Category: Uncategorized

Here are the key points for today’s meeting.

• We weren’t able to find a beard at the dollar store. I know you find that hard to imagine, but I guess there just wasn’t enough room what with all the candles and knick-knacks and whathaveyou. We tried iParty but I’m not paying 8 bucks for my kid to pretend he’s not himself at school. So we’ll just have to leave this experiment on hold for now.
• Interestingly, we ate dinner at my sister’s house last night and we watched Howl’s Moving Castle. One of the characters, Markl, is a young boy who wears a beard when he goes out in the town, and nobody sees past his disguise. We loved this movie, and now that we’ve seen this one and Spirited Away I have put the rest of Hayao Miyazaki’s movies in my Amazon “to buy” basket.
• On the way to work I got to wondering…if I got rear-ended by a cement mixer and all the cement came pouring out on my car, and as I got out it got all over me, my hair, etc., how long would I have before my hair and clothes because encased in cement?
• It’s “Deal or No Deal” night at my house. Jen and Steve (WXLO) interviewed Howie Mandell this morning, and I was thrilled when Steve asked the question I would have asked…Howie did memorize the names of the 26 girls, but they hold the same number case EACH time, so it’s easier to remember them all. I guess I hadn’t paid close enough attention to know that they are always in the same spot. Prior to today, I had hoped that he was just making up names on the fly, because that would be really funny. And now I have to pay closer attention because he has OCD and one of his things is that he doesn’t shake hands with anyone. Interesting problem for a game show host!
• I did go to the Leominster Filene’s yesterday after getting my hair done and picked up a few things from the 80% off rack. Our store is not having a total clearance the way some of the others are. They are selling off the brands they won’t carry as Macy’s, but there is still a lot of regularly priced merchandise available. But I can say I got 2 pair of Lee jeans for six bucks each! Score! (I should go back and get more, eh?)

You know, most people would distance themselves from weird stuff their kid says or does. Not me. I love it. I eat it up. I want him to be a creative thinker, and if he’s got a good sense of humor, better still.

So when he made the following request this evening, I didn’t ask him why he thought of this, or try to dissuade him, other than to say it was too late to do it tonight.

“Mom, I was to go to the dollar store and buy a fake beard to wear to school, to see if the kids in my class will think I’m somebody else.”

I was only half-listening to a radio commercial for a grocery store, and I thought I heard the guy say that haddock loins were on sale. Is a haddock really big enough that you can sell just the loins? I have to assume I misheard, but maybe I didn’t. So, can anyone fill me in on the whole haddock loin conundrum? I’m not losing sleep over it, but still…

Thanks to faithful reader Anji, who is apparently good with paying attention to details, pointed out in a comment that this is the year the Dump turns 10. Good God! TEN!

Actually, I don’t have the official first date, because the early pages of the site have been lost to history. I did try to find them in the web archive, but they don’t exist. The earliest versions were part of Tripod, actually, back when they were one of the few sites to give away free web space (but prior to them getting all ad-happy). I cannot remember what my site’s old URL was, so I don’t think I’ll ever find it. I’m sure it was a work of art.

The earliest file available in my archives is July 9th, 1996, but I know I had stuff before then. I actually assume the blog’s birthday is in 1995. I just don’t have any way to determine when the actual birthdate is. So….July 9th it is! Keep your eyes and ears peeled for more funtastic birthday excitement!

(And if anyone can find any proof/content from prior to that date, I have a big old prize waiting for you.)

Following up on yesterday’s ‘roid rage post, I had to call the eye doctor this morning because of lingering issues with my left eye ever since having the stupid viral infection last month. Old Lefty has periodically felt icky, or felt like there was grit or an eyelash under my eyelid. Reminiscent of the infection, really, but it would only last for about 15 minutes and then I wouldn’t feel it again for a day or so. Two nights ago Lefty started experiencing a “halo” effect whenever I look at a light. I first noticed it when looking at the red light that tells you a burner is hot on the stove. Last night it was really noticeable on the drive home…annoying in fact. The right eye is fine, it’s just the left one bothering me.

So I called the doctor who was taking care of me (who I love, by the way…he’s wonderful, but his official title at the practice is “Clinical Director of Refractive Surgery” so I’m not sure why he got stuck dealing with me, eye infection girl) and he says it can really take weeks for the eye to heal after an infection and this is likely all part of that same infection. He also mentioned for the first time that the last time I went in and he looked at my eye, it looked like it had “hundreds of tiny pinholes on it” which would all have to heal. Oh my God, I didn’t need to hear that.

So I can call him back in a few days if there’s no improvement, but I’m supposed to just use some of those over the counter dry eye drops, so no repeat on my ‘roid rage. But now I’ve got the whole pinhole thing in my head. Eyes are freaky. Cool, but freaky.