a lesson

If you're hoping to be functional at all in the evening hours, try not to imbibe two mai tais and a zombie at Smuggler's Cove.

If you only knew how many tries it took me to get the HTML correct for the link... oh god...

The drinks there are not for the meek or the weak.

I'm drinking water for the next few hours. Gah.

Yawn - scratch

Not a terribly productive day.

I managed to rendezvous with UPS, which is a plus. My dinner plans fell through due to an oversight on my part. Thankfully it turned out for the best when the miserable weather hit.

There's no shortage of movies I could go see, if I could rouse myself. I'm not so interested in Avatar or Sherlock Holmes to want to make my way to a theater, though.

Too lazy. And that's okay.

A pleasant way to fill the day

One of my favorite winter pastimes:

- a grey winter day
- a pub
- a couple of pints
- a hot bowl of stew or chili
- conversation with resident barflies

List fully-checked. Good times.

Merry Xmas

Mine was pretty fantastic. A wonderful exchange of gifts and some really nice time with the family.

I count myself very fortunate when I can spend 12 hours with my family and I pretty much enjoy the entire time.

Corny or not, that's probably the best gift of all.

And yes, that's very corny.

Xmas Miracle

I was home for a UPS delivery! 'Tis a miracle! A miracle!!!

Still fighting this damn cold-like-thing. Ah well. Could be worse.

Unwelcome Xmas Gift

Headache? Check.
Intermittent nausea? Check.
Scratchy throat? Check.
Episodes of extreme exhaustion? Check.

What. The. Hell?

I think this hit me last year as well.

Bleah.

Brilliant invention

Awesome keyboard.

Fortunes

I'm not one to buy into the superstition of fortunes (those found in fortune cookies), but I gotta say that sometimes they're strangely bang-on.

Today's (from the monster bag of fortune cookies my neighbor gave me):

- A small lucky package is on its way to you soon - I've received fudge from a friend and a videotape of some interesting "Dr. Who" material from another. Hm... this one is good.

- Work on improving your exercise routine - yeah, I've been saying that already. Barely valid.

A series of totally off ones:

- Soon someone will make you very proud - I can't see how this can be valid.

- Focus on the color purple this week to bring you luck - that's going to be odd. I dislike the color purple.

- Your hidden creative talents will soon be revealed - my what? Um...

- You will be involved in many humanitarian projects - another crack-headed one.

The following are, collectively, a bit creepy and sound interrelated:

- There are big changes ahead for you - sounds sinister

- A new relationship is about to blossom. You will be blessed. - somewhat less-sinister

- Soon a visitor shall delight you - unexpected visitors never "delight" me. I hate surprises.

- An unexpected event will soon make your life more exciting - this sounds... um... sinister in relation to the others

- You will travel to many exotic places - I'm planning on doing that in 2010... hm...

ticking down

The year is nearly over. What do we have left? Nine days?

2009. What a crazy year. Can't say I'll miss it.

It was great to see Obama sworn in and it's been great that I've weathered the economic meltdown (so far), but otherwise this has not been the best year I've ever experienced.

Seems to me that everyone and everything just gets crazier and crazier.

2010 isn't looking like it's going to be a whole lot saner. Not much I can do about that, I guess.

My goals for 2010 will involve whatever steps I need to take to make my little slice of the world less-crazy:

- exercise more (hah!)
- find some kind of way to incorporate some self-discipline into my life to change some bad habits (spending, eating, etc.)
- waste less energy worrying about what I don't have and focus more on what I do have

I guess that's all common sense. We'll see how this goes.

Holy mother of uber-violence, Batman

(BoingBoing)

Lovely timing

My office party is this weekend and I'm fighting a cold.

Wunderbar.

Tips for the Holidaze

For people buying stuff:

1) When in line to make your purchase, have your sh*t together before you get up to the cashier. Saves everyone time and headaches.

2) Don't use the cashier as your information desk. This is especially true if the line is twelve-deep behind you and said store has a specific area for helping you find stuff.

3) Read your coupons before trying to use them. Saves you having to argue later when the cashier can't apply it to your order.

4) Store staff are not your babysitters. If you can't keep your kids under control, you shouldn't expect some minimum-wage making sales clerk to do it for you as you're trying to make your purchase.

5) Read the signs around you so you know where the line starts, if there are any restrictions or special conditions going on, etc.

For people selling stuff:

1) If you've got a line starting to form, you might want to get extra cashiers sooner rather than later. Lines encourage people to get their stuff faster... making longer lines...

