My ex-boss - who is on a contract through the end of April - seems to have been really applying himself to making sure that he'll never get any more contract work out of this association ever again. He's supposed to have been working on getting people to write stories and provide photos for the next couple of issues - when asked what he had, his response (according to our COO, who's theoretically managing him) was "uhhhhh". He's supposed to provide a spreadsheet of information on past authors - result, um, nil. Turned up for a meeting with nothing substantive but his attitude. Bye!

{{{Barb}}} That is just the worst feeling. I hope it passes quickly. How are you doing as far as pain is concerned?

Tea:

My mother is here early, and I haven't finished my tea yet. Gronk.

Thanks sj-- pain's really not an issue anymore unless it's pressure-oriented. (Pisces got up on her hind legs and put her paws on my stomach and it was like, "Oh, ow!" but it was momentary.)

Right now we're more into dull achy territory and just general tiredness if I do too much, which is frustrating, but I'm trying to be patient. Right now, it's the lack of control thing that's making me nuts. If I could concentrate, I think writing would help, because THAT I can control. In theory, at any rate.

OK, bit of a meara here because I've been too busy to come by Bitches:

Ugh Barb, I hope you feel better soon.

Sparky, I will happily send it to you once I verify it with my cousin. I'm working on memory, he has it written down. It is delicious, although really such an artery clogger it should only be eaten like once a year.

One of my favorite historical Haggadah stories -- back in the twenties or so, the coffee companies in the US realized that a lot of Jews weren't drinking coffee during Passover, because they thought that coffee beans were included under the prohibition on beans. So one of the big coffee companies, Maxwell House, consulted some rabbis and got them to write statements saying that coffee was allowed, and the company printed these statements in newspaper ads. To further emphasize "drink coffee during Passover!" they printed a Haggadah, with the text in both Hebrew and English, with Maxwell House ads on the front and back covers. These became really popular, and the kept printing them every year, and they're now among the most-used Haggadahs in the US.

HA! You know that's our family Haggadah. I mean, we have another one as well, but we usually default to Maxwell House.

WRT breast cancer: there are other genes involved beside BRCA. A biggie is the newish discovery of breast cancers caused by HRT overexpression, and I know that has a strong genetic component.

layoffma, billytea. I'm glad you're there and not here and don't (I assume) have to worry about losing your insurance five mintues before you have a baby.

The IT guys, as I understand it, are at the ready to shut people out of their computers as their number comes up. (Which I confess I find a little cool, in an A-Team kind of way).

When I got fired they snuck into my office to turn off my computer when I was called into the Weasel!Boss's office. When you make eye contact with the IT people the look like dogs that have shit in the corner.

Obviously, I'm curious to know whether I'll be laid off. I won't be surprised if I am - reasons which ultimately all come back to my boss, who's run the section into the ground lo these last three years. He's also the reason why I think I'd prefer the redundancy. (Although there's also the chance that I keep my job and he loses his, so let's not be hasty.)

Best possible outcome -ma! I hope it's lucrative, involves a lot of free time, a lot of less boss and possibly some echidna skulls. Btw, billytea, where do you keep your echidna skull?

HA! You know that's our family Haggadah. I mean, we have another one as well, but we usually default to Maxwell House.

We use a Haggadah from 1923. It's interesting. Oh, and I didn't make my kugel because my kitchen sink started leaking last night, so I didn't want to make a mess if I couldn't clean it up. Also, discovered (as Hil said earlier) that noodle kugel isn't kosher for Passover. Now, since I emailed my rabbi friend and said "I want to make kugel for passover, do you have a recipe" and he sent me a noodle kugel recipe, I'm justfied in being surprised.

So, when my sink gets fixed, I'll bring it for the final day of Passover.

Shit, the young pitcher for the Angels, Nick Adenhart, who threw against the A's last night was killed in a hit and run accident after the game. Young kid, top prospect, his whole life in front of them. Mini-van ran a red light. So fucking stupid.

Feel better, Barb.

I'm not quite awake enough to say more.