Random thoughts and questions

Did he ever give you a failing grade on a test/paper, with the note, "From Hell's Heart, I stab at thee!"?

I work in software documentation, among other things. Years and years ago we created our own online internal style guide / resource hub that contains hundreds of topics covering all the details of our many, many processes. When we first created it, we had a goofy contest within the department to name the thing. The winning submission was OSCAR (Online Styles, Conventions, And Resources). We've got little Oscar the Grouch figures around, the desktop icon for launching it is a picture of Oscar, etc.

Because we've overhauled our online documentation this year, we're now creating a new version of this resource in the new framework. Which of course means a similar contest to name the successor to OSCAR.

I may be about to win that contest with my submission - TARDIS (Technical Approaches and Resources for Documentation In Software). Voting hasn't been officially tallied yet, but initial feedback from the other writers indicates that it's the overall favorite. If it does win, I feel that I've cemented my legacy here and can retire secure in the knowledge that I've embedded a Doctor Who reference in our department that will last 5-10 years or more.

Would that be ripping off WoK or Moby Dick? Double plagiarism from a teacher seems wrong.

Or oh, so right.

oh man so like.
My mom didn't have students today and so she sent me to work for this other teacher that teaches kinder, but has some remedial first graders. We learned how to count and letters and letter sounds and this one girl was so confused, but after I worked with her she got everything and I was sincerely close to crying because she was so happy that she learned it and she was just smiling and giggling and oh my god.

i promise i'm going to stop typing about working soon. i realize it's getting...repetitive.

Three production downtimes this week? SEND ME MORE FOR THEIR DESTRUCTION. COME AT ME BRO

After 7 years of asking for it, my disk to disk backup project was finally not cut from the budget, OMGWOO!

Are you kidding? It makes me really happy to hear you be happy! Keep it up!

Is it possible to add a space in my username? Because that random s at the end taunts me

Aaaand now we've come to my favorite part of a cold, the part where you think you're pretty much over it but then your body says "Whoa there, cowgirl," and causes you to cough all night unless you sleep sitting up. So, sorry about all the coughing, dear partner. Hello, recliner where I'll apparently be sleeping for at least a couple more nights.

Doooooo iiiiiiiiiitttttt.

I'm not going to poo poo in the food thread because it doesn't need my negativity, but one of those dishes looks like a pin worm infested turd.

I've been in that situation recently and mixing a tablespoon of honey with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and then drinking it helps to soothe the cough for me.

Ordered a new clothes dryer from Home Depot to replace our old one, which died suddenly. I know it's been just over ten years since we last shopped for a dryer, but holy crap have they gotten expensive. Back when we got out last one, you could get a decent mid-range model for $400-500. Now even the budget models are over $500, and if you want a decent dryer with a moisture sensor, it's more like $700+.

The Sears Kenmore ones are good and not too expensive, we bought a set when we moved into our new house for about $800 (for front load washer and dryer.)

What cost $500 in 2000 would cost $644.82 in 2011.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2011 and 2000, they would cost you $500 and $385.83 respectively.

I ran out of my usual Crest toothpaste and went to the drugstore to get more. The kind I buy is apparently no longer being made but there are roughly 5,000 other varieties of Crest on the shelf to choose from. I don't want this much choice. I just want my teeth to be clean and not get cavities.

But no, instead I can choose among the following (list is not all-inclusive):

• plaque control
• tartar control
• gum protection
• with Scope
• with a different flavor of Scope than the first one
• Scope? Yes, more Scope
• fresh mint
• cool mint
• clean mint
• whitening
• extra whitening
• this stuff will bleach the teeth out of your skull

And of course, Crest Hello Kitty toothpaste.

I shake my fist at you, trendy toothpaste makers!

Brush with baking soda and water. Fuck the police.

I brush with this stuff. It's magical.

What type of licorice does it taste like, the good kind or the black kind?

$32, that's what it is.

I've heard the plaque-busting stuff basically contains fine sand.

So, brush with baking soda, water, and sand.

Someone start the toothpaste thread!

Toothpaste for me is annoying as hell. I have some kind of an allergy to an ingredient that I never cared enough to pinpoint. Some toothpastes make the inside of my cheek shed itself.

Pick up some empty tubes and make your own Aquafresh toothpaste.

There is only black licorice. I don't know what the hell red licorice is made out of, but it certainly doesn't resemble anything I know to be licorice.

Licorice is a terrible candy and it should be ashamed.

I prefer toothpaste without sodium laureth sufate, so I usually pick up a natural brand, but then most natural brands also lack fluoride, so there's basically one kind of toothpaste I can use.

I brush with a special toothpaste packed with floride because I have the worst teeth in the universe!

But that's only once a day. Otherwise I use Mentadent cause it makes my teeth feel clean!

A super-common sulfate ingredient that's included in nearly every toothpaste ever gives me canker sores. So I buy whatever damn toothpaste doesn't include that ingredient, which usually means I'm getting "sensitive teeth" stuff that promises to NUMB MY SEARING PAIN. Whereas the only pain I have is the searing pain of endless canker sores if I buy any other type of toothpaste. Sigh.

And you'd better believe it's loads of fun to crouch in the toothpaste aisle for twelve minutes reading the teeny tiny ingredients on every single box of every variety. Especially since at least twice now the toothpaste I'd chosen started using that ingredient between the time I bought one tube and when I went back to the store to get a second.

Sets are cheaper than buying individually. Our washer is only a couple of years old--one of the LG front-loaders--so we don't want to replace that. I did look at Kenmores (that's what our current dryer is), but the super-basic model with no moisture sensor was around $500, and the cheapest one that had moisture sensor was over $600. Looking around at sales, we decided that we could get a lot more for that kind of money--especially when you factor in that Sears also charges an extra $90 for delivery and haul away, which all of the other big box stores do for free. The Samsung that we got ended up costing less than the Kenmore model with a moisture sensor, and has a lot more features (steam dry, more settings, larger capacity, higher rating on Consumer Reports).

The math might have worked out differently if we were buying a set. We also needed a gas dryer; electric models are usually cheaper.

Yeah, that's what I was talking about above -- Sodium laureth and sodium laurel sulfate. The only toothpaste I've found that doesn't have it and has fluoride is by Kiss My Face.

Tom's of Maine *used* to have SLS free toothpaste, but after they got bought or whatever, they changed their formula.

That's actually a bad idea. Sure, it worked for your grandparents but they didn't expect their teeth to last all that long and ended up with dentures anyway. My mother did baking soda for years and ended up heavily damaging the natural enamel of her teeth. So spend the few bucks and get a real toothpaste.

Same deal with most "tartar control" toothpastes. More than one dentist has told me they are more abrasive than necessary and can lead to sensitivity in your teeth.

I can believe that. I used them for years and my teeth have become pretty sensitive to very cold water.

On a different note: I came home this afternoon and saw that nobody else was at the house where I rent a room. So I decided to do a load of laundry. As usual my landlady had left some stuff in the washing machine, so I took it out, did my load, and put her stuff back in. I just realized that she apparently didn't realize it had already been washed because she got home and started it up as a whole new load. Makes me wonder how often that happens since she's always doing laundry and always leaving it half done.

You pretty much have to run it again anyways after sitting wet in the washing machine for days. That shit gets mildewy. My old roommate used to leave his clothes in the washing machine for a week or so.

I will never ever ever look good in a pantsuit. But damnit I'll wear one anyway because it is too cold to wear a skirt in this weather.