Oh, Betty!

Another one from the in-box:

The cougar is my favorite big cat, but I'm not so sure Betty is my favorite cougar.  The vid is here, if'n you're curious.

Wonders Never Cease

What HP said they'd do, on 12/06/2011:

What they actually did (about 15 minutes ago):

Good on 'em, eh?  I think I know how I'm gonna spend the rest o' my day.  Mebbe.  I say "mebbe" coz I'm dreading the restore process, having acquired one of those tee shirts about a year ago.  This chore may or may not be performed immediately... and there's also the fact that I just now poured my second cup.  It ain't smart to do stuff like this when one isn't fully caffeinated.

And He Uses It, Too

From the Usual Source.

Mah Girl, Doin' What She Does Best

"I will let them eat cake."  You GO, Sunny.  Marie's got nuthin' on you!

"It Was a Good Hit, It Was a Clean Hit"

All us homers know suspect the refs have it in for our team(s)... but Flyers fans might could be right about that.

In This Morning's In-Box

I immediately deleted the message when I saw the subject line and the sender.  But I had second thoughts, so I went to the trash and read the note.  Alas, it's NOT an ad for tracers... which are the sort o' "sparkles" a select few NOT on my Christmas list deserve.

In other in-box news... last night HP notified me the new box has shipped, five days earlier than estimated.  Happy-happy joy-joy!

Linkage & A Minor Bitch, Piss, and Moan (Or Two)

First... Blog-Bud Jim, aka Suldog, puts the Christmas ditty he penned to music.  And the resulting one-man-band performance is awesome.  We (and not the Royal We, I mean YOU, too) need to convince him to YouTube the song.  So comment appropriately.

Second:  Lex takes us flying in the Kfir, here and here.  Is there a BETTER post-military retirement gig than flying fighters as a civilian?  I think not.

―:☺:―

Department o' Miscellaneous Bitches & Complaints:   (1)  Remember a couple o' few days ago when I said we had a warm-up on the way?  Well, it's yet to arrive.  Yeah, it IS warmer, which is to say almost 50 degrees, but it's also windy, rainy, and blustery, accompanied by Mrs. Hippy levels of humidity.  There won't be an outdoor Happy Hour today, but we remain optimistic.  Mebbe tomorrow.

Well, mebbe not.  Dang.

(2)  I've been living in El Casa Inmóvil de Pennington for two and a half months now and I've yet to turn the water on in the guest bathroom's tub.  Let me clear: said tub has NEVER been wet.  Not once.  So, that said, why is the danged thing dirty?  I've been looking in that tub for a couple o' days now in the hopes it will somehow clean itself, or that perhaps the Cleaning Fairy will show up and do the obnoxious deed for me.  I haven't had ANY success in either case, so it looks like we'll have to add another chore to the ever-growing list.  A maid... A Man Needs A Maid. 

Racists!

So there I was... watching Red Eye this evening (or this morning, if'n ya get technical about it) and that gotdamned Pajamagram ad for Hoodie-Footies came on at every freakin' commercial break.  EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.  I danged near wore out my mute button but then it struck me...  There's no diversity in this ad!  None at all!  Look:

All 12 of those women are blue-eyed blondes... all of 'em.  Doesn't this break some sorta law?  I mean ain't this America?  What's wrong with the Pajamagram people?  Didn't they get the memo?  I'm gonna call the EEOC or someone like 'em and see if I can't get the ads pulled.  Or mebbe I'll just sue... coz I'm offended.  Racists!

OTOH, mebbe I'll buy one of those damned thangs for every woman in my fam'bly, select friends, and mebbe a few strangers, too.  One or the other.

The 27th Special Operations Wing Wishes You Happy Holidays

And a Merry Christmas, too... although the HH language outnumbers "Merry Christmas" by about five to one.  Big sigh...

So, we're just in from running our errands and while we were out we stopped at the Cannon Airplane Patch airpark just inside the main gate to take a few cheesy cellphone pics of the various units' Christmas greetings, and there were a lot of 'em.  And here we go...

The beginning of the unit displays

"Non-standard" refers to the fact this unit flies a specially modified bid'niz aircraft.

 Cannon has a UAV unit, too.  These guys obviously fly Reapers.

SN1's old unit... the Fireballs.  The 522nd flew F-16s when Buck was with 'em.

 Hey!  You're not THE Green Hornets!  Stop that!

Saving the best for last... Have a KILLER holiday!

