I've been sucked into Kingdom Hearts thoroughly and against my will, but, nevertheless, it's happened.

I think it's a combination of the familiar characters and my own problem-solving nature that requires me to finish puzzles at all costs. Regardless of the original cause, it's got me in its grasp and I'm having a good time not trying to escape.

The only issue I've really found so far is that some of the puzzles you have to solve are a little on the obtuse side (as they tend to be in these games), so I've gone to GameFAQs and printed off a FAQ/walkthrough on it so I can get a little help when I get stuck.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, one of my least favorite holidays. Why do I hate it so? Well, let's see... First (and foremost), I hate turkey. Hate it. And the turkey lovers out there are looking at me now like, "How could anyone hate turkey?" Well, look at it this way - there are foods that you don't like, too, but nobody harasses you about them, so you can leave me the hell alone about it. I'm not a big ham person, either, so that's not an adequate substitute. Second, now that Jenn's around, I've got to try to split my rather limited and harried time between two families who love to plan things that occur at the same time. Finally, I'm not much for the "large family gathering." Not that I don't love my family, but when we get together in large groups, I get to repeat the same answers to the same questions over and over and over. I don't have "anything new" to tell you, folks. If you want to know what's going on, read this blog. That's what I'm doing. I write it down so I don't have to tell you.

"What," you may ask, "do you mean by that?" Well, here's the typical conversation between me and every single one of the family members attending Thanksgiving (I'll put my internal thoughts in square brackets...):

Relative: Hey, what's new with you?

Me: Nothing. I still have a job and I haven't won the lottery. [Do you READ the blog? And if there was anything of real note, don't you think I'd have called or something?]

Relative: How's work? They keeping you busy over there?

Me: It's a job, not much I can say beyond that. [My job is way too technical to explain to you. I can't explain it to my boss, who knows generally what I do, so how could I even go about it here? Maybe when you finish those beginning Windows classes we'll talk.]

Relative: So when are you getting married, eh?

Me: That hasn't been discussed as yet but if and/or when it ever does, you'll be on the list of "first people to know." [Look, shitheimer, I don't appreciate you belittling my feelings by patronizing me with the wink and the nudge. Besides which, the whole thing is none of your business and has nothing to do with you, so fuck off. If I was armed, you'd be shot full of holes by now.]

Relative: Okay.

Me: ...

Relative: I'd better go check on that turkey.

Rinse and repeat. I'm not kidding - there could be three people, all sitting next to each other on the couch, and each one of them will strike this shit up with me in turn. Verbatim. Because God forbid I have the ability to answer questions once and call it a day.

"But they're just interested in you and showing concern for your well being," you might say. To that, I say, "Too fucking bad."

This whole thing repeats itself at Christmas and Easter, too, so one would think people would learn.

Maybe I have holiday issues.

It's just a big ball of stress and I don't like it and I don't want to have to deal with it. But I'm never given that choice, and I always have to concede to everyone else's wishes, when I figure, it's my holiday, too. Maybe people should concede to me every once in a while.

I'll let you know when it happens.

...The Home of the No-Splinter, Full-Woody Tropical Dream Vacation (and Spa Salon).

Huge brownie points to whoever knows what that's from.

(If you really don't know, you can get a taste here.)

I'm having an interestingly bland day today. Not a whole lot going on, as is usual during holiday weeks. I'm being nickel-and-dimed to death with pissant requests. Modify a user account, check on this server, run around with no pants on...

Okay, maybe I've kept my pants on all day long, but the rest of the requests were pretty lame.

I went today and traded in Virtua Fighter 4. I bought it a while ago and after playing it a few times, I realize that it is too large and complicated for my tiny brain to grasp. In exchange (with an additional few dollars), I got Kingdom Hearts, a role-playing game with Disney characters in it. I've never been a huge RPG fan, but we rented this one a couple of days ago and it's fun. Even Jenn is sucked in, which is cool because it's hard to find games she likes.

I also picked up a copy of Ice Age because it was pretty funny. I didn't like it as much as the Pixar movies that have come out, but it held its own.

I've got a haircut to get to, so I'm gonna get out of here.

I've decided that I'm partially hypoglycemic.

Now, I had a physical a bit ago and the blood work on it came back fine (yay, me!), and it didn't say anything about that, yadda, yadda, yadda. But it boils down like this:

If I eat low-sugar foods, I can survive, but you bet your ass I'm gonna be grouchy. If I eat a reasonable amount of sugar periodically (like one of those bite-sized candy bars every four hours or so, something small but with a jolt in it), I'll be much happier about things.

