Hey, speaking of TwoPcons, I have two locations for the TC crowd to vote on the Mpls/St. Paul TwoPcon thread. Kinda like the site selection for the Olympics. But not. Still, git over there!

thanks....

Yep. That pretty much sums it up. It was fun, though.

As far as the cherry blossoms, I honestly couldn't tell you because when you try to cram a lot of things into a short amount of time, recall of certain details gets lost in the ether. I can tell you the cicadas were in full bloom, however. Live or dead, they were inescapable.

Speaking of lost in the ether, left another VM for the guy I'm supposed to interview with and still nothing. Tomorrow I'm going to call back the guy I originally interviewed with and let him know what's going on. If he doesn't respond to me either, I guess I can try to track down some sort of supervisor. Or honestly, I have half a mind just to go to the next informational meeting (they have them every Wednesday at 1), interview with one of the other people (they had about 3 different ones) as if I just applied for the first time and see what happens!

Well we had the IEP meeting this morning and it went really well. We put together a plan that should help Little Aussie cope with school better. It's still emotionally draining however, and I was glad to finally get out of there. Next week we are putting together the submission for continued funding for teacher's aide time, and that will be the biggie.

Hi ausgezeichnet! Where do you hail from? Welcome to the MM.

Dodo what's the deal with the job situation? I like your idea of interviewing again as if for the first time. Who knows? It might just work!

Yogi your garden sounds delightful! And peaceful too. Glad you have a new assistant to make life easier for you. You sure deserve it! She sounds good.

ETA: link removed until story actually runs. Shoulda checked with the photog first.

That's me in the corner. That's Zebulon Pike (a great new instrumental prog-metal band) in the spotlight. Photo by Dan Corrigan, photographer to the rock stars, as part of a roll he was shooting illustrate a piece I'm writing about them. Lucky me!

I will comment on stuff, but well, I gotta write some other stuff first.

Happy Wednesday!

Needless to say, I am such a geek, that I actually thought of Zebulon Pike the creator of warp speed travel.... on Star Trek. I watch far too much television.

I put my whole garden in yesterday in a marathon of planting. Though my garden looks marvelous, I look like a 90 year old, completely unable to straighten my back. Every muscle in my body hurts. My fingers hurt. The cost of beauty... Did I mention my garden looks marvelous?

I also finished my gift for the sunflower shower. I made a memory book on my trusty apple. I love an apple! My friend's mom, relatives and friends sent in photos and a few sent in memory stories. I scanned all the photos and superimosed the stories over images of sunflowers and fields of sunflowers. I formated all this into a book in my iphoto program. Now, the iphoto/apple folks are printing it up into a lovely hard back book with a blue cover. I hope it will be lovely. I probably put 60 hours work into the whole thing - no joke. I love to give gift I made myself, but I doubt people realize at all the time and effort involved. I think people think you threw it together the night before. I should just go buy a nice pot from William Sonoma next time... But HEY! I'm working with a theme here, baby. If you hold still, I'll put a sunflower on you!

Hang in there, Last Dodo. If this path is getting blocked, try another route. Don't feel alone, we've all had stress when looking for a new job. It's one of the most stressful things to do.

Hurray for the good meeting, Aussie Girl!
How's the neighbor, suctionprints?
And good thoughts to Mr. BabaLU and Papa Pixie!

Hey all. Just got back from the pub after watching the State of Origin (dont know if anyone else folllows but I do) thank god we won. Oh well just popped in to say hi and hope you are all well

She's better, relieved that she dodged a bullet. Part of the clot ended up in her lung, but it was caught in time. She was able to self-administer the blood thinners, and went home 24 hours later. She just has to avoid green vegetable binges (too much Vitamin K) and, well, bleeding. So, no tackle football for her. "I know you're disappointed, Cecile." But we could go to the tiki bar on Friday to celebrate. So we did. And we only broke one chair.

I love a good tiki bar, suctionprints! Hurray for a speedy recovery.

Hey to you, Lizzy!

Good for you, yogi, on the gardening. I hate doing planting in spurts - it never seems to get done that way. I am sure your flowers and such will be gorgeous.

Hi, lizzy!

Does anyone (US) have any big plans for the holiday weekend? Mr HH is in a softball tourney, and we might go out to eat sometime. Woohoo. The good news is that I get to go shopping, after a two week hiatus. Since I spent all of our grocery/miscellaneous spending money on Metallica tickets right after last payday. Bad, HH, bad.

Life is short - choosing Metallica tickets seems a pretty good way to go from time to time.

Though it's raining, I'm all in pink today. I'm definitely the brightest thing out there. I'm even wearing pink swede Manolo Blahnic flats. I like to live dangerously. Or maybe, what was I thinking?!

We were supposed to go up to our family cabin in NH this weekend, but are now having cold feet about it, simply b/c I think we'll have very cold feet indeed if we go up there considering the weather we've been having. We almost had frost last night! Hasn't anybody told Mother Nature that Memorial Day weekend is the cutoff point for nasty weather? Sheesh!
Yay! for shopping, and Yay! for pink manolos! That seems like a very festive thing to have on.
Also, that memory book is a wonderful thing. I can't imagine how they'd not think that a hardcover book wouldn't involve a lot of time and effort. Not to mention love. Can't wait to hear the full report on this shindig!
Just got a nice haircut, and I think I'm even going to schedule a facial for next week, as I'm running away with three of my old roomates for our 20th college renunion next weekend. I want to rent a convertible or some fun car, but don't quite know where to start. Suggestions?
suctionprints, can't wait to read that story! And hear some Tiki Bar adventures.

Hey, Hildy, I can't wait to hear about the grand slam college reunion you've got planned! No doubt great fun is to be had. I think a facial is definitely in order. Your skin's got to match your new haircut, doesn't it.