2) If some idiot gets to the cashier and still isn't ready to make a purchase and there's a line behind said idiot, send said challenged soul to someone who can help. If your store isn't situated to handle that basic workflow, they probably need to look at their processes.

3) Clearly label where the line starts and stuff like that. Keep it simple and use big print.

4) For God's sake, if you have people wandering the floor doing whatever and there's a huge line of people waiting to buy stuff, get some more cashiers working! Is it that hard to figure out? Seriously? You want their money! There's a recession on!

*exhales*

Aah. I feel better now.

And I'm very grateful I don't work retail anymore.

Sounds like a plan

If all goes well, I'm going to finish my xmas shopping tonight.

Then I'm probably going to pass out.

It's been that kind of week.

Time Blender

December's just one of those months that's too full of stuff.

I guess that's why it felt like Friday yesterday and still feels like it should be Friday yesterday... or at least today.

Of course, Friday is tomorrow.

It's throwing me off my sleep schedule and leaving me more disoriented than usual (and that's saying something).

Boggled Mind

Saw a list of quotes on Salon.com today that led with a statement that kind of blew my mind:

"Keep your government hands off my Medicare." Speaker at health care reform town hall meeting in Simpsonville, S.C., commenting on the government-created Medicare program, quoted by The Washington Post on July 28.

Yep. Keep government hands off of Medicare.

The sheer, unbridled idiocy of that statement makes me seriously fear for the future of my country. When did people get so STUPID here? Has it always been like this? Did I just never notice?

I need to start shopping for a cave or bunker or something and get the hell outta dodge.

Humbugging

I'm officially overwhelmed by xmas this year.

I just don't seem to have enough time or energy to keep up with everything and I know I don't have enough money.

And I've already missed my postal deadline to get gifts in the mail. Sigh.

Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor brains

The United States Postal Service. What a grand organization. Gotta love 'em.

Unless they don't deliver the one piece of mail you were expecting (and tracking) that's got monetary value.

Then you just gotta love the fact that your neighbors are honest and left said mis-delivered mail in the unsecured garage for you to find by chance the next morning.

I hope my more-competent mail carrier is on the shift today. I'd like to actually get my mail instead of have it shunted to one of my neighbors who only checks the mail box weekly.

And I hope the bumpkin mail carrier transfers to Nome, Alaska. Grrr....

Quote of the Day

From one of my friends re: our weekend.

absinthe .... was pure pain

Yep. That pretty much covers it.

Inching along

I've pretty much hit the point of no return for online shopping. At least it's that point if I want to pay sane shipping rates to ensure they get to my office.

I don't really think there's much else I need to get. Stocking stuffers and gifts for a few friends.

It's amazing how Xmas spins out of control with the gifting.

It's amazing how goddamn expensive this month has been. This weekend alone was insane beyond words. I'm going to have to be more self-disciplined after Xmas.

A week and a half before Xmas break. I guess the time will blaze by.

Smuggler's Cove

On Friday night, I visited Smuggler's Cove in San Francisco.

In the interests of honesty, it wasn't my first stop. Prior locales were varied and the three of us had imbibed stuff that really should not be imbibed in a single evening. Suffice it to say that absinthe is not my favorite drink ever.

Regardless, we wound up at Smuggler's Cove. After a few minutes of waiting in line in the drizzle we had the good fortune of meeting the owner. I related to him my fondness for Forbidden Island in Alameda (he founded it, apparently) and shared my father's fondness for the old-time tiki bars (Trader Vic's, Skipper Kent's, etc.). Interestingly enough, Martin Cate (the owner) knew all about these places and was a good sport to listen to my tipsy repeating of my father's tales.

Right there I knew I'd love this place. Mr. Cate was friendly, personable, and seemed genuinely interested in his patrons having a good time.

The interior was what I expected. Tiki decor with rum drinks galore and lots of wood paneling. It was multi-level with hard-working bartenders who really seemed to know their stuff. Along the walls coming immediately in, Smuggler's Cove had menu/adverts of some of the older tiki bars. I saw one of the long-gone Skipper Kent's of my father's tales. I should've taken a photo. Ah well.

We descended down to the lowermost level and partook of mai tais. They were classic style mai tais in the manner that I am most accustomed to drinking. In short, they were excellent.

I paid a dear price for all this drinking (and for finishing my evening with rum drinks) the next morning but I regret nothing.

I will return to Smuggler's Cove and I can tell it's going to be a very, very popular spot.

Time waits for every Time Lord

Must... resist...

