Random thoughts...

Yep, just plain old random thoughts today. Still working on unpacking/cleaning after our week in Austin. When we got home, our nice new red rug was covered with little tufts of cat hair. Sigh... as much as I love my furry troublemakers, they require a constant amount of maintenance... :)

By the way, the carpet we bought IS, in fact, RED -- apparently the pictures of it have a tendency, on some computers, to look PINK. Both my mom and Rick's mom mentioned that they thought our choice of carpet shade was a bit on the lighter side of the red spectrum... and then my mom got here and saw it in person and said, "oh it really IS red!" YES, it's red! :) It's sort of a dark brick red... if it looks pink on your computer, it is a technical anomaly. I would never own a pink carpet... I've never been a fan of pink. Now, purple, sure -- and we actually DO have a purple throw rug in the bedroom to match our purple accent wall. But THIS carpet is red:

Whatever it is, Riff loves it...

Anyway, on to other randomness... I really wonder about some of these ads on TV for ridiculously specialized cooking gadgets. I just saw one for a little plastic container for boiling an egg -- you crack the egg, pour it into the little plastic thingie, and then boil the plastic thingie. This way, you don't have to bother with that insufferable chore of peeling the shell off the hard-boiled egg. Really?? Do I need to spend money on something just so I don't have to peel a shell off an egg? Personally, I'd rather peel a shell off a hard-boiled egg than crack open a raw one... I don't worry about salmonella with hard-boiled eggs...

Has anyone other than me read the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy? Actually, I'm still struggling through the final book. The first one was just "okay" (slow at the beginning, pretty good in the middle, slow again at the end), the second one was actually pretty good, but now the third one is draaaaaaagging at a snail's pace, and I'm trying to decide whether to finish it (because I've come this far and I really don't want this stupid book to get the best of me) or to just give up and find a copy of The Hunger Games (which I've wanted to read for a while now). The funny thing is, my dad is reading a "thriller" written by a Norwegian author (the Dragon Tattoo series was written by a Swedish author), and he's discovering the same thing I discovered: apparently "thriller" in Scandinavia has a different meaning than "thriller" in America. Both of the Scandinavian writers spend a lot of time with exposition, and not a lot of time with action. For instance, I just waded through an entire chapter that spelled out the history of the Swedish security police in great detail. And I just... don't... care. But at the same time, I don't want to be defeated by a few hundred pages hidden in my Kindle. Must... finish... slow... book...

Okay, I'm off to work out (which I actually kept up with when we were away -- but I also ate about five thousand calories every day...). Hope everyone is having a good week so far...   

Weather woes...

Texas. Is. Hot.

I mean, it is just ridiculously hot right now. I saw 109 on some thermometer today, which I believe is the highest temperature I've seen all week. (It is NOT, however, the highest I've ever seen here -- I remember one year where we hit 113, more than once in a summer...) Usually I'd spend a day like this holed up in an air conditioned building... and while we did spend a good part of the day at Rick's parents' house, for some reason it was decided that today was a good day to figure out how to use the new riding lawnmower in the garage. After about fifteen minutes in that garage, trying to help Rick and one of his sisters get the battery hooked up (which involved searching the house for wrenches), I retreated to the living room couch to cool off. I'm not usually one to absolutely HATE the heat, but I seriously felt like I might just dissolve into a mushy puddle on the driveway if I stayed out too long...

And meanwhile, friends and family in the northeast are contending with hurricane Irene (which will no doubt pour copious amounts of rain on a part of the country that COULD spare some rain for the parched south -- if everyone up there would just set out rain barrels and then ship them down here, it would be much appreciated). Our friend Eric (not to be confused with Eric my Chicago pet-sitter/second-favorite brother) apparently told my dad that hurricane Irene is so bad that it should be renamed hurricane Lisa. Heeeeeeeyyyyy -- I'm nice! I'm nice, and I'm quiet -- I can sneak up on people and they don't even realize I've arrived... you can't say THAT about Irene. I've never flooded anyone's basement, I won't turn off your power, and I don't chop down trees... In fact, I'm pretty sure Eric has downed a few trees in Montana, making him more like a hurricane than I have ever been...

But I do hope all of you up there in Irene's (NOT Lisa's) path will be safe and will avoid any major damage of any kind. (And IF you can figure out a way to ship all that water down here, please do so...)

