Incommunicado

Been there for a bit, ah-yep.  Some really annoying problems at work over the past three weeks have been taking up a lot of time and brainpower, leaving me with... well, barely enough energy to feebly curse the powers that be as I fall into bed in the evening.

Well, maybe not that bad.  It certainly hasn't been good, though.

I am encouraged by the fact that, possibly - just possibly - I may be able to do a Happy Dance (TM) soon.

To that end, I need to make sure my Happy Dance (TM) music is queued up and ready, just in case...

Gather 'round...

Gather 'round, folks, and listen as a best-selling author, accountant, and practicing Mormon explains (a) why he doesn't like Mitt Romney as a candidate, and (b) why that has absolutely nothing to do with his tax returns...

I’ve only got a few minutes at lunch, so I need to keep this brief. (good thing I type 85 words per minute!) Since I’ve been spending more time watching TV lately (baby in my hands and I’ve got to do something) I’ve been watching more of the news punditry, and the stupidity is driving me batty. I can’t believe that I’m about to defend Mitt Romney of all people…

Go ahead, RTWT.

On Adversity

Borepatch muses over some differences between how leaders and passengers reacted to two different accidents: the recent Costa Concordia disaster, and how they reacted to the ditching of US Air flight 1549 in the Hudson River.

While it's not really his ultimate conclusion, this is probably the best line of the piece:

This is the point where I have to tell every Progressive who ever told us that "we need to be more like Europe" to shut up and sit down in the back of the room.  Grown ups are talking.

RTWT.

Overheard in the office

On the topic of coding standards...

"Clash's Razor: Everyone else is wrong."

Heh.  So very true.

There is one thing, yea, even two things...

... that are bugging me this morning.  By which I mean, "insignificant things that I'm going to pretend are significant".  Because otherwise, I'll end up worrying about significant things like whether my car is going to start this evening, or we have heat in the house tonight.

Item the first: multiple exclamation points.  One is enough, people.  We understand that you're excited. The extra exclamation points really are not necessary!  See what I did there?  One exclamation point.  More than enough to get my point across, don't you think?

Item the second: reversed sideways smiley faces.  The emoticon is :-), folks.  If, for some strange reason, you find noses in your emoticons offensive, then :) is also acceptable.  Using (-: or (: instead?  Oh, boy.  That is right out.

Individuals that use both at the same time?  Man, you are spitting in the face of all that is right in the universe.  Take it from me - don't.  Just... don't.  M'kay?

That is all.

A Good Question

"Where's the candle for Lydia?"

Comment of the Day

Paul over at Hawsepiper, on Ron Paul:

"He was never the same after Baggins stole the Precious."

Heh!

Collision Detection

It's always interesting to me when bloggers from my different spheres of interest manage to intersect in unusual and interesting ways.

Yesterday, my delight was in seeing SF author John C. Wright quoting James Maliszewski of Grognardia on the implicit Christianity of early gaming.

The only way this could have been better is if JCW had managed to work in a DMotR or OotS reference.

Not quite the wookie suit I was looking for...

But this would do for my oldest daughter, I think...

Happy New Year!

... now, get back to work!

Don't you realize that there are starving OWS protesters who are depending on you?  Triple-mocha carmel low-fat lattes don't just grown on trees, you know!