Vignettes from the Road (Aftermath)

************Updated 11:20 pm**************


Just in case anyone wondered what the "lifted leg" pose is all about -- Think Captain Morgan. "Got a little Captain in Ye?"

We rolled into San Antonio at 1:20 am; about 5 hours later than I figured. After the stop in Kansas at the Pizza Hut we made only one more stop for gas (no, it wasn't a Murphy USA or a Wal-Mart.) and for ice cream at a Braum's Ice Cream when we started to get funky. I could tell Julian was starting to get tired when he almost sideswiped a truck, so i drove from Dallas until I started to get leg cramps so bad I wanted to literally scream. He then drove from San Marcos home again. All things considered, he did a pretty damned good job.

We knew we were back in South Texas when the remnants of Hurricane Erin met us at the doorstep of San Antonio last night, and it's raining again. Unlike the drenching, dark clouds of spring and early summer, these are high, light sprinkling rains interspersed with drenching downpours as the rain bands of the hurricane move inland.

Hey, more rain for the Edwards Aquifer. Bring it on, Baby!

Update: It;s just after 9:20 pm. It's STILL raining sideways at a rate of 1.44 inches an hour, and we've had 4.56 inches, with 32 mph of wind.

Bring- It- On!!!

Update 2: We ended up with a total of 10 inches. Fill up my aquifer!

Beats the hell out of Chicago Snowstorms!

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Part VII)

***************Updated 11:05 pm*************
Today – we go home. Traveling is nice, but after a while we’re REALLY ready for our own beds and bathrooms. Today is that day.

Left Dad about 6am after having been woken up by a phone call from Nurse- finders. I had comple- tely forgotten I was scheduled to work today! Fortunately, they were calling me off (which likely means they’ll call me off again tomorrow, too.)

Well, I had a LOT on my mind. A wake-up call in more ways than one.

Kelly and her daughter Alicia came over to see Dad last night. Like us, they were pretty startled to see how bad he’d become so fast. So Julian got to meet his other cousins on the Long side, and we traded phone numbers and e-mail addresses and promised to do this again soon – like, BEFORE any funerals.

We hit the ground running and took Iowa 2 across to I-35, then I-35 south. We stopped to get these pictures:

If you squint REALLY HARD, you can see a llama over Julian’s right shoulder. No, really!

7:30 am: Here he is at the Iowa/Missouri Border. Thrilling. We ran across four lanes of Interstate to get these photos. (Fortunately two lanes were under construction, so it wasn’t quite as dangerous as it sounds.) And the Missouri State Trooper was very understanding, if not humorless . . . .


10:30 am: Kansas. There were no fancy- schmancy signs welcoming us to the great state of Kansas; otherwise we’d have stopped and risked life and limb to get a photo again. We DID get this neat picture of Julian driving through the gorgeous wheat fields of Kansas (that’s the shadow of his fingers on the steering wheel at right . . . )


2:00 pm: Here’s the Oklahoma Border. It’s not “just” a sign; it’s a 10 foot by 40 foot pink marble engraved monument! Oklahoma has a LOT of style. It’s looking more and more like we’re actually going to get home to San Antone by midnight local time, which means I’ll be working tomorrow. (Yay!!!) So far we’ve done excellently with our budget, so I’ve promised Julian the biggest, fattest steak we can find when we get to Texas – which, believe me, is one big honkin’ steak.


6:05 pm: Closing in on the Texas Border. I'm scheduled to work in the morning. We gotta get moving here. The one thing I learned on this trip: All Days Inns have free (i.e., non-passworded) wireless Internet. After the horror story in Waynesville, I don't feel one bit guilty.

We ate at a place called "Pizza Hut Italian Bistro" somewhere north of the Kansas / Oklahoma line. It was outfitted a lot better than your standard Pizza Hut, and a lot of the same fare (although the Salad Bar suffered in the conversion -- that's a mistake) with some very nice pasta additions. Julian had the Penne pasta dish while I stuck with the familiar Caesar Salad and wings. WARNING: Pizza Hut's "Mild" wings are a LOT hotter than mot places "Hot" Wings.

7:30 pm: Texas Border. Julian wanted to take a picture, but traffic was rough and the shoulders get weird here in Texas. Plus both of us just want to get the hell home at this point.

11:05 pm: Oh, look! There's Waco! (And I gotta work in the morning.) I'm seriously wondering if I'm EVER going to get home.

