Joy, what was it like for the Bicentennial?

Magnet #1228 - Gerald Ford (1974-1977)

Save the World Couple and DCsis have come up with several games lately to not-so-politely remind me of my ever-advancing age.

The first game they came up with was, are you older than [insert celebrity name here]? Or [insert other celebrity name here]?

And once answered, gales of laughter ensue.

The other game, is to randomly ask me questions of a historical nature. Such as:

Joy, what was it like for the Bicentennial?

The answer is:

I.

Don't.

KNOW.

I was just a toddler when all that stuff happened, I swear! And, I'm young enough to have had the United States Bicentennial in my own history books, so that's something.

I will say that I bet that the American Bicentennial project would have been the most awesome thing ever to work on workwise. Apparently, back in 1966 they were thinking it'd be ginormous one-city celebration (in one of our founding cities), but by the time I was born (shortly thereafter), they decided to create the American Revolution Bicentennial Administration, and help steer local events. Which makes more sense in hindsight, America created the way she was.

And so began the onslaught of Bicentennial products, packages, events and marketing all over the place, and when the big day came, tons of celebrations all over America. Apparently, they also flooded the airwaves with coverage by the likes of Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, and Ed McMahon. I mean, even Paul Anka had a special.

So that's why I picked Gerald Ford for today's Fourth of July holiday. He was the sitting president during the Bicentennial celebration - lighting a third lantern at the Old North Church in Boston, in honor of America's third century.

To steal one of my friend's Facebook posts, "For 235, America looks pretty good."

Happy birthday, America!

And thanks, England "for letting us have it, coz we wanted it so much."

Poor little Catholic girl

Magnet #1157 - Unleash your joy

I wanted something non-denominational for this Easter Sunday, and figured this Kelly Rae Roberts inspirational magnet fits the bill.

Unleash your joy
Embrace your truth
Pick more wild flowers
Leap fearlessly
Collect moments of kindness

Lovely.

So, today, I learned something about Easter.

Last night, I saw so many Tweets about parents getting drunk and hiding Easter eggs for their kids, and was totally confused.

Ya'll, I kid you not that until this morning, when several friends posted FB pictures of their kids finding the eggs, I didn't realize that parents actually hid Easter eggs around their own house for their kids to find on Easter morning.

I've never done an Easter egg hunt at my house. Ever. In fact, I don't think my parents have ever bought those plastic eggs. Besides that, a friend pointed that that it might be we do public hunts down here, that maybe it's just a Southern thing - that our hunts are generally held in parks or churches.

I wouldn't know, really - I mean, I can seriously count on one hand how many egg hunts I've been on. And that's counting taking my baby cousins to Central Park for their egg pick-up hunt just a few years ago.

It's crazy, I know. I mean, I always knew about the Easter baskets and I've had pictures taken with the Easter bunny, but I've never known about the morning egg hunts around the house.

For as long as I can remember, though, I've always been superjealous of kids with their Easter baskets and eggs and chocolate bunnies. Once when I was little, I made the mistake of asking why I didn't get a basket or candy.

Totally got the religious lecture about Easter, and that they would never understand the tradition of bunnies and candy, and that therefore, no, we would not have baskets or candy in our house. Ever. I was crushed.

One visit to the Philippines during Easter week proved how serious they take this holiday, with procession after procession, men carrying actual crosses in the streets and being whipped, men getting tied to crosses, a giant Judas being burned in effigy to the jeers of large crowds, kissing of someone's feet (note: I did not go to this, so I dunno if it was real feet, or a statue), novena after novena, stations after stations of the cross, mass after mass. After mass after mass.

It was non-stop.

So yeah, no basket or candy for me. Ever.

Poor little Catholic girl, I know.

Oiy. Thank goodness they never had a problem with Santa.


eta:
Update. Would you look at that. Still absolutely no remorse from my mommy for not giving me baskets and candy over the years.

eta2:
Clarification. I should mention that it really was just my parents - there are plenty of lucky Filipino kids whose parents embraced the bunny and all his accouterments. Sigh. But this post notwithstanding, no, I'm not bitter at all.

I feel gratified

Magnet #1022 - Emotes en masse

Whoa, feels like joy magnetism's starting to get all cause-related, what with sea turtles last week, puppy mills yesterday and the Salvation Army toy drive today.