It could also mean that I need to figure out how to eat right, but... nah. Hypoglycemia is the answer. Besides, my mom said that my dad is legitimately a little hypoglycemic, and that's hereditary, isn't it?

At the hockey game yesterday, I had a particularly lucid moment where I thought of various rules that either don't exist or should be changed to make hockey more exciting. This moment was brought about by the fact that we got our asses handed to us and I was more than irritated at that, but the ideas exist nonetheless.

First, nowhere in the rulebook, at least, nowhere I can find, does it say you can't play with two sticks. I think each player should be entitled to two sticks: one to carry the puck with and one to beat off the opposing team.

Second, there are rules against kicking other players. Those need to go.

Third, the goalies should have electronic collars (like the dogs they are) that give them a little zap if they wander too far away from the crease. At least, our goalie should. That guy needs to stay in the fucking net.

Fourth, if a goalie is a dumbass and lets a goal go that was so stupid that a spectator could have climbed the glass, ran out onto the ice, and stopped in plenty of time, then every member of the audience who was outraged by that goal should be entitled to punch that goalie once after the game.

Spearing should be legal.

It's not a rule (that I can find), but it pretty much seems that the officials won't get in the middle of a fight until one player hits the ice. They need to stick to that; don't break it up before it even starts, I mean, that's why I'm there.

I think those changes should be made immediately. They would greatly enhance the game... at least for me, having season tickets to a losing streak.

While reading here, keep in mind that the review is a little biased because: a) I love James Bond movies; b) I think Pierce Brosnan rocks; c) I like action movies almost regardless of whether they're any good or not.

With that out of the way...

This Saturday, I saw the latest installment of the James Bond franchise, Die Another Day. My biggest question going into this one was, "Who's the bad guy going to be?" I mean, think about it - during the cold war, the "bad guy" was always, like, a communist or some other terrorist against the World Order. Of course, you had your SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion) people, but even the SPECTRE folks were, on some level, the same as the "evil commies." Now that all that's pretty much over, if you notice, Bond villains aren't nearly as interesting because they're utterly contrived - Who's going to believe a bad guy is a media mogul who wants to do bad stuff so that he can get the scoop on other folks? I wasn't disappointed this time around.

Die Another Day is the story of James Bond (Brosnan) getting captured while spying on some North Koreans who are plotting to take over South Korea (and, subsequently, the rest of the world). After a period of time, he gets released in trade for a North Korean assassin, Zao (Rick Yune). M (Judi Dench) thinks that trading Bond for Zao was too high of a price to pay and tells Bond that. Bond decides that he needs to track down Zao and recapture him in order to make things right and, in doing so, finds that Zao is working with the group of North Koreans who want to take things over. Which, thus, means that Bond now has to finish off the group of people who captured him in the first place. Revenge is sweet.

Take that, then throw into the mix Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens), a philanthropic thrill-seeking diamond broker; Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), his secretary who happens to be an Olympic-level fencer; and Jinx (Halle Berry), a woman who proves to be a wildcard in every situation. What you come out with is a Bond movie on par with the excitement of the originals, but with the effects and stunts you come to expect out of Hollywood action movies today.

Brosnan is my second favorite Bond, right after Roger Moore. (Don't get me started on who the "best Bond" is; it's a personal taste issue, and while the politically correct answer is "Sean Connery," I will maintain that my favorite is Roger Moore.) I think he does his best job in this movie, finally coming into the role the way I had hoped he would with Goldeneye. If he had done this well with all of his Bond films, he'd be my new favorite.

I've never been a big Halle Berry fan, but I think she did well here. I heard something about people wanting to make a Jinx spin-off movie or something, and I hope they don't. She was good, but not that good. She did throw in a certain quality that helped to kick the whole thing up a notch.

As far as the Bond girls go, Rosamund Pike was the one in this movie. Again, I'm not a big Halle Berry fan, and while she looked good, Pike was by far the hottest one on the screen. (Rosamund, if you're reading this, feel free to stop by my place anytime.) She played her character well, and added a sort of subtle British element. Love it.

The humor here was well done as far as Bond movies go. There were the usual one-line groaners and lewd double-entendres, but there were some legitimately funny parts, too. John Cleese returns in his role as Q (I thought, after the last time, he'd be called "R," since Desmond Llewelyn died, but "Q" works, too). And this time Moneypenny (Samantha Bond) has a nice scene all to herself that I was very pleased with. (I won't ruin the surprise, but you'll know it when you see it.)

The action and effects were superb, though there was a scene with Bond sort of parasailing on a tidal wave that was a little less than convincing. I wasn't too concerned about it, though. I was too busy feeling excited by the whole thing.