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Part VI)

*** UPDATED WITH NEW PHOTOS -- WHOOPEE!!!***

Did some exploring this morning.

Found the local McDonald’s, and they didn’t have any new Legion of Super- Heroes figures, but we still had breakfast there. Julian was amazed there was still a McDonald’s that served their Bagel breakfasts, so he was quite pleased with his Breakfast bagel with cheese and bacon. We then found Wal-Mart, and continued our Wal-Marts of the World Tour (and as you can see, Julian is not fond of that name.


We also found my cousin Kelly Baker (and Julian’s second cousin) at her place of employ- ment; an antique shop. We took pictures, of course.



I also found the old Dairy Bar. I actually have memories of running across the stone wall along the back of this place when I was 18 months old. It seemed to me at the time the wall was ten feet high – and to an 18-month old, it was.







We also walked over to the intersections of Iowa 2 and Iowa 5. I remember my grandfather Roy making loops of dandelions here and hanging them around my neck. I remember finding the coordination to extremely difficult – and, again, to an 18-month old, it was.












We've found a new way to post. We find a wireless hotspot (here from the Centerville Library) and post from the car. It saves a lot of time, and we don't have to get out of the car into the heat.

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Part V)

A brief word about Dinner Saturday with the lunatics from the Dixonverse Message Boards; it was just fantastic. Drew Geraci and his wife were gracious and intelligent hosts, and a GREAT time was had by all generally. We all agreed what Chuck’s next book to write was (I’m not telling) and decided that Prima Donnas in a workplace ruin everything. Make of that what you will.


It was while I was having dinner with my mother Sunday afternoon that she told me about my Dad. He had Prostate Cancer several years ago and had his prostate removed, but at that time refused to undergo the recommended preventative Chemotherapy. If it was going to make him sick, he didn’t want to go through it.

So he didn’t, and his prostate grew back, and grew back cancerous again. And, of course, being the medically-avoidant pain in the rump he is, he never got another PSA test for Prostate cancer.

Until last fall, when it was too late. He’s been through radiation and chemo without any appreciable results, and he’s decided to just go the hospice route. Right now he has a massive bladder infection, is on the verge of renal failure, and takes more painkillers than I’d care to think about. Fortunately he sleeps a lot of the day away, napping on and off throughout.

I’m having decidedly mixed feelings about it. My parents were divorced when I was young and Dad was in-and-out (mostly out) of our lives, just popping in long enough to cause some chaos amid the (admittedly) brief joy. As Ariane noted, “I always have had a soft spot for him. He’s my favorite bad guy.”

And now he’s dying.

There have been time I missed this man so much I wept, despairing if I’d ever see him again. And there have been times I was so furious at him, I wanted to kill him myself.

I have absolutely no words for what’s going through my soul right now. None.


We drove from Chicago without telling anybody we were coming, and surprised them all. (Julian slept a good portion of the trip; the wear and tear of the road is starting to catch up to him.) We stopped in an Oasis over I-294 for souvenirs before departing Chicago, and arrived about 4:30pm. Iowa in August is a hot, humid, horrific place to travel, so we were pretty happy to arrive relatively unscathed.


My Aunt Joanne (Dad’s sister) has been bringing over meals, so she brought extra meat loaf, peas, and noodles tonight for us as well. She was happy to see us, and astonished we’d made the trip, and both she and Dad thought it was an incredible coincidence we were in Chicago when we found out.

Well, I don’t believe in coincidence.

We all talked into the night and exchanged minituae. Dad was tickled to see all the pictures I brought on my computer, and I’m going to go make him copies at Wal-Mart tomorrow. He likes to look at pictures a lot lately.

Wouldn’t you?

More tomorrow, I hope.

~~JD~~

Vignettes From The Road (Part IV): Family Ties

Time Flies, indeed. The children of my cousin Nancy that I remembered as pre-teens have really grown up. Adam is a worship leader at Liberty Bible Church in the praise band Sunday Mornings.



We got to Liberty Bible Church just in time to worship and meet my cousin Nancy and her daughter Kate (who I remembered in pigtails and overalls, and has grown up into quite the young lady.) We caught up briefly, then went on a brief tour of Valparaiso to see the sights and meet for lunch.



One of our stops was julian's Elementary School, which was little changed from his school days. The vegetation was more lush, and there was no one inside, but essentially the same.