Me and my Manolos just finished drinking an Appletini at 8 1/2 on 57th. The last time I had an Appletini was TARcon, and it made me so very toasted. But it was the drink of the evening, so I drank. Quite tasty. I love 8 1/2 because of the people watching. They have this enormous orange staircase that leads right into the circular bar. Very fun.

Yogi what a marathon effort with your garden! It sounds just wonderful! I hope by now your back is better mate, I'm sure that it will be in a day or two. Also your memory book - you have put sooooo much effort into it, and the sunflowers will bring joy and beauty to those who see it, whether or not they realise how much of you went into it.

Hildy sorry to hear the weather has not been co-operating with your plans for a weekend away at your cabin. But hopefully by the time next weekend rolls around, it will have improved, and you can run away (or drive in your convertible) for your reunion.

Dodo, Babalu, Pixie, what's happening? Suctionprints I'm glad your neighbour is better.

Oh and, um, Lizzy we're the only 2 Aussies here, all the rest are Septics, so you may have to explain about the State of Origin. I don't follow it myself, cricket is what I love. But I heard a great song on the radio this morning titled, "Putz the Tragic Dragon", which had everyone rolling about in laughter.

I'm doing a Humanities Team workshop with friends this weekend, have planned it for ages, and have the babysitting all lined up etc (Mr Aussie will be working). Am really looking foward to the workshop, and also to have a bit of a break from the kids, wife, mother thing too. Doing something for myself, you know? And next weekend we're having "Kid's Day" - my 11 year old figured out a few years ago that mums and dads get Mother's and Father's Day, but kids don't. So once a year in June we have a Kid's Day, and they get a present, and we go and do whatever they want to. It's looking like it will be Sea World this year (again).

I took my 3 year old little Aussie to Play Group yesterday, and he painted a big picture, which he has then proceeded to show everyone. It is quite beautiful, but he won't let us hang it up, just wraps it around himself, or carries it everywhere and talks non stop about it. So bloody cute!

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

AussieGirl cricket is my first love, but I have to love a competition where we can kick the Qlds ass (kidding). And am moving to Switzerland if Howard is re-elected and forces the gay marriage ban.

Don’t you hate it when you are in a classroom and the students are abusing the English language? Had to spend 3 hours in a room with a bunch of whiny, complaining, spoilt shit, who didn’t seem to have a grasp on the English language. For example: "On the weekend, like *shudder*, what are you youse *shudder* doin'. We did some stuff *shudder*, like *shudder*. Its only Wednesday, but*shudder*". Words can no begin to describe the annoyance of the over improper use of the words 'stuff', 'like' and 'but' and the use of the word youse (rhymes with loose). The word 'you' does not even have a plural. [/pointless rant]

Oh well hope you are all well

Ah, "youse." Entire doctoral theses have been written about this word and its etymologic kindred - you-uns, yoons, and y'all. Linguists can pinpoint the part of West Virginia, western Pennsylvania, or western New York you came from by your pronunciation of either you-uns, yoons, or youse. When I was working on my master's several years ago, my rhetorical theory class spent a good 20 minutes discussing this issue. (Then we talked about Finnish and the language's influence on Finland's high suicide rate. Kind of an interesting class, that was.)

And is the second-person singular "you" and the second-person plural "y'all," or is the second-person singular "y'all" and the second-person plural "all y'all?" The battle rages.

I love language. And, yes, I am such a geek.

No Survivor tonight - what are we going to do with our Thursdays until fall?

Tracey - I? Am going to get the rest of my garden planted. Then I am going to do some scrapbooking. Then I am going to watch a dreadful rerun of something or other, then off to bed. Yes, Thursday evenings are pretty much empty until fall.

On the lighter side, only two more weeks until the end of the school year for the boys - thank goodness. I think we as parental units are just as excited about it as they are. No more dragging two crabby adolescents out of bed in the morning and bug bug bugging about getting homework done, etc.

Lizzy, I usually write in the casual vernacular here, but I am very picky about business correspondence, emails, etc. I seem to be the exception, though. Spelling and grammatical errors jump right off the page and poke me in the eye that don't seem to bother other people at all.

I am only being snitty about it because these people are learning to be in a customer service industry (toursim). Can you imagine booking a holiday from a travel agent that said "What are youse, like, doin' on the weekend but?". I would seriously walk out (or give them an English lesson).

TraceyBee well seeing as I am in Australia, these people obvisouly dont come from those places, but yes, you can imediatly tell that (and I really do normally hate sterotypes) they come from out west, which is not a bad thing but its sad when people so obviously conform to a particular sterotype.

And of course they were being particularly whiney today (or yesterday), so much so, that I really started to notice and hate those little annoying speech habits. I normally spend 25+ hours a week with them, but its not until they start acting like spoilt 2 year olds that it grates.

TraceyBee

I just got my hands on a copy, of the previsouly unaired, Survivor Season 4. So I have at least got those new episodes to tide me over till later in the year.

I love language too, Tracey Bee. As I'm from western Virginia (as opposed to West Virginia) I enjoy using the language and expressions from that region from time to time. I'm surprised that youse comes from there. I wouldn't have thought so. I always associate youse with New York and New Jersey. Sounds like (youze guyz sounds like youse guyse.) Ahhhh, hours of enjoyment pondering such issues.

Ugh. I'm trying to get a working oven put into my house. You can't imagine the turmoil. I think service technicians go into that line of work to torture people. Yes, torture. Torment. The drama. I can't tell you. Ugh.

However, my garden continues to be marvelous! Are you having some nice weather yet, heidihug? Memorial weekend is such a great one for putting in the garden. I put mine in a bit early so that it would be as established as possible before the party next Saturday.