All in all, I was very pleasantly surprised. Normally I have to classify movies in certain genres to put my feelings in context. Bond movies are sort of their own genre, sort of like Schwarzenegger films - it's not an action movie, it's a Bond movie. In that case, I try to gauge how good that movie is in relation to other movies of its respective genre - apples to apples, if you know what I mean. In this case, I'd say Bond has outdone himself. I could easily compare this to other action/intrigue movies and feel pleased about it. If only they could come up with Bond movies this well done all the time.

Anyway, I'd say see this on the big screen. I'd pay the full $7.50 for it - it's well worth the watch.

Okay, I'm irritated with Amazon.

A while back I made a purchase using primarily gift certificates. It cost me near $150 for everything, but $110 of it was covered by gift certificates I'd saved up. When the package shipped, Amazon billed me $140 - only $10 of the gift certificates cleared, the other $100 didn't.

I contacted Amazon and they said that the other $100 hadn't cleared due to a "technical problem." The issue was fixed and I would see a refund on my credit card shortly, accompanied by an email telling me that they'd processed the refund.

I waited for around 10 days and still hadn't seen the refund, so I contacted them again. This time they said they were still working on it, that refunds take 7 - 10 business days, and that I would definitely get an email telling me when the refund occurred. That was Monday the 18th.

I went to look at my credit card statement today online and I saw that I had received a refund from Amazon, dated 11/19... for $89. Where's the other $11? (Of course, I never did get an email from them, so maybe they're somehow processing a $100 refund in two blocks - one for $89 and one for $11? Yeah, I didn't think so, either.)

I've sent them another note. I want my $11!

...Or maybe "doing nothing."

It's a slow day at the office today. I'm not complaining about that, because normally there's so much going on that I can't focus (which isn't good - I can be doing something then just freeze and forget what I was in the middle of). Today, though, there's not a lot, and that's just fine. I'm sure it's because folks are going places for the Thanksgiving holiday and aren't in the office.

Next week's going to be worse, since I only took Thanksgiving Thursday off and am in the office the rest of the week; the other guys in my department are out all next week for the most part. On Friday, I'm the only person scheduled to be in. That sort of means I'm going to have to answer the help desk phone... but it doesn't mean that I actually have to help. Hey, man, I'm not desktop support - I just answer the phone, and only when I have to.

A while back I bought a soft dance pad for Dance Dance Revolution. I started playing, and I have to say, I have a lot of fun with it. I did find a few drawbacks to the soft pad, though - it scoots around on the carpet while you're dancing; it's not terribly sensitive (or it's sensitive at the wrong time); and you can't really feel the buttons, so your feet sort of "migrate" around on the pad and eventually you're pressing the wrong buttons.

Well, I found a new pad that I need: The Dance Revolution Metal Evolution Pad. It's a metal pad with the arcade dimensions (so it's bigger than the pad I currently have, I think), weighs 35 pounds (so it won't slide around) and is made of metal so it's durable. It also costs $150, so I don't think I'll be ordering one instantly, but it's something I'll be thinking about. DDR's a great workout and it's a lot of fun. I'd like to think that the only reason I don't play much lately is that I get frustrated with the pad.

On occasion I go look at YouBored.com, a local site that sometimes has contests where you can win passes to advance screenings of movies. A while back, I applied (in vain) to be their new movie reviewer. Since I didn't get picked, I occasionally read the reviews published by the guy they did pick.

The guy they picked, I have decided, is a complete moron. He writes reviews like every other stupid critic out there - with no sensitivity to the entertainment that a movie provides. All that matters is the art, right?

His latest folly is his review of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I'm not even going to link it up for you because it's not worth the time to read. Basically, he gave it a "B-" because - and I quote - "the story gets lost in the effects, and the script aims too low to hit even its target age group."

Huh? Did the guy forget that it's a kid's movie based on a kid's book? Or that it's about magic, so the effects sort of have to be big? What's he looking for?

To put it in context, he gave 8 Mile a "B," whereas anyone I talk to who's seen it says it sucks ass.

Okay, I'm done ranting about that.

I should probably get back to work. I'm reading this book about ASP.NET that is, uh... exciting. I think.

For those who have a little extra time and bandwidth, check out Homestar Runner for some pretty funny cartoons. They're in Flash, and they do use sound, so make sure you can hear what's going on. I haven't found anything "dirty" on there, so if you can only check it out at work, I think it's okay.

Unless, of course, you'll get fired anyway.

Maybe you should try it, regardless.