After luch at Strongbow's with nancy, we had dinner with my mother and caught up for a few hours, then went over to my cousin Bob's house for a few minutes of catch-up there. (We both decided we gotta get back more frequently.)

Finally, I called my Dad, and he confirmed what my Mom had told me; he;s dying of Acute Renal Failure and Prostate Cancer. We only talked a few minutes, but I promised to call again tomorrow.

And tomorrow, I'll tell you what my evil plan for Monday is. Don't want to spoil the surprise . . .

~~JD~~

Vignettes From The Road (Part III): Chicago Comicon Part B

The Cup O' Joe Panel lead off the second half of our Con experience. I asked the Chuck Dixon question ("Does Chuck Dixon have anything in the pipeline?") and got an unqualified "No." from Joe, CB Cebulsi, and Dan Buckley in unison.

Oh, and just to spoil it -- Captain America Returns in 2008 with Alex Ross doing the artwork.

This "reveal image" from the last moment of the panel is grainy and blurred, but it's Iron Man kissing Spider-Woman. Try to contain your enthusiasm.











Pam Bliss of Paradise Valley comics was seen and re-connected with. We'd lost track of each other when we moved to Texas years ago. Her wonderful mini-comics are available at her website at Paradisevalley.com.

Scott McCullar and Ethan from the Dixonverse are seen here as we co-ordinate carpooling to dinner tonight. All were informed that Michael Hutchinson was not attending due to nearly being washed away in a rainstorm.

Here's a photo from the DC Direct booth of the upcoming Marvel Family figures, complete with both red and white Mary Marvel figures. (No "Black Mary" figures seen.) Of particular note is the "Hoppy the Marvel Bunny" figure at near left.

And finally, Greg Karras was seen at his booth for Galactic Greg's Comics. He's also got a new comic book coming out from Moonstone Comics called CLASH. Go, Buy one already!

~~JD~~

Vignettes From The Road Part III: Chicago WizardWorld

We got a good jump on the day with Breakfast at the Silver Stallion restaurant on Mannheim road. (Think "Dancing Zorba's" from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.) Julian, unused to being awake at the ungodly hour of 8:00 am, does his best to smile.

Here's the line to get into WizardWorld. Fanboys on Parade -- make of it what you will.

I attended the DC Panel "New Worlds Order". I asked if Chuck Dixon had anything in the pipeline -- Dan Didio said "Maybe." They showed trailers from the New Frontier (JLA) and Doomsday (Superman) animated videos coming out, which were excellent. Dc also has theatrical releases in production of Justice League and Watchmen, and the Flash movie is currently deciding on which Flash to use (Wally West seems to be the favorite of the crowd.) Vertigo also has several animated features in development, including Sandman.

From the Q&A:

Items listed as "Resting": Warlord and Aquaman ("Sleeping with the Fishes")

Items listed as "WTF???": War Comics from DC, audiobook versions of comics

Items listed as "Depends on the Sales . . . "' Ultimate Dark Victory,

Coming Soon: JLA/Hitman (2-part story)
All Star Wonder Woman ("As soon as we get enough issues in the can to release it")
Teen Titans "Games" Graphic Novel ("It's a long process -- George has been real busy on Brave & The Bold")

Also noted: Paul Levitz says "Kyle Rayner will not die -- but we will beat him up a lot." And something from James Robinson in the near future is a "definitely yes!". Also Firestorm Vs. Darkseid in JLA (he wasn't supposed to say that)

Almost immediately I found Todd Fox and J. Morgan Neal (yes, that's a "Jughead" beanie he's wearing . . . ) of "Aym Geronimo" autographing their Graphic novel. We confirmed plans for dinner tonight (8pm at the Ram Restaurant). Seen vaguely in the background shadows is Scott E. hileman, who says "Hang In There and Take Care!"

The DC Direct booth has lots of new statues. While the Legion of Super-Heroes has none apparent, the DC Direct guy told me "that's the questioln we've been answering all morning; and the answer is an unqualified 'YES!'". The Legion will have a full line of figures and variants of all versions of the Legion, if not from their licescee Mattel, then from DC Direct. Seen here is the 12" Green Arrow figure, complete with multiple interchangeable arrows and the legendary Boxing-Glove Arrow. Not pictured are the saliva stains on the carpet from Scott McCullar, noted Green Arrow afficianado.

