My state decided it was a great idea to switch from allowing you to go to your local county clerk’s office for licensing to requiring you to go to a regional driver’s licensing office, which there aren’t enough of in the state. They make you schedule appointments at least a month or two in advance, and when you show up for your appointment, you still have to wait in a long line. It can take hours, and of course they’re only open at inconvenient times for anyone who works a full-time job. They also accept walk-ins, but the line for that is even longer, and there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to be seen that day. Top it all off with the extra documents you’re required to bring with you (birth certificate, etc), and a lot of people I know just haven’t bothered with it yet. I don’t blame them.

TIL Mocha and I both enjoy the Dark Tower series. Great taste, Mocha.

There was a whole saga of him buying expensive rat erotica artwork at one point, which is a sentence I never thought I’d write.

My dog howls whenever she hears Piano Man by Billy Joel. That’s the only song she’s ever reacted to, and she does it every time. Her ears perk up as soon as she hears the piano in the intro, and she starts howling when the harmonica starts. She doesn’t stop until the song ends. I have no idea why she does this, and when I told her vet about it, the vet just shrugged and said, “I’ve always liked Billy Joel, too.”

I donated a kidney to a friend earlier this year. The reason his kidneys failed wasn’t anything he was at fault for, but even if it had been because of poor decisions he’d made in the past, I still would have given him one of mine. Because people deserve second chances. I can understand not wanting to give a recovering alcoholic a deceased donor’s liver, when someone else could receive that liver, instead. But this woman’s partner was a match and was willing to donate to her. What’s the harm in that? That isn’t a liver that could have gone to someone else who needed it. It’s a donation that would have either gone to her or no one else. No one could have lost out of the donation had been carried out. This was just cruelty, and now someone is dead. And for what? Because there’s a 15% chance (according to studies the article mentioned) that she might have started drinking again???

I love Robert Browning. Love Among the Ruins has always been my favorite, although I’m not sure why. I honestly don’t think it’s his best work.

Sometimes people will say something negative about themselves because they’re hoping you will say something positive, instead. I used to do the same thing. Whenever I was feeling insecure about my looks or weight, I would say something negative about myself, because my husband would tell me it wasn’t true and would give me compliments that would boost my self-confidence. I don’t do that anymore, because it’s not a very healthy way to be confident in yourself, but it certainly was effective. Do you think maybe your girlfriend is just feeling insecure about herself? I would talk to her about that to see if maybe it’s something she’d like to work on in herself. You can also try to give her honest compliments on a regular basis. It’s hard for a girl (or guy!) to feel unattractive if her loved one is telling her twice a day that her shirt looks good on her, or he loves her laugh, or he thinks she’s pretty.

I work for a company that helps people with developmental disabilities (autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, etc) become more independent in their daily lives. Recently, one of our clients successfully earned her vet tech certification. She wants to help sick animals, especially cats. This is a girl who could barely write her own name when we started working with her. Now, she’s going places. Makes all the hard work worth it.

Steve Yzerman