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Good morning everyone, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Before we start, an update: rising let me know that Bailey, who was fundraising for medical aid for treatment-resistant depression, reached the fundraising goal they had set. Well done team!

Ways To Give:

Anon has a friend from fandom whose sister recently had a newborn baby pass away (they've asked me to keep it anon for the friend's sake, but I know both people and will vouch). There's been a donation fundraiser created to help pay for medical expenses and the funeral. You can read more and donate here.

Theorclair on tumblr is in need of some emergency dental work, and has a gofundme up to raise money; she is also offering beta services in exchange for donations. You can read more about her situation here.

Help for Free:

Ms. Coe's Grade 1 class is doing a social studies project. The students have come up with a list of questions they would like to ask people around the world (i.e. the internet) and this is how you can help: Go to the project description here to find out more. You will be mailing a postcard to Ontario, Canada. This will be a really cool project!

neifile7 is looking for a forever home (or homes) for two kitties, Patches and Pieces; her parents can no longer care for them and getting them into a no-kill shelter is proving difficult. They're currently being fostered in the East Bay in California; Anya says they're cute older kitties who would be great for an older person, and can be adopted separately. For more information you can contact her via LJ message at the username above.

Candice and her best friend have entered a video contest to win a trip to a Dark Sky Astronomy Festival in Jasper, Alberta. Candice is a huge astronomy nerd (her words!) and her friend loves the town of Jasper, so they're very excited to be in the running. You can help by visiting their video and voting for it! You can also check out their blog here.

doolabug linked to a petition to stop the "metal detecting" shows now multiplying on TV, which promote the looting and destruction of national heritage sites. Amateur treasure hunting is fun in theory, but in practice it often encourages people to destroy historical record in the process.

Fandom Housing!

highlyeccentric is looking for housing under 1400 CHF/month in Geneva. She's "fan-friendly, probably best described as 'dormant fangirl'" and is looking for "a suitable geek interested in combining forces for a two-bedroom place". You can contact her at highlyeccentric AT gmail DOT com .

liviconnor is looking for roommates to share an apartment in Jamaica Plain in Boston. "I'm a teacher and relatively quiet, and my classes start at 8:30 so I'm up at 6 am roughly 5 days a week. I'm queer and a woman and I'm looking for a low-drama place to live." You can contact her at liviconnor at Yahoo dot com for more info!

Just For Fun:

kyburg linked to a free pattern for knitting simple fingerless gloves. I have a pair like this (ie, open-fingered) and they're super-comfy and great to put on over regular gloves for extra warmth.

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com. If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help (or ask for help!).

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The caterpalooza that began ten days ago and involved five meals from three separate vendors is drawing to a close today, and I would call the finish orgasmic but honestly it's the exact opposite of an orgasm.

Diva Boss, who gets two going-away parties because she invited a hundred and thirty people to her party, has a luncheon at noon and a reception at three. I placed the order for both on Thursday. Literally an hour later, the news broke that the company I'd just placed the order with was:

a) Declaring bankrupcy because
b) their business had dropped after
c) MASSIVE HEALTH CODE VIOLATIONS were reported in their restaurant which
d) Does not surprise me because their food is fucking awful.

But here's the thing -- when a large company declares bankrupcy, usually there's a fairly lengthy delay between the declaration and the fallout. So I wasn't worried.

UNTIL TODAY.

I just had the following conversation:

Me: So you'd like to deliver the noon lunch and the food for the 3pm reception at the same time?
Caterer: Yes.
Me: Uh, okay, will it fit in a fridge?
Caterer: Probably.
Colleague: We can go pick it up.
Me: Can we pick it up?
Caterer: No.
Me: Um, why not?
Caterer: The restaurant will be closed. Um. Permanently.
Me: Uh, okay, so...really you weren't asking so much as telling.
Caterer: Yes.
Me: Then I guess we will see you at noon for fifteen sandwiches and two cheese trays!

I am going to a baseball game on Wednesday. At this point that is literally all that is keeping me sane about this week.