My favorite ones are "Strong Bad's Email" where this character, Strong Bad, answers letters. Again, the audio is key here. I was rolling after watching the "Guitar" episode; almost as funny as Turd Ferguson.

Speaking of Turd Ferguson, I never was able to find an electronic version of that skit. If anyone's got one, let me know. I still wanna make Turd Ferguson t-shirts.

Last night Jenn and I went to see American Idols - Live! at the Rose Garden. We both had a totally cool time and I came out very pleasantly surprised.

They did sing the songs that you saw them sing on the television, but there were some new ones thrown in the mix, too, that livened it up a bit. So you sort of knew what you were in for up front, yet it still held your attention.

Something I came out very pleased about was that a couple of the people who I thought weren't all that good when I watched them on television were fantastic live. You'd be surprised the difference a live band makes in a performance.

I will continue to maintain that Kelly was a good choice for the winner. She was the best one out there from a vocal standpoint. On the other hand, Justin was by far the best performer. He had a great repoire with the audience and just seemed very natural up there.

For all the folks who wondered why Nikki came in third and wasn't eliminated sooner, she proved herself worthy with a great rendition of Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon. Watching her there made me realize why she was my original favorite at the start of the show.

Anyway, it was a blast, and well worth the money. Also, the merchandise was affordable - $15 for a t-shirt rather than the typical $40 you see at concerts nowadays. I got a program and Jenn got a shirt.

Something else that was nice about the concert: When we went, we got all dressed up - not in formal clothes or anything, but decent "going-out" clothes - and made it an event. I wouldn't call myself "old" necessarily, but I'll admit that doing that made me feel, well, "young again." I think I will have to do that more often.

In other news, my baby Xev cat has an infection where they took her little uterus out, so we have to try to get her to eat antibiotics twice a day. You'd be surprised how strong that little cat is when you try to force-feed her stuff. And fast, too! I think we should be done with that in a week or so, and hopefully she'll be better then. She has returned to her usual routine of crying all night long, so I can't say she isn't mostly back to normal already.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second installment of the Harry Potter movie series. The first (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone) sort of set a precedent for the visual effects, imagery, and ability to stick closely to the book, so going into this one I had certain expectations.

Now, I hate going into movies expecting anything. Nine times out of ten, I'm going to come out disappointed.

I came out loving this movie.

Understand that this is not just more of the same. This movie is better than the first. The effects are better. The characters are better. Everything you liked about the first one is back, and it's better than ever.

The first movie was criticized for sticking too close to the book it was based on. I don't understand that; isn't that the point of making a movie out of a book - to bring the book to life on the screen? Well, apologies to the other critics out there, but this one stays close to its book, too, and I'm glad it does. Seeing the movie play out on the screen the way it did in my mind when I read the book... it was brilliance.

All of the original actors return to reprise their roles from the original (though slightly older and showing the signs of puberty; Daniel Radcliffe as Harry has a noticeably deeper voice than before, and you even get a bit of a crack out of Rupert Grint as he plays Ron Weasley). Radcliffe is a likeable Harry, and every kid always wanted friends like Ron (Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson).

The new characters were also wonderfully cast. Kenneth Branagh does a perfect job as Gilderoy Lockhart and Miriam Margolyes is exactly as I pictured Professor Sprout. The only character I wasn't too fond of was Moaning Myrtle, played by Shirley Henderson. I'm not sure if it was Henderson's annoying voice or the fact that she really wasn't how I pictured Myrtle that bothered me. Oh well - a small price to pay for such fun.

Sadly, this will be the last time we see Richard Harris in his role as school headmaster Albus Dumbledore. The role will need to be re-cast due to his passing. He was a perfect Dumbledore, and he will be missed. This will also be the last time we see Chris Columbus directing; he has passed the reins on to a new director, Alfonso Cuarón.

Anyway, what this basically boils down to is that you should see this movie. If you liked the first one, you'll love this. If you haven't seen the first one, what have you been doing? Go rent (or buy!) the first one, enjoy it, and promptly see the second. You won't be disappointed.

Last week was, for lack of a better word, paradise. Short story even shorter, except for Tuesday, I pretty much just stayed home and played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Tuesday I took my kitty in to get her spayed and declawed. She came out a little drugged, but otherwise no worse for the wear.

As for Vice City, I won't bore you with a big diatribe about how awesome it is, or all the things they've improved on since the last game, or all the cool new things available to do in it. If you don't have it, go buy it. If you don't have a Playstation 2, this is the reason you need to buy one. Trust me here, it's worth it. I played the whole week and I'm only like 65% done with the game.

