President Gee Rockerfeller and Devious Honey D. Wicked at my party? Could life get any better? Well, yes if Mitchell showed up :-) Well, my party until 8 p.m., than its all TAR, all the time.

heh, good point. No one gets in without reciting an ode to Phil. I was telling a friend of mine (who is a TAR fan) about a joint Jeopardy/TAR con and he starting whining that it meant he would have to stay until 11. Whatever.

Hey, I'll take chocolate for the team, too! Anybody wants to illicitly send me chocolate from Canada, I'll be happy to oblige!!

And my pimp name is Snake Eyes L. Dazzle. I like that! :-)

I just had a sick idea for party decorations - since I already had a picture of me and Phil (thanks Miri!!) and now a picture of me and Alex Trebeck........

Deacon Dr. Loudy Silk will pimp-slap anyone who makes fun of his pimp name. Wow, I think I'm ready to go hang out at the So Much More Club across the street from the Post. Think a plastic knife from the caf will be sufficient?

That made me laugh for about five minutes. But I'm not scared - Stealth Maestro M. Dogg can so kick Deacon Dr. Loudy Silk's ass.

Heh, this is so much better than working.

Pardon me, pimps. But, in my absence, did I miss the pseudos' move to the DC urrea?

Can I change the subject for just a quick second so I can vent?

There's nothing I hate more then when co-workers ask you for money to sponsor something their kids are doing. Whether it be selling chocolates, or raffle tickets or whatever. A lady at work has a son who is doing some 30 hour famine thing and she's asking everyone at work if they'd like to sponsor him for $5.00. This pisses me off for so many reasons!

1) How is the kid going to learn anything about responsibility if you simply get the money for him? Parents do that all the time and it drives me nuts!!

2) It doesn't matter how broke you are (and, believe me, I am), you feel obligated to say yes. And, sure, you can say that no one is forcing you to do it but really they are. If everyone else in the office says yes, you feel like you have to do it too, lest things become really awkward between you and your co-worker. Honestly, what can you say? "Um, no. I hate kids and it's not my problem if your stupid kid wants to raise money for charity."

3) They collect the money IN ADVANCE. So, basically, the kid gets the money even if he only starves himself for 3 hours instead of 30.

They should seriously make it a rule that co-workers are not allowed to solicit money from other co-workers. It puts everyone in a very uncomfortable position. Also, let the fucking kid do it for himself, for Christ's sake!

Whew...never mess with D. Magical Rachel Skillz! (Thank you for letting me vent. We now return you to your regularly scheduled snarking.)

Congrats DariaG!

Empress1, I've lost 20 lbs in 2 and a half months on WW. It certainly does work. It's the weight I gained after getting married a few years ago, and I'm so happy it is gone! Dropped back to my college size (4/6 - yay!) and am feeling much better.

WW rocks because it doesn't feel like a restrictive diet, rather it has been an education about making better food choices and eating a well-balanced diet. My habits have changed so much, for the better! I really don't believe how easy it has been.

RachelRSL, at my office we have a rule about that - no pimping your children, even if your name is Silicon Slick B. Dogg.

Rachel RSL -- aka D. Magical Rachel Skillz -- I always tell the parent that if the child actually comes in and asks me personally, I'll buy/donate/sponsor. What with being poor and all, I won't buy or give much, but if the child actually asks himself (my co-workers mostly have sons for some weird reason), I'll do something. Although in this case, I might tell him that I'd sponsor so much for each hour and give him the money after he did it.

That's what my parents always did to me -- which is why after I got past the cute age, I almost never sold any Campfire candy. I was too shy to go around and ask people (who'd probably already bought it from the girls still young enough to be cute anyway), and my parents would never sell it at their workplaces.

What's usually worse for me is when somebody in the office has a baby and we're all expected to buy a gift and then take time off work during the day to attend a baby shower in the conference room for someone I would never socialize with outside work.

