In which I bullet point

• I work today. I don't like working Fridays. I never seem to accomplish anything and nearly always go home cranky.



• Twice this week (so far) someone has destroyed our neighbor's mailbox. This neighbor. One day (Saturday night?) it was just the mailbox pounded to a pulp. Then yesterday morning I noticed the post was completely knocked off its anchor. This is the only mailbox on the road being assaulted. An example of small town vendetta, perhaps? Huh, who am I kidding? His name and address was in the paper. I'm wondering if the other guy is also having mailbox problems. [yes, he is] appended 9:15 a.m. 9/20



• And if I catch the person/people doing this, I will totally call the cops, because to me it speaks of a shocking lack of...something. I was going to say maturity, but that's not really it. It's just petty, stupid, and could easily spread to the rest of the neighborhood. I don't like idiots.



• AC/DC has been replaced in my son's room by Weird Al. Again. He just found out he's going to see Al in concert soon. I'm not sure of this is a good trade: AC/DC for Weird Al in never-ending rotation. Currently on the RHCP parody: 'yabba dubba do now'--aaargh.



• Taking too much Advil can make one's stomach very cranky.



• Sparky and I finally finished CSI: Miami seaon 3. Wow. What a wicked ending. It's not exactly a cliffhanger, but damn......lots of stuff is up in the air: Is Calleigh coming back, ever? Is Yelina coming back, ever? How hard is Eric going to punch Ryan, how soon, and where? (My answers are, respectively, "Very", "Not too long now" and "His mouth.") Is H ever going to fall for someone he can actually stay with? And just whose job is it to clean ceilings in the crime lab?! I will say this: I wish they'd spent more time letting us get to know Ray, and I'm so sorry about John. I liked him.



• A plea to the users of public libraries: PLEASE don't think that because you spent a lot of money on something that didn't work, the library will be happy when you donate the pieces and parts of it to add to the collection. We really can't use the personal, home edition of Rosetta Stone. Especially if you haven't managed to save everything, only most of it.



• My town is in the news again, following the "Deliverance"-based nickname it has earned. Yesterday morning before the chickens were awake, one of our not-so-close-thank-God neighbors was arrested for having, among other things, grenades and mines in his home. OK, the latter was in his gun safe. He also had more than 25 guns of various types. And a tiny amount of cocaine, which somehow just seems really beside the point.



• Did you know there's a law against "criminally" fortifying one's home? At least in this state there is. I'm not trying to be reactive, but I've never seen that listed as a charge before. Having done a little research, however, it appears that this only refers to booby-trapping your home. So, buy the fancy windows and doors, and install an alarm system, but don't get cute with "extras."



• Our vacation photos arrived yesterday from Snapfish. Allowing for the weight of the box (not envelope) in which they arrived, I can proudly say that we took 2 pounds' worth of 3 x 5" pictures!



• Beast is home from Texas. He's funny: having spent his high school years in Texas marked him for life. Whenever he travels south, his speech tempo slows down and his words lengthen out to match the locals. So talking to him on the phone this week involved a little 'drawl-translation' along with some shouting. When one travels when one has a cold, one's ears take revenge in their own ways....



• Sparky just told me not to forget that I work today. I think that means he thinks I probably should not wear pajamas all day. So perhaps I should go see what clothes are waiting to be worn today. And I could brush my hair too. Maybe wash my face.

See y'all on the flip.