Ugh. Had a whole roadtrip planned with friends this weekend, because of an event happening (monthly event). Lo and behold, suddenly they changed the date to next weekend (the venue now has a "private event" that night, I'm guessing a Christmas party). And we can't switch our trip to next weekend. Booooo!

Oh, that's a shame, meara!

I think you mean EVIL.

I'm not sure I do? Squeezing the bubbles and not having them pop is just so strange, maybe that overrides the evil.

I think you could still pop them if you put a lot of thought and effort into it, but I have not tested this hypothesis.

Yesterday sure sounds better, msbelle.

Just got word there's an active shooter at the local university, and the campus (ASU) has been locked down.

Good grief. You're not there Matt, right? This should not be so commonplace.

Seriously? This is crazy!

No, I'm about 5 miles away. Apparently active shooter may have been a misnomer, reports are no shots were fired and police now have the suspect surrounded. He drove onto the student union lawn, drove donuts, and got out waving a gun and a gas can.

Stay safe, Matt. Crazy.

Part of the new volunteer training I give each month goes over various emergencies - fire, horse related issues, tornado...and active shooter. Over the last 6 months I've seen trainees go from being bored during the active shooter portion to being on full alert and asking questions.

Stay safe, Matt!

The only mandatory emergency training we've had is armed intruder. The fire extinguisher training was voluntary. I think we got a page to read and sign-that-we-had-read on earthquakes. And we've been affected by an earthquake since I've been working here (didn't hit during work hours, but still). Oh, wait, no, we covered heat stroke, which is a good one to include here if you're going to cherry pick.

Anyway. Pretty curious about what history will have to say about the 21st century.

OMG, Matt, stay safe. Ditto everybody else in your vicinity.

What to get those hard-to-buy-for folks for Christmas this year? Your very own dedicated to you mass shooting! For a small additional fee, you can be included in the shootees, and for a significantly larger fee, you get to hold a firearm and participate yourself! The latest rage, everywhere!

There is surprisingly little coverage on this since The Donald monopolizes the news cycle

It's deliberate. Other "serious" Presidential candidates and corrupt public organizations alike are using his antics as a distraction--"Look! Look at the shiny! See how silly! Don't notice what we're doing over here."

Yeah, they *gave* us the pill popper and demonstrated its use when I threatened to bring Jenny to the office twice a day until her course of meds was done, to let the vet staff dose her. It worked pretty well. She still managed to spit the pill out a few times.

Guys? I think it means something when I'm more concerned about your safety in the States than my own in Jerusalem.

Please stay safe, and fingers crossed for a quick and peaceful solution of shooters events.