<p>Sybbie, </p>
<p>in the space that the virtual world allows, I feel the same way. I owe you a lot, and thank you again. As to the drink, thanks for nothing.</p>
<p>Good ol’ Calmom gave us another excuse to drink! And mine better be stiffer than usual (one pino grungio, hold the ice) as I’m leaving tomorrow 6:00am with all those high school kids to tour colleges. If I don’t get a chance to pop in to say hello over the next six days, please keep the bar hopping and my seat warm.</p>
<p>Any esp. good, cheap ethnic restaurants to recommend in Cambridge?</p>
<p>Fountainsiren:</p>
<p>I’ve been enjoying your posts. Keep up your sense of humor, and btw, where did you learn to write so well? We’ll corrupt you in here, though. If you hang around the Alley long enough, you may end up dancing to Polka music and wearing a pair of plastic baskets on your feet. And, as for ID’s, who cares? Come on in! Here are some beer nuts to go with that virgin Pina. :)</p>
<p>Mootmom, thanks for the cyber postcards. I don’t know Finnish, but here goes: Ostan t</p>
<p>Actually, Slugg - you are a great writer - even through my blurry vision, your words produce incredible visuals in the brain…</p>
<p>I’ll miss you all so much that I may just have to sneak away from my chaperoning duties late at night to find the hotel client computer just to chat – of course, what I’ll REALLY be doing (under the guise of serious computer discussions on Sinner’s Alley) is making sure my charges haven’t snuck out of their room for a tryst in a dark corner of the hotel lobby. AH-HA! GOttcha! Chap Extraordinaire busts 'em again!</p>
<p>Crash, </p>
<p>We’ll have a few lined up for you when you get back. Aren’t you now glad you read the thread about kids and sleep away camp?</p>
<p>Slugg: Crash is right. I absolutely love reading your posts. I still think that we should find our cowards awards and have a best of list because you have written some memorable ones.</p>
<p>I have had more than a few laugh out loud moments and received strange looks from both my kids (the one home on leave and the little furry one). Daughter also feels I am having way too much fun here with all of you.</p>
<p>Slugg:</p>
<p>A belated thank you for the coffee mug. I actually had half a beer and had to wait until I stopped being red in the face. Too late for coffee right now. But I’ll keep it for tomorrow morning.</p>
<p>Mootmom: while you’re in Finland, you should practice your (Finnish) elocution by buying some Varttina CDs and singing along. And if you find it hard to keep up with those Finnish fems, then give it up and just enjoy the music.</p>
<p>It’s never too early for a sing along! In the words of Pennsylvanian polka superstar, Joe Grkman…</p>
<p>The sprightly beat of Slovenian folk music and the strains of the button box accordion are better than a six-pack of Prozac for breaking up the dark clouds over your head. It’s impossible to be depressed when you’re stepping to tunes like “Roll Out the Buttons”, “Grandpa’s Coal Mining Song” and “Squeeze the Box” selections from Grkman’s most recent CD, Grkmania. It’s happy music for happy people…"</p>
<p>That would be us, folks. I dunno, a six-pack of Prozac might do the trick! :D</p>
<p>sluggbugg, you are bringing me back to great memories of the hippie summer camp I attended. One summer we had a Polka dance. Everyone dressed up in costumes and they blasted polka music and we all learned how to let it rip. One of the most fun nights I remember from my childhood–! The best thing about dancing the polka is going for SPEED!</p>
<p>Why, thank you very much, Sybbie & Crash. Such nice things to say to a lowly slugg. Really, I’m still on the floor hiding underneath a booth. :p</p>
<p>SBmom,</p>
<p>Is there anything happier than polka-dancing hippies and kids? That’s a 10 on the Happy Meter! :)</p>
<p>This is my first visit to Sinner’s Alley. Hope they serve root beer! :-)</p>
<p>Got a recent anecdote. My '87 Buick Century wagon had been acting up some lately. Of course, it already had a few minor eccentricities–the driver’s door only opens from the outside (you can roll down the window and get it from inside), the ceiling had to be stapled up, I had to use a stick to keep the back door from falling on me, you need a pliers to open the hood, the emergency brake handle broke, so you can’t set it, etc. Just minor things, you know… Nothing too hard to deal with…)</p>
<p>Anyway, recently the “check engine soon” light started coming on. Dh said it was just emission stuff, nothing to worry about. When the light came on, the car would ping like crazy. And we noticed frequent smoke wafting out from under the hood. (just a minor oil leak, dh said. But it might not hurt to start looking for another vehicle…)</p>