I will say there are two complaints I have with the game, and these are the only real bitches I have about it: First, there are some levels that are waaaaaay too hard. I played one racing mission for like six hours before I beat it. It's a two minute long stupid race, but the AI that you race against doesn't make any mistakes. Ever. It was ridiculously hard and I almost gave up. I even tried to beat it with a cheat code and couldn't do it. I finally won with a lot of luck and prayer. Which brings me to my other gripe: If you enable a cheat code, even if you disable it again, once you save your game the cheat code is permanently enabled. Even on your other saved games. That's crazy. The real kicker is, I didn't know that until after I beat the ultra-difficult race mission (without a cheat code, mind you). Was I going to start all over (with like 30 hours of play up to that point) or just leave the cheat in place?

I left the cheat. Screw it.

Other than that, it's the bomb. Check it out.

Friday was Fred Meyer employee double-discount day, so I went shopping with my mom and got two CDs: Elton John's Greatest Hits 1970-2002 and The Rolling Stones Forty Licks. Both rock hardcore, but I have to say - Elton John songs have been running through my head since I bought them. I guess that's why they call it the blues.

Saturday morning I saw the latest installment of the Harry Potter movie series. Very cool. I still maintain that Hermione is a hottie.

And now I'm back at work. After a full week off, I'm tense. Not just a little tense, either. My entire back is tense, from the top of my head down to my ass crack, and I don't think it's going away. I've sifted through my 200+ emails (about 100 of which actually were things requiring action on my part) and I'm getting back in the swing of things. I've got more crap queued up to do than I think I can reasonably handle.

That sort of hits on this thought that I had on Sunday. You've heard the saying that if you find a job you love, you never have to work a day in your life, right? Implying that if you find a job that you have fun at, it doesn't really feel like work. Well, I thought about that, trying to think of a job that I could get where it wouldn't feel like work. You know what I came up with?

Jack-fucking-squat.

I can't think of a single job that wouldn't become repetitive. Or have too much structure. Or have not enough structure. Or just get boring. I told the guys at work about that, and they came up with, like, video game tester. No way - getting stuck playing the same game over and over to find all the bugs? Forget it.

The closest jobs I could think of that I could do would be either video game reviewer or movie reviewer. Less on the video game reviewer - I'm really not all that great at video games, so I would get all pissed off at the hard levels. But movie reviewer... I could probably do that. I doubt people would agree with my reviews, but that's not the point, is it?

Basically, it all boils down to the fact that I don't want a job. Millions in the bank, sitting at home doing whatever I want, whenever I want. That's my ideal. Travel, learn stuff, play games, watch movies, and just generally loaf. That's what I want to do. If someone out there knows a job that sounds like that, sign me up. Until then, I'll be sitting here with my tense back, ready to pass out from my migraine headache, and dream.

Well, gang, I'm out of here for a week (I'll be at home playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City if you need me).

It's my first vacation in a long time, so it'll be good. I'll be getting my cat declawed and spayed, but the primary reason for this one is the playing of the game.

A quick link before I go: For those who loved the old Atari games, check out this product from Avon. 10 classic Atari games, all packed into an Atari joystick that plugs right into your TV! And only $20!!!

I may have to get one of these.

Jenn sent me the following note just now...

Your UPS delivery was there when I left to come to work. I am prepared for you to drive me nuts for the next few weeks.

It's there! It's there!

I'm stoked. In case you didn't already know. I shall be playing a bit of the old ultraviolence tonight with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City!

While we happen to be on my current favorite topic, I have been listening to the soundtrack box set continuously and have arrived with some critiques:

There are several great songs on there, but in some cases, the song on the album is not, in my opinion, the best song by that artist. For example, Spandau Ballet's Gold is on the album, while everyone knows damn well that Spandau Ballet's big hit was True.

There is a certain underrepresentation of the mainstream. By that I mean: where are the songs by Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac, Cyndi Lauper, Wham!, and Madonna? None of those entities are represented on this set, and I think they should be.

Aside from that, I still recommend the whole set. I'm diggin' it hardcore.

One random thought to post at the end, here: I saw a Schwan's truck today and realize that they've been delivering groceries to your door since 1952. I wonder if HomeGrocer and such services feel like they've been beaten to the punch?

I was thinking in the shower this morning. I do my best thinking in one of three places - in my car, in the shower, or going to the bathroom. I think I might have some sort of epiphany if I drove my car while sitting on a toilet seat and driving with the windows down in the rain.

Anyway, I was thinking in the shower this morning about how my 10 year high school reunion is coming up next year and I'm really just not all that excited about it. I don't feel like people generally liked me in high school. I was that nerdy/brainy kid that didn't have any friends and got picked on a lot.