Click to embiggen, of course.  Right-click on the images once you get into Blogger's new-fangled (and ugly) pic viewer and choose "view image" if ya wanna see the full size pic.

Random Notes

Blog-Bud Andy has taken up v-logging with his new fanboi phone that does photos, videos, finds you dates, changes the baby, and fixes dinner, among other thangs.  He's done two of those thangs now and he's pretty good at it.  I tried that back when the MinoHD was new, once.  I sucked.

Andy also mentioned in his v-log that he'd been off for three whole days and was kinda-sorta beside himself.  I've been off for 3,327 days now (not counting today) and am just as happy as the proverbial pig in... umm... stuff.   I'm living proof (well, "living" is loosely defined) that being easily amused is one o' life's most under-rated blessings.  (And how did I get that exact day count, you might ask?  By going to this handy lil web site.  I LOVES me some technology!)

―:☺:―

Remember a couple o' few days ago when I posted about the Beloved Wings blowing out those Feral Dogs at The Joe?  Well, they did the same thang last evening to the hot Winnipeg Jets, who came into The Joe last night on a roll, having won sumthin' like seven of their last ten.  Alas (for Winnipeg's fans), those same Jets proceeded to flame out, losing to the Wings by a score of 7-1.  The Jets DID manage to score the first goal (34 seconds into the first period) but it was all downhill for them from there.  Good stuff, Maynard.

―:☺:―

Shocked!  That would be me when I slide off the bar stool and forget to ground myself before doin' so.  The seats of my spiffy bar stools are covered in some sorta suede-like fabric that is a potential solution to America's energy crisis, provided one could somehow harness the megawatts of static electricity generated by the simple act of getting up.  I swear I've seen blue arcs emanate from my fingertips once or twice.  This phenomenon is exacerbated by the current negative ten percent relative humidity inside El Casa Inmóvil de Pennington.  The low or nonexistent indoor humidity is yet another reason to hate winter.  Which I DO.

And it's still cold outside, although there's a warm-up coming by mid-week if the good folks at the NWS in ABQ are correct.  

We might even be able to pull off an outdoor Happy Hour!  Let us pray... 

―:☺:―

I believe I mentioned I was considering buying a new peesee rather than getting the current desktop repaired.  Well last Tuesday I did just that.  I did my patriotic duty to stimulate the economy... and I also gave Hewlett-Packard (a fine, outstanding AMERICAN computer company who sells stuff assembled in China or Taiwan, outta parts made only-gawd-knows-where) my bid'niz, in the hopes they'll be able to keep my pittance of a retirement check coming along each and every month.  Well, that and the fact that HP gives me an employee discount on their stuff, and every lil bit helps, yanno?  OTOH, I'm not too pleased with how long it's gonna take the box to get here.  I ordered the thang on 12/06 and HP tells me the machine will ship on or about 12/19, with a five to seven day delivery date to follow.  Doesn't that seem excessive?  But then again... Taiwan is a long ways away from New Mexico.

Right Now

I'm watching the Army-Navy Groundpounders-Squids game, which is to say the also-rans playin' for second place, seein' as how the Air Force Academy has already won the CinC's Trophy.  That said (and you know I just HAD to say it),  it's a pretty entertaining game, all things considered.  Army tied it up with seconds left in the first half, despite the two Army turnovers that gave Navy their touchdowns.  So we're at the half and the game is tied, 14-14.

President Obama is milkin' the game for all it's worth, and then some... what with performing the coin-toss and then spending about five minutes with the CBS broadcast team.  That's all well and good and I'll cut him some slack today, mainly coz he's giving the Cadets and the Midshipmen their due and is sayin' all the right thangs.  Good on him for that.

I love this game, not so much for the football but for the tradition, the rivalry, the Spirit Messages, and all the shining faces of those ossifers-to-be.  This really is "America's Game."

So.  Halftime.  Time to pour another beer and consider putting a match to a ceegar.  We're still into that Sammy Adams "Winter Classics" 12-pack and there's some damned fine beer in that thang.  We might buy another one of those.

We're Off to a Great Start

Not:

Freezing fog.  Yecch.  That stuff is the precursor to black ice, which causes no end of excitement on the public thoroughfares... just ask any Oregonian.  The good news is we're supposed to warm up today.  Eventually.  All the way up to the high-30s, even!  Yays!  

I frickin' hate winter already and it ain't even here yet.

