biodork

:( and :clapping:

Some handy (impartial) info on the "fiscal cliff" from Bankrate.com: 9 tax measures set to fall over the 'fiscal cliff' Quiz: Check out your 'fiscal cliff' knowledge

:blush:

Does this mean parents to the rescue on the house sale? I hope so...

That is definitely awesome... I've been avoiding downloading iOS6 on my iPad for that very reason.

Nice.

I know. I'm not generally a violent person, but I believe if I ever met the bastards I would do bad things to them. (And not the good kind of bad things.) Very nice, and good luck!!

Interesting... thanks!

Wow, LPF... I don't know how you're keeping it together, but I sure hope things start improving in a hurry.

Awesome: the organization that is caring for this dog, and his amazing recovery thus far. (Warning: contains graphic pics, not for the squeamish.) http://blog.myletsadopt.com/#!/entry/tidus-a-dog-burned-alive-by-teenage-criminals-fights-for,6627 Glad to hear about your mom, Arc.

Well, coffee can be acidic, so maybe that does some of the tenderizing? Still, odd to imagine java-flavored beef stew. Got me wanting to get out the slow cooker!

Sounds intriguing... I've heard of beef stew with beer or red wine, but never coffee!

The final pieces of a failed attempt at peanut butter fudge from last week that was too ugly to share (as was intended). I don't think I ever want to eat PB fudge again.

I really want to side with the players, but the events of this past week are making that extremely difficult. IMO, the owners were largely to blame early on in the process (and as recently as around Thanksgiving) for being unwilling to compromise more. As others have suggested, I put the blame for this week's events on Fehr and the big name players who've been vocal and are looking out for themselves over the huge number of guys who are hearing the clock tick away on an already short career. The majority of players were probably beside themselves when talks fell apart after a deal seemed imminent.

Is that like one of those flea bomb/fogger things? lol Congrats, shrader! After all the hassle with delivery and installation issues last week, I have a nice new stove and microwave in my kitchen. :thumbsup:

Two words: personhood amendment.

Holy crap, that's insane! Is it really a NY thing, or something about your area specifically? I could understand rates being higher in a big city or something (not that Pittsburgh isn't), but that's outrageous.

Haha -- well was going to offer to change the mental image for weave, but perhaps best to stick with the cartoon test tube, lol.

Dammit. Just caught up on the last 4 pages of the CBA thread and now it's like I have blue balls.

I think so, too, but now I'm driving myself crazy reading about side effects and drug interactions for Plavix, Lipitor, and Prilosec. (Sometimes having a background in biomedical research isn't a good thing!) Freaks me out, too, because my cholesterol was borderline high when they started screening me at 24, and even though it's in the "safe" range now, so was his. Family history is not on my side. :( OUCH. I have to wonder if you couldn't find something cheaper on your own there. I hope everything works out.

Most definitely awesome.

Even better (or equally awesome? The smartphone thing freaks me out a little.): my credit union lets me deposit checks online up to $1500 and drop them in the mail. The funds are available immediately, too. Suh-weet. Back to the original spirit of the thread: 1) The customer service people in GE and Home Depot appliance divisions are not bright. After the entire debacle last week with needing to have a new oven delivered because it looked like the one I received was damaged, it turned out that's just how they're supposed to look (grey speckled pattern on black with texture, not solid black as described / pictured) so I took extra time off work and had the hassle of dealing with the bozo delivery guy Friday night for nothing. Seriously dude, if I tell you to park on a specific street at the back of my house, don't go to the front of my house and call, then park on a different side street after I remind you to go to the back and run up to my neighbor's back door because you're too stupid to follow directions. And if I ask you to raise the level of my stove to match my countertops, don't ask me if I *really* want you to do that; just do it and GTFO of my kitchen. 2) This one is a mostly happy ending, but just found out a few days ago that my dad had a narrow miss with a heart attack. After experiencing some heartburn that didn't get better with prescription medication and not finding any sort of stomach issue that would cause it, his doc decided to do a cardiac catheterization since my grandfather died at 43 of a heart attack (my dad is 57). Thank God he did, because he found two blockages and was able to put in stents to open them back up. The crazy thing is, his cholesterol isn't even high. Hopefully between catching this early and some new meds he'll be okay going forward.

Got a couple for this week: 1) Had a new oven delivered on Tuesday, and after they left I realized the ceramic cooktop is already pitted. (Ugh.) Thankfully they're not fighting with me on sending a replacement, but the earliest they could do was Friday (tomorrow), which means more time off work in a week where I'm already behind. 2) Ordered a new microwave for over the stove, and figured at least we could get that installed Tues. night. When we removed the old one, the wall behind it looked like some jacktard kept changing his mind whether or not he wanted to vent the thing (see pic). It also appears that mice have been using this as easy access into my kitchen. Had to try and patch this up, so we couldn't finish Tues. night. Tried again to finish installing the new one last night, and find out the detailed template for determining where to drill holes in the upper cabinet was a little off. Kitchen is still tore up and we're hoping to finally get the microwave properly installed tonight. 3) I've got a splinter in the ring finger on my dominant hand. Ow. Edit: Realized I never posted another appliance-related issue from last week since I'd forgotten by Wed. Woke up two Sat. mornings ago with no hot water. Go to the basement, and the TPR valve is flowing quite freely onto the floor. Plumber said over the phone it was probably just the valve went bad and needed a replacement, but all the places that sell the part had closed for the weekend, so no hot water for me from Sat. through Monday evening. Fortunately it was a cheap fix (at least I think so; haven't gotten the bill yet, but they weren't here long and the part was inexpensive.)

Drunk or sober, I'd have to require a gag. She's only hot when she's quiet.

Brugal Extra Viejo rum (a souvenir from the Dominican), neat. Smooth and tasty stuff.