Ugh, thank you. I made it 1.5 paragraphs before my eyes glazed over and I just couldn't absorb any more words. Since I myself am prone to long, complex sentences, I'm terrified that I'm subjecting my readers to Doug-esque misery and mental trauma.

Yes. I've been a faithful (and thoroughly addicted) customer for 9 years now. What would you like to know?

My day trips to Philly invariably revolve around visits to the Mutter Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary, and the Franklin Institute. These are followed by meals at Eulogy Belgian Tavern, Moriarty's Pub, or a cheesesteak at Pat's.

It worked perfectly (I feel you on the original attempt— I've learned I can't do more than quick blurbs on my tablet. Anything more detailed, and my cat will sense it and start attacking me, which results in catastrophic losses of work. My laptop is so much safer as it's an effective cat deterrent device).

I'm the same way. I'm the only one rolling around in them. I'd probably wash them more often if my cat flopped around my bed, too, but she has her own nest next to my bed and only hops on top of the comforter to take test bites on my arm every now and then (yes, ladies, I'm going to be a news story one day as I am…

Not an actual CCL thread, just more pictures of cats than usual for a Saturday night. ; )

I'm in the mid-Atlantic region. The bodies we get for clinical are all unclaimed from the ME's office, so they're usually a few weeks to a few months along. Soooooo . . . Introfiant gets regular use in lab. I also work in a funeral home, so do get additional (more typical) experience while finishing school. We're…

Seriously! I was all "hurr hurr" when I saw the headline in the sidebar, but actually exclaimed "OH!" rather loudly when the picture popped up. I went from immature adolescent to scandalized matron in .03 seconds flat. The finger. . . well, it caught me by surprise.

Same here. The longer you stare at it, the more it looks like he's got a brown mullet and is wearing acid wash jeans and one of those baseball shirts with sleeves that are darker than the rest of the shirt. It's magical.

Heck, I think I need a vacuum to make a decent ponytail with my own hair.

"Weed out my book collection" is one of the most hateful things anyone can say to me. I'm so bad at hoarding them that I even hoard ebooks. . . I can't bring myself to even *archive* anything on my ereader, no matter how crappy the book. I'm also not allowed to have a library card because I never return library…

That sounds like the best bedroom ever! Books were my most precious items as well, especially the very first book my parents ever gave me: I was 6 months old when Yule rolled around and they gave me a complete, unabridged volume of Brothers Grimm. Thirty years later, it remains my most treasured item and is on…

Holy god, if the bodies you got for clinical are anything like what we get, my first impulse on witnessing such a thing would have been to force-feed him phenol. Thankfully our prof is extremely high-strung on safety protocol, so between the N-95 masks and full face shields, there's no way anyone could, um, sample…

True enough. I actually make considerably less now than I did working in a call center. The trade off being personal satisfaction and knowing how lucky I am to do what I do, of course. My old customer service rep friends make almost twice as much as I do, but I love my job too much to ever consider leaving it.

From personal experience, I can vouch that cremation caskets with sea grass stuffed mattresses are divine while the standard caskets with the adjustable beds (can be raised for viewing, then lowered when the casket gets closed) are like laying on fold-out couch bed with nothing but a comforter between you and the…

"Units" sounds close enough to "eunichs" that you might have some confused customers showing up. Careful with the word-of-mouth advertising.

Ha, last night I posted a dopey picture of my cat in one of the threads, but I just checked and it was a different cat thread (crazy lonely cat ladies on a Saturday night FTW!). Were you the one who started the thread with the cat cuddling with Poe? That picture made me giggle. As much as it sucks that there's a…

Thanks for the link! I've always wondered what the "groupthink" thing was I see referenced in other comments. I'll definitely check it out. Jez is the only site I really comment on because I like the kinds the people who are active around here. And thanks for the props, even though I don't deserve them— you can't…

Thank you so much for your kind words! The "caring, courageous" part is pretty important to my vocation, so I appreciate you using those words more than you realize. I'm constantly worrying that I won't be good enough at my job (I'm studying to be an embalmer and funeral director, so you can imagine how crucial the…

That's an excellent idea. I live in a city with a lot of nice parks near my house, and I'm always trying to get friends to take advantage of the various trails and walking paths so we can hang out and get a little exercise at the same time. I should just start going by myself. Don't know why it didn't occur to me…