Rachel, you have no idea how thankful I am you kit so early in the morning because it lets me shout *First!*

Also, thank you for linking to the snake pictures instead of including them.

I have a collie/BMD mix who will be happy to kill the snake for you, thus sparing the feelings of your strawberry plant a while longer.

"Snake and Chipmunk and I, them with their quarter-teaspoon brains and me with my three-pounder, all had exactly the same instinct."

Nice!

You could also plant vinca (considerably less than strawberry plants) or buy this to wear as a talisman:

http://www.annechoi.com/html/main.html

Vinca

"Sides: 'I pray thee vinca, pervinca, that thou come to me glad blossoming.' "
- Part of charm from Herbarium of Apuleius. Periwinkle was believed to protect one from poison, drowning, snakes, and illness.

Okay, I am actually going into work now. I deleted 1400 old e-mails early this morning, and somehow feel nothing else should be demanded of me all day.

God loves us so much more than we can imagine through Him that died for all, Jesus Christ.

Morning, friends. My original post is under the last kit if anyone is interested in reading it. Have a great day, folks. Oh, nice kit. That looks like one of the harmless variety of snakes.

Hey Cassandra, I hope a new school board in your county will make a positive difference.

dbG, are you telling me the periwinkle that drives me crazy is a good plant to have around? Who knew? Actually, the periwinkle is fine, it's the weeds that grow amongst it that annoy me.

Great Kit, Rachel. It's wonderful to see young people getting into gardening. My vegetables are doing okay, the zinnias and nasturtiums are up, I *think* I may be seeing coneflowers germinate, and I'm watering the nicotiana and bells of Ireland, planted on Monday. The biggest problem in my yard is too much grass and not enough flowerbed.

dr, good luck with the new job! Sounds like a great thing to do.

Sooo glad the primary is over. That's as far as I'm going on politics today.

Happy Wednesday, everybody!

This kit reminds me of an incident that happened a few weeks ago while Ms Lion was giving the kids a tour of Sulley Plantation. She was standing at an entrence to a shack like building and told the 5 year old, "Look, this is where the slaves lived." The boy pointed down at the edge of the stoop he was standing on and said very calmly, "And this is where the snake lives."

Big, fat, 6 foot rat snake!

At that very moment, my daughter got harassed by an attacking wasp.

The boy was grabbed and thrown to safety and daughter ran off, arms flailing as 2 females screamed at the top of their lungs. What a scene. It's one of those times where you had to be there to appreciate it though.

On a musical note, whenever I here a transe mix song, I think to myself, Something is missing, Where's the lead guitar solo?

Very enjoyable kit Rachel, a great way to start the day.

As for the video - wow - I am at a loss for words, sort of like early PussyCat dolls.

When I was about 9 or 10 years old, I had a pet king snake. We didn't know its sex so I very creatively named it "He-She." I only bring this up because I happen to be at my dad's desk right now and I can see the picture of the snake and me, it's on a pencil box I made for Father's Day. The pencil box is made from an old Band-aid box. If I had known it would still be here 40 years later, I'm sure I would have been a little more conscientious in my craftsmanship. Anyway, since the scanner is right here, I'll show you--I was a goofy-looking kid, but definitely not afraid of snakes.

Mostlylurking, avert your eyes.

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a80/kbertocci/th_1968.jpg

One must be be very careful about giving one's food crops anthropomorphic traits. That way lies madness. Trust me, I know.

Oh, we are the boys in chorus
We hope you like the show
We know you're rooting for us
But now we've got to go.
http://www.pbase.com/cindycreighton/image/60389779

Rachel, your snake looks like an eastern ribbon snake, a very common inocuous garter snake.
Like all snakes, they will attack savagely but the victims will be frogs, tadpoles and grasshoppers.
As RD Padouk said, talking to your rhubarb patch will get the neigbours talking. Which may be a good thing.

I don't think this primal aversion to scaly things has as much to do with the "three pound brain" as it does that little clump of reflexive tissue in the spinal column. It's the same cluster of nerves that, despite my unquestionable uber-manliness, makes me flinch convulsively whenever cave crickets leap at me from the garden shed.

What is weird is that this primal revulsion can also be oddly stimulating. I mean, who hasn't been drawn to take a closer look at creepy bugs or odd critters at the zoo just to enjoy the thrill? Maybe it's the adrenaline. Or maybe our bodies just get easily confused by strong emotion.

Whatever the reason, it seems a common phenomenon and can be used to explain the popularity of everything from horror films to Amy Winehouse.

Very amusing kit Rachel. It reminds me of the time I was picking blueberries and came upon a snake basking on a rock. Needless to say, the pail of berrys went flying and so did I.

Getting my staples out today and looking forward to feeling more comfortable. It's a very pretty day here and the temps are warming up nicely. The seeds I planted in the peat pots are sprouting like crazy, especially the morning glories. I hope they survive in the garden as I really love morning glorys.

Have a great day everyone.

KB -- adorable in Tuesday Addams way.

So busy catching up at work. This season a surfeit of lost sheep showing up to office hours to repair their papers. Goodness! However, I have been slipping glances at the boodle but mostly kindly marking papers in the presence of the novice writer. Such purpled-orange phrases in a paper on endangered tigers.

non violent and endangered tiger
innocent tiger guilty only of Paris-coveted fur (Hilton not A)
rapacious, VISCOUS poachers
---
Omni -- knit! Flowers! Good. The yellow pansies might be "Whiskers" variety. I like the metal needles mentioned earlier. Bamboo is lovely but the yarn is best stretchy. Are you selecting yarn or do they provide that?

As long as the strawberries don't start /talking back/ you're OK.

Good morning, all.

I'm OK with snakes, but I understand that very humanimal SNAKE moment. Goes right down to the animal core of our brains.

Talking to plants, not so much.

Busy, gotta run.

More later, I hope.

bc

When I was a kid we had a rock retaining wall in our back yard in which lived a thriving colony of garter snakes. My brothers and I spent many summer afternoons poking around this wall and capturing prime specimens of this genus - including the highly priced variation we called "silver racers."

My older brother once caught a rare albino garter snake and got his name and picture in the local paper. (This didn't bother me at all. Not one little stinkin' bit.)

We frequently displayed our great manliness, to the obvious distress of our long-suffering mother, by holding not just one, but *two* of these snakes at the same time. They used to curl around our wrists and give us super powers.

When my little sister became old enough we attempted to torment her with these snakes. Alas, she quickly became immune to our efforts, and enthusiastically joined in the hunt. (In later life she claimed this tolerance to creepy things as one of the primary advantages to having older brothers. I have never figured out if the adjective "creepy" referred to snakes or us. But I digress.)

Anyway, although all garter snakes are harmless, they can produce a nasty smell if mishandled. So if you ever find the desire to handle one, do so gently. Alas, around this part of the country there are far more venomous critters than there were back in the glorious Pacific Northwest. So poking around rocks and such is probably not recommended. Which is a shame. Because I *know* there must be another one of those albino snakes- just like the one my brother found- out there somewhere.

And a bigger, way cooler one at that.

I am stopped by the part after I think of the 2x4, wherein I think of the shop where the 2x4s are stored, and how ...THERE MIGHT BE MORE SNAKES. That is when I decide it is coffee time, or Miller time (but only on a Sunday in high summer).

Thank you all for your kind wishes. I'm off to check out the henhouse.

Like so much in life, it's not what you say, but how you say it. When talking to strawberries, use that tone of voice you save for talking to babies and say "You're going to make a wonderful jam. Oh yes you are. And pies...the *very* best pies."

Rachel... you get us! You really do. Thanks for the link to the awful video. The comments below it are good, too.

BTW, not sure about capitalizing "boodle" but to be really correct, one should always use an apostrophe before it... 'boodle. But who's counting? (I think out of respect for the Boss and the Boss' Helpers, we should capitalize Kit, though).

kbertocci... I'm glad you put "p e n c i l s" on the band-aid box or your dad may have been tempted to keep pens or perhaps even a letter opener in there. Cute picture, too!

dr... I meant to say "best wishes" to you on your new lovely career. It sounds wonderful and should fit you just right. I hope it brings you much pleasure.

Maybe albinos are rare because everyone's taking them home.

*delayed-and-perhaps-not-completely-caffeinated Grover waves from a spot rather far to the west of my usual location* :-)

Mornin' all...

The only time I talk to plants is when I've stepped on a particularly prickly one barefooted or while trying to remove a particularly stubborn one from the cracks in our sidewalk. Plants bring out my potty mouth.

As for snakes, I think I've made it perfectly clear here before that the only good snake to me is a dead one. Taking a 2x4 to one would do the trick, but I've found that a sturdy shovel is a much more swift and efficient means of not only beheading the slithering creepy, but disposing of its corpse. No need to make two trips to the tool shed.

Off to the shop now to make more magic...

Peace out :-)

(oh... and do something silly today. The balance of silly and serious in the world is way off right now, so every silly act counts!)

Wilbrod, this picture's for you:

http://www.booneweather.com/Photo+Of+The+Day

Rachel, if the snake in your garden ever tells you it's OK to take a bite of an apple, I'd suggest getting a lawyer and a legal opinion first. The last case of this kind (before my time, though not be a lot)caused humanity no end of trouble.

Yes, I think Boodle ought to be capitalized.

I think it should be "The Boodle" with appropriate godlike emphasis.

To anonymous. We were children of the 70s. We never took any snakes "home." We just communed peacefully with them and then returned them to the wild. Which, recall, was our back yard.

Sheesh.

I have a great appreciation for snakes and don't begrudge even venomous types their rightful claim to habitat. However, darling as the wee garter snake is I still have that "SNAKE!!!!" reaction when first spying one in the garden. Since squirrels made many a fine meal of tasty strawberries in my NoVA garden, and always on the eve of picking day, I think I'd encourage the snake to stick around and make itself useful. Now, did the squirrels have special mind reading powers that triggered the raids so close to harvest, or were they just good judges of berry ripeness?

I had a pair of mallards in the yard last night, waddled up from the lower meadow the lowest of which is now under water (at long last after 3 year of drought). I hope they are prudent in their nesting. Jacque T. Skunk would love to add duck eggs to his diet while he waits for turtles to lay theirs.

Kbertocci, if it's lasted this long, I think the craftsmanship speaks for itself.

slyness, if A. Choi says so, it must be true. She intends her beads to be used as talismans (which is good, god knows they're difficult to make jewelry with).

I think I've made it past the 1st stage of recovery, not having purchased from her in over 2 weeks. I have about 10 of her pieces waiting to be worked with and sold, 2 that are on my wrist right now. In the waiting pile, "I am not greedy, but I like a lot." (Boss Tweed)

My current favorite on her site: "in time of daffodils(who know the goal of living is to grow) forgetting why,remember how "
- ee cummings

Sneaks says that the staples come out today. That's good, and I'm very happy for her. But she shouldn't have been playing with the stapler in the first place. What's next, running with sissors?

FYI, "talismans" is the correct plural, even though every nerve ending in my body cries out for "talismen."

Perhaps I need some medication.

You may all resume your normal duties while I try to control the twitching in my right arm.

kb-that pencil holder is so cool, in so many ways, not the least of which is a design that just screams "Dad, you are raising a great kid."

Weingarten linked to Gil Thorp today (incredible typo in the last panel). I had no idea the comic strip was still around. GW pondered over the "zinger" at the end, but it's a soap opera strip, so any individual strip has no real meaning anyway. Marty Moon is still there... his goatee looks a little more in style now, don't you think?

The funniest part of the page to me is this...

You may also like reading:
Gasoline Alley
Calvin and Hobbes
Dick Tracy
Brenda Starr

Don't know how Calvin and Hobbes got in there.

http://www.gocomics.com/gilthorp/2008/04/23/

Me and snakes are buddies, it is getting near the time when they will be sunning themselves in the road, I guess it has something to do with their quarter teaspoon brains. Anyway,I already have my walking stick in the car. I never took it out,it also comes in handy breaking up ice. So I guess I am obligated to pick them up and put them on the other side of the road. Turtles too,although no stick is needed for them.

Racheal, I have been noticing alot more Turkey vultures this year, now that is a scary creature. It reminds me of a saying I heard in a "Clint" movie "buzzards gotta eat same as worms"

The crop dusting plane has been buzzing our community this morning, and although I usually don't want any creatures harmed, I am happy we are attempting to put a big dent in the gypsy moth population.

Sorry to Boodlehog, here... but for the second time this week I've received a tracking number to a UPS package that was also apparently used for a package that was delivered elsewhere in the fall of 2006.

If you click "tracking detail" it shows the progress, but also includes a "Delivered" in there among the "billing info received," "departure scan" and "arrival scan." The earlier one went to a house in Minnesota in October 2006; this one to FRNT PORCH, East Stroudsburg, Pa. in November 2006.

The tracking number includes 15 numbers and 4 letters; could they have possible used up all the combinations by now?

Paging bc, paging bc!

http://www.shoes.com/Content/email/2008/wk14/gladiators/wk14-gladiators-hosted.html?roi=echo2-990350404-581605-dc90cd65ad348c111126d550cc17a354&CMP=KNC-Email&partnerid=Email&cpc=Email&campaign=EmailShoes&group=Glad&partnerID=Glad050708

dbG, The invite is a company sponsred charity thing. Yarn and training supplied, needles not.

Also some reposts from last boodle (told you I'm tired, so far behind...)

==============>

Frosti, I did some google image searching and it apears you are right and my florist is mistaken. I have Pink Mums and Yellow Mums.

The yellow flowers in the neighborhood pix I asked about was supposed to be the first in that category, but ended up third online (Stupid AOL). It's the pix with "flowers in the neighborhood" caption. The other two in this category include the word 'more...' and the words "and yet more".

RDP. did you miss the original link to my turtles (posted online 5/9/2007) almost a year ago.

Posted by: omni | May 7, 2008 9:52 AM

Gosh, still so much catching up to do.

Yes, the purple flowers in the bar were Orchids. I liked them so much I wanted to take them home with ME. But my bartenders eyes lit up so big...My heart just glowed with her warmth.

Posted by: omni | May 7, 2008 9:55 AM

Yes dr, The DC Metro Red Line is what I take on my commute for work (1.25 mile bus ride from home). The Green Line however is a block from home.

Posted by: omni | May 7, 2008 9:57 AM

one kit and kaboodle down, one kit and so far 36 posts to catch up on...

If this were tag team wrestling, oh wait, maybe it is. Yep...UNCLE...UNCLE already...

I need a nap.

slyness, while you meant that link for bc, you have made my morning. The only question is whether to go with the rose gold or the ameretto Carlos Santana Magnums (what a great name for such a great shoe!)

Rachel... Forgot to say how proud I am of you for delaying gratification with your strawberries.

My dad lived and gardened at house I grew up in for 46 years and never planted asparagus... because they take three years before you get anything you can eat!

LiT, glad you liked the link. I've bought shoes from these people and been pleased with their service. They carry shoes in my size! Five and a half is getting hard to find these days...

The real question there TBG, is whether or not they are breaking their privacy policy by not clearing the old information before reapplying a previously used tracking number. In theory any package they dispatch should be on a need to know info basis, which IIRC is the reason for the ungainly long tracking code in the first place. You may want to email them and advise of the occurences to bring this to their attention, so that if it is an issue that needs to be taken care of it can.

TBG... the SQL part of my brain thinks they've got a stupid SQL statement that only selects by tracking#. Which also implies a stupid SQL statement writer.

They should be using something like "SELECT * FROM tracking_data WHERE trackingID='blah' AND pickup_date='blah' AND destination_zip='blah'" (replacing all the blah's with data, of course).

Instead, it sounds like they're just going off the tracking#, which is pretty stupid considering they'll eventually run out of combinations and be forced to start recycling them.

