Anyone ever write a wedding toast? God, I'm terrified. I have to do this in front of 70 people? Standing in heels? Oh GOD! Fortunately there is an open bar. I've been putting this off for weeks and now I'm down to the wire... 1.5 days...

Lately, I've almost decided to pursue another job instead of travelling this winter. It would mean that I get to do more snowboarding, watch the iditerod start, work on fitness, and continue playing with my team... but my 3 serious job inquiries were from 2 competing companies (i.e. the EXACT same job I do now) and my current company (!!). HOW does that work???? Insane. Obviously, my masters degree and experience mean so much. Really.

The other thing that it would allow me to do (how sad is this) is to continue watching House every Tuesday. Wow.... I'm completely addicted. It's horrible.... I think it is actually a true psychological addiction. I'm trying to avoid feeding it...but it's beginning to eat my time in a big way- writing fanfics (which, btw, is an enormously gratifying experience), watching boards, watching shows, etc.

And cats- why are cats color-biased? Never thought it mattered but my parents have 4.5 cats. When there was a black cat and a gray cat, they were fine. 2nd black cat showed up and they segregated themselves from the gray. Then there were strays, resultant kittens... so now there are 2 gray cats that get along great, 2 black cats that get along great, and a big papa brown/white cat that kinda hangs out and gets along with the gray kitten... but no one else. Weird huh? Are cats color blind?

wedding toast... here i come....

Never had to, thank God! Althoguh I don't think writing it would be that bad, just the delivery part. And, as you say an open bar will go a long way in easing that. Just remeber two things you were chosen for a reason. Someone likes you and your humor, intelligence, worldly outlook, or whatever. THey want you to share in their special day and feel you the kind of person that can help make it special. ( :blink: No pressure. :blink: ;) :lol: ) Just be yourself and tell everyone how happy you are that the happy couple is happy.

Good Luck on that. :)

New job, definitely. Although once a new job starts you may not have the opportunity to travel. At least for a while.

Ooo, what do you play?

Yep, the whole working thing sucks. And I'm not sure that in pioneer times it was much better. The only plus to it then was you were busting your butt for your own survival. Now at least half of what you do is for someone else's survival.

I guess my 'I can learn more from the world than a bunch of folks who've been in the educational system all their adult lives' attitude has served me well in that regard. (Don't stone me :o If that's your choice go for it. you'll probably be better off in the end that I will be :) ) That and I don't care if I'm living in a box as long as it's not twenty below. :lol:

I've heard so many folks voicing that same thing lately. And don't get me wrong, I could easily spend my life at school learning things (Any countries history but especially Russia, China and Japan. Languages. Fencing or any sport for that matter. Archeology. Egyptology. Botany. Biology. Physics. Astromony. Entimology. Forensics. You name it, I'm game) but it just seems like once you pass the bachelor's degree you really limit your job field. As you start to get more and more specific you start to limit who will hire you because they feel they have to pay you a ton of money and you won't want to do all of what they ask or will become bored and quit.

What kind of work do you do and are you willing to relocate? Not that Ohio is a hotbed of jobs but we've got a wide geographic group here at the board, maybe someone knows of something.

Welcome to the brotherhood nomad :lol: :lol: :P I even took a Saturday morning class becsaue it was that or Tuesday night. :(

Don't fight it. As the Borg say "Resistance is futile". You'll be much happier just giving in. ;)

And on the fanfics... It is isn't it? :)

But seriously, it'll all level out. You'll start to prioritize and take care of what you need to. But I really agree. I'm not an addictive personality type but man this show has hooked me worse than anything ever has. I can take or leave most things. I may be obsessive at time but that's a different animal and has to do with my need to do the job and not addiction. I'd never make it as a real addict because I'd have ODed by now. (probably why I'm not wired that way huh? Can you say intelligent design? ;) :D )

I'd never noticed but it could be that I can't recall having any cats that were the same color, other than a few tiger cats. It seemed if they were related they'd hang around together but if they weren't there was always tension between them. May also be a male/female thing.

Have you ever read "Tribe of the Tiger."? The author's last name is Marshall I think. It's quite an interesting book on cats and their social groupings and interaction. I don't necessarily agree with everything she has to say but it does have some interesting observations and great cat stories.

If I recall correctly cats are color blind. And pure white cats with blue eyes are often deaf.

Let us know how the wedding toast went.

Wedding toasts? I've been a best man (always the best man and um..) and I'd say the bar is the way forward. Lots of glass charging and another tip is to get one of those books where people write nice stuff. Get everyone to sigh and most importantly print their names in it BEFORE you start - that way no no one gets cheesed.