A you-uns - yuns - yoons - youse continuum extends from West Virginia through western Pennsylvania through western New York. I've also known people from Masssachusetts and New Jersey who say youse, I think that one's more widespread than the other variations. I had no idea people used it in Australia, though.

I just have to share this: a woman on another board I belong to said she was at a conference once where they all got beach towels as gifts. The name of the conference was "Frontiers in Estrogen" (it was some kind of medical/pharmaceutical thing) and the towel has that embroidered on it, along with a large, colorful embroidered ovum.

My friend says she'd never use it, but I totally would. I would pay good money for that beach towel. I've also claimed Frontiers in Estrogen for the title of my memoirs.

Well, yogi, spring so far has been wet and cool. Today is no exception. My garden really needs some warm, sunshine-y days to get going, esp. my tomatoes and peppers.

I wish that you could have the new appliance experiences that I have had. We pick the thing out at the store, pay for it, have the guys load it in the back of Mr HH's pickup, take it home, Mr HH and Squirrel lug it in, unbox it, and install it. For a per-hour fee, our propane gas supplier will come out and do the necessary fittings, if it involves a gas-run appliance. And that's that. In the city, the logistics and delivery problems alone are too much for me to contemplate. How far are you on your kitchen remodel right now? You will be so glad to have a new stove, it will be worth the hassle.

Lizzy, I used to do training, so I can relate. Did these people learn nothing in school? I think most people nowdays think it is OK to use casual terms in all conversations, even business. Which is not acceptable in my book.

I totally envy you a handy husband, heidihug. Mr. Yogi is second only to my father and brother in the completely unhandy department. In my family of origin, after unsuccessfully attempting an installation, frequently the item is destroyed with axes and crowbars. What can I say, but there is a low, very low, frustration level in the installation department. Though Mr. Yogi has never taken an axe to anything, he becomes very grumpy and frequently breaks items in an attempt to fix them. It is very stressfull. Best to leave things broken is my attitude, yet now I have almost nothing working and must do something about it. Renovation on the horizon....

I enjoy using you-uns. It's fun. That being said, if I was attempting to purchase an excellent vacation from someone who said youse, I would probably walk away rather than buy. I don't know why, but youse does not inspire confidence under those circumstances.

Where in Australia do you live, Lizzy?

I so very much want a towel with that on it, too, Tracey. So very much. I would wrap myself up in it and lounge around the house. The house that is full of men. And testosterone.

I am sorry about your all thumbs men, Yogi. It really does not take much talent to put in a new appliance, just muscle and then bit of finesse to get it placed and balanced correctly. UNLESS the surrounding countertops and cabinets are affected. THEN it is not fun. Not fun at all.

Hey guys, how are youse all doing today? Ugh. I too hate it when I hear people speak so badly. When I was in school, it was the cool thing to say youse, and it bacame so used, (no pun intended!), that we totally forgot that it wasn't correct. Boy, did my speech and drama teacher have a hard time with me! It was she who actually corrected me and from then I spoke the Queen's English quite well. English was actually my favourite subject at school, and I still cringe when I see typos in magazines etc. My son's teacher last year, although a lovely woman, had atrocious spelling in her notes home to us. I used to cringe reading them and thinking this is the woman who is teaching my son.

Anyway, enough of all that.

Lizzy I love, love, love the cricket (for all the rest of you, sorry if the cricket talk is boring - I know you don't have much of it there, but here it's extremely popular). Australia has the best cricket team in the world, and Adam Gilchrist and Matt Hayden are just superb players. I just can't wait till it's cricket season again. Nothing I like better than a long lazy summer day, lying on the couch watching the cricket!

BTW,Lizzy, how did you get Survivor 4? I have been trying everywhere to get my hands on it. And S1 and S2 also. Please, please, please, when you are done with it, can I buy, rent, copy whatever, from you? I will pay whatever costs are incurred if you are agreeable to this.

Oh and yeah, if Howard is re-elected, I am going to pull up sticks and move to New Zealand. But first I will have to throw up. I can't stand him.

But don't they wear baggy white trousers and a golf vest when playing? What is the point of a bunch of superbly fit men sweating on a field if tight uniforms aren't involved?

Amen to that. What's the point?
It feels like I haven't been here in forever! At least a week! So how are you all doing? (Notice I didn't say y'all.) Speaking of cute wrong ways to say things, the entire town I live in says anywayS. With an 'S'. Gahh. But what am I saying? I can't spell, so that pretty much explains the school system here.
We had a "flash flood" today. Not a real one, of course, but we did have a sudden and violent downpour of rain. Speaking of downpours.... Richland, where we had a tourniment last weekend, had a spectacular storm at the fields. Not that I was playing, because we didn't have enough players! So we drove for five hours for nothing! Yeah! And of course this girl doesn't inform us that she can't make it until 10:00 on Friday night, when we were suppose to be playing at 11:00 on Saturday! Her excuse? "My parents won't drive me." We could've taken her!! Another person could've taken her! Needless to say, our coach was livid. So we basically wasted a whole weekend there. The upside? We got to watch the younger team from our town play. The other downside? One Sunday, during the second game, a huge storm came and ruined the games. I'm talkin hail, thunder, lightning, the works! The fields were two feet deep with water! So the rest of the games got canceled and we all went home. So that was my weekend. I hope this one's better! A three-dayer! Well, except for our poor Australian friends. Have some fun anyway(s)!
Hugs and smiles and sunshine to you all (y'all)!!!!

