reply with "Hahahahahah NOPE."

So I'm going to wear a costume for Halloween for the first time in about 30 years. I'm thinking of going as a dragon.

Build your own Chinese Dragon Mask

I'm thinking of getting a red suit jacket to wear with it. Plus I'd wear dress pants, shirt and tie--you know, what the well-dressed dragon is wearing these days. Plus maybe these dragon claws.

Ugh. My world, let me show you it.

And even more ugh, I got linked to a fundraising page for a friend of my brother's who is fighting cancer.

Bad enough, but I am trying so hard not to cringe at the details of how he turned down chemo to go live in Hawaii for the "cleaner air and food" and now that that did not work at all (oh really) is back at his mother's house and undergoing some kind of 3X a week "treatment" that is not covered by insurance. I shudder to think.

I wish him all the best, and I'll probably chip in something, but oh man.

Teppy, I love your author stories. There's something about pretentious idiots getting their comeuppance...

That looks cool, tommy.

His reply? "Whew! Editing is very very detail-oriented!"

As opposed to...science? I'm not sure he's science-ing right.