You know, those old vases and jars at the back of your closet. Too lazy to roll it all and count it? Too cheap to pay the counting fee at a Coinstar machine?

Well, now you don't have to.

At 3500 (soon to be 5000) locations nationwide, Coinstar is allowing consumers to forgo the fee if they convert their spare change into gift cards. Retailers currently include Starbucks and Amazon.com, and will soon include Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Pier One Imports, and others.

Since my collected spare change usually goes for a spluge item, turning it into an Amazon gift certificate seems like a good idea....

The details are here.

You can find a machine near you here. Choose "prepaid card" from the pulldown menu to find machines that dispense the cards.

(h/t Aziz P)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:24 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Just got back from the BFL barbecue. We all had a great time. Thanks to the lovely Little Miss Attila and her Hubby for hosting. It was awesome to finally meet Baldilocks, LMA, The Pirate, and Darleen Click and her husband. It was also great to see Justene and Rich, Flap, and Xrlq Sr and Jr again.

Did I miss anyone?

Highlights of the evening included a spirited discussion of the upcoming election and the BFL salon, watching Baby Xrlq play on the floor with Justene's cell phone, and getting USC-Arkansas updates via Flap's cell phone. Not to mention yummy food. Mmmmm....steak......Mmmm.......pie.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:14 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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So we went to Target (pronounced tar-ZHAY, of course) today. We threw out the semi-busted alarm clock/CD player when we moved, and we're tired of waking up to the annoying cell phone beeper in the morning.

So we got a new one, and not only does it set its own time, it has 4 colors in the display, gets the weather stations and TV channels 2-13, has 18 presets for radio stations.

Also, and this is why we got it, when you set the alarm, not only can you set alarm 1 and alarm 2 for 2 different times, but for each alarm you can set the station or track you want (whether you choose CD or radio) and the VOLUME. Our biggest pet peeve with the old one was that if you wanted to fall asleep listening to the radio, you had to listen to it at the volume you wanted to wake up to. Not real conducive to sleeping. Now we can listen to the radio or CD quietly to fall asleep and wake up to earth shattering noise.

Also, in addition to the standard snooze and sleep features, it has a nap button so you can set it for one or two hours of naptime without messing up the regular alarm setting. Perfect for the girl who has taken more naps as an adult than she did as a toddler.

Yay!

And the sound quality is better than the TV, so we're watching the fUCLA/OU game with the sound off and the radio on.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:52 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I almost forgot in the light of other things, but both of the Princess's biopsies came back negative. The path report also says the vet was right, and both of the little growths were exactly what we thought they were, and completely harmless. So 3 stitches and several hundred dollars later, my piece of mind is restored, and my boo is more comfortable.....Yay!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:35 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Also very good news...YAY! Hugs and kisses to the princess, and to her mommy and daddy for taking such good care of her.

Posted by: Amanda at September 17, 2005 05:46 AM (Bf8a3)

2 Well, YAYAYAYAYAYA! You're on a roll, kiddo! Huggums,

Posted by: Margi at September 17, 2005 11:03 AM (nwEQH)

3 Hip Hip Hurray!!!!!

Posted by: vw bug at September 17, 2005 01:56 PM (J3xJ9)

4 Biopsy?!? Aaaaaaa! Either I wasn't paying attention or you kept that from me. I'm glad the woo is OK. After all, I knew her when she was a couple weeks old and pooping worms (yeech). Yaaaay!

Posted by: Ben at September 18, 2005 08:36 PM (NIpoo)

5 Hooray, good to know. Feel the pain though, our Billy was just in at the vets for a delicate operation on his bottom (I won't go into the details), stitches and hundreds of dollars later there as well, all is good. Hooray for the pets!

Posted by: Amanda at September 20, 2005 02:38 AM (ytctw)

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I got a job offer!!!!

Here's the pertinents (without mentioning the institution)
-Assistant Professor level, and even though they don't have a tenure structure, it is promotable to Full Professor

-year one: 30 hrs/week $40K + full faculty benefits
-year two: 40 hrs/week $52K + etc.

It involves setting up a new lab curriculum, choosing lab software to go with the curriculum and then integrating it into the classes that are already being taught. Then also some teaching. There's also a chance to do some independent lab work and supervise some student research.

It's not what I would be making as an Asst. Prof at a high caliber research institution, but there's no pressure to get grants and publish either (yay!)

Salary is commensurate with a postdoc, so it's appropriate for my employment level, and about what I was expecting.

I am now going to poke the other institution and see what they'll drop in my lap. Working for them was potentially more $$$.....

