Family affair

My dad turns 70 this year. His birthday is September 12 and I'm flying home the weekend before. That means I'll be flying on September 11 -- the five-year anniversary of 9/11. I'm not sure if that's really significant or not in light of what happened in London this month. Security is already heightened so it should be as safe a day as any other, if not more so. But to ease my own security-check experience, I plan to check almost everything and carry on the bare minimum. I thought about skipping the trip but, over the past six years I've missed family events I wish I hadn't.

I wasn't there when my dad had a stroke. I wasn't there when my mom got a clean bill of health after fighting breast cancer. I wasn't there for holidays, birthdays or my parents' 45th wedding anniversary. I think I can suffer through a little (a lot?) extra security to be there to help my dad celebrate his 70th birthday. He's done a lot for me over the years. It's the least I can do.

Besides he makes my brothers crazy every other day of the year so I have to put in my time with him.

Overheard at work

"I sometimes get diarrhea so bad it makes me weak."

Do these people think cubicle walls are soundproof or do they just not care who hears this kind of thing?

Hi. My name is Pammeey and I’m a geek.

Friday night the Sci Fi channel aired the 200th episode of Stargate SG-1 and I was there. At first it appeared that it was going to be a clip show – imagine my disappointment. But, no, the “clips” weren’t actually from past shows. They were new footage made to look like clips, including in-jokes to past Stargate episodes as well as references to other sci fi franchises. The best one was an “obscure” reference which ended up being a nod to Farscape, with Claudia Black reprising her Aeryn Sun character, Ben Browder playing Stark, Christopher Judge as D’Argo, Amanda Tapping playing the part of Chiana and Michael Shanks in the role of Crichton.

To top it all off, Richard Dean Anderson showed up as General Jack O’Neill after many references to him not appearing.

It was awesome.

Can’t someone help me? Please?