Novelista

Lookin' good for Moltara!

And may the gods of patience be with you as you attempt to find your time at the lava pool, so you can repaint your grarrl. :P

Only if you teach me?

No, just kidding. I don't really know.

I'm going to have to go with the last poster and say no, because it's difficult for TNT to moderate you if you speak a language that's not spoken by the staff. (That's why I could never speak Spanish on Hogwarts Live.)

Of course, you can always file a ticket with TNT and ask. That helps. :)

I don't condone violins. (Violence. Get it? No one's beat me to it! :P )

~*~

I hated practicing when I was in band, but I suspect that's because it turns out I never really wanted to be in band in the first place. (My mother forced me to keep going. UGH! It was so bad that I finally said, "If, for some highly unlikely reason I fail my senior year, I am NOT doing band again!" Seven years was way more than enough!)

My mom used to make me practice for a half hour--the rare times she made me practice at all. (I'm surprised she didn't make me practice more often, considering she was the one who forced me into band in the first place! But I stopped bringing home my band folder in high school, so that may have had something to do with it.)

I think professionals generally practice for something like eight hours...and maybe the major band geeks. My friend/acquaintance who now has a masters in tuba performance, I think he practiced something like four hours a day; but he was probably given more time for it when he was in college and had his core classes out of the way. *shrugs*

Someday, when I have a harp...I will do my best not to let it collect dust. :P

*squeals*: IT'S SO ADORABLE!

Oh my goodness.

Well, I'm lazy, so I'll copypasta part of a PM (from me) from another site. :P

(1:28a ET, this morning)

My dad's cat (Ani) has--up 'til this point--been in the basement all night. About 12:30, I went to check on her and saw something moving on the wall when I was about to leave.

"Oh my god...is that a mouse or a really big spider?!"

I waited for it to move and it was a mouse! I've never seen a mouse climb up the wall! (Our basement walls are rough and cut to look like brick, so I guess it's no wonder it was climbing to get away from her!) I said, "Hello!" and talked to it about getting it outdoors. I grabbed a box (we reuse shipping boxes) and tried to coax it in, but it wouldn't go. I looked around and saw a mop handle and tried to knock it in...I knocked it off, instead.

I encouraged Ani to get it, but she just chased it into the big room where we store stuff. | She cornered it and it started climbing the walls again...and Ani starts wrapping around my legs, purring up a storm.

Meanwhile, I'm laughing to beat the band and swearing my dad is going to wake up because I'm cracking up so hard and talking to both the mouse and the cat!

A couple of times, I said, "Stop, cat! I'm going to pee my pants!"

Finally, I managed to knock it off the wall and into the box. I took it upstairs and chucked it outside...and I'm wondering why I didn't just use the walkout door in the basement. (Although Ani probably would've gone out after it, if I had.)

That doesn't sound quite as funny on paper, but I thought it was hilarious. xD

Peeping through a microscope sound like the ultimate geekry to me. ^_^

Pharmtech, I'm concerned that they would've asked me to compound stuff. With my poor math skills and my constant concerns over the dangers of contamination/screwing up (especially after that meningitis scare last year), I wouldn't have enjoyed doing it. :P

I love a thread that has the potential to go on forever...and ever...xD

You might be a cat-parent if the words, "Stop, cat! I'm going to pee my pants! *uncontrollable laughter*" means anything to you.

(At least, I hope you have a relationship like that with your cats!)

Aaand you get a hug for being both a pincushion and going through infusions. O.o

*HUUUUUG!* :D

I graduate in December and this will be the first time I've walked! (Two correspondence schools and I couldn't afford to fly down to get my bachelors.) By looking at the pictures on their FB page, I learned that it will be at the local community college's auditorium. I've been there a few times (and even onstage, during a combat class), so I know it's a nice place to graduate. :)

I was a little hesitant to do MAA, but they said, "We can place you easier and we'll still teach you regular MA stuff, EKG and lab work. But no blood. (Except for doing the lab portion of the bloodwork, I'm sure.)" Sign me up! I wasn't thinking about it much before this, but I wonder how small my class(es) will be. If orientation last night (Thursday) is any indication, there will only be two of us. (But maybe not everyone has the same sequence, so there might be other MAA students who--for some reason--haven't had keyboarding, for example.)