Travelling? Always wins out over work if you can do it - work will wait but the world won't. Man, that was prentetious but you know what I mean.
Racist cats? I guess I'd be grateful if my cat could get along with another living creature to discriminate. Is it sexist or just colourist?

Good luck :)

Best wedding toast I ever heard was from a best man who included light-hearted advice to the groom ("No more trips to Krispy Kreme at two in the morning"), plenty of sincere praise for the bride, and kept the whole thing clean, light, and to the point.

On the cats and colorblindness, they're not entirely colorblind. According to what I've heard they do see colors although not as vividly as we do and have trouble telling red from green. As for why some cats hang around together and why some don't I'm as puzzled as you are. Cats from the same litter seem to get along easier than unrelated ones at least provided they haven't been separated. My own cat is tabby and white--really it's like she's wearing a tabby cape and mask-- and her "boyfriend"--they've both been fixed so don't ask me what's up with that-- is a "tuxedo cat" but she has also been friends with some plain brown tabbies (one an urelated male cat belonging to the neighbors and one her own kitten). There was another male tabby with whom she didn't get along, in this case he seemed to want to be friends but she'd growl and hiss any time he got near her. Now another neighbor has a female brown tabby who absolutely does not get along with my cat at all despite the fact that they'd lived in the same neighborhood for about four or five years.

With the cats with whom she got along--with the exception of her kitten of course--there was an initial get-to-know-you period where both parties were wary of each other and there was a bit of vocalisation but after a short time they seemed to come to some kind of resolution among themselves and they at least tolerate one another if they aren't actually friends. There seem to be definite rules about who can take what sort of liberties with whom, who can go into whose territory and how far but they respect each other's boundaries and it's fine.

With her arch enemy they never seem to have left the sizing up phase. Every time one sees the other they hiss and spit and growl. My cat will even show submission and the other cat will keep pushing. To my eyes it seems like my cat is okay with giving the other one her space and the other one has to keep pushing the boundaries with mine, but since I only see the encounters that happen near my house it's possible that my cat does the same to the other one-- I did one witness mine come into the yard of her nemesis, look around to see if the coast was clear, dig a hole in the garden, look around again, then squat down and take care of business, if you know what I mean, in an almost defiant way, then quickly fill in the hole and run off. These two cats will even fight with each other through a window or screen door.

It's to the point that this other cat seems to recognize me at times as being the human associated with my cat, who breaks up their wars, and will hiss and growl if she sees me. Oddly enough, not always. There are times when, as long as it's on her territory, if I put my hand down the other cat will come and rub against it though generally she is not a very tolerant cat, which is strange because my cat was a stray for a time and this one was adopted as a kitten, so you'd think my cat would be less accommodating but if someone bothers her she will run away rather than try to bite or scratch. The other thing with this other cat is she will attack humans if they try to scare her off and she's deep in "attack mode". The other cat is declawed, I've heard that can make them more terriorial for some reason.

The odd bit is I swear that in other situations my cat is usually the dominant cat, at least on her own turf, and this other cat is scared of cats over whom my cat seems dominant. I don't know what it is. I've also observed a feral cat colony and there while some cats seemed to be close than others it seemed everyone got on okay with everyone else, but that may have to do with the sibling factor and having grown up together.

As for your other comments, I too have tried to arrange my schedule around House episodes-- of course before I used to rearrange my schedule around fencing; the club was open most nights, but I made sure my schedule coordinated with the people I wanted to bout with.

And I too would love to go to school in everything. I didn't enjoy my graduate program as much as I enjoyed undergrad, but I have a feeling it was due to constantly worrying how what I was learning was going to help me make a living. Anyway, tell me about over qualified. I've complained about it before, but it seems like everything in the field I want to get into requires experience, more than I have at least, but I can't find anyone to let me have that experience, or if I try to take a job at at lower level in hopes of working up once I get my foot in with the company, they don't want me because I'm overqualified even after I explain, as I have started to do, that I know that I seem over qualified, but I'm willing to take the job anyway so that they can groom me for something better and promote from within.

Hmmm . . . color-biased cats? I've known quite a few cats, and have never noticed such a thing. Of course, that might be because many of my feline friends have viewed ALL other cats with disdain. I had one cat who, I'm convinced, believed she was the only true cat in the world and that all others were pale imitations of her grandeur.

But, come to think of it, my two current kitties actually get along well. They aren't biologically related, but they act like sisters: they tussle, but they also lick each other and generally enjoy each other's company. And, it so happens, their coloring is similar. Very curious . . .