Yeah, you'd hardly believe it now, right? Me being a programmer and all. But it's true.

I was in the drama club, I was one of the network admins (remember Novell circa 1990?), and my first kiss was when I was a junior. I never went to any parties or [American] football games... but then, I was never really invited to any parties, and I still hate football.

I was also one of the two valedictorians.

(I gave a speech at graduation. Actually, I had prepared two different speeches - one was the sweet and sugary "we are the future" speech, and the other was a lambasting for how stupid everyone out there really was, regardless of what they might think. My counselor urged me to give the attack speech, but we both knew that would probably ruin some peoples' graduations, so I gave the sugary one.)

I started wondering about why I had such a shitty time in high school, and I don't know if it was any one thing. I'm not a socialite. I don't like large groups of people that I don't know. I'm not coordinated in the least, so school dances were out; besides, if you can't get a date, and none of your friends want to go, what's the point?

My mom was ultra-overprotective, so I could never stay out past midnight, regardless of the day (Friday? Saturday?) or who I was with (the entire drama department - probably 30 people) because I was definitely going to be mugged, raped, and killed (presumably in that order). I still have conversations with her about that, and I think that much of the money I spend today is used in an effort to reclaim some of that lost childhood. I understand what her side of things was, and I don't blame her. I just missed the ability to really have any fun in high school, and I like to believe that was a significant contributor.

Either way, folks didn't like me. I think that was sort of reciprocated, too - I didn't like them, either. That makes us even, right?

All that adds up to me not being terribly excited at my approaching 10 year reunion.

So then I started thinking about when the last time I was actually happy in school was.

Fourth grade.

In fourth grade, I was on top of the world. I had friends, I was reasonably popular, and everything was good. Even the teacher (Mrs. Stiles) rocked, which is not something I can claim for later educators I came across.

Fifth grade was pretty good, but somehow I just feel like my interest in education peaked in fourth. I skipped the sixth grade (because I am the smartest man alive), at which point I transitioned directly from grade school to junior high. Of course, that means I left all of my friends behind. Not so cool.

After seventh grade my family moved, so once again, friends out the window. I think this is where the downhill really started as far as education is concerned. These were the years that I think I needed the stimulation that I received in first through fourth grades, but instead got pushed through a slow meatgrinder of learning that taught me naught but that education is not supposed to be fun nor challenging.

This further started me thinking... you know what I'd rather have than a 10 year reunion for high school? I'd rather see where my friends from fourth grade are now. How different they've become, what they've done with their lives.

Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen.

I do know where my best friend Phil from those times is... Phil's family moved to Mexico around the time I was in seventh grade. Phil turned out to be an avid mountain climber, and a few years back I got wind that he died while climbing a mountain - I believe in the Himalayas.

I never really kept up with him too much after he moved to Mexico, but sometimes, just sometimes, I really do miss him.

From: ship-confirm@amazon.com
Date: Tuesday, November 05, 2002 1:25 PM
To: padrino@cs.pdx.edu
Subject: Your Amazon.com order has shipped (#XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX)


Greetings from Amazon.com.

We thought you'd like to know that we shipped your items today, and that this completes your order.

Thanks for shopping at Amazon.com, and we hope to see you again soon.

You can track the status of this order, and all your orders, online by
visiting Your Account at http://www.amazon.com/your-account
There you can:
        * Track order and shipment status 
        * Review estimated delivery dates 
        * Cancel unshipped items 
        * Return items 
        * And do much more 

The following items were included in this shipment:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Qty      Item                           Price  Shipped  Subtotal
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1        Grand Theft Auto: Vice City    $49.99   1      $49.99 
         Toysrus.com, LLC item sold by Amazon.com Kids, Inc. 

1        The James Bond Collection, Vol $81.22   1      $81.22 

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[I have the worst headache right now, and I'm not sure if it's from a lack of caffeine or too much caffeine. I'm feeding it coffee and Excedrin Migraine to see if it will go away. If anything, hopefully I will shortly be in a better mood.]

Even if you are not a science nut, you should enjoy this report on the electron band structure in Germanium. Trust me, this is the bomb. I couldn't have written it better myself. Apparently, this guy actually turned this in. I'd have given him an A.

Last night I got my copy of the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack boxed set. Seven discs of some of the best 80's music out there. Why the actual 80's radio stations don't play this sort of thing is beyond me. It's hard to put a label on something and say something like "this is the definitive 80's collection." That's a bold statement. So, instead, I'll say that this is damn close to the definitive 80's collection.

