BLOG by zaiss

Everyone needs to watch Jeopardy tomorrow and root for Hayley. Not only did she grow up down the street from me, but she’s incredibly bright and will probably clean up tomorrow. Check it out!

It sat there so innocently. “Hey, guess what day today is?” it would ask, hoping to spur my memory. “Uh… Thursday?” I responded without thinking. I was too distracted with work to notice that it went off to cry in the corner.

Yesterday was, in fact, my second anniversary with blogging. What did I have planned to mark the occasion? Maybe an unveiling of a previously spoiled redesign? Perhaps a cool new section for the blog that’s been in the works for a couple months? Yeah… none of that is actually ready right now… -sheepish grin-

So quick! I need a fallback celebration. Hmmm… I’ve got it! I’ll take my blog out for sushi.

I’ve seen sushi candles (thanks Quinn), but never sushi memory sticks. What would be really cool is if the size influenced the amount of storage space. Because futomaki is way more filling than a california roll, as we all know…

Perhaps carrying my new blog theme around on a sushi memory stick for a while will encourage me to work on it. Either that or I’ll eat it by accident thinking, “Oooh, I saved some sushi for later, sweet.” Seriously, it’s a concern. I think the key is to get one that’s modeled after a gross kind of sushi (difficult for me… do they make a natto USB key?). That will ensure no accidental consumption.

Happy Birthday, Blog!

It’s been a couple weeks since the prank, but I promised pictures to some of you (plus it’s too good to pass up). My manager recently took a trip to Hawaii for a wedding. Since I had been threatening to prank her office since… I think… before I even officially started?… I figured it was time to make good on the threat. Another of her reports and I decided that pink was the way to go, and what a coincidence! Pink sticky notes abound in the Microsoft supply rooms. Let the redecoration begin…

The good news is that Susan likes her new office. The bad news (rather, an unintended side effect) is that people now mistakenly think that she’s expecting a baby girl. Whoops. Umm… enjoy the office, Susan!

I know, two posts in a row with the word “pastime” in the title. It sorta bugs me, but not enough to change it. Just enough to comment about it in a lengthy non sequitur at the start of the post. Anyway.

I was walking along the other day, when I passed an ad that caused me to do a double take:

Whoa. Really? 386,000? Being from Nebraska, I am a little sensitive when people ask if we have automobiles, running water, or the like. But even I found myself asking, “Are there even 386,000 people in Nebraska?”

It turns out that there are; in fact, in 2000, there were 1.7 million people in the state. (So sue me, I suck at remembering or even estimating population facts. I never won those silly contests where you guess how many jelly beans are in the jar either.) But still, the Toyota ad is still implying that about 23% of Nebraskans are bird watchers… and that just seems a bit ludicrous to me. We really don’t get that many interesting birds in Nebraska (I know, because my dad is one of those apparent 386,000) - growing up, cardinals and blue jays were the coolest. Gold finches were common too. Occasionally a hummingbird. But is that enough for over 1/5 of the state to take up bird watching?

Obviously Toyota wasn’t worried about finding some factoid that yielded a count of exactly 386,000, but what bolt of inspiration suggested Nebraska… and bird watching? Is Nebraska known for bird watching? The number of tickets sold for last year’s College World Series seems like a more accurate figure for the ad…

…but then again, maybe it was thanks to my Nebraska bird watching skills that I was the only one able to spot the woodpecker the other day.

What’s sad is that I actually do this, but while driving for long distances on road trips.

For each mile marker you pass, factor it into primes. Easier on the west end of an even-numbered interstate; more difficult as you travel east. It’s great for keeping your mind awake. Unless you hate math… then it might be great for falling asleep at the wheel.

Hey, there’s a new Die Hard movie coming out. Being a fan of the first three, I’m definitely going to go see this when it’s in the theaters! Especially since I didn’t get to for any of the first three (which is to say, my parents did not, in fact, take me to see a Rated R movie when I was 6, 8, or 13).

At first I was concerned about Bruce Willis pulling off the same character 10 years after the last film, but the preview convinced me. As for his co-star, on the other hand…

Here’s the caption. BW: “OK, I’m going to go bash the bad guys with this red metal bar in my hand.” Mac Guy: “And I’ll make a delightful photo slideshow of the scene with my new iMac!”

… But Kevin Smith is in the movie, so that should more than make up for it.