Well, obviously I didn’t get around to the site maintenance updates last weekend like I wanted to, but I did want to put a few bullet pointed thoughts out there because that used to be the kind of thing that happened around here.

• Nik and I are heading out to see my folks for Christmas on Friday. I’m excited about the trip (well, the destination more so than the actual traveling) since I don’t get to see my family too often. However, Missouri is notorious for having “weather events” whenever we go and the only kind of event likely at this time of year is bone-numbing cold. Considering that I’ve been unhappy with the relative chill (roughly 30°) here in California, the prospect of freezing my tail off in actual cold makes me wonder why anyone would truly wish for a white Christmas.
• Although I guess from a Rockwell-esque “old fashioned” Christmas vibe perspective it is nice to see a blanket of snow… through a window. The problem is that sooner or later, you have to get out in it.
• If you have some time and especially if you are a big chocolate lover, you may find this article about a high-end chocolatier to be interesting. It’s long and some of it (especially the part where they try to determine the supplier) is kind of dull, but I skipped a lot of that and was perfectly able to get the gist.
• The new job is going quite well, and the week after we get back from Missouri I’ll be working my first series of solo shifts in preparation for the switch to my regular schedule (graveyard). We also just got a new CEO who came over from eBay to help get us ready to manage our continued rapid growth so it should make for some interesting times ahead. And, atypically, I’m not using the word “interesting” in an ironic way.
• I caught a cold somewhere. It’s not enough to keep me from work (I honestly can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing) but it is ceaselessly annoying. I’ve gone through several Pocket Paks of Kleenex in the last 24 hours (I believe I’m working on my fifth) and I’ve even resorted to taking some cold medicine which, predictably, resulted in me entering a coma-like state for several hours only to wake up and find that I’d slept through any symptom relief the medicine may have offered. I wonder sometimes if cold medicine manufacturers are really producing medicine that treats colds or if they just put powerful sleep aids in a box and figure if you’re passed out, you won’t know the difference. I’d also like to point out this was the “daytime, non-drowsy” variety.
• I’ve been playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for the last week or so. Normally I leave my video game discussion to other sites more suited to that sort of thing, but I had to point out that this is possibly the closest I’ve seen to a video role-playing game that matches the “perfect RPG” that has existed only in my head since I was about 13 years old. Some World of Warcraft players may dispute my claim, but bear in mind that I don’t play massively multiplayer RPGs. I suffer enough from Netflix guilt; I don’t need my video games to charge me a monthly fee and insert a new nagging voice in the back of my head that I’m not playing enough video games. So as it is, Oblivion is the best RPG I’ve played—possibly ever, but at least since Final Fantasy III—and the best one currently available that I’m likely to play.
• Okay, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was up there, but it’s hard to compare Oblivion and KotOR. They’re both good. Both favorites.
• When I lived in Texas there were a couple of burrito joints called “Freebirds” that made ginormous, delicious burritos. Since I moved back to Cali, I’ve had hundreds of burritos but none have measured up to the have-it-your-way delight of Freebirds. Then last night Lister introduced me to Burrito Real, a little place not too far from our office. It was like the reincarnation of Freebirds except Burrito Real’s carne asada is like 20 times better than Freebirds, or anyone else’s for that matter. So good.
• Now I’m all hungry.
• Have a Merry Christmas everyone, if I don’t pop back in before then.
• And to all a good night.