Ants on the Melon
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I bought this shirt of Stewie because I liked what was written on it: “I’m a dirty, foul, little boy.” Although I bought it about 2 years ago, I’ve rarely worn it since and on Friday I rediscovered it in a box of t-shirts. Well, this morning I decided to wear it again out to brunch since it was a nice, sunny day.

As the waitor was taking our plates, he dropped a spoon covered in raspberry sauce right on my shirt. I was a little annoyed until I realized the irony of the situation: that I was now a dirty little boy. (Well, kinda)

The raspberry sauce went much better with the beignets than it did with my shirt. I should have told the waitor “no raspberry sauce on my shirt,” like Stewie would:

No sprinkles. For every sprinkle I find, I shall kill you! – Stewie

Groundbreaking new financial ideas, brought to you by SNL.

Recently I have been paying more attention to how much money I spend at restaurants, coffee shops, and the like. Since I have been trying to cut back on my expenses, I have been putting more thought into what I buy, and what the total amount should be. What I have found is a little scary, and has made me pay even more attention to my receipts.

I’ve been keeping an eye on these things for about a month now, and it seems that about 1-2 times per week I catch a cash register attendant overcharging me. The first time or two it happened I thought it was just a simple mistake. But then it kept happening, and now I notice it a lot. Whenever I am suspicious I ask how much each item costs, and typically the attendant seems to know right away that there was a problem, act(?) dumb, and say something like “oh, I must have touched an extra key.”

I wonder how much I have been overcharged for in the past?

This had me laughing non-stop…

I think it is a little ironic that someone who hasn’t bothered to customize their WordPress theme is offering advice on web design, but you know, I agree with them on all of these:

19 Things NOT To Do When Building a Website

From the article:

Funding for the National Cancer Institute had been going up steadily for a decade, but now President Bush wants to cut the funding for the second year in a row — this time by $40 million.

In other news,

Another way to get at the $1 trillion cost of the Iraq War is to note that the Treasury could have used the money to mail a check for more than $3,000 to every man, woman and child in the United States. The latter alternative would have an added benefit: Uniformly distributed and spent in this country, the money would have provided an economic stimulus that the war expenditures have not.

…

For example, it would take almost three decades to spend a trillion dollars at $1,000 per second, and if spending at this rate occurred only during business hours, more than 120 years would be required to dispense the sum.

Hopefully nobody gets hurt over there because Veterans Face Consecutive Budget Cuts:

The Bush administration’s budget assumes cuts to funding for veterans’ health care two years from now – even as badly wounded troops returning from Iraq could overwhelm the system.

But at least its for a good cause:

For example, the president proposes just a one-year patch for the growing problem of the alternative minimum tax, which is whacking more and more middle-class families who thought they were beneficiaries of the Bush tax cuts.

And this:

“We were looking for the president to elevate the funds, but he eliminated a number of programs that affect the [Chesapeake] bay,” said Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat. “If it became law it will be very bad news for the bay.”

And this:

A program that protects more than a million acres of trails, wilderness and historic sites in the West would see another cut under President Bush’s proposed 2008 budget.

Sadly, this could go on and on and on.

Sigh.

When Google first put their satellite imagery online I noticed that there were no high resolution images for southern Virginia. A couple days ago I checked back, and now there are hi-res images for Blackstone! Here are a couple highlights:

• My Mom and Stepdad’s House
• My Dad and Stepmom’s House
• My Dad’s shop, Burkeville Body Shop
• Tate’s store, Watkins, Jeweler
• My grade/middle/high school, Kenston Forest School
• The street where I spent my first 5 years, Tunstall Avenue
• The baseball field where I spent a lot of my youth, Miller Field
• My Mom and stepdad’s house in Amelia

They still don’t have hi-res for Farmville or Hampden-Sydney, but it looks like they might be working in that direction.

When I moved to Houston I discovered that I was able to choose my power company. Green Mountain Energy Company was recommended to me, and after looking into it, I decided to go with them as my energy provider. That turned out to be a pretty good decision.

The first couple of months (September, October) the bill was pretty reasonable, typically $35-$50 per month. However last month it got even better! As you can see in the image, my bill for the 35 days from November 30 to January 4 was only $5.65. You probably think this is a mistake, but it isn’t. I am typically at work until 11pm or so, and I never turn my heat on. I also was out of town every weekend that month and in Virginia for a week, but still, $5.65!

Tate and I saw this truck on our way to Richmond, Virginia over the holidays:

See, even truckers enjoy a little bling, every now and then…

Last year I wrote an extensive list of the things I had done during 2005. This year I will not be doing that. Instead, I’m just going to hit some of the highlights:

• I paid off my college loan. This was a huge deal for me
• I went snowboarding with some friends at Beaver Creek, and then visited Ken in Boulder.
• I traveled around Europe with Jason. This was the trip of a lifetime.
• I quit my job at Rackspace and switched to startup mode. Wheeeee!
• I moved to Houston after 3 years in San Antonio.

2005 was a great year, and 2006 was even better, so lets hope that trend continues.

Happy New Year!