I noticed on Amazon they don't list the songs that are on each disc, so I'll do that here. Again, it's a seven disc set - each disc represents a radio station that you can listen to in the game. So beyond the songs that are on the discs, they also put parody commercials and fake station ID jingles. They do not overlap any of the songs; the songs exist on the discs in their entirety and aren't mixed together the way radio stations do. So it's the best of all worlds. Anyway, here you go:

• Disc 1: V-Rock
  • Judas Priest - You've Got Another Thing Comin'
  • Motley Crue - Too Young to Fall in Love
  • Megadeth - Peace Sells
  • Rockstar's Lovefest - Dangerous Bastard
  • Autograph - Turn Up The Radio
  • Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock
  • Ozzy Osbourne - Bark At The Moon
  • Anthrax - Madhouse
  • Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight
  • Slayer - Raining Blood
  • Tesla - Cumin' Atcha Live
  • David Lee Roth - Yankee Rose
• Disc 2: Wave 103
  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
  • Tears for Fears - Pale Shelter
  • Kim Wilde - Kids in America
  • Blondie - Atomic
  • A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)
  • The Human League - (Keep Feeling) Fascination
  • Nena - 99 Luftballons
  • The Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
  • Spandau Ballet - Gold
  • Thomas Dolby - Hyperactive!
  • Romeo Void - Never Say Never
  • Corey Hart - Sunglasses At Night
• Disc 3: Emotion 98.3
  • Toto - Africa
  • Jan Hammer - Crockett's Theme
  • John Waite - Missing You
  • Cutting Crew - (I Just) Died In Your Arms
  • Foreigner - Waiting For A Girl Like You
  • Mr. Mister - Broken Wings
  • Roxy Music - More Than This
  • Squeeze - Tempted
  • REO Speedwagon - Keep On Loving You
  • Night Ranger - Sister Christian
  • Luther Vandross - Never Too Much
  • Kate Bush - Wow
• Disc 4: Flash FM
  • Hall & Oates - Out Of Touch
  • Electric Light Orchestra - Four Little Diamonds
  • Michael Jackson - Billie Jean
  • The Outfield - Your Love
  • Talk Talk - Life's What You Make It
  • Bryan Adams - Run To You
  • Wang Chung - Dance Hall Days
  • Go West - Call Me
  • Lionel Richie - Running With The Night
  • Laura Branigan - Self Control
  • INXS - Kiss the Dirt (Falling Down the Mountain)
  • Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart
• Disc 5: Wildstyle Pirate Radio
  • Herbie Hancock - Rockit
  • Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message
  • Zapp & Roger - More Bounce to the Ounce
  • Davy DMX - One For The Treble
  • Mantronix - Bassline
  • Man Parrish - Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)
  • Hashim - Al-Narfiysh (The Soul)
  • Cybotron - Clear
  • Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force - Looking for the Perfect Beat
  • Run DMC - Rock Box
  • Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
  • Whodini - Magic's Wand
• Disc 6: Fever 105
  • Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
  • The Pointer Sisters - Automatic
  • Fat Larry's Band - Act Like You Know
  • MTume - Juicy Fruit
  • Teena Marie - Behind The Groove
  • Oliver Cheatham - Get Down Saturday Night
  • Rick James - Ghetto Life
  • Evelyn 'Champagne' King - Shame
  • Mary Jane Girls - All Night Long
  • Kool & The Gang - Summer Madness
  • Rene & Angela - I'll Be Good
  • Whispers - And The Beat Goes On
• Disc 7: Radio Espantoso
  • Deodato - Super Staut
  • Cachao - A Gozar Con Mi Combo
  • Mongo Santamaria - Me And You Baby (Picao Y Tostao)
  • Machito And His Afro-Cuban Orchestra - Mambo Mucho Mambo
  • Xavier Cugat And His Orchestra - Jamay
  • Mongo Santamaria - Mama Papa Tu
  • Unaesta - La Vida Es Una Lenteja
  • Lonnie Liston Smith - Expansions
  • Irahere - Aguanile
  • Beny More - Maracaibo Oriento
  • Deodato - Latin Flute
  • Tito Puente - Manbo Gozon

Okay, I'll admit that I don't know too many on discs 5 and 7, but hey - for $50, that's seven discs of some of the best 80's out there. Plus, each disc allows you to go online and get a cheat code for the game. Hey, everybody wins.

On a sort of related note, I got contacted by Amazon customer service via email and they said everything was on track to ship me the game and get it to me by the 7th. Here's hoping. I'd like to schedule my week off. My cat desperately needs the declawing.