Sydeny

AussieGirl I too am looking foward, but I dont mind League so I have something to tide me over. My friend downloaded it for me. It seems as though you cant get it anymore. If you have a DVD drive on your computer I could send you a copy, if not I could send on CDs. It actaully quite good, it is now my 3rd fav season (and I havent even finished)

Whats not to like about cricket? I mean what other sport can you sit around with your friends, drinking copious amounts of beer for hours on end? When you go to a match (specially if its a good one), there is hours of amusement watching all the drunken guys, its all about the atmosphere. I went to S. Waughs last test (3rd day) man it was great seeing him bat for the last time and people were crying, awsome [/cricket rant]

Well I am off to see 'The Day after Tomorrow'. Am not expecting much, just a big dumb, cliched hollywood disaster flick, with awsome special effects.

Well, for one, baseball! Which is not that unlike cricket in that the game has no set time limit and they hit a ball with a bat. But, I agree with you, lizzy, the imbibing in large amounts of adult beverages is a necessary and wonderful part of being a fan. I watched part of a cricket match on cable several years ago, and I thought it looked like it would be fun to learn more about. The only sport I cannot abide watching is soccer (sorry, soccer fans). I have tried, I truly have, but it is something I would much rather watch in the highlights than a whole game.

Sorry to hear about your soggy wasted weekend, PiP. We've had our share of downpours here, too. Sunshine today, though. Hope it sticks around.

I'm off to see Van Helsing yet again. Little Yogi begged, and I relented. I am not going to see The Day after Tomorrow on principle. Why would I want to see the city that I live in destroyed as entertainment? It's a bit grotesque to me, in light of recent events, that this kind of disaster flick is still considered entertainment. And yet, it is. Once again, I am out of step with popular culture.

The rain/sun thing is tiresome, but what I like about you, PiP is that you always have some fun regardless of the circumstances. And it's always entertaining to hear about it.

Saga of my Oven: the electrician came to put in a flexable pipe for the gas connection. Ugh. He put in such a short pipe that there was no way to put the oven into it's little niche and connect it to the pipe. My Gosh! Why is it that I can see this problem in a moment, and the plumber, who is payed a bazillion dollars an hour and does this all the time can not see this problem at all?!? Late night phone calls to everyone, early morning phone calls to everyone. In the end, the oven is installed, but don't have all the parts to finish the job. Why? This has only taken ten days. What a drama. What is going to happen when we try to do the whole house? I'm scared!

Hurray for Memorial Day and an extra day off. I'm doing nothing, and I'm very happy about that.

My condolences.
But you know what was missing from the movie?
The Abomnibale Snowman. (They got every other cliched monster in there, why not TAS?)

Just think, then they could have had Yukon Cornelius as Van Helsing's sidekick! And a musical number would have added so much to the film!

*Snerk.*

Yogi that is just not acceptable. The whole point of a service call is that they come to you & service you. Err, that sounds nasty...service your parts...err, service your appliance....um, fix stuff. I think your check for the service should be "short" too.

My college, plunk in the middle of a city, had a small, totally laughable "quad" (no worries, we had the National Mall a few blocks away for all of our grass, tourists & agressive squirrels) which was used as a make-shift cricket field (? field? pitch?) by some of our students. We had a huuuge number of students from outside the US and they would whap those balls right at our heads as we raced to class. Yea, my head was a moving target - not so fun. But if it has the same watchable properties as baseball (beer, sun, beer), I'm down with it.

Work has been absolutely out of control this week, I've worked my tail off, and hopefully I'm out of here by 3 for the holiday - which is actually going to be spent doing the goody bags for the bachelorette party I'm organizing tomorrow, sleeping and attending said functions Sat. & Sunday (late brunch for those inclined). Yea, I am already exhausted & even though I've worked out 3 mornings this week (today was just too much) and tried to eat normally, I'm really feeling the effects of the last few weeks. Gah. I might just sleep Monday away. Be good, y'all!

Have a good weekend, everybody! Skagirl, what did you finally decide on for the bachelorette entertainment? The disco midsummer nights dream?
And I should clarify that I would actually like to sit down and watch a cricket game. I don't object to the sport, but I think they ought to wear tight uniforms. like divers do, for example.

Hey all! Just thought I'd check in really quickly.

So the fates are punishing me. I called in sick Wednesday for some much-needed relaxation (between running to DC and back and the stress of waiting to hear about the job, I was really stressing!!!), and sure enough, yesterday I get a cold for real. Bleah.

But it all worked out because they finally called me Wednesday morning to set up an interview for me with the manager of a different office that afternoon, so it was a good thing I was free to just take off. Went really well; I think it's just a question of which manager would like me more, to be honest.

Now I'm just stressing because I haven't heard anything yet and while I think I will eventually, the talk has all been about me starting training on June 7th, a week from Monday, and I really would hate to only be able to give like one or two day's notice, even though I already have my replacement lined up (unbeknownst to my boss). But she's on a temp assignment and could use some notice time as well.

I'm thinking about calling to check this afternoon, but I hate to be pushy and I'm not sure if I should call either manager or HR. The managers actually talk to you when you call whereas HR strands you in voicemail hell, but I'm worried it might be awkward if I called the wrong one.

In happier news, been seeing a lot of theater...saw Bernadette Peters in Gypsy last night. Excellent. It took awhile to see where she was going with it, but once I got it, she was incredible. Mary Tyler Moore was a couple rows ahead of me because she and Bernadette are partners in a charity. I stayed afterward outside the stage door and got to see her (grainy no-flash cameraphone pic here) and got her to autograph my Playbill to my mom, who's coming in tomorrow; I'm surprising her with it framed. I'm happy because my mom is the type of person who never does anything nice for themselves (equal parts selflessness and martyr complex), so I like doing nice things for her.

Then tonight I'm seeing Twentieth Century with Alec Baldwin & Anne Heche for $4.50 a ticket. Gotta love TheaterMania Gold!

Anyway, hope you all have a great weekend!

I actually liked Van Helsing, shadow denzien. I like my fantasy totally.... fantastic. And you are so very right - this movie was that. No reality for this girl - I have enough of that in my real life.

