On the way home

Peachy keen

Pretty in pink

Darwin's tortoise dies

Driving home from work today

Normal-ish day

I had no problems making it to work or getting home from same. We had a bit of rain today but not much. It turns out not many people made it in to work yesterday.

I'm off to work

It looks like things have calmed down enough that I can make it in to work this morning. The weatherman is predicting rain but nothing like what happened yesterday since the low has moved. However, the whole area is still under a flood watch.

Anyway, gotta run.

It's raining, it's pouring

Well, actually, it's not pouring but it has been raining. Off and on - mostly on - since about 6:15 p.m. There isn't any flooding here but that's more to do with the mainly light rain we've gotten. The weatherman is still predicting rain overnight so I don't know yet whether I'll make it to work tomorrow or not. Guess I'll see when I get up tomorrow.

Offhand I'd say we've caught up on and surpassed what should have been our average rainfall to date.

Houston is under water

According to the news, it's been raining all night in the Houston area with no relief in sight. There is serious flooding which won't abate as long as the rain keeps falling. It appears some of the hardest hit areas are on the south and southeast side which is, of course, the area I need to get to for work. Since I can't tell whether or not I'll be able to get to work, and since I have no great desire to be stuck on a freeway with no way off and no way home, I've decided to stay home until and unless someone can tell me I can actually make it in to work without flooding out my car and getting stranded.

As for the old homestead, we've had rain off and on but there isn't any flooding here . . . yet. The weatherman predicts the low that is dumping rain on Houston will drift south along the coast which means we'll get dumped on and have our own flooding issues to deal with later.

Yep, the more I think about it the more staying home sounds like the best thing to do.

Marine Sees Child’s Birth Via Video

Sometimes, modern technology is good for something.

Wherefore art thou Romeo?

For those of you who hate Shakespeare, that question is not a request for his location but a query as to why he has to be Romeo, the son of a rival family. All of which has nothing to do with this post.

It's just I've added 728 names to my names database tonight and I've managed to update A through H in the Names section of this site.

Enjoy!

The bloom is off the rose

OK, well, maybe not so much the rose as it is the magnolia tree. The one in my front yard has been in bloom and I meant to take pictures of those gorgeous white flowers. But you know me . . . procrastinator extraordinaire. So instead of full white flowers, you get . . .

This is what happens

. . . when the people who had the house before me do a bad patch job and the critters in the attic romp over night . . .


The Prodigal has promised to roam about town looking for new home construction so he can snag a couple of small pieces of drywall to make a repair. Until that happens, it will be a plastic trash sack tacked to the ceiling that keeps the critters out and the cool in.

Oh, in case you can't tell, this is above the vanity in my room.

B.C.

Gotta love B.C.!

A tiny bit of excitement

The house two doors down from mine had a fire in it last night. It wasn't very bad. It was just a very smoky kitchen fire that was quickly put out by the fire department. I'm not sure if the folks are back in the house already or not, but from the front it looks like nothing is amiss. The Prodigal and I went out when we first realized there was aught amiss, but we didn't stay out for very long. There were plenty of other people standing about gawking.

An Alaskan Volcano Erupts

Vader on vocals and Chewie on the drums

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5VCWJVvE0Fk

I think I'm more of a slushy

You Are Iceman

You tried to live a normal life, but it just wasn't possible A bit of a slacker, you rather tell jokes than cultivate your powers Powers: turning self and others into ice, making ice weapons, becoming nearly invisible

Which of the X-Men Are You?

Normally normal . . . blah

You Are 65% Normal (Really Normal)

Otherwise known as the normal amount of normal You're like most people most of the time But you've got those quirks that make you endearing You're unique, yes... but not frighteningly so!

How Normal Are You?

Select your orc candidate(s)

~ giggle ~

That was the subject line of an email I got today from my D&D gal pal Raelerin. That's not a subject most people would expect to see on correspondence but it's about par when we're talking about the game. She sent me a list of orcs who'd be willing to travel with our group while we adventure about. I emailed Raelerin my pick of the three I would rather have with us. I can't really explain why I picked the three I did. It was partly their names, which I rather liked, and partly their better balanced overall statistics. I suspect the two boys in the group will go for the mindless killing machine orcs. Boys will be boys.

