Boston was the first place I drove that wasn't Michigan. Afterwards my boss apologised for not just approving taxis for the whole business trip. It was horrible.

I seem to cross the street at random: I am going when it is safe, which is not at all the same thing as when I have a walk sign!

In Montreal the assumption was that stop signs and walk signals were convenient ways to assemble pedestrians so that drivers had less work to do in order to mow them down.

Sue, her balance may be going. My grandmother fell (at 83, IIRC) and faceplanted and broke her nose and got two black eyes. She had a pretty good sense of humor about the whole thing, and at 96 (tomorrow!) she's still toodling around but with a walker.

I don't know if that anecdata is helpful or more worrisome, but it's something to consider.

That's scary and frustrating, Sue. I hope she'll see her doctor. She also could have had a mini stroke.

My mother goes to doctors and has tests, but I'm not convinced she really tells them what's going on.

Matt, have you seen it done voluntarily? I would put that into a different category, I guess?

Participants were smiling and laughing in the photos I saw, so I assume it must have been voluntarily although alcohol was probably a factor. Note that the version I've seen was the 5th one listed at Urban Dictionary.

My mother goes to doctors and has tests, but I'm not convinced she really tells them what's going on.

Yeah, mine too.

Apparently mother is not happy right now with the state of things.

I need to go home so I can call her and see if she'll be honest with me. It's so hard from long distance, because it's easy to lie on the phone once every three days.

I mean, I know because I do it myself.

Unrelatedly, whoa, a Gizmodo author got himself banned for being an offensive doucherag to commenters. There is some right in the world.

anyone on here Scottish, or know anyone Scottish?

Tom W., IIRC

Fiona?

Way to go BGE. They just implemented a new site for managing your account, billing, etc. First, it takes them a week to verify your bank account. FINALLY, I get notice that it's been verified. I try to sign in and..services are temporarily unavailable, please check in later. This PLUS it keeps asking me to upgrade some microsoft silverlight beta thing multiple times through out (and I say no) with each page load. Implementation FAIL.

I finally seem to be getting my swim times back. I think. I hope.

Does Happy dance

After standing in line for half an hour inb order to return equipment, I am free of Comcast once and for all, and then I came home and had a working washer and dryer and a working garbage disposal, thanks to Juliana's M.

Does more Happy Dance.