Is it because saving the world's an addictive feeling? I dunno.

Anyway, see all these Emotes? They're animated characters that were designed to teach children how to express their feelings.

I'm using it for today, because I feel a range of emotions, as we have just about one more week to get our toys in to the Salvation Army for their toy drive program. I mentioned this before, but my time with the Salvation Army's been one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in New York.

This started out as a selfish thing - I just wanted to wrap gifts. Ya'll know I love doing it, and I can always use the extra practice. But, it's turned out to be so much more - and believe me, it's not like I'm doing all that much - just being the little helper picking up the toys from various corporations around town, and matching up toys to age groups and to our lists of good little boys and girls.

But, it's knowing that in some small way, we're making sure that some little kid will have something to unwrap on Christmas that makes me happy. Doesn't matter who that kid is, or where they come from - somewhere, they'll be opening up something on Christmas.

Some of things I've noticed from donations is that we get a lot of toys for that golden age of childhood, anywhere from 3-10. They're the easiest to buy, right? They have the cutest toys. Like, ever. The kids are old enough to appreciate the fun toys, and young enough to have unjaded imaginations. Hand them Dora or High School Musical dolls, or Legos or remote-controlled car, and they're happy for a few hours.

Not surprisingly, it's the infants and the older children who we usually have trouble finding toys for in the workshop.

I'm talking the seriously 6-24-month baby stuff. I know they're hard to buy for - I just spent time with my BFF's newborn, and I had enough trouble with her floppy head! (What? I love them, but newborns are bundles of heat - cute as hell, but really, they just sit there and ooh and ahhh at the ceilings.) But, they do have a newborn section in the toy stores - the developmental, bright lights, colorful shapes and sizes and yes, those loud, loud sounds that drive parents nuts!

The older kids are a little tricky to buy for - seriously, once they've outgrown the Hannah Montana stuff, it's so much harder to find something that entertains them for more than the time it takes to open the present. We end up sending the basketballs, soccer balls, board games and older books out for them - anything that looks like a teenager would enjoy. But, it's hard!

And, some additional stuff to keep in mind if you're looking to give some Christmas cheer:

When you're sending over dolls, think of all shapes, sizes and colors. I swear, if I see another blonde Barbie, I will cry. (Though in her defense, I will say that we have a section of baby dolls that makes me take the long way around. They seriously creep me out.)

And if you can't stop from buying stuff for the fun kids in the middle? Think of the big brands your own kids will love - Dora. Enough said. Poor Diego, no one cares about him. But Dora's like gold in the toy shop!

Finally. I've never seen so many Candy Lands and Chutes & Ladders in. my. life. Like, I think we could give Toys R Us, 42nd Street a run for their board games.

Gravy. I had no idea how gratifying these couple of weeks would be. And how fun.

Speaking of fun. Man, I bet there are some mad parties up in the toy workshop after all the humans have gone home!

Knock, knock, ding dong

Magnet #830 - U.S. Census

Ya'll, the U.S. Census is not playin'. If you guys haven't gotten in your Census forms from earlier this year, they're seriously sending a merry and not-so-merry band of Census-takers to your houses!

To. Your. Front. Doors.

Yesterday, while visiting some friends in Chapel Hill, we went over to some of their friends for a BBQ. (I'd heard this kind of stuff happens, but honestly, when's the last time you've had a bonafide BBQ in New York City? Cooked by a person you've actually met, and with no tab to pay at the end of the day?)

So, while we were over there, the doorbell rang, and it was the Census-taker! And immediately, everyone gasped, pointed at the husband accusatorily, saying, "You didn't turn in your Census form!" (Which, if you think about it, is fantastic for those [how did they get those celebrities to do those, anyway] ads the Census ran on rather heavy rotation a few months ago.) Meanwhile, the wife went outside to answer the guy's questions, while the husband maintained that they totally did turn in their form.

Which then leads you to, really? The guberment's missing some forms and sending Census-takers around to households that already submitted the forms? And on holidays? Are they getting time and a half, those Census-takers? Feel so bad! It was Memorial Day, and instead of partaking in BBQ, he was walking around knockin' on doors!

It's so weird, knowing these guys are running around. Mainly because honestly, if he'd knocked on my door in NYC? Totally wouldn't have answered it.

