Microsoft approves of me

Yay, I passed my Excel 2003 Certification today.

Frigid TV

Tonight, Matt Lauer is on Leno and Jim Gaffigan is on Conan.

The Thursday Comedies are all new again this week:
My Name Is Earl "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck"
The Office "The Return"
Scrubs "My Musical"
30 Rock "The Head and The Hair"

Both Heroes and Studio 60 air new episodes on January 22nd, and Lost returns February 7th, and promises 16 straight weeks of new episodes. Survivor Fiji starts up on February 8th with 19 castaways and The Amazing Race shows up February 18th with an All Star cast. Besides David and Mary, none of the teams stand out to me as anyone I rooted for in the past.

Read this

This month's Rake Magazine has one of the best short stories I've read in a long time, When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth. It's by Cory Doctorow of boingboing fame and I don't know if it would appeal to a nongeek or not, but I couldn't put it down.

Barista? I barely know ya!

I was surprised to find out today that the guys on my team did not know what a barista was.
They range in age from about 24-45 and they drink coffee everyday, so how does that work?

Carpooler

I carpool with the guy in this story: http://www.startribune.com/587/story/923953.html

The Wisdom of Simon and Garfunkel

Bridge Over Troubled Water - All your dreams are on their way
Cecilia - I got up to wash my face, When I come back to bed, Someone's taken my place
Father and Daughter* - I believe a light that shines on you will shine on you forever.
Homeward Bound - But all my words come back to me, In shades of mediocrity, Like emptiness in harmony. I need someone to comfort me.
I Am A Rock - I have no need of friendship; friendship causes pain. It's laughter and it's loving I disdain.
Kodachrome* - Everything looks worse in black and white
Mrs. Robinson - When you've got to choose, Every way you look at it you lose
Scarborough Fair - Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather... And gather it all in a bunch of heather, Then she'll be a true love of mine
The Boxer - Still a man hears what he wants to hear, And disregards the rest
The Sound of Silence - And in the naked light I saw, Ten thousand people, maybe more… The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls and tenement halls
You Can Call Me Al* - He sees angels in the architecture spinning in infinity

* well sometimes just Simon

My Top 10 Movies of 2006

Clerks II
Eragon
Friends with Money
Happy Feet
Little Miss Sunshine
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pursuit of Happyness
Something New
V for Vendetta
X-Men 3

Bus Stop, bus go, she stays, what grows?

Wow Metro Transit's #11 route has been horrible lately. On both December 21st and 22nd, the southbound bus I was on drove right past the stop on 3rd Ave and 14th Street, even though there were people waiting there. The second time, I pulled the string and yelled up to the driver that he had missed the stop. He just gave me a dirty look and kept going. Then on Saturday, I was waiting at the stop at 3rd and 19th at 7:20pm to go downtown and the bus drove right past me, even after I waved at it. I hauled it over to Nicollet and got on the 18, which also blew past a stop with a waiting passenger at Grant street, but at least the bus hit a red light and the person was able to catch the bus. Then last night, I waited for the #2 to go Uptown and was about to drive instead when it showed up ten minutes late. Yes, it was snowing, but I have seen drivers refuse to wait 30 seconds for someone who is running for the bus, even after their friends have asked the driver to wait.

I'm really sick of rude drivers, especially when they pull away from the stop before you can sit down and then have to slam on the breaks because they were pulling up to a red light anyway.