And this is just a minor reason why I kind of hate people.

Also, it is why I live in a city, but I don't want to paint all suburbs--or people who live in them--with the same brush.

Guys? If you live in a suburb where sidewalks are even a possibility, you already don't live in a pastoral setting. Deal with it. I also understand that some neighborhoods have so little traffic that sidewalks really aren't an issue; that's a different situation.

I hear all of the arguments against sidewalks in this article--I am just kind of appalled by them. For instance, go ahead a bring up how senior citizens will shovel the sidewalks. All of the places listed here are places with huge lawns and large driveways. How are those same seniors coping now? Those driveways aren't shoveling themselves, you know. And that picture? Are we supposed to feel bad for this woman? (That said--eight feet is too wide for a sidewalk.)

I am also appalled by the city residents around here who don't want to have to maintain the bike trails and parks, just to be even-handed. What the hell is wrong with you people?

I should also mention that should Matter-Eater-Lad and I ever move to a city in which we need to live in the suburbs, sidewalks will be a minimum requirement for us.

The sign of a well-stocked stash

I am knitting a Clapotis out of this yarn in Topaz, which is lovely, but I am bored. When I realized this, instead of thinking about how I need to shop for new projects, I thought "I should pull that mitten kit out of my my stash (ok, I have two of that kit) and start working on it."

I have more projects set aside in my stash than I would come across in a visit to my LYS.

Success!

An Open Letter To The People Trying To Get Me To Hire Them

Dear PTTGMTHT:

Follow the directions in the listing. Believe me when I say that if you don't *you are not going to get an interview.* Calling and asking what to do when the ad requests an emailed resume is not helping you.

If there is a name on the ad, DO NOT send your cover letter "To Whom It May Concern."

Also, turn off the change tracking on your document *before* you send it to me.


I'm surprised I have to explain these things to you.

What?

No love for Barry and LeVon?

You know what this is a picture of?

5 kg of Nutella. Just for the record, that container of Nutella costs almost $80.00.

Now, I really, really like Nutella, to the point where I can't keep it in the house. But the bottles I buy are generally *13 oz*. Which equals 0.368543801 kilograms.

I had some thoughts about who might need that much Nutella. I think maybe these guys:

Are you so insecure about how your child might view the world that you need a book to indoctrinate said child?

Well, then, I have found the book for you.

Sigh.

Oh, my.

Did Stephen Colbert design this license plate?

I am all for not surrendering patriotic symbols to insane conservative people (please note that I consider this a subset of conservatives as a whole--I may not agree with them on most issues, but that doesn't make them evil or crazy across the board). This license plate is kind of sickening. I think it is the desert camo background that sends it over the edge. How many people who get this plate will have ever worn camo to anything more dangerous than a backyard cookout?

I should perhaps note here that *I* have never worn camo, much less in a defending-my-country sort of situation, except my pink camo neoprene shoes, which really, really don't count.

Bridge Collapse.

More specifics later, but on the frivolous side, I had no idea what the "R.T." in "R.T. Rybak" stood for before I read this BBC article.