I totally agree with this. When I had swim-a-thon's or whatever a thon's and I wanted to hit people up for money, my parents alwas made me do it. Even if I couldn't go see them personally, my parents made me write a letter asking for their support. The bastards even made me hand-write the things. I thought it was stupid then, but now I can see the reason for a written personalized letter, as opposed to a standard form letter.

Luckily if people at school are trying to raise money, it's usually for themselves. One of the advantages of not knowing too many people with kids.

I used to get my nails done at this one place for about 3-4 years. Then one day I sat down at the table and Kenny asks me if I want to buy one of those coupon books (for local restaurants and stores) kids sell since his kid was selling them.

Now I'd been looking for a kid to buy one of those books from for a while, so I got it (and really wasn't offended). I bet the kid made a killing, too... I mean, if I hadn't bought it, who knows how bad my manicure would have looked when I left. Yikes.

Hi new here, you can call me Ricci or Professor Truth R. Silk...no idea how I got that, but its AWESOME. From the central Jersey area and not new to TAR but new to this forum. Definitely agree with you Rachel RSL, as a coach and teacher that works with community service projects in a high school, I truly hate when the parents raise the money at work (even if its a lot, I swear). I hate it even more when the parents actually do the project or write the paper afterwards....anyway, nice to meet y'all

I totally agree with you Rachel. I don't know how many damn boxes of girl scout cookies I had to buy last year. I hate kids in general, and it's bad enough having to hear parents go on and on and on about their offspring, but when they start make you feel guilty because you won't buy anything, a line has been crossed.

That's another rule I have, Dougintx, although I mostly have to use it at church, which is in a small town, so when the band or some other school group is selling something, all the kids are doing it. The first kid that asks me is who I buy from. Anyone else gets told, "I'm sorry. I already bought some." Or I tell the first kid, "Let me check with my husband. If he hasn't promised someone else, I'll buy from you." I want to support the school and the kids, but since I'm not made of money, I figure this is the only fair way to do it.

Next year, I'll probably get hit up 50 times for Girl Scout cookies since I made the mistake of mentioning to several this year that no one even tried to sell any to me and I love thin mints. Of course, I did get some at work since I work at a newspaper, and the Girl Scouts always give us some free boxes. (What was that about bias and the appearance of bias? I don't understand. I'm too busy eating cookies.)

I also agree about the whole solicitation thing. The only way it wouldn't be offensive to me is if, say, you sent out one group email or posted a notice on a bulletin board or something. That way, people would know about it and if they were interested, they could approach you. But it puts you in such an awkward position if they come up and start wheedling individually.

You're much nicer than I am, Dougintx. I would offer up a polite "No thank you," and then let them have it if they tried to press it with guilt trips or other psychological warfare. The similar thing I have to go through here (at a big travel firm) is that reps for different hotels, yadda yadda, cruise the joint looking to pimp their whatever. As an executive assistant, I have no interest in this whatsoever, so I'm constantly saying, "No, thank you" so that neither one of us waste our time. Most people are fine with this, but then you get the morons who are like, "Are you SUUUUUUUUUURE? Not even a [insert tacky promotional tschotchke here]"? I literally had to yell at one of them to go away and leave me alone because she would. not. stop. GRRRRR. And same thing--they're soliciting. It is a privilege to be allowed in the office, and if they're badgering and interrupting work (well, OK, TWoP in most cases, but whatever), they're abusing that privilege.

Today's just a trying day at work period. The cow-irkers around me are talking even louder than usual and it's the Day Of The Belligerent Callers. What the fuck part of "He's not available right now" is unclear to you? BACK THE HELL OFF!!!

Depending on whether or not I use my full name or the name I go by, I am either Dopetastic T. Flow or Silver Tongue T. Kicks.


Congrats Daria! I started the South Beach Diet myself in mid-January, and I've dropped from a 32/33 waist to a 28/29....still working on getting back down to a true 28 though!


I just signed up for one of those and it's great...on mine it's just a $4.50 service charge per ticket. I also belong to a free discount list where selected plays are 20-40% off. The result? I've seen or am going to see more plays in the past two months than I have in the past two years.

Funk Master Jo Beautiful here, reporting in for the anticipated season. Have missed you all very much.