Broadening Our Horizons XXXVII

Two days in a row, this broadening thang.  Today it's a Sammy Adams Chocolate Bock (rated "B" at BA) which is included in a 12-pack of winter seasonal ales I picked up today.  Like this:

Yeah, I know.  I made a beer run yesterday but the local likker locker didn't have the seasonal "Winter Classics" 12-packs (which includes two each of the above plus two Old Fezziwig Ales, two Black & Brews, two Winter Lagers, two Holiday Porters, and two Boston Lagers) and Wally-World did.  Go figger on that one, eh?  But... in this neck o' the woods ya gotta jump on these thangs while ya can, coz ya never know how long they'll be around or even if they'll come back once the first round is gone.

As for the beer itself?  I give it a B+... mebbe even an A-.  Hearty, tasty, full-bodied, and warming... a perfect accompaniment to one of those Drew Estate Cafe con Leches I got in the mail the other day.  And I mean PERFECT.

It Ain't Just America

The Brits are fed up, too:

Globalization strikes again.

From The Guardian's weekly selection of viral vids.  The Doggie Dunker vid is pretty funny; I considered posting that one.

Your Hockey Red Wings Update...

It's been a while, hasn't it?  Part o' the reason it's been a while is the Beloved Wings came down off a seven-game winning streak by losing two in a row, one to the once-hated-but-now-mostly-pitied-Avs and the other to the resurgent Blues, both games being lost in the opponents' barns.  But the Wings came back home to The Joe last evening and played a game that had us rolling around on the couch in glee.  A lil blurb from NHL.com:

DETROIT – One of Mike Babcock's most common catch phrases is about "starting on time" it's another way of saying a good start to the game by his Detroit Red Wings would be just fine by their coach.

What happened on Thursday night at Joe Louis Arena took it to the extreme. Either the Red Wings started really early or the Phoenix Coyotes were still a time zone or two away. Regardless, Detroit ended a two-game losing streak by scoring early and often in a five-goal first period that paved the way to a 5-2 victory against the stunned Coyotes.

You just don't see that many goals in a single period, or at least you don't see it all that often.  SN1 and I were on the phone for the last three goals and it's serious understatement when I say I was rolling around in glee... we both were.  There ain't nuthin' like a blow-out to ease the pain o' back-to-back losses.

Highlights:

Hockey is a strange sorta game in that almost ANY team can win on any given night, given the parity in the league nowadays.  Well, except for Columbus, mebbe.  There's NO hope there.

Yup

Kinda looks that way, don't it?

From the Usual Source.

Broadening Our Horizons XXXVI, or, Look What I Found, Moogie!

N'Awlins' finest, or so I heard...

I heard right.  This is some good stuff, Maynard.

―:☺:― 

Incentive...  I got this in the mail today:

This really cheeses me off, or to put it bluntly: Family Values, my ass.  So I ran right down to the courthouse and registered to vote.  Alas, I found out I can't vote in the upcoming city election... you must be on the voter rolls 30 days prior to any election to be eligible to vote. 

Dang.  Now I can't do my bit to avoid havin' to drive out to Cannon when the beer supply runs low on Sunday.  It's always sumthin'.

It's Foam Rubber Brick Time

As in a foam rubber brick to throw at my teevee when these egregious "holiday" ads come on:

Sometimes I think it's too bad the FCC eliminated the "equal time" doctrine, coz I'd love to see some of those fatass "People Women of Wal-Mart" all dolled up in a hoodie-footie.  Now THAT would be worth watching.

PS: The vid above is last year's ad which has SOME redeeming social value, what with the skimpy outfit included in the twofer.  This year's ad has yer usual svelte chick goin' on about how she used to wear layers and layers of stuff to bed but hubby solved THAT problem by buying her an adult-size infant and/or child's sleeper.  Yeah... that's just the ticket for yer Inner Pedophile.

Unique

I've mentioned in the past (there's your understatement for the day!) that I'm a great fan of PBS.  I'm NOT a great fan of "pledge week," which has morphed into "pledge-ten-days-or-more" of late.  But I tolerate... barely... pledge week; it's a necessary evil.  A minor digression: I lost access to KENW, Portales' PBS station (run by Eastern New Mexico U) when I switched my teevee provider from Comcrap cable to Dish Network.  I now get KACV out of Amarillo, TX, and I suppose that makes sense to the Corporate Suits at Dish but it doesn't make sense to me.  That bugs me for a number of reasons... no real "local content" is one... but another is KENW held its semi-annual begging down to a very low level.  KACV, OTOH, is in constant beg-mode, or so it seems.