What? I already turned in my form, I promise! Didn't you hear, it's in our hands!

Happy 2010!!!

Magnet #679 - Luzern

Happy New Year!

I visited Lucerne (Luzern in German, Lucerna in Italian) during our American Musical Ambassadors tour many years ago, but that was pre-magnet collecting days. So I was totally excited when I found this magnet on our Zurich layover. Yay!

I picked this one for New Year's Day, because if there's something that signifies renewal and new beginnings, it's the Kapellbrücke, or "Chapel Bridge."

The original bridge was built in 1333, and had 120 paintings that were begun in the 1500s, documenting the city's history. But in 1993, it nearly burned to the water. I can't imagine how heartbreaking it was to lose it, and then to have to restore as much as they could.

But, restore it they did, to almost its former glory, a testament to man's ability to restore, renew and rebuild.

Here's hoping we can do the same - taking the best of the past, and using it to make 2010 the best year ever.

eta:
Oh! Speaking of new beginnings, we're anxiously awaiting the arrival of a special stork delivery for one of my friends. The kid's a dozen days late, so maybe it'll decide it wants to be a New Year's kid!

Merry Christmas

Magnet #672 - Panda

I used to have this friend who was always unnerved being around folks speaking non-English languages, convinced that they were talking about her.

This magnet, given to me by someone else, reminds me of her, because I could have sworn they got it in Beijing, and that's what the writing says. It doesn't. Then I thought it said panda. It doesn't. So, I haven't a clue what it says, and I just hope it's not something about me. Hahahah.

I picked this magnet today, mainly because I forgot to do a magnet photoshoot before leaving NYC, so all I have are the magnets already loaded in my photobucket, and this is the most Christmassy festive of the bunch.

But, also because Save the World Sister got her usual fill of pandas for Christmas. It's so funny, I remember at one point in her apartment, everywhere I looked, I saw another panda item. Things haven't changed.

And yep, we've already done Christmas. It's what we do - head straight home after Midnight Mass, jump into our jammies, and open presents. This year was a little weird, because after the snowstorm in DC, we decided it was easier for us to drive down to NC, rather than have our parents deal with the crappy roads (see yesterday's post for validation). So like Santa, we threw all our presents in the big red 4-runner, and headed for the open road, singing Christmas music all the way home.

But, home too late for Midnight Mass. So, we just jumped into our jammies, and did our Christmas tonight, in a proper showing of commercialism and consumerism cause and effect. Heh. Now everyone's asleep...except for me, who drank a Mountain Dew at 9 to keep me awake driving home. Ooops.

I know, middle of the night to open presents is weird, but this stems from years of practice. In fact, the saddest Christmas ever for me was the year I stuck to my guns, forced myself to go to sleep on Christmas Eve, in order to have a proper Christmas morning opening presents.

Only, amidst piles of discarded wrapping paper, my presents were the only ones under the tree. And I was the only one opening presents. By myself. Cuz everyone else was asleep.

Silly. Opening presents Christmas morning, instead of Christmas Eve. Who does that?


Hahahaahaha. Merry Christmas, ya'll!

eta:
Yay, thanks for the clarification, Erika! Shanghai, China. Awesome.

Sleigh wha?

Magnet #660 - Santa

Another one of those magnets I picked up in the middle of the night at a random CVS in North Carolina. I know. Sometimes, I just like to pick the randoms.

But, here's why I'm using this for today.

There's something I just don't understand. Granted, I was born in Chicago, and I grew up in North Carolina, and I've lived in New York for the last 15 years, so I guess I wouldn't really understand, but seriously. I just don't understand.

How. How, when you live in a place where on December 13 it hit the mid-80s, can you even think about celebrating Christmas? It's. Too. Hot!

Flip-flops and visors. T-shirts and shorts. The middle of December!

I've spent the day driving all around Tampa and St. Pete and Innisbrook, and there's Christmas trees for sale and Tis the Season decorations all around, and all signs point to Christmas.

But how can you even think about the bundling up for the sleigh ride, when it's in the 80s and you're blasting the AC, because you've walked 10 yards outside and practically melt when you get into the car? Or, sing about chestnuts roasting on an open fire? Fire? Who has an open fire? It was 69 when we got in from dinner?

