i was interviewing for another job, just to make sure that I didn't want it more than the one I have an offer for. i'm going to take the original job, but the guy said that if I didn't like it in six months then I should give him a call! :-) Nice to be wanted :) oh, the agent is an agent in the sense of a recruitment agent - I think you guys call them headhunters or some such thing.

cool!

less than two weeks before my finals, i have caught a cold. when will this life leave me alone???

c'mon Mike... Buck up! Yer almost done!!!!!

Beware of those headhunters. Some deals got neat percentages in for them. I know some folks over there, before you sign with one, mail me.

tired and pissed off

and what instigated you to be me today?

:-)

Yeah Mikey, what happened? BTW.: Hey, anybody here from Drool ? Wonder if you possibly could get interested in a new topic: "Eligible Bachelors" , dedicated to handsome young men with good manners and lotsa cash in their pockets! (Wonder why this idea pops up here and now, any idea? ;=} )

none, none at all...

(But what do you think of this idea? Perhaps we could get Mikey another contract, too! ;=} Yeah, I mean, these gals ougtha lick their fingers - young, handsome, maybe even well mannered, soon serious dosh on the bank, nice car within the quarter - everything! If I weren't happy for him, I even might get jealous. All I ever was was young.)

(amen, brother!)

ah, but i'm taken Alexander, so the gals could only look but not touch ;)

Well, they'll never know what they missed! BIG MONEY!! BRIT ACCENT! Isn't that what they are after? (Wer, at least you know some business well. I just fly blindsided from one disaster into next...)

(...without any idea about nuthin'!)

i thought that was the way it was supposed to be done!

With us ethnic German, Wolf, it's always this way, true. We land in a mess and struggle our way out. Sometimes quite a messy thing. There may be smarter approaches... But not for us, I'm afraid. Say, Wer, come to think of it - Roland sounds like a German family name to me...

not to mention William...the most archaic spelling of Roland is Danish...

So, your family is Danish, Wer? In Bremen is a famous medieval statue, the Roland. He was a "Herold" for Charlemagne, whom we know as "Karl der Gro�e", and held a ravine against the saracens somewhere in Spain, all by himself, and warned the train behind him with his horn signals. He died, but his effort and loyalty made him a legend. (There is a passage in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, which always seemed to me to be a reenactment of this: When Boromir falls, his hornsignals warns the companions.)

my family is American, before that, who knows? I'm a mutt.

So? Who here isn't? Hey, we had North Africans here *2.000* years ago. Russians occupied the area *around 1800* when they pushed Napoleon back. Plus spoken language in my state, especially this county, knows many distorted french words because they came over to knock us up *all the time*. Before the North Africans and their Roman officers this was *Celtic land*. In the town I was born in they had a major industrial site to produce salt from the springs we have here. Not far from it were two major fortifications and a great c lt place. Afterwards, Germanic tribes settled here. To keep this area for the empire, the Romans built the limes, a long wall through Germany (sound familar?). When all that was over, the Hunns passed through. Tell a german about being a mutt. What a joke! (It took an Austrian to not get it, and make a cult of the opposite.)

Today I finished my last university exam, i bought a car, Manchester United won the soccer treble and it's only two days until Carolyn arrives.....great day :)

woo woo!

that does sound like a good day! (who am I kidding...sounds like a helluva week!!!)

Go Mikey!

any updates for us mike?

Lady from Drool - a little late perhaps, and not in your favorite category agewise, but here I am. Shall I take any messages back to the nubile maidens of Drool? I am going to have to read all of these little topics, am I not, to find out where I need to defend myself or the intelligent and witty women of Drool (I know, if they were so W & I why did they choose "Drool" for the name of their conference?!) I trust all of you have survived the deep gloomies I read about in going through this topic. Cheers for Mike!

my life today...two new calls on potential job offers, with an interview in the morning!

Good luck wer! We're pulling for you! Let us know how it went!

and also with you!

that's cool wer, but i thought you already have a new job? oh, and what alex said...

it was a three week temp, Wolf, am working at LI again...

My life is lovely today, just as all should be for everyone. I am smiling!

...that and I have three backed-up drains and no one is fixing them, so it is up to me. Right!

you can do it marcia!!

Alas, my dear, apparently I did do it (though I'd guess it is the male of the species who really did.) I just need someone to undo it!

haha!!

The Marines landed in my house last night and opened the laundry drain, but I am still washing stuff in a bucket in the Kitchen. Do you think, if I let him do the washing-up, the drain would be fixed faster?!

ah, but you'll look back and laugh (hopefully!) our 4th was quite lovely. we began by stuffing ourselves shamelessly, then we hit the local minor league baseball stadium and watched our captains take a victory (after a string of losses). the fireworks display was the best in town!

Cheers for you, Dear! I am glad you had a great 4th. The hairy chest-beater has been working on the drain and it is so full of fumes out there that I am again closed in the Bedroom with the computer. Can't do anything but play all day! ...suffer...suffer I plan to laugh as soon as he removes that plug in the trap which used to open onto the driveway but he enclosed extending the garage even further. Now he will have to catch whatever comes out in a shovel and newspapers and bail it over the door sill Should tell him "I told you so!" but I am a more noble creature than that...maybe...*smirk*

i understand your plight....we redid the floor in the main bath and had to remove the toilet...it was stinky! it was funny to see the porcelain throne in the middle of the back yard!

Thank you for the gory 4th details... I now feel privileged not to have touch a drain, toilet or anything else otherwise considered clogged all day! B's parents had their annual 4th bash and I again reveled in turning everything red white and blue! Today I went for a run and then decided a day off should not go to waste... I skated up to the Cherry Creek Arts festival and wandered around for awhile. Tired... Taking the skates every year prevents me from spending money frivolously... only if I REALLY want it would I skate it the 20+ miles home!

