Trivial...Yet Mundane!

Further, further on the Iran NIE… Chap has been doing some serious thinking and linking on the subject. I’ve read a lot about the NIE over the last few, and Chap’s post is a real tour de force. If you’re at all interested in this subject you really should go read…

That’s it for the serious stuff… on to the trivial and mundane, as is our practice here at EIP. Yesterday was nearly a total loss, and it’s mostly because I’m going through another one of those periodic episodes where my circadian rhythms resemble those of an owl or some other nocturnal creature, rather than a garden-variety human bean. About which, bedtime was shortly after 0500 yesterday morning, and I didn’t stir again until 1130 that same morning. I did somewhat better last evening…err…this morning, hitting the hay at 0400 hrs and arising at 1100.

I have NO idea why this happens, it just does. A minor problem in the general scheme of things, since I have nowhere to be (in particular) and no one to answer to. Still and even: I hate it when this happens.

Mundane, Part Deux… The Christmas shopping is done, and took all of about 30 minutes as is always the case. I’ll confess that Xmas shopping is fairly easy for me since the usual, customary, and reasonable gift(s) happen to be gift certificates from Amazon. On the one hand, this shows a decided lack of creativity on my part…and some would infer a general lack of interest in the gift-giving process, as well. But, OTOH, and in my defense, I don’t think anyone has ever returned one of my gifts. I’m not passing out useless sh|t like silver-plated business card holders or tea pot cozies, ya know. If you can’t find something that tickles your fancy at Amazon then you are an amazing person, indeed, Gentle Reader. I even bought my present…that scanner I was on about a week or two ago… at Amazon. I think they're gonna own retail when this inter-tube thing catches on.

The fall-out from completing my Christmas shopping was CitiBank put a “hold” on my credit card. “Suspicious activity,” ya know. I’ll admit that putting just under a thousand dollars on my credit card in the space of 30 minutes is highly unusual (for me), unless it’s December. And it’s been a regular occurrence for the past…oh…nine consecutive years. Citi called early yesterday morning and I didn’t hear the phone ring. (I may not be sleeping normally, but I’m sleeping well.) So, I awake to a cryptic message saying, essentially, “phone this number immediately about your credit card ending in XXXX.” Part of the message was garbled, which further added an aura of the unknown about it. I called the number given in the voice mail, which was not the same as the number printed on the back of my credit card. The woman who answered the phone immediately asks me for my credit card number. I replied by asking her who she was associated with, as in “what organization,” further adding I’m not in the habit of giving out my card number to just anyone who asks. She refused to answer, asking for my SSAN, instead. At which point I firmly but politely told her I was terminating the call and would call the customer service number on the back of my card. “Fine,” sez she.

I made the call, verified the transactions to CitiBank’s satisfaction, and the hold was lifted, according to the customer service rep. So it all worked out… I think. The Second Mrs. Pennington tells me via e-mail that SN3’s gift certificate still hasn’t arrived in her in-box; Amazon sez it’s been sent.

I suppose it’s A Good Thing that CitiBank is monitoring and tracking suspicious activity. But the best of intentions sometime go awry.

We’re experiencing a lil bit of that “calm before the storm” phenomenon here on The High Plains of New Mexico, as far as weather is concerned. Yesterday was semi-gorgeous, what with an un-December-like high of nearly 75 degrees. I say “semi,” because the ever-present wind was up, which made sitting outside in the pale afternoon sun with a hefeweizen and a cigar not as pleasant as it could have been. Add in the fact there is precious little warmth in the late-afternoon sun on these December days and one feels a noticeable chill in the air, even when the thermometer says it’s 73 degrees out. So… sitting in full-sun at 1500 hours in just a tee shirt was moderately chilly. Sunset is fast approaching by the time 1600 hours rolls around and it really begins to cool off at that hour…quickly. Thankfully the consumables had been consumed by that time, and I retreated indoors. And the consumables were GOOD, too! Those Montecristos would make a fine “everyday” smoke if they weren’t so danged pricey…it would be cheaper, but much less pleasant, to simply pull a ten dollar bill out of my pocket and burn it. So, the Montecristos will remain a special treat. My usual smoke… Partagas’ Spanish Rosados… are nearly as good and a lot cheaper.

Today’s Pic: SN3’s “official” fifth grade pic, which hit my in-box this past week. He looks SO much like The Second Mrs. Pennington it’s scary…right down to that twisted lil grin of his. That’s directly from Mom, it is. And it’s not a bad thing. TSMP and I have an on-going argument about whose eyes he has. I think they’re mine. But, as usual... everything I know is wrong.

As always, click for larger.

Update, 12-09-2007: Lou, in the comments to this post, said she went looking for a pic to compare eyes with. I, in turn, said I'd put up a couple of comparative pics so's we can determine whose eyes are whose.

So... in the immortal words of Fox News Channel... "We report; you decide." Both the pic of TSMP (cropped) and the one of me (also cropped) were taken in May of this year.