Baggage

No, the good kind.

I finally got a replacement computer bag - my last one was bought as a gift for me in 1995, a black leather Targus bag. The leather is still in good shape, but the support rod that the handle and shoulder strap are hooked into snapped, and over time the leather that is now holding all the weight *will* eventually go.

Ran into an REI while we were up in MA, and picked up a replacement. One of these REI messenger bags and one of these padded laptop sleeves. Total cost, $90. It holds nearly as much as my old bag did, but is a couple pounds lighter, and quite a bit sleeker. So far I couldn't be happier with the combo. It's waterproofed from hell, the zippers are sealed, and it's armored yet comfortable to haul around.

Considering my last REI bag lasted over two decades before needing to be retired*, I think it's a decent investment.

*Middle school, an AAS, high school, two BSs, an MS, and a PhD. One backpack. I keep meaning to send that in, with a photo, to REI.

Baggage

No, the good kind.

I finally got a replacement computer bag - my last one was bought as a gift for me in 1995, a black leather Targus bag. The leather is still in good shape, but the support rod that the handle and shoulder strap are hooked into snapped, and over time the leather that is now holding all the weight *will* eventually go.

Ran into an REI while we were up in MA, and picked up a replacement. One of these REI messenger bags and one of these padded laptop sleeves. Total cost, $90. It holds nearly as much as my old bag did, but is a couple pounds lighter, and quite a bit sleeker. So far I couldn't be happier with the combo. It's waterproofed from hell, the zippers are sealed, and it's armored yet comfortable to haul around.

Considering my last REI bag lasted over two decades before needing to be retired*, I think it's a decent investment.

*Middle school, an AAS, high school, two BSs, an MS, and a PhD. One backpack. I keep meaning to send that in, with a photo, to REI.

Wait... what?

Your Penis Name Is...

Elvis

Penis Name Generator

It's dead? Has left the building? Is known to appear on stage in strange sequined costumes??

Wait... what?

Your Penis Name Is...

Elvis

Penis Name Generator

It's dead? Has left the building? Is known to appear on stage in strange sequined costumes??

Wow.

Usually my mother biffs on my birthday (and Xmas) pretty badly. I've gotten presents that I have, quite literally, thought went to the wrong person. (I learned pretty quickly that asking "Are you sure this was for me?" is a bad approach though...) She goes for volume, not quality. The more expensive the better, and if it matches *her* tastes, it *must* be perfect, right??

She did good this year.

I got maple bars overnighted from Seattle. :D

I'm sure most of you have no clue what I'm talking about, but it's a raised bar donut with maple glaze. I *LOVE* these things, and I have never found them outside of the NW. I was *hoping*, what with moving north towards the land where maple sap flows, I'd run into them again, but nope. Totally a NW thing, apparently.

And I have 4. :D Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get my sugar rush on.

16:13 update: guhhhhhh.... sugar crasssshhhhhhh.... *thud*

Wow.

Usually my mother biffs on my birthday (and Xmas) pretty badly. I've gotten presents that I have, quite literally, thought went to the wrong person. (I learned pretty quickly that asking "Are you sure this was for me?" is a bad approach though...) She goes for volume, not quality. The more expensive the better, and if it matches *her* tastes, it *must* be perfect, right??

She did good this year.

I got maple bars overnighted from Seattle. :D

I'm sure most of you have no clue what I'm talking about, but it's a raised bar donut with maple glaze. I *LOVE* these things, and I have never found them outside of the NW. I was *hoping*, what with moving north towards the land where maple sap flows, I'd run into them again, but nope. Totally a NW thing, apparently.

And I have 4. :D Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go get my sugar rush on.

16:13 update: guhhhhhh.... sugar crasssshhhhhhh.... *thud*

I wanna be an Airborne Ranger...

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com.
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top fifteen results.

Apparently, some sort of engineering is in order...

