biodork

Haha -- I had a feeling as I was typing earlier that somehow that wasn't going to work, and I was right. Sorry about your cats, dEnnis. :( I have such mixed feelings about the coyotes thing... on one hand, I completely sympathize with your position and would likely feel the same way were it my pet. On the other hand, I can't help but feel like the only reason coyotes and wolves end up doing this sort of thing is that we keep developing the land that used to be their territory, essentially forcing them into suburban areas. It's a lose-lose.

Ended up working 12 hours yesterday and then didn't go to bed until 3am. Today's gonna hurt. Still miss my buddy. The increasingly likely scenario for the Ides of September.

Danse Bacchanale just popped up on my iPod and reminded me how much I effing love that song. We played this my senior year for our spring band concert (not quite this fast, though), and that telltale oboe solo at the beginning and frenetic pace at the end still give me chills. http://youtu.be/RcAGFgPCigw

Dinner tonight was all over the place as far as culinary styles go: corn on the cob, Mexican pizza, corn dogs, Belgian Lambic (Framboise and Pomme), and lemon bars for dessert. So random, and yet so tasty.

Mind. Blown.

Absolutely agreed on the above. Good article on fact-checking Romney's speech: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57504387-503544/fact-check-mitt-romneys-convention-speech/

:lol: :P

That first pour sounds good, weave. Wish we had bars around here with a decent selection so I could try more of this stuff without buying an entire bottle. Around here, most places consider Johnny Black top shelf, lol.

Weave, I'm kinda embarrased to admit how I made mine since you're obviously a pretty good cook, lol. I pretty much used a simple red curry recipe from my Thai cookbook, with minor changes. Browned some garlic and onion/herb seasoning (no veggies in the house at the time), added coconut milk and brought to a boil, added red curry paste and stirred/pressed to combine, let reduce a little a bit, then added brown sugar, fish sauce, and the shrimp and cooked a few minutes more. Served over jasmine rice with a bit of soy sauce. Still spicy for me from the curry paste, but nowhere near the heat yours would have had.

Eeew, lol. For me: freakin' Verizon's incompetence continues. After all the back and forth earlier in the month of do-I-or-don't-I return the modem (with the 4th and most recent person telling me I didn't), I received a return kit in the mail two weeks ago... for the return of a router! :blink: I sent the modem back with a long letter detailing their customer service issues and telling them to refund my money ASAP. If they try to charge me for anything else, I'm going to go apesh!t on someone. On a side note: I miss my buddy. :(

A lazier (and much less spicy) version of weave's Thai coconut curry shrimp. Good stuff.

Wow, that sounds awesome! I've never been to Moab, but that area (four corners) is my boyfriend's favorite place to go hiking and mountain biking. I hope you have a blast at the game, too. The businesses right near the arena get pretty packed on game nights, so definitely go early if you plan on eating before the game! (Kabuki is great if you like sushi.) The arena food is decent, too. Very jealous... I'm nowhere close to paying mine off, lol. But, I don't plan on staying in this house forever, so if I can knock my payments down and still at worst break even on equity when it's time to sell, it's a win in my book. Congrats, man!

Thanks to all for the kind words today. Regardless of any religious and political affiliations, SabreSpace has some quality people on here, for sure. And Taro, I hope Zhitnik's food change helps keep him healthy and well for as long as possible. I'd switched Kirby to one of the grain-free Nutro Natural Choice varieties the last 1 1/2 months because of digestive issues he'd developed, and he was doing well on that. Best wishes to you and him, and to everyone with four-legged family members.

Good on you (and thanks). Not at all; before he left, I asked him to say hi to his parents for me and told him I'd see him again someday. I hope he's running around in the clouds with the rest of his family and has all the squeaky toys and treats his little heart desires.

Thanks, everyone. Shrader, that's funny... it's probably because the older pic (there's a date stamp in the bottom right corner) was a snapshot I took Tuesday of the original photo since my scanner was being a PITA. The other two might have been from my phone.

Finally had to put my dog to sleep on Tuesday morning. He'd been getting worse and showing signs of discomfort, in addition to having more difficulty being alone all day while I was at work. Kirby was born to two existing family pets when I was 15 and has lived with me for the last 6 1/2 years, so he'd been around for more than half of my life. Now the house feels horribly empty and there's a huge void in my heart and in all my daily routines that no longer apply. Easily one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. RIP, Kirby. (1995-2012)

Welcome to the board, shorty!

I think it's possible they are setting up roadblocks to prevent people who are likely to vote Democrat, but no matter what the motive, I think it's a bad idea to implement voter ID laws without more advanced planning and time for both parties to get the word out to their respective voter bases. Whether or not there are provisions for indigent or elderly voters, if it's perceived by those voters as too complicated or if they aren't aware of those provisions, there's a good chance they won't bother. Voter turnout is sadly low for all citizens in our country, so perhaps the only silver lining is that this makes people realize it's important to stand up and be counted.

nfreeman, I respect the hell out of you but I still disagree here (and that's fine). People will interpret the Turzai quote however they like. Dems are likely to see it and say, "We knew it! They're just trying to keep people from voting!", while Republicans are more likely to share your view of "big deal, there's plenty of time, etc etc". Even if you're correct and this is solely intended to prevent fraud, it's poorly thought-out and being executed in an unnecessarily rapid timeframe. I will also add a minor nitpick that the law was passed March 12th and you must be registered to vote 30 days prior to the election, which is closer to 6 months than 8. Beyond that I haven't the energy or desire to debate this further, for reasons that will have to wait for the Thursday thread.

Where did I say it didn't? I've made it pretty clear that my only qualm is with the way they are trying to do this on extremely short notice when it has a strong potential to influence an election. And I agree that the fact that Larry vs. Lawrence might be enough to keep that guy from voting is stupid and any sane person would recognize it's just an abbreviation. That's kind of the point; that these new laws are either incredibly poorly thought-out or specifically designed to keep people from voting. Voter ID should happen, but not like this.

Certainly; however, passing such a law in December vs March (or building in a 1 year delay in implementing the new rules) and having both parties mobilize their registered voters to ensure no one is left out would be a much better way to go. There's also the issue of discrepant names potentially disqualifying folks even with IDs, most prominently Larry Maggi: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/10/voter-id-pennsylvania_n_1764436.html

I'm fairly certain that all I've had to show at a pharmacy is my insurance card, which is not a photo ID. Not to mention there's always mail order, and what about those who are in assisted living environments? They may well be mentally alert but physically unable to drive. My grandfather hasn't driven in years because of epilepsy, so he may well not possess a photo ID. It's not as crazy as some think. I'm not opposed to requiring some form of identification to vote, but it should never be implemented only a few months prior to a Presidential election because it doesn't allow sufficient time to make sure everyone who wants to vote will be able to. Heck, the transition from analog to digital broadcasting took YEARS, and they want to implement new voter ID laws in just a few months? Even if Turzai hadn't admitted their ulterior motive for the PA law, it would have been a bad idea for voters of both parties.

What, no one had anything fantastic today? I've got one: finally signed the mortgage refinance application paperwork today, so the ball is officially rolling. Hoping to close at the end of Sept., and looks like I'll be able to do so with almost no closing costs out-of-pocket. Suh-weet.

No doubt... I have no idea which of the four different reps was actually correct, so I'm definitely making sure there's records of my contact along the way. What a mess.

Seriously! That's insane. DirecTV was fully capable of adjusting my final bill to reflect a partial month of service, and I cancelled them only 2-3 days prior to my bill date. Somehow that is outside the capabilities of Verizon.