Happy Whatevers

Dear Loyal Reader(s):

Okay, there's lots of you out there but most of you just use RSS so you'll probably skip this. However, to those who do read all the posts I'd like to wish you a Happy -- be it Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, or some other event.

And I'd like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, auspicious and prosperous New Year. I certainly hope it's better than the last one. I also look forward to booting our current despots -- Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney -- from the office they hold as the result of fraudulent elections. That is going to be the best part of the new year and it cannot come too soon.

The blog will be silent for about two weeks as I shall be on holiday and am going to sever myself from all computer access during that time. Yeah, a proper holiday.

I'd also like to welcome Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, to YouTube where The Royal Channel contains all sorts of fascinating goodies. I would suggest you start with her 1957 inaugural Christmas television address and then follow it with whatever other videos may amuse you. It's just fascinating. She'll be posting her current message later today but I shall be away by then.

I guess that's about it. Thanks for reading my posts this year, and double thanks to those who actually posted replies. And special gratitude to those of you who link to this blog.

[[my friends]]

Random Stuff

1. I had dinner last night with someone I hadn't seen in about 20 years. I'm still trying to figure out the exact date. Randy Barris. I had a really great time. He came over around 515pm right after I got home from work -- a good 30 minutes before I figured he'd get there -- and we talked until around 630, then we went to dinner. We had a decent meal at Macaroni Grill, and then talked until almost 11pm -- me, having trouble staying awake since my day began not long after 530am. I just thought I'd let interested parties know. No further public details available.
2. A few more people accepted my LinkedIn invitations plus I got a few invitations and my contacts are over 30 now. Yay. I recommend LinkedIn to everyone from a professional work standpoint. If you have a job and you're a professional, you should have an account. It's a great resource. I have the free account and it's more than sufficient for my needs.
3. Reminder: if you're on NHL Connect, Orkut, Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn -- let's connect. I use my darsysataoldotcom address on all of them.
4. If you haven't visited kiva.org, please check it out. If you haven't joined, let me know and I'll gladly send you an invitation. This is a great way for you to help those less fortunate. It's a micro-lending site. You put your money in $25 a pop and when you're paid back you can get your money or re-loan it to someone else. I have a few friends already participating. I've got 5 loans outstanding as of right now. Their default rate is low. It's not a charitable contribution, nor is it a tax deduction because you put in and get your money back without interest. But it's double-karma points and we all need good karma.
5. Looks like I am, after all, going to London this Christmas. I am ditching Christmas and leave Christmas morning with my sister. We're flying to Paris, spending a day in EuroDisney, and then taking the train to London. Continental has absurdly low fares to CDG from Newark right now. With the current exchange rate, the trip will still be a bit expensive. I'm working on that. Well Karen is, but she's so slow to respond it's frustrating me. Relatives will have to see me Christmas Eve instead. SMARTIES! YORKIES! YUMMMM! I'm going to try and meet with an estate agent to see what I have to do to buy a home and reture there, though the time of year may prohibit that.
6. I'm really hungry right now. I wish someone would bring me food.

I hate Christmas

Dear God Almighty. I was at BJ's Wholesale today to buy some bulk stuff for work -- this is a routine event. Today, I wish to point out is 22 September 2007. They had artificial Christmas trees, wrapping, decorations, and were playing Christmas music. It's 93 days away. Save us all from holiday creep.

How on earth can you have Halloween Decorations next to Christmas Decorations. They haven't even got that Thanksgiving stuff out yet. It's unseemly and just a little bit creepy.

In other news, Thomas is still in the rehab center for his hip. I went and got his keys and got him stuff from his house. My good deed for today, I suppose. He was under quarantine in his room because of some infection from surgery, so we really couldn't visit much. Went to lunch at Smokey Bones with Erin, Kathy & William, and Adrian. Got home around five, and then went off to BJ's which is what started this post.

The weather outside is frightful.

Serendipity

Here's an e-mail I sent today, with the name removed to protect the innocent.

Hey :)

So I got your holiday card today. And it's really funny on two levels. First, it's the type of lowbrow humour I enjoy. You know I like to make fun of the Hellidays, and this year was no exception. Every year I go shopping for two different cards* — both funny. It took me two weeks this year to find the appropriate off-centre cards. Amazingly, one of the cards I picked was the same one you sent me. I'm not sure if you'll get selection "A" or selection "B" this year, but it would be quite ironic if you got the same card you sent me. Mine are going out tomorrow. They were ready today, but I didn't have to time run them through the postage machine before the mailman came.

So, anyway, the card was a gas. I hope you like mine.

— E

* Okay, three. Card selection "C" is for the older folks who might not like a perverted card with a dirty joke written inside the cover.