I finished another book today. Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip. I rather enjoyed this one. It wasn't really a deep thinker story like some of her works are, but it did address what happens when someone else's prejudices and fears form the basis for our beliefs.

I've also been working on an afghan I'm making for a co-worker's baby shower next week. I'd first thought I wouldn't get it done by next weekend because I thought I would do three repeats of the colors, but I think I'm just going to do two repeats. Three will make the afghan unnaturally long while two aren't quite long enough. But I think I'd rather have it a bit short. I can do some fudging with blocking it.

Work is work. Sometimes interesting. Sometimes not. I still like the drive in the morning and hate the drive in the afternoon.

I've recovered from my tooth problems but the hole is still distracting. I haven't tried chewing on the right side yet, but I'm sure one of these days I'll forget to be careful and do it without realizing.

Well, that pretty much catches you up on my life. I lead a really interesting one, don't I?

;D

I hate yellow!

discover what candy you are @ quiz me

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .

NASA - Droids on the ISS

June 1, 2006: Six years ago, MIT engineering Professor David Miller showed the movie Star Wars to his students on their first day of class. There's a scene Miller is particularly fond of, the one where Luke Skywalker spars with a floating battle droid. Miller stood up and pointed: "I want you to build me some of those."

So they did. With support from the Department of Defense and NASA, Miller's undergraduates built five working droids. And now, one of them is onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

pleonasm

pleonasm \PLEE-uh-naz-uhm\, noun:
1. The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."
2. An instance or example of pleonasm.
3. A superfluous word or expression.

Pleonasm is from Greek pleonasmos, from pleon, "greater, more."

B.C.

This one really made me chuckle.

;D

X-MEN: THE LAST STAND

Just got back from seeing it. Very disappointing. All about the special effects. And violence. Very light on story.

What pattern is my brain?

Your Brain's Pattern

Your brain is always looking for the connections in life. You always amaze your friends by figuring out things first. You're also good at connecting people - and often play match maker. You see the world in fluid, flexible terms. Nothing is black or white.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

Would you love a monsterman?

I refuse to have any more teeth problems

Called in sick again this morning. I feel quite sick to my stomach and I have the beginning of what will probably become a migraine. My cheek is swollen, though not as badly as last week from the infection, and my sinuses hurt.

I haven't had a tooth extracted in almost 40 years so I didn't remember how much fun that could be.

The Wurst Haus has a web site!

Check it out!

The tooth is out

And I really wish I was as well. Can we say pain? And huge gaping hole?

Naturally my tooth had to be difficult. Two of the roots came out easy as you please. The third made a jag back toward my palate and required a lot of drilling and yanking and extra pain killer and whatever else to get it out.

And my sinuses are now all messed up. And my nose feels like it's slipped out of place and is somewhere near my left ear instead of in the middle of my face.

At least it's over and done with.

On a positive note: they took my blood pressure before they began work on me. It was 117 over 72. Apparently I was not apprehensive about having the tooth out. Silly me.

;D

It wasn't the Prodigal Son . . .

. . . who had an accident on Monday. It was his friend whom the Prodigal let borrow his car who had the accident. The friend has no insurance so he showed the Prodigal's insurance card.

I still don't know what happened but there is a tiny bit of damage to the front of the Prodigal's car. Not enough to make me file an insurance claim or even rush out to get it fixed, but the damage to the other car must have been worse since they filed the claim.

I suspect I'd be much more upset if it weren't for the drugs I've been taking for the tooth problem.

I made it to work

Yes, I did. The face is still swollen and there are still twinges of pain, but for the most part I am functional.

Now, if I could just get hold of the Prodigal Son to find out about the accident he was involved in on Monday that the insurance company left a message on the phone about . . .

And the pain goes on . . .

No significant improvement in either the infection going away or the pain going away. I did stop taking the pain killer so I'm not dizzy from that anymore but I'm still queasy from the pain and probably lack of eating. Chewing has become mildly problematic.