OK, smart folks, I need some suggestions. My husband's good friend is having a kidney transplant in June. We were the ones given the information - friend and wife don't want to burden anyone. Because I think his friends from childhood definitely want to know and help him and his wife and his two year old triplets (UGH!), I convinced Mr. Yogi to send an e-mail to the gang - no drama, just the facts. The response has been unanamous - "I want to help. Tell me what to do." Because I am a ridiculous organizer, this is my plan. Come up with a calendar and have the gang sign up for dates to visit and bring food, do the grocery shopping, whatever. One guy suggested a fundraiser. Unbeknownst to me, post kidney transplant meds are highly expensive. Do any of you have any ideas or experience with such a situation? If so, I would appreciate your imput. This week, in addition to the London Broil and prawns I took to the house for a barbeque, I took her out for a champagne and caviar lunch. It may not be a practical solution, but she sure had fun, and that makes her husband happy too. And isn't fun the funnest thing to have? [tm. Arthur]

Have a wonderful bachelorette party, skagirl. They are so lucky to have you planning the event. I'm sure it will be fabulous. Do let us know the parts you feel comfortable sharing, though I'm sure we would love to hear the other parts as well! And enjoy that Monday of sleep!

Congratulations Last Dodo! No work is getting done until Tuesday. I suggest you don't even bother calling or worring until then. It sounds like all is good, so enjoy your weekend with your Mom.



Is our Hildy not always the voice of good sense?!?

Dodo, sounds like a super weekend. And you are such a wonderful son! I bet your mom will adore the autographed playbill. We told you so about the job - let's see them battle it out over which office gets you - whichever one does get's to go "Na-Na!" to the other when you start setting rental/sales records.

And, ska, hope your bachelorette party is way fun, and a welcome respite from your hard week. Pagemaker, begone!

Have a great weekend, everybody!

ETA, yogi, you are such a special friend. Anything you do or organize for Mr Yogi's friend and his family will be treasured. God bless you, sweetie.

Oh, now you tell me! Heh. I did wind up calling the one manager, and they did that thing I HATE. The secretary asks who's calling and then you get their voicemail. Which I hate because that's exactly what I do right now at this job, and the people who get voicemail after screening are the people they can't be bothered with. Plus, sometimes you don't want people to know you're calling; if I hadn't gotten him directly, I wasn't planning on leaving a message. UGH.

But I just left the most pleasant, nonpushy message possible, saying that I hoped he didn't mind, but I was just checking in on the process just for my own planning purposes. And I'm trying to tell myself that he's just not calling because he doesn't know yet himself where I'm ending up. I don't think I screwed up my chances; I hope not at least!

I'll tell ya though; no matter how nervewracking the actual job may be, it's nothing compared to the waiting to get it!!!

Does your friend have insurance? Most insurance companies assign transplant patients a case manager to assist with all the medications, tests and educational needs that come along with the transplant. If he has insurance then they cover the medications, and most are generic so that should not be the big concern. The big problem I've seen with transplant patients is that they usually have to travel to a center for the transplant and insurance does cover some of the travel expenses but I gather it was the biggest headache/expense for the patients I've dealt with in the past (plus arranging for baby sitters for young children.)

First, Happy Birthday HeidiHug!

Hee. Second, yes, we're doing the following: manis (for those who want), dinner is a Turkish/Med small plates (meze) place, dancing & disco at Donkey Show. Sunday is the optional brunch at 2.

Just bought 89% of the disco/party favors (glitter, lais, mardi gras beads, disco ball earrings, candy, body glitter, etc) & bride crap. Off to the naughty parts stores for like something penisy (the two we hit had nothing that we wanted - too much booby). And yes, there's a few dozen naughty part stores near me...

Finally, Yogi, my guess would be if anyone has a solid church or temple connection, someone from there might help with a small fundraiser - I think the foods are great & help with the kids & mom is def. needed.

Ok, time to finish shopping and drink beer. .... mmmm....

Good Gravy Marie! Today is the birthday of our very dear heidihug?! And I almost missed it? That would have been a tragedy. Cheers and Hugs to you, dear Heidi! I hope that your day was filled with all good things. Tell us all about your special day, when you have the chance.

I love body glitter, skagirl. Any evening that involves glitter promises to be a good one. Add the disco ball earrings, and well, a good time is certain to be had by all. And of course manicures. I got one tonight as my hands were ravaged, yes ravaged, by my gardening. All through dinner, I kept telling Mr. Yogi to look at my hands as they felt so very nice from my lovely manicure. Yum. Needless to say, he was not as excited by the whole thing as me, but he got a laugh out of my enthusiasm.

My friends do have insurance, timesAwasting, but I know from my own experience with a family member with a long term illness, there is much that insurance doesn't cover or only covers a portion of. I have not asked my friends what their financial situation is, but one of the gang did an internet search and found that freqently only a portion of the medication is covered, and as it is very expensive, the portion covered by the patient is often as high as 20,000 dollars a year. But I am not really comfortable delving into my friend's finances. I will probably stick to organizing a work/food/babysitting crew. (But how to do that?) And also taking the wife out for various fun activities, because no matter the situation, I'm a firm believer laughter is the very best medicine. Also, sometimes cursing helps too sometimes. I think liberal freedom to curse is quite helpful under certain circumstances.