It begins

This Friday signals the crazier of my holiday weekends. One birthday celebration and two drinks outings.

If I survive this weekend without contracting some horrific illness, then I'll be impressed.

An Odd Sense of Time Compression

It simultaneously feels like it should be earlier in the week and later in the week. Essentially, I'm surprised to find it's Thursday.

Dunno why. I think the weather is throwing me. My class is over 'till January, so that's probably a contributing factor.

And all the festive stuff. That adds to it.

My "down time" is pretty much on the weekdays now. My weekends are solid-booked until New Year's. Oh well, at least it won't be boring.

The first major series of packages hit my office yesterday. I'm now officially 90% done with my family shopping. I should probably get some cards in the mail.

Sadly, I got an Airsoft pistol for myself in my latest shipment. So I wasted tons of time last night shooting (and losing) Airsoft pellets in my apartment. 'Cause clearly my emotional development never made it past age 12.

At least I got some jogging in yesterday. I braved the relative cold and got a few miles in. Felt good. Now I have to figure out what kind of cardio exercise I can manage when the rain hits today.

Yeeaaaaahhh...

I just got a shipment that included some Black Black gum.

It tastes like a cough drop. It's blackish. It's apparently caffeinated.

I think I'm starting to hallucinate.

Day Three of the "cold snap"

It's rare when I encounter metaphors that become literal.

"It's so cold it takes my breath away" is one of those. And yet, this morning it was quite, quite cold by Bay Area standards and it did indeed take my breath away for a moment.

There's a strange kind of silence that accompanies a cold, cloudless morning that gives it a certain eerie quality. I personally find this a bit disorienting. I wasn't sure it was Wednesday until I came into the office and looked at a calendar.

Crazy times.

Balmy in Bizarro World

And it's even colder this morning. Whee!

I should've called in "sick" and stayed in my nice, cozy bed. Bah.

Freezing

So apparently it's literally freezing in some parts of the Bay Area. Specifically, Orinda has seen snow this morning.

For those not-in-the-know, Orinda is east of the Oakland hills. It's a rather posh community of windy narrow roads bisected by Highway 24.

It's not really all that well-suited for snow.

The weather report made it sound like the snow wasn't sticking, so I expect it's just a light dusting. All the same that's pretty cold for this neck o' th' woods.

I love this weather.

whew

What a weekend!

Not much in the way of down time. A long Friday evening of preparing for Sunday's test. Saturday was a party with some of my club-mates in a home that dwelt upon a location that pretty much defines what a "windy road" is.

And I ate. Oh, did I eat. I just weighed myself this morning and regretted doing that.

Sunday was the test. Nice and early. Except for the "nice" part. Early on a Sunday is never nice.

My personal test didn't take place 'till nearly lunch time. I didn't mind the wait. It's fun to watch some of the other tests. My actual test was almost anticlimactic. It was strangely-easier than my previous test back in August. I'd like to say that was because I was so prepared, but the truth is that it was likely due to external matters that may have shortened my test.

I'm not complaining. I attended a reception later for the program and was told I passed. I'm pretty happy.

My sinuses have been troubling me with a minor headache since Sunday and my stomach is a tad upset, likely due to the various things I ate that I'm not used to eating. Hopefully this doesn't mean I've contracted the cold/flu that various co-workers and classmates have. Time will tell.

It's all good. I can chill now.

Good clean Roman fun

Finished "First Lord's Fury" by Jim Butcher.

That was a damn good book. I love Butcher's stuff. The man can write and he cranks that stuff out!

"First Lord's Fury" was a satisfying end to his "Codex Alera" series. I look forward to his next Dresden Files book and any other ideas of his coming down the pipeline.

Freezing Friday

Okay, it's not technically freezing. It's just the normal, clammy, cold that accompanies the Bay Area fog.

Still chilly.

At least it's Friday.

I'm about 3/4ths done with "First Lord's Fury". Damn this is a good book.

Sliding along

A morning of meetings and an office filled with people who are sick with some kind of vile cold.

I've discovered new and exciting little tidbits of work to add to my pile that somehow slipped under my radar until now.

I've had it explained to me in no uncertain terms that I'm trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Wow... that sounds so wrongly-filled with innuendo.

I've spent a half hour dealing with one of the most irritatingly-slow websites ever devised.

I've only managed to read a few pages at lunch.

*sigh*

Counting Down

Thursdays are interesting days. They're not quite Fridays, but they're so close that they can often feel Friday-ish.

Today doesn't. Not for me, in any event.