Tomorrow we head back to the relative coolness of Chicago, and, possibly, to a condo with two angry cats who have sold most of our stuff on the internet. But like I told my brother -- it's hard to be mad at them when they're obviously so ingenious and intelligent. :) See you all back in Chicago... 

Randomness from Austin...

So yesterday Austin hit 100 degrees (actually, more like 103) for the 70th day in a row, which is the first time that's happened since 1925. Which kind of makes me wonder -- who in their right mind would've stuck around back in the un-air-conditioned 1920s for 70 days of 100-degree heat?? How did they stay cool back then? How did they get their ice to freeze so they could enjoy cold glasses of lemonade on the front porch? How could they stand wearing so much extraneous clothing?? I don't even enjoy walking from the comfortable, air conditioned house to the comfortable, air conditioned car, or from the comfortable, air conditioned car across a baking parking lot and into a comfortable, air conditioned store... (The only way to attain comfortability in these stifling temperatures is with air conditioning, obviously...)

Rick and I were waken up by a phone call around 2 in the morning (never a good thing...) from his mom, who told us that his sister and a friend (who work nights and were carpooling) were hit by a drunk driver. Rick's sister had to be cut out of the car. We spent a sleepless hour waiting for updates, and eventually learned that amazingly, neither Rick's sister nor her friend were seriously injured... the drunk, of course, was perfectly fine, which always seems to be the case. But really, what is WRONG with people??? How difficult is it to NOT DRIVE if you've had too much to drink? How difficult is it to NOT DRINK if you know you have to drive?? Either option is acceptable -- just choose one. It is astoundingly stupid to get behind of the wheel of a car when your judgment is impaired...

So it looks like the northeast might get a hurricane to round out the week of natural disasters that began with the giant earthquake. (What was that California? It wasn't that big? Okay, well, you let us know the next time you have a "major" snowstorm or a "killer" tornado... :)) I think my favorite joke about the earthquake so far is the one about how the D.C. earthquake originated from a previously unknown fault called "Bush's Fault." Hahahaha... :)

I can't believe Steve Jobs is leaving Apple and making my stock crash. (Actually, from what I've seen, it's not doing that badly... I think I'll hold on to it for a while longer... :))

I'm a bit anxious to get back home, because Eric keeps sending me messages about all of the cat's shenanigans. Apparently, they've employed a personal chef, created a website to sell all my stuff, and have learned how to use pay-per-view. We need to get back before they list our condo for sale and figure out how to drive...

Does anyone else find it rather creepy that Gadhafi had a photo album full of pictures of Condoleeza Rice in his compound?? I'm also a bit unsettled by the fact that the rebels ransacked the home of Gadhafi's daughter Aisha... which may not have bothered me as much if there hadn't been so much little kid/baby stuff lying around in the photos... (Note to self: Do not ever become a part of a "regime"... because once it crumbles, people will break into your house and go through all your stuff...)

Okay, I'm off to do... something... to be determined...  

What I've learned...

...the last few days I've been here... or "an excuse for a random picture post":

Wasps nests are BAD. This one was under the eaves at Rick's parents' house -- Rick got a can of wasp-killing Raid, aimed it at all these little flying daggers, and sprayed away. The wasps scattered outward (prompting Rick and me to perform a little "get me away from these wasps" dance... it was quite graceful, I assure you...), but to the credit of the "kills on contact" claims on that wasp spray, the bugs began to fall to the ground like tiny little skydivers, sans parachutes...

There are cats I can put on the blog other than MY cats! Like this three-headed cat that used to live on mom and dad's couch... (That's Ozzie, Tiger and Koala... Ozzie, unfortunately, went to see Allegro and Echo and Kiko in pet heaven last week. As you can see, Tiger and Koala absolutely LOVED Ozzie and always wanted to be close to him... much to Ozzie's chagrin... :))

And this is Gracie, one of the cats who lives with Rick's parents... she was watching us spray the wasps and wondering why humans are so weird...

I've also learned that I look really, really short when I'm standing with my brothers and cousins... and I seem to have an abnormal amount of abnormally dark hair, comparatively speaking.

Sometimes, I can be sort of crazy...

 But really, I'm quite sane. Most of the time...

The Land That Rain Forgot...

