Category: Ramblings
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Sunday Thinking
Okay…Before we start the festivities, know this: mom, I love you. And that’s why I can laugh at (and with) you. I have decided that my mother does her best and most active thinking on Sunday mornings. And if I pulled my cell phone records for the last eight years or so, I could prove…
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Coming Back
For those keeping score at home, yes, I’ve been gone for about a week. I blame the usual suspects: nothing to say, no desire to say it, a complete giving over to the desire to become a blob in a comfy chair at home and appreciate the American dream of total laziness. You’d think it…
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Privacy in the Nest?
Perhaps you heard the big tech news from Monday: a company called Nest was bought by a company called Google. And ever since then, there’s been quite the hubbub over this. I’ve seen Twitter posts from people threatening to rip the devices from the wall if this really goes through…Never mind the fact that doing…
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The Edison Dilemma
Those of you keeping score at home know that Hannah and Zoe are eighth graders this year, which means that we here in Lathropworld are in the market for a new high school (or two). Today, we began the shopping process. Hannah and Zoe aren’t entirely sure what they’re looking for in a high school.…
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The College Hunt
For those not in the know, Patrick is (theoretically) graduating from high school in June. Because of this expectation, he took the ACT test and has been receiving e-mails from schools trying to encourage him to apply to them. It’s interesting how far this process has come in 25 years. I remember literally having a…
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Overheard in the Cube Farm
No, there weren’t many people in the office today, probably because these two-day work-weeks can be absolute torture. But I did overhear someone today talking to a coworker about their Christmas, this being the first one they’ve hosted at their home. And somehow they decided to buy three turkeys to feed 12 people. They have…
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It’s Dead, Jim
Let us all take a moment of silence to mourn the loss of something that has been near and dear to us for a long time. The Metrodome is now, officially, dead. After today’s Vikings game, the process of dismantling it is beginning. Like doctors harvesting organs from the freshly deceased, construction workers–or are they…
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The Twelve(ish) Guilty Pleasures of Christmas
I know. I’m not going to end up anywhere near 12. Just accept it and get over it. Today’s guilty pleasure is a little odd, but it’s also a broad collection of things. It’s the feel good, or sad, make-you-cry story or video on the internet. You know the ones: videos of soldiers coming home…
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Team Building
We had a team building event at work today. It was one that I organized, after somehow getting on the topic in one of my weekly meetings with my supervisor. It was an event that took place over a light lunch, in a conference room, doing something that does not directly relate to our jobs…
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Anniversaries
Anniversaries are a great thing, even though they’re frequently overlooked. They help celebrate occasions worth remembering and celebrating, especially as time goes on and that original event begins to fade into history. Around here, we’ve been celebrating a couple of them: One year ago today (October 20th), we got Etta and Gus, our fun pair…
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Back To It
Tomorrow’s Labor Day, which means that the day after that is the return to the normal schedule around here. We’ve had our three months of Summer freedom, hot weather, shorter hours, transitions, and the like. Now it’s time to get back to things. Like the blog, here. I didn’t mean to be away from it…
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Off the Beaten Path
Hey folks! It’s been a two movie weekend for me here, and you get to suffer for it! I’m only partially kidding, of course. But you know those movies that are just so bad and over the top and you really never want to see it again, but you’re going to say you liked it…
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Looking Down
If, like me, you find yourself walking around with your head down, you find yourself observing a great deal of flooring. And if you’re like me, you think to yourself while observing that flooring, wondering what criteria went into making the decision that ultimately chose that flooring. As I’ve said before, I’ve got about a…
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Sniffing
Okay, so our gas company is required by law to conduct an inspection of gas meters on a regular basis. This, presumably, is to keep houses from blowing sky-high due to something faulty in the meter itself, never mind the remainder of the pipes running through the house to supply gas to the dryer, furnace,…
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A Whole Week
So yeah. I just kind of checked out there for a while, just deciding to let things slide a bit and not do anything with the blog, or, it appears, anything in social media, either. Long weekends will do that for you, though apparently, I decided to start mine in Lathropworld after writing on Monday.…