wow · it was all i anticipated and more ...

let it snow! · let it snow! let it snow!

those are some big bed bugs! · tonight while putting taylor to bed we went through the well-known "good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite" rhyme. then i asked, "what's a bed bug anyway, how do we know if we have any?"

"oh daddy," came taylor's reply, "mema and papa have those! papa throws them out on the concrete and stomps them!"

i laughed and laughed (and taylor wanted to know what was so funny). i haven't seen them myself, but in the summertime when ritina and the boys visit her parents (mema and papa), apparently the downstairs area where the boys sleep has quite a problem with migrating scorpions. now that's a serious bed bug!

does online customer service have to suck? · i use netflix, an online dvd rental service. recently i had a question about an issue with my account, so i emailed their customer service. the reply seemed a bit on the auto-response side, and did not answer my question. my reply basically said "thank you, your reply does not answer my question, can you please address this?" the second reply from netflix (turnaround time for both was about two days) was an exact copy of the first one (and for a bit of amusement, the original reply was also part of the second reply as their system appears to maintain the entire support thread). the only difference is that the second reply came from "justin", while the first came from "jeff".

so, it appears likely i will never get this issue addressed, and i'll probably end up dropping the netflix service because of it. if someone at netflix would actually read my email, they could probably address it in very short order. they have no competition at this point, though, so i'm guessing they just don't care. i'm sure it's a business decision, keep costs down by using automated customer service and tolerate the customer losses that result, making up for it with marketing and new subscriptions.

what is most frustrating, is that this behavior is typical of almost all contact i have had with the customer service of online vendors. their focus is obviously on the almighty dollar, not people. how sad. fortunately for me, in this case, the service was just a convenience. there are two great local video stores within only a few minutes from my house. looks like they just got my business back.

one movie to rule them all · the pre-release reviews of the lord of the rings: fellowship of the ring are killing me! it appears that this work may live up to our expectations and more. the reviews are truly exceptional, virtually nothing negative being reported at all. one thing i do find amusing, a majority of reviews i read initially were written by people who had never read the books. now they're dying for the rest of the story and have probably already purchased a copy of the trilogy as i write this. here are the reviews i've found so far. if you know of more, send them to me and i'll keep the list up-to-date.

• A 'Ring' to Rule the Screen (MSNBC)


• Lord of the Rings Sings (Fox)


• IMDb User Comments


• Entertainment Weekly


• The Hollywood Reporter


• Rings True with Critics (New York Post)

do you need a horn for that? · the cultural diversity in our part of the country affords our children the opportunity to learn about the holidays of many different religions. tonight's dinner included some family conversation about christmas, but all serious discussion concluded when taylor shared that there's a boy in his kindergarten class who doesn't celebrate christmas, he celebrates "honka".

parents beware · how sick can people get? before you head out to do any christmas shopping, you might want to have a look at the annual warped toy list published by the grace episcopal church in hartford, connecticut. the linked page describes why they put this list together and what it's all about. a link to the actual toy lists for 2000 and 2001 are at the bottom of their page.

and before you ask or flame me, not i'm not closed-minded about this (or much of anything). i just happen to agree that most of the toys on this list fit the stated criteria for a warped toy, and are in fact just simply disgusting. the depravity of the human mind no longer amazes me, but it does sadden me.