I'm in the late phases of raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through their Team in Training program. (I'm going to walk a marathon next month!) I did send fundraising solicitation letters to everyone at my hubby's office (I'm currently unemployed), but I think it was low-pressure enough to be acceptible. Just sent the letters to their home addresses, then never referred to it again. What do you think, folks? Am I a bad person? And remember, you're talking to Funk Master Jo Beautiful -- I can take the truth.

Ding ding ding!!! RachelMyLovely, you have hit on my #1 Freakin' Pet Peeve of Baaaaad Office Decorum. I haaaaaaaate when my co-workers hit me up for their stupid kids' fundraisers! And here's why:

(1) When I was a girl scout (Shut UP! I was, too!! Also, a cheerleader, if that kills anymore illusions of me anyone may have. Rah freakin' rah!) and we had to pimp those damn cookies (mmmm... Samoas...), my mom made me do that shit my damn self. If I wanted to win the lame-ass prizes, I had to win them, not her.

(2) Because I'm an attorney in my office(and generally considered one of the "nice ones." Again, shut up.), and it's mostly staff who pimps shit for their kids' freaking fundraisers, I'm pretty much EXPECTED to buy stuff, cause otherwise I look cheap.

(3) I don't NEED anymore goddamn wrapping paper, candy bars or fruit baskets!!!

Whew. I feel better now.

I think that's totally acceptable, because you did it and mailed it right to the people, so it's not like someone else applied any pressure. Plus letters are easy to avoid, so I think it was fine.

Crazy Eyes L Smooth here. That was fun!

One of the good things about working from home - no-one hitting you up for donations or to buy stuff you don't need. In my day (geez, I sound like I'm 80), we had to go door to door to sell the damn Girl Guide cookies.

I only wish! I love the area, and there are so many jobs I would try for in DC. No, Suga, I'm just a geek loser who is desperate enough to travel a couple hundred miles for companionship.

Rachel - I used to be one of those people that you hate - I'd do fundraising for the Lupus Foundation every year, and since I've been working here for years and everyone knew I had lupus, I wouldn't get any hassle. If they said no, I didn't push it, and would make a mental note to not ask them again the next time around. One year someone else did some fundraising for their kid's club, and was a lot more aggressive about it, to say the least. There was pressure, guilt trips, and more. (Hello, it's fundraising? People giving money freely for a good cause?) This raised quite a controversy, and unfortunately it happened just before my event came up, so I decided from then on to just put a notice in the company newsletter.

Oh, and I tried the pimpinator with my posting name, and I got something way better: Ice Master P. Large! Phat!

ETA: wtf a Girl Scout. The mind boggles.

LastDodo, I read South Beach and Atkins, then created a program for myself that was about 80% SB and the rest Atkins. My SO lost 65 pounds on WW, but I knew that wouldn't work for me. My problem wasn't that I was overeating (though technically it was), it was that I was eating a lot of junk that set off the blood sugar/insulin cycle, which made me hungry and led me to overeat. My body readjusted on the 4th day after I dropped sugar, and it's been exceptionally easy ever since. I was only hungry once early on, when I couldn't figure out what to have for lunch. Let us know when you get down to the true 28!

Oh, I think I just fell even deeper in love with DougLeftATrailOfBrokenHeartsBehindInTX.

Ok, I think the idea of sending out a general e-mail or posting a notice somewhere is actually a very good idea. That way the suckers can still dish out their money and I can simply sneer and walk away.

wtf was a cheerleader? I bet she looked really cute shaking her pom poms!

I am suddenly so glad I work in an department full of a) single guys around my age and b) people whose kids are my age. I think I've had all of one request to purchase something and it was in the form of, "Hi. There's a form on my desk if you want Girl Scout Cookies." addressed to the department as a whole at a meeting. I try to buy from the older scouts, anyway, the teenagers that come and set up tables outside the office buildings after they get out of school -- I know from experience it's so much harder to sell them at that age, because the cute facter is missing.

