eviljim.com: the mac days

So in ye old Lucasarts puzzle games (for example, Monkey’s Island, the best monkey-titled game involving few to no monkeys) I always found it funny that you could walk into a room and the characters would do the same action over and over. For example, someone looking at a chalkboard would look at it, jot notes, go “hmmm”, repeat. Indefinitely.

I only share this because for the entire day I’ve felt like I’m in a puzzle game as exactly this is happening across my cubicle. It’s strangely surreal because I keep thinking I don’t have the right inventory items to solve the puzzle yet.

Anyway, I finished up the Firefly DVD set. Let me tell you something about Fox: Fox sucks. Firefly is one of the most fantastic shows I’ve seen in a long while, and they suck for canceling it. Not only is it entertaining, it also teaches me to curse in Chinese. If you haven’t watched Firefly, you really, really should.

Google.com vs. Google.cn.

Hmm, interesting.

And since the subject of work has been broached, I’d like to share a letter to the editor of the company newsletter I wrote.

In response to something along the lines of “dude don’t take 3 paper towels right away it’s waseful start with 1 and take more if you need it”:

“In response to the letter by [name removed to protect the idiot], I have to say — I’ve been going to the bathroom a lot longer than you’ve been watching people go to the bathroom. I’ve even probably gone to the bathroom at Microsoft longer than you’ve been watching people go to the bathroom. Each time I’ve washed my hands (okay, there was a time in 5th grade where I didn’t. I’m sorry!). As such, I’ve built up a pretty good knowledge of how many paper towels I need to dry my hands. It is 3. Two leaves my hands wet, four is just straight out.

Jim Reardon

PS: Please stop watching me pee.”

I was thinking about throwing in something near the beginning along the lines of “you may now notice I use a stall” but didn’t want to go too far.

The letter, alas, did not get published.

I was writing a long post on the freedom of speech in China but instead you get this.

Winston Churchill once said, when a dangling preposition he had used was corrected:

“That’s the sort of pedantry up with which I will not put.”

I like the word ‘pedantry’.

Extra points if you buy a copy of the product I work on and find the dangling prepositions which I refer to [sic].

Fox announced the Arrested Development season finale will air February 10th (a Friday, it’s usually on Monday).

If you check your TV Guide you may notice another high-profile event on that night. The opening ceremonies of the olympics.

I need to stop watching shows on Fox. They’ve killed so many fantastic shows that deserved success. Why bother getting into a show — it’ll either be bad or canceled (Family Guy, Futurama, Undeclared, Andy Richter Controls the Universe, Arrested Development at some point in the future, probably more I can’t remember anymore)

I just bought one of those memory foam mattresses. It’s nice and squishy.

Today, I was thinking about this purchase and I can’t explain why I bought it. I have enough troubles getting out of bed, I don’t need things making it more comfortable.

I need to install spikes or something.

From IRS Publication 525: “If you steal property, you must report its fair market value in your income in the year you steal it unless in the same year, you return it to its rightful owner.”

It also includes details specifically for astronauts.

My cousin stayed at my place while I was back at home (she came in town to see a concert). I get back, and there is Mormon propganda in all 3 of my bathrooms.

It’s kind of weird, and weirder if you know her, as she is not a very mormon-esque person. Possibly the least mormon person next to Brian, but he just hates them because he was “stalked” by an rather hot mormon chick.