Hello from Austin, where the temperature has been above 100 for nearly 70 days in a row, and the last rain that fell was who-knows-how-long ago. Consequently, much of the city looks like this:

And this:

And this:

 Thank goodness for THIS:

Yes, that looks MUCH better... (we won't talk about the fact that even the pool temperature is hovering around 90 degrees...)

Strangely, the heat doesn't feel THAT bad during the day -- the humidity is practically non-existant, which helps. But for some reason, as soon as the sun goes down, it is stifling out there... it's as if the temperature control center in my brain KNOWS that when the sun goes down it's supposed to be cooler. Breezy. Maybe even slightly chilly. So when I walk outside after dark and it's still 95 degrees out there, it feels like a suffocating blanket of heat...

We drove down past my old place of employment and ate at Uno pizza for lunch -- it was one of my favorite lunch places in the area where I worked. And before we left the restaurant this afternoon, I had to get one of their frozen blended coffee drinks, which I think are the best of any coffee place I've ever tried. Which is saying a lot for someone who's a Starbucks/Caribou/Seattle's Best coffee junkie. I used to get one before I returned to work on Friday afternoons, so I could sip it while I counted down the minutes to weekend freedom...

I'm not sure I ever got a decent picture of the 360 bridge up on the blog -- so I took one today while mom was driving:

One of Austin's landmarks...

And hello Ex-Place of Employment!

Okay, I believe I'm monopolizing mom's computer right now, so I'll wrap this up. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Odds 'n' ends...

... a.k.a. "random thoughts." :) Not much time to write today, since I'm getting ready for our trip down to Austin tomorrow. I'm sort of half-packed (which means I've created a pile of clothes in the closet that I WANT to pack... but nothing has actually made its way into a suitcase yet), but I still have a lot to do before tomorrow. I must not forget to pack a swimsuit, as it's about fifteen thousand degrees in Austin right now, and mom and dad have a pool...

Speaking of the heat in Austin -- Texas SERIOUSLY needs some rain. A few days ago, a grass fire broke out in a little town north of Austin -- about 20 mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Some people lost everything they owned. And I can't help but think that the fire was started by some idiot who threw a cigarette butt out a window... that seems to be the cause of about 90 percent of those grass fires in Texas... (Hint: if it's a million degrees outside and it hasn't rained in fourteen years, do NOT toss any kind of burning object into the grass... I make the assumption that this is common sense, but perhaps not...)

I saw someone walking down the street holding a clipboard earlier today, and it reminded me of one of the things I REALLY like about living in a condo -- no solicitors! I used to HATE it when my doorbell would ring at random times during the day if I wasn't expecting anyone... because I always had to make the decision to either take a chance and open the door, or hide in my closet until the person left. (And I wasn't literally hiding in the closet -- our closet had a window that overlooked the front porch, so I could see who was standing there... I would check to see who it was, and then wait to make sure they eventually walked away. This, of course, makes me sound like some kind of creepy reverse-voyeur -- yeah, I don't walk around looking into unsuspecting people's houses, but I DO look out of my OWN house to watch unsuspecting doorbell-ringers...) When I DID take a chance and answer the door, nine times out of ten it was someone trying to sell me something. And if they happened to have a really good story (like the single mom who was selling magazines to make ends meet...), I was always too nice to turn them away or say no. Which means I ended up with far too many candy bars for charity and magazines for single moms...

I'm getting a little freaked out by the maneuvers of several military jets which have been flying over the city for the last twenty minutes. I'm not sure what they're doing, but they're making a lot of noise and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to their flight... (They've also obviously disrupted the commercial flights in the area, since no one else can fly when these things are zipping around the airspace...)

We're meeting up with Eric for dinner tonight, so I can give him our keys and he can take care of these crazies while we're gone:

And no, I did NOT just say that so I could put more pictures of my cats on the blog...

Okay, maybe I did...
 

Werewolf and Jungle Girl...

My awesome friend Faisal bestowed upon me another Indian music playlist -- 25 songs of a ridiculously addictive nature, which I have been compelled to listen to more than I care to admit over the last few days. The weird thing is, the first listen-through of each song is always the same -- sort of a, "okay, yeah, this is pretty good... not bad..." And then the SECOND listen-through is more like, "oh my gosh, I LOVE this song!! This is the best song EVER! No, wait -- THIS is the best song ever!!" What the heck?? It's like music infused with heroin or something... (Is that possible? Heroin music?? Is there a market on the street for this stuff?)