This wouldn't bother me at all. I don't mind when people hit me up for money for things that they're doing, it's only when they do it for their kids or someone else that it drives me nuts.

JoyWalker, I think this is totally OK because you not only sent letters, you sent them to their homes. This completely takes it out of the office and makes it not an office thing, I think. It also makes it easier for them to opt out without looking cheap if they don't want to give since everyone in the office doesn't hear them say no.

We raise money at our office for the American Cancer Society, but we've always formed a team for our local Relay For Life. Money-raising at the office generally consists of candy for sale on the break room table (no one asks you to buy -- you just get it yourself whenever you want it), sandwiches and other lunch and breakfast food in the refrigerator for sale and a $5 all-you-can-eat barbecue lunch every summer. We have also sometimes had garage sales in the parking lot, and people do their own individual fund-raising outside work. No one has to participate, though, and most people don't except for buying lunch. They don't have to do that, either, but the barbecue is really, really good.

My older daughter was in Brownies this year and I refused to sell cookies at work. Before I had kids there always seemed to be somebody trying to sell something. And I am a soft touch so I was constantly getting hit up. There is a lot of pressure to sell the cookies. I got some raised eyebrows when I said zero when asked how many boxes I would sell. The girls are not allowed to sell door to door anymore, mostly they set up in front of grocery stores. And the local troop only gets about 15 cents a box. I also refuse to sell the crappy wrapping paper or whatever for the PTA. I just write them a donation check instead.

I didn't know they weren't allowed to sell door-to-door anymore. Is that a local thing or national? I assume it's for safety. It would explain why no one ever comes to my door to sell anything even though I live in an older neighborhood (both the houses and many of the residents, who would normally be suckers for little girls selling things).

I think it is national, but I don't know. I don't think I'll put my little girl in Brownies again. And I loved it when I was a girl. Let me tell you, I am learning that the politics of school parents is more brutal than my office. I don't know if it is this bad everywhere, but I am really glad sometimes I am a neglectful working single mom so I don't get sucked into the melodrama. Or so says Reverend Doctor Cubbie Snead

Sugartastic B. Beautiful reporting for pre-season fun! Honestly, that doesn't sound pimp so much as ho I think, but I like it nonetheless.

Our kids, and by "our" I mean the ones at the school I work in, aren't allowed to sell door-to-door either. And our PTA rivals the Borgias for intergroup bickering and backstabbing. Makes me grateful that I'm not a member and don't have kids.

I love my pimp name....it turned out Pimp Daddy Lola Love! I can't wait to tell Mr. PrincessLola because I call him Mac Daddy all the time (we are a bunch of jokers, I tell ya) his pimp name came out Vicious D. W. Smooth. Pimp Daddy Lola Love is much better!

I was a Girl Scout too (actually, I still am...lifetime member and troop leader) and I sold door to door with the cookies. Now, we have a pre-selling time period that the girls can go door to door and take orders, or have family and friends pre-order. The cookies arrive about a month later. My daughter usually pre-sells a few, but we do the bulk of our sales in front of the grocery store after the cookies arrive (we order 400 extra boxes to sell that way). We live in a small community that has 2 major Universities. We always set up to sell at the one right off of the WSU campus....Friday night beer runs are a fast way to unload a few cases of Samoas.

During pre-selling...I just put the order form in the breakroom at work and if people want to order they can...if they don't I don't care. But it's always funny to see how many people come out of the woodwork on that first day that my daughter brings the cookies into work for those who pre-ordered! We usually get another 4 or 5 cases sold!

For a second, princesslola, I thought I was reading door to door beer sales! IMO, that would be cool. It would save me a journey out on the town, that's for sure!

During my magazine sale days, I think there were rules on not allowing people from other schools to sell. I think the parents made those up themselves, but back then, companies always bought stuff from me, so I wouldn't have to walk around too much


From a different thread:





That's the plan for me here. While it's late for several people, it's not too bad for me (until September, but I'll try to work it out). It's Tuesday, and I hardly to never go out on Tuesdays. I'm so there, and hopefully, I'll get my TV set out on my porch and enjoy in the comfort of nice warm and not too hot weather.