I've called in sick again 'cause there is no way I can drive myself to work during rush hour traffic when I can't even concentrate long enough to write a silly blog post. And even without taking the sleep inducing pain meds I still spend most of the time asleep. It's the only way to cope with the pain. I don't know how people who suffer from chronic pain can deal with it. This has only been going on since Friday night and it's already driving me nuts.

The left side of my face is cool. The right side is warm and swollen. I look so funny in the mirror with my one really pudgy cheek. I'm also talking funny now because the right side of my mouth doesn't quite move the way it's supposed to. And smiling and laughing are out of the question. They use cheek muscles that make the face hurt.

And on top of everything else, I'm bored. Can't read because I can't concentrate. Can't knit or cross stitch for the same reason. Nothing to watch on TV. Computer is boring.

Poor, poor pitiful me!

;D

'may cause dizziness'

You bet you're sweet bippy it does. The pain killer that doesn't kill pain not only puts me to sleep but makes me nauseated. I think I shall stop taking it and switch to alternate doses of Advil and Tylenol. I should think that will do more for the pain and I won't feel the need to sleep and throw up all day.

I have called in sick today 'cause I am so dizzy I can barely sit up and type this. I'm on the verge of taking the antibiotic and then I will make a comfy little nest on the sofa for myself where I will fall asleep whilst trying to read which I won't actually attempt until the room stops spinning.

Never, that's when

That's the answer to the question, "When will the pain killers begin to work?"

I'm on my third dose of the damn things and so far the only thing they've done is put me to sleep which is the only reason why I've taken the third dose of the damn things.

I'm beginning to wonder if I'm impervious to pain killers. A couple of years ago, when I had my gall bladder problem, I was given Demerol. The only thing it did was put me to sleep.

Which is where I'm headed since the 'may cause drowsiness' part of taking the pills works like a charm.

I'm on drugs

Yes, sir, I am. Pain killer and antibiotic. For 7 days. And then I get to go to the dentist and have a tooth pulled. Unless the antibiotic doesn't clear up the abscess in which case I get to go to the dentist sooner and have a tooth pulled.

I have a tooth that is about 90% filling and it started to bother me late Friday. By Saturday, I was in a fair amount of pain. By Sunday, I was in agony. Today, parts of my face that didn't hurt yesterday hurt. I like my dentist 'cause if you tell them you're in agony, they will fit you in so I called first thing this morning and they penciled me in for 2:30. I've just gotten back from that and having my prescriptions filled.

The almost not tooth has become very badly abscessed. I'm on Clindamycin three times a day for seven days to clear up the infection, and I have Propoxyphene-N for pain. We've opted to pull the tooth since there is so little of the actual tooth left and eventually replace it with a bridge.

All I can say is, I hope the pain killer kicks in soon.

Ella Enchanted

By Gail Carson Levine

This is one of those cases where the only thing a movie and book have in common is the name of the characters. And the fact Ella has been enchanted with the gift of obedience. Everything else is . . . well . . . something else. Fortunately, I am the only living individual who does not condemn a film if it is not like the book (or vice versa) so long as the film is consistent with the story it tells (and the book is consistent with its own story.) As oddly political as I found the movie, there is nothing political about the book. It is simply the story of Ella and how she copes with her enchantment and the complications it throws her way. As much as I enjoyed the movie, I also enjoyed the book. They are different enough that each is a treat in its own right.

B.C.

Speaking of a good pun . . . B.C.

Discrimination at its best

A string walks into a bar with a few friends and orders a beer. The bartender says, "I'm sorry, but we don't serve strings here."

The string walks away a little upset and sits down with his friends. A few minutes later he goes back to the bar and orders a beer. The bartender, looking a little exasperated, says, "I'm sorry, we don't serve strings here."

So the string goes back to his table. Then he gets an idea. He ties himself in a loop and messes up the top of his hair. Then he walks back up to the bar and orders a beer.

The bartender squints at him and says, "Hey, aren't you a string?"

And the string says, "Nope, I'm a frayed knot."

(Got this in an email from a friend this morning and I just had to share. I so love a good pun!)