I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I just don't get it.

Every time a bell rings

Magnet #656 - O Christmas Tree

There's a part of me that can't quite get into the Christmas spirit - mainly cuz I feel like I missed Thanksgiving, and all of a sudden, bam, it's Christmas.

Some of it, is because I haven't been able to listen to my Christmas music. You know, the stuff where I have not one, but two, very old iPods and a cellphone loaded with 600 Christmas tunes. Alone. Plus, three new CDs this year that I haven't been able to listen to.

And, of course, I keep seeing Christmas trees everywhere I go. From Padua, Italy, to Seattle's Space Needle, tis the season.

One thing I haven't strayed from, is my love of Christmas movies. You know how some people (namely my sister and my dad) think it's not Christmas til you've watched It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, or Love, Actually? Or, it's not Christmas til you've watched any stop-action Rudolph, or sad Charlie Browns?

That's not me. I love Christmas made-for-television movies. The cheesier - the better. I love them. I get sucked in, and start to marathon them, like they're my popcorn movies. Whether it's ABC Family or LMN or Hallmark or Fa-la-la-la Lifetime - I am always down for cheesy Christmas movies. Last year, I filled up like 4 DVDs with them. Four.

One of my all-time favorites is Borrowed Hearts - so old, that you can totally see it in the print quality. It's the one with Roma Downey as a single mother, whose daughter wishes upon a dollhouse and Hector Elizondo, the angel grants her little wish to make their little family complete with Roma's boss, Eric McCormack. Every year. That's my It's a Wonderful Life.

Still, for all the old titles out there, for whatever reason - they just keep coming. For reals, yo. There's a good thirty of them out there that airs every year, but every year, there's the promise of a handful of new ones from Hallmark, Lifetime and ABC Fam. Love.

I've seen a couple, like Lifetime's 12 Men of Christmas, a Cheno movie, which was ok, I suppose. Really, it should have appealed, because it was literally my story of the NY chick who has to go to Montana to make it, and she does, and meets handsome, wealthy Mr. December, and lives happily ever after. In Kalispell, Montana.

But, I did see one this week, Debbie Macomber's Mrs. Miracle on Hallmark, starring James "Dawson Leery" Van der Beek playing the emotional shut-down single father to twins, who ends up with that chick who played in Being Erica - through the power of Mrs. Merkle, played by Doris Roberts. Unabashedly good, I thought.

Oh, I could keep going with the amount of cheesy holiday movies that they make just for me, but I won't. There are too many out there to love.

Just watch any of the women-focused cablenets and you'll quickly get sucked in. No, really!

Thank a vet today

Magnet #628 - Korean War Veterans Memorial

Ya'll know I love my war memorials. I just love having something tangible in the world to help honor the men and women who have and are serving out there.

And whether or not you believe it, those that help build the monuments do strive for the most accurate reflection of every aspect of whatever people, places and facts and branches involved. I've been in several long, very long meetings to prove it!

And you can see it in the design of the Korean War Veterans Memorial, one of the most haunting memorials out there. It depicts giant stainless steel statues of a squad on patrol - with representatives from each branch. Even more amazing, there may only 19 statues, but when you look at the reflecting pool, you can count 38 soldiers looking right back.

I haven't seen it at night, but I bet it's stunning.

Anyway, so while I'm using this magnet for Veterans Day today, take it as a blanket thank you, one and all to every person in every branch.

Thank you.

Señorita, I feel for you*

Magnet #617 - Señorita Joy

Talk about creeeepy. Or, just a bad Photoshop job, honey.

Heh. Inside work joke.

A friend of mine brought this Spanish dancer back for me from Spain. Love her, even if she freaks me out because she's a little bobbleheady. (No, it's true. I'm not so good with the bobbleheads, it makes me bobble my own head.)

Just figured I'd use this to get into the Halloween mood. I'm supposed to be at a Halloween baby shower in NC today, but didn't make the ride down. Of course, this was the same couple that had a Halloween wedding reception. It was a great idea - they sorta-eloped with their parents and the priest, and then a month later, had a big costume party wedding reception. Genius.

