Sick Kitty and Missed Fun

I was supposed to be spending the weekend in Mammoth with my best college buddies but the night before the trip, Diva decided to throw up around my room several times, waking me up in the process. I took her to the vet early Friday morning and then decided I should stay with her. My friends (and I) were disappointed.

The vet said Diva may have a hairball that is blocking digestion. Or she may have become allergic to her food. So I've been feeding her hairball medicine twice a day. I tried changing her food out but, after an initial trial run, she has decided she's not impressed and won't eat it. If she continues to ignore the food, I'll have to let her have some of her old stuff.

I had taken two annual days for the trip and when plans changed I didn't go into the office. It is kind of nice hanging around the house. And I think Diva is happy I'm here too.

Toast Or Men

I have not read What Was I Thinking: 58 Bad Boyfriend Stories though it sounds like it might be entertaining. The interview with the authors made me laugh:

Why do the women settle for these men if they know they aren't the right fit?

Barbara: That's the thing, I don't know. You don't walk into a store and see a broken toaster and go "Aww, well, when I get it home it will start working." You don't go "Oh, that dress — the sleeve is falling off. But I can fix it at home."

CTRL-ALT-DELETE

Microsoft laid off 1400 employees in January and gave them a severance package. Unfortunately someone made a mistake and miscalculated the amount of payment. Some people were underpaid and some were overpaid. The people who were overpaid got a letter from Microsoft requesting a return of the overpayment. They threaten to sue the people who don't send the money back. The article doesn't mention how quickly Microsoft will pay the people they under compensated.

I agree that, ethically, the people are obligated to return any overpayment. And, most likely, they signed papers agreeing to the severance terms and are bound by that. On the other hand, I'd love to know the total amount of the overpayment. If the amount is less than a million or so, I think Microsoft might have been better off forgetting the whole thing. Partly because the public sympathizes with the newly unemployed people and partly because Microsoft has to admit they made a mistake even though they make software that should have helped with the calculations. Just put the formula in Excel and let it do the math.

Also, what do you want to bet that at least one of the unemployed will sue Microsoft claiming undue distress caused by the lay off and then the letter demanding return of the money. So Microsoft will be out a bundle anyway and might as well have just let the laid off employees keep it rather than spend it on lawyers.

UPDATED: Microsoft decided to let the people keep the extra money. With about 25 people getting up to $5,000 extra, the overpayment cost MS $125,000.

Still Tasty After All These Years

I am loving the Still Tasty website (via freakgirl) which is going to help me this weekend when I clean out the frig.

Speak No Unknown

I do feel bad for the man who was attacked and robbed but that isn't why I'm posting this article from our local paper. I just find the writing amusing. The "man spoke an unknown language that wasn't English" according to the police. Which man? The victim? The robber? And shouldn't the proper adjective be foreign and not unknown? Also, telling us the unknown language "wasn't English" is redundant.

Interestingly enough, the robber "fled out of the casino in an unknown direction." Probably so he could be with people who speak his language.

I'm including the text from the article here just in case the Sun editor's change the wording.

Metro Police are asking for the public's help in finding a man who robbed another man of his wallet inside a casino bathroom.

The man followed the casino customer, who was over 60 years of age, into a bathroom of a casino in the 4000 block of West Flamingo Road off the Las Vegas Strip, police said. Authorities declined to identify the casino.

Once in the restroom, the man knocked the victim to the ground and continued to punch and kick the victim, police said. He then took the victim's wallet and fled out of the casino in an unknown direction.

Metro detectives recovered the man's wallet, but the cash was missing, police said. No weapon was seen during the crime, police said.

Since the victim was in his 60s, police said they will enhance the robber's charges.

The man spoke an unknown language that wasn't English, police said.

The robber was described as 5-foot-8-inches tall with a shaved head and stubble on his face. He was last seen wearing a tank jacket, dark pants and white tennis shoes.

Anyone with information about the man is asked to call the Metro Police Robbery Section at (702) 828-3591, or to remain anonymous call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555.

Don't Divorce Us

A great video that says it all.

"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

I think it is time for this country to recognize that marriage can be between two people who are committed to each other. Yes, historically, in the United States, marriage has been defined a relationship between a man and a women. However, word definitions can change. Here are a few word definitions that have changed through time:

1. meat meant any food


2. awful meant deserving of awe


3. brave meant cowardice (as in bravado)


4. counterfeit meant legitimate copy


5. tell meant to count


6. girl meant young person of either gender


7. hag meant old person of either gender

You'll find more examples here and here.

If people do want to limit the definition of marriage to one man and one woman who are joined for the purpose of producing children and creating a family then I think we need to invalidate a lot more marriages in this country.

Alternatively, how about letting churches define marriages however they like and have the states get out of the marriage business and let them recognize domestic partnerships instead?

I predict one day people will be as appalled by prohibitions to gay marriages as people today are appalled by those old laws preventing woman from voting.

Home Sweet Home

The one where I talk about my trip.

1. I like to travel but I like coming home too.


2. I really enjoyed my college buddies.


3. I want to learn to travel light. It would be great to just throw some things in my big purse and get on the plane.


4. The conference was interesting and I'm glad went.


5. There was way too much food at my conference. And I ate a lot of that food.


6. Hotels shouldn't nickel and dime you for every little thing. I had to pay a "porterage fee" which means for bellhop fees. I told them I didn't use the bellhops and they told me it didn't matter it is a standard fee.


7. I miss my kitty when I'm traveling.


8. I DVR'd over 13 hours of shows while I was gone.


9. Thank goodness with DVR I can skip over the commercials.


10. I'll be very happy to sleep in my own bed tonight. And I hope I do sleep.

Praising Arizona

I had a great weekend in Phoenix with my two college buds, Carol and Ann. We ate and laughed A LOT, just like in college. We also went to a casino, not like in college. The casinos in AZ are not like the casinos in Las Vegas. The slot machines are all very close to each other and the machines are all packed. There are no penny slots and very few 2 cent slots. There are lots of dollar slots. We found room at a couple of 2 cent slots and then later were at some nickle slots. Needless to say, we didn't stay long. But we did have fun.

I also played some real life Scrabble which is different than our email games because there isn't as much time to play with the letters and find good words. I'm using that as the excuse for being beaten 3 out of 3 3/4 games. We never finished the 4th game but I was ahead.

The weather in AZ was not typical of the desert. It rained a lot of the time. It seemed a lot more like California than Arizona. It didn't stop us from having fun though.

New Font

I enjoy using this font in Word but I'd be a lot happier if I could figure out how to use it in my gmail account or my blog. I'll do some research and let you know what I find. Or if you know how to do it, you can let me know.

There's Still Time To Make It

You have until 2:00p.m. today to get to your local Denny's for a free Grand Slam breakfast. According to CNN, people are lining up for the free meal. I'm sure there are some people who don't often get a good breakfast and who can't afford to eat out much and were happy to wait in line for some food. I count myself lucky that I don't think saving $6 on a breakfast is worth getting in a long line for.

I wonder if people are tipping the servers?