Here's something you see a lot of at these kind of conventions; fanboys (and fangirls) dressing up. Here we have Batman and Superman fighting over Emma Frost of the X-Men. With that costume of hers, you can see why. She may win the "most photographed" award at the costume contest.

This is one of my favorites; a perfect (and I mean PERFECT) Batgirl costume, right down to the patent leather and spandex. Yvonne Craig's costume on TV was not this perfect.


And I suppose this was just a matter of time; the inevitable Mask kiosk has a sale on "The King" masks from the Burger King commercials -- only $40.00 each. Advertising becomes pop culture.

More later.

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Part II)

It started late today. We didn’t really get to bed until about 11:30 pm, between blog posting, cleaning up, and wrestling out the confusion with the desk clerk. So when the wake-up call came at 6:30, I just hung it up and slept for an hour more. We needed it.

However, there’s a few things about the St. Robert Missouri Days Inn that you should know, should you feel the desire to ever stay there:

1) They messed up our reservation – badly. Wrong address, wrong credit card, wrong discount (AAA) – we were lucky to get our room right.
2) The deadbolt in our room didn’t work. We put a chair against the door just for prudence’s sake.
3) Somebody threw up on one of the chairs in our room, which stained it. They tried really hard to get the stain out and failed. My feeling is, personally, if you’ve got a stained chair in your room, it needs to be replaced.
4) The complimentary breakfast is no compliment if it’s gone before you wake up.
5) The first sight that greets you when you walk into the office is a sign on the public restroom that says “Out Of Order.” It still wasn’t working when we left, which is too damned long.
6) That’s right next to the complimentary breakfast, by the way. Ewwwww.
7) And just to make it all surreal, a dwarf waited on us at checkout. I wouldn’t mention it except that after everything else was so wrong, this just capped it off nicely.

No, I DIDN’T take a picture.

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Waynesville, Missouri has changed a LOT since we lived here from 1989 to 1993. Exit 156 on I-44 (where we exited for downtown Waynesville and our house) used to have just houses, a Casey’s quick stop, and a Cinema 8 (which was built the year before we left.)

Now there’s entire mini-malls built around the site, which has revitalized Waynesville proper. St. Robert (a traditional strip town around a military base’s main gate) has also been revitalized and cleaned up. The third Wal-Mart in the town’s 20 year history has been built (a new Super-Wal-Mart this time) and moved the city center a mile north in the process.

We stopped by our old house and were sorely dis- appointed. The site was trashed, and in dire need of repair. Very sad.

And while Julian didn’t remember much of Waynesville, he had a memory flashback as we passed St. James Missouri just past Rolla. Ariane used to have two friends who spoiled Julian rotten as a baby. He remembered Terry used to live in St. James.

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One of the real historical treats of the expedition was finding an actual section of old Route 66 between Exit 163 and the Highway J exit between Rolla and St. Robert. This is actual, unrestored Route 66 here, in some disrepair but quite drivable. The 1920’s era construction techniques played havoc with my suspension, but it was well worth it.

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Lunch was fun – White Castle sliders. My wife thinks the frozen one you can get in the store are just the same, but Julian and I both think they’re better in their natural habitat – fresh steamed from the store.

The fries suck, though. Ick.

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Second major stop of the trip (after re-touring Waynesville) was the St. Louis Arch. I wanted to stop in the gift shop and get a little souvenir arch for my collection of souvenir landmarks (I have tiny copies of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sears Tower, World Trade Center, Eiffel Tower, Empire State, and such) and Julian wanted to go up in the Arch itself. But as we entered (and security was as tight as any airport when we entered – metal detectors and everything – I had to take off my belt to get through!) they announced that lift tickets were sold out through 5:30pm. (This is being announced at lunchtime.)


So while we didn’t get to go up, we did get some nifty souvenirs, some great photos, and a promise to go back on the way if we can.


Julian got to drive right after we picked up I-55 in Illinois and lost I-70 (those interchanges can be tricky business; and the last thing I wanted was having a teenaged driver panicking in downtown St. Louis – let alone East St. Louis.) The end result; he drove all the way across Illinois top-to-bottom! Did a great job, too.


Well, we made it to the Sofitel and after a bit of confusion (I turned the wrong way on Mannheim road and ended up in Schiller Park – wrong way!) we had dinner at Harry Caray’s and did a little recon for dinner tomorrow (The Ram: an Irish brewpub, which means Julian is driving home.)