But I'll get back to Indian music in a minute... first, I must ask: if I think that teenagers are idiots, does that mean I'm getting old? (In my defense, I thought that teenagers were idiots when I WAS a teenager. It's pretty much been my opinion for most of my life...) I ask because over the last two days, I've had a bizarre text message exchange with a girl (who, I'll admit, I'm assuming is a teenager) named Faith, who mistakenly punched in MY phone number when she was attempting to reach a guy named Jacob. I actually ignored the messages last night, which were something along the lines of, "hey jacob this faith kayla gave me ur #." After a couple messages, Faith decided to go ahead and CALL the number, at which point I thought, "okay, as soon as she hears my voicemail and realizes this number belongs to a girl named Lisa, she'll give up..."

But nooooooo... of course not. Around midnight I got "goodnight faithy out." Well, at least she was done for the night. I figured she'd wake up today, meet Kayla and Jacob at Starbucks, and ask Jacob why he kept ignoring her last night. At which point Jacob would explain that he'd never gotten her messages, they would double-check the number, and Faith would realize that she'd been texting the wrong person. The little trio would laugh over their frappuccinos and lament the rapidly approaching school year and gossip about unpopular kids.

So you can imagine my frustration when I got another message around noon today, that once again said something like, "you there jacob this faith." (And by the way, EVERY time this girl said who she was, it was "this faith." I'll let the lack of capitalization slide, because depending on the phone, it can be a pain to capitalize words in mid-sentence. But the lack of "is" was seriously annoying. This Faith?? Who is she, some sort of jungle kid? Like "me Tarzan, you Jane"??) At this point, I figured I should go ahead and tell this girl that she had the wrong number, so I sent a message back to that effect. She then sent one to me that said, "wht?" (You can't even be bothered to throw the "a" in there???) So I replied with a very clear, "you have the wrong phone number -- I don't know you." That seemed to do the trick...

And then two hours later, once again -- "ae u jacob? this faith." (I'm guessing "ae" is Jungle Girl shorthand for "are.") The reply sent: Nope, sorry, you still have the wrong number. I then received a strange message which said, "rhen which jacob are." That's it. Rhen which jacob are. WHAT?? Is that even English? (Remember how I said I'd get back to the Indian music? Here ya go -- the Hindi lyrics I've been listening to the last few days make more sense to me than that message did.) 

After considering it for a while, I thought perhaps what she was TRYING to say was something like, "then which jacob are you." Because perhaps she was absolutely convinced that she was talking to someone named Jacob, but it was not the correct Jacob. Wow. I didn't bother to reply again -- I'm just hoping that eventually the light bulb came on and her Jungle Girl brain was able to process the concept of a "wrong number." C'mon Faith... I have... well, I have YOU in you...

Is THIS who you were looking for??

Up in the air...

For the first time in -- uh... since I can remember? -- I wore a jacket on an August afternoon when I was walking outside. (Have I EVER needed a jacket in August? Maybe when I was a kid and lived in Buffalo...) It was about 70 when we went out for lunch today -- which wouldn't have been jacket-worthy if it had been sunny and calm, but it was cloudy and very windy, so I threw one on just in case I got too chilly. Granted, I WAS a bit warm by the time I got back home, but I was glad I had it at first...

I'm also glad we're heading to Austin at the end of the week, where the temperatures are still hovering around 100 every day -- because I really want a good dose of Super Summer Overkill before settling in for autumn in Chicago. Spending a week in oven-like temperatures will remind me of how nice the changing of the seasons can be... :)

I can't even remember the last time we were in Austin -- it's a been a while. In fact, it's been a while since I've flown anywhere. (Rick, on the other hand, has been jetting off to exotic locales like Kansas City and Fargo on a weekly basis...) We actually drove past the airport last night on our way to dinner with some friends out in the 'burbs (I also haven't been out in the 'burbs in a while... and why do I keep saying "burbs"?? It's a really weird word). And I did what I always do when we're near the airport -- stared in fascination at the low-flying planes overhead, simultaneously wondering how they stay aloft and where they've been or happen to be going. I especially like to see something big, like a 747, just after it takes off or right before it touches down -- I'm amazed by those things. They defy all logic... they should NOT be able to float in the air the way they do. In fact, the one time I traveled on a 747, I was slightly disconcerted by the amount of time our plane stayed in contact with the runway before lifting off... I had time to read an entire chapter of a book before that thing was airborne (that may be a slight exaggeration... :)).

