Language abuse!

"For that reason [the bombings in Turkey], we're expecting a solidly weak open [in trading]."

From CNN Headline News this morning. I watched a few minutes of it and immediately regretted it. Top story: Michael Jackson. What else? Who cares about car bombings when a major celebrity is being charged with molestation? From now on, I turn to the Internet when I need a news fix.

Strange day yesterday. I felt wonderful in the morning--between the sunshine and the fading of my sinus headache, it was like I had a new lease. Then, around lunchtime, things went downhill and by the time I got to monshu's, I had chills, a light fever, and no energy to speak of. Now I feel good enough that I'm gong to risk going in. Odd. I have the sensation of being just above sickness, that no matter how well I feel, some added strain could push me under again.

But I must get to work today. It's half-off day at the booksale!

Half-off day today

Today's booksale haul:

Johnson, Das dritte Buch über Achim.
Frisch, Homo faber.
Fallada, Kleiner Mann, was nun?.

(Because I don't have enough German literature lying around that I haven't gotten to reading.)

DeFrancis, Beginning Chinese. (You can never have too many grammars.)

Allioui, Contes du cycle de l'ogre. (Surprise! It was still there!)

Representative quote:

tameTTut yeħkan tamacahuţ:
di Tlam ay teţnadi tafat.

( Translation from the Moon Man )

Total bill: $5. Overall, that's 16 books for $30. RAWK!

"Speck. Drink it treyf!"

Oh, I forgot to mention one of the things that kept us chuckling in our seats on Tuesday: his_regard announced that, in honour of Ramadan, he had come up with the most haram food possible--bacon schnapps. It took a moment to assimilate this, but I soon had visions of an old-fashioned German schnapps bottle with "Speck" in blocky cursive (think old Stoli bottles). We discussed the presence or absence of actual bacon. his_regard suggested you could have tiny bacon bits for a Goldschlager effect, but I opined that these would be too heavy to stay suspended for long. Still, I didn't know that a Żytnia-style strip of bacon in the neck would be much better.

It was but the shortest of leaps from bacon schnapps to inventing an appropriate breakfast cocktail. Before I list some of our ideas, I'd like to hear y'all's!

Check's in the mail

So the State Treasurer's office has finally caught up with me.

My check should be arriving shortly. No, really! Months ago now, I saw my name on their Cash Dash™ website and sent in my paperwork. Eventually, I got a postcard telling me they'd received my letter and my request was being processed. Then nothing. I moved. I kept the card someplace handy so I could call them, but when I finally got around to doing this two weeks ago, I got nothing but a busy signal. Bastards.

Yesterday, they called me at work and a co-worker took a message explaining that their letter to me had bounced. Today, they called back and I gave them the new address. At this point, I'm as eager to find out why I'm getting a check as I am to receive the money. Turns out that it's an old paycheck that I inexplicably never cashed--from 1993!

All of your for whom my finanical forgetfullness is a source of amusement (yes, Nuphy, I'm talking to you), have yourselves a good belly laugh over this one.