That way, girls could wear their old bridesmaid dresses - my best friend wore my dress that I wore for her wedding. Wait. Is that weird? Maybe a little. I showed up as the wedding planner, in a business suit, clipboard, and lanyard and phones. Yay, 1st place. Of course, I'm sure it was rigged.

I rarely do the dress-up thing anymore, the last time I went allll out with any effort was as Jokey Smurf at Carolina. That's where we do it right - closing Franklin Street down and everyone running around unsober in costume. Really fun stuff. No real trick-or-treating, but that's what Nov 1st is for, to go buy the candy you want...at half price.

Honestly, in my 14 years here in town, I've still not done the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Dudes. I get freaked out in my cube in broad daylight. The thought of a million strangers in costume and trying to scare people? Scares me.

So, it's the Chocolate Show for me today. We'll see if they have a magnet.



*A la pretty boy JT. And no, not Sweet Baby James that went to Carolina in his mind. Though, there is something in the way he moves, too. Hahaha. See what I did there?

What?

Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah!

Magnet #498 - George III (r. 1760-1820)

Ok. So in grade school, we did a little musical kids play that acted out the American Revolution.

I haven't a clue which grade it was, but it had to have been early, because I totally remember that we had a little songbook with the bubble letters colored in, presumably by me. It had stars and red, white and blue, and a flag, and I could swear it said something like Kids in America? Kids Sing America?

I dunno. I just remember that we had to memorize all the lyrics in it.

The thing I remember most though is the song we had to sing to King George, with one of my boy classmates, sitting on his throne. We sang him the below, and if I recall correctly, we even had to point our fingers at him in time with the music.

King George! Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah!
King George! Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah!
King George!

What makes you think you can sit there on your throne?
Why can't you just leave us alone?

King George! Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah!
King George! Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah!
King George!

Yes. Oh, there's more. I just can't remember it. And now, as has happened for many many years now, when the King George! Nah na-nah, na-nah, na-na-na-nah! gets into my head, it never leaves. The problem is that I can never get past that one little stanza and the chorus.

Oh well, to quote my Save the World sister, happy birthday, America!

Happy 2009!!!!

Magnet #314 - Alexander Hamilton at the N-YHS

Happy New Year!

Seems fittingly ironic to use Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury for today's magnet.

It's tradition in our family not to spend any money on New Year's Day - the superstition being that if you spend money on New Year's Day, you'll be spending it all year round. Of course, that's never made sense to anyone I've ever met, and truth be told, it's never actually worked out for us. Like, ever.

Nonetheless, it's what we've always done in our household. Some people eat black-eyed peas, some people have gold coins, some people have grapes. We don't spend money.

Except this year, I'm determined to make this 'stition work out for me. Let the year of simplification, moderation and restraint begin.

Happy 2009, ya'll. Make it a great one!

Sweet Times Square New Year's Eve

Magnet #313 - Hershey's Times Square

Oddly, this is my only Times Square magnet - from the Hershey's store. Love that store. Most of the stuff in there is what you can get in a Duane Reade or CVS, but they have supercute branded stuff, too. And you know I love my swag. Plus, the facade of the building, with its giant candy is just awesome. It's almost as cool as Willy Wonka's candy factory.

Picked this one for today, because most assuredly, Times Square is already jam-packed with New Year's revelers. Everyone should do New Year's in Times Square at least once. But don't go sober. Or alone. And make sure you go to the restroom before you head out there.

It's a great place to be, don't get me wrong, but you know that phrase, alone in a crowd? Truth is, even if you're hanging out with friends, the second the ball drops and everyone's kissing on each other, it's the loneliest feeling on the planet - absolutely the only time I've ever felt lonely in New York. Odd, I know. I could have gotten my freak on like the drunk chicks from Germany near us, who were then kissing on the drunk boys from Australia near us. But, ewwwww.

Anyway, I digress. It was a superfun night - we weren't actually in Times Square, though. Yet again, another example of me going somewhere and missing the biggest thing about it. While we did see the ball drop, I didn't get to see Dick Clark that night. It was kind of upsetting. Heh.

Check out this map. We left at like early afternoon, and we were still about 8 blocks away, halfway between the One Times Square and Central Park. And those blocks were filled to the brim with people. Insane. The one good thing is that we got to see both the ball drop and the fireworks over Central Park. It was seriously amazing. Even without the strangerkissing.

