It happened. It had been a LONG time since it had happened, but this morning it happened. Out of the blue. Someone violated the Rule #2 of The 10:00 Rule, which states: “Unless it is of vital importance (or you are a family member), do not call me before 10:00 AM.” A friend of ours – one that we haven’t talked to in a while AND someone who knows about this rule – called this morning… at 08:45. GRRR When I answered the phone (and she heard the *slight* irritation in my voice), she remembered: “Ohmigosh! I forgot all about the 10 AM rule. I figured that if I’m up, that everyone should be up.” *grrr* She then proceeded to get to the reason that she called. Under normal circumstances, this would have gone in the “good thing” category. This morning, it was firmly entrenched in the “I’m way too tired to give a rat’s ass about this” list. Again, she was blessed with clarity and said,”Umm, why don’t I call you back later and let you get back to sleep.” Excellent choice. We hung up. I slept a little more. Life was good again.

Got ready for – and went to – work; eight more work-hours in the week. And I went to the gym for the first time in at least ten days. Looks like I have some catching up to do.
It snowed a little tonight. Nothing stuck, but you could see it falling.

The Quote of the Day for today comes from Angela, another friend from work:

    Angela: Attack of the Clowns comes out in a few months.
    Dee, Lynn and me: *headscratch* “What’s that?”
    Angela: “You know…. the new Star Wars movie.”
    Dee, Lynn and me: *look at each other and burst into hysterical laughter*
    Me: “Clones. It’s Attack of the Clones.”
    Angela: *blank stare* “That makes SO much more sense! Someone told me that it was ‘Attack of the Clowns’ and I was so out of it that I didn’t even question it.”

    At this point, the conversation degenerated into a round of “What if…”

    • “…500 battle-droids come filing out of a troop carrier the size of a Volkswagen?”
    • “…instead of laser pistols or battle staves, they had seltzer bottles and cream pies?”
    • “… they all had big, red noses and Bozo the Clown® hair? …and floppy shoes? …and flowers that squirt water?”

    You get the idea. I think that this went on for about 5 minutes. What can I say: we’re sometimes easily amused. Of course, from THIS point, it degenerated into a Pulp Fiction meets Star Wars line of thought. We had Samuel L. Jackson doing a combination of Mace Windu and Jules Winfield with Yoda doing the Vincent Vega role… with a little Diff’rent Strokes‘ Arnold Jackson thrown in, for good measure. Easily amused.

Jess and I were talking and Sissy (the Wonder Kitten) came in, sat down and proceeded to wash her face. Jess commented on how cute it is to watch cats do that, then she said:”What’s not cute, is watching them plop down and just lick themselves all over.”

…and that’s where the stray toaster came in…

If this has never happened to you, I’m sure that you’ve probably seen it: A mother/grandmother sees a smudge or something on a child in there care, gets a napkin/handkerchief/whatever-is-available or their finger, licks it, and then attempts to bore a hole in the child’s face in an attempt to remove it. Poor kid.

Anyway, here’s the ‘toaster: At what point did someone, preferably a non-feline, decide that saliva was the next best thing to soap and water? I’m assuming that it is an ages-old “solution,” but today? Think about it. If we are so… umm… uhhh… “intelligent,” can’t some other solution be found? If people can put Listerine® in convenient pocket-sized packs, should it be so hard to grasp the concept of “I have a baby/small child, maybe I should pick up some baby wipes or moist towelettes?” Of course, I don’t have any kids and Xena (Warrior Kitten) and Sissy clean themselves. But to me, it just seems like common sense. *shrug* Oh, well.

Peace.