Just another day in the neighborhood

Not only did I wake up at 5:55 a.m., but I've spent the last hour and a half sitting in an eerily silent and dark house listening to the wind and the rain in the trees and the occasional sorrowful train whistle blowing in the distance while the cats took turns laying next to me.

I was actually in the middle of a post when the power went out. The storm must have been really bad somewhere else because it's not been an end of the world storm here, just the odd roll of soft thunder and a flicker or two of lightning with strong gusts of wind. I sat next to the window and did a bit of reading by the overcast light from outside. It was very appropriate atmosphere for the part in Abhorsen where Lirael and company face Chlorr. It was also refreshingly peaceful.

As for the post I was working on when things got peaceful . . . This September: Original Unaltered Trilogy on DVD . . . Finally! Those of us who made Stars Wars what it is are getting the movies we watched and loved (and hated) instead of that special effects dreck that's been foisted off on us. I am so looking forward to making the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs again!

Don't know the tune

Your Theme Song is Back in Black by AC/DC

"Back in black, I hit the sack, I've been too long, I'm glad to be back" Things sometimes get really crazy for you, and sometimes you have to get away from all the chaos. But each time you stage your comeback, it's even better than the last!

What's Your Theme Song?

Quayle and quake

"[It's] time for the human race to enter the solar system." -- Dan Quayle US Republican politician (1947 - )

Gosh, and maybe then we can settle on Earth!

Life flashes . . . not

I can honestly say, from first hand experience, that my life didn't flash before my eyes when I thought I was going to die. My exact thoughts were:

"Breathe!"

"Can't!"

"Again!"

"No."

"Die."

"NO!"

"Cough!"

"Harder!"

There were no pictures. Just those words. In the dark. In the middle of the night.

I have no idea what happened. I was sleeping and dreaming when, in my dream, I realized I couldn't breathe. I woke up immediately and realized I really couldn't breathe. It took maybe five or six seconds for those thoughts to flash through my brain. Thankfully, the coughing dislodged whatever it was that was stopping me from catching my breath. By the time I got to "Die." I was already out of bed on my way to my son's room for help. Up until the second "NO!" there was panic and intense fear. At that point I got very calm. And coughed. And saved myself. And coughed some more.

So any way, I'm still here.

;D

Pretty hopeful, if you ask me

Your 1920's Name is:

Bonita Esperanza

What's Your 1920's Name?

Aw, shucks!

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Betty Rose West

Hillbilly Name Generator

I must have lied thru my teeth on this one!

You Are Sunshine

Soothing and calm You are often held up by others as the ideal But too much of you, and they'll get burned You are best known for: your warmth Your dominant state: connecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

Hey, Best Friend!

HIPPO BIRDIE TWO EWE!

Grendel's Dog, from Beocat

Happy Easter!

Seven

Your Life Path Number is 7

Your purpose in life is to find truth and meaning You are very spiritual, and you are interested in the mysteries of life. You are quite analytical and a great thinker. You have many theories and insights. A life of solitude is perfect for you. You need time to think and do things your way. In love, you are quite charming. You attract many with your confidence and wit. While you enjoy being alone, sometimes you take it to an extreme. You can become too isolated, shutting out loved ones and friends. Express yourself a little bit more, and you'll be surprised where it takes you!

What Is Your Life Path Number?

The New York Times | Fossil Called Missing Link From Sea to Land Animals

Poor Tristin!

Smurf Name Your Smurf Name is Cheap Smurf Get Your Smurf Name at Quizopolis.com

And Gareth can't stop giggling . . .

Smurf Name Your Smurf Name is Narcoleptic Smurf Get Your Smurf Name at Quizopolis.com

Seitherin would be aghast!

Smurf Name Your Smurf Name is Clumsy Smurf Get Your Smurf Name at Quizopolis.com

So that's who I really am!

Smurf Name Your Smurf Name is Strange Smurf Get Your Smurf Name at Quizopolis.com

Too good to last

The Prodigal Son just informed me he quit his job today. This one didn't even last a month. He claims to have other "prospects" lined up.

And if pigs had wings they could fly.