1. Architect
2. Agricultural Engineer
3. Mechanical Engineering Tech
4. Chemical Engineer
5. Civil Engineering Tech
6. Aerospace Engineer
7. Mechanical Engineer
8. Civil Engineer
9. Petroleum Engineer
10. Industrial Engineer
11. Biomedical Engineer
12. Heavy Equipment Mechanic
13. Farm Equipment Mechanic
14. Race Car Mechanic
15. Automobile Mechanic

First computer-oriented item comes up at 19: Computer Engineer (WTF? That's pretty meaningless...)

Others of note:
23. Explosives Specialist
24. Electrical Engineer
27. Millwright (coooool...)
28. Materials / Metallurgical Engineer
32. Operations Research Analyst (funny they should mention this one...)
34. Forester (nice)
35. Project Manager (... the bastards)
36. Physicist (Why yes, yes I am)
37. Environmental Engineer
38. Astronomer
39. Geologist

Completely missing, and high on previous 'what career should you do' tests: forensic medicine, coroner, archeologist, anthropologist.

I wanna be an Airborne Ranger...

1. Go to http://www.careercruising.com.
2. Put in Username: nycareers, Password: landmark.
3. Take their "Career Matchmaker" questions.
4. Post the top fifteen results.

Apparently, some sort of engineering is in order...

1. Architect
2. Agricultural Engineer
3. Mechanical Engineering Tech
4. Chemical Engineer
5. Civil Engineering Tech
6. Aerospace Engineer
7. Mechanical Engineer
8. Civil Engineer
9. Petroleum Engineer
10. Industrial Engineer
11. Biomedical Engineer
12. Heavy Equipment Mechanic
13. Farm Equipment Mechanic
14. Race Car Mechanic
15. Automobile Mechanic

First computer-oriented item comes up at 19: Computer Engineer (WTF? That's pretty meaningless...)

Others of note:
23. Explosives Specialist
24. Electrical Engineer
27. Millwright (coooool...)
28. Materials / Metallurgical Engineer
32. Operations Research Analyst (funny they should mention this one...)
34. Forester (nice)
35. Project Manager (... the bastards)
36. Physicist (Why yes, yes I am)
37. Environmental Engineer
38. Astronomer
39. Geologist

Completely missing, and high on previous 'what career should you do' tests: forensic medicine, coroner, archeologist, anthropologist.

Continuing the chain...

After commenting in dollrave's post about a drunken, suicidal parakeet, which was posted because she posted a comment in a... oh, just go follow the chain.

When I was 3, my dad worked at a car lot in our hometown, as a salesman. (Damned good at it too. While stuck in a little two-horse town, he managed to get named Salesman of the Year by Pontiac, Buick, and a couple other arms of GM, in multiple years. He was the only one at the lot with repeat business, because he treated people *gasp* honestly.)

One day, he heard a shriek from the restroom, and a secretary came out babbling about a 'mouse in the toilet'. Dad looked in, and it was a *chipmunk*. Now, while this was not a large town (about 15k pop.), this was in the center of town, far from any fields, orchards, woods, or meadows. But here's a drowned chipmunk. In the toilet. In the center of the building.

One of the salesmen said "Oh for god's sake" and started to flush it. Dad stopped him, and fished it out, because he thought he saw it twitch. He grabbed a towel, warmed it up in his hands, massaged its chest gently, and... it came to. Sort of. It was groggy and out of it, so he grabbed a box and put it in there before it fully recovered, and he brought it home with him to show me and my Mom.

Well, it ended up living in a big bird cage Dad found in the garage, and it was named... Chipper. (Sorry dollraves, I am *not* making this up, I swear to god.)

A few days later, after Chipper got used to the cage a bit more, it seemed to disappear. Dad started lifting wood chips out of the way, and found Chipper in a nest. With babies. Chipper was a knocked up preggers she.

Welllllll, this got too damned cute. We had a chipmunk and (IIRC) five babies in our house. I got to see them come out, but we kind of forgot that while Chipper couldn't get through the bars... the babies could. One evening, Chipper went berzerk, screeching, running around the cage, you name it. No babies.

