And another thing...

Day Seven

2009-12-20T01:05:00.001-04:00

And welcome to day seven. Over half way there.

Unfortunately, I had the swans since day one and, well, they drowned around day five.

Leave it to me to find the only swans that couldn't swim.

They are still good eatin'. Moist.

On the sixth day of Christmas...

2009-12-19T01:04:00.001-04:00

Six geezer's sleighing.

And one chick.

FIVE GOLDEN RINGS!

2009-12-18T01:03:00.001-04:00

Ok, so they are onion rings.

And who can eat just five?

On the fourth day of Christmas...

2009-12-17T01:02:00.001-04:00

And welcome to day four.

On the third day of Christmas...

2009-12-16T01:01:00.002-04:00

As it happens, I was only able to find one Frenchen. Not a real popular name.

However, it does say on Frank's myspace that he is a parent. So, we will assume he was married at some point, so that makes at least 3.

Enjoy day three.

On the second day of Christmas...

2009-12-15T07:59:00.002-04:00

Two turtles dove.

Ok, they aren't diving right this minute, but they were earlier.

I might have read that wrong.

Damned homonyms!

On the first day of Christmas...

2009-12-14T12:58:00.003-04:00

Ok, I realize that the 12 days of Christmas are supposed to start after Christmas day and continue until the Feast of the Epiphany (I am not a heathen) but this is my blog and I am going to use it as a countdown. ~~Excommunicate~~ Sue me. Besides, once Christmas day arrives, no one wants to hear another word about it.

So, here we go.

On the first day of Christmas...

My true love gave to me...

A Partridge in a pear tree.

Ok, so he is not exactly in a pear tree.

But he is being treed by a bear.

Close enough. Carry on.

Wing Night.

2009-12-13T20:29:00.005-04:00

Every year for Tracey's birthday, we do wing night. We watch Christmas movies, I make wings and decorate the tree.

I give you...

The Campbell family Christmas tree.

The Carnage.

Again this year the cashier questioned me about the crackers. Some people had a sheltered life, Christmas without Christmas crackers.

But we got 'er done and almost made it to midnight this year.

WTF?

2009-12-13T14:48:00.001-04:00

Some crayon on CNN actually said the words - Greener Oil

Seriously?

Are you kidding me?

2009-12-10T00:02:00.005-04:00

What the hell is up with Barbara Walters? Adam Lambert? One of the 10 most facinating people? Did she run out of people on the planet? Goog God! What the hell makes him so facinating?

The most facinating thing about most of these people is that they are actually still working.

Just goes to show how limited the pool of talent really is.

Can't wait to see who she thinks is 'the' most facinating.

Ok, she nailed it. But the rest of them.....still pitiful.

Why you should never buy a paint pen at a dollar store.

2009-12-09T01:23:00.003-04:00

I did, and I regret it.

I thought I would put a little bit of silver on the guide of my printer so I could see better where to put the cd cartrige in. It was black on black.

So I shook the pen and pulled the top off.

Unfortunately the entire top came off as I was leaned over the printer.

This is the aftermath.

At least none got inside the printer, it just looks hellish. And it is never coming out of the carpet.

Recycle

2009-12-08T12:54:00.002-04:00

I thought I might dig up the ol' 12 days of Christmas that I did a couple years ago...if I can find it, that is.

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

2009-12-06T13:37:00.004-04:00

It snowed this morning.

This is now my desktop picture.

Oh...and I saw this in the bank the other day. It is the exact replica of the nativity scene we had as kids. Right down to the stable construction. I was gobsmacked.

How can this be?

2009-12-05T19:58:00.003-04:00

I can't believe my sister has been alive 49 years and has never seen White Christmas.

How is that even possible?

This is the scene we are watching right now.

And she is watching this with a big goofy grin on her face. (Shhhh, don't tell her, I don't think she realizes it.)

That's what a classic will do for ya. It just isn't Christmas without a little Bing.

This is my favorite bit from the movie.

Next up, Christmas in Connecticut and then maybe the Bells of Saint Mary's or Holiday Inn.

If you have not seen these classics, you might want to give them a try. I know everyone always watches It's a Wonderful Life, but these others will also put you in the Christmas spirit.

UGH!

2009-11-30T15:21:00.002-04:00

Gonna have to format the Vista machine. Not looking forward to it, but at least I have the laptop to use while that is going on.

But you just know...I am going to forget to backup something.

Drivers probably.

UPDATE: fuckin' thing won't boot from cd

The benefits of broadcasting your misfortune.

2009-11-29T01:13:00.000-04:00

My friends now know I am penniless. As I was trying to figure out what I could make to eat for the day, Kimmy calls from work.

Someone screwed up an order, did I want it?

Of course I do.

Pork free.

2009-11-28T13:21:00.006-04:00

The Boy and I went and got our H1N1 shots.

I have to say that once we were all permitted to get the shot, the team that organized it had a really great system going. I just wished they had publicized it.

From news reports all you can see is endless lines, people waiting 4 and 5 hours for a shot. I was not looking forward to it. The first day I went over to the Y, I just drove through the parking lot and thought it was way too depressing to go in and wait in line. So I ditched.

