"Everything's under control in there." "He's not happy, but he's doing fine." "It's all good." These were among the comments I heard from men exiting the restroom at a museum while my husband was inside with our crying (he hates diaper changes) toddler on the (thank you progressive culture) changing table. I was sitting contentedly outside on a bench, but all the "I've been there too" dads felt that a report from the interior was necessary for my sanity. And since I started laughing hysterically every time I received an unsolicited update, they must've thought I was pretty far gone.
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California police officer attacked by pack of angry Chihuahuas. It's not good to laugh at a police officer or anyone who is attacked by dogs but...I did anyway. That's five little Chihuahuas. Minor injuries. He was back at work two hours later after a trip to the hospital. And when I noticed the webpage had been named "webankles30.html" I started laughing all over again. Then I recovered and did my usual weblog posting research (thinking, there's no way I'm really going to write about this) and found the headline "Cop Attacked By Angry Dogs -- Itty-Bitty Angry Dogs" and completely lost it. More wassail anyone?
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Update on the ring lost by a See's employee: Thea Sawyer found the glittering diamond ring in her See's bag last Wednesday and returned it to the happy owner the next day. Friday she went to pick up her reward ring at the contributing jewelry store and announced she would be donating it to charity. Nice.
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Thursday, December 22, 2005

See's Candies employee, Wanda Estrada, must be happy that parent company Berkshire Hathaway also happens to own Helzberg Diamonds. Estrada believes she lost her diamond ring while bagging sweets for a customer. Sister company Helzberg has offered up a reward ring valued at $2,500 to encourage the return of the misplaced one.
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On Thanksgiving Day a local toddler (from Redmond, WA) died soon after his parents rushed him to the hospital with severe flu-like symptoms. The autopsy uncovered two tiny magnets in his small intestines. One magnet was at the top of the intestines, the other at the bottom. The attached magnets twisted his small intestines together, closing them off. He died from septic shock. The magnets had fallen out of the plastic pieces from his older brother's Magnetix set. Of course this toy is not intended for toddlers to play with, but older kids and parents may not notice if the tiny magnets come out of the pieces and are subsequently ingested. Fred Meyer, where that set was purchased, removed Magnetix from their shelves. The manufacturer has not taken any public action yet.
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Wednesday, December 07, 2005

The Dry Soda Co, based in Tacoma, WA, is rather new and I spotted their minimalist clear bottles at QFC in the cold soda section. Their flavors, lavendar, kumquat, lemongrass, and rhubarb are designed to be paired with fine foods. Thus, they are also available at local (and perhaps soon farther afield) fine restaurants such as Brasa, Canlis, and the Herbfarm. I can't stomach much alcohol so I'm all for more options in teetotaler drink pairings.
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Playwright Wendy Wasserstein is ill with leukemia. "Third," her most recent play, opened in New York in October. It takes place at a Small Unnamed New England College. Wasserstein received a BA from Mount Holyoke in 1971.
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Your trivia for today: Why is pig iron called pig iron? Prompted by Mark Bittman's NY Times paean to cast iron pans. Lodge cast-iron is made from "pig-iron ingot and scrap steel converted back into iron."
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Friday, December 02, 2005

Over at feeling listless it's time for Review 2005 and Stuart was not only kind enough to ask me to contribute but used my entry to kick the series off.
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"Space Above and Beyond" the short-lived Fox series from about ten years ago was recently released on DVD. Despite reported attempts by creators Glen Morgan and James Wong to add extra material to the DVD set, Fox kept contents to just the bare minimum.
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Oprah Winfrey finally deigned to be on Letterman last night. With Tony Danza standing by in the wings as "backup host" Dave gave Oprah a setup and welcome worthy of her 16 year absence. Paul Shaffer even added a tympani for the night to drumroll her introduction. On his very best behavior, Dave concentrated on serious questions, allaying any fears Oprah had that she would be the focus of juvenile jokes and then gallantly escorted her across the street to the Broadway premiere of "The Color Purple."
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