Meetings upon meetings vie with anticipation of tonight's "Fringe" countered by more errands... it all fills my head. Gah. Too much to do. Not enough time to do it.

One more class of review before my test. I'm feeling less-anxious about the actual test. I suppose that's a good thing.

I'm about halfway through Jim Butcher's latest novel: "First Lord's Fury"

It's up to Butcher's usual standards of excellence. At this point, Butcher's edged George R.R. Martin out of the running for my favorite author. So it's down to Patrick Rothfuss and Jim Butcher. Butcher's slammed out more books but Rothfuss did a hell of a good freshman novel. I just wish he'd finish up his second novel.

War Protesting

I really don't understand the mentality behind most war protests in the Bay Area.

So you're a war protester (or whatever) and you live in the Bay Area. One could argue that you're probably surrounded by a number of people who are politically sympathetic. It's the Bay Area. It's noted for being a bit on the liberal side.

So what do you do? You gather a bunch of your louder friends, you go into downtown San Francisco, and you tie up traffic as you shout out your issues in hope of getting a little TV attention.

So what comes out of this?

- Your otherwise sympathetic friends get caught in a traffic backup and start to think you're a jackass. Your otherwise sympathetic friends may entertain beating you. Kind of depends on the person.
- You get a little time on TV, from a distance, but you're looked at as either amusing looneys or crazed rabble-rousing looneys.
- You have absolutely no impact on the decision makers regarding war who live and work on the other end of the goddamn country!!!

Net result, you don't do much to help your cause. You want to fly in the face of your political opponents, fly out to Ohio or Texas or somewhere and block their streets. DC is probably your best bet if you're looking for attention from higher in the food chain.

'Cause it's pretty likely that if they're paying any attention to your protest, they're probably watching it on the television and thinking: "Yep. Crazy hippies in San Francisco. Glad those commies are all out there." or some similar crap.

Fogtastic

I'd forgotten that cold, clammy feeling of San Francisco fog. It's been so long since we've had a chilly, foggy day in the Bay Area, I've grown unused to it.

Today's reminded me. Time to keep a hat in the bag.

intertoobing

Mood is improving from whiny. Said meeting won't be super-long and I'm prepared for my quick jaunt off to class.

Got some Xmas shopping done this morning. I love the Internet.

Mom gave me a bag of tangerines. Mmm... love 'em. Healthy snacks to combat possible disease.

And my allegies are more-or-less under control.

Going to be a loooooong one

I've got a meeting today that's starting just about the time I'd normally leave the office. That would suck under normal circumstances. This is, of course, a day I've got class after work. And this is a week that I feel I really need to hit the classes for this test.

Yes, I know this is all martial arts and doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, but I've paid tuition for this and I'd like to pass the damn test.

On top of this, my sinuses are acting up and giving me that draining sore throat feeling. I can't tell if this is due to allergies or if I'm fighting a cold. I don't feel achy, so I suspect it's allergies. All the same, it sucks.

So I'm starting my Wednesday irritated. I expect my mood won't get much better as the day goes on.

Ugh. And I need to get on the ball with my xmas shopping. Bah.

Tiger Balming

Okay, what the HELL is up with all the headline news about Tiger Woods and his car accident?

Seriously? How is this worthy of any kind of headlines?

I don't care if it was drunk driving, domestic dispute, or martians. He's a goddamn golfer. How is his accident more newsworthy than, say any of the following:

- the U.S. Supreme Court backing the Obama Administration in suppressing release of torture photos from Gitmo
- increased troops being sent to Afghanistan
- ridiculous bonuses being paid out by industries that got bailout money
- credit card companies hitting you with fees for not using your card

And that's a small, small, small amount of news that's actually more relevant to society than some golfer's fender-bender.

What. The. HELL???

This is what gets me bent out of shape when I watch or read the news. People rant on and on about the "liberal media" (it's not) or the "corporate media" (it is). It's the sensationalistic bullshit in place of actual news that's what drives me nuts.

Bah.

Decembering

Hey! Look at that! It's December!

What. The. Hell?

Yeah... blah-blah... time's going by quickly... blah-blah.

Well, it is!

At least this morning had a clear view of a gorgeous full moon. T'was a chilly ride in, but that's okay. I was all bundled up toasty and nice. Today's game of "Count the Hookers" resulted in an overall total of zero. I guess it really is chilly.

I got the latest of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series yesterday. I haven't gotten as far as I'd like yet. I hope to correct that little oversight at lunch today.

And I'm feeling better about my impending test. Yay?