"In the Border"

So Phil 'n' I will be going to Canada this weekend to follow the Admirals around for a few games. Just a fun lil 2010 roadtrip to ring in the new year. Which is awesome. We're hoping to meet up with DitchDoc as well, God willing!!

So naturally I gave T-mobile a ring this afternoon to find out how much I'm charged per minute for Canadian calls because I really don't know other than that it's something. What a joke that was. I called, explained that I would be driving to Canada, and politely asked my customer service rep how much I'm charged, per minute, for calls made to Canada and calls made to the US from Canada. His response? "Oh, you're driving there? Well you're just charged for normal minutes, cuz you're in the border." That... did not make sense to me. "In" the border? What the? So I acknowledge that I do not know what that means and asked for clarification. So he responds "Well you know, if you're calling either the US or Canada from in the border there is no additional fee." Still got nothing. I'm confused... is this coming up because I live IN a state that borders Canada? Don't see how that should matter... so right. I ask again. "No, no. That doesn't matter. You just don't pay any additional fee so long as you're in the border." He's not cute anymore: "Where IS in the border?" He starts faltering, then comes out with "You know, the line. Between Canada and the U.S...."

I'm a little disgruntled. So basically he was telling me that I just spent 10 minutes of my time having him totally misrepresent how "I'd only be charged normal minutes" during my trip.... by leaving out the part that it's only AS I'M CROSSING THE FREAKING BORDER. I finally got him to spit out a number and that it's 20 cents per minute extra for when I'm either in the U.S. or Canada, but whatever. That's just ridiculous. What a slime ball, with his tricky prepositions.

"Merry Christmas!!" or "We built a Snowman!!"

Okay, technically I don't have much to say about Christmas. It was really good. My family's fantabulous. I wish Phil could have been there. That pretty much sums it up! So I'm just going to say it was good, and joyful, and Christ was born! Everything is how it should be, I guess.

So about that snowman. Today was a beautiful snowy day, so Dan'l and I set out to play:

















We built a lovely SnowMan named Reggie:

Dan'l didn't get along very well with Reggie:





















Or me:





















So I deactivated him.

YAAAYY Snowman Fun!!

Presents!!

Perhaps I'm totally retarded and lame... but I'm really proud of my wrapping jobs this year.

Who cares what's inside, would you not want to open this present?

These are okay, too, but they were after I'd utilized the optimum ribbon, paper etc. on the first one and was just trying to make my materials last...
.
Giving really is better than getting when shiny paper and ribbon is involved.

My lists of seasonal likes and dislikes

Things I like about Christmas time:
-Garlands of live greens as home decor.
-Lights.
-Decorations that involve scented candles
-Fires in the fireplace, particularly ones built without the aid of matches or a lighter.
-The playfulness of the season: people aren't as lame and boring.
-Giving and getting little presents, particularly when there's a stranger on the other end.
-Burying my cigarette butts in the snow (I hate to admit it but it's true).
-Wassail on a cold night.. mmm.
-Making little snowmen and affixing them to the tops of people's cars.
-Bells. I used to be in a bell choir, you know. I was damn good, little white gloves and all.
-Watching snow fall.

Things I do not like:
-Creepy 2 ft.+ tall little figurines of christmasy characters like father christmas or snowmen, particularly when said creepy figures can be plugged in and made to move. Why is it that old people love those so much?? They scare the crap out of me.
-Shoveling out my car and scraping my windows off every time I have to go somewhere, especially right before work.

Family Christmas Present Exchange (FCPE)

So since there's so many people in my generation in the family (brothers, sisters, cousins)... far too many to get everyone Christmas presents... we've traditionally always picked names to determine who we got a present for, and anything else was above and beyond the call of duty. So last year we started a new game where we didn't pick names, but each just got one present that we put "in the pot" so to speak. Kind of like a White Elephant gift exchange. Except you have the option of picking a new present from the pile or "stealing" one from someone else who went before you. Not really in the Christmas spirit exactly, but pretty fun.

At any rate, I'm determined to get a cool present worthy of being stolen during the present exchange, but need some inspiration. It's particularly difficult because I don't know what age, sex, interests, etc. to aim for. We're talking about gifts for an age range of anywhere between 19-32. Price range about $30. Any suggestions?

Christmas Time!

Wow. I love the holidays! Just so much frenzied playing and partying and people you don't see often but who get you so excited and happy and playful!

I wish it was Christmastime everytime!

frickin' awesome

just found this out... "since California’s passing of AB 50, the state is not in compliance with the US Constitution’s 2nd and 14th Amendments, and we will not sell nor service any of our products to any Government agency of the State of California."
-Ronnie Barrett
Owner and CEO
Barrett Firearms Manufacturing Inc.

That is possibly the awesomest thing ever. Won't let your citizens have .50 caliber rifles California? OK, you can't either. Apparently the LAPD sent one of their 82 series rifles to Barrett firearms for servicing while officially supporting the passage of the law that makes it illegal for civilians to buy them. Not only did Barrett refuse to service the rifle, he wouldn't even send it back. The LAPD had to send someone to pick it up. Do yeah, awesome. Buy Barrett rifles. (By the way, if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas...)

(read more: Barrett news)

Phil's Birthday is...

August 31. Just so anyone who wanted to know, knows.