Okay, before I get into this weekend, let me state for the record that I found another poster that I need to get. I don't know where I'd put it; I don't have anywhere available in my apartment. But it calls to me. It says, "Buy me! Buy me!" It does this with unrelenting intensity.

Thus far, I have successfully exercised my will against it. I'm not sure how long I can hold out.

This weekend, Jenn and I went to a costume party. I went as a ninja; Jenn went as Mary Katherine Gallagher. Her costume was way better than mine, I think, but only because I ended up making my costume out of a sweat suit.

The party itself was very cool. There were probably 15 people over at my friend Jason's house playing pool and air hockey and generally having a good time. Great food, too, which I've come to expect at Jason's parties. He and his wife, Tracy, really know how to kick it up.

Other costumes at the party include: a Musketeer, two medieval ladies, a whole herd of army soldiers, and an Oompa Loompa. I was particularly pleased with the Oompa Loompa costume as it probably held the most childhood-memory-value of all of them. (Besides the fact that the movie was great, I dated a girl 4'4" tall a while ago and tried to get her to dress up as an Oompa Loompa, but she absolutely refused. I thought it would have been a great costume. Oh, well. It was reasonably cathartic when one of the partygoers showed up as an Oompa Loompa.)

I'm a still irritated with Amazon. I picked up my email today to find that they rejected my credit card again. I've tried two different cards, both of which have been rejected. I called the respective credit card companies and found that the cards haven't even been tried. Argh. So I went to contact Amazon to find out what's going on, but you can only email them, you can't call them. I emailed them, now I have to wait up to 24 hours so that they can tell me (I'm sure) that they don't know what the damn problem is and I should call the credit card company.

The irony is, you know the card that they keep rejecting? Yeah, well, on Saturday they successfully billed that card and shipped a whole other order I had placed with them. So I know the card's good. It's their stupid software. Bitches.

During my commute this morning I was graced with the presence of yet another driver who doesn't know how to merge. It seems that some folks just don't get it. It's real simple, folks. It breaks down like this:

If you're merging, adjust to the traffic around you. Don't just expect traffic to stop and let you in because you're a moron.

There is a tiny corrollary that goes along with this:

If you think you're going to miss your exit because you waited too long to merge, that's your tough cookies. Go to the next exit and turn around. Dumbass.

Let's put that in pictures for the people in the cheap seats.



This is actually what happened to me today. This punk bitch decides that, rather than just easing in behind me where there's plenty of space, she will just cruise on up and jump in because - hey - who wants to wait in line like the rest of the crowd? She was obviously someone very important, too. I know this because she thought it beneath her to even signal that she wanted in my lane; she started easing over, then started signalling. Courtesy for us proletariat folk.

Needless to say, she did not get into my lane. She nearly took off my passenger side mirror before she figured out that I wasn't going to cave in. I gave her a liberal dose of the horn and continued on my merry way. Surprisingly, she did not try to speed up and give me the finger.

I think if I ever get laid off, I'll sign up to become a traffic cop. I swear they'd never have to raise taxes again. I'd be the hardest-assed traffic cop this side of the mighty Mississip', I kid you not.

As any reader of this blog knows, I've been waiting ever so patiently for my copy of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to show up. When it does, I'm taking a week off work for vacation and a bit of the old ultraviolence. Oh, and to get my cat declawed and fixed. But that's not the point.

I went in yesterday to Amazon.com to see why my order hasn't shipped yet - the game's out, it says it ships in 24 hours, so where the hell is it?

Turns out, they keep saying that my credit card's being rejected so I need to enter new credit card information. Odd, since I just made a purchase at Barnes and Noble the day before. So I re-enter the card information and the site says everything's cool.

I get an email this morning that says my card's rejected again. What?! So I go back into the Amazon site and it's asking for me to re-enter the card info again or enter a new card. Fed up, I just entered the number for a different credit card and things now seem to be rolling along again... Of course, I'm waiting for the rejection email on that card, too, but we'll see. Either way, the delivery of my game is now pushed out until like November 7 - 13, when it should have been here by this coming Monday.

I called the credit card company for the card that got rejected twice, and they don't have any record of my card being rejected. In fact, a separate order I made at Amazon was authorized on that card and they paid it on the 30th. They don't know what the deal is.

Regardless, this has put a wrench in my gaming plans. I desperately need a vacation or I'm going to have some sort of a nervous breakdown, so just what I needed was another thing to postpone my time off. Needless to say, I'm pretty irritated.

I realized late yesterday that I never really tied the entry yesterday to its title, A Special Joy in Coffee Black. Yesterday was one of my few coffee-drinking days (and of course, no one filled the fucking pots) so I was drowning myself in caffeinated bliss.