Resident Evil 5 Extended Trailer

Currently the game has a U.S. release date of 2009. Bummer. Oh wait, I don't even have a PS3 yet. I guess that's a good thing. Or maybe Santa will know that I've been good all year. Regardless, in a couple of hours I'm done with work until next year. Woo hoo!

Nickels and Dimes

I was checking my NTTA tolltag account online yesterday in preparation for a visit to Dallas. I wanted to make sure I had the correct vehicle information in the system because I revise that info whenever I use a rental vehicle. They fined me a couple of years ago because I was using a rental on the tollways and did not inform them so the plates didn't match to my tolltag. My mistake so I didn't argue. I checked the vehicle information and everything was correct so I was about to log off but thought it would be interesting (for lack of a word) to see some past transactions. Lo and behold I saw a transaction during July for my vehicle. That's unsusual because I was nowhere near Addison Texas in July.

I called the customer service number and explained the situation and the friendly representative asked me some questions. When she realized that I had used a rental vehicle in June she put me on hold. When she came back she explained to me what had happened. In a nutshell, when I entered the vehicle information for the rental vehicle I used in June, the system remembers that. So when someone else rented the same vehicle in July and used the tollway and didn't pay, the system charged my account. She told me her supervisor said to fax a copy of the rental agreement showing the dates of rental and the vehicle's plate number to them in order to credit my account. I said that seemed like a lot of work for seventy cents and she agreed but that was what her supervisor wanted.

I remembered the fine the NTTA assessed me a while back and decided they weren't going to bilk me out of my hard-earned money so I asked for their fax number. After some searching I found my rental agreement from earlier in the year. It's a good thing I don't throw anything away. I made a copy of it and faxed it to the customer service department. I got my seventy cents back and feel good about it.

"Don't Tase Me, Bro" and Other Quotes

That was the top quote of 2007 as compiled by the editor of the Yale Book of Quotations. The second was the rambling from a Miss Teen USA contestant which I thought would be much better to view...and become confused. Really confused.

Yes, I'm Ready For A Vacation

How do I get out of this madhouse?

Beating A Dead Horse

How coincidental. Sometimes I just want to scream here at work.

Isn't She/He Lovely?

I Think I Can, I Think I Can...Not!

I had a vivid dream last night or perhaps it was a nightmare. I had promised Peter Griffin that I would give him a ride to the dentist. It turns out that my mode of transportation was not a motorized vehicle but my bicycle. So there I was pedaling through an underground parking garage or something similar and then finally down a street out of a scene from Duke Nukem towards a tall building where I was to pick Peter up. As I approached the front of the building I saw a figure standing there which I mistook for a Pig Cop from the game but then realized it was only Peter. He got on the handlebars of my bike and I proceeded to pedal again with great difficulty. We barely made it up a small hill and as we crested the top I saw a huge hill looming before us. I was having great difficulty going up this hill and Peter was literally crying that he was going to be late for his dentist's appointment. Waa, waa, waa. It was at this point that I awoke disoriented and out of breath. Very strange.

You're A Pig!

Did Chef Ramsay lose it because Chef Michel was stubborn or because he was French? I felt like punching Michel and I wasn't even there. I just don't understand when these owners don't want to take Ramsay's suggestions or are not open to change. They're the ones who invited him to come and help anyway. Well, at least it seems the restaurant's web page is busy due to the show.

How Many Cats Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb?

Cats do not change light bulbs. People change light bulbs. So, the real question is: 'How long will it be before I can expect some light, some dinner, and a massage?'

Go Spirit Go

It's a race against time for the Mars rover Spirit to get to a safe spot to wait out the long Martian winter. Read the story here.

From My Inbox

Christmas Carols for the Disturbed

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?
2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are
3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas
4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me
5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees and.....
6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me
7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire
8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why
9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooooh look at the froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?
10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle,Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle, Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells...

Odie Loves Candy Canes

A Little Faster Please

I think I've griped about this before but I'm going to again. How can a store call a check-out line with a 20 item limit a "speedy" check-out? It's more like "a little faster than our other lines" check-out. And why don't they assign someone to check the quantity of goods a person has when they get in line at a "speedy" check-out? They could be called "Quantity Compliance" associates, sort of like the "Receipt Accuracy" checkers at the exits. I can't stand it when jerks have a full cart and the cashier doesn't say a thing. That really irks me to no end. And it gets so much worse when a person wants a competitor's price matched on all of their items. They have sales circulars from 10 different stores and they take so long trying to find the right one for the item being scanned. AAAGHHHH!!!

Who Are Those Crazy People?

I've been in a Bah Humbug mood ever since I saw my first Christmas commercial a while back but got into the season when I was at the mall over the weekend. I'm just about done with shopping and not a moment too soon. I can't stand the crowds at the stores and the parking lots and the streets around the malls. Also you can see some crazy elves here that helped it seem like it was December and almost Christmas.