Mom and Dad started looking around the house, carefully, and found four. They kept looking for #5, and at the far end of the house, dad was backing up down the hall towards their bedroom, peering at the carpet, when *crunch*... he was wearing cowboy boots. One dead baby chipmunk. :/

But, Chipper and the four remaining babies ended up doing fine, and when the kidlings were bigger, all five were put in the bushes outside the front door. We had chipmunks in our yard until we moved three years later. No one else in the neighborhood had chipmunks, but we did.

Continuing the chain...

After commenting in dollrave's post about a drunken, suicidal parakeet, which was posted because she posted a comment in a... oh, just go follow the chain.

When I was 3, my dad worked at a car lot in our hometown, as a salesman. (Damned good at it too. While stuck in a little two-horse town, he managed to get named Salesman of the Year by Pontiac, Buick, and a couple other arms of GM, in multiple years. He was the only one at the lot with repeat business, because he treated people *gasp* honestly.)

One day, he heard a shriek from the restroom, and a secretary came out babbling about a 'mouse in the toilet'. Dad looked in, and it was a *chipmunk*. Now, while this was not a large town (about 15k pop.), this was in the center of town, far from any fields, orchards, woods, or meadows. But here's a drowned chipmunk. In the toilet. In the center of the building.

One of the salesmen said "Oh for god's sake" and started to flush it. Dad stopped him, and fished it out, because he thought he saw it twitch. He grabbed a towel, warmed it up in his hands, massaged its chest gently, and... it came to. Sort of. It was groggy and out of it, so he grabbed a box and put it in there before it fully recovered, and he brought it home with him to show me and my Mom.

Well, it ended up living in a big bird cage Dad found in the garage, and it was named... Chipper. (Sorry dollraves, I am *not* making this up, I swear to god.)

A few days later, after Chipper got used to the cage a bit more, it seemed to disappear. Dad started lifting wood chips out of the way, and found Chipper in a nest. With babies. Chipper was a knocked up preggers she.

Welllllll, this got too damned cute. We had a chipmunk and (IIRC) five babies in our house. I got to see them come out, but we kind of forgot that while Chipper couldn't get through the bars... the babies could. One evening, Chipper went berzerk, screeching, running around the cage, you name it. No babies.

Mom and Dad started looking around the house, carefully, and found four. They kept looking for #5, and at the far end of the house, dad was backing up down the hall towards their bedroom, peering at the carpet, when *crunch*... he was wearing cowboy boots. One dead baby chipmunk. :/

But, Chipper and the four remaining babies ended up doing fine, and when the kidlings were bigger, all five were put in the bushes outside the front door. We had chipmunks in our yard until we moved three years later. No one else in the neighborhood had chipmunks, but we did.

More office supplies...

I hate my chair at work. It's the Standard IBM Ergonomic Chair (Tall), and it's pretty sucky. I mean, it's better than a hard plastic cafeteria chair, but it makes my back hurt after a couple of hours. Since I'm expected to have my ass in it most of the day, this is a problem.

Well, I solved that one: http://www.lafumafurniture.com/Lafuma-RSX-XL-recliner.pro

Yup. A reclining lawn chair. Sat in one a few months ago in a store, and it was like it was made for my body.

I can't wait for the dept head to walk by one day while I've got that bad boy kicked back, laptop on lap... :D

I wonder if I should get the beverage holder/side tray? :)

More office supplies...

I hate my chair at work. It's the Standard IBM Ergonomic Chair (Tall), and it's pretty sucky. I mean, it's better than a hard plastic cafeteria chair, but it makes my back hurt after a couple of hours. Since I'm expected to have my ass in it most of the day, this is a problem.

Well, I solved that one: http://www.lafumafurniture.com/Lafuma-RSX-XL-recliner.pro

Yup. A reclining lawn chair. Sat in one a few months ago in a store, and it was like it was made for my body.

I can't wait for the dept head to walk by one day while I've got that bad boy kicked back, laptop on lap... :D

I wonder if I should get the beverage holder/side tray? :)