So what do you think (I mean seriously, beyond the YAY! factor)?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:27 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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1 What do I think? I think YOU RAWK! that's what. Heh. Seriously, I think it's a good plan to poke the other place, just to see. Keep us posted. (LOL...lil' bloggin' humor, there.) xoxo

Posted by: Margi at September 16, 2005 10:35 PM (nwEQH)

2 Yay!!!

Posted by: Jay at September 16, 2005 10:38 PM (l4+Wd)

3 YAY! I told ya!

Posted by: Da Goddess at September 16, 2005 10:43 PM (P9Dei)

4 I can only Yay! along with everyone else I don't know enough about what you do to have an opinion.

Posted by: Ith at September 16, 2005 11:31 PM (bM2fM)

5 ** Doin' the Happy Dance ** That is great. Guess I can quit worrying about your interview skills. ;-)

Posted by: VW Bug at September 17, 2005 04:18 AM (J3xJ9)

6 This is absolutely wonderful news! What a way to start the weekend! I don't know much about what you do either, but it sounds great. And I do think poking the other institution is a great idea...you never know...

Posted by: Amanda at September 17, 2005 05:42 AM (Bf8a3)

7 congrats!! This is excellent!! Sounds great!!

Posted by: Marie at September 17, 2005 10:59 AM (410kz)

8 I think "YAY!" pretty much says it all. :-)

Posted by: Pam at September 18, 2005 07:08 PM (RnH4N)

9 What do *I* think? Whoo hooo... It's ALL coming together!!!!!

Posted by: Bou at September 18, 2005 08:21 PM (5JHEt)

10 Flap says YAY! Good Job!

Posted by: Flap at September 19, 2005 04:26 PM (A8i+J)

11 Hey, great! Congratulations!

Posted by: Paul Burgess at September 20, 2005 06:42 AM (7EVyU)

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well, ok, not really. No internet at home today for some reason, so I'm blogging from my friend's house.

but in other news, Aussie Wife is back, and she has a yummy new recipe....

If we have internet later, I'll post one.....

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Not a member of some inferior alien race.

The proof? He needs to pee too!

REUTERS/Rick Wilking/Yahoo!

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005.

The text of the message reads "I think I may need a bathroom break? Is this possible? Whe..."

I can just see the response from the Chimpy McSmirk crowd......

And yes, I'm sure he is potty trained and does in fact KNOW whether he needs to go or not.
(h/t Kevin at Wizbang!)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:32 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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As many of you who are bloggers know, one of the most useful things you add to your page is a tracker that logs hits from search engines.....

Tonight I watched someone actually answer their question:"what's the f-bomb?"
(why am I NOT surprised that I am #1 for this string?)

the next search string I got hit for was: "fuckhead fuckwad fuckface"

Heh.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:13 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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As if this week wasn't TV good enough already (new House!), tomorrow night's the premiere of Season 11 of Survivor.....

16 new Survivors and two returning competitors......
Spoilers in the extended entry more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:38 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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So when you move you expect to get some mail from the previous residents, right? The junk mail you toss, the catalogs you keep and look through, the bills and letters you mark to be forwarded.

But you don't expect phone calls. Usually the phone company keeps a number dormant for at least 6 months before reassigning it. In the the last 3 days we've had at least 4 "wrong number" calls, 3 of them in the SAME DAY for a guy named Matt, one for a chick named Brenna.....

Either that or Matt is giving out our number at a gay bar.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:07 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 When I first got my new cell phone two years ago, I got call after call for "Tawana". I think she might have been a lady of the evening from the calls. And the calls from her creditors, and then the calls from federal prison. Fun!

Posted by: Ith at September 14, 2005 08:19 PM (bM2fM)

2 Ugh. So annoying. I've had this problem with my 2 of my last 3 numbers. With our number here it took well over a year before we quit getting them. Whoever it was that had it didn't like to pay his bills, apparently. Silly person. I had a similar problem in Pensacola but it was much shorter-lived. The number I had in Fresno last kept getting bombarded by, of all things, a mortgage guy and a school. Both had the wrong number for different people and the calls were always when I was at work. I resorted to an answering machine message that said, "Hi. You have reached *number*. Mr. X doesn't live here. In fact, I've never even heard of him. I'm sorry, but you have the wrong number." (Or something close to that, Jay would remember.) Anyway, much fun was had by all and that cleared it up pretty quick.

Posted by: Deb at September 14, 2005 09:02 PM (l4+Wd)

3 Yep, same thing here. We've had our number for almost a year, and still sometimes we get requests to talk to "Mrs McGee".

Posted by: Amanda at September 15, 2005 02:25 AM (ytctw)

4 I get collect phone calls from Chico State Prison. I once had 40 messages in one day on my answering machine. I could have them blocked, but what about when I actually know someone in prison?

Posted by: Bill at September 15, 2005 06:18 AM (TfrfE)

5 When I was growing up, we would occasionally get calls for "Latisha". This went on well after we were in the house for five years. As for the mail, I still occasionally get the last people's mail, and they moved out in 1999! I think people often don't bother to change their mailing addy so they can avoid the bills. After I leave my current apt, the next people are going to hate me. I get tons of junk mail, and I suspect a good chunk of it will be their problem.