But!  I've watched MUCH more of this begging than I usually would, mainly for the unusual and captivating regional Panhandle accent, which I find amazing.  Here's an example I recorded earlier this evening, pay particular attention to the lady as she speaks, her accent just cracks me up (in a good way).  You'll have to turn your sound WAY up... I apologize for the audio quality.  I thought the MinoHD would pick up the teevee better than it did.

Ain't that sumthin'?  The weird thang is I don't hear much of that accent here in P-Ville.  There's some, to be sure, but not a whole lot.

Oooh! And Aaah!

From the Usual USAF Source:

Wake Up to the Rhythm: Neatly tucked away on shelves in Wake Island Airfield's base operations building, airmen uncovered an immaculate trove of 9,000 vinyl records—the 1970s collection of Wake's former radio station. Inconspicuously locked behind a door stenciled with the station's call letters KEAD, "it's a little time capsule," said Colin Bradley, a communications contractor. "I have not run across a collection that well preserved or that intact in my career." Originally provided by Armed Forces Radio and Television Service to entertain the troops, the island's 611th Air Support Group detachment is working to send the unique collection back to AFRTS in Virginia for preservation. Requiring an estimated $10,000 worth of packaging and 75 16-inch boxes to ship, the records will complete AFRTS' local museum collection, with any extras headed to the Library of Congress or National Archives. (Wake report by Capt. Amy Hansen)

Wow.  This lil item rings bells with me seein' as how I did a short stint (not quite a year) as a deejay at an AFRTS affiliate station (a very loose affiliate) in Sinop, Turkey back in the '70s.  Our station... KBOK (which was a play on words, "bok" bein' Turkish slang for excrement)...  received between $50 and $100 every quarter to buy records from the base exchange and YrHmblScrb was in a position to buy a lot of those records.  That money went a LONG way back in the day, seein' as how yer average LP only cost two and a half Yankee Dollars back then.  

Our station library was at least as large as Wake's and I took the opportunity to "borrow" records on a daily basis and tape them on my reel-to-reel recorder, an endeavor that produced about 100 reel-to-reel tapes with an average of five albums per reel.  It's too damned bad that I was "under the influence" during most of those taping sessions, coz the resulting tapes were mostly over-modulated and nearly un-listenable, in retrospect.  This, of course, was during the Golden Age of rock 'n' roll and I scored me some mighty fine music during that year.  Those tapes still exist... along with my Revox A-77 tape deck... and are in the care of SN2.  Mebbe I'll retrieve 'em some day.

Seventy Years Ago Today

My Pearl Harbor Day post, parts of which I've published every year since 2006.

Pearl Harbor Day

Sixty-eight years ago today... "a date which will live in infamy"... the nation was shocked out of its complacency and determination to stay out of the conflict engulfing the rest of the civilized world by the horrific Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.  Here's an excerpt from President Roosevelt's speech to congress on the following day:

The men who fought back at Pearl Harbor formed the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association about ten years after the war and they used to hold a reunion in Hawaii every five years... until 2006, when they held their last reunion there.  I published this post to mark that occasion (note that the link to the news article is dead now):

Pearl Harbor Day

The USS Arizona - Then and Now (U.S. Navy photographs)

It’s said — quite often and by many, many people — that 9/11/2001 “changed everything.” And it is indeed true for the current generations of Americans. But I’ll submit that 12/07/1941 “changed everything” to a degree it is impossible for us who were not alive and going about our business on that Sunday in December, 1941 to realize. Those of us whose parents were members of The Greatest Generation understand my point. A smaller subset, those of us whose parents fought in World War II, understand the point a little bit better, perhaps. We have the benefit of hearing the first-person narratives of that day in December 1941, and stories from the long, long days that followed…from the dark and despair of the war’s first year to the signing of the Japanese surrender on the decks of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay not quite four years later. And a lot in between.

They are leaving us. The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is holding their last meeting (dead link) today.

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii - With their number quickly dwindling, survivors of Pearl Harbor will gather Thursday one last time to honor those killed by the Japanese 65 years ago, and to mark a day that lives in infamy.

This will be their last visit to this watery grave to share stories, exchange smiles, find peace and salute their fallen friends. This, they say, will be their final farewell.

"This will be one to remember," said Mal Middlesworth, president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association. "It's going to be something that we'll cherish forever."