Edited since this is the best place to reply to this (I hope)

Now, that would be cool. I'd sign up for the service myself!

Dopetastic M. Flash would definitely enjoy door to door beer sales. So would her boyfriend Funk Master Elliott Squeeze. (I guess being a pimp causes you to talk in the third person.)

I keep picturing little Girl Scouts and Brownies shouting 'Get ya beer here. Ice cold beer here.'

Changing the subject, is the emergence of cicada that leads the evening news here every night a local DC area thing or does it go beyond this region? I have yet to see or hear one that isn't on television by the way.

I have yet to see or hear them in Old Town.

As I understand it, the cicada outbreak covers a large part of the eastern and southern U.S. Fortunately, it should be over by the end of June, and not to return till 2021.

mac I thought residents were contractually obligated to refer to it as Olde Towne, I know it was in my lease when I lived there.

I lived in Nashville back in '97 when there was an eruption of cicadas that summer. They were saying on the news that those particular cicadas were on a seven year cycle (and some other local kind had a ten year cycle) so it was particularly bad. It was like cicada snow for weeks, which was a nightmare for me, since I have a phobia about flying bugs. I didn't know the range extended that far! Good to know where I won't be moving to. *shudder*

pseudostudent, I heartily wish I was going, if only for the freebies, but my company is far too cheap to understand that the librarians they employ need professional networking and stuff just as much as the freaking salespeople. We don't even get to go to stuff instate.

Maybe if I started signing my memos Magic Tickle Jen Squeeze I'd get more respect.

eta: Oooh, MamaTiger, I used to live in South Carolina, and those palmetto bugs are the Ickiest. Things. Ever. I'm in Michigan now and we get the cicadas, but I'd take them any day over giant mutant flying cockroaches. Don't even get me started on the time one crawled up out of the toothbrush holder just as I was getting ready to brush my teeth. Shudder.

My former boss who lives in Falls Church City reports that her front yard is covered with cicadas, including several on both the tops and bottoms of every leaf of the the hostas in her yard, whereas her back yard is completely devoid of them for no apparent reason.

At least they're not as bad as the flying cockroaches the South specializes in. **shudder**

Yeah...here....we don't have to do a "hard sell" on the beer...thank goodness, the local grocery store seems to run a 12 hour beer sale about once a month....so the Girl Scouts only have to be there with tasty cookies to sell.

I know....it's evil and wrong to prey on unsuspecting college students....but they are such easy prey!

I'm away for a few days and y'all go and get all pimped out on me.
My glorious name is Sticky Fingers K. Kicks - I am definitely having that put on a t-shirt or personalized bed linens or something.

The cicadas are back in the DC area? Oh, I'm so glad I don't live there anymore. I remember the worst time was in 1987 (I think), it was totally gross. My mom hasn't mentioned anything to me about them when we've talked in the last week.

When I was a kid selling Campfire mints, my dad was teaching at a local college, so I got permission to go through the girl's dorms with my mints. Talk about cleaning up! College students are the perfect target, I'd say, and quite fair game!

Shiek Lara Silk here!! woohoo!! this is pimptastic!!!! I had a dream last night about the TAR advertisement on tv.

I agree with the selling for your kids stuff. I must add, however, as a teacher in a school that does one fundraiser each year.... we encourage our students to only sell to people that they know....no door to door to strangers. Its for the safety of the kids. WE also encourage them to have their parents take it to work...but I totally see your point about being approached and made to feel guilty...I'll be sure, next year, to tell my kids to have their parents post the order form on a bulletin board or place it on the lunch table or send an informational email.

I use the 'first come-first served' rule with my students. They all try to sell to me.

