holiday gift swap

(aka secret santa, or, to some, secret satan)

somehow i've ended up organizing this in my dept for the last x years (5? i don't know).

this year, i was given "the worst-case scenario survival handbook: travel", which i haven't read fully yet, but includes sections on such hazards as being abducted by aliens (ebe; extraterrestrial biological entity), how to climb out of a well, how to handle a runaway camel, how to survive a severed limb, how to navigate a minefield, how to survive a tsunami, etc etc etc. highly entertaining. plus there are phrases in the back, translated into 4 different languages, helpful things such as "you will never make me talk" and " may i borrow a towel to wipe up the blood?"

i see an entertaining read ahead...

dang

in my headlong rush out of work today (fleeing the irritating boss, lest she suck me in to another useless conversation that wastes time), i forgot to grab the dress i usually keep in my office (just in case i bike to work) that i'd decided to bring to chicago with me. ah, well. i suppose i'll end up shopping anyway...

(also forgot to set the out-of-office message, but so few people are going to be in next week, i suppose that's ok)

so far, so good

the birds arrived last night (staying until the 24th), with assorted paraphernalia (wouldn't that be a great word to find in boggle?). not nearly as much as a baby usually has, despite the volume of the cage (i don't have much experience with pet stuff; my friends seem to have a lot more babies than pets....).

and so far, i've managed to feed them (well, once) without getting my fingers nipped. ok, i'll admit to some adrenaline during the operation...

and they seem chatty when i'm working in the kitchen, too. (they don't like when i'm at the sink, b/c i'm just out of sight around the corner, and you know how wonderful running water can sound...)