I was so busy at work today that, when I paused to check the clock and figure out how much time I had left at work, I was shocked to discover that I was ten minutes past the time I was supposed to clock out!  It’s bizarre when time slips away from you like that, you start wondering whether you’ve got a touch of the multiple personality disorder, the Alzheimer’s, or some designer drug combination of both.

Seeing as how I may have a new disorder called multiple Alzheimer’s disorder, it’s a good thing today is Thursday because otherwise I might forget what I was planning to write about.  Thursdays are, as we all know, the day when I share with you the week’s Thing That Does Not Suck.

I’m quite excited about this week’s Thing.  For one, it features no profanity (I was a tad concerned about last week’s Thing because, even though I thought it was clever and funny, it was rather profane and violent!)  For another, it also features my husband, who is handsome and talented.

Behold this week’s Thing:

Doc is lending moral support while Wes fixes the sink.

This is my husband fixing our sink.  While nice in and of itself, the reason it’s featured here is because of what it represents: Men fixing things.  Which just happens to be this week’s Thing That Does Not Suck.

I realize that women fix things all the time (I, for one, have been known to be a bit of an ingenue when it comes to fixing deadbolts) but there’s just something nice about when men take it upon themselves to fix things around the house.  It doesn’t matter if they’re plunging stopped-up toilets, tightening bolts on faucets, greasing hinges, or caulking bathtubs, there’s just something very right about a man fixing things.

Sure, they can get a little cranky when they’re elbow-deep in eggshells that were accidentally disposed of down the sink.  Of course they’d rather be doing other things than hanging pictures eleventy-billion times because you just want to try the picture in one more spot.  It goes without saying that they’d rather play a video game than try to figure out why the upstairs toilet isn’t flushing.

But!  They do it anyway (Or at least I hope they do.  If you’re a married lady and your husband doesn’t do these things for you, then this post is really for you, isn’t it?).  Because they love us.  Because they’re good at it.  Because they do not suck.

Thanks for fixing our stuff, men across the world.  Without you, we’d either have to learn how to fix things ourselves or hire people to fix them for us.  Thank you for insuring us against a future where we either have to take sinks apart or watch handymen and plumbers twirl their mustaches and laugh all the way to the bank.

Oh, and Wes?  I’m sorry about that whole eggshells debacle.  In my defense, though, at least it wasn’t beef fat.

I’ve been off coffee for a good long while now.  I no longer get the shakes when I smell it, I don’t feel a small sad ache in my heart when I see the empty coffee pot every morning, and I can function sans coffee without feeling like I’ve been shot with a tranquilizer.

All in all, I’m doing pretty well for someone who was a strung-out detox-addled junkie just a few weeks ago.

Even still, I haven’t forgotten my sweet coffee.  The way the steam made everything feel alright in the morning.  The comforting heft of the warm coffee mug in my hand as I caught up on my blogs.  The sweet satisfaction of knowing that, when I finished the first cup, there’d always be a second one waiting for me.

Wes found a video this week that he thought I’d enjoy, and enjoy it I did.  I enjoyed it for a number of reasons, and that’s why it’s this week’s Thing That Does Not Suck.  For one, it’s in French (subtitled in English) and I feel that the French can get away with just a little more than other people because their language is so lovely.  For another thing, it’s about coffee, and how easy it is to have a little too much and lose your freaking mind.

The video captures perfectly the effortless way that coffee can insinuate itself into every time of day.  Who can say no to a nice cup of coffee?  Before you know it, you’ve had ten cups of coffee, your pupils are dilated to the size of teacup saucers, and your writing looks like it was done with a seismograph.

When I was in high school, I worked as a barista for a small cafe.  I manned the espresso machine with skill and dedication (it was one of the genuine espresso machines, where you have to froth the milk with nothing more than a wand and your expertise and pack the espresso perfectly so it would neither block the machine nor spew grounds everywhere) and was often in the store by myself.

A lot of cute boys lived in my neighborhood and one day, a whole lot of them ended up at my cafe.  They started daring one another who could drink the most espresso in one sitting.  Never one to let boys have all the fun, I whupped them all at nine shots.  The victory felt great until I felt like taking cocaine would be a great way to calm down a bit.

Just goes to show you that teenage girls get stupid when cute boys are around (as though anyone doubted that).  Anyway, enough yammering and on with the show!  I must warn you, though, that this video comes a bit unhinged at the end and there’s some (cartoon) violence and a teeny bit of profanity.  Fair warning.

As you may have noticed (OK, if you haven’t noticed there’s something different around here you’re either blind or new) the blog’s looking a little more awesome today. My husband is honing his HTML skills and, if I do say so myself, the blog’s looking better as a result.

This image is brick icicles. The Russians were experimenting with their version of Napalm and testing it out in (presumably empty) brick houses. The ensuing fires were so hot that they melted the bricks and the resulting icicles are all that’s left.

I found this image here, where you can visit if you’d like to see more images and find out a little more backstory.

As a naturally curious person, I think it’s fascinating to see this. Of course, the idea of Napalm is a bit horrifying, especially if you’re on the receiving end of it, but I’m fine with using this as this week’s Thing because there is no death here. Only coolness. And coolness? Never sucks.