Beware of the Water-bearer

Steve got me this nice souvenir from the Provincetown Carnival.

I wondered why aliens are so skinny; you can see this one's ribs sticking out.  Steve thought it was the long space journeys.

Seven for Drinks Only

Last night seven of us went out to toast JB's 58th birthday.
First we went to First Printer.  Since we didn't want dinner, they said we could only sit at the bar.  We wanted a table, so we could all face each other.
Next we went to the Russell House Tavern.  Since we didn't want dinner, they said we could only sit at the bar.  We wanted a table, so we could all face each other.
Diane suggested that this was a "dry crawl" rather than a "pub crawl."
We didn't have all night: JB had said he needed to go home at 6 and clean the house and get groceries.
Steve suggested OM, which most of us had never been to.  At last we had a place to sit down.  We got an alcove of comfy benches and coffee tables hidden behind a bead curtain, just like in the movies!  We had 2 bottles of wine, and JB had a martini.  The vegetable dumplings we got were not enough to prevent inebriation.  We convinced JB that he didn't have to go home at 6.

Afterwards Julie and I went to Sue's house to wait for Dave and drink water.  Then when Dave came, he asked us how we spelled "dilemma."  I've always spelled it DILEMMA, but everybody else remembers spelling it DILEMNA.  Interesting.

Techies Tell Me Why....

Why does my laptop screen periodically have curtain shadows at the bottom?

It doesn't have to do with a low battery; it happens sometimes after the battery is totally charged.

UPDATE:  Here's a screen capture of when shadows manifest.

Retro Office Supplies

While rummaging around in Ranald's cubicle, I found a handsome metal document box.

He told me he had rescued it from the trash.  Why are they always throwing out good stuff and replacing it with crappy new stuff?

Do Shoes Come From Heaven?

wait for the other shoe to drop wait for the next or final thing to happen. North American *

Sure!  Shoes come in pairs, so when the other shoe drops, you have a complete pair.  Then it's time to walk.

But why does the shoe drop?  What's it doing way up there?  My shoes are on the floor or hanging on my closet door.  Do other people keep their shoes on such high shelves that they must knock them down with a pole?

Or maybe shoes used to grow on tall trees, and people had to shake the trees to get the shoes to drop. (Thus, the "shoe tree.")

Do shoes come from heaven?

*"shoe"  Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms. Edited by John Ayto, Judith Siefring and Jennifer Speake. Oxford University Press Inc. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Harvard University Library.  17 October 2011

Who Will Stop the Rain?

Nobody will stop this rain. It's been raining for weeks and promises to continue indefinitely until the mosquitos take over and the slugs grow as big as my arm! Also the plants in my patio are doing nicely. I did stick some tomato seeds in the ground, but nothing here looks like tomato. I'll probably just buy a plant at a farmers' market.