My aunt had phantom smells (particularly gasoline) before her TIAs and stroke, so I have a tendency to really want to identify where smells are coming from....

Haven't heard back from mechanic. I worry this means bad things.

Do you know about this?

I did not know about that specifically, no. I don't remember where I picked up that burning smell thing - it's been in my head a long time.

Car~ma, Theo.

Sorry, Jesse, but for a family emergency, I would never use the words I hope to be able to, because if it's non-optional, you don't give your boss wiggle room to say you can't. You know you would have said yes, but an employee has no way to know that.

Yeah, you give some bosses any kind of wiggle room, and they'll say "Are you sure you're the one who needs to go take care of this?", then they reluctantly acquiesce when you say "Yes, I do," and they hint very hard that you should prioritize the job over most anything else. And you get dinged for not being a "team player" in your evaluations.

Doctor Penfield! I immediately went to that, Sue.

I can't even with the emails. I am so over all of this.

My only jitteriness about the email thing is that voters who were on the fence and recently leaned toward HRC will hear "Clinton" and "emails" and leap to the worst assumption without actually seeking out the facts.

(Although, honestly, even *if* HRC had been deliberately shady with her emails [though I believe that what she did is fine], that still pales in comparison to the horror show that is Trump. He gets a huge pass for being the worst person in the world, and to beat him, she has to basically be flawless. It's bullshit.)

I voted! The poll workers said they have been slammed since the doors opened Monday. Lots of booths and people though so it was fast. Apparently I am in a minority, but I was completely thrilled to cast my ballot for a capable and competent candidate. People around me that were talking were Clinton folk, but that isn't a surprise in Palm Beach County.

Sorry, Jesse, but for a family emergency, I would never use the words I hope to be able to, because if it's non-optional, you don't give your boss wiggle room to say you can't. You know you would have said yes, but an employee has no way to know that.

Yeah, that's fair.

(I said I already resented this poor woman, right? I'm not actually trying to say I am in the right here.)

Hah. Bitch eating crackers syndrome? I admit, I would not be one bit shocked if I had sent similarly annoying emails...but I've also been similarly annoyed by one of my underlings (who I've several times now had to be like "PLEASE DON'T JUST FORWARD WHAT I SEND YOU TO THE CLIENT!" because OMG my email was written to her, not to the client...)

Steph, make a complaint directly to Amazon about the merchant pressuring you to remove a negative review. I had the same happen to me, and Amazon dinged the merchant and refunded my money, even though I was keeping the product.

Ooh, that's good!

I have no Halloween costume. I need to get one before tomorrow. Um.

Dana, glad you made it and so did your stuff! Unpacking is my favorite part.

but for a family emergency I do word notifications as informing my superiors that I *will* be gone rather than asking if I may.

Sounds like the employee was asking about touching base, not asking about leaving early. Which I would think it's better to say "can we touch base" rather than "we must touch base"? Or something?

I have no Halloween costume. I need to get one before tomorrow. Um.

Fantasy Football!