The New Hobbit Hole

[HairOfTheDog]

I bet he totally forgot Sam... Lets remind him. He has been out of town.

Ramius! - Can you take some nice pictures of the construction of your potato gun? And write up some instructions that are not obvious from the pictures? Pictures that show each of the parts, their dimensions, and the installation of the striker are probably all there is to it, as well as discussion about the propellants and ammo ( ;~D ) that work.

You can email the stuff to me, and I can get them to Sam. He needs to get building on these things.... They are presents for Christmas!

[Corin Stormhands]

I guess I'll always be the out of place yankee.

You know I tell people I was 13 before I knew damnyankee was two words.

Actually there are yankees and damn yankees. The second are the ones who stayed.

Southern culture lesson aside (I hope you're at least smiling...), you are correct that we can't handle the storms. We might do better if we knew we'd get at least one major snow/ice storm a year. But they're more infrequent than that.

Here in Virginia, hurricanes aren't normally the threat they are to Sam, but I still think we handle them better than snow and ice. Western Virginia (where I grew up), handles snow a little better 'cause they're more used to it.

Still, I can't recall a time when stores were closed for more than a day or so and that I couldn't at least walk to the store for supplies if I needed to.

[carton253]

Reagan understood too.

This country has a huge decision to make. Whether it will fight for its survival or cower in the corner and hope those mean ole terrorists will go away.

They aren't going away. Which means, sooner or later, we will have to fight. The world doesn't understand that... heck, Israel doesn't understand that. Netanyahu does. But, he won't be elected because people think that he will take Israel to war. Israel's at war, but they are unwilling to pay the price. It reminds me of the elephant in the room. If no one mentions the elephant in the living room, it's not there.

[Corin Stormhands]

Keep my head down and my mouth closed. That's how I survive Thanksgiving.

Sniff....stop it! You're making me homesick...

[Corin Stormhands]

I have a turkey in the smoker right now, that hickory smoke has a great aroma.

My brother-in-law is deep-frying a turkey. Should be interesting.

At least I know at his house we'll have plenty of pints available...

[RosieCotton]

I think I can honestly say that I can't remember a single day when the grocery was closed due to inclement weather, and only a very few times when people rushed out to buy stuff because a storm was coming. Whether that's because we try to be perpetually prepared or just because it takes a real humdinger of a storm to worry anyone here, I don't know.

[Corin Stormhands]

He is quite a handsome man! He is no longer a funny dwarf!

You're not saying a dwarf can't be handsome are you? No, I'm sure that's not what you're saying...

[RMDupree]

Well folks. I'm heading out early so I can let my mom get to the store before the crowds start getting too bad.

Hopefully, my sister will venture to Best Buy with me later to price some computer bundles to help with the final decision.

Talk to you all tomorrow - have a great evening (I know Sam Cree will!).

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Well...when it rains it pours, I guess.

I went to accept the job offer this morning...only he had changed the offer on me. Apparently, the company President decided that the office didn't need an "official" Branch Manager, and that they could make do with a Client/Account Manager instead. "Ok...no problem", I thought. Until he told me the difference in salaries. It's about 7k LESS than what he had originally told me. Wonderful.

Then, I get to take a look at the health benefit plan. First off, there's no dental coverage. Secondly, and possibly most importantly, the Family Coverage Plan is about TWICE what I'm currently paying now at the job I can't stand! Yippee! Around $700 a month, just to make sure myself and my family can stay healthy and see the doctor...joy....

Well, I told him what my salary requirements were, and if they couldn't meet that, then I couldn't take the job. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

The good thing is, this wasn't my only "iron in the fire", so to speak. There is one other company that wants to meet with me for a 2nd interview, and two others that are trying to set up 1st interviews.

As much as I had wanted to work for this company, and as good as their commission program looked on paper, I need to stay pragmatic and realize that I can't feed my family or pay my bills with something that looks good on paper.

[Corin Stormhands]

Ocean Spray Canned Cranberry Sauce!

Blecch! My family goes for the cranberry Jello salad. My wife actually makes a hybrid of my mom's and my m-i-l's that's pretty tasty.

[RosieCotton]

Did anyone else ever watch that TV show "Sliders"? He was my favorite character. He was so cool! When they removed him from the show, I stopped watching it.

Of course, I was quite a bit younger when I watched it, and remember it being cheesy but amusing...maybe I wouldn't enjoy it as much now, I don't know.

[RMDupree]

Before I run, I had to respond to this post.

Please be sure he pre-measures the amount of peanut oil in the fryer by filling the fryer with water and dipping the turkey in first. I'd hate to hear that your Thanksgiving was spent dousing flames!

Especially because it will definitely ruin your buzz.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ha! - I knew I would get someone's goat with that!

He just looks a lot different in that pic... he was kinda of funny lookin guy during FoTR! Now he has this professor/Sean Connery thing goin' on.... and tanned!

He looks like he would have a bit of trouble getting through airport security actually...

[Corin Stormhands]

I'd hate to hear that your Thanksgiving was spent dousing flames!

Hey, it's his house...(but thanks)

[RMDupree]

Rosie - that was the same way it was in Miami before Andrew.

After Andrew, the stores become insane - lines backed up to the meat cases, threading up and down aisles. Scary!!

My family gets all of the non-perishable stuff up front. Only if the storm gets close enough to strike will we bother with coolers and ice and milk, etc.

[Sam Cree]

Thanks, Hair.

[HairOfTheDog]

That's too bad. I am glad you have choices and could look carefully at it before leaping on board.

[RMDupree]

Oh, I'm so disappointed for you. :(

Well, better to find out now than have them hire you and switch on you later. But still, what a downer.

I'll keep you and Rosie in my employment prayer zone until the perfect job appears for both of you!

[Sam Cree]

I think we'll have plenty of pints laid in, too.

[Corin Stormhands]

He does look quite different. Apparently, unlike some rangers we won't name, he was able to find the showers.