You know what else is exciting, Shel? If I can get a job as a lab tech, I will make $18,500 more a year than I ever would've if I'd managed to land a job as a pharmacy tech. That's worth cheering for! :D

Yay for:

(Sorry for it being so big!)

Nay for the stress included, broken down as:

• Watching my gas gauge like a madwoman (I'm broke and won't get my first mileage reimbursement until something like week three of class)
• Not having a carpool yet (I'll be doing that until I can get my first reimbursement)
• Two classes in each three week set (doing two classes every four weeks was hard enough)
• Not having a job yet (although they're supposed to help)
• (Probably having to do) ten-hour days once I get a job (five at work and five at school)
• Resetting my circadian rhythm after ten years (even if I somehow only worked on my days off, I'd still have to do it before my externship)
• Being a pincushion (see below)

I guess I can deal with the vaccines, as long as I spread them out. MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) is one of those childhood vaccines that you don't have to repeat (I think). I've had the T in Tdap in the last two years (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis/whooping cough), so I'm not sure how they deal with that. (Probably good to get the pertussis, though, as I heard it was going around among school kids last fall.) Hep B is three shots, but it's like every three months, so I can stretch it out over the entire program. (I ought to call and ask if I can get the first one when I go on Tuesday, or else I could accidentally delay my externship--and possibly not graduate!)

What I'm really not looking forward to is getting a TB test. I got a letter in 2005 saying I'd possibly been exposed (never found out by who and they never told me 'cause of HIPAA), so I did it...and it's one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever done. (It's worse than a vaccine, actually!) I think I'm not required to have a clean TB test until my externship, so I may procrastinate on that until September or October. xP

Whoever said "variety is the spice of life" didn't get a million message board notifications in their inbox. xD

There's subforums here that there aren't there; sometimes, I find that "dragging over" threads from here to there don't always work, etc.

I like being free to not monitor my speech; but on the other hand the freedom of speech can be too much. (Someone over there was talking about vivisection yesterday and I didn't know if they were serious. O.o)

I was going to catch up on all the seasons once upon a time, but we're talking twenty-four(?) seasons now and...eek. (I salute you, Lev, as I always have.)

This Bud...er...Duff (see what I did there?) is for you: ;)

(Clean/color version here)

I hate it when the regular and premium featured are the same game.

Worth a major facepalm, that one.

I gave up kadding after my first day. It's so not worth it. :P

I wish I hadn't picked LD already. I miss Shenkuu. (Why did I pick a team with a kiko on it?!)

I miss the structure of TDN? Too much "theoretical chocolate" implodes my brain? Whatever you like to believe. :P

I've recently been elsewhere in the Neoverse (can't say where...don't want to get in trouble again) and...I miss TDN. :(

I like being able to say whatever I want (within reason), I like not being restricted to seven words, I like not being forced to stay on topic (somewhat...these people can divert like crazy), I like the fact that duplicate posts are automerged (TDN needs that so the mods can focus their talents elsewhere)...but I think I miss the structure here.

That's the only thing I can figure...

(I meant to somehow work in the title and say, "I like it, but I feel like I've had too much chocolate on a mental/emotional level." TDN is my carrots/olives/salad/pineapple? xD )

I realize you're a site elder, Ruto, but I am not promoting the use of them any more than I am promoting the use of lighters to set houses on fire. If you have a problem with that, you should PM me, not mark up my posts.

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Their patriarch, died, Lev...I haven't heard yet if they've done any protesting since.

Here in the States, the procession is allowed to keep on driving right through the red light, primarily because everyone stops for them.

I could imagine how freaky that box would be. My dad uses body bags when he goes to pick up clients, so I'm sure that's not much better.

Clan? Like a guild, you mean? Or something else?

(I didn't post this yesterday, 'cause I couldn't think of how to say it in seven words. :P )

I always recommend my old thread (with screenies!)

http://www.tdnforums.com/index.php?/topic/39362-cheese/

Oh my goodness! Definitely submit a ticket. Always worth a shot.

