Shin-ippets…

* I’ve really been slacking on this whole “blog regularly” thing. I know, I know. The past few entries have all been dedicated to my sad soliloquy about how my days have just become so jam-packed with stuff to do that my blogging has gone by the wayside. The thing is, though? My days have been wiping me out.  I’m leaving the house earlier than I have before in order to get Avi to school and me to work. Picking him up at the end of the day has us sitting in traffic that gets us home at 6:30. And I want to spend time with the guy before he needs to get ready for bed at 7:40. It’s interesting to see how much our routines have changed, now having to do so much more in the evening to get ready than just getting it done in the morning.  And it leaves a tired Shiny who has nodded off in front of the television and even the computer on occasion! Am I turning into more of a morning person?  Only time will tell…

* Unfinished Business: I’m also realizing how much unfinished business is happening on my blog.  I’m always apt to start new things, new stories and new series. But then? It’s not as much that I lose interest; it’s more along the lines that I feel my own internal pressure to make the next part even better. Funnier. More exciting. More anticipated.   Did you know that I still have Part III of our trip to Vegas partially written? Did you know that I still have yet to post the final chapter of Operation: Enduring Tofu? One of these days I’ll finish both.

I remind myself of Guns n’ Roses upcoming album which should have been finished “any day now” for the past decade. What was it called? Shiny’s Democracy?

* This one goes up to eleven: Tomorrow is September 11 — the anniversary of the still-recent terror attacks which brought the term “September 11th” into our vernacular. I assume many will write posts about it.  I’m still debating whether or not I should share the events of that day from my perspective seeing it unfold live in our data center close to DC. My wife’s story is even more interesting through her immediate evacuation of DC and altruism towards complete strangers in need.

Then again — is everyone all “9/11″‘d out? I’m not sure what kind of vibe I’m getting from people. For some people in our area, tomorrow will likely be seen as more of a traffic nuisance than anything else as they’re planning to dedicate the Pentagon Memorial — and block off a huge perimeter of roads starting at 3am tomorrow morning. Since the Pentagon is also a large bus transit center, even public transportation will be turned on its head for this. I have a feeling that many will roll their eyes at both candidates’ grandstanding at Ground Zero tomorrow.  I just hope that the day continues to have meaning for those who wish to use it to commemorate those who lost their lives in the attacks — and those who risked and gave their lives to be first responders at each of the scenes.

In any case — I might post it; I might not.  I guest posted my experiences last year as an American in Canada on 9/11 on Karen Sugarpants’s blog.  Feel free to take a look if you’d like…

* What if the world ends next month? I received my first new wireless bill today since the big switch from our old provider — and to life with our iPhones and AT&T.  I knew that the cost would be a bit up from what we were paying Nextel for the past few years, but this came with a great data plan. And iPhones.

Imagine my surprise when I looked at the bill and saw that it was almost two and a half times more than what I expected it to be each month.  Yikes.  Turns out that they decided not only to charge us the monthly fee for the fraction of this past month (pro-rated, of course), they gave us the honor of letting us pay for next month as well! This is probably the new standard for wireless companies, but it costs a hell of a lot for an initial bill! Especially since we already forked over money for the phones themselves less than a month ago. Oh — and they put the “activation fees” on this bill as well.

I’m going to call and request that they let us pay the activation fees on the next bill instead. At least that will lower the bill this month just a tad…

* Been watching The Office – Season 4 on DVD. Good stuff. I watched it last season, but it’s fun seeing what deleted scenes were trimmed from each episode. Also? The Office has, perhaps, one of the best commentary tracks. The writing staff are on the set as periphery characters, so there is usually no disconnect between the creators and performers.  It just sounds like a huge amount of fun to be in that room.  I love it.  They play off of each other so well that a symphony of humor just eminates. And in a way I envy that feeling. When socKs and I were involved in our live internet radio show with some friends (WTF Radio) several years back I felt that.  But now? I just wish I could simply say something to make people laugh right on cue.

* My balls itch.

* I’m a TV Preview Whore. I had a discussion with a friend about my obsession with being the first to watch the pilot for a new television show. Case in point: I watched Fringe in August.  This is not a new phenomenon for me; quite a few shows were leaked on the ‘Net last year which I watched early, including Pushing Daisies, Chuck and Reaper. But I also enjoy watching the subtle (or sometimes not-so-subtle) changes made to the show before broadcast.  Reaper, for example, recast its female lead but used much of the same footage; it was interesting for me to see how they did that.  I’m just kind of a freak like that.

I watched a pilot for ABC’s Life on Mars. This is a special situation because (a) the show originated in the UK, and (b) since this pilot the show has been almost completely recast and retooled. When it eventually airs, I’ll be interested in comparing all three shows as separate but related entities.

But I have to say: I watched two pretty impressive new shows: CBS’s The Mentalist and TNT’s Leverage. I’ll write reviews of both on Snackie TeeVee one of these days…

* Cute kindergarten-related moment of the day: Avi was a helper in class today who helped raise one of the flags. So we started talking about what one does in reference to the flag.  It was interesting listening to his concept of The Pledge of Allegiance.  In fact he described it as “kind of like the Doodlebops Pledge — but with bigger words.”

Yeah. We let the kid watch way too much Playhouse Disney…

That’s all I’ve got for now…