Thought For The Day

You can lead a horse to water.

Dealing with the other end of the horse can be a bit more problematic, not to mention messy.

And if the horseshoe fits, you know what to do.

Best Crash Pad In The World.

I think it's about time for my nap, too.

Working The Early Shift Has Its Advantages.

If I weren't up and working at oh-dark-hundred, I wouldn't see this out my window.



Zoom lenses are your friend. Here's the view without the zoom:



I didn't even have to get out of my chair for this.

"Go Kiss Your Lizard. Pffft!"

Now that's what I call an honest and open debating tactic.

Somebody just said that to me on a public (allegedly) professional bulletin board when I challenged their premise.

Way to make your point, o nameless one.

Speaking of lizards... Geico has gone back to live with Jennifer, his original mommy, as of yesterday. I shall miss the lil' rotter. Somewhat. He actually bit me yesterday before he left, after a long dry spell of many months. What's up with that?

So long, my boneheaded buddy.

Scary, If I Were The Larcenous Type...

Several years ago I started getting e-mailed jokes from someone I didn't know. The jokes were actually pretty good, compared to the dreck that usually makes the rounds of the in-boxes.

I finally e-mailed the joker back--and it turned out she thought she was e-mailing a co-worker. The co-worker must have an e-mail address very close to mine. (But I am the one, the only original CrankyBeach. Never forget that.)

Not too long after that, I got an e-mail that contained some pretty privileged information. It had to do with that lady's cell phone account.

I called her provider, told them they were e-mailing the wrong person, and never heard anything again.

Earlier this evening I was telling this story to some friends. So imagine my surprise when I got home, to find a confirmation of my DirecTV order. Addressed to the other lady, at my e-mail address.

So I called DirecTV to tell them they had the wrong person--and the very nice phone rep told me their computer system is undergoing maintenance until 6 a.m. eastern time, so I'll have to call back in the morning.

Do you know what I could DO with the information I've collected over the years on this lady, were I the larcenous type?? (No, I haven't saved any of it, and don't intend to, and I'll be deleting the DirecTV message just as soon as I straighten them out. And no, I don't have her correct e-mail address, or I'd just straighten her out myself.)

Let this be a lesson to you. Be very, very careful when giving your e-mail address to companies you do business with, that you have them read it back to you and make sure they have it exactly right.

Yes, Size Matters.

When you're about the size of an athletic shoe, anyway....

Betcha Thought I'd Forgotten.

No such luck. Still watching the bears.



That baby gets cuter (and fatter) every day. I wish the zoo would post some updates on how much s/he has grown....

Finally!

A concert reviewer who gets it.

For those who don't feel like clicking on the link, or in case the link is broken by the time you read this... it's Dan Aquilante of the New York Post, reviewing last week's sold-out Moody Blues show at Radio City Music Hall. The money quote:

... why hasn't the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted the Moody Blues? It doesn't make sense given the band's contribution to rock and its continuing performance excellence. On second thought, forget the feeble Hall of Fame; the Moody Blues are still a rock band -- not a museum piece.

Emphasis mine. He is so right.

Wish It Was Time For MY Nap!

And The Hits Just Keep On Coming.

Baby was all alone for a few minutes while Mama left the den on business of her own.



Lots and lots of squirming, but no real crawling yet.

Then Mama came back and scooped up the lil' rascal.

Awwww...

Sure Is Tough Being A Baby Sometimes.

C'mon, mom, you gave me a bath just an hour ago!

And While Mom's Away...

... baby poses adorably for the world-wide-web public.



Shall I roll over now, so you can see my other side?



Oof. Made it. That was hard!



Time to rest now. I'm exhausted.

Mothers Can Multitask

Hold baby, scratch belly with hind foot.

Small Town, Be Careful.

Fortunately, I hadn't dished enough details to identify the guilty, or named any names, on the theory of not gossiping.

Good thing, because I just found out by Googling for another reason entirely that a new acquaintance of mine knows somebody who knows somebody who . . . well. That's all I'm going to stay.

Just remember, when you live in a small town, that six degrees of separation is a vast overstatement. Thus, be very careful what you say.

Words to the wise.

Still Watching Baby

Baby gets a bath from mama's great big tongue:



Baby takes a peek at the outside world:



And escapes custody, but only for a moment. You can see the distinctive panda coloration just starting to come in.



Just look at those great big claws on mama bear:



And nary a scratch on the little one.







What? Bath time again ALREADY??



C'mon, mama! Lemme outa here!



Fine. I'll just suck my thumb.



And now I'll play peek-a-boo.



Whoops! Now I faw down go boom!



Hey, you mean I'm really supposed to eat this stuff when I grow up? Later. My teeth don't work so good yet.



So much more comfy back in mama's embrace, nose to chin....



Hey, mister cameraman, I'm ready for my close-up now.

Best Yet.

If You're Tired Of Bears, Go Someplace Else.

Because I'm not tired of bears yet.

Best Firefox Add-On. Ever.

Even with 3 or 4 popup blockers running, some sites still managed to feed me pop-under ad windows. One of the worst offenders has been Snopes.com, a site I like to check fairly often to see what's new in the world of urban legends. But every time, I would get 2 or 3 very annoying pop-under ad windows which I would then have to manually close. Very annoying.

If this problem plagues you too... try this. But only if you're using Firefox. (And if you're not... why not??)

(No, they did not pay me to advertise their product, and I don't see that they charge for it anyway.)

Best Baby Shot Yet?

You can actually see quite a bit of the baby in this one, head and front paw, and the still-unopened (I presume) eyes....

Brief Break From Bears

Listening to the Vintage Rock channel on Boomer Radio, I am hearing about "a warm San Franciscan night."

Based on the usual temperatures in that geographical area, I can only conclude that anyone experiencing a warm San Franciscan night must have been smoking some pretty wacky tobaccy.

As you were.

Nope, Not Tired Of It Yet.

This is the most I've seen yet of the baby when mama is also in the picture.

Another shot, just a few minutes later:



From the position of the baby's legs, I think it must be lying on its back, with its head pointed towards the top of the picture.

Awwww...

... another picture of mama bear and baby panda bear. See that tiny little paw peeking out, just below mama's great big snout?



I have NO idea how that great big mama bear keeps from squashing that tiny little baby bear... but this is her fifth cub, so apparently she knows what to do.

All Of 3 Days Old

You can blame faithful reader Bum for this one. He directed me to the San Diego zoo's pandacam--where they have a brand-new baby panda, fresh out of the oven.

Their pandacam apparently is not in color, and most of the time you can't see the baby because mama is curled protectively around it--but she just left the nest to do some undisclosed business of her own, and left the baby visible for just a few minutes:



The accompanying information says that the baby was about the size of a stick of butter when it was born.

Today on the Pandacams...

... on camera 1, we have a snacker:



Meanwhile, over on camera 2, we have a snoozer: