LTE 2.0

[lawgrad91]

Thank you all so much. Ima: you are right on so many fronts. Many people have told me about devastating losses in their own families. And I do have a very close family and friend set which is rarer than it should be too.

I love you guys.

[CathyCA]

Vibes and prayers for my family. My cousin Marvin succumbed to whatever demons resided inside him last night. We ended up at Cone Hospital until about 1am to be with his brother and sister, with whom I am very close.

Hug your loved ones and tell them you loved them.

(((HUGS))) to YOU, Lawgrad! I am so very sorry about your cousin Marvin.

[lawgrad91]

Vibes and prayers for my family. My cousin Marvin succumbed to whatever demons resided inside him last night. We ended up at Cone Hospital until about 1am to be with his brother and sister, with whom I am very close.

Hug your loved ones and tell them you loved them.

(((HUGS))) to YOU, Lawgrad! I am so very sorry about your cousin Marvin.

Thank you, CathyCA.

[bjornolf]

I just wanted to say how proud of my kids I am. 3rd quarter report cards came home yesterday.

Sean, in 7th grade, made A/B honor roll with a really tough set of classes. He has major projects in every subject, even in art and library and Spanish, often overlapping. He's in an honors math Pre-Algebra class with a real you-know-what for a teacher. They had standardized testing all week, but still had homework, albeit a light load. The day it was over, she assigned over 100 problems for homework over the weekend. He has different teachers in different rooms for every subject, and he has a different schedule every day of the week. The teachers don't coordinate between subjects, so he'll sometimes get an hour of homework in one subject on a night he has homework in six other subjects. Two weeks ago, he had a project due, a paper due, and three tests on the same day. He also plays trumpet in the band and has to show up early on Tuesdays, then has section practice during the day, missing work he has to make up. Poor kid. No 7th grader should have to deal with all that. But he seldom complains. So proud of him.

Michael, in 4th grade, made A/B honor roll with a very tough curiculum while dealing with ADHD. He's worked really hard this year and I'm really proud of him. He often has 2-3 hours of homework... as a 4th grader! He brings home a folder with about 50 sheets of work in it every Monday of graded stuff from the week before. He's also in band, playing trombone, and kicking butt in cub scouts. Taught himself how to ski this year, and did great at Timberline in WV on a scout skiing weekend. Now, he does complain, especially when he comes home from scouts after hearing his public school friends talk about no homework on weekends and their 15-20 minutes of homework a night, but I'm still really proud of him. If they were on a 10 point scale instead of 7, he'd have straight As this quarter.

Katie, in 2nd grade, is kicking so much butt it's unbelievable. She has a pretty tough curriculum for a second grader. Despite having tough spelling words, many of them four syllables, 20 a week, she has been a super speller 2/3 quarters. In fact she has missed one spelling word all year... in the very first test. Since then, the teacher has adopted a policy where if you miss one, she gives you a second chance. Katie's never needed it, except of course the first week when it didn't exist. She does two digit multiplication and five digit addition and subtraction with borrowing. They've even started some simple division. Her LOWEST grade of the quarter is a 97%. Her highest, spelling, is 100% of course. In math, she has missed 6 problems out of 240 over the quarter. She missed 6 questions in two classes, four in one, and two in two others... OVER AN ENTIRE QUARTER. She's also kicking butt in ballet and tap. She's a pretty good electric guitarist, despite not practicing much, and she loves girl scouts. Man, words can't express how proud I am of her.

Anyway, just wanted to brag a little. Sorry.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Actually, Bjornolf, you haven't bragged enough! Amazing kids, so brag on!

[shereec]

What Ozzie said! Good job, Dad!!

[DukieInKansas]

Way to go, Sean, Michael, and Katie. Aunt DinK is proud, too!
Congrats, bjornoff and Mrs. B for raising such great kids. Keep up the good work.

[IowaDevil]

I so agree with Ozzie --- Brag on! Kudos to all five of you!

[DukePA]

Woo hoo!!! Go Bjornolf kids

[lawgrad91]

Good job to the Bjornolf kids! Mom and Dad too!

[Very Duke Blue]

I so agree with Ozzie --- Brag on! Kudos to all five of you!

Me three. I love hearing good things about children.

[windsor]

It occurs to me we have not had an "As the Bunson Burns" update in quite some time...inquiring minds want to know!!

[DukePA]

It occurs to me we have not had an "As the Bunson Burns" update in quite some time...inquiring minds want to know!!

Oh yes! I hope things are boringly wonderful

[ArkieDukie]

It occurs to me we have not had an "As the Bunson Burns" update in quite some time...inquiring minds want to know!!

Well ...
Road Runner has been in Europe all month, and we have all enjoyed her absence tremendously. She has been a bitch from afar, delegating tasks to administrative people for things she should be doing herself. She copies The Boss on email messages when she feels as though we aren't jumping to do her bidding quickly enough, but so far she has only succeeded in making herself look worse. Her picture should be in the dictionary for the definition of burning bridges behind you as you leave. Bitch is employing the scorched earth policy; it's like she is destroying everything in her wake with a flame thrower. We are all anxiously awaiting her permanent departure. Her biggest transgressions relate to the pharma company we've been working with. She had me write a detailed, idiot proof protocol for the analysis I do, claiming the company requested it. I learned recently they did not. My guess is that she is using it in her new position in order to make people there think she knows how to do it. Can't wait to see how that works out for her. Oh, and she got our institutional lawyers after the pharma company when they wouldn't pay her all the money she was owed because - wait for it - she didn't do everything that was in the contract. Once that money is gone, she is done.

I've had a run of good luck. I pitched a project idea for the best Alzheimer's researcher here, and he liked it well enough that we are going to write a grant together in the fall. I'm going to put Boris on this project. Also going to write a grant with MacGyver. Got added as a coauthor on a paper with a group from Seattle that just got submitted, and several other things are in the works. So, all is well.

Meanwhile, everything is coming up roses for MacGyver. He has managed to get even more funding, as Road Runner's money is going away. She doesn't have $ to pay publication fees, yet, magically, there's still plenty of $ to pay for 3 weeks/month in Europe. So nice that you could finally put in an appearance, Karma.

[DukePA]

Fabulous, AD!!!

[ArkieDukie]

Today is Lavabe's birthday! Happy birthday, Lavabe!

[ArkieDukie]

Okay, CTN friends, I need all the condo selling vibes you can send. There has been a recent uptick in activity on my condo in St. Louis, including an appointment for a 2nd viewing tomorrow. I'd really like to get an offer soon. Things are looking up a bit here, and I'm starting to think I could stay here for a while. I've even been getting along with Wile E. Coyote! In comparison to all the other vibe requests I've seen here recently, this one seems somewhat trivial in comparison, but any and all vibes would be appreciated. (Excess vibes will be steered to permanent departure of RR and successful job searches for her existing lab personnel. They're good people and deserve better treatment than they are getting from her.)

[YmoBeThere]

Birthday vibes to the 'be and condo selling vibes to AD!

[DukePA]

Okay, CTN friends, I need all the condo selling vibes you can send. There has been a recent uptick in activity on my condo in St. Louis, including an appointment for a 2nd viewing tomorrow. I'd really like to get an offer soon. Things are looking up a bit here, and I'm starting to think I could stay here for a while. I've even been getting along with Wile E. Coyote! In comparison to all the other vibe requests I've seen here recently, this one seems somewhat trivial in comparison, but any and all vibes would be appreciated. (Excess vibes will be steered to permanent departure of RR and successful job searches for her existing lab personnel. They're good people and deserve better treatment than they are getting from her.)

We have an endless supply of vibes and nothing is trivial, so here you go!
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( )))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[lawgrad91]

Birthday vibes to the 'be and condo selling vibes to AD!

My sentiments exactly!