Posted by: Ben at September 18, 2005 08:44 PM (NIpoo)

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Presented without comment:

From AP/ Yahoo!: Major Quake Could Be Worse Than Katrina

"As many as 18,000 people dead. More than $250 billion in damages. Hundreds of thousands of people left homeless. That's not the latest estimate of Hurricane Katrina's toll on the Gulf Coast. That's a worst-case scenario if a major earthquake were to hit Los Angeles.
...
California has been hit by significant quakes about every 15 years over the past century. Experts say there's a better-than 60 percent chance that a quake with a magnitude around 6.7 will hit Southern California or the Bay Area within decades."

No shit...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:49 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Curious George, the mischevious little monkey who is forever confounding the man in the yellow hat, almost wasn't.

This article tells the story of HA and Margaret Rey, and their escape from the Nazis....

Did you know George was almost Curious Fifi?

(Yellow h/t Lair Simon)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:05 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Judge rules Pledge unconstitutional (again.....)

GOP-controlled House passes landmark anti-discrimination Hate Crime legislation

Car bombs kill over 150 and injure nearly 600 in Iraq today.

John Roberts eats Chuck Schumer's lunch and explains why the Ginsberg rule applies to him even though Schumer thinks he's ahead in the game.

Bet me money that the MAJORITY of tonight's news will be about the Katrina aftermath instead.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:07 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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After 23 outstanding years and a couple of Stanley Cups (alas, in exile in Pittsburgh) and 3 Lady Byng trophies (as the league's most gentlemanly player). Ronnie Franchise is calling it quits and is retiring as a Hurricane.

I count it one of the greatest sports privileges that I have ever had to have been able to see Ronnie play as often as I could. And let me be the first to say, you'll always be OUR captain.

Here's one of my favorite Ron Francis moments, scoring the game-winning goal in Detroit vs the Dead Things in the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:47 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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You asked for pictures of boobs, so here you go!
(completely SFW)....

Sorry Harv. Couldn't resist.

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The Princess came through surgery with flying colors. She was very sleepy all last night, but she doesn't seem to be in too much pain. At least, she's not eating any slower

She has a bunch of sore, burned tissue in her mouth where he cauterized the gum after removing the presumed epilus, and 3 little stitches on her chest where the presumed lipoma was. And because of the stitches, she can't have a bath for 2 weeks! (That would be her favorite part if she could tell me so)

Yesterday's interview went well (~2 hours) and they just about offered me a job that is along the lines of what I want, but may be at a much lower salary.... I am waiting for specific details from them. It would also be a closer commute than the other university I've been talking with....

House rocked last night. I love how they nearly always sneak in a little clever metaphor...... Cameron is just a little Pollyanna, huh? Even worse than I suspected. And bring back the old hairdresser, dammit. What was up with Cameron and Cuddy's hairdos???

On a more serious note, Pheochromocytoma is a (usually) non-malignant tumor of the adrenal glands. Like normal adrenal tissue, PCC tumors can also secrete adrenaline (epinephrine), but unlike adrenal tissue, the tumor does not respond properly to the body's fight or flight cues and can result in anything from rage attacks such as those perpetrated in the episode to panic attacks and paranoia. Also, as discussed previously in regards to House, small cell lung cancer is evil and one of two types of cancer that are still regarded as a complete death sentence (the other being glioblastoma multiforme).

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:37 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Season #2 Premiere of House..... 9pm Eastern and Pacific.

YAY!!!!

Any predictions?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:35 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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This seems to be going around.... First Jon washed Angie's cell phone, now Army Wife has done it with her DH's. And it turns out, the garage door opener, too!

AW's DH has some good advice in the comments: If you live in the same house it helps to have the same kind of cell phone. That way there's more than one person who knows how to program it, more than one charging cord etc.

I say this extends to ALL electronics in the family. In our family, with the CIT parents 3,000 miles away until recently, it made sense for them to get the same model TV, VCR, and DVD player, so every time something needed to be reprogrammed or the power went out, I could just press the buttons on my own remote as I talked one of them through it. Furthermore, it's great to be able to say things like, "Now press the big purple button on the right. Ok. Now the pink one next to it..." etc.

Of course, that also means they WILL call you instead of reading the book....

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You gotta love Jim and the crap that goes through his head.....

Homonyms and Homophones:

Her beau stood at the bow of the ship wearing, on his lapel, the red bow she had given him the day he won the archery championship using the bow he made from a bough of a hickory tree, and after which he proudly took a bow before the applauding audience.

Read the whole thing!

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I just have a few minutes until DH gets back because he's grading papers....

1. Dodgers Win! It was a blast, look for pictures from the game here or here.

2. New addiction: Dulce de Leche Hershey's Kisses (white chocolate with caramel swirl and dulce de leche caramel filling)

3. Exgaucho Ben has now seen the majority of Team America. F*ck Yeah!

4. VW Bug is back. Check out her post roundup.

Perhaps more later....

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