Stacey, you skated 40 miles?! Your thighs should be able to crack walnuts! Good for you! I'd really have to want something to go though that exercise for it. Hiking on a hot lava field is something I can really get into.

wait a sec...stacey, you ran, then skated 20 miles because you didn't want to waste the day? girl, you're nuts! i'll never be that ambitious. glad to hear you had a good 4th (sans clogged drains)... marcia, hot lava fields?

Ummm! I live on the side of the world's most active volcano. My son is a geologist; I went along on his field trips when he was in college and I still love to hike in there. Nothing quite like watching a volcano erupt close up to stir your soul!

hmmm... crack walnuts... never tried THAT before! I suppose I could practice while Mr. B's away... Wolfie, you gotta understand, I have difficulty sitting still. So... when I think of all the composure I'll have to gather just to spend a full day at work tomorrow, I just want to run around in circles until I flop over from exhaustion. That way tomorrow when I'd usually be feeling claustraphopic and antsy, I'll just get up to get a drink of water and my legs will ache so much I'll WANT to sit down! WOW! Lava fields... cool! How 'active' is an active volcano? How much impact does the activity have on your life?

How I can sympathize with you...! Cool date, too!

What I was on about? Just saw myself in a mirror... Topic 2 of 64 [porch]: My life today Response 152 of 152: (null) ((null)) * Wed, Dec 31, 1969 (18:00) * 0 lines Scared me so bad, I got enough for today. Y'all have sweet dreams!

ouch. at least my fingers aren't sore today!

i can't sit still for long either, but if i keep my hands and mind busy, i'm alright. am going to the gym today after a two week hiatus (and a 3 lbs comeback). marcia, i imaging being that close to an erupting volcano would be enough to let me know my heart still beats (not to mention the necessity of bringing extra pants)! good for you, though. it sounds exciting, but i don't think i could handle it. that was really great support for your son. probably the only excuse you could find to do something like that and not be called crazy, huh? and alex, can't get everything out in one post, eh?

The only time it has not been fun to live on this volcano is when I am called to do disaster relief work. A lovely little subdivision was buried quite completely by lava a few years ago, and other than feeding them, the only help I was able to offer was my arms around them when they fell apart watching their homes burn and disappear, one by one. It is heart-rending and something etched so clearly in my memory I can still see it when I close my eyes.

As for moral support for my son on his field trips, He has been wonderful about that. When he was young, he was my excuse to ride on merry-go-rounds; when he got older I got to go on some very interesting hikes (ever eat Jiffy Pop cooked on a hot lava flow?!). I knew I had a good thing when he and a group of his age students included me on their graduation hike. I over did it and became very dizzy, disoriented and frightened. He took me aside and sat me down and calmed me down. Then is when I knew th t 20 years of nurturning this incredible individual had not been a waste of time, though I never doubted it!

hear hear!

your story gives me the chills Marcia... there's been a lot of talk at our house lately about how children are a pretty frightening endeavour... you did lots of things right!

i think that's great, marcia, and no offense was taken at all, no apologies needed!! *hugz* it's hard to be a kid these days when adults put so many responsibilities in their lap. i mean, my son is 10 and already i'm worried about his showing me he is responsible. good grief, we should let them be kids already!! i admit i'm hard on him being the first child and my daughter is the baby and mama's pet by her choice. i luv my kiddo's *gush*

Take a bow, dear! You are doing the right things, too. What is really neat is having adult children whose independent brains you can pick forever. What a concept! *Hugs*

"Pick their brains" - you sure they enjoy it as much as you do?

Unless he is better at faking this than any other, he also enjoys it. Of course, there is a lot of mutual picking going on - everyone benefits, but youi have to choose the right time and right place. Late evenings alone are best.

So it's that one geology-doin' son? And you pick his brains when you're alone? I see. (*Leaning forward in my leather chair, looking over thin-rimmed spectacles*) And how does this make you feel?

The Geology-doin' one, yup! The best session we had was when he took me camping in Yosemite and I had brought a little "medicinal" brandy along. He seemed to need a nip or two (doesn't take much for my family); then I could not turn him off. It got so funny that I interrupted his musings with inside-the-sleeping- bag giggles until we both fell asleep. I highly recommend it!

Drain is still clogged so I live in the bedroom with the computer and The Spring. Escapism is all I can handle when the male animal says he will fix it and it has not been! Otherwise, things are lovely here and in Geo as well.

I am about to go take an HTML skill test over the web for a temp job at Dell...everyone keep their fingers crossed!!!

.....Perhaps next time...?

don't feel so bad anymore...the recruiter said 60 percent is competent and 80 percent is exceptional...

*smile* Thank you for that reassurance.

May we have a little celebration later? I know where there is a nice private place with flowers, soft grass and soft breezes....

does it have net access?

We can arrange for that. I am most accommodating, if that is your desire...

*holding my tongue on behalf of the other participants while smiling*

We'll find something else for that tongue...it must be tiresome holding it...!

and, I didn't get the job, so I am open to any and all suggestions!!!

hula dancer...

methinks the grass would become too entangled in the hair for me to be very effective...

Ah, My Dear, it is not grass...it is shredded Ti leaves, and they entangle in nothing. Very tough and glossy. (I think that is a splendid idea...!)

Can you believe it? My drain is finally open again! I guess that means I have to cook again instead of posting and researching for Geo...*sigh*

Somber. (Now I only need to find out what that word means...)

Somber=wer

quiet=Marcia

Wasn't there something Stacey said once about that? If I only could remember...

mayhaps it is screwed somewhere...

Mayper she remembers - Stacey? Hulloh! Miss Vura! Hulloh! (Bye Wer, gotta run now.)