I'm also just, in general, fascinated with airports. Or rather, not the AIRPORT itself, but the idea that everyone inside the airport is traveling somewhere. I walk through the terminal, reading every destination on every board at every gate, jealous of the cool places ("aw, why can't I be on that plane to Milan??") and curious about the not-so-cool places ("I wonder why all those people are headed to Fargo..."). I'm amazed, when I get to my own gate, that so many OTHER people have reasons to travel to the SAME place I'm going, at the SAME time that I'm going. I guess airports, for some reason, bring out some sort of naturally curious streak in me... there are so many stories in an airport. Would it be weird for me to go from person to person and ask them where they're going and why? Yeah, that would probably be weird...

But at least I know where I'M going this week... which reminds me, I really should start thinking about what to pack for Super Summer Overkill weather...

You'll never guess what this post is about...

Did you say cats?? Ha! You're wrong! (If, however, you went with the second most obvious answer and were thinking "random stuff," you are absolutely correct...)

So Rick is off to the thriving metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota today. My guess is he'll absolutely love the place, come home, and announce that we're moving. (Okay, maybe that's the OPPOSITE of what I imagine will happen...) I've been to Fargo once, years and years ago when I was a teenager (okay, maybe not THAT many years ago... ;)) when we were taking a family road trip across the country and stopped to visit some friends from New Jersey who had moved there. Apparently there wasn't much to do in Fargo, because we hopped over the border into Minnesota to visit a Swedish heritage museum. I remember there were huge Viking ships in that museum... I actually recommended it to Rick, since he has some time to kill tonight, but I guess he's not all that enamored by the idea of Viking ships and Swedish heritage...

I stumbled upon an episode of Fraggle Rock earlier today, and, since I am apparently an eight-year-old, I watched the whole episode. (The sad thing is, I think I actually remembered the episode from back when I was a kid...) The show was obviously on a channel aimed at kids, with commercials aimed at their moms... so it wasn't a surprise when I saw an ad for a little mini blender designed to make baby food. It was a cousin of the popular "magic bullet" blender, which is a small, compact blender that doesn't take up much kitchen space. But I WAS a bit taken aback by the name of the baby food blender -- am I the only one who thinks that "Baby Bullet" sounds a bit disturbing?? Maybe it's just me...

I'm watching a show about jellyfish on the National Geographic channel. It's sort of freaking me out. I'm not sure I ever want to swim in the ocean again. (Not that I was particularly fond of it to begin with... I prefer to just lay on the beach and listen to the waves...)

I'm slightly disappointed that someone has finally decided to change the color of the lights on the top of the Hancock Building from red, white and blue to just plain white. Not that I'm über-patriotic and expect them to keep the colors of the flag up there at all times -- but plain white is just... boring. Now it's just like a bunch of really bright office lights. A little color adds a bit of interest to the skyline... (but why is there never any purple?? Just sayin'...)

Well, it's probably close to my bedtime... I will no doubt have nightmares about giant jellyfish tonight. Perhaps I should read for a while before bed... (And on a side note: Do you suppose my brain will ever be organized enough that I can write an entire, coherent post again? All these random thoughts are so... random.) Good night!

Sorry...

... but it appears we have more cat pictures...

As you can see, Riff REALLY likes the new carpet we just bought for the living room. (Actually, we bought it several weeks ago... but it was finally delivered yesterday.)

It does look rather comfy...

I really did just want to get some pictures of the new carpet, but Riff pretty much camped out on it as soon as it was on the floor. But hey, he's such a photogenic little guy. Plus, I know Faisal is slightly freaked out by him, which I find amusing. Not that I can totally blame him... Riff can be a bit disconcerting. Like when I wake up in the middle of the night and see him on my nightstand, sitting patiently, staring at me. (Why does he DO that??) And when he shoots lasers from his eyes:

And when he sleeps in THIS bizarre position:

(How is that comfortable???)