I should have been a barking goat

You Were Actually Born Under:

Your most comfortable inside your head - and often daydream the day away. You have an artistic temperament that makes you seem creative to some, eccentric to others. You avoid conflict at all costs, and you have a difficult time with relationships. Attractive and with good manners, you tend to shine in social situations. You are most compatible with a Pig or Rabbit.

You Should Have Been Born Under:

You are totally loyal, faithful, and honest. However, you don't trust others to be as ethical as you are! Straight forward and direct, you really aren't one for small talk. You are a great listener - and an agreeable companion when you're in a good mood! You are most compatible with a Tiger or Horse.

What Year Were You Born Under?

B.C.

It's never to late for punishment . . .

Then and Now, Part IV

Then . . . and now . . .

Then and Now, Part III

Then . . . and now . . .

Then and Now, Part II

Then . . . and now . . .

Then and Now, Part I

Then . . . and now . . .

On the way to work this morning

I was trying to capture how the trees had suddenly gone from barren to green, but the photos are too dark to see that. But Spring has sprung despite the cold weather we've had this week.

Awakened by the end of the world

Lightning strikes. House shakes. Thunder rolls.

Repeat.

Again.

And then some more but without the house shaking.

Works much better than an alarm clock at getting me out of bed.

Unproductive in a productive way

I haven't done much in the way of crafting or reading or even watching TV or movies this week. Aside from being tired from work, I've been creating a new D&D character I will begin playing next Monday. It's been three or four years since I last played and I've become seriously rusty. I've also managed to misplace my first edition Player's Handbook which is the version our games are loosely based on.

Like just about everything else I do, with rolling up a character, I start at the end and work my way to the beginning. Before I even pick up the first die to roll a statistic with, I have a fairly good idea of who and what the character is I want to be. It then becomes a nightmare trying to roll stats that match this image. I won't bore you with how many characters I actually rolled before I found stats that mostly suited what I wanted. The Prodigal Son watched while I rolled several of them because he'd never used Method V from Unearthed Arcana to generate characters. He hadn't even realized that method existed.

Once I had the stats that matched the vision in my head, I had to create an adventure class non-player character father for Tris. Oh, yes, Tristan Zynara Mardil is my lofty fighter's name. I say lofty because she stands a short 6 foot 1 inches tall. Anyway, to complete her backstory, I had to roll stats for her father so the process of rolling dice to match the image began again.

And here I sit, not quite a week later, with new character in hand, ready to kill something. ~ grin ~ The only thing left to do is actually write up Tris' back story but I've got to do a little research in my old notes to make sure I get some dates right. But, instead of that, I'm taking this morning off to do a little bit of knitting and to watch the next installment of Season 3 Stargate SG-1 which arrived form Netflix yesterday.

Happy Birthday, Best Friend's Husband!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Don't forget to make a wish when you tee off!

Happy Birthday, Karen!

Technically, since it is still 3/16 for me as I type this, I am a day early. But since Karen lives across the Big Pond, it is already 3/17 and therefore her birthday, and so I say . . .

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KAREN!

But I didn't vacuum

As expected, the glasses I couldn't find on Monday have turned up on Thursday. The Prodigal's girlfriend said she found them tangled in the power cord of the vacuum cleaner.

But I didn't vacuum on Sunday. I wasn't anywhere near the silly Dyson.

Ides

Ides \YDZ\, plural noun:
In the ancient Roman calendar the fifteenth day of March, May, July, and October, and the thirteenth day of the other months.

Ides comes from Latin idus, probably from an Etruscan word meaning "division" of a month.

I'll have rice with that Cowboy Leg

I almost couldn't make it to the end I was laughing so hard. Tears were streaming and my sides hurt.

http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order.php

I finally have glasses

I've been on the hunt for new glasses since about 9:00 this morning. I started with my eye doctor who informed me I could have an appointment in two weeks and that my prescription had expired last month. I checked with two more optometrists who could get me in at the end of the month and there were two more who wouldn't be in the office until 10:00 a.m., one of whom had a sign on her door informing the world walk-ins would be welcome.

I went to the walk-ins welcome doc and only had to wait about 45 minutes before she could see me. I explained my predicament and we chatted while she did the exam. I like her. I may dump my doc in favor of her. She was pleasant and friendly and made me feel as if getting me a new prescription was the most important thing in the world. She was brisk without being brusque.