But what do I know? I never finished my higher edumacation so I have no certs or degrees to prove I know nuttin'.

ooh, I just love this kit.

The video is of Judy Landers' daughters: Lindsay and Kristy. Audrey has twin boys.

Can't believe I know this. Yellow Rose of Texas be damned.

If my posting the other day had anything to do with Rachel providing that link I humbly apologize.

I doubt it, TBG, since that would be
(19)^19, or 1.97842E+24
if my math is correct (never can tell).

My money is on programmer error or a business systems analyst thinking, "Nah, it won't pick up those old tracking numbers." But we can discuss it when we sit across the aisle from each other next week on our way to Yoki's! :-)

Who's bringing the money?

Money? Money? We don't need no stinkin' money!

Nah, if the tracking number is unique, it's a perfectly valid SQL search field. Index that for better response time on queries than you'd get with more fields. I deal with billions of SWIFT transactions a week, all going to or coming from SQL-compliant databases.

At some point, after everything's been validated as having completed, you just wait a year or two and roll the numbers over to new cases.

Although *db* stands for database, the *G* does not stand for Geek. :-)

martooni, is this silly enough for you: Today is Totie Fields B-day, author of "I Think I'll Start on Monday: The Official 8 1/2 oz. Mashed Potato Diet"

very funny kit... Joel would be proud!!! where is Joe? still in flight??

I have a Garter snake in my garden... I like snakes however, unlike Rachel. My good buddy used to catch them when we were kids and once the thrashing was over, I would get to hold it. They were harmless and rather charming.

I got to hold a huge python around my neck at the Australia Zoo (home of Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter)... now THAT is a snake to behold.

Great kit Rachel!!!!

I would expect that the tracking number encodes several discrete chunks of information, rather than being a serial number. As a result, only certain characters are available in different places within the number, dramatically reducing the total number of possible options.

Gil Thorp is still in print, although just barely. It's just too painful to read. Two years ago I named it the surprise winner in the National Crappy Comics Competition:

http://livebythefoma.blogspot.com/2006/04/nccc-championship-match.html

Snakes: I shot my wad on the Venomous Animals Kit. I got nothing.

I have to wait for a discrete time to check out the Landers daughters train wreck. If they have ten times the talent of their mother, they would still be awful. I gotta admire's Rachel nerve at throwing that kind of raw meat at us.

That may be how UPS does it, Tim.

New kit!

New Kit - these girls have energy - and are very funny.

I agree dmd!

My name is Carlos Santana Magnums, you killed my father, prepare to die!!

The UPS tracking codes are pre-printed on their forms, so I doubt they include any useful info.

I understand a unique identifier is faster to index and select than a combination of fields, but how hard would it be to tack the date and zips onto a tracking# and save that value as the final identifier? Especially if they prepend the date and zip info to the tracking#, the chances of a duplicate key would be nearly impossible.

Heck, just prepending the date would do it. 20080507XYXLKJLKJLKJLKJWHATEVER could then reuse the tracking# "XYXLKJLKJLKJLKJWHATEVER" the very next day. The tracking# could still be stored separately in the record -- since it would probably be needed in that form for other apps' selects, but even then, if it's a fixed length field, they could still use masks or whatever to select on the tracking# only.

Personally, I prefer integer keys to alphanumeric ones. Much faster when doing selects across multiple databases and tables. But then again, my experience is primarily with integrating e-com and backend systems for the Fortune 1000 and smaller -- not decoding DNA or calculating asteroid trajectories or any of that heavy duty sciency/pure-math/physics stuff.

See what happens when a guy turns his back on an IT career to make fairy doors? He gets sucked into geeky conversations because sometimes the sawdust and lacquer thinner just aren't enough.

:-)

Aaak!

Was assaulted with a surprise all day meeting (aka "Close Workplace Encounters of the Wrong Kind"), but slipped out from the Enforced Togetherness Lunch to have a peek at the Boodle.

Slyness, that link is great, thank you.

The Carlos Santana Magnums are, er, fantasitc.

bc

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