The second day I was out getting blood drawn and figured I would bite the bullet and get it over with. When I got there there was a cheerful lady sitting at a table with what appeared to be stacks of business cards. (wish I had taken a pic, it was genius) They had 100 cards for each hour.

The stacks were appointment cards with times on them. From 10 am to 5pm. All you had to do was pick a time and take a card, for the next day. It was so simple, not sure why everyone was not doing it this way.

I got two and informed The Boy he was getting his as well the next day at noon.

Of course we were late, we arrived at 12:20. We filled out our forms and were given a number. There were only maybe 20 people ahead of us. We got our shots at 12:45 and were out of there by 1. (They wanted you to sit for 15 min, in case you took a reaction.

Someone needs to share this system with the rest of the country.

Long Story.

2009-11-28T12:08:00.003-04:00

As you may know, I have been off work for a month. I have been paid for two of those weeks by the insurance company.

They faked me out. When the doctor originally said 3 weeks, the insurance company just approved it. No real hassle at all, adding that 'if your doctor says you need more time, just send these forms', and I did. Now all of a sudden they are not sure I should be off.

The problem is, I have no diagnosis yet. All my doctor knows is that my blood pressure is not that great but its the heart rate that is going to kill me. My resting rate has gone as high as 151 bps. That would be fine if I was an infant, but not so good when you are in your 40's.

So, on the 16th, the insurance company says, they need a note from the doctor, so I give them one on the 18th. In it she writes that she is concerned about stressors and says shit like dysrhythmia and tachycardia. The note scared me, so should be enough for the insurance chick, right?

Wrong. On the 19th she says it is not enough. This all wouldn't be so bad if I lived with my doctor, but all this shit takes so long cuz I have to turn around each time and make an appointment with the doctor. (Sadly I am not her only patient) Apparently, just because I could take a heart attack at any moment, this is not a good enough reason for me not to take calls. They don't see why I couldn't take calls right up until the moment I take that heart attack.

Then someone says to me, "Well at least your unemployment insurance should kick in."

"What?" No one mentioned this before, I guess I could have applied for that at the same time as the short term disability. So I apply for that on the 20th, but of course I need a record of employment from my employer (who says they can't get that to me until Dec 10th) and a note from the doctor. Oh, and there is a two week waiting period.

I put that on the burner and go back to the doctor on the 23rd, she is pissed at this point and writes a long strongly worded letter and sends the insurance company chick about 16 pages of data. I also get her to fill out the UI doctor form, just in case. The government doesn't really give a shit why you are off, all they need is the doctor saying you should be. That is it. I should have went this way in the beginning.

Now I have to sit and wait. Penniless. It all looks like I will be back to work before I ever see another cent.

R.I.P. Mininova

2009-11-27T16:35:00.003-04:00

This will stop us for all of ten seconds.

10 Alternatives To Mininova

Thanks to Sonny and Adele and Kimmy.

2009-11-24T00:51:00.003-04:00

His Mama didn't raise no fool!

2009-11-22T08:47:00.000-04:00

I would have never admitted it at the time, but...

2009-11-17T17:54:00.003-04:00

When I was a teenager, I was totally (secretly) in love with Mikhail Baryshnikov.

My friends would have thought I was a complete idiot. So I never let on.

Who did you secretly love/admire/lust after when you were a teenager?

40 years.

2009-11-17T12:39:00.003-04:00

Yes, I realize I am older than Sesame Street. I have been seeing a lot of it this week because of the 40th anniversary.

I remember this one, it made me cry then and now.

LOL I remember trying to sing this one.

I actually bought an album last year with this one on it. (Yes I said ALBUM, as in vinyl)

It ain't easy.

Lest we forget.

2009-11-17T12:31:00.001-04:00

Classic.

I really hate to burst your bubble but...

2009-11-15T01:41:00.003-04:00

I know all you geeks have been bashing Vista and waiting patiently for Windows 7.

Listen carefully.

Windows 7 IS Vista. Microsoft promised a new OS, but they just upgraded Vista. Took out the annoying stuff and added a few aesthetic components.

Oh no, you say. Its not an upgrade. It's not possible to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7.

Yes, that is just part of the smoke and mirrors.

Bottom line: So far, Windows 7 looks, behaves, and performs almost exactly like Windows Vista. And it breaks all sorts of things that used to work just fine under Vista. In other words, Microsoft's follow-up to its most unpopular OS release since Windows Me threatens to deliver zero measurable performance benefits while introducing new and potentially crippling compatibility issues.

Don't get me wrong. I love Vista. The only people who really hated Vista was Uber Geeks who like to tinker. Pissed that they couldn't just upgrade effortlessly without hardware upgrades. A lot of the problems people had with Vista was with hardware drivers. Which wasn't Microsoft's fault. For more than a year before Vista launched, Microsoft warned hardware vendors that they needed new drivers, even offered to help them develop the drivers. Hardware manufacturers ignored them.

I had no problems with Vista because I built my new computer in anticipation of it, I prepared for it. I purchased hardware that would be compatible with Vista and that already had the drivers in place for it.

Vista is very user friendly, and self healing if you can read and have opposable thumbs. If you had just ignored the hype you could have been enjoying Vista all this time. You will see what I mean now, if you install Windows 7.

You swore you wouldn't install Vista but, Dude, you totally drank the KoolAid.