Monitors, creepy dolls, etc...

Oh, what a week. Today is my first day off in almost two weeks. I started back part-time at the house of death this week. The drive is a bit on the long side normally, but tolerable. Thursday is was really rainy (surprise!) and it took me an hour and a half to get home (for you locals, from Sunnyside). Wednesday it took me nearly as long to get home from Lake Oswego. I hate sitting in traffic more than almost anything.

So our monitor has been acting up forever. It's got to be 10 years old or something close to it, and for the last year or so it has been getting all... well... rolly or something that makes it unviewable and then it shuts off. Annoying, certainly, but if you smacked it real hard it would behave. The last couple weeks it degenerated into working for five or so minutes, then rolling, then shutting off. No amount of smacking seemed to help. (I have the sore hand to prove it.) Thus my lack of blogging lately. I can't get far in 5 minutes and my patience is about nil at this point. Since we're still poverty-stricken, a new monitor isn't really in the budget so I got on craigslist to see if I could find a free one. I did, but the guy flaked so no dice :( I was gonna head to the Goodwill up the street but I found a brand new, in the box one for $30. No smacking required.

Sooo... The creepy doll. This ad has been sitting on my computer desk for a while waiting to find its way here.

I don't think the text is going to be readable, so I'll give you some highlights.

"Look at his face. Doesn't he look like a real baby? Go ahead and pick him up. Fully as large as a newborn and artfully jointed to sleep blissfully or snuggle in your arms, 'William' captures forever that magical day your own little boy came into the world. "

"'William' is lovingly handcrafted from our trademarked Gentle Touch (TM) vinyl that exactly captures the look of a newborn. From his closed eyes and chubby cheeks to his wee hands and creased knees, every detail is a joy to discover." (I had to get the "wee" in there for Lottie. And that Gentle Touch vinyl... Imported!)

"If you are not delighted with 'William', we will gladly buy him back for the purchase price any time within 100 days..." (Buying a "him" isn't legal anymore, is it? Maybe it's okay with babies. I dunno.)

Anyway, they have a website. Many of their dolls are even more frightening. You must go look. It's www.paradisegalleries.com

Ummm... I think that's about it. Oh, wait, cute boy. I'm going with James Marsden, because we just saw The 24th Day, which he was in.

Also, with the dark hair and blue eyes, he reminds me of someone who lives in my house who would be a cute boy of the week if he didn't have some irrational fear of his picture being on the internet.