With prescription in hand I went to EyeMasters. They had only one person working the store and I had to put my name on a waiting list. 'Waiting' was the operative word. I had more than ample time to try on a couple dozen pair of glasses. I actually hated them all, but I did finally settle on one frame that I didn't hate as much as the others. I even had time to pick out a second frame for new reading glasses. I also picked out two of those chain things so I can wear my glasses as pieces of modern jewelry. And then I got to wait some more until it was my turn.

I'm not sure when I got done there, but I went to lunch to kill another hour while one of two pair of glasses I bought were being worked up. I ate at El Chico 'cause it's in the mall where EyeMasters is. My new reading glasses should be in on the 27th.

And I got home about 40 minutes ago. There's really no point in going to the office since it will take me an hour to get there.

I've done another quick look through of the house and my glasses are still not to be found. I wonder if the silly things will ever turn up.


The new specs dangling from their chain about my neck

Where did my eyes go?

My glasses have disappeared. I've spent the morning tearing the house apart looking for glasses that I wore yesterday afternoon to watch TV. They have completely and totally vanished. I even moved furniture looking for them. I even looked in the fridge where I found them last time they were lost. Nada. Nothing. Zip. Zilch.

I just called the boss and left a message letting him know I don't know when or if I'll be in to work today. I hope I can get a replacement pair made this morning using last year's prescription - which still works well for driving - or even get a new prescription if I can find an eye doc who'll take me first thing this morning. I don't expect the doc I used last year - whom I don't particularly care for - to get me in today. Thank goodness we have an EyeMasters at the mall and there's really nothing special about my distance prescription. Unfortunately, EyeMasters doesn't open until 10:00 a.m. so it will be this afternoon before I get glasses even if I can get in to see a doc first thing this morning.

I am at a loss as to what happened to my glasses.

I nearly forgot . . .

I have a new boss. He started on Tuesday. He's tall and slender and a displaced Cajun. He's not quite as carefree and happy-go-lucky as my last boss, but I think he'll do.

The Prodigal Son has a job!

Happy dance!

Today was his first day. It has something to do with insulation and chemical plants. For the next few weeks, he'll be working 7/10s so he'll be bringing home a pretty nice paycheck every week. I may tell him that he gets to pay for having Izzy fixed since she's not 'my' cat.

Guardian Unlimited Books | News | Harper Lee tops librarians' must-read list

The list in full:

* To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Bible

* The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JRR Tolkien

* 1984 by George Orwell

* A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

* Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

* Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

* All Quite on the Western Front by E M Remarque

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Phillip Pullman

Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

* The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

* Tess of the D'urbevilles by Thomas Hardy

* Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne

* Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

* The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Graham

* Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

* Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

* The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

* The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

* The Prophet by Khalil Gibran

* David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

* The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Middlemarch by George Eliot

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

* A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzenhitsyn

* I've read 19 of the 30 books on the list. And only two of the books I read were as an assignment for a lit class in school - All Quiet on the Western Front and To Kill a Mockingbird - instead of on my own and both of them are still favorites as well as several of the others.

I like my bank

I sent the Prodigal Son out last night to fill up my car and pick up food for us to eat. He called me while he was out to say my debit card had been rejected at the store and it had also been rejected at the bank's ATM machine. He came back home and I sent him out with a credit card to get the stuff.

I immediately got online to check my account and everything looked fine. I assumed there was just some sort of glitch and things would be fine.

This morning, on my way to work, I stopped to pick up breakfast and my debit card was rejected again. This time, the clerk said it had been rejected because it had been reported lost/stolen. It obviously wasn't lost or stolen since I had it in my hot little hands.

I called the bank. One of the merchants where I shop had their database hacked into and reported the intrusion. My bank immediately canceled my debit card and I will have a brand new one in 7 to 9 days. I'm not sure how I will survive without my trusty debit card. I'm not sure I even remember how to write a check.

;D

Artful Dodger Jack Wild dies at 53

I don't know what to say. It almost feels like a piece of my youth just slipped away.

Pay too much and you could raise the alarm

Big Brother is watching.