And just because it can't be said enough - have a fabulous birthday, heidihug! Hope the festivities last all weekend long! Wish I was there to share a glass of champagne with you, but soon enough, my friend, soon enough ;D

Hi Meet Marketers!! I'm so glad to hear your good news Dodo. And what a wonderful son you are! Please let us know what your mom thought of her very thoughtful gift.
We don't really have any plans for the holiday weekend, we're just gonna hang out with friends and get some work done around the house. We did get to go to a David Bowie concert last Thursday. Birdman won two sets of tickets on a radio contest, so we took our kids to see him. My daughter just loves Bowie, so she had a great time. I was a little disappointed because he didn't do any of the songs that I like the best, but he put on a pretty good light show and since it was free I can't bitch too much. We're gonna try to catch Van Halen at the end of next month in Albany. That should be a fantastic concert! I'm really looking forward to it.
Well, I've gotta start getting ready to go out. My daughter's 21st birthday was last Tuesday and I promised her I'd take her out to celebrate.
Have a great holiday everyone!!

yogi: re, your friend and the meds - if they are not self-employed his company or his wife's should have pre-tax monies for health care. And since it's a catastrophic event, the company should allow them to adjust the numbers upward for new costs. They have to take the initial bite of paying out the money, but they will get reimbursed completely. But they need to be very careful with the receipts - if you have any money left in the pre-tax account, you lose it by the end of the year.

In the way of events - well, we up in the Upper Midwest always have pancake breakfasts. Hockey team needs money for a field trip? Pancake breakfast. Church needs a new altar? Pancake breakfast. Kid needs a special operation? Pancake breakfast. You could even theme it by flying in my mom and having her yell at the highschoolers helping out behind the counter to stop eating the damn bacon.

If you decide not to call the manager, now it's time to make nice-nice with the HR receptionist. Say something like "I've left two messages. And I'm so excited about this job. Who's a person I can talk to?" Be firm but polite. What I do, being a sometime HR receptionist, is send the person back to voice-mail hell and then tell the generalist they're trying to reach that they've called again, and please try to call them. That usually works.

ska, the funniest bachelorette party idea I'd heard in ages was from one of my cohorts at work. She wanted a stripper at her sister's bachelorette party. Her sister was dead-set against it. Then my friend said "how about a meat raffle?" This is a staple of Nordeast Minneapolis bars - on a slow weeknight, you can buy numbers to win a box of steaks, frozen lobster tails, or pre-made burgers. Being a good Nordeast girl, her sister was suspicious but she loved the idea. Imagine her surprise, then, when a gentleman in a butcher's paper hat and white coat clicked on the tape deck he pulled out of the portable freezer and started taking it all off! I'm still laughing my butt off thinking about it, and I'm no fan of strippers at any party. The honoree thought it was hilarious too, after she got over the initial shock. I didn't ask my friend what she did for a wedding present, but if I were a person that had strippers at parties (sorry, no, the Mpls TWoPcon is going to be boring that way) I would have given her a box of steaks for a wedding present. Because, you know, even a fake meat raffle needs to have a payoff.

birdlady: My friend went to see Bowie and was just blown away by him. She'd seen him a couple of times before, and she said that this tour was the best. And what a cool mom. I would have died if my mom brought me to Bowie!

Who hasn't sung for Van Halen these days? William Hung? Pat Boone? Big Bird? I know David Lee Roth (bows toward the west in honor) hasn't rejoined the fold. I heard their new song on the radio, and it was very strange. It sounded like one part St. Anger era Metallica, and one part partyin' old-school Van Halen. Yikes. But Eddie and Michael Anthony sounded as good as ever, so you should have a great time.

Me, I think I'm just going to go see the Atomic Punks (a great Van Halen tribute band who were "Danger Kitty" in that credit card commercial) instead. Or see David Lee and his weird self when he shows up again.

Hey, heidihug, I think I got free tix to Metallica this time around. So we can compare notes. Are Godsmack opening for your show like they are in Mpls? If not, I'll trade you your opener for ours - I know you love 'em, but I can never get around Sully Erna's voice. Oh, and Happy Birthday again, Geminoid Metallion.

Hope you are all enjoying your Memorial Day long weekend! We're having a long weekend in 2 weeks, the Queen's Birthday weekend, which although the birthday was in April, we actually get the holiday in June. Why? One of the great mysteries of life.

Heidihug, hope you had a great birthday! Send us some cake!

ska hope your batchelorette party is great - sounds like it's shaping up to be a lot of fun!

Yogi so sorry to hear about your friend's illness, and they are soooo lucky to have you as a friend. Helping with the triplets, food, and making your friend laugh will help them so much. It's great that you are so thoughtful and are there for your friends when they need it.

Re cricket - Hildy's comments had me laughing - couldn't agree more! Australia have some very sexy men on the team, (and then there's just Warney - who loves his mobile phone, that's a joke for Lizzy), so it would be great if we could see more of these gorgeous cricketers.

Did a wonderful workshop on the weekend. In fact, I was so impressed with it, that I am seriously contemplating doing a more advanced workshop with them, in New York state. Yes, that's right, New York state in the US! Can you believe it? I really felt that I would like to do it, and talked to Mr Aussie who agrees I should go for it. So maybe we could all meet up in NY, it may be my only chance to see you guys in person. It's in September, in the Hamptons. I've never been there, can anyone tell me what the Hamptons are like - I've heard it's quite beatiful, how far from NY it is, how to get there from the airport, and if it will be freezing cold or what? Over to you.

Edited to say Lizzy, not sure if we have a DVD drive on the computer, will find out. Would love to see S4 somehow.

[I]Also, the Meet Market thread has hit 100 pages! Whooooo! :)

Hello, Meet Marketers! I was going to with the North Americans among us (or at least the Americans - do Canadians celebrate today as Memorial Day?) a happy Memorial Day, but I say that our bestest Australian friend beat me to it!

yogi - you're truly a special friend, as I can attest from personal experience. You should take pride in your friendship and in your mom-ship.

What do the New Yorkers think of the Christo Central Park thingie? I read about it in The New Yorker several months ago (before it was installed). I have to stay that I used to think the Christos were rather gimmicky, but the article intrigued me, and the orange banners sounded like they had the potential, at least, to be strikingly beautiful.