Maybe House will come back as a cat in a future life . . . :-)

swipes brow... woo... that's done and over.. .thank goodness. beautiful wedding, but i really suck at that stuff. if i ever get married i'm eloping and no one else will know until i show up with a wedding band one day. i must admit though- this was a very simple, elegant, and easy wedding compared to some i've been too. toast went fine... not the greatest. I ended up writing a few things down.. and then I had a basic idea... winged it from there. Wine was helpful in this capacity.

It is weird about the cats... the black and gray one got along fine until the 2nd black one showed up. I think part of the issue is that the big gray cat rules the house and tried to assert his dominance over black cats. And they're all boy cats except the kitten... The elder gray cat used to have a next door neighbor girlfriend (who was similar in color if I recall). I haven't lived there in years.. no idea if they're still dating ;) And they're all fixed thanks to my mother's criminal animal stealing behavior (i.e. fixing the next door neighbor's cats.. but in her defense, they did show up and have babies on her back porch while the neighbors were out of town). Cats are pretty cool....

soccer

Argh... I'm a travelling fool... I feel my best when travelling and my current job allows me to do a bit of that- albeit only within the US and its territories (which fortunately for me includes Guam and Hawaii). However, I've managed to save a bit of cash and need to hit the rest of Europe, UK, Ireland, S. America, and most of Asia and India. My going theory is that if I learn spanish fluently (in S. America), then I can pick up a job just by being fluent in Spanish. To put it simply I work as a gov't contractor and I like Alaska and would like to stay and do more outdoorsy things before I leave... Most of the problem lies in my job- I moved there alone, I work alone out of my house. My one "friend" is my roommate, her dog, and her cat. All my soccer "friends"are married with kids. In AK, you need friends to do outdoorsy things- just because it is vast and can be dangerous for those of us who learned our skills from hiking and backcountry snowboarding in the peaceful bavarian alps. On the other hand, most of the jobs I feel academically and psychologically suited for are in the place I left- DC area/Northern VA. ICK! But I will work world-wide. Considered joining the Peace Corps.... I'm flexible. Independent seeks work in team environment utilizing analytical and organizational skills, preferably investigation or law related work. Will work any day of the week except Tuesday night. ;)

Does anyone out there get the shakes before a new episode of House? Addiction... plain and simple. I almost denied one of my dearest friends a dinner out (the only night he could while I was there) because House was on. Rationality took over eventually.

Didn't someone write a fic where house is a cat? Is it bad that I know that?

The thing about school is that I don't like it... never have. I like reading, I like writing, and I like learning. I don't like pretentious students and fumbling professors. I don't like academic rigamarole and sitting in class day after day. Don't get me wrong- I've had some great experiences in classes. Most of them were in English/Lit classes... hmph... too bad I have 2 psych degrees.

Hmm... well as a testament to my house addiction, i'm visiting family i haven't seen in a while. and i suppose i should be... sociable?

There have been several "House gets a cat" fics. I wrote the first, and least cutesey (which is not to say non-cutesey), of the bunch. But I think you are right that there was a fic where House actually turns into a kitten. I don't remember much about it except kitten!House getting into mischief and trying not to purr when people petted him.

Yes, there are various House gets a cat fics, and one of these days I may write one too becaue he needs one and practically is one himself. There is however one I saw on FF.net where one morning House does wake up as a cat. It actually wasn't too bad. Just as he does in human form, House goes around and causes mischief at the hospital. Then the next day he's himself again. I can't remember the title though.

Oh, and Prpl's comment has disappeared but she wondered if maybe we should be worried that cats are taking over the world. My only response to that is, I thought they already had. I know mine just allows me the illusion that the humans are in charge so I'll open cans for her.

Glad the wedding toast went over well. You never know what to say in those things.

Yea, Prpls comment disapeared because she deleted it. I read it and it made no sense so I deleted it, and it gave the thread a hijacked feel kinda like this so

WoOO Racist Cats!

GAH! I'm not starting a new topic now... I'm ranting. After about 12 hours of travel, and a desperate run through the Seattle airport, I arrive back in the land of cold (holy -20 windchill batman)... without luggage... BAH! My computer cords are in my baggage... my laptop battery is nearly dead. My cell phone cords... in the luggage... both nearly dead. My work computer is dead until work sends it back to me. And without it.... no work! As much fun as that sounds, it's really dull. Screams in frustration are heard around the globe... AHHHH!!!!!!!