<p>So the other day I am working online when my 22 yr old comes in after running an errand. “Uh, mom, the car is in the ditch across the street.” Huh?? “Well, I pulled forward to the ditch to back into the driveway, and it died. I couldn’t stop it; it just rolled into the ditch.” I run out, hoping my supervisor won’t notice nothing is getting done for several minutes. Sure enough, the car is in the ditch. Smoke is coming out from under the hood. A neighbor comes out to look. Now I’m getting embarrassed. OK, I call AAA and get back to work. They arrive just at my quitting time and pull it out of the ditch. Looks OK, they say. Nothing seems to be damaged. (well, nothing MORE, I think.)</p>
<p>Later that day second kid is running late for his trumpet lesson. His '78 Ford takes too long to warm up. Can he take mine? Well, I THINK it will get you there… The first call from him comes in 5 minutes. “Mom, we are officially white trash now. Someone just pointed to the smoke coming out from the hood, and I had to nod and say, ‘Yes, I know.’” The second call comes a little later. “Mom, this car will not get up to speed. I can’t even get it to 50.” And the third call, “Mom, I’m pulled over to the side of the freeway. The car died, and it won’t start.” This time HE calls AAA. Meanwhile I am praying, “Please don’t let it be the same guys that pulled it out of the ditch. That would just be TOO embarrassing!” A couple hours later the tow truck arrives with the car. Ahhh, it is a different tow truck driver! If he knows about the first call, he is polite enough not to say anything. I wonder how many neighbors noticed…</p>
<p>So, anyone else here ever have your car towed twice in one day?? </p>
<p>The amazing thing is I never actually got upset. That isn’t like me. You should have seen me the day I realized I was late sending FAFSA to one of the places my son applied. I was screaming at myself! All I can figure is that, after going through all the college admission and financial aid stuff, this is no big deal.</p>
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</p>
<p>Barman’s special, and I’ll make it a double. You just can’t park the heap out in front of our virtual bar. Kinda sends the wrong message to that Ivy legacy crowd that comes in every once in a while. You can park out back where I park my truck. It’s the one with the slightly disconnected bumper and the dented hood.</p>
<p>white trash, but college-admission-savvy-FAFSA-toting white trash. Now, that’s a rare bird :D</p>
<p>LOL, Susantm! 
Screaming at yourself, eh? Around here, we call that therapy. Have a root beer & welcome to the Alley.</p>
<p>curmudgeon,
Thanks for the root beer. And don’t worry about the heap; it’s not going anywhere until someone tows it away. (And I’m NOT calling AAA to do it!) I’ll just borrow my son’s black '78 Ford Fairmount; he’s out of town for a couple weeks. I’m thinking it might be old enough to consider a classic! :-)</p>
<p>I’m crankin’ up the Finlandia here in Helsinki in the pouring rain and humming a happy tune – just got word long-long distance that The Kid got assigned to the dorm he wanted, so HAPPY DAYS! I’ve had some revelations about how to pronounce Finnish but I’m not sure how useful that’ll be after Saturday: it’s the spousal unit who’s staying here for 3 months, not me. Next stop after Friday: Paris. Ooh la lah. Kick those heels up for us, more cyber-postcards from abroad as possible!</p>
<p>mootmom, have a wonderful time in Paris!!</p>
<p>Here’s to the crew of the shuttle Discovery – big, frosty rootbeers all around – and an awesome, amazing ride…Woot! 
</p>
<p>Moot…woot on Paree! D is going at the end of August. I hope she meets a bon homme (and dumps the current homme). A slugg can dream, can’t she? ;)</p>
<p>Susantm welcome to Happy Hour. I’ve never had a car break down twice in one day but I’ve had one break down twice en route to the same destination- Cape Cod. The second time it was the four of us and our huge lab-mix dog, breaking down late at night on the Friday of a three-day weekend. Since we were already out on the cape, we decided to have the tow truck pull the car to where we were going. We ended up making the last trek of the drive caravan style with a police car, that had stopped to help, driving me and the boys, dh riding in the tow truck and then lastly our car with Coco the dog sitting there all alone as neither the police nor the truck driver would permit him to ride in their vehicles. It wasn’t the greatest way to begin a holiday weekend.</p>
<p>mootmom- congrats to your s getting his chosen dorm!! Have a wonderful time in Paris</p>
<p>and sluggbugg perhaps you should send along a vial of that love potion they have in Harry Potter and have someone slip it into some wine while your d is in Paris. Then perhaps she’ll fall in love with a Jacques or Henri.</p>