Where did the time go?

Christmas has come and gone. I actually had a day off to enjoy it but of course I got sick. Now, I not only have to work again but I have to do it with a cough and a headache.

On another note, I read a hilarious article today called An Old Child's Letter to Santa over at Powell's Books.

Ever see a picture with somebody in the background that totally ruins that "intimate photo"? Or something going on that completely disrupts the purpose of the picture.
Here's a thread of some of those pics. You may have to look at them a bit to finally notice.
I saw all the pics earlier but it looks like some of them have exceeded the bandwidth now. might want to check again earlier in the day.


Papa Smurf is real.

The days are just blending together

My last day off was November 26th and my next will be December 15th, I think.

Birthdays.

Another year goes by and now I'm 31. Went out to dinner on Friday with a group of friends. It was fun but too short. Charlie and Leslie left and went home to put the baby to bed. Tom and Val went home, they're teachers and go to bed early so they tire easily. Then Ed and Emily went home because Ed had to work the next morning at 3am.

Today was a lot of fun, I worked. I was headed home and then got sent on a wild goose chase 20 miles back where I came from. sheesh.

Camille took Sherlock to be groomed a couple days ago and it is as if he is a completely different dog. Gone is all the long hair on his ears and back. Almost shaved and so very soft now. The picture just doesn't do him justice but ther really funny thing is that it seems as if he hates the camera. I don't know if it is because of the flash or what but when I try to focus on him he lowers his head as if he were ashamed or being punished.

Flavor Paper

I was listening to "Day to Day" on NPR and the story was about a new product from a company in NOLA that makes scratch and sniff wallpaper. I thought the idea was hilarious. It is super expensive, but think about it. Get done in the bathroom and then go scratch the wall to mask the smell! lol. Of course I'd imagine the scent isn't quite that strong but still, it is quite funny.

When it rains....

Went to the Bungles game on Sunday and they truly lived up to the name. Carson kept thinking that this was an away game and threw to the guys in white jerseys. I had a lot of fun at the game even though we lost. I managed to keep warm for the most part, except for my toes. I'll be going to next weeks game as well and hopefully I'll be able to figure out how to keep my toes warm.

Camille's car broke down the other night while she was driving. She called AAA and they sent someone to give the car a jump. Why they would think that a car that had been running and dies while driving needs a jump is beyond me. So they sent a tow truck. Camille had the car towed before calling to have me pick her up. What gets me is that they would have had the hood open to give it a jumpstart and since that didn't work, they declared that it must be a problem with the alternator. Why they didn't see that there wasn't an alternator belt at all is beyond me and turned a $10 problem into a $150 problem. The only good thing is that while it is in the shop they are fixing a gasket for the oil plug that was causing a small leak. Even though that's $5 part, to replace it you basically need to get an oil change since all the oil is going to come out when you remove the plug.

I didn't wake up in time yesterday to get the Camry to the shop for new tires so hopefully I can manage to get it in sometime soon. The Camry has been having problems lately too. I don't drive it nearly often enough as I'm in the van all day and Don't really care to be back on the road in my time off. Good for mileage though as I've had it 3 years and barely put 15K miles on it. At this rate if it last 200K miles I'll be retired by the time I get rid of it.
Then the company van is having problems too. A couple weeks ago I noticed that one of my rear blinkers/brake lights wasn't working. I had planned on getting this fixed at the next oil change. Today the other one went out. So the only brake light I have is the top rear light and I have no rear blinkers. To top that off, I have a blown fuse somewhere, tracking those suckers down is a pain as more modern cars and fans have one fuse panel inside and another in the engine compartment and it isn't standard from one brand to another as what fuse goes where. It probably isn't as bad as I make it sound but it is just one more straw on my ready to break back.

Cheating at Christmas

Saw this, or rather, I heard it as I walked out of the store today. I've been wanting to comment on how lazy we've become at decorating for the holidays for a while now and finally I have an excuse to do so.

There is a house on a busy street near mine that has something inflatable for every possible holiday. Right now there is an inflatable turkey up, gobbling at all the passers-by in their cars. By the end of next week, I expect we'll see Santa and a few reindeer as well. Valentines will bring a giant teddy bear, Easter will bring a giant rabbit and the ghost and spider just dissappeared after Halloween.

This being our third year in our house, I hope I can get some lights up or something for christmas, nothing this easy or expensive for that matter. I could pay someone to put up lights for me cheaper than I this.