Has anyone seen The Triplets of Belleville? We rented it and watched it last night. It's extraordinary - extremely strange and dreamlike. We also rented Love Actually, which I enjoyed as long as I didn't think about it too much. Most of the couples weren't terribly believable to me, and Mr. Lu thought it had the single most implausible bit of casting in the past 50 years (Hugh Grant as the PM). Loved Emma Thompson.

Mr. Lu has had his brachytherapy (radiation seed implants) and is doing well. He starts 5 weeks of external beam radiation in July. Thanks for your continued thoughts.

And, we're the proud and somewhat nervous new owners of a home in Hawai'i! We're still working with the rental agent to get all the work (painting, power-washing, etc.) done before we rent it out, which I hope will be soon so we don't have two unsubsidized mortgage payments for very long!

How's your dad doing, pixie dust?

Hey Everyone. I'm new to the survivor meet market, but didn't know where else to share my joy.

The things you can find while spring cleaning!! Under my bed was an Entertainment Weekly from May 9, 2003. There was an article predicting the odds of winning for the final six survivors for Amazon (season 6). The best part was they listed Pro's and Con's for each survivor staying around for the end. The writer must be regestered on TWoP, or at least he should be. He has the perfect sense of humor to fit in here, especially when it comes to HeiDDi.



Genius, really, Hey Dalton Ross, I know you are here somewhere, or at least you should be.

Brings back good memories, and my find brought a smile to my face, hope i got some of you chuckling like I did!

Hey Gang at Meet Market and nbwcc!
Thanks for the reminder of HeiDDi and all her ridiculousness. You've got to love to hate a woman who named her breasts intelligence and athleticism, respectively. I sure did love the Amazon, particularly because it featured the Greatest Survivor Hero of All Time, My Man Matthew. Sigh...

I hope everyone passed a fabulous Memorial Day Weekend. I spent the weekend working very, very hard about the house. Oh my Heck! I was outside by 8:30 this morning pruning, clearing, watering, planting, and cleaning all the garden furniture with soap and the power hose. After I finished that, I cleared all my bookshelves, dusted, organized, and sorted all my books and DVDs. What to do with all the old videos of Star Trek now that I have them on DVD? Perhaps I must buy a second home to house all my old video cassets? Heh ;)

Anyway, I am sore, sore, sore, but oh so ready for the sunflower shower that is scheduled for Saturday. After much badgering, I have had RSVPs from all but one person. Now the bride to be insists said person is planning on attending. Is it possible that someone would actually show up at a luncheon that they did not RSVP to? Sadly, I believe the answer is yes. Certainly not anyone from this Meet Market, but we can not expect the same level of excellent behavior from the rest of the civilized world, can we? Ugh. I ask you, must I give her a goody bag if she comes without RSVPing? I feel the desire to punish her is some way, and the goody bags are truely fabulous. I mean really good. Unbelievable bath stuff good. I don't think she deserves one. I will try to rise above pettiness, but I can't promise I'll be able to do it.

Miss Babalu - how much your nice words mean to me, dear one. I definitely worry that I am doing the right thing through this. He is very private, and has never spoken to anyone except his wife about his medical issues. I just found out on Wednesday that he had angioplasty last month as an emergency. He had three blockages in his heart, but he told no one. So everyone was afraid to approach him. Not one other person would speak to this man about his immenent kidney transplant, but I did, because fools do rush in where angels fear to tread. I just told him that although I absolutely support him in a life of dignity, I want to be there for him and his family in a real way while he is going through this, and that he shouldn't let pride keep him from getting the support and love that he and his family need right now. Then I insisted Mr. Yogi tell the gang the date of the surgery in a very no nonsense sort of way. Ugh. I hope he doesn't stop speaking to me or Mr. Yogi as a result. I hope that he can see that I am doing this out of love for him and his family. I think it's too much for his wife to bear in silence. Mr. Yogi and I already told her that we are going to be with her during the surgery. I remember how hard that day was for me. No one should do that alone.

I want to rent Babalu's house in Hawaii!!! What am I doing laboring away in NYC when I could be snorkling in Hawaii? The mind boggles.

I would love, love, love to see you in NYC, Aussie Girl. I don't go to the Hamptons, so I can't give you the particulars, but there are a "million" busses a day going out there, so you will have no problem getting there, though the traffic is a nightmare, so it might take you a few hours. But I do hope you come to NYC first! It would be so fun. Absolutely a blast. Let me know when you know the specifics.

And Hey, I walk through the park every day. Where is the Cristo piece? I have seen nothing, and his stuff is usually quite difficult to miss.

Thanks for posting that article, nbwcc. One of the funniest comments to ever come out of Survivor was this, about HeiDDI after she was bitten and injured by the spider:

HeiDDi: My intelligence and my athleticism are the two greatest of my strengths that I have brought into the game, and now I have lost one of them.

Peachy: Which one?

Ha! Ha! Ha! Gotta love that Peachy!

Babalu it's so good to hear from you and that Mr B. is doing well. We have all been thinking of you both. Keep us posted, and keep that move to beautiful Hawaii in your mind.

Yogi I didn't know you had a thing for Matteo!

BTW, I know you will soften and give your non RSVPing guest a goodie bag, you are just too kind hearted to not let it go. And I would love, love, love to see you (and any other MM'ers) if I come to NY. Not sure yet if I will go, lots to think about, but so far it's looking good.

I had my son's IEP meeting this morning, and it sure brought up a lot of emotion for me. Just to sit there and go through all his medical reports, and all the school reports, just detailing everything that is "wrong" with my child brought me to tears again and again. So Yogi, you're in good company. Pass the tissues.