I know people don't want me to say this, but software like that is like a lighter...it's useful if it's used correctly.

Controversial matters aside, I don't blame you if you decide not to rebuild. It's frustrating and draining.

This post has been edited by a member of staff (Ruto) because of a violation of the forum rules.

Please don't promote the use of cheating programs in any way.

Please check your user inbox to see if you have been contacted regarding this incident, then review our rules.

I think a lot of times, when it's a church funeral, there's a ladies' group that does the food. (I'm certain that was the case with the last one I went to.)

In some cases, yes, the decedent's family provides the food. When my Grandpa Prescott passed away, it was in January and we didn't have the celebration of life until summer. My uncle grilled a lot of bratwurst, my grandma and I made pies and a bucket of potato salad...I don't know if the church ladies provided any food, but they definitely helped with the serving so we could spend time with our guests and eat.

Aww, Lev! *hugs*

The vast majority of funerals take place at eleven, so everyone is ready for lunch after. The funeral I went to a few weeks ago, they took too long at the cemetery, so we ended up leaving before they got there. That was kind of sad, because there was a meatloaf and pies and cookies and cake...xP

After the office manager's service, they went to a local restaurant. I think it might have been pay-for-your own, which is highly unusual. My dad and I got dinner from Wendy's instead and took it home. Yummy. :)

I think people really complicate death and make it into something far more depressing than it needs to be...

Abso-freaking-lutely!

Do you know how many people refuse to make arrangements ahead of time, because they think it's "too morbid" or "too depressing"? Too many!

I've never asked the pre-arrangement people (I didn't see them Tuesday night), but I bet it's only like one in four people that they contact actually make arrangements.

A funeral procession consists of cars going to the cemetery. The lead car is always the coach (what others call the hearse), followed by the limo and any cars belonging to family members that aren't riding in the limo. After that, it's first come, first in line--you drop your window when you pull in and tell the funeral assistant who greets you whether you'll be going to the cemetery. If you go, you'll be given a magnetic flag to put on your hood--it's orange with a black cross in the center and the cross reads "funeral"--and you go park in the line-up. If you don't go, there will be more assistants to direct you into parking spaces.

After the funeral (or rather, after everyone stops talking and gets into their cars), everyone will turn their lights on, the funeral assistants will step out into the street with giant stops signs for cross traffic and everyone will head to the cemetery. Depending on where the cemetery is and how many people there are in the procession, the line can grow quite big. (I remember one procession where the girl had committed suicide...the assistants triple parked us and it seemed like the line went forever.) When you get to the cemetery, the assistants will take the flags back and you can go to the luncheon or go home as it pleases you.

Etiquette dictates that you are to treat a funeral procession like an emergency vehicle: pull over and wait for them to pass (or stand at the crosswalk and wait, even if the walk light is on, as I learned). If you see them on the freeway, let them pass you...don't get in a hurry. Once, I got stuck at a stoplight because a procession was on its way through...in that case, you just sit there at the intersection until they're gone and proceed as normal.

Sometimes (but rarely do they do it), the family can pay extra and swap the luncheon and the cemetery. My dad did that when my grandma died, except being an employee, that was his "discount"--he didn't have to pay extra. In that case, we had the funeral mass, went to the church hall for food and then got into our vehicles and rode to the cemetery. (My dad and I rode with my aunt and uncle...nice to have the company.)

When the funeral home's last office manager passed away, the body was present for the funeral, but since she was going to be cremated, there was no procession. In that instance, we all filed out in back of the funeral home, watched as the casket was loaded into the coach and listened as the officiant said a few more things. The door was shut and the coach took off like it was going somewhere...but in reality, they just circle around the block (or a few blocks) until everyone takes off. At that point, they'll move the casket into one of the vans and take off for the crematorium. (My dad didn't get that run because he wasn't officially on duty...that and I would've been stuck in the office for the 90 minutes or so it takes to get there and back, since I wouldn't want to have gone.)