Laurel is having problems with her computer, so she can't post or do anything internet-related. Her ethernet port is busted. :-(

If you haven't gotten my invitation, fellow members, check thine email.

Uh-oh. I found an article somewhat relevant to our blog. Maybe I've pointed this out, but whatever. I mean, that Searchalot guy certainly proves the point of the article. Ugly smokers? What?!?

One of the fun things about having an advanced counter is that you can track where people come from to visit our site.

One repeat visitor has an IP address which evaluates only to "DUSTIN." His time zone is set to Mountain Savings Time. One person came with a domain of only "STEPHEN." If you are this mysterious DUSTIn, please leave a guestbook entry!

Earlier someone linked from a search engine called "Searchalot" doing a search for "ugly smokers". Thanks to Laurel for this. His time zone indicated that he either lived in Greenland or Brazil. Which is odd.
Someone else visited from a comment that I made on Laurel's site. Here is Laurel's blog entry:

10.40 P.M.
I discovered a large, ugly, painful bruise on my upper right thigh. I have no idea where it came from. All I know is that it hurts. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "But Laurel, didn't you discover strange bruises on yourself at just about this same time last year?" To which I would respond, "Yes." Observe my May 2002 archive (the entry from the 13th) and see that it is so. I can't explain this phenomenon, except to say that maybe the end of the year stresses me out so much that I subconsciously beat myself up in my sleep. It could happen.

Here is my somewhat disturbing reply based on some internet email hoax I got years ago:

Well, I can think of two alternate explanations.
1. You have been abducted by aliens (they can only come at this part of our solar cycle because of their space drive). You wake up with bruises in a bathtub filled with ice, only to find a telephone and a note that says, "We have removed your kidneys to sell on the black market. Call 911 and hope that there's a spare kidney lying around."
2. Finals time is where you go out to wild parties and get so drunk that you can't remember what happened. You wake up with bruises in a bathtub filled with ice, only to find a telephone and a note that says, "We have removed your kidneys to sell on the black market. Call 911 and hope that there's a spare kidney lying around."

This is quite a funny article. It is about modernizing how to herd chickens up for the slaughter. Without giving too much away, here is a small excerpt. Years ago, they tried different ways of automating chicken catching. Here is one:

Early devices included the chicken vacuum, which sucked up birds and shot them through tubes to waiting trucks. But the birds tended to plug up the tubes and turn somersaults as they traveled inside the contraption. "We had too many die on us," recalls Buddy Burruss, vice president of operations at Tip Top Poultry Inc. of Marietta, Ga., which tested and quickly abandoned the pneumatic approach two decades ago.

So, Felix suggested that we all get together this weekend, so we can play 80 and say hi to each other, and since I have some Thai "Spicy Yummy Flavour" snacks, maybe we could get together at my house this Saturday afternoon or whenever. I also have some fun movies if we get bored. (a.k.a. Strange Brew, Yellow Submarine...)

I got nominated to the Who's Who in High School or something like that! Wow! I can hardly contain my enthusiasm! Sheesh. Y'know, I think some people at science bowl actually put that they were nominated to one of these "pay-us-money-to-get-your-name-in-a-shiny-book" things in their biographies.

Hey, if we get together, I have a lot of Thai food to give to you guys. My dad brought a lot of random stuff back, and our family has decided that we really don't want to eat the rest. Forget Nipa!

Ah, so Raymond's a blog member and Adam's an admin now, huh? When did this happen?

Ha, someone linked to our page from a yahoo search for "BLACKSMOKERS." The same search turns up a page called the best site about black smokers. In reality it is a lie. It is all lies! Lies! Noooooo.....