What Amy Welborn Probably Would Title "Varia"

I just spent 50 minutes getting Customer Service to help me renew my internet security subscription, while live-mini-blogging a race between phone and live chat on Twitter. I was still sitting in a chat queue after the phone call ended so I guess the moral of the story is that service isn't always faster online. Strange.

Because of that diversion, I have to bullet-point the rest of the post so I can go wrap up the blog post Dr. Red asked me to do for her blog, about what I wish I'd known more about prior to my field experience. Hard to believe, but tomorrow is the last day of my six weeks at the high school!

The rest of what's up:

• My family is having a good laugh over this product, which my mom termed "this year's Christmas present" because for Christmas 2002 she gave us all hand-crank world band radios (dubbed "terrorist radios"), TP, and duct tape and plastic tarps (to keep out the toxic gas). Yeah, it sounds sick but if we didn't keep a sense of humor about things I don't know how we'd survive. I said the "100% vegetarian" formula is signified by the spelling of the "bakon" flavor. My sister said it's meant to be fed to terrorists to poison them. My SIL joked that it was the perfect no-cook solution to feed the family--and she could have everybody just come on up to the bucket. LOL and ewwwwwww.

• The cat has just come out of her porkchop stupor. (What makes cats so nuts about porkchops? I don't recall seeing any PBS special on big cats where they bagged oinkers in the jungle or desert--is warthog similar?) I tried a recipe I found in wine ad in Food & Wine, but I subbed the wine (no way I'm special ordering a case) and used shallots and onions instead of all shallots. . . I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I suspect it might be one of those recipes that tastes better the next day. Time will tell.

• Phils aren't doing so hot at the moment. Is it because I didn't wear my tee two days in a row? It needs to be washed!

• I had a lovely conversation with a 9th grader during the last block this afternoon as I helped her reformat an image to post to her group's wiki page (a miracle that I knew how to fix it right away!). Turns out she was a transfer from one of the Friends schools where my aunt taught music several years ago--nice school. Nice kid. She asked me about my student teaching and what I'd be doing next. (Darn it, why are they getting all interested in me now???)

• I'm probably gonna cry when I'm saying goodbye at school tomorrow.