We'll have a massive funeral service at our location today. Family expecting maybe as many as 300 people. Our chapel seats 126 if we put in additional rows of chairs, which I have. I was able to put another hundred or so in the lobby, but fire regulations forbid any more out there. It will be about a two hour service, including the formal dismissal past the casket at the end. Then there's the drive into the cemetery to the outdoor mausoleum, which is at the highest point on the property. Hopefully, our grounds crew will be able to clear a path for the hearse and flower van, and hopefully when I ask all of the guests to wait and follow us in procession, they will listen. But that's not usually the case, even with smaller events. Whole list of factors that could complicate things. Usually it all goes approximately all right, but I'm always on edge for these.

Tomorrow I have a desk day before taking a week off to see my son in Kentucky and put this behind me for a while, so I just have to get through this and I'm more or less in the clear.

There’s a three year old neighbor kid who likes to come over and ask me questions. She’s deep in her why phase. My cats can’t stand her and hide whenever she comes over. Why are the kitties hiding? Because they want privacy. Why do they want privacy? Because they like to sleep in the daytime. Why? Because they’re nocturnal. What nocturnal? It goes on and on.

It’s kind of fun having a neighbor kid come around. When I was her age, we had a neighbor named Virginia. She had three sons older than me, and when they were in school, I would come over and bother Virginia. I used to tell my mom “I’m gonna go check on Virginia” and I’d go hang around and ask her questions. She’d finally get her boys out of the house, and then I’d come and take up her free time. I guess I’m kind of this kid’s Virginia.

Enjoyed watching the doorbell cam of the delivery driver's agile tossing my package onto my doorstop, snapping a proof-of-delivery photo, and whirling around to frolic back to his car. My package was not fragile, so I found it amusing.

Tried to buy plane tickets earlier today through Kayak, which pointed us toward Cheapflightfares. Long story short, it quickly became apparent they were trying to pull a bait-and-switch scam on us. (When things started sounding dodgy, we looked them up online and saw hundreds of complaints.)

We managed to cancel our order, but it involved a 30-minute phone call. I eventually blew my top and screamed at the call center guy. I never yell at people. Never.

But fuck scammers.

We then called our bank to make sure they didn’t process any payments to this scam company, then bought the tickets straight through the airline.

Wood Goblin wrote: Tue Mar 03, 2026 9:02 pm Tried to buy plane tickets earlier today through Kayak, which pointed us toward Cheapflightfares. Long story short, it quickly became apparent they were trying to pull a bait-and-switch scam on us. (When things started sounding dodgy, we looked them up online and saw hundreds of complaints.)

We managed to cancel our order, but it involved a 30-minute phone call. I eventually blew my top and screamed at the call center guy. I never yell at people. Never.

But fuck scammers.

We then called our bank to make sure they didn’t process any payments to this scam company, then bought the tickets straight through the airline.

I got fucked out of $120 from Priceline recently. The hotel wouldn’t check us in because their front desk clerk couldn’t figure out how to check in a Priceline booking, and Priceline wouldn’t refund us because we didn’t buy their insurance upsell.

We decided that, from here on out, we’ll use Kayak to see what our options are and then just book directly with the airline. (Which we do often already.)

And fuck Priceline too.

Wood Goblin wrote: Tue Mar 03, 2026 9:02 pm Tried to buy plane tickets earlier today through Kayak, which pointed us toward Cheapflightfares. Long story short, it quickly became apparent they were trying to pull a bait-and-switch scam on us. (When things started sounding dodgy, we looked them up online and saw hundreds of complaints.)

We managed to cancel our order, but it involved a 30-minute phone call. I eventually blew my top and screamed at the call center guy. I never yell at people. Never.

But fuck scammers.

This is the only time I've ever yelled over the phone, too. Fuck scammers, indeed.

Watched a Caroline Polachek video and started getting bra ads.

"Sang" yesterday at bad practice. My throat feels like I shoved a jar of pickles in it. But it's a bit better than last week. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I could last the entire band practice.

Any pointers on how to speed that process of healing the vocal chords up? Tee? Honey? Pickle juice?

Lu Zwei wrote: Thu Mar 05, 2026 3:50 am "Sang" yesterday at bad practice. My throat feels like I shoved a jar of pickles in it. But it's a bit better than last week. Hopefully by the end of the summer, I could last the entire band practice.

Any pointers on how to speed that process of healing the vocal chords up? Tee? Honey? Pickle juice?

Do they sell Throat Coat tea over there? That stuff works great for me.