The survivors have met here every five years for four decades, but they're now in their 80s or 90s and are not counting on a 70th reunion. They have made every effort to report for one final roll call.

Their last meeting. I know All Things Must Pass, but it saddens me so. We owe them so much, and our thank-yous seem inadequate compared to the sacrifices they made.

But: We shall continue, we shall honor their sacrifices, we will remember, and we shall rededicate ourselves to the task that faces this generation…the one that began on 9/11/2001. The Greatest Generation expects it from us.

The 2006 news article may not be available any longer, but the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is still alive and kicking.  They are few now, but thank God some of those heroes are still around.  It won't be too much longer until they're all gone and as I said above: "It saddens me so."

Çay

This is much more than a talk about tea... it's a primer on Turkey and the Turks.  I spent three years in Turkey and pretty much enjoyed every minute.  Granted, there were times during that three years that were less than exciting but I never failed to be enthralled by the country, its history, its beauty, and its friendly people.  And yeah... I drank a LOT of çay.  Raki, too... but that's another story (see the vid at the link).  

Go ahead... spend some time with this video.  I think you'll be glad ya did.

Generic 24-Hour Newscast

Sigh... this is the danged truth, ain't it?

One Learns the Strangest Things On These Inter-Tubes

As in: smoking can make a woman's nipples fall off.  Seriously:

I cringe every time I see a patient for a breast lift who is a smoker. I’m deathly afraid that despite my warnings, she will smoke before or after surgery and cause her nipples to turn black and fall off.

Yes. Smokers who undergo breast lifts are at great risk of losing their nipples.

I’ve seen it before.

The nicotine in cigarettes and the carbon monoxide contained in cigarette smoke can diminish blood flow to various parts of the body. These toxins act as a virtual tourniquet. If the blood flow to a particular body part becomes greatly reduced or halted, that body part dies.

That would be cosmetic surgeon Anthony Youn speaking.  It follows that smoking might could be responsible for premature penis death, too.  Not that we'd know anythang about THAT, of course.

h/t:  The Shoebox blog.

Your Local On the Eights

Whereas yesterday was cold, gray, snowy, and blustery today is crystal clear and lovely... at least as far as appearances go.

View from my study window

Big-ass icicles

Sparkly

Looks pretty pleasant, doesn't it?  I particularly like the way the sun hits the crystallized snow and makes it all sparkly; it makes me wish I had a star filter to highlight the sparkles, coz otherwise they're hard to capture.  It's so pretty outside... all fresh and clean looking... that it almost makes me wanna suit up and get out in it.  Almost.

―:☺:― 

A tale o' two operating systems...  I fired up the desktop last night to pay some bills and was kinda surprised at this:

NO musical notes; XP, FF 8.0

Musical notes; Win 7, FF 8.0

How weird is that?  XP apparently won't display unicode characters, Windows 7 does.  This is the first time I've noticed this.  Did all y'all see the notes in yesterday's post title?  Or not?

In Which We Break Out the Winter Gear For to Fetch the Mail

Coz we knew these were in our mailbox:

Is this a case of adding insult to injury, or what?  That's why I look pissed, out o' focus, and not unlike Rasputin on a bad day.  Coz I AM all that and a bag o' chips.

That's a box o' Tabak Especial Cafe con Leches, by the way.  We buy a box o' these thangs every so often.

Wonderin' about the hat?  Go here.

And the Hits Just Keep On Comin'...

Sorry about bein' a one-trick pony today but this is a rather extraordinary turn o' events, WX-wise.  From the NWS in ABQ:

Nowcast as of 11:30 am MST on December 5, 2011

Snow and gusty northeast winds will continue today across the east central and southeast plains...including Tucumcari...Clovis and Roswell. Areas of moderate snow...blowing snow and fog will reduce visibilities to less than a mile at times. Roads...bridges and overpasses may be icy or snowpacked...including Interstate 40 and in and around Tucumcari. Wind chills will be below 5 to 10 degrees along and just south of Interstate 40. Through 100 PM MDT... the area from Fort Sumner to Ragland to Glenrio and south to Clovis and Portales could see an additional 2 to 4 inches on snow. Travel will remain difficult over the region.

Yow.  I useta say we only get enough snow here on The High Plains o' New Mexico to remind me o' why I hate it so much; I may have to change my tune if this stuff keeps up.  The wind chill keeps dropping, too... and we're in the sub-zero range now.

Aiiieee.