Hope everyone has a happy and safe New Year's Eve, and a Happy New Year!

Without peace, there is no joy*

Magnet #307 - Joy to the World

What?

I couldn't resist.

Have a very, merry Christmas!


*That's what our priest said tonight at Midnight Mass. He used to be Baptist, and is now Catholic. It makes for a very Baptist preachery sermon now and again. We like to call him John the Baptist.

What? His name is actually John!

O Red Christmas Tree

Magnet #306 - Christmas Tree person

A friend gave me this magnet. I can't figure out if the lady in the tree is cute, or slightly disturbing.

I love Christmas trees. I love laying down on my back under the tree, and looking up at the twinkling lights.

But, I'm a bit torn on whether I like real or fake.

We grew up with real ones - whether it was one we picked out in our backyard, or at a tree farm, it was always fun to go get the tree.

When we got older, Mom got all Southern Living on us, and decorated the tree on her own. Now, it's this giant fake tree with red color-coordinated ornaments and bows, encased in a funny barbed wire-esque red twine-ny starry thing. You have to see it, to believe it.

But, I can understand - live trees seem to be a lot of trouble. I remember whining about having to water the trees, and trying to be mindful not to get the presents wet. And good gravy, the pine needle clean-up!

Still - my favorite part of New York at Christmastime, is walking past the tree vendors on the sidewalks. Get a good tree farm, and when you walk through the bundled trees, it smells like North Carolina. Home.

And, speaking of - my sister and I are driving down to NC, so we'll be seeing the great red tree tonight! Here's hoping the other 17 million on the roads yesterday and today are keeping the highways moving!

Let the holidays begin!

Do they know it's Christmas?

Magnet #296 - Duran Duran (yes. again)

Christmas 1984 is when Band Aid released the single and the video for Do they know it's Christmas?, a song written in the back of a cab by Bob Geldolf. I swear, I must have stalked MTV day and night waiting for each airing of this video. Ya know, back in the day when they actually played wall-to-wall videos.

This charity effort was the first out of the gate, one of the first large gatherings of musical talent ever...and was then quickly followed by Michael Jackson/USA for Africa's We Are the World. Both were aimed at helping Africa, with as much star power as they could possibly gather. Both videos read like Who's Who in 80s music, and were actually incredible to watch. (I mean the scheduling alone must have been a bear.)

But Do they know it's Christmas? is still my favorite holiday song to this day. I lived to see my John Taylor having so much fun with the other boys during the recording. How cute is he at the 2:46 mark! Squee!

Not surprisingly, holiday music is my favorite all-time music. I spent the entire day yesterday ripping all my holiday CDs to an external drive, so that I could load them up to iPods and my cell. And, 65 CDs and roughly a thousand songs later, I'm happy to report - all music listening devices are ready to roll.

As usual, I tend to stick with the happy bubblegummy music, because they make me happy. But, because I have several compilation sets, I end up with tons of dupes of the Rat Pack, or Johnny Mathis, or Ella or Bing. I deleted any tracks that were by the same artist, but it still means that I have up to 20 versions each of Silent Night, Winter Wonderland, I'll Be Home for Christmas, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, Sleigh Ride, The Christmas Song and the best one of all, Joy to the World.

I think I could listen to Christmas music all year round. My silly favorite holiday CDs, just for kicks...feel free to mock.

1. School's Out Christmas
2. Platinum Christmas
3. Christmas with the Rat Pack
4. Disney Channel Holiday
5. Radio Disney Jingle Jams
6. Maybe this Christmas
7. Cheetah-licious Christmas
8. NOW That's What I Call Christmas
9. Home for Christmas

eta:
I wish Duran Duran would put out a Christmas album.

But I also kinda wish that Bob Geldof had worked out some sort of deal where if the artists participate in it (whichever version, though none are as good as the original), that those artists could put that track on their own albums and donate a percentage to Band Aid.

But I'd rather have a "Have a Merry Duran Duran Christmas" more.

Stick a wreath on her, she's done

Magnet #294 - Holiday Joy

What is it about company gatherings that makes me drink too much, too fast, and on an empty stomach?

Possibly more to come. Let's see if today yields any ramifications from yesterday's fun.

Small update: Yes. It could have been much worse. Thankfully, I have the best boss in the entire world.