The cicadas come out in a lot of states -- the entire state of Indiana gets them, for example. In the DC area, they're coming out unevenly. I live 8 blocks from MacAddict (I'm guessing), and I have seen 8 cicada shells in the past 2 days, so I expect the complete infestation to occur by Wednesday or so. The Zzard lives in Arlington, about 8 miles away (all these 8s are totally coincidental, folks). We've seen a bunch of the exoskeletons and one live cicada in his yard in the last couple of days. There's a deeply wooded area near him, and we can hear them buzzing in the woods. They're damned loud, people. I'm sort of looking forward to them, partly because I love all animals, including bugs and reptiles, and partly because I think my cats will find them highly entertaining. I have a glassed in back porch, which is where the cats spend most of their time. It will be a prime cicada-viewing site.

On another note, I think it is both wonderful and absolutely hilarious that there is more action on the TAR boards than on some boards where the show is actually airing and getting reasonably good ratings (see The Bachelor, for example -- or better yet, don't). Then again, I think I just added Jesse Palmer to my overflowing All Time Reality Show Contestant Hate list.

And on that note, I've also imagined the Miss Alli Bastardized Sublebrity TAR Cast. Do we have Clay racing with Rupert? (I tease because I love.)

I live in Alexandria, well the part of Fairfax county that is called Alexandria. I actually don't mind them coming as long as they don't ruin my daughter's birthday picnic the first weekend in June.

I suppose if I actually watched the local news I would have a better idea of what is going on. I am sure the local news radio station WTOP is covering it to death as well, but I boycott them because they are stooopid. And they have Cal Thomas as a commentator.

I've been reading about the cicada invasion but don't have to worry about it here on the west coast. I did read about people having outdoor weddings starting to panic. Heh.

If my name really was Devious Honey Booty Large, I thinkI'd make a killing in the cookie market. But I was a girl scout for many, many years and sold cookies the whole time. By the time I was in high school, all I did was send the order form with my parents to work. They swore that people would ask if I was selling them and wait eagerly for cookie season. But my dad was one of the bosses so who knows how much free will was involved. I kinda like thinking of my dad as a Tony Soprano pushing cookies on his underlings. But otherwise, nobady is really too interested in buying cookies from older girls and I wasn't really too willing to admit I was a scout to the general public.

ooooohhhhh I'm so MAD!!!! can I vent here? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I just finished my master's program (graduation was....heh...yesterday). Throughout the ENTIRE program, I got 'A's'. When I got my last report card, however, my research prof gave me a 'B'. So, I wrote her asking her to reconsider my grade (yes, I know its anal...but when you're on track to a straight A Master's Degree, it sucks to have the very LAST class blow that dream- especially when you had NO IDEA you weren't doing A work). So, today I got her reply. Apparently others in the group have commented about the grades because she emailed us all. Here are some choice comments...
nice way to start!

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooookay I guess the 'A's go to the best asskissers?

and in those two years, she's continued to give us A's never once addressing any weaknesses in our abilities. I checked the student handbook and, it says that if you have questions about your grade, the first step is to contact the instructor. I guess she'd rather we went directly over her head?

Yeah....that's what we were hoping (insert eye roll here).

Isn't this grade supposed to be for THIS course? Spring 2004?? and not last year???

heh...we're the unprofessional ones? I mean...really!!! I really think I might go over her head to the director of the field based program. I wonder if he realizes how bitchy she is to the students!!! and if we give her poor evaluations, doesn't that mean that she did a poor job...and not that our professional growth is poor?


grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I am so upset that I want to stretch my hand all the way to Chicago and smack her!!!!!! really!!!!!!

thanks for listening!

Ooooh, labral, I don't blame you for being mad. I don't think a grade should be a surprise and, if it is, it's perfectly reasonable to have a discussion with the professor. I "challenged" a grade once in my college life (because I'd thought that, based on the professor's own description of how various tests and papers would be weighted {weighed?, my grade should be higher), and he changed it.

Congratulation on getting your Master's, though!

Since she stated clearly that she's based the grade not on this class but on stuff from previous classes, I think you have every reason in the world to go over her head and complain about her grading. That sounds like ice dancing judging, where people are scored based on last year's performance, and we all know how popular and fair that is perceived to be!

You also might consider talking to other students in your class. If she was this unprofessional with this many and treated so many people unfairly, it sounds like her whole grading policy deserves to be called into question, not just in your case but in everybody's.