Twister, bitch!

Last night was our company Christmas party. Here are a few things I learned:

1. Zombie survival techniques are key.
2. Don't talk to my supervisor about books when she's drunk.
3. Always, ALWAYS go for the Crogers.
4. In the gift exchange, find a way to sneak out after you pick a gift you like.
5. That thing that looks like a plunger might not be JUST a plunger.

At any rate, it was quite entertaining, and I made out like a bandit, what with the holiday bonus, a $50 gift card to the Olive Garden, and a game of Twister complete with a selection of rums. Too bad I'm not a rum-drinker. I'll just stick with the beer, but if anybody knows someone who likes that kind of thing, let me know.

In other news, Lars Katz Gaarde has posted his final Life of Wyma update. So go visit and show some love.

All I Want For Christmas Is The Head of Bill Gates On A Commemorative Platter

So Wednesday morning, just as I was turning on ye olde computer in the Batcave, lo and behold, Microsoft had Windows updates for me. Being a conscientious individual, I naively assumed that these updates were in fact beneficial. Shows what I know. At any rate, no immediate issues cropped up, so I was content. I went about my usual business, updating the current document, making changes and all that. Towards the end of the day, I decided to try converting my docs to .pdf format. This is where things got fubar'd. Suddenly, my table of contents no longer worked; in fact, every single link in the doc was no longer working. Furious, I decided to test an unrelated doc with links and such, and lo and behold, but they were not working either. Somehow, the conversion had stripped all link-making information from normal.dot. This had never happened to me before while doing the exact same process, so I deduced that the problem traced to the Microsoft updates. At any rate, by the time I had the links and everything resolved, it was time to go home. Yesterday, though, I decided to do something about it, and downloaded some updates for Acrobat, which combatted my problem. At any rate, why release updates that will only serve to fuck with your data? It makes no sense.

In other news, there was a light crew at the Satellite yesterday. However, the insane waitress (see previous posts) decided it was the time to flash us. Quite frankly, I was non-plussed by the whole thing. One of my co-workers was shocked that I was not turned on by this. I replied that I was more of a "full-package" guy. So he says "So you'd be turned on if she stripped naked?" Well, in all honesty, not if this particular woman stripped naked. I guess the point is that for me, simple nudity or breasts are not enough. I look for the form, shape, and proportion of the body as a whole. Does this make me something of an aesthete? I like to think it does. Does it make me something of an elitist? Quite probably. So what?

In other news, Tycho has a wicked criticism of Wikipedia over at PA, and it is well worth examining. I've been skeptical of Wikipedia the whole time, and this is precisely what I've said all along.

Always Winter, Never Christmas

This weekend was quite good. Friday night, the crew went to see The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, and it was indeed quite good. Visually, the film was great, but what really held the whole thing together was the cohesion of the cast, and the depth that they brought to their characters. Even the CG characters felt real in their interactions with the rest of the world. In fact, I think that the characters had even more depth than they originally had in the book. This is never a bad thing. I won't go into any more detail, as that might spoil the experience, but suffice it to say, it is indeed a wonderful movie.
Saturday was game day, and it was fun. The new characters were introduced, and it seems like it will be a pretty good mix. I'm looking forward to our further adventures.
Sunday night, Justin and I hung out at Shari's, where we once again encountered Sling Blade the waiter. Thankfully, he was too busy awkwardly flirting with the girls at the table behind us to make our evening uncomfortable. Justin's car was on the outs, so I gave him a ride downtown for work yesterday, as our respective offices are about five blocks from one another. It was nice to have company as witty as him on the morning drive, I will tell you that. Work is going well. I've managed to beat my first deadline, so I'm ahead of schedule in regards to my next deadline, and this gives me pleasure. The holidays are fast approaching, and it will be nice to be able to take a week between Christmas and New Year's off. I will be spending that week in GA, though, so we shall see. I have extended family there, so at least there will be some payoff of some sort.