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Briefed a Major General (2 star). It was a little nerve wracking to stand in front of a man 7 grades above you with a PhD in everything.

yay bicki. If someone isn't yelling at you there, you're not doing it right.

Congrats, CJ! Today, I got yelled at by one boss and got a significant raise from another. Weird day. I'm fried.

I'm in between Santa gigs right now. Three down for today, four more to go. Yesterday, today, tomorrow and Sunday will be 28 events in total. Crazy busy, but having tons of fun. The event I just came from is a charitable deal for an adult learning center (meaning essentially a day care facility for adults with moderate to extreme mental and physical disabilities). This was only my second year doing this event, so I had forgotten that it was co-sponsored by the West Bay police department! The facility is actually less than a mile from my house so it's an easy event for me to do. What a blast! They're like a bunch of big kids, a very happy group. But the main reason for this post is to say that they all are definitely aware of the situation, right up to the chief, apparently. The minute I got there, one of the officers put his hand over his badge number and said, "I don't want to get in trouble with you!" They were all laughing about it, and saying that I should charge my full price for the event next Sunday. I still haven't heard anything official, but it seems that they don't think I'm bluffing so will either be dusting away the ticket or paying me $100 before the event. They said that chances are, they'll just "pass the hat" to collect the money from all of the officers, and number 418 (the offending officer) will be expected to chip in a double share! I just checked through my Santa journals from past years, and next Sunday will actually mark the 11th consecutive year that I've done this event for them and I've never charged them a nickel. Throughout the years I've been involved with several other things that they do for the community in the summer months as well, especially a fishing tournament that they host that I did all of the bookkeeping for in the late 90s and up until Hurricance Ivan in 2004. So a lot of them know me, and have been to my house many times for false alarms on my burglary system as well.

http://youtu.be/K7dcSr04G8s

Very nice! I now want to do something like that with my headphones. http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_nikon_12/8247814113/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/lord_nikon_12/8247814113/'>Sunrise over GWB by http://www.flickr.com/people/lord_nikon_12/'>Lord Nikon 12, on Flickr

http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/bernhoftsbakari1.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/bernhoftsbakari2.jpg http://gilmore.chem.northwestern.edu/bernhoftsbakari3.jpg Next year i will definitely need more

Nsu offered me a half tuition scholarship. I just paid the $2000 admission deposit. I'll be a med school student in 8 months.

Hand-held, MF focus wide open, first try.

Long story, but kind of a fun one. On my way to a Santa gig this evening, I ran out of gas. Knew that I was on fumes but thought I could make it. Thought wrong. Plus I was running right on time without a minute to spare, so I had no choice but to leave the SUV where it was, kind of half on the shoulder and half on the road. Not an obstruction to traffic in any way, but certainly not where a vehicle should be parked. But I had precious little time, and a bad back (been to the chiropractor twice this week and am healing gradually, but still sore) so there was no way I could put it in neutral and move it myself. Instead, I popped the back latch, grabbed my big toy bag and bells, etc., and hitched a ride to my event. First car was Cayman Airway flight attendant (they all know me by sight) so she stopped and then laughed the whole way to the event. Got there right on the minute. On the way, I called the West Bay police and explained where I had left the SUV, that I was on my way to do a Santa event, and would be back in 3 hours. Ok, she said, not a problem, so long as there are no complaints. One hour into the event, I had someone call back the police station to confirm everything was still Ok. No problem. Another hour later, another call, still no problem. Got a ride from the photographers back home after the event, and quickly changed to street clothes, grabbed a gas can out of the shed, and was putting my key in my other car when my cell phone rang. West Bay police officer so and so, reading my licence plate and asking if this was my vehicle, then informing me that he gave me a ticket. Tried to explain the situation, to no avail. Arrived at my SUV 6 minutes after the ticket was written. $100. Put in a gallon of gas drove it to the gas station to fill it up, and then to the police station. Same officer is in the building, so he comes out to see me, all gruffy and official, telling me the rules. I said, "No problem, sir, but now you're on Santa's naughty list!" Said it in a friendly, obviously joking manner. Told him he was going to get a lump of coal. He's not amused. Asks me, "Is that all sir?" I said, "Nope. That's not everything. Please inform Sergent Williams when you see him next that there has been a price change for event that Santa has scheduled for a week from Sunday. It was to be free, but will now cost $100." He looked at me somewhat quizzically, so I said, "Every year, I do this event for your department for the benefit of poor children in the community. It's held during prime hours that I can easily reschedule for a minimum of $300. I schedule it as a freebie every year anyway, and in fact call in October to reserve whatever time Sergent Williams prefers. Have been doing it for years and years for free. This year it will be $100 cash, paid a minimum of 24 hours in advance. That, sir, is all." I then turned and walked away. Didn't even give him a chance to respond. Tomorrow morning, it will be interesting to see how long it takes Williams to call me. Don't fuck with Santa or you'll get some dork wearing a cotton ball beard and naugahyde boot covers. It should be interesting.

Thanks All. Had a mediocre day at work: too many meetings where I was requested but not really required, a presentation for a VP from India (went well, but I still had better things to do), and less efficiency than I'd prefer. But my wife and son took me to my favorite fish place in town, where I had my now traditional Lobster Bisque and "Bayou Catfish" (very lightly breaded and baked, with spinach, Andouille Sausage, Shrimp, and some tomatoes, in a spicy Cajun sauce). Saw a friend as we were coming in & chatted with her, and the lovely waitress later told me my Macallan 12 was paid for by said friend. Capped off with a tiny bit of cake on the house, which I then donated to the great kitchen staff to finish for me. A really lovely night to fix the droll day.....!

Builds up the immune system.

He's just man. Just do what I do and picture them in their underwear. Oh wait, never mind, that doesn't really work that well for me.

das scorpions - lovedrive

Sous vide pork tenderloin (sensing a theme here?) with mah own rub, brown rice and spinach, with a tiny splash of habanero salsa. America, fuck yeah!