Musings From New York

Happy Noo Yeah! ...

... At the time of writing, to those happy folk in ... Western Europe!

I'm at the Lady's apartment, helping her set out an amazing party spread. There's salsa 'n' chips, samosas 'n' dip, and a plate groaning under the burden on cheese & crackers. The main course has biriyani 'n' stuff. Mmm mmm, mmm mmm mmm! We gots the tequila (yuk!), le vin, da shtrung voodka, and sum Jamaican room, mon!

Seriously, my stomach is mentally preparing the bill right now. Tomorrow morning, said stomach is likely to get in line behind my head to demand full repayment for this evening's festivities.

Should have a guest contingent of about 15, including a few kids. Will be taking a few photos of the party, and will have DoPy (Dept. of Photography, to non-BITSians) take some photos of the Lady 'n' me (Hey Disney, check out this Lady & The Tramp!)

And so to all far and wide, best wishes for the New Year. Or as we say in Baahstun, New Yeah!

A sad note to today's festivities

RIP James Brown.

Not to jump the gun here ...

But I plan to go to bed early to give Santa a sporting chance of not being detected when he crawls his way through my radiator pipes this year (what can I say, modern construction)

So Merry Christmas to all!

I passed!

Remember that course I took in Philadelphia a couple of weeks ago? Well the results arrived in the mail - and I passed! I am now an certified ITIL Practitioner in Change, Configuration & Release Management.

This came as a huge relief. I wasn't sure I'd make the mark ... the exam is very, very subjective. It's multiple choice, with 3 choices. One can be discarded right away, and it's sometimes a coin toss between the other two, as neither of them are actually wrong. It's just that one is more right than the other!

A little less wise

I had a couple of teeth pulled last week. Not a fun experience. For one thing, it was very bloody the first day. Then the pain set in. Followed by the swelling, which after 5 days has still not subsided.

Certain unsympathetic individuals have remarked that I haven't experienced childbirth, and hence have no idea what "pain" means. To them I say: sucks to be you. This experience certainly ranks amongst the most painful ones I've had, so I'm entitled to wrap myself in my little cocoon of misery. Go bother someone else with your sermonizing.

Had my first check up yesterday, and everything looks good. The graft worked which means I don't have to go back under the knife anytime soon.

So essentially, I was under self-imposed house arrest for 4 days. Although I was fit to work on Monday, I decided to do so from home, as the side of my face was still very tender and this made shaving, and (dare I say it) washing, very painful. And in those 4 days, I surprisingly did not sleep as much as I thought I would.

I was under the impression that the combination of painkiller & antibiotic would allow me to spend most of the day in silent lucidity. Not so. I ended up playing Gears of War for hours (to take my mind of the uncomfortable-ness ... and my PC's still not working, so I couldn't play WoW). I watched a lot of 'Allo 'Allo episodes from Netflix. I also ended up speed-reading my way through the Belgariad ... and I haven't picked up those books in years. Re-reading them now ... well, I can honestly say they used to be fun ... but I can see that they're pretty flimsy reading, really.

The Lady arrived on Friday night to pamper me silly. I must confess to thoroughly enjoying said experience, having lived by myself for ... wow, has it been a decade already? Man, I'm old!

'Tis the season ... Part 3

You know, I've always hated Peanuts. It's just too damn whimsically depressing. Even so, why wasn't this on TV?

I'm calling it

Now, the Oscar season's wide open, but the Nominees list for Best Animated movie will contain:

• Happy Feet
• Cars
• Flushed Away

I succumbed to temptation

The pain was too much. I've taken a painkiller. I'm typing this while taking a break from debating existential humanism with Mr. Hand. But don't worry - Jimi's picking up that slack.

A moment's silence please ...

On this 26th anniversary of the most shocking moment in rock n roll.

I'm surprised Mike (Beatle fan-boy that he is) hasn't put up a eulogy on his blog.

Shhhhh!!!

No need to broadcast the fact!