It's Gillian's Fault!

[BigDon]

Okay, there has GOT to be a name for this!

The other day I was loading my dishwasher and was actively thinking about a previous thread where her and I (and some others) were discussing whether or not you place knives point down for safety, or the correct way, point up so the blades are better positioned in the cleaning stream. I was being rather dismissive of her argument, never having a problem in several decades of loading dishwashers.

And while thinking about her argument on safety, for the first time ever, while putting in some forks and spoons I ran my thumb down on a steak knife whereupon in embedded itself solidly under my thumbnail. Deep enough it came up with my hand when I pulled back. I even stood there and contemplated the irony of the situation before removing it from my person.

I claim I was glamoured!

And that for the safety of the rest of us Gillian must be checked for moles, bouyancy issues and other signs of nefariousness!

That is all.

[grant hutchison]

Okay, there has GOT to be a name for this!

Synchronicity.
Or perhaps poetic justice.

Grant Hutchison

[Fazor]

I thought it had already been agreed that everything is Gillian's fault.

. . . okay, not really. But as far as black sheep go, she does seem like one that would be able to hold her own against the onslaught of misplaced blame.

[hhEb09'1]

Eh, I learned this lesson 35 years ago, by proxy, from a roommate. We didn't have a dishwasher, so it was simply knives up or knives down in the drying stream, in a dishdrainer by the sink. He got up in the middle of the night, got a drink of water by bending his face to the faucet, and caught the point of a knife, embedded between his eyes.

[grant hutchison]

He got up in the middle of the night, got a drink of water by bending his face to the faucet, and caught the point of a knife, embedded between his eyes.

Between the eyes is good.

Grant Hutchison

[hhEb09'1]

Aye. He had a notch there the next morning, and the wild look in his eyes when he told the story unsettled me to this day. 'Course, he was the same guy who washed out his lead pot when he was making bullets for his (dad's) .38, and when he poured the lead in, it splashed into his face, leaving little red pock marks all over, except none had entered his eyes. I think he wore goggles 20 hours a day after those two incidents.

[Nicolas]

I had a spray can of car paint blow up into my face while I was looking at it from about 30cm distance. It was red paint. The end result: a small BANG sound, a guy moving strangely, and his head covered in red. The onlookers were somewhat shocked. I for one -knowing it was paint and not my skull that had flipped inside out- was happy feeling nothing had hit my eyes, as the airflow made me close my eyes a split second before the paint flow arrived. The relief of that feeling made up for the process of getting car paint out of my face and hair using fuel.

That was two days after I got a small piece of gravel that was stuck into the mouth piece of a high pressure cleaner (Kärcher type of thing) into my eye when I tried to get it loose. It hit the corner of my eye, so no damage but quite some pain.

In both cases, I put the blame on Gillian. I didn't know her at the time, which caused her to not warn me beforehand. For shame.

[Gillianren]

In both cases, I put the blame on Gillian. I didn't know her at the time, which caused her to not warn me beforehand. For shame.

Well, I will be. I'm gone for a couple of hours, and suddenly, everything is my fault? Shame on you all!

[SeanF]

Well, I will be. I'm gone for a couple of hours, and suddenly, everything is my fault? Shame on you all!

Hey, it's your own fault for being gone.

[hhEb09'1]

I just fell over in my chair laughing. What'd I ever do to you?

[Fazor]

Well, I will be. I'm gone for a couple of hours, and suddenly, everything is my fault? Shame on you all!

Wasn't my idea I blame BigDon! I mean, I blame Gillian, Gillian.

[Buttercup]

This is a good idea. The next time I cut myself or stub my toe or bite my tongue (even in sleep) or trip flat-faced onto a concrete sidewalk, I too am blaming Gillian!

[geonuc]

Now, now. Let's be fair. While she may be a witch, I'm certain that Gillian isn't allowed to do any BigDon impaling.

"An Ye Harm None, Do What Ye Will"

[weatherc]

Here's a fun one I can blame on Gillian:

When I was in college, I worked at a pretzel store. Part of the nightly cleaning procedure was to rinse out the coffee vacuum carafes with ice and lemon juice (and probably salt, but I no longer remember) to reduce the coffee stains inside. Why anyone cared what the inside of a coffee carafe looked like is beyond me, particularly when there wouldn't ever be anything but coffee served in it, but I wasn't about to argue the point.

One morning I opened the store, and realized that someone had left the ice and lemon juice inside the carafe overnight. I took the carafe to the sink and tried to pour the contents out. The ice had frozen into a solid chunk, and wouldn't fit out of the top of the carafe. When I turned the carafe back upright to see what was going on inside, the ice fell back to the bottom of the carafe, and shattered the glass. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes and flinching was a cloud of silvery powder flying out of the top of the carafe.

I suffered no injuries, but the carafe was history. I escaped with just a few flecks of silvery glass on my forehead.

We stopped cleaning the carafes with ice after this incident.

I blame Gillian for the breaking of the carafe, but I guess I should also thank her for allowing us to remove one of our cleaning procedures from our nightly checklist.

[Gillianren]

Funnily enough, I have been blaming someone I knew as a kid for essentially everything that's gone wrong since 1991. Of course, I haven't seen him since about 1995, so he doesn't know that--though I did tell his wife not long ago, so maybe she's told him. In short, it's not my fault. It's Richard Moon's fault.

[mahesh]

I bumped over a tectonic plate once. Earth shattering experience, Gillian.
I forget where the fault lies.

[sarongsong]

I bumped over a tectonic plate...I forget where the fault lies.

1355 Sixth Avenue, downtown San Diego

[Salty]

It's not Gillianren's fault.

All four of my ex-fiancees have convinced me it's all my fault. I'm so sorry, BD.

Don't tell the president. I always keep this secret from any President of the USofA. It is good, to allocate blame.

[Nicolas]

I'm feeling very tired today. But if I'd blame Gillian for that, that would sound a bit dubious, right?

[BigDon]

THIS JUST IN!

Last night "somebody" turned me into a newt! An orange one with a dark back!

(I got better.)

[ABR.]

THIS JUST IN!

Last night "somebody" turned me into a newt! An orange one with a dark back!

(I got better.)

California or rough-skinned?

[BigDon]

Oh, those ones I used to catch up in Putah Creek, next to Lake Berryessa.

[ABR.]

Oh, those ones I used to catch up in Putah Creek, next to Lake Berryessa.

You know...that's one of the sites in California where the New Zealand Mudsnail has been found. It was likely introduced by someone who hadn't properly cleaned their waders after fishing somewhere else where the NZMS had already invaded. Now if we could only find someone to blame for this...

[BigDon]

I was just reading about those mudsnails for the first time just this last Tuesday. (I was looking up on how well the Zebra and Quagga mussels were holding up.) Population densities of those snails in some parts of Lake Zurich in Switzerland reach close to 800 thousand per square meter.