<p>WashDad,
cracking me up…What?!! they expect you to pay real prices for stuff from the machines…where is the justice?<br>
As a small business owner I wish I could do half of what some of the companies do for their employees…I’ve seen the places with full gyms, child care on site, subsidized or free food, etc. No idea how they are able to do that.</p>
<p>Ebeeeee, around here, there’s kind of a baseline for goodies set by Microsoft. We already have a net loss of developers to Bill’s company, and removing the subsidy puts us at a “goody deficit” in comparison to them. Our former facilities manager tells me that the subsidy (the snacks aren’t free, after all) costs about $20 per employee, per month. For a company full of techies making (I’m guessing) an average of $40-50 an hour it seems like a pretty cheap perq.</p>
<p>Unlike Microsoft, we still don’t have free gym membership, free soft drinks, and a private bus system for employees.</p>
<p>Yeah it is a cheap perk in those terms… now that I think about it, I have the poor man’s version…I go to the grocery store and buy water, drinks, snacks and leave them around for everyone at my small office.<br>
I am just a human vending machine without the machine…
Still no free gym though :)</p>
<p>And forget the child care! I don’t even like my own kids.</p>
<p>What happened to the J & K marathon tonight???</p>
<p>So, Mamaof1 & I weren’t the only ones who didn’t know how to get quotes in the gray box! And to put the icing on the cake, now I know how to do bold & italics! When will the fun stop?</p>
<p>PS I’ve never heard of Jon & Kate.</p>
<p>Another gray and chilly day here in MN. Depressing! Wonder if we will ever have a sunny summer. :(</p>
<p>CBBBlinker, now you can play the game of "copy quotes that are highlighted for emphasis, then use boldfaced and italic words in your reponse to show how much better your point of view is. :)</p>
<p>Very warm (90+) and sunny here in North Cack-i-lacky. Hoping it stays that way for DS #1’s HS grad party on saturday. Pima is still walking around in shock and disbelief that her *baby<a href=“see,%20i%20can%20use%20italics%20too%20:”>/I</a> ) is growing up, and cries at the drop of a hat or at some over-sentimental commercial on TV.</p>
<p>New random thought: any commercials make you cry lately?</p>
<p>No recent commercials have brought on tears here, but I still can get misty over two oldies- the Kodak commercial that I think was titled “Daddy’s Little Girl” where the little girl starts out dancing on dad’s feet and ends up dancing with him at the wedding and the Maxwell House one where the college age son shows up early on Christmas morning and he and the little sister(?) make coffee for the folks to surprise them.</p>
<p>Not a commercial, but a recent country music video song called “Stealing Cinderella” has several little girl dancing with dad scenes. It will definitely ruin your mascara, especially if your oldest D is getting married in less than 4 months.</p>
<p>
It’s hot here in Chicago. The high is 89. On the downside, I’m moving today, on foot, by myself! I’m hoping for a cool breeze… :)</p>
<p>I’ve written close to 30 pages in the last week and a half, and even though I’ve moved out of my dorm, I still have 15 more to write before I’m done with freshman year. My last deadline is tomorrow at noon. I am so tired of writing papers. :(</p>
<p>teri, J & K was on here at 7, something else was on at 8, then J & K was back on at 9. I kept switching back and forth between it and the hockey game. </p>
<p>georgiamom, are you another summer wedding mom this year? It seems as though there are a few of us! :)</p>
<p>It’s cloudy and a little cool here in Toronto today but tomorrow it’s supposed to be up to 90 and humid!</p>
<p>corranged, good luck with the move!</p>
<p>Oh, and congrats to the Red Wings and their fans. They are a very good team and, although I was cheering for the Pens and am proud of how they played, I think that Detroit was deserving of the Cup.</p>
<p>ok; count down is 48 hours to D’s graduation (college) party. Yard workers have been here as able (in between storms) yesterday and today doing some major clean up. I’ve been trying to get outside every now and then to see how (and what) they’re doing. The guy who owns the company is a friend of ours, and the college kids he has working for him went to school with D2 and were involved in the same extracurrirulars, so I feel comfortable going out and talking with them.</p>
<p>So, I learned some new things today about my yard… did you know that it’s a bad idea to put mulch down where you have annuals? For perrenials, it’s OK, but for annuals, it steals nitrogen from them. Also, to trim trees/bushes etc., the key is to trim so that there aren’t any branches crossing each other (we were in major violation with that one). </p>
<p>The yard is looking awesome, and they will finish up tomorrow. I picked up my favorite annuals today (gomphrena - Buddy Purple) and they will plant them tomorrow. I vow to take pictures when they’re done so I’ll remember what it’s supposed to look like!</p>
<p>As you all can tell, I’m obviously feeling better!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Hang in there, Cameliasinensus </p>
<p>Soon enough, you’ll be tired of writing checks.</p>
<p>But we all understand. At this time of year, you need more than room to vent; you need an entire exhaust system!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Corranged, here’s another good luck wish on your move.
;)…!!!..123456789…</p>
<h1>%&$^*#…@@@@@@HHHH.:):)</h1>
<p>(meaning: couldn’t sleep a wink… ooh it’s morning time to move…counting the steps up with the boxes…drat I’m sick of this…aaaah! I live in a new place now.</p>
<p>While J&K+8 is like candy for television, I have decided that it is time to “eat a real meal” and will begin viewing from start to finish my complete 7 seasons of The West Wing tonight. Now that’s some wonderful television, particularly in an election year! If I watch 2-3 episodes a night and skip a few nights, I should be finished by the time I have to start back to school in August.</p>
<p>^^^^ 2V- do you know about The West Wing and the Obama campaign ?
Seems that there is a connection- The Race Right out of the West Wing-
[A</a> race right out of ‘West Wing’](<a href=“http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/145/story/171905.html]A”>http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/145/story/171905.html)
"David Axelrod exchanged e-mails for a year with Attie as the Santos character was developed and written. Santos was Attie’s project, but Obama was Axelrod’s project. So, to what degree did “The West Wing” create a test market for a minority candidate? By campaigning to have his guy portrayed in a network hit, did Axelrod soften up millions of Americans for the task of electing the first minority president?</p>
<p>Attie says his latest e-mail from Axelrod includes the good news: “We’re living your script.” If the ending holds up, it may be Axelrod who deserves an Emmy. "</p>
<p>Ok, did not intend to “politicize” this thread, there are plenty of other threads for that, but just couldn’t resist.
Back to my addiction- JandK plus 8 …calorie free candy :)</p>
<p>SJChessMom,
Thanks for sharing this interesting story. I have thought of TWW several times as I’ve watched Obama, but the thoughts I’ve had were that Sam Seaborn or Toby Zeigler must be somewhere in wings writing some of his speeches. I hadn’t really connected him with Santos.</p>
<p>Just finished season 6 of 24 tonight! Now on to season 2 and 3 of Prison Break. I like watching the dvd so much more!</p>
<p>random thought…</p>
<p>S had dinner with h.s. friends last night. One of the girls is a graphic design student at SCAD and another girl at a state u has changed major 3 times. The SCAD girl told her that the way to know which is the right major for you is to look at what kind of people are in that major. SCAD girl said that in her case, she looked at the other graphic design majors and said, “They are all artsy, anal-retentive, jerks. I’m artsy, anal-retentive, and a jerk! These are my people!”</p>