Has It Really Been That Long?

From my brother’s email:

Over two weeks and no blog update? I thought I would have some backlogs to keep me busy after my trip.

Does this count?

Don’t worry, Dear Reader, I got things to say – just haven’t had a whole lot of time to do it lately. I’ll catch you up soon.

Giant Microbes

All the talk of swine flu and vaccines reminded me of Giant Microbes, producers of some of the Big Black Dog’s favorite toys. I believe BBD is partial to Ebola and Sleeping Sickness. C. diff had to be retired due to unrepairable holes.

The blue guy in the photo is the common cold (rhinovirus), and sits on the shelf above my computer at work, to keep cooties away.

Yeah, I’m a science nerd. What of it?

Brett Domino Trio

I can’t help but have a crush on Brett Domino and the Brett Domino Trio.

Who are they, you ask? Feast your eyes on this bit of awesomeness.

Doing Michael Jackson’s Beat It:

Covering Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl (I love how they leave out some lyrics about boyfriends – ha!):

No Flu For Me

Thanks to my employer, I’ve received both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu vaccine shots. Hooray, no flu here!

“But, but, but… you’re not a healthcare worker!” you ask.

Well, yes, I sort of am. Not directly, mind you, but I do interact with a lot of healthcare workers and some patients. It’s all about herd immunity. And in case of serious pandemic and collapse of civilization due to an influenza outbreak, I may be recruited to help, so it only makes sense to take care of things.

Besides, I didn’t have to pay for the shots, just show up, scan my ID badge, and expose enough arm to get a stick and a nice Snoopy band-aid.

Yeah, nothing makes a Friday like a Snoopy band-aid.

So Why Am I Still Single?

From Asylum, the best and worst professions to date:

BEST
Librarian
She’ll be pretty smart about lots of random things, great at Googling and a good connection for free books. Bonus: say goodbye to those nasty overdue charges. Plus, everyone knows librarians are sexual dynamos waiting to explode. Right?

Damn straight. I rock Google. The “sexual dynamo” bit you’ll have to find out for yourself.

(h/t Neatorama)

Sort of related, I love this image.

Mad Men Must Wait

I’ve mentioned before about my conversion to Mad Men fan. Well, I finally got through all the DVDs for seasons 1 and 2 — thanks to Netflix, one of the best ideas ever, and one of the cheapest forms of entertainment around — and was excited to dive into season 3.

That’s when things went bad.

I was able to watch the first episode of season 3 on the AMC site, but no other episodes. I don’t have cable, so I can’t catch up on reruns. The only legitimate thing I can do to watch the show right now is to get the episodes off of iTunes at $2.99 a pop or $34.99 for a season pass (13 episodes). I wouldn’t mind getting a couple of them that way, but all of them?

Yeah, that’s not going to happen, when I’ve got other expenses right now.

(And yes, I know episodes can be found online through BitTorrent and other places, but the librarian in me hesitates to do something illegal like that.)

Looks like I’ll have to wait FOREVER for the DVDs to be released and watch it then, or wish that someone with cable invites me over to watch. Getting cable again is a no go.

In the meantime, I found this:

Sorry, New Jersey

But thanks for taking a hit for the team.

Based on information from the Zombie Research Society, I feel a little better about my chance of survival when the zombie apocalypse hits.

h/t: the always wonderful Polly!

30 Dumb Inventions

From Life Magazine: 30 Dumb Inventions.

I don’t know, some of those seem kinda cool, like illuminated tires. It’s a wonder those don’t make a comeback.

Ugh… Sick

I’m not sure if it’s nature trying to kill me with allergies or a virus, but I feel terrible. A slight spike in temperature, but not enough to qualify as a fever, lots of congestion, coughing, general upper respiratory yuckiness. Yeah, it’s been a fun weekend, let me tell you.

I hope I can be alert enough to watch the National Parks documentary starting tonight on PBS, and that I can pull myself together for work tomorrow, because I can’t miss. (Thanks, special project!)

It’s times like this when I really wish I had a boyfriend / husband — someone to do things like walk the Big Black Dog, do some laundry, get meds from the store, and take care of me.

Don’t worry, I doubt the pity party will last long.

Wildlife Inventory

You can add a possum to the list of wildlife seen in my yard.

To recap, there’s been the usual squirrels and birds (including a beautiful cardinal), but also bunnies, bats, skinks, snakes, coyotes, a kitty (who is apparently now a permanent addition). Of course the Big Black Dog should be included, but he’s mainly indoors. I’m probably missing a few critters, too. I would not be surprised to see raccoons one day. I hope I don’t though.

And based on the evidence seen around the front and under my car, you can subtract one bird. All the gray and white feathers explains why Mac the kitty didn’t seem all that hungry over the weekend.