But really, Riff has much more to fear from Faisal than vice versa... I mean, Riff has never threatened to EAT Faisal... (or HAS he? Mwahahahahaha... :))

Anyway... I like the new carpet except for one thing: the "new carpet" chemical smell. It started bothering me last night, to the point that I actually sort of felt a bit nauseous. And this morning I woke up with a huge headache, which has, so far, failed to disappear... I've decided to blame the carpet (although I suppose it COULD be a weather-related headache). I've opened the door of our balcony and turned on the ceiling fan, hoping I can air out the condo and convince the odoriferous carpet to be a good little accent piece and stop making me (almost literally) sick. The funny thing is, Rick can't smell anything at all -- and he usually has a much more sensitive nose. And Riff obviously doesn't care, either...

But I believe I'll find some excuses to leave the house today so I can get away from this new carpet smell and immerse myself into the fresh air of downtown Chicago... hey, it's not ALL car exhaust and sewer drains... :)

Discombobulated post...

I seem to have about a million different topics running through my head today, yet none of them are sure they want to be full-fledged blog posts. You know what that means -- randomness! (I know, it's much too exciting for words... :))

We got more thunderstorms last night... lots and lots of lightning. A bit TOO much, in my opinion. Actually, sometimes I wonder if I'm more afraid of the lightning, or the sudden claps of thunder that follow. I've never been a fan of sudden loud noises. And when you see that lightning flash, you never know if what follows will be a low rumble, or a sharp crack. In fact, after a particularly bright flash of lightning, I tend to instinctively cover my ears in preparation for what I assume will be a sudden loud noise. (Don't EVER sneak up on me and make a loud noise -- I WILL hit you in the face... fair warning.)

Rick and Faisal and I went to see Captain America over the weekend. It was pretty good, but I feel like I need to see it again because I was distracted by the people in the row we happened to be sitting in. There was a couple with a little girl -- I'd say no older than two? -- who, for some reason, thought it would be perfectly acceptable to bring a toddler to a 10:45 pm showing of a PG-13 movie. Sure, why not?? Just because kids should be in bed at that hour and a PG-13 movie probably has some scary-for-a-two-year-old stuff in it doesn't mean a family outing isn't in order. But here's the best part: this couple FELL ASLEEP for the ENTIRE movie, while their wide-awake, two-year-old child sat on her mother's lap and watched the whole thing. We were sitting in the front row of the second section of seats, which meant there were railings and a little ledge drop-off to the floor in front of us. At one point, this little girl dropped something on the floor, and, while her oblivious parents slept, looked as if she might attempt to crawl over the railings to get down to the floor. I'm not usually one to meddle in the affairs of strangers -- or one to even TALK to strangers -- but if that girl made a move for the railings, I was ready to jump up and start yelling at those people. (And don't think I can't yell at people when I need to -- remember Rick's encounter with a possible pickpocket in Naples? Rick told his mom he'd never heard me talk so loudly...) Fortunately, the girl settled down for the second half of the movie... her parents literally did not wake up until the lights came on after the movie. It was strange... very, very strange...

I just heard a girl from India say that the chai tea lattes at Starbucks are better than any chai tea lattes she's ever had in India. Wow, for some reason, I never would've expected that from Starbucks. I've never tried a chai tea latte at Starbucks. Not because I don't like tea -- I love tea, but usually when I'm at Starbucks I'm looking for a caffeine fix... and tea never has enough caffeine for someone who's addicted to coffee like I am. When I drink tea, it's usually at night when I'm winding down and wanting to get sleepy anyway. So perhaps some evening when I'm not worried about staying awake I'll try a Starbucks chai tea latte...

We've actually made some decent progress with our unpacking/getting settled endeavors this week. Still a few things that need to be taken care of... and we're waiting for a carpet that we ordered a zillion years ago to show up (I think it's finally been shipped, so hopefully it'll show up this week), and two of the chairs we ordered for our dining table have been on backorder (hoping those will show up within the next couple weeks, too). But I'm starting to think that MAYBE this place will be organized soon. I wasn't sure for a while there... And then I can actually do things like invite people over without feeling like the world's most horrible housekeeper...

And now I'm off to fend for myself in my search for lunch, as Rick is walking someplace downtown for a "business" lunch. (I put "business" in quotes because I think it's really just a reason for people to go out to lunch and charge someone else for it... :)) Hope everyone is having a good week...