And then I came home to an email from the son of my friend who was murdered. He has put together a beautiful web site with lots of tributes from those who knew her. So more tears. What an emotional day it has been. And it's not even 3pm!

Hi all, welcome Nbwcc. Boy that brought back memories. HeiDDi is the main reason I gave up on my applicaton to Survivor. She was just revolting and a teacher (albeit for a moment) to boot.

Wow Aussiegirl. How totally cool to come to NY State. What sort of program is it? That would truly be a special CON. BTW don't feel bad about the IEP. Remember that schools are just like any other business = they want all the cogs to be the same cause its quicker, easier, and cheaper. We all know that no two kid-cogs are the same. You have to document and stand up for your child. If the world was a perfect place I would like to see every kid with an IEP to tell you the truth (not just the needy and the rich that take advantage).

Anyway... went to a pony party this weekend. My mom's house no less! She has been married one year and held a big bash. They have been together (living 3 miles apart) for 13 years before they got married. So it was a big deal, and it was pretty much the same in a way. Got to see my step brother and sister and all their kids. Quite nice. Plus with over 5 acres, my little greyhound could run ALL OVER the place. He is such a sweet dog. At the end of the day I put him on a short leash and the little kids took turns "walking him." He is a miniature, and smaller than these 5 year olds, but as soon as they got too far away, he would turn around and walk them back. Funny.

Not looking forward to work. Am looking forward to hearing more about the Ska-Party and what happens with Dodo this week. Oh yes, Yogi, I would just lament on that day too this non-RSVP-er "oh if I had only known you were coming...." No bag for her!

Survived. The party went off pretty well and I think everyone, including the bride-to-be, was rather satisfied.

Run down - bags packed & ready Friday night - my anal-ness paid off. Of course woke WAY too early on Saturday (like 8:45, goal was 11, and since I went to bed like 12:30/1...not happy but just used my cooling eyemask & clay-masked my mug to make myself purty). Manicures went very well. Bride suprised me with a thank-you gift from Coach, which was totally unnecessary but matched my hot pink top so whoot. Manis were good, and then we had a quick drink near the restaurant.

Restaurant was good except a few people ordered the "main course" wrong as entrees instead of the meze they wanted, which I still wonder if it was the waiter pulling a fast one. They did give us a few free plates & free dessert. Nice.

Got to the Donkey Show where things didn't go well on my end as a planner but everyone was busy playing with goodie bags which were a hit. Issues included some imaginary per-person TIP after the drink tickets were done or the show was over, and then there was this broohaha with a charge for water - we had a pregnant woman with us and she just needed water, as did everyone else who was dehydrated from dancing . We were still ordering drinks but whatever. I cried from exhaustion at one point. But we disco-boogied until 1 there (the show was OK, but made no sense. Next one is just going to a dance club - more money for drinks & what not). It's funny -there were a lot of bachelorette parties there, but only like two other groups of people seemed to be having any fun. One group next to us SAT the entire time & then left after the show - the whole point was shaking it to "Car Wash"!

We then walked over to another bar/club with guaranteed half-nekkid boys, but the walking wore some people out - I think for some, the exhaustion kicked in with the coolness of the evening & fresh air. I was revved to go by then, but bride was done - not a shock as she's easily tuckered out :). So we had everyone go back to our place & I had beers (my stomach was out of control & I was too stressed to drink during dinner). A few extra bodies spent the night, and I got almost 3 hours of sleep on our couch. Ahhh...sexy. Then brunch at 2, which was needed and yummy, a few drinks & then bride went home. I slept for an hour around 5, and then we took a friend out for his birthday...so a margarita there, some tv at our house with beers and then to bed for 10 hours. Yesterday was tv, couch, Chinese & then couldn't sleep...but overall I think it was pretty good.

Not looking forward to this week at all.

Not at all happy about it. It smacks of the city selling out, like the Pocohauntus/Great Lawn thing a few years ago. Plus when an artist describes himself as avant garde, I think he loses all rights to that monniker.

Any NYC-area people interested in seeing me do stand-up Tuesday, June 15? Email me & I'll give you details.

Thanks for the birthday wishes, everyone! We grilled out with our best friends on Friday night - yummy brats, burgers and hot dogs. Mr HH gave me 20 white roses, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of my 20th birthday - he's such a wonderful guy. Saturday I got the rest of my garden planted before the deluge started. It rained on and off until yesterday evening. My parents came for lunch yesterday, in celebration of my dad's and my birthdays (his was Sunday). Except for my being sick on Sunday with upset tummy, a nice weekend.

Ska, your bachelorette party sounds like it was super. You make a great party-planner. Yogi, how did your sunflower shower go?

Aussie, how exciting to come to the Hamptons for a workshop! What will it entail, and how long will you be in the states? Do tell.

iME, stand-up? You mean like get up in front of people and tell jokes? Wow, you impress me! I hope some NY'ers from here are able to see you perform.

We had a nice weekend, too--just hung out, did some gardening with Hildygirl, had some lobsters with the neighbors, had some other friends over, went to a Mem Day parade yesterday.
Yogi, are you sure you didn't get Labor Day mixed up with Memorial Day? Man, that sounds like a lot of work!
As for the organizing of meals and child care, bless you. I'm sure it will be most appreciated.
I participated in a similar thing, and the person organizing it just sent out emails saying, "They need dinners on X dates, you all can email me to sign up." She also sent out a list of recipes taht worked for the family, and made sure to tell us to bring stuff in disposable dishes. Worked for us!
Skagirl, that weekend made me exhausted just reading about it. No wonder you're not looking forward to this week!
In other news, I just got tickets to go see Jimmy Buffett at Fenway Pahk. Now I don't love JB, but he's not awful, and I'm sure it will be a fun time, considering the venue. Plus, I requested seats next to Boston Rob, and I'm sure they'll honor that.