Scooby Snax: From Schilling to the almighty M$

Just a collection of things swirling around in my head recently...

I can't believe I've withheld my excitement from this blog.... The Red Sox BEAT THE YANKEES AND ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!! Will Ortiz cost them playing first base in the NL park?  Will Tony L. out manage the Red Sox skipper?  Can Curt's bionic ankle continue to hold for two more games?  (He pitched with a bloody sock in game 6 because they sutured extra skin to his ankle to hold his loose tendon down!) This postseason has seen some fantastic games and I'm looking forward to this final showdown!

I had a dream the other night that Steve Jobs and crew were about to release the first Apple computer with a GUI but they gave up after several months of frustration first encountered after someone said "So I was talking to legal".  Apparently there where concerns over the blind and people with epilepsy.  It resulted in modern computers with only command line interfaces and Steve a used car salesman.  I told this to someone at work and they told me I needed to take some time off. 

I actually have to take time off or risk losing it. For the first time since I've been at Microsoft I could lose vacation this year.  There will be some four day work weeks in my future and I'll certainly be taking Nov 9th off after learning this. :-)

Recently I linked to an editor from the powertoys blog and a few people seemed upset I would link to a page that contained the dreaded "M$" slang.   I guess I'm so used to it now that it doesn't bother me other than make me laugh and think of a line from a classic penny-arcade: "From my parent's home in Wyoming, I stab at thee!"

Want cool Audiovox cell phone....must... resist... monthly cell phone bills...  It's a struggle. I've now seen a few in person.  They are really popular around here and it seems for good reason. 

Twice on my trip home last week I was sorted into the special "just short of a strip search" line at the airport.  Both times I was told that it was because the airlines had to check 20% of the plane and I had arrived so early that I wouldn't mind the extra abuse.  I hope that early arrival isn't the only thing that triggers this search. The explanation didn't make me feel very secure as I imagined a would be terrorist shouting "My plane leaves in ten minutes!" with airport security saying "Forget the check-point. Let the man through!. He's obviously too disorganized to hatch an evil plot."

Thursday our dog Oliver had surgery to remove a mass cell tumor from his head.  We believe he should have an excellent recovery.  His biggest challenge has been navigating the house with one of those goofy cones that prevents him from scratching.