♩♩ It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like... ♩♩

Ho-Ho-frickin'-Ho!  This is what I woke up to this morning:

Covered parking -- Yeahrightsure

Cold birdies

My Charlie Brown tree

Covered parking ain't much good when the wind blows snow around and into everythang.  But The Green Hornet isn't as bad off as my neighbors' cars; I must be on the lee side o' thangs.  I still get a kick outta my flamingos, especially in WX like this.  I'm thinkin' mebbe I'll buy some lil plastic cardinals to put in my Charlie Brown tree, too.  Nah.  That would be overkill.

Added, moments later:  

I don't think I'll be goin' out today.  I may not go out all week.

Suspicions Confirmed

I've been thinkin' our temps are a lot colder than usual for early December and it looks like I'm right.  From the NWS in ABQ:

... More rounds of wintry weather will impact northern and central New Mexico through midweek...

With the first of three wintry storms now clear of New Mexico... two more rounds of wintry weather will pass across New Mexico through midweek... leaving the state firmly in the grip of winter chill with the coldest temperatures seen so far this season.

The next wintry round will move from The Boot heel of New Mexico across the southern tier of the state during the day today to bring a quick round of light snow mainly south of Interstate 40 through this afternoon.

Round three will be more substantial and a much deeper plunge into winter weather... with widespread and long lasting snow beginning this evening over northern New Mexico and extending southward overnight tonight. Cold air ramming westward from the Southern Plains will reach northeast New Mexico tonight... and the combination of gusty winds and falling snow will produce locally poor visibilities in blowing and drifting snow over the northeast quadrant of the state.

[...]

With snow tapering off on Tuesday... cold temperatures will remain behind... with Tuesday high temperatures ranging from the teens over the northern mountains... and to near the freezing mark near Roswell. Tuesday night temperatures will fall to double digits below zero for Sangre de Cristo mountain... especially near Eagle Nest and Angel Fire.

Some modest relief from the winter chill is in the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday before a quick burst of cooler air arrives on Friday. Temperatures through the work week will remain well below seasonal normals for early December.

Insert al-Gore joke here.  It ain't so damned funny, however.

Some People Post Dumb Cat Vids...

... I post dumb kid vids.

Who's worse?  And say... would ya pass me the cup o' urine, please?

Added jes a lil bit later:  Google Maps goes indoors.



How cool, eh?  Now wimmen can find their way to my bedroom without bein' led.  Or drugged.

Your Feel Good Moment o' the Day

The entire back-story is here, and a most remarkable story it is, indeed.  You do good work, Loralee!

Miscellanea

Criminal intent... or "I Fought The Law and The Law Doesn't EVEN Know About It."  It's still cold out as we speak, like 29 degrees or so.  But we're having the UCR Happy Hour with all the UCR trappings, albeit hovering over the stove with the exhaust fan running and one of the Happy Hour trappings idling underneath when not in actual use.  I figger one a day (in extenuating circumstances), its output filtered by air filters coated by cooking oils, won't hurt anything.  Don't tell anyone, mmm-kay?

―:☺:―

We ran our end-of-month close out today and are somewhat gratified to see our spending is coming down, like this:

One plainly sees the cost of the recent move.  That said, we're on target to hit our budgetary goals and our spending will decrease further once the furniture is paid off.  I deviated from my usual "pay the credit card off every month" philosophy to take advantage of a no-interest-if-balance-paid-in-six-months deal offered by one of the Bloodsucker Loan and Leech credit card companies.  And you can rest assured the balance WILL be paid in six months.  Why?  The "normal" monthly (annual) interest rate this particular company charges on outstanding balances is a whopping 29.99%.  How they get around the usury laws remains a mystery.

―:☺:― 

Speaking o' budgetary thangs... I'm debating whether to have the newer desktop peesee fixed (which basically involves paying someone to buy a new hard drive, install it, and restore the OS) or just go ahead and buy a new box.  My normal replacement cycle is three years per IT industry standard and the current desktop is about two and a half years old.  Ergo, it's almost time.  I figger the cost to repair the desktop box will be around $400.00; a well-equipped (but not overly so) new box will run me about $700.00 or thereabouts, including my HP employee discount.  I also thought about foregoing the desktop altogether and just using the laptop but rejected that ideer out o' hand, manly coz I scrimped on the laptop when I bought it.  The laptop only has a 200GB hard drive and that just ain't big enough.  Plus... who can resist a new toy, especially when one can justify it so easily?

I do think we've made a decision.