David LMAO! Okay, that post made my day. Especially the shout out to Paul. I, too, would have expected better rapport with a dragonlord. I don't play MMORPGs for nothing, man. Well, I'm normally not a scatterbrain, but maybe I'm experiencing early early onset senility because I forgot my wallet twice in a month and both times it was returned to me. Needless to say, I could have kissed both of my knights in shining armor, but I didn't want to freak them out. So, I played it cool by nearly bursting into tears of relief. Mike Darn you for saying micrantha. I had this plant in my database for a year and after extensive hunting couldn't figure out where it had disappeared to. Finally I discovered that a substitution had been made on that order and when I entered it into my records, I mistakenly made entries for both the substituted plant and the substitution. So, now, I kind of feel like I've 'felt' like I owned micrantha for so long that I need to actually get it for realsies.

Human size cut out posters (standing upright) doing all sorts of activities or lined down a hall. They bother me for some reason. And is it just here.....but when did walking on the right to shop at malls (akin to driving) become a norm? Tis' a standard here. Haven't shopped at a mall for years and people sure know how to tell you where they want you to be. For some reason I do right side cart in grocery stores, from osmosis or all those electric carts. TPMs....has anyone notice they look like someone's "bare" rear end? Who designs these things? New car and the thing won't go off. What good does this do? Mechanic told me this happens with some cars and it is a law now to have them. Lazy mechanics are my stupid design things...animate or inanimate. Although the design logo is the same, MINI has had this for years and can be turned off manually when tires are changed, adjusted, etc. I can do it if they can't, an odd routine. But again, a lazy mechanic is going to avoid it and spend the time talking about how it is fine. They must have changed the build from original design, or we are getting junk ones. Perhaps there is a way for the user to manually turn it off....and off to search. This isn't a design thing. I cringe when looking for something in a store, then asking the clerk for information and they answer "I don't know". Can't count the times I've wanted to tell them to find someone who does know or to learn something and find out. Every color possible on appliances, no need to put any holiday lights in the kitchen. Just turn the lights out and everything else on. Same with your car at night. Dazzling!

Yes, the portable router! Disciplining kids of today has become interesting.... they are instructed on how to call CPS on their parents from an early age... the parents indulge them with computers, ipods, game systems and fancy cell phones... then we wonder why they don't want to cut the grass or bury a sprinkler line! I had to bring home a few moving boxes and box tape one time so my son would get the message that if his room was not clean ASAP, he was moving out... and I was helping him! When he was on the family cell plan, I could suspend his phone from their website... you want your phone? when the grass is cut! I don't like taking the blame for it, but they were raised by an inconsistent mother in a world of over indulgence and electronic gadgets... their world is so different from the one I grew up in! (and so is parenting!)

OK, fellow steampunk admirers, I have two new additions to my kitchen, and I think they bring a little steampunk vibe to the already, umm, eclectic space. Sorry for all the pics, it's hard to get a good one, and since I won't be able to take another daylight pic till next weekend (tis the season of leaving for and returning from work in the dark), I decided to post 'em all. The light is from RH, and I know, I know, but I looked for months for a vintage fixture that I could tart up or down, but the affordable ones were hopelessly, well, tacky 1960's and the really nice ones were outrageously expensive and way out of our budget. So, off I slunk to the RH website and got this one during their fall 25% off lighting sale. I like it and really like the light it throws on our stainless steel table (a main work surface). The lockers in the WIP hold all of the stuff we canned last summer and the coffee and tea bags as well as assorted other things. mr. sandyponder bought them for me at a garage sale last summer ($5!!) and I installed them this fall. The only other thing to finish in the pantry is the slide out to the right of sink, it's going to hold garbage and compost, maybe even worms if I can figure out how to do it economically and easily. Keep on punking, all- sandyponder Close up of the fixture (the little spotlight thingy was a (failed) experiment, originally we had the island going the other way, but didn't like it, so we changed the orientation 180 degrees and took down a fixture. I had the brilliant idea of tearing apart a broken table lamp I bought from the sale table at TJMaxx, but it's just dorky and as soon as I figure out how to plug the hole in my beautiful ceiling, I'll take it down. Till then, it's a thorn in my side every time I notice it, which, luckily, isn't too often): From the LR: WIP lockers from the kitchen: In the WIP (see the yawning hole *and* the cab front that hasn't painted itself or put itself on yet):