More tomorrow.

~~JD~~

Friday's Feast (From On the Road in Missouri . . . )

Appetizer: What is your favorite kind of pie?

Pecan Pie, even though I'm diabetic and it's literally liquid death for me. Conversely, I can't stand "Chess Pie", even though it's Pecan Pie without the Peacans. Weird.

Soup: Name something that made you smile this week.

Driving down the road with my son on our cross-country trip, having a civil conversation. (See previous entry.)

Salad: What do you do to cool off when the weather is hot and humid?

If there's time, jump in the pool. It there's not, there's a lot to be said for ice-cold showers. I learned to love them as an adolescent. (A- Hem!)

Main Course: You receive $1,000 in the mail with a letter that says you can only use the money to redecorate one room in your home. Which room do you pick, and what do you buy to spruce it up?

The kitchen. My wife deserves it, and she and my son are both gourmet chefs in their spare time, so I will most decidedly benefit from it as well.

Dessert: Fill in the blank: My _________ says __________, but I __________.

(I love multiple desserts -- goes back to Thanksgivings at my Grandmother's house.)

My wife says I snore, but I think it's mutual.
My son says I'm a grump, but I will never let him know he's right.
My family says I'm difficult, but I just try to be fair and even-handed.
My God says He forgives me, but I know I'll never deserve His love.
My dog says "Woof", but I thin she sniffs her butt too much.

~~JD~~

Vignettes from the Road (Part I)

UPDATED!!! Now With Even MORE Photo-y Goodness!!!!

The Fuji Blimp, which entertained us over Norman Oklahoma. Julian's first blimp.



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It starts fairly predictably. Wednesday the night before we leave, and here’s Julian at 8:00 pm – “Oh, I just I have one more load of Delicates to Wash . . . “ Now, only My Son Julian has any “Delicates” to wash. (My clothing has two settings – lights and darks. Julian – he follows the clothing wash instruction tags religiously.

So, in other words, he’s not packed, and has no possibility of being packed until at least 10:pm. Our wake-up call is 4am, with departure at 5am to beat the Austin Rush hour traffic.

So it was just a complete surprise at 4am when he was already up, dressed, and ready to go by 5am. I swear, I was seriously contemplating leaving him home if he wasn’t ready.

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Pulling up to a Burger King, 5:53am to get some Road Food breakfast;

“Welcome to Burger King, can I take your Order?”

“Are you open for breakfast?”

(Slight Pause) “No sir, we don’t have breakfast until 6am.”

Julian and I look at each other and just laugh. We weren’t laughing ten minutes and three Burger Kings later.

McDonalds was just fine, Thank you very much. Haven’t had a Sausage McMuffin with egg in years.

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While we’re at McDonald’s I got my first Legion of Super Heroes action figure – Lightning Lad. (Our budget is so tight, it may be the only souvenir I get.) Pretty nice workmanship, nice detail. We stopped to deposit our debris in a garbage container. I pull up right next to one, but Julian sees the garbage can clear across the parking lot and makes a beeline for it.

This is how he earned his first Legionnaire nickname: “Incredibly Complicated Teenaged Sapien Lad.

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Driving down the road, about 6:45am. I see the morning star and point it out. “There’s Venus.”

“Where?”

“Right there.” (Points to the morning star, up and to the right.)

“Oh. (Pause.) “Where’s Earth?”

He says he was kidding.

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Have I ever mentioned the “Station Wagon Full of Nuns” theory? It’s a title taken from an old “All in the Family” episode where Archie Bunker hits a car and it was witnessed by a station wagon full of nuns. The punch line is “In a court of law, you can’t beat a station wagon full of nuns.”

My theory is this: If two cars are driving down the road the same direction at approximately the same speed, and one car is going 0.5 mph faster, that second car will automatically speed up. It doesn’t matter if the second car is a station wagon full of nuns with the Mother Superior herself driving, it’s an automatic human reflex.

We picked up a silver Chrysler “gangster-mobile” (I honestly don’t know what these things are called – Ariane calls them that, and they look like a ’34 Ford coupe) about the Nacogdoches exit of FM 1604 in San Antonio and that guy raced us all the way to the Central District of Austin.

Julian thinks that he was doing it on purpose. Man, you give them a driver's license, and suddenly he's a psychologist . . . .

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I’m blogging this section from the world-famous Blue Star Café, which I’ve blogged about before. I knew I was going to like this place when they had about a dozen different types of burgers (hamburgers, chesseburgers, baconburgers, mushroom burgers, and every combination thereof) as well as Chicken Fried Steak sandwiches As Rachel Ray says, “Yumm-O!”

The people are friendly, the cooking is down-home and reasonably priced (Julian & I ate well for under $20.00), and they bring your food right to the table. Plus the Ice Tea is the best I’ve ever had – not too sweet, just right.

And two TVs to watch whilst you eat – just like home! I’m watching Paul Schaffer humiliate himself on Jeopardy as I write.

Mention Texas Fred as you leave and watch their faces light up.

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Interesting fact from Oklahoma; the Indian nations issue their own license plates! This (very blurry) example is from the Cherokee Nation.


And here's one from the Muscogee Nation.







Weird, but true.

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Got to the Missouri/ Oklahoma border about 3pm, and of course the place we had to stop was -- the Petro Truck Stop!

The WHERE!?!??

If you've ever seen the CMT reality series "Trick My Truck", you know it's a country version of MTV's "Pimp My Ride" or ABC TVs "Extreme home Makeover." They take a deserving trucker down on his luck and completely overhaul his truck complete with custom paint, interior, and pretty much make it a new truck.

The character of "CB" is my favorite, because they always send him down to the Petro to lie in wait for the unsuspecting trucker. I believe this is because CB knows these guys are NUTS, and can't wait to get out of the shop for a sanity break.

So we cruised the Petro, and no sign of CB. Got pictures of us there, though.

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Into St. Robert MO at 10pm, and Julian wants to check his e-mail, so I'd better go. More tomorrow.

~~JD~~

And . . . They're Off!

(Phew!) 68 hours of work last week, and 24 hours in 2 days this week. Finally, I got a breather. And It's Official -- we're off.

Julian and I are leaving on our Road Trip tomorrow morning, 5am (to avoid the rush-hour traffic in Austin, which is brutal.) Stops along the way include the Blue Star Cafe, which I've blogged about previously HERE.

Everthing else TBD. We havea plan, but it's subject to change. Right now he's being a pain -- I'm not sure a road trip of a week is a good idea, or that we'll last that long.

I'll be pseudo-live-blogging the trip as we go from the laptop and posting whenver we get to an internet connection. Stop By and watch the, uh . . . fun!

~~JD~~

The Way Of The Beaver

It's very possible I'm so tired from working straight through Tuesday that my sense of humor is missing this..


But I sincerely doubt it. I've laughed out loud at funerals before. I can be a pretty amusing guy at times.

These images are from one of the facilities I've worked at, and I think they illustrate the complete disconnect between the management and staff. This is why this facility is currently run on 75% agency nurses (because so many nurses, aides, and others have become fed up with the patronization, the incompetence, and the utter absurdity of this place.

No offense, of course. I mean that in the most professional way possible . . .

This first poster (one in a series of three; and part of an hour-long orientation of corporate Mission Statements.

What that Mission is, I still don't know. But it reads like Summer Camp at the YMCA.

The theme of this poster seems to be Less Autocratic Direction, More individual Freedom -- which is right in line with the Liberal-Speak that permeates Nursing today. Sort of a "Do Your Own Thing" for the new millennium. What it has resulted in (at this particular facility) is massive resignations, confusion of authority, and miserable working conditions.


And this silly new-age mantra about "developing new habits makes no sense to me at all. It's kind of like saying "don't step on that bug, but make sure you squash it." Huh???



This third one contradicts the first poster, in saying that "we all need a game plan" -- but the first poster said to "Do your own thing."


Finally, the last is a card that must be worn behind the name badges at all times, signally successful completion of the orientation course. The item about "clearly marked territory" is unintentionally hilarious (I have visions of beavers peeing all over the Nursing Unit.) Plus doesn't "clearly marked territories" kind of negate the whole teamwork concept? Plus what, exactly, does "Able But Challenged" mean? It sounds like a Special Education class to me.

And this place takes this seriously -- someone who does not wear this card on their badge can be sent home or suspended.

Another great place I'm never going to hire into. I think the funniest thing is that, in this place with a decidedly high female-to-male ratio, nobody has noticed the double entendre